ZAGAT! No, it’s not the bible of the Foodies, but it is a darn good reference book and the 2006/07 version is out with almost 100 restaurants in Huntington Township and more nearby. Before we go to a new restaurant, we check out their ratings in at least two categories: food and price. We want to know what their readers thought of the food quality and determine that the cost will be in line with what we want to spend. Their service and décor ratings, we look for those special occasions – but often disagree with their service evaluations. Their brief comments are, well… perhaps entertaining for the Foodies, but don’t offer much guidance in making a restaurant selection. If you’re a Long Island Foodie, go for the $12.95 (bookstores or zagats.com) and skip dessert next time, if necessary.

MOCKTAILS: There is nothing wimpy about Mocktails – non-alcoholic beverages which according to “Four Food Studio and Cocktail Salon,” will raise the bar for drinks for well, non-drinkers – which will be debuting this season. Chocolate Caramel Egg Cream, Old-Fashioned Club Soda, Four berry Mojito, BeFour Sunset, Strawberry Fields, Four Your Health, Not Exactly Pink Lemonade, Jugo de Sol and more will be available on their outdoor patio which recently opened. The restaurant which opened at 515 Broadhollow Road, Melville (631-577-4444) six months ago distinguishes itself by introducing a new menu every 13 weeks that highlights local and seasonal ingredients and celebrates the four seasons of Long Island. It’s hot!

LONG ISLAND ICE TEA: Sorry, Long Island Ice Tea has no tea in it! Some claim that the drink, like most cocktails, was invented during the Prohibition era, as a way of taking the appearance of a non-alcoholic drink (iced tea). However, according to Wikipedia, the online reader-edited encyclopedia, stronger evidence suggests that the Long Island Iced Tea was in fact invented in the late 1970s by Chris Bendicksen, a bartender at the Oak Beach Inn, North (OBI North) in Smithtown. Other places also take credit as well, including our own Finnegan's in Huntington.

WINE DINNER: The fine wines of Maison Joseph Drouhin – a Beaune, Burgundy winemaker and vineyard since 1880 – will be featured at a dinner at On 3 Restaurant in Glen Head, presented by Post Wine & Spirits. Laurent Drouhin will be on hand as will the On 3’s new owner and chef, CIA graduate, Stuart Brown at the Tuesday, June 6, 7 p.m., $125 per dinner. RSVP or info (516) 921-1820.

HOT STUFF: The record has been broken for the world’s hottest pepper. The Dorset Naga, is named for Dorset, England, the small town in which it is grown in poly-tunnels by Joy and Michael Michaud, the proprietors of Peppers by Post. Almost twice as hot as the previous record holder, the small pepper requires gloves and ventilation to remove the seeds. Chilli-eating contests measure pepper heat by the Scoville scale, developed by Wilber Scoville in 1912, which rated the Red Savina habanera, the previous record holder in the Guinness Book of Records at 570,000 Scoville Heat Unit (SHU). The Dorset Naga has scored a mouth numbing 923,000 SHU from Certified Laboratories in Plainview – an official chili testing lab. The chili, native to Bangladesh, can only be harvested in the heat of the English summer and will then be available to consumers (Six per pack (or more if they are small). Price: £1.80 per pack; www.peppersbypost.biz/). When cooking with the Dorset Naga, start by just touching the food with the chili. While it possesses a refreshing smell and very good taste – and is wonderful waved gently over curries – published reports say, that if you don’t know what you are doing it could blow your head off.

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