[1] A salmon farm (photo © Monterey Bay Aquarium).

[2] Raw salmon fillet (photo © Sitka Salmon Shares).

Wild salmon and other fish are more costly, but farmed fish is controversial for numerous reasons. One is that they are threatening the wild salmon population. There are concerns that in another generation, there may be no more wild salmon.

Millions of farmed salmon, raised in pens along coastlines, escape each year (due to equipment failure, extreme weather conditions, and human error). In the northern Atlantic Ocean alone, an estimated two million farmed salmon escape annually.

These fugitive fish go on to harm the wild salmon population. Farmed salmon carry parasites that can attack the wild salmon population. Farmed salmon are larger and more aggressive than wild salmon; they compete with wild salmon for the food supply. And worse, they interbreed with the wild salmon population, creating hybrids. (Read more about farmed salmon issues.)

Top seafood chef Rick Moonen, a Las Vegas chef, restaurant owner, and early champion for sustainable fishing practices, is now an exclusive supporter of wild salmon. Moonen had endorsed Norwegian farmed salmon years ago, but has since learned the harm caused by the open net technology used in Norway and other places. Even a major retail chain can make a commitment to healthier, more sustainable seafood: Target stores have announced that farmed salmon will be eliminated from their more than 1,700 stores. The company will sell only wild salmon.

Still, if you want to do the right thing, you can be misled by false advertising. According to Food & Water Watch, a non-profit organization that works with grassroots organizations around the world to create an economically and environmentally viable future, the Norwegian Seafood Export Council (NSEC) is misleading U.S. consumers with the false impression that Norwegian salmon is wild, not farmed.

Browse through Food & Water Watch’s website for more information on this and other food issues. You’ll be surprised—and chagrined—at the number of issues facing our food supply.

The newest addition to the Green & Black’s family of premium organic chocolate bars is the Peanut bar, a blend of premium 37% cacao dark milk chocolate with delectable caramelized peanuts and a hint of sea salt.

Whether you’re single and celebrating with a group of friends or planning a romantic evening for two, a chocolate and wine tasting is a delicious way to celebrate Valentine’s Day.

Green & Black’s suggests the following chocolate-and-wine pairings (and we have many more ideas—see below):

• Green & Black’s Toffee Chocolate Bar With Zinfandel. The rich, dark-fruit characters in the wine accentuate the chocolate’s buttery sweet toffee flavors.
• Green & Black’s White Chocolate Bar with Chardonnay. The silky smoothness, creamy texture and vanilla finish of Green & Black’s White Chocolate Bar is perfectly complemented by the tropical fruit and hint of oak in a classic Chardonnay. This white chocolate bar is one of our editor’s favorites. She calls it “masculine” white chocolate—not the overly sweet and cloying bars one often encounters.

A great combination of peanuts, sea salt
and milk chocolate. Photo courtesy Green & Blacks.

• Green & Black’s Dark 85% Dark Chocolate Bar with Syrah. The intense flavors of a high percentage cacao bar require a rich wine like Syrah. The complexity and sturdy structure of the wine softens and enhances the dark, intense chocolate.

Conduct the tasting as would a wine tasting. Choose up to six pairings. Start with the lightest variety (white chocolate) and finish with the darkest (dark 85%).

• See our article on how to conduct a chocolate tasting party.
• See our extensive list of wine and chocolate pairings.

A romantic table at Auberge du Soleil in
Napa Valley.

OpenTable analyzed more than 4 million reviews from last year to build the list of 50 restaurants from coast to coast. Restaurants receiving high marks in the romance department range from steakhouses to fondue restaurants.

We’ve only been to two restaurants on this list, and give them high grades for atmosphere. One had great food, the other was just above-average for food (but we’re very picky). So, if you want both the romance and the best cuisine, ask friends.

OpenTable’s Most Romantic Restaurants In America

* Alize at the Top of the Palms Casino Resort—Las Vegas
* Ambrosia Restaurant—Santa Ana, Calif.
* Andrea: The Resort at Pelican Hill—Newport Beach, Calif.
* Auberge du Soleil—Napa, Calif.
* Bistro Romano—Philadelphia
* Cafe Renaissance—Vienna, Va.
* Canlis—Seattle
* The Cellar—Fullerton, Calif.
* Chez Shea—Seattle
* Different Pointe of View —Scottsdale, Ariz.
* Eagle’s Nest: Hyatt Regency Indianapolis—Indianapolis
* Eiffel Tower—Las Vegas
* Erminia Ristorante—New York
* The French Room —Dallas
* Geja’s Cafe— Chicago
* Gibraltar—Miami
* Il Bistro— Seattle
* Il Cielo—Beverly Hills, Calif.
* La Caille Restaurant—Salt Lake City
* La Fondue—Saratoga, Calif.
* LA Prime at The Westin Bonaventure Hotel—Los Angeles
* Latitudes Beach Cafe—Key West, Fla.
* The Little Door— Los Angeles
* Log Haven—Salt Lake City
* Madrona Manor—Healdsburg, Calif.
* Michel’s at the Colony Surf—Honolulu
* The Melting Pot—various locations
* Mona Lisa Fondue Restaurant—Colorado Springs, Colo.
* One if by Land, Two if by Sea—New York
* Ortolan—West Hollywood, Calif.
* Pamplemousse—Las Vegas
* Peter Shields Inn—Cape May, N.J.
* Rey’s—Raleigh, N.C.
* Shadowbrook Restaurant Capitola—Capitola, Calif.
* Simply Fondue—Glendale, Calif.
* The Sky Room—Long Beach, Calif.
* Stonehouse at San Ysidro Ranch—Santa Barbara, Calif.
* Tredici Steak—New York
* Yamashiro—Los Angeles
* Zenkichi—Brooklyn, N.Y.

Chocolate fondue is always a hit. And it’s easy to make. (Fondue comes from the French word fondre, to melt. Melt the chocolate and other ingredients, and start dipping.)

• First, take a look at these recipes for dark chocolate fondue and white chocolate fondue.
• Spice it up: Let each person customize his or her own fondue with these fondue spices.
• Chose from this assortment of chocolate fondue dippers. Sure, the chocolate itself is great, but the fun comes from what you swirl it onto.

The finer the chocolate, the more delicious the fondue. You can buy the best chocolate baking wafers from Guittard.com, or chop up a gourmet chocolate bar.

And here’s a tradition that can make a Valentine’s Day fondue even tastier: Whoever loses a dipping piece in the fondue not only has to fish it out, of course; but he/she also has to kiss everyone at the table.

Who wants chocolate fondue? (You don’t even
have to ask.) Photo courtesy of Sugardaddys.com.

You know how to eat it, but do you know
how to taste it? Photo courtesy
EatWisconsinCheese.com.

Take another step towards cheese connoisseurship by learning how to taste cheese like the experts. Toward this end we offer:

• Our new article on how to taste cheese.
• Pairing cheese with beer and wine.
• Our Cheese Glossary, to make sense of all the different types of cheese.

Now, you’re ready to have a cheese-tasting party. For extra fun at the party, have everyone take this cheese trivia quiz.