News-Journal staffer Valerie Whitney and her daughter Amina recently visited Bertie's Luncheonette in Bellair Plaza to try a special dinner program menu available only on Thursday and Friday nights.

This is going to be a bit different then the usual fare offered in this space. Motorsports Editor Godwin Kelly and his wife, Diane, have been to KoKoRo Sushi Bar & Japanese Bistro several times and are enchanted by the menu, food and presentation. This is more like a love story.

News-Journal Staff Writer Audrey Parente and her friend Laurence Bennett recently checked out the SmokeShack in Ormond Beach.

News-Journal Senior Night Metro Editor Barry Gear and his wife, Marie, decided to meet for lunch recently to try a couple of the grilled offerings.

Due to a calendar mix-up, copy editor David Money was the only one of the bunch who showed up for lunch recently at Coach Valrie's Cafe in DeLand recently. The new cafe features Southern cuisine, the cuisine I grew up on, except at Mammaw's house in Southeast Texas it was called country cooking. Anyway, I was ready for some down-home cooking.