The difference between a cup of coffee from these new style coffee bars and what was available before is striking.

These shops use only beans that have been roasted in the past 10 days (though some say two weeks is fine), so the flavors are still lively.

The beans are ground to order for each cup. Certain coffee bars have a skyline of grinders: one for espresso, one for decaffeinated espresso, one for brewed coffee. If they offer more than one variety of espresso bean, that gets its own grinder, too.

Milk is steamed to order for each macchiato or latte. A telltale sign is an arsenal of smaller steam pitchers, instead of one big one.

And coffee bars reaching for the highest rung use only manual espresso machines run by baristas who, in the past three years, have been able to attend classes given by the leading roasting companies in the intricacies of these devices. Many chain stores are turning to automatic machines with preset levels for coffee, temperature and timing.

Here’s a terrific article that might inspire you to head-up to the tasting room and take in the stunning views.

If you’re looking to make a patriotic statement with your wine choice this Thanksgiving, here’s a suggestion: Give thanks to Ridge Vineyard’s Paul Draper by drinking one of his wines. Draper, 70, is arguably the greatest winemaker America has ever produced. Ridge’s Monte Bello, produced in a vineyard high above Silicon Valley, has been the iconic American cabernet sauvignon for nearly four decades now and is widely considered the equal of Bordeaux’s first growths. Draper almost single-handedly turned zinfandel, a nonentity of a grape not so long ago, into a serious, agreeable wine. He also makes some of the finest California chardonnays on the market. But it often seems that Draper is more appreciated in Europe than he is at home. This Thanksgiving, it’s worth giving the deity his due….

John Kapon, the president of Acker Merrall & Condit, the New York-based wine auction house and retailer, put it rather emphatically in an e-mail:

There is no question that Draper and Ridge, as well as others like Randy Dunn, Bo Barrett to name a couple, are underappreciated/overlooked in the context of American wine and its history. The cult wines have been getting all the hype and attention but many of them crack up after 5 or 7 years in the bottle… . Hype sometimes wins over substance, but the real winners will be those who let wines like Ridge stay in their cellar!

Ridge, like its other Valley counterparts are massively underappreciated wineries.

• Spitoon has its moments
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Manresa is the proud recipient of two Michelin stars in the newly released Michelin Guide San Francisco Bay Area & Wine Country 2007. “This is a tremendous honor,” said David Kinch. “In 30 years of working in restaurants, Michelin has always been my bible when traveling. To be in it is a big deal because it’s read and respected worldwide.” Manresa is among only four restaurants in the Bay Area to receive two Michelin stars while The French Laundry is the only Bay Area restaurant to win three stars.