Eric Livingston of Drexel Hill isn’t your average suburban dad and husband. He is one of the 30 competitive eaters primed to “eat his way to fame” at tomorrow’s Wing Bowl 16. (He ate one of everything on the McDonald’s Dollar Menu in five minutes and 30 seconds to qualify.) Livingston’s eating ego, Steakbellie, who dons a Scottish kilt during competitions, took time out of his surprisingly low-key, pre-Wing Bowl workout to dish about his favorite foods (it’s not wings!) and his path to professionally ranked speed-eater. — Bridget Salmons

So you are ranked 21st in the world; how did you get involved in competitive eating?
This is my third year as a pro. I tried out for the Wing Bowl 14 on a bet, and I was predicted by WIP to come in Dead Last (30th). I wound up placing 6th and only getting beat by mostly pros. I had such a good time that I signed up for the very next professional contest I could find. (And got my butt kicked!) Since then, it’s been a long, slow climb to breaking the top 50 rankings.

How many wings did you eat in your first Wing Bowl competition?
106! People asked me how I felt … FULL. But later that night I ate some leftover chicken parm out of the fridge.

How many do you plan on eating this year?
If everything goes well, I should be in the 150 range. I don’t say that lightly … that’s a lot of food!

How do your prepare for the Wing Bowl?
Many people are surprised at how little I eat on a regular basis, or the healthy choices I try to make when eating. Even competitive eaters have to be responsible for their own health and weight. For me it’s more important to get a familiarity with the food, and think about what techniques might be best. I also don’t eat for 24 hours before an event so that I show up hungry.

What is your favorite food?
I love pizza. It’s really a weak spot for me.

What is the nastiest thing you’ve ever had to eat for a competition?
I’ve been in 23 professional contests so far and have eaten everything from hot dogs and hamburgers to whole turkeys to shoo-fly pie. All of them are unique. I ate 61 jalapenos in a contest in Chicago this summer. You can imagine the flight home. Surprisingly, the absolute worst food was the time I ate 6.5 pounds of cranberry sauce.

Image, steakbellie.com

It’s here! On newsstands this week, you’ll find our annual look at the city’s top restaurants. But this year, we rank them: The best restaurants in the region, numbered from one to 50. Which of your favorites made the list? Check out the rankings here — and get the full story on what wowed us in the February issue.

Compiling the list was an argument- and calorie-filled endeavor. You can hear all about the process at phillymag.com — and you can join the debate. Which restaurants are in your Top 10?

Photo by Jason Varney

Over 95 percent of Australian wine hails from the country’s southeastern reaches, but a growing number of top wines are emerging from another zone entirely. Over 1,000 miles from the nearest vineyard region lies the cool Margaret River peninsula, the westernmost point of Australia’s temperate southern coastline. Dominated by small estate producers, rather than large-scale corporate wineries, this tiny corner of the huge and sparsely populated state of Western Australia is making news with outstanding wines.

The style of wine made here is decidedly different from the stewed fruit and jam qualities more commonly associated with Australian wine. And the Leeuwin Estate Prelude Vineyards Cabernet Merlot 2003 combines cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc and merlot, in the image of classic Bordeaux wines. Sharp and herbal, this wine is more earthy and food-oriented than many would expect. Mid-weight and snappy, packed with tart wild berry flavors and graced with notes of tobacco and cedar, this wine, currently $16.99 at state stores, is a perfect partner for a sizzling steak and mushrooms or an herb-crusted loin of lamb.

Image, oldbridgecellars.com

I’m a sucker for tapas. It’s not so much the Spanish cuisine that I crave as it is the style of ordering and eating. A bite here, a bite there, a little more of this favorite, another plateful to share as a table: Small plates let you be gluttonous on the cheap, adventurous with little risk of disappointment, and — the best part — social.

Which is why we tromped on over to Yakitori Boy, which just debuted — so new it doesn’t even have it’s liquor license yet, so BYOB — on Chinatown’s 11th Street for “japas”: small, individually ordered skewers of grilled meats (most commonly referred to, of course, as yakitori), three-piece sushi rolls, mini bowls of noodles, teriyaki dishes, and various samplers. It’s a chic little spot — all dark woods and clean lines, in soothing browns and blacks and cream — and the menu is solid, featuring all the usual suspects, from the starters to the sushi to the skewers, which are tasty and well-prepared, if less than exciting.

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Actually, we were supposed to be eating, a quick lunch to fuel up — and warm up — for a day of shopping in New Hope, but once we sipped Triumph Brewing Company’s Winter Wonder, we decided to settle in for a while.

The dark, cozily spiced beer is a once-a-year find. It hit the menu at the New Hope brewery a week ago, and head brewer Brendan Anderson will brew just one batch (that’s 300 gallons) this winter. (It will also be available this winter, for a limited time, in Princeton.) Hints of cinnamon, star anise, local wildflower honey and sweet and bitter orange peel give the malty brew a seasonal twist, without hitting you over the head with clichéd mulled-wine flavors. (Get there soon. Three hundred gallons is only 2,400 pints.)

Image, triumphbrewing.com

It’s just three weeks until Valentine’s Day. I realized this not because I have the 14th circled with hearts on my calendar, but because I’m starting to get inundated with press releases announcing love-themed, sweetheart dinner specials. My favorite so far? The campy “Virginia is for Lovers” $45 prix fixe at the now-Southern-accented Marigold Kitchen.

Whatever your idea of a romantic dinner, remember that Valentine’s Day is one of the busiest restaurant nights of the year. Make reservations now — and expect to give a credit card confirmation at many area restaurants that don’t usually ask for that guarantee.

Philly’s top chefs and their seasonally inspired menus planted the seeds for the recent trend toward buying and eating local. New farmers’ markets are sprouting up all over, and grocery stores offer local produce. But serious locavores are signing up for Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). Here’s the dirt: For a fixed price, paid in advance, a local farmer gives you a share of whatever’s ripe each week of the growing season — seasonal fruits and veggies bred for taste, not shelf life, that you pick up at the farm or at sites throughout the region. What you give the farmer is the security of payment before the growing season begins. Here’s our list of the area’s leading CSAs.

Sign up soon for those tomatoes in August; shares go fast. — Bridget Salmons

Illustration, Kirk Caldwell

In the long and strong tradition of wheat beers in places like Germany and Belgium, the style has always been only modestly hoppy — until now. Brooklyner-Schneider Hopfen-Weisse is the result of the long transatlantic friendship of Brooklyn Brewery’s famous brewmaster Garrett Oliver and Hans-Peter Drexler, brewmaster of Bavaria’s legendary brewery G. Schneider & Son. Oliver had always admired the delicate balance of flavors in Schneider Weisse, a benchmark of banana-bready richness among German Hefeweizen beers. Meanwhile, Hans-Peter had long enjoyed the effusive citrusy hop character of Brooklyn’s East India Pale Ale. The two decided to collaborate, and a new style was born — the hopfen-weisse, a pale, hoppy wheat bock beer.

There are two beers in this series. The Brooklyner-Schneider hopfen-weisse is widely available in the Philadelphia area. It is made in the USA, at the Brooklyn facility, by the German brewer Drexler using American amarillo and pallisade hops. Oliver brewed another version, dubbed Schneider-Brooklyner, in Germany, with hallertau saphir hops, but it is more difficult to locate in the Philly area.

Both beers are absolutely delicious, a riot of fruity and yeasty flavor reminiscent of apple cake and banana muffins, livened up with a tangerine twist of herbal hop aromatics and a quenching bitter bite. Try them with sausages or smoked salmon.

It’s only January, but we’re already planning for a whole year’s worth of good eating. Check out our round up of the region’s tastiest annual events, from March’s Philly Beer Week (tickets to many events are on sale now) to the summer’s tributes to ice cream, BBQ and garlic. — Bridget Salmons

There’s something a little unusual on the shelves at the Fair Food Farmstand today: heirloom tomatoes. Tomatoes! In January! Grown in soil in the Gap, PA, greenhouses of Green Meadow Farm — the same farm that gives us the rich raspberry of John and Kira’s chocolates — the small yellow and red fruits may not have the vibrancy of August, but they are certainly an enticing alternative to the grown-for-shelf-life varieties from Florida. And their color is irresistible amid the mushroom browns and kale greens more typical of winter in Pennsylvania.

Photo, Buff Strickland