Wikimedia Commons

Sticky business: BWW lets you order wings from an iPad

​After successfully completing one phase of testing at a Toronto store, Buffalo Wild Wings announced plans to launch a second phase of testing of its proposed tabletop iPad ordering system at an undisclosed Minneapolis branch, reports Computer World.

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FinnStyle.com

A kitchen gadget that is also art.

​Ever the innovators, the Finns have applied their design expertise to a tool that any foodie would love to use. Winner of the 2010 Reddot design award, this elegant cake server allows you to slice and serve in one fluid motion, without getting your fingers full of frosting or separating the cake layers.   

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TextMyFood

A TextMyFood servers' instruction screen shows customers' text messages

​Ready for the check but can't find your server?

Don't fret. Just send a text!

A company in Massachusetts is offering a new device called TextMyFood that allows customers to communicate to their servers through text messaging. Although the service is currently used exclusively by Boston-metro restaurants and has yet to reach Minnesota, you can fill out the form on TextMyFood's website to request the text messaging service at a restaurant of your choice.

But is this a useful tool in restaurants? Does it improve service by increasing efficiency, or worsen it by making communication less personal?

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Martha Stewart

Can iPhone apps of virtual desserts make you thinner?

​It's mid-January, and our New Year's resolutions to lose weight and eat right are already distance memories. Don't beat yourself up too much, there's some unconventional help on the way.

According to a Utrecht University study, women can resist sweet cravings by staring at pictures of cake. Of course, we're completely on board with any study that promotes virtual cake lust. To help you make it through your work day without grabbing a Twinkie, we rounded up some delicious iPhone apps with virtual desserts that you can drool over anytime and anyplace.

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Texas fruitcake: Don't mess with it

​We've suggested food-centric gifts for newbie cooks and confirmed foodies, so its time to hit up the kinds of gifts we all love to give: the seriously weird kind.

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​It's hard to find a restaurant without a website anymore--will phone apps be the next standard marketing tool? The Herkimer Pub and Brewery has jumped into the game with its own free phone app. The Uptown brewpub plans to keep its loyal customers informed about events, new beer releases, the tap list, special offers, menu changes, and even the pub's beanbag and shuffleboard leagues. For Herkimer fans, it's an easier and better way to access the information on the pub's website, says manager Sara Bowser. You can download the free app on iTunes here.

Coffee sure has gotten complicated. There was a time when you bought it in a can, drank it black, and it tasted like acid. It got grittier as you drank it and put hair on your chest, which is why you had it with whiskey. Now all these snobs have come along and spoiled things by giving us choices, like lattes and pumpkin spices; they even--gasp--made coffee taste good. If you think you've seen it all, Bull Run Roasters near Lake Calhoun has something to surprise the most jaded drinkers: coffee explosions!

That's right, folks, Bull Run, which opened in association with Rustica Bakery next to Punch Pizza last November, has a unique siphon brewing contraption that could well be straight out of your high school chemistry lab. This surprisingly uncomplicated vacuum filtering system not only makes for a more consistent, flavorful drink but also looks really cool and involves fire.

The process--demonstrated in the above video by barista Just Holinka--basically works by preparing the coffee in two chambers over an open flame.  Water is boiled in the lower chamber, gets vacuumed to the upper chamber where it mixes with the coffee grounds, and then filters back down to the lower chamber once heat is removed.

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I'm too sexy for my...toast?

​I usually pass on flipping through SkyMall during flights, so perhaps I'm the last one to know about these "for the person who has everything" gifts, but I recently learned about Pop Art toasters, which come with stencil plates to toast images and slogans into your bread, pancakes, and pastries. One of the toaster sets comes with edible markers for coloring the browned designs and another, a panini snadwich maker, toasts images of Hannah Montana. (Not recommended for use by anyone over the age of 12.)

British fashion designer Orla Kiely is bringing her 1970s psychedelic sensibilities to Target. The retail giant this week introduced a limited edition line of brightly colored housewares she designed -- including dishes, placemats, glasses and a very cute apron.

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