To The Best of Our Knowledge from Wisconsin Public Radio

A restaurant wasn't always a place to eat. It used to be a thing to eat, a cup of medicinal broth to restore your health. These days Americans eat almost half their meals out, so how did the modern restaurant evolve? In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the rise of the restaurant. Also what really goes on behind the swinging doors - a chef's confessions. How food affects our mood, and how our junk-food habits reveal who we are.

Anthony Bourdain, executive chef at Brasserie Les Halles and author of "Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly," tells Steve Paulson some restaurant secrets. Also, historian Rebecca Spang is the author of "The Invention of the Restaurant: Paris and the Modern Gastronomic Culture." She tells Judith Strasser that "restaurant" originally meant a cup of broth and explains how it evolved into the culinary paradise we know today.

Food writer Nina Simonds tells Jim Fleming about dining at Singapore's Imperial Herbal restaurant, where the staff herbalist prescribes a meal for you aimed at balancing your yin and yang. Simonds is the author of "A Spoonful of Ginger: Irresistible Health-Giving Recipes from Asian Kitchens." Also, nutritionist Elizabeth Somer is the author of "Food and Mood: The Complete Guide to Eating Well and Feeling Your Best." She tells Steve Paulson that what we have for lunch determines how we'll feel all afternoon.

Alan Hirsch is a neurologist and psychiatrist in Chicago. He's matched up personality profiles with people's junk food choices. Jim Fleming takes the ice cream quiz and has Dr. Hirsch try it out on a couple of callers. For more information, got to http://www.smellandtaste.org/

Distribution dates:

• week of 12/30/2001 - hour 2
• week of 04/16/2000 - hour 2