WASHINGTON (AFP) -- Mary Ackley, who lives in the U.S. capital, had to keep an open mind while pursuing her dream of becoming a farmer. So she went underground.　It's in the cellar of a Washington pub that the 35-year-old grows microgreens, which are finding favor with local restaurants and residents.　“That’s some pretty beautiful basil,” the founder of Little Wild Things City Farm said proudly as she pulled out a tray packed with a lush carpet of tiny plants from neatly stacked shelves set up in

NEW YORK (AP) -- The kitchen hums with activity. Rachana Rimal is at one table, making momos, the traditional dumplings from her native Nepal. Next to her, Iraqi immigrant Dhuha Jasif mixes some pureed eggplant for baba ghanouj. Containers of adas, a lentil stew from the East African nation of Eritrea, sit on a counter. 　The unusual mix of cuisines is how it works at Eat Offbeat, a Queens-based food delivery service. All seven employees are refugees or asylum seekers who fled their home countrie

ST. ALBANS, United Kingdom (AFP) - Once a daily sight on every British street, a dwindling but resilient band of milkmen still go out at the crack of dawn to deliver bottles of fresh milk to the nation's doorsteps.　The overwhelming majority of milk used to be sold at the front door until the supermarket revolution all but wiped out this very British institution.　But by selling more than milk and embracing the Internet, the few thousand remaining milkmen, including Neil Garner, have breathed new

NEW YORK (AFP) - A US startup says it has created the world's first “smart” bottle which can keep wine as fresh as the day it was uncorked for up to a month.　The Boston-based Kuvee company said in a statement that the industry “has been slow to innovate beyond the glass bottle and cork.”　Kuvee’s specially designed bottle with its intricate valve system “prevents oxygen from touching the wine, so wine stays fresh for up to 30 days after opening,” said company founder and CEO Vijay Manwani, in a p

Ancient Korean delicacies from 13 centuries ago were presented at a Japanese shrine near Tokyo on Sunday, pinning hopes that food will forge a lasting harmony between the two neighboring countries whose bilateral relations have been frayed over a host of issues. The historical celebration was held in the beautiful UNESCO-listed shrine of Koma Jinja in Hidaka, Saitama Prefecture, located in the northwestern fringes of the Tokyo Metropolitan Area.The Japan-South Korea Culinary Culture Association,

NEW YORK (AP) -- New York City restaurants with outdoor tables will soon be able to welcome four-legged guests under new rules announced by the city Health Department.　The regulations announced Tuesday will permit dogs that are licensed and vaccinated against rabies to join their human chowhounds at participating restaurants.　The state Legislature passed a law last year allowing municipalities to set their own rules for dogs in outdoor dining areas.　The bill's sponsor, Democratic Assemblywoman L