Whether you're trying to brainstorm gift ideas or you simply are a hoarder of books about eating and drinking, I've got good news for you.

I've scoured Creative Loafing's shelves and found some books to give away.

Now I'm not saying this is the creme de la creme of reading — but hey, they're new and free.

Comment below your favorite restaurant in Charlotte and we'll pick a winner by the end of the day.

**Must be able to come by CL's offices at the N.C. Music Factory to pick up books between the hours of 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

I don't know about you, but when I think about Whisky River, food doesn't exactly come to mind. The nightclub, owned by NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr., has a mechanical bull, for goodness' sake. And what does Jr. know about food? He drives in circles for a living.

But according to a recent press release, their new kitchen opens soon:

Opening November 2012, Whisky River’s new kitchen and 175 seat dining floor plan redefines the Charlotte venue’s experience.

Located only a few blocks away from the NASCAR Hall of Fame, Whisky River has become an attraction race fans visit yearlong. Operating as both an evening venue and a full-service restaurant, Whisky River anticipates offering more to its patrons by creating an unique experience through delicious food and an exciting atmosphere, creating a revved-up nightlife.

“It is great when race fans come to visit and now we’ll be open for seven days a week for lunch and dinner. They can come in, sit down, relax and enjoy great barbecue with southern hospitality,” said General Manager Eric Flanigan.

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• Kelly Davis
• Papi Queso is the newest addition to Charlotte's food truck scene.

I recently spotted a new food truck in town, that (get this!) only serves GRILLED CHEESE! Grilled cheese is one of my favorite childhood comfort foods that I still return to as an adult when I want crave simple pleasures, so I had to try it for myself.

Turns out, Papi Queso serves up so much more than the traditional American cheese on white bread.

• Kelly Davis
• Papi Queso features six unique grilled cheese sandwiches.

Papi Queso's menu features five unique grilled cheese sandwiches, as well as a dessert sandwich with Nutella, strawberries, honey, and toasted marshmallow.

• Kelly Davis
• Peculiar Rabbit in Plaza Midwood

With such a unique name and such a spiffy new building, The Peculiar Rabbit is sure to stir up a lot of interest in the Plaza Midwood neighborhood. The restaurant/bar just opened on Monday, but I got the chance to have a sneak preview last week while the owner and staff were still putting the finishing touches on the three-story craftsman style building.

• Kelly Davis
• The downstairs bar area seats 200 people and serves up 24 beers on tap.

The restaurant features 24 beers on tap at each one of their three bars. Their main bar is on the first level, but a dumbwaiter helps lift all their beers on tap to the second and third floors.

• Kelly Davis
• The First Floor

Prices on their menu range from $10-$30 and Executive Chef Geoff Bragg covers the gamut from Asian Fusion to New American.

Here are some of their menu highlights:

The Democratic National Convention brings more to the Queen City than just celebrity fanfare and unprecedented traffic jams. As the convention sweeps through town, swishing its hips down Charlotte's crowded streets, several partnerships have been working to ensure that Mayor Anthony Foxx's legacy programs leave more behind than just the lipstick-stained wine cups of convention goers.

As part of the Healthy Children, Healthy Families initiative — to combat childhood obesity, increase access to local foods and promote a healthy lifestyle among Charlotteans — the convention host committee partnered with local organizations Friendship Gardens, the Charlotte Area Transit System and Humana to launch Friendship Gardens To Go. It's a mobile produce market inside the Charlotte Transit Center at Fourth and Trade streets.

• Henry Owen, Program Director of Friendship Gardens

The mobile market aims to bring healthy, fresh produce on a weekly basis to the transit hub, a central stopping point for Charlotteans who have trouble accessing healthy foods. Currently, 70,000 Charlotte residents live in food deserts — areas with an overabundance of fast foods but with limited access to foods needed to maintain a healthy diet.

Friendship Gardens To Go represents a collaborative effort that began well before the convention came to town.

• Photo courtesy of Friendship Gardens

“This is a project that has been waiting in the wings for some time” says Kathy Metzo, director of garden development at Friendship Gardens and treasurer of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Food Policy Council.

The Democratic National Convention might be all about politics, schmoozing with big-wig leaders, and trying to catch a glimpse of a Hollywood celebrity, but that doesn't keep local Charlotte food purveyors from using this national spotlight to participate in the fun.

While you can be sure you won't find any price specials at restaurants around town (DNC'ers are more than happy to shell out big bucks for a meal), what you can find are special additions to menus in celebration of the DNC. These menu items may be sweet, savory, or thirst-quenching, but they all have one thing in common — they hope to draw the attention of all the new tastebuds in town.

• Kelly Davis
• 5 Church's American Kobe Flatiron Steak and Blue Moon Martini

Last week, 5Church in Uptown introduced a new menu item for the upcoming DNC — the American Kobe Flatiron Steak. The generous portion of juicy steak is served with heirloom tomatoes and crushed potatoes.

Blue Moon is being proudly served all over town since it is known as one of President Obama's favorite beers. But 5Church is putting their own chic spin on the summertime classic with a Blue Moon Martini.

• Kelly Davis
• The Boulevard at South End sells DNC candy from Curlicues and Confections.

If you have a sweet tooth, check out the DNC themed candy at The Boulevard at South End. Made by Curlicues and Confections, the boutique offers patriotic lollipops and tootsie rolls. But what's really impressive are the DNC marshmallows with DNC slogans as well as the President and First Lady's faces.

• Kelly Davis
• Bird's Eye View of the First Floor

On Wednesday, Aug. 29 (that's tomorrow!), the new Whole Foods Market will open at 8 a.m. with a FREE breakfast and an official bread breaking ceremony with Mayor Foxx at 8:30 a.m. The new store is located at 6610 Fairview Road, adjacent to Phillips Place in the SouthPark neighborhood.

I was invited to a special behind-the-scenes sneak preview yesterday and learned what makes this particular Whole Foods Market (WFM) so special. I've been a huge fan of WFM for years, making stops at their locations in Chapel Hill, Durham and Raleigh when possible, and am thrilled that Charlotte will now have its very own. It's about time!

• Kelly Davis
• Sampling some hatch chili salsa

Like a lot of groceries, WFM puts out samples throughout their store like this hatch chili salsa. Samples were out in full force yesterday for the enjoyment of those participating in the sneak preview tours.

• Kelly Davis
• Whole Foods supports whole living

Besides food, my tour group learned that WFM isn't just about whole foods, but whole living. They support this through their Whole Body section that has an apothecary style station for soaps and other products for the body and a gardening section.

• Kelly Davis
• Amazing bulk bins!

One of the things I am most excited about with the opening of WFM is their huge assortment of bulk bins. For those of you who are not familiar, customers can purchase anything from dried beans to nuts, exotic dried fruit and mushrooms to quinoa, whole wheat flour to stone milled grits. Bulk bins are often cheaper than the exact same food in a prepackaged container, better for the environment (because you can bring in your own containers), and allow you to purchase only what you need.

Purveyors of WFM will find a cooking and learning station in the bulk department called "Cooking Charlotte." Here, a part-time Cooking Coach is available to give cooking tips and answer all of your probing cooking questions, like "What do I do with a Fava bean?" And, "Is Himalayan sea salt worth the extra expense?"

• Kelly Davis
• I admit, I'm a chocolate fiend

My heart skipped a beat a little when we wandered past their GIGANTIC display of chocolate bars. I'm a self proclaimed chocolate fiend and love to savor one really good dark chocolate bar a little at a time. New-to-me flavors combinations (like chili + chocolate) and different brands are one of my favorite grocery store splurges. The selection at this particular WFM is extensive.

• Kelly Davis
• Artisan chocolates

My tour group also got a chance to sample some of the chocolate truffles from various artisan chocolate shops, carried by WFM such as sea salt dark chocolate caramels and smoke sea salt milk chocolate caramels. Amazing.

Charlotte isn't lacking in Cajun restaurants, but there is a new kid in town. OK, so maybe this kid isn't brand-new, but he's had a bit of a makeover.

• Kelly Davis
• Bite Your Tongue Cajun Restaurant

On Monday, Aug. 20, Bite Your Tongue Cajun restaurant opened its doors to the public at its new location in South End with a soft menu. (A soft menu means a small menu that is just a sampling of the much larger menu that will be offered to the public in the future.)

Bite Your Tongue was originally a take-out and catering company in Louisiana owned by Lucius and Martine Johnson. When the couple was uprooted during the Hurricane Katrina evacuation in 2007, they decided to make Charlotte their new home and brought their business with them. Located in a medical building on Randolph Road, the couple served Cajun cuisine for four years. Now they have relocated to 222 E. Bland St., Suite E, in South End where they hope to expand their reach to more Charlotteans.

• Kelly Davis
• Bite Your Tongue has a streamlined modern space that is also welcoming and bright.

The new location of Bite Your Tongue is a small, streamlined modern restaurant with vibrant orange walls and accents of purple. The feeling is very lively, which doesn't come from just the decor.

• Kelly Davis
• The power of words and tastebuds

On my first visit, I arrived at 11:45 a.m., just before the lunch rush. As I waited on my lunch date to arrive, the restaurant was soon flooded with people who were audibly excited about the new food venue. It was obvious that some of the diners knew the family, offering their congratulations for a job well done, but others had heard of the restaurant by word of mouth and were eager to try the few items from the soft menu.

• Kelly Davis
• Know that's my kind of fork!

The style of the restaurant is casual and very appropriate for lunch, although breakfast and dinner are both served. A New Orleans Jazz Brunch is soon to come as well.

Upon entering the restaurant, diners order at a counter, then help themselves to the soda fountain and to any napkins and utensils they will need. Diners are provided a number so waiters can identify where orders should be delivered. There is seating both inside and out (facing the light rail line).

Our order came out in about five minutes, despite people continuing to pour in through the doors while I waited.

• Kelly Davis
• Shimp Po'Boy with Crab Mayo

"Organic."
"Local."
"Gluten-free."
"Kale."

Bristling with desire yet? Anticipation may be the heart-achiest of foreplay, but your days of wandering despondently through aisles of preservative-laden food-like products are soon coming to a close: Charlotte's first Whole Foods Market will be open for business on Wednesday, Aug. 29.

"But, Laura," you whimper through mouthfuls of the "buy 10, get 10 free" saccharin sweet treats you shamefully stuff your gluttonous gull with as you anxiously await the chain's arrival, "whatever will I do with my artificial coloring afflicted self until then?"

Fear not, my humanely raised lambs. Sneak preview days are here.

On Aug. 26 &27, a $5 donation to benefit Friendship Gardens gets you a behind-the scenes-look at the store,
located at the corner of Sharon and Fairview Roads in SouthPark. Attendees must register in advance for a time slot.

There's no actual shopping on the tour, but participants will be the first to learn about some of the 42,000 square-foot store's highlights and features, like the in-house smoker with North Carolina pork, gelato and smoothie bar, children's play area, and bar serving wine and beer. Taste samples in each department, and you also get a goodie bag.

In a press release, Whole Foods Market Charlotte’s Store Team Leader, Trevor Barhydt, said, “We are looking forward to giving the community a sneak peek of our first store here in Charlotte. We’re also thrilled to partner with Friendship Gardens, since their vision really aligns with our commitment to our community and to healthy eating. It’s really a great organization.”

The term "granola" never looked so good.