Ramen remains the trendiest noodle soup in the country, and fried chicken continues to surge in popularity. The Jinya Ramen Bar chain combines both of them in this dish, which starts with a creamy vegetable broth to which is added spicy garlic sauce, green onion, wood ear mushrooms, chopped onion, spinach and chashu pork. It’s served with a side of two small pieces of fried chicken

Melts — a term for sandwiches with melted cheese on them — are springing up on menus as we head into the fall including this item at Sonic Drive-In which combines grilled cheese and burgers by sandwiching a beef patty with mustard, ketchup and diced onion between to grilled and cheese-coated slices of buttered Texas Toast.

In a move that encourages customer engagement, education and the opportunity to upsell beverages, Carrabba’s Italian Grill is celebrating grape harvest season by serving two 3-ounce pours of wine, one Italian and one Californian, that guests can vote on using a QR code

The match-ups are Chloe Pinot Grigio versus Images Sauvignon Blanc, Allegrini Valpolicella versus Conundrum Red Blend, and Gabbiano Chianti with versus J. Lohr Cabernet Sauvignon.

As chicken wing prices continue to soar, Wingstop has incorporated bone-in thighs and boneless breaded Thigh Bites, originally introduced as a virtual brand called Thighstop, into its regular menu.

More information available here.

In a dish that incorporates local melon, premium oysters and a thoughtful melding of European and Latin American approaches, Stephen Sandoval, executive chef of Entre Sueños, a tasting-menu-only restaurant in Chicago, uses Kumiai Oysters — briny and sweet farm-raised shellfish from Vizcaino Bay in Baja California, Mexico — and dresses them in a mignonette of Sugar Cube cantaloupe, shallot, vinegar and lime along with smoky morita chile and shaved Jamón Iberico fat that is charred to order in front of guests.

Sandoval said the idea was to create a dressing that fell somewhere between a classic oyster mignonette and aguachile that would dress ceviche in northern Mexico. The ham fat is inspired by the custom in Spain to eat Jamón Iberico with melon — similar to the Italian habit of eating melon with prosciutto.