Cover: On the Menu
Lowly Chow Goes Highbrow: There's a peasant-food rebellion going on in the food world as ingredients once considered low-class are now making a big splash in fine-dining restaurants, including right here in Silicon Valley.

Urban Food Secrets...Revealed!: If cheap food is going to become tomorrow's fine dining, it's got to start somewhere. Here's a rundown of some of San Jose's best-kept secrets.

Monster Mush: Want to serve up something truly scary? Colored Cheez-Whiz has nothing on jellied tongue on Halloween.

News: Student Bodies:
A Silicon Valley school district has become the front line in a battle over No Child Left Behind.

The Fly: Putting the Race in DA Race.

Silicon Alleys: 1,000 Points of Live.

Techsploits: Patents Kill.

Rev: Horse Trading: I saw multiple people drop by and gaze at my lovely truck before leaving in disgust. I was so relieved that I didn't have to interact with them.

Showdown: There just isn't enough space to list the records broken by the San Jose Earthquakes this year.

See Monsters: Noah Baumbach's 'The Squid and the Whale' plumbs the depths of divorce with a razor wit.

Zorro for Conduct: Armed with a mask and a sombrero, Antonio Banderas carves a new 'Legend of Zorro.'

No Rain, No Gain: Cage, Caine provide silver lining in 'Weather Man.'

L.A. Women: Rodrigo García connects the dots in multipart 'Nine Lives' about women on the emotional edge.

It's a B-Side Thing: The Fighting Jacks aren't breaking up, but lead vocalist Casey Linstrum is breaking out.

Rack of L.A.M.B.: The Gwen Stefani show would have rocked if she wore sensible shoes.

The Last Thing She Wanted: Joan Didion analyzes her own tragedy in 'The Year of Magical Thinking.'

Book Box: 'The Simpsons: One Step Beyond Forever,' 'Slam Dunks and No-Brainers' and 'Cities of the World: A History in Maps.'

Live Feed: Savoring the Fall.

5 Things to Love: Food Gift Ideas.

Club Life: Sino Restaurant And Lounge in San Jose.

Tricky Talk: Solo talker Martin Moran dredges up some painful memories in his one-man play 'The Tricky Part.'

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: 'Smoke on the Mountain' plays gospel with undertones at Tabard Theatre.

Critical Mass: The San Francisco Opera splits the atom in John Adams' new creation, 'Doctor Atomic.'