Louise Rhind-Tutt

The Italian city of Naples is synonymous with pizza, one of the most influential international dishes of all time. So when Food Republic spoke to chef Marc Murphy at the New York City Food & Wine Festival about his favorite restaurant in Naples, it's not surprising to learn it's a pizzeria. Not just any pizzeria, though. "I always go see Gino Sorbillo," Murphy told us. "Gino's got a great place."

Sometimes the cool creaminess of tuna salad is exactly what you want — but other times, it needs something extra to be truly satisfying. There are lots of simple ways to take plain tuna salad to the next level, but if you want to really spice things up, just add a little sriracha. With punchy ingredients such as chili, garlic, and vinegar, the sauce enhances the fish with a tasty, tangy infusion of heat. The condiment also contains sugar and salt for a well-balanced overall flavor that's neither too sweet nor too savory.

The key to great coffee at home is precision. If you love experimenting with ways to improve your morning cup, you might be familiar with the process of blooming. This extra step essentially involves wetting the grounds and waiting a little before pouring in the rest of the water. To find out why it's necessary and how it affects the flavor of the finished drink, Food Republic consulted Jee Choe, a coffee and tea sommelier who started her coffee blog Oh, How Civilized in 2012.

Even though the original tuna melt was a happy mistake, the combination of creamy fish filling, gooey cheese, and crunchy golden bread has gone on to become a comfort food classic. It's one of those dishes where canned tuna is better than fresh, making super easy to whip up. But if you find that yours don't quite turn out as nice as you hoped, either because the bread is burned or the cheese isn't properly melted, the solution is easy: Use a pan lid.

Coffee and dairy often seem to go together hand-in-hand — even the best milk for latte art is usually a full-fat dairy version. But if you prefer not to have milk, you don't just have to switch to a regular coffee made with non-dairy alternatives or drink a simple black brew. Food Republic consulted expert Jee Choe, a coffee and tea sommelier and the creator of the Oh, How Civilized blog, to get some top tips for more exciting dairy-free drinking.

After 15 years at the Freemasons at Wiswell, chef Steven Smith has joined Manchester's Musu Collection. Can he make his mark in the city? Louise Rhind-Tutt reports

There are many different tips for making restaurant-quality scrambled eggs, and a lot comes down to personal preference: whether you prefer them soft and creamy or light and fluffy, enriched with butter, or mixed with cheese. You can even make scrambled eggs into a gourmet dish with one ingredient: truffle. But you may not have realized that the utensil you use to beat them actually has a significant impact on the texture of the final result. And for cloud-like, fluffy eggs, a fork is better than a whisk.

Sometimes, it seems truly impossible to decide which comfort food you want most: a sizzling burger or melty pizza pie. Pizza burgers perfectly satisfy that comfort food craving when you're just not quite sure which you fancy more. At its most basic, the concept involves adding pizza-inspired toppings like sauce, mozzarella, and pepperoni to your beef patty. It's incredibly easy to make your own version at home, which you can customize with your preferred flavors.

Whether you're a confident home cook or are just starting out in your culinary journey, it's always helpful to learn from professional chefs about how to improve your skills in the kitchen. Chef, restaurateur, and television personality Andrew Zimmern has lots of handy cooking tips — so when Food Republic spoke to him at the New York Wine & Food Festival, we asked him to give us some insider info.

The traditional way to make french fries is to soak and then dry sliced potatoes before frying them (often twice) in very hot oil. But an alternative way you may not have tried involves putting the potatoes in room temperature oil before heating them up together. The cold-fry method creates less oil splatters than the usual way, and uses less oil — and since it's often associated with famed French chef Joël Robuchon, it's great to use for steak frites, the classic French dish of skinny fries with steak.