The San Francisco Chronicle: It's Valentine's Day, and if all else has failed, rosé Champagne awaits. The Chronicle recommends a selection of good ones. - Eric Asimov Travel and Leisure: Peter Jon Lindberg and friends rent a villa on the "inscrutable" coastline of western Sicily. The staff at the villa happens to include a masterful cook. "We'd originally planned on making most meals ourselves, but we soon surrendered the stoves to Daniela," Mr. Lindberg writes. Her cooking was hearty, soulful, authentic - and exactly what we craved. I still miss her melanzane parmigiana, her roast spring lamb, her spaghetti con bottarga, her pasta con le sarde (that ur-Sicilian dish of bucatini, sardines, wild fennel, pine nuts, and raisins). Our meals were served outside, under a violet-flowering jacaranda tree. Jealous yet? - Jeff Gordinier The New York Times: "I fall in love with the wine when I was 16." Tuesday audio-visual special: Arianna Occhipinti, a rising star in Sicily, explains why she started making wine. - Eric Asimov 26 Kitchens: A writer looks back on the kitchens of a lifetime. - Julia Moskin The Guardian: "Buy local" may be a well-meaning slogan, but it doesn't ensure that a chicken raised nearby is better for the planet, or for you, than one shipped across half the country. It all depends on the local farm. And even if locavorism is a goal, it cannot feed demand in a sustainable way. These and other red flags are raised by a sustainable-agriculture guru, Jason Clay of the World Wildlife Fund, as he puts localized assumptions in perspective. - Glenn Collins The Washington Post: The chef John Nucci dies, 23 years after he was shot and paralyzed and 18 years after he opened Willows Restaurant and Tavern in Maryland, resuming his career with the help of a customized stand-up wheelchair. - Nick Fox The New York Times: The velvet rope gets an ominous twist at an upscale Virginia retirement community whose dining rooms now are open only to residents of independent-living units - not those in assisted living or nursing care. The rule, similar to policies in other places, has kept couples with different needs from eating together and ignited protests. - Patrick Farrell Crow's Theater: A new play opening in Toronto dramatizes the long legal fight between a Saskatchewan farmer and the seed company Monsanto. - Julia Moskin The New York Times: "When McDonald's does the right thing, it's a game-changer," Mark Bittman says of the company's plan to have suppliers phase out gestation crates for pregnant pigs. - Nick Fox The Santa Barbara Independent: Swarms of jellyfish have been disabling nuclear power plants and sinking fishing boats in recent years. So, are jellyfish populations truly surging? And is climate change a factor? What's really going on? - Jeff Gordinier National Geographic: Venturesome chefs, take note: for the first time marine scientists were shocked, shocked when they hoisted up super-giant shrimplike creatures from 6.2 miles under the ocean off New Zealand. They measure 11 inches long, three times larger than the previous record-holder. Tastes like chicken? - Glenn Collins The Wall Street Journal: Fresh meat, er, greens for the Mediterranean diet: A study by researchers at Columbia and the University of Miami suggests that it may protect small blood vessels in the brain, reducing the risks of stroke and dementia. - Patrick Farrell The Drinks Business: In Hong Kong, the private cellar of the legendary Burgundy vigneron Henri Jayer sells for more than $8.5 million. - Eric Asimov Out: A thumbs-up for a couple of gay-themed articles in the forthcoming March issue of Saveur. - Jeff Gordinier My New Roots: Not that I was planning to harvest my own amaranth, but here's why not. - Julia Moskin Tasting Table: Bakers are bringing back rye flour. - Jeff Gordinier Smithsonian: Their grooming habits and fashion choices were questionable, but the commune dwellers of the early 1970s were well ahead of their time on culinary issues like eating locally and well. A peek back at the 1972 book "Country Commune Cooking," with a recipe for "Brotherhood Spirit in Flesh Soup." - Patrick Farrell