Pizza Bianca with morels, Maggie's Farm purple asparagus, fresh spinach, Crescenza cheese and truffle oil was one of the May 14, 2013, lunch specials at Genovese. by Sara Shepherd

It’s the time of year when morels are popping up in Kansas woods and in the news feeds of those foraging-types you’re friends with on Facebook — not that that does us non-foraging-types any good.

Luckily, a few Lawrence restaurants have secured sources for the elusive mushrooms and are plating up the pungent (in a good way!) fungi in various forms.

I got my fix today at Genovese, where the lunch specials included a Pizza Bianca with morels, Maggie's Farm purple asparagus, fresh spinach, Crescenza cheese and truffle oil. In the past week I’ve also seen morel specials advertised at 715 — where they’ve offered the mushrooms at dinnertime, sauteed with pancetta and served over grilled WheatFields bread and Maytag polenta — and at Pachamama’s — where they showed them Friday on Facebook atop pan roasted walleye, along with roasted cauliflower and dill and onion bubble and squeak.

To buy morels to cook yourself, Pendleton’s Kaw Valley Country Market also has advertised morels in their newsletter, although in limited amounts. For availability call 843-1409.

Watch social media feeds and keep an eye on downtown sandwich boards to catch any remaining morel specials before what's left of the season is gone. And maybe it wouldn’t hurt to try and make more of those foraging types more than just Facebook friends — they're probably more likely to share than to give away their secret hunting spots.

The true morel (left) is distinguishable from false morels (right) by its hollow core. False morels have cottony or other weblike structures inside their stem and cap.

There is a tequila world beyond “lick, shoot, suck” (and, inevitably, burn), and an upcoming event provides a good opportunity to foray into it.

Genovese’s annual Cinco de Mayo Tequila Tasting Dinner is planned for 6 p.m. Sunday at the restaurant, 941 Massachusetts St.

Genovese plans to serve a selection of Avión and Familia Camarena brand tequilas — silver, reposado and añejo, all produced in the highlands of Jalisco, Mexico — paired with a four-course dinner menu. Geneovese chef and co-owner Armando Paniagua’s Mexican heritage is reflected in his planned dishes: shrimp and octopus cocktail, grilled mahi mahi tacos, barbacoa and chocolate Kahlua panna cotta.

The cost of the dinner is $50 per person, not including tax and gratuity. For reservations, call Genovese at 842-0300.

Boulevard's Tripel Julep by Sara Shepherd

There’s only a handful of kegs (sixth-barrels at that) in town, but Boulevard Brewing Company’s Kentucky Derby-inspired Tripel Julep — a very limited, experimental release not planned for bottling — is on tap in Lawrence.

Mariscos has one keg, and Dempsey’s says they have two — one tapped and one backup. (There may be more, most likely bars that routinely serve Boulevard's Smokestack Series brews. Feel free to add sightings in the comments section below.)

This is easily the most unusual beer I’ve had. (Maybe the most unusual beer anyone has had?) Boulevard took some of its Long Strange Tripel, aged it in bourbon barrels and infused it with mint. You’ll taste a lot of mint, the banana and citrus notes Belgians are known for, a little bit of sweetness, plus a hint of oak and bourbon.

Boulevard used 15 first-use barrels from the Four Roses Bourbon distillery to age the Tripel for about three months, according to tasting notes from the distributor. Brewers then added mint and filled about 50 kegs by hand. For having an alcohol content of more than 11 percent, it’s deceivingly light and easy-drinking.

Naturally, Kansas City has the lion’s share of Tripel Julep. For those of you venturing that way, The Pitch today published a list of restaurants where it’s on tap in KC.

Brenna McKedy, a Kansas University junior from Garden City, left, works on homework near the cereal bar at Java Break, 17 E. Seventh St. Sarina Geist, right, store manager, says cereal bars are popular on the coasts and suit Java Break’s college-age clientele. by Mike Yoder

For the second time in two weeks, Lawrence has landed a spot on a Zagat list.

Our very own Java Break, 17 E. Seventh St., is representing Kansas on Zagat’s latest online roundup, “The United States of Caffeine: 50 States, 50 Must-Try Coffee Shops.” It's No. 16 on the slideshow list, revealed Wednesday on the Zagat blog.

Here’s what caught the judges' attention:

“Lawrence has no shortage of cool-kid coffee shops, but Java Break is unique thanks to the 24-hour coffee-flowing-though-your-veins service. The ultra-kitschy decor is loved by hipster college kids sticking Starbucks to the man, and their drinks, like the cult-ish Hazelnut Chai, are made from scratch without preservatives or corn syrup. Bonus: there’s a cereal bar with a slew of toppings.”

I'm an almond milk latte gal myself and haven't tried the chai, but I'll vouch for the rest of this writeup. If you missed our recent Off The Beaten Plate feature on their Cereal Bar, check it out here.

The other Zagat mention? That would be Burger Stand making its "Best Burgers in 25 Cities" list.

Java Break’s Minty Hot Chocolate. by Nick Krug

The Burger Stand at the Casbah, 803 Mass., won Best Burger in the 2012 Best of Lawrence contest.

Zagat has taken note of something we Lawrencians have known for a while, if the Best of Lawrence contest is a fair indication. Zagat released its “Best Burgers in 25 Cities” list this week, and the Burger Stand at the Casbah, 803 Massachusetts St., is on it.

In a recent Zagat survey, the Zagat.com Blog feature explains, diners revealed they eat burgers more than four times per month. Thus, Zagat compiled the list in honor of the American favorite.

The Burger Stand joins restaurants and dives from Honolulu to Boston. (While Burger Stand is listed as being in Kansas City, I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt and assuming they’re implying the Kansas City area.)

As far is the quotes in Zagat’s summary of our local favorite go, they don’t indicate who or what they’re quoting. Maybe reader reviews? Anyway, here’s what they have to say:

“Outstanding” “gourmet” burgers and the “best” sides (“you can’t beat the truffle or duck-fat fries”) make this “cool” Lawrence joint a “new classic” whose “bustling” vibe “feels vital without being obnoxious”; service is “quick”, the bar stays open late most nights, and even if it’s not the cheapest patty-slinger around, you get to “indulge without emptying the bank.”

Kevin Anderson/Journal-World Photo.The Burger Stand, 803 Mass., creates a variety of signature ketchups. Truffle fries gets some chipotle cocoa ketchup added. by Kevin Anderson

1006 Mass. now houses The Orient, Oh Boy! Chicken and a more ephemeral version of the former Angler's Seafood House. by Sara Shepherd

If you follow my colleague Chad Lawhorn's Town Talk blog, you know something has been going on with the restaurants at the southeast corner of 10th and Mass. After a month of being closed for remodeling, The Orient, Oh Boy! Chicken and (sort of) Angler's Seafood House reopened last week — as the same restaurant.

I stopped in Friday to check it out, and Nancy Nguyen, who owns all three restaurants, said the style of the new place is more "like a bistro." Nguyen she was looking to reduce her overhead and pare down the time she spent running between all three establishments.

"One person, you can't do it," she said.

The 3-in-1 conglomeration at 1006 Mass. has signs outside for The Orient and Oh Boy! Chicken. Inside, the decor is mostly Asian with some chickens and a fish here and there. There are two separate menus, one for The Orient (with its "pho-nomenal" pho and other Vietnamese dishes) and one for Oh Boy! Chicken (which offers gluten-free fried chicken, catfish and down-home sides).

Nguyen said the cost of flying in fresh fish three times a week has gotten too high to support. Rather than have it on a daily menu, she said, she expects to serve some of Angler's specialties, such as lobster tail, as weekend specials.

If any of you have been to that little Mexican-Chinese restaurant in downtown Eudora, Jasmine, it's kind of like that. If your party can't decide what its in the mood for, everyone can sit at the same table but dine in different worlds. (Incidentally, that place has both Mexican blankets and Asian things on its walls. It's really something.)

P.S. Alleged Vermont Street BBQ-to-be, next door at 1004 Mass., still has paper over the windows and "Coming soon!" signs on the door.