Julia’s Diner

Street address: 21235 Manton Road, Manton

Phone: 474-3310

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Hours: Monday – Wednesday 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., Thursday – Sunday 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Owner: Julia Pritchard

Established: 1971

Sample menu items:

Bacon and eggs $8.12

Pancakes $3.25

Manton burger $7.55

Grilled turkey sandwich $7.85

Chicken fried steak dinner $9.95

Inside, Linda Young, a part-time Manton resident for 10 years, was helping Pritchard and explaining why she can’t wait to retire from her job in Contra Costa County and move to Manton full-time. “

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Hopkins Vineyard in the Litchfield Hills welcomes guests for its spring Barrel Tasting event Saturday and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m.

The festival includes barrel samples with the winemaker; wine tastings; a buffet of artisan cheese, pate and fresh fruit and live music. Guests will receive a souvenir Hopkins wine glass.

Admission is $30 at the door. Hopkins Vineyard is at 25 Hopkins Road in New Preston. 860-868-7954; www.hopkinsvineyard.com.

The hamburger is generally regarded as a uniquely American phenomenon, but plenty of other cultures have their own analogs of the genre, or riffs upon it. In Houston, with our rich assortment of ethnic restaurants, we have easy access to these burger variants — like the stuffed pljeskavica (say “plyess-kah-vee-tza”) that’s billed as a “Bosnian Burger” at the brand-new Cafe Adel Bosnian restaurant in northwest Houston. <

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Nate Weiner used to do most of his grocery shopping at the Wegmans in Hunt Valley and the Giant near his Hampden home. Now he orders most of his groceries online from Relay Foods and picks it up at designated spot on Sundays.

“I get most of my produce from them,” said Weiner, 26, a mechanical engineer and part-time student. “The local stuff is picked that morning. They’re some of the best vegetables I’ve ever had.”

While the aspect of fresh and local food is an attraction, the real selling point for him is convenience. “My days are pretty long,” he said. “By the time I’m done, the last thing I want to do is go grocery shopping.”

Relay Foods is one of several grocery delivery services operating in the Baltimore area, each with a different niche.

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Former boxing champ Mike Tyson wants to take his acting ambitions to the next level by tackling the works of William Shakespeare.

The ex-fighter has been carving out a career in TV and film since retiring from the ring, landing a string of cameos in projects such as and

He now wants to perform in plays by the Bard, and is eager to kickstart his stage career by landing the lead role in .

He tells the , “Wouldn’t Shakespeare be awesome? That black guy… could you imagine me in ?”

But Tyson admits he will have to work hard to be at the level needed to properly portray one of Shakespeare’s most famous characters.

He adds, “Anything you give me time to prepare, I can do.

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The musical duo Switchback will be in concert at 8 p.m. Friday at the Hoogland Center for the Arts in Springfield.

The Central Illinois Irish Dancers also will perform.

Switchback — consisting of Brian FitzGerald and Martin McCormack — mixes Americana and traditional Celtic genres to create an American roots/Celtic soul sound.

FitzGerald — on guitar, mandolin and vocals — and McCormack — on bass, guitar and vocals — have played together for more than 20 years, starting as part of legendary Irish composer Terrence “Cuz” Teahan’s traditional Irish music group.

From there, the duo teamed with Mary McDonagh of Chicago and Bert McMahon of Ireland to form the Wailin’ Banshees before forming Switchback in 1993. Their first album p

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