The folks at Boston Magazine have put together a list of the best restaurants in Boston for 2010. Here are the first 12 on their roundup of 50:

* Market by Jean-George: in the W hotel, 100 Stuart Street, Boston (the picture, at left, is from this restaurant).

*Erbaluce: in the Bay Village neighborhood, 69 Church Street, Boston.

*Coppa: in the South End, 253 Shawmut Avenue, Boston.

*North 26: in the Millennium Bostonian Hotel, 26 North Street, Boston.

*Sensing: at Fairmont Battery Wharf, 3 Battery Wharf, Boston.

*Sportello, 348 Congress Street, Boston.

*Toro, 1704 Washington Street, Boston.

*The Friendly Toast, One Kendall Square, Cambridge.

*Sel de la Terre: in Back Bay, 774 Boylston Street, Boston.

*Teranga: in South End, 1746 Washington Street, Boston.

*Post 390: in Back Bay, 406 Stuart Street, Boston.

*Trina’s Starlite Lounge: in Inman Square, 3 Beacon Street, Somerville.

The 30th Annual Taste of Charleston takes place in the South Carolina city October 8 through 10, 2010. If you’re headed there, Road Trips Foodies, during the three-day gastronomical extravaganza you can sample some indigenous cuisine.

The event features some of the Low Country’s chefs as well as their creations. There’s an Iron Chef competition, wine and beer classes, an art walk and live music. It’s hosted by the Greater Charleston Restaurant Association.

The Iron Chef competition is October 8 on the Culinary Institute of Charleston’s Palmer Campus in downtown Charleston. It’ll showcase local chefs in a heated head-to-head battle in the Institute’s amphitheater kitchen.

Taste of the Arts on Gallery Row will be held October 9 at various art galleries in downtown Charleston. The art walk combines Low Country art with the culinary arts — showcasing the talents of local artists while offering guests a sampling of appetizers from a variety of Charleston restaurants.

The main event — Taste of Charleston — is October 10 at Boone Hall Plantation in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. The event will showcase a sampling of culinary treats from more than 50 of Charleston’s restaurants. Additional highlights include the legendary Waiters’ Wine Race, food-and-wine pairings, a selection of specialty and imported beers, live bands on the main stage and a Kids Corner (complete with pony rides).

This year, the Taste of Charleston’s main event will also play host to officials from the Guinness Book of World Records, as the world’s largest snow-cone will be prepared on-site in hopes of setting a new record.

Tickets for everything are available online.

Here’s your chance, Road Trips Foodies, to sample roasted raccoon, smoked squirrel and duck! Set your GPS for the Gene Stratton-Porter Cabin, 1205 Pleasant Point, Rome City, Indiana. Get there between 6 and 9 p.m. on September 25, 2010, for the Upland Wildlife Cookout! Cost for all this deliciousness is $5 per person.

There’s even more on the menu at this one-of-a-kind cookout. Join hunters, conservationists and local wildlife experts for an evening of new tastes and information. (Yes, there will be s’mores for dessert!)

Get there early and explore the two-mile-long Pat Bolman Heritage Tree Trail. It includes benches for the occasional stop to enjoy the woods.

The Indiana author Gene Stratton-Porter called this her “Cabin in Wildflower Woods”. It’s on the shore of Sylvan Lake, near Rome City, Indiana. Her writing career began when her first piece was accepted by Recreation magazine (for which she received $16!). She wrote regularly for this publication for two years and then joined the staff of Outing, a national natural history magazine. A year later, she decided she might be able to reach a larger audience if she “sugar-coated” her nature studies with a veneer of fiction. This marked the beginning of Porter’s formula for her novels. Porter’s first two novels were Song of the Cardinal (1903) and Freckles (1904).

What is now the Gene Stratton-Porter State Historic Site was Porter’s second adult home, built in 1913. The vast, undeveloped forest of this site provided a rich source of material for her nature studies, writings and photography. Porter developed the wildflower gardens using plants from all around the state. The gardens, arbor, orchard and many scenic paths are still intact. The site currently encompasses 125 acres of land, 20 of which were part of Porter’s original property.

“The Cabin in Wildflower Woods,” designed by Porter, is a two-story cabin with exterior walls of Wisconsin cedar logs. Local wild cherry was used to panel the entrance hall and dining room. There are three extraordinary fireplaces on the first floor: one of polished English brick, one constructed of Indiana artifacts and stones collected from other states and one of puddin’ stone. Much of the furniture and personal memorabilia, including Porter’s library, are preserved at the home. In her lifetime (1863-1924), Porter authored 12 novels, seven nature studies, three books of poetry, children’s books and numerous magazine articles.

The 19th Annual Colorado Mountain Winefest takes place September 16-19, 2010, in Palisade, Colorado.

Although there are special events each day, the big one — the Saturday Wine Festival — is 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. September 18 in the town’s Riverbend Park. Some 56 wineries and their winemakers will participate, but there’ll also be cheese makers, peach growers, painters, ice carvers, chefs, and Bacchus (that old wine god himself). You can actually stomp grapes, Road Trips Foodies — how can you refuse an opportunity such as that!

Oh, and if you want to buy wine by the bottle and not schlep it around all day, you can take it to a specially-designated tent and they’ll store it ’til you’re ready to leave.

On September 19, take a drive-yourself tour of area wineries. They’ll be expecting visitors between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. throughout Mesa and Delta counties, which are home to more than 80% of the vineyards in Colorado.

Winemaker dinners are scheduled throughout the winefest. You can meet the winemakers and taste Colorado wines chosen to enhance the flavors of each course. Ticket prices vary and reservations are essential because seating is limited at the venues, 10 Grand Valley restaurants.

It may be spring in the Southern Hemisphere, but you can’t keep a German from celebrating Oktoberfest. Road Trips Foodies heading to South Africa in October might consider a stop in the Nelson Mandela Bay area between October 28 and 31, 2010, for the Bavarian-themed event.

There’ll be a wide range of both local and imported beers plus music, entertainment and, oh, yes, food! The sponsor is (no surprise here) the German Club of Port Elizabeth.

Fall is the season for apple fests, Road Trips Foodies. One of ‘em takes place October 23, 2010, in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. It’s the 22nd year for the annual fest held by the British Columbia Orchard Industry’s Museum. Not surprisingly, it celebrates the apple harvest and gives visitors the chance to sample over two dozen locally-grown apple varieties.

The Apple Fair is traditionally held in the Laurel Packinghouse at 1304 Ellis Street, Kelowna. However, due to renovations at the Laurel Packinghouse, this year’s Apple Fair will be held at Orchard Park Shopping Centre, 2271 Harvey Avenue, Kelowna. Hours are 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and admission is free.

The next Charleston Restaurant Week is September 8 through 19, 2010, in the South Carolina city. Diners will have a chance to sample special discounted dinner menus from over 50 participating Charleston area restaurants, ranging from casual to fine dining.

And, if that’s not enough Low Country cuisine for you, Road Trips Foodies, the Greater Charleston Restaurant Association’s 30th Annual Taste of Charleston celebration is October 8 to 10, 2010.

The next installment of Restaurant Week in Charleston will be January 14 through 22, 2011.

Of course you knew, Road Trips Foodies, that the venerable bow-tied icon of popcorn is a native of Valparaiso, Indiana. You didn’t? Well, drive on over to the 32nd Valparaiso Popcorn Festival, on September 11, 2010, and you’ll quickly find out. (It’s in downtown Valparaiso.)

It all began in 1979, when the idea to bring a festival to the city, ummm, popped up in the minds of the Valparaiso city leadership. Who better to solute than a Valparaiso native who became a household name with his very own brand of popcorn? Orville Redenbacher – America’s Popcorn King – was the inspiration behind the very first Popcorn Festival and the Nation’s First and Finest Popcorn Parade.

There’ll be 30 food booths, 200 arts and crafts vendors — plus (of course) the Popcorn parade. The Popcorn Panic (a 5K run) kicks off at 7 a.m. with the festival wrapping up at 6:30 p.m.

Indiana is the second largest producer of popcorn in the United States, growing some 192.5 million pounds of the specialty product.

Road Trips Foodies who are chocoholics no doubt have the weekend of September 11-12, 2010, marked on their calendars already. That’s when the 15th annual Chocolate Festival takes place in San Francisco, California.

The festival at Ghirardelli Square, 900 Point Street, San Francisco, California, will feature chocolatiers, artisans and chefs showcasing chocolate delicacies and desserts. Fun events, including a “hands-free” ice cream sundae-eating contest (don’t ask!), are planned.

Admission is free, but you’ll have to buy tickets for chocolate tastings. They’re $20 for 15 samples. Tickets may be purchased in advance online or at the door on the days of the event.

Ready to enter a jalapeño and salsa-eating competition, Road Trips Foodies? Set your GPS for the fourth annual SalsaFest in Safford, Arizona. It’s September 24 and 25, 2010.

In addition to the distractions of hot air balloons, salsa music and dancing, skydivers, chihuahua races and entertainment, there’s a salsa-making contest, chile roasting and food demonstrations in the historic Town Square.

The SalsaFest emerged from southern Arizona’s Salsa Trail. Hidden in the small communities of Safford, Pima, Thatcher, Solomon, Clifton, Duncan, Willcox, and York are a dozen Mexican restaurants, a family-owned tortilla factory and a chile-grower. Take the trail and check ‘em out!