What feeds the candidates' hunger

Sarah Palin is as pro-moose stew as any candidate can be. It's her favorite food. The Republican vice presidential candidate from Alaska hunts the moose herself, and presumably cooks it, too - she fired the governor's personal chef after taking office, she says. She also fishes. It's no secret that Palin (aliases: Sarah Barracuda, pit bull with lipstick) pursues her targets aggressively.

Despite her glam-librarian demeanor, she's never been to the Marx Bros. Cafe in Anchorage, says co-owner Jack Amon. The restaurant, recently visited by Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart, serves dishes such as Alaskan halibut wrapped in potato with Provencal tomato sauce and jasmine rice. "I don't think she's interested in the kind of fusion cuisine we do," Amon says. Eat conservatively, vote conservatively?

The Windbreak Cafe in her hometown of Wasilla might be more up her alley. The restaurant and adjoining hotel cater to fishing enthusiasts. Cafe cook and manager John Goss says he believes Palin has eaten there in the past. If she were to come in, he'd recommend eggs and reindeer sausage for breakfast, or a dish called halibut Olympia for dinner. Nothing Provencal here, just good old sour cream and mayo.

Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden loves Italian food. According to the Dallas Morning News, he once pledged that if ever elected president, he'd put an Italian chef in the White House. (What, did you expect the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee to prefer American cuisine?) He's also said his favorite thing to cook is pasta.

When the Delaware senator eats at Toscana Kitchen + Bar in Wilmington, says chef-owner Dan Butler, he usually orders something that's not even on the menu: penne with tomato sauce and basil. Hmm, an off-menu guy who orders something simpler than most of the on-menu dishes. "He's outside the box, but still very mainstream," Butler says.

Butler also says Biden never orders meat at the restaurant. Maybe that carbo loading is what's given him his political endurance. Biden's no Dennis Kucinich (a vegan), but his stance on ribs and chili is unknown, not to mention moose stew. This could bring an interesting dynamic to the political table.