Before Jobs and Wozniak, apples were known for growing on trees rather than revolutionizing technology. This week we consider the older tradition.

This month, Noodles & Company at the Westfield Mall in Annapolis is launching a new protein: pork. Founded in 1995 and based in Boulder, Colorado, this fast-casual chain features a variety of noodle-style dishes: Mediterranean, American and Asian. You customize your meal, choosing small or large portions, adding a meat or tofu and soup or salad. Each addition adds calories and price.

The Dish this week features the orange orb belonging to the squash family, not Linus Van Pelt’s mythical creature. Useful both for food and fun, the pumpkin is an icon of fall and a symbol of the end of the harvest.     Pick your own at a patch such as Knightongale Farm in Harwood, where owner Joel Greenwell commits 10 percent of his 90 acres to pumpkins.

The hamburger is as American as apple pie. Burgers come in many forms and incarnations, but the gist remains the same: Throw a patty between two buns, add condiments to your liking and enjoy. Where you find your favorite burger is personal choice, and options are plentiful, from fast food to fast casual to upscale. In NYC, the 21 Club’s famous burger, a novelty and an institution, sells for $32.

Skipper’s Pier Restaurant and Dock Bar’s new owners Dave Rosage and Jessica LeCronier are clearly risk takers. In May, the young, engaged duo combined their expertise to take over the landmark Deale restaurant. He’s the entrepreneurial owner of several small businesses, including a food truck and snowball stand in Pasadena. She’s the culinary expert, a graduate of Johnson & Wales University with experience as sous and pastry chefs.

It’s that time of year. With autumn’s arrival this weekend, it’s also time to break out your lederhosen for the kick-off of Oktoberfest.     Established in Munich in 1810 as a wedding celebration for Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria, Oktoberfest has evolved as a cultural phenomenon celebrating agriculture (specifically the hops crops) with a giant party that runs from the end of September thru the first Sunday in October. The festivities revolve around food, music and beer — lots of beer.

The cocktail party conversation turned to local seafood snobbery. Several big-name restaurants highlighting seafood had opened and closed rather swiftly. McCormick & Schmick’s and Real Seafood (both in Annapolis) failed, it was decided, because they thought they could do seafood better than we can.

Returning to school and work after the Labor Day weekend, you’d think food news would be about lunchboxes and crock-pot recipes. Not so in Chesapeake Country.     Food events this week are about novelties plus the return of an old favorite.

Welcome to The Dish, a new Bay Weekly column dedicated to the food and restaurants of Chesapeake Country. In this exclusive, we go beyond traditional restaurant reviews to consider the flavors of the Bay along with the unique people, places, spirits and recipes that whet our appetites. Let’s start in season, celebrating the end of summer with a delicacy that will soon be tasted only in memory: heirloom tomatoes.