Who Is Eat Chic? Reese’s peanut butter cups (especially the holiday eggs and the trees, holler!) are my favorite candies of all time. That is, until I tried one of Lotta Andonian’s Eat Chic chocolates. OMG, you guys. They are so good. Like Reese’s on steroids, or rather, Ritalin. More refined with grown-up touches like Maldon sea salt and fresh ground nut butters that go beyond peanut: almond, hazelnut, cashew. Lotta says she’s got 30 flavors on rotation at any…
Who Is Mouton Noir? In 2003, at the age of 30, Andre Hueston Mack was the first African American to be named Best Young Sommelier in America. Soon after, he accepted a somm job at The French Laundry before Thomas Keller sent him across the country to open the most anticipated restaurant of the year, Per Se. In 2007 – really just a few years after he jumped into the food and wine world – he left fine dining to launch his…
Who Is Jalapa Jar? Tommy Byrnes (a Texan), Joel Nearing (a Texan) and Steve Smith (a Yank) are the founders behind Jalapa Jar, a fresh salsa developed by Joel and put onto NYC breakfast tacos by Tommy and Steve. Yep, you’ve heard that correctly: legit, Austin-style breakfast tacos have made their way to the streets of New York City. Specifically, this crew is churning out my favorite food (seriously, send all the tacos my way) at the Clark Street subway station in Brooklyn.…
When the going gets tough, the tough slow down. Or at least, that’s Candice Ross’ motto. She’s the founder of the Brooklyn-born and based Stagg Jam, where she makes tasty jams and marmalades in cool flavors including seasoned sorrel, cherry chai, spicy orange with red pepper and fennel, and grapefruit rosemary, a nod to her Louisiana roots. For the past year, Candice has steered the Stagg ship, aiming for ideals that would make her grandad proud (she named the company after…
(Photo: Janelle Jones) Mike Kurtz is a pretty laid back guy. Even though he’s experienced things that most people only dream about, he approaches them all with a quiet nonchalance that would make you think he’s spent his life working down at the corner store. This isn’t a bad thing. In fact, I admire how naturally he’s allowed his life to unfold, and the obvious gratitude he has for where his path has taken him. In 2003, Mike was living…
Alex Abbott Boyd grew up with free-spirited, food-loving, hippie-inclined parents (one from the land down under, the other from NYC) who kept a garden and made their own jam. Obviously, this environment can lay the groundwork for a love of good food and flavor, which is precisely what happened to Alex. Emboldened by capable tastebuds and with the early understanding that beverages held a soft spot in his heart, he’s traveled far and wide in the name of a good sip. This translates…
(Photo credit: Matthew Taylor-Gross, Saveur) Imagine that your whole life you had this abundant bounty of spicy goodness at your fingertips, blindly going about your business and assuming everyone in the country also had the same bounty. Then imagine moving, only to find out that in fact, no one knows WTF you’re talking about when you order your enchiladas “Christmas-style.” If this makes no sense to you, don’t worry — it will soon. Nate Cotanch is from the Southwest. His…
Anarchy In A Jar started with humble beginnings but has now blossomed into a jam company that anyone would be proud to write home about. For starters, the ingredients come from local farms, the founder, Laena, is handcrafting each batch out of Brooklyn, NY, and everyone from the NY Times to Saveur to that food blogger you follow religiously are singing Anarchy’s praises. Not. too. shabby. Plus, Laena cleared this little confusing ditty up for me, which basically was the highlight of my…