Thrillist • 15th December 2022

Rainforest Cafe and the Enduring Appeal of Experiential Chain Restaurants

In May 2022, two YouTubers crossed the country to take on a culinary quest for the ages. Eddy Burback and Ted Nivison planned to visit the 18 remaining Rainforest Cafes in the U.S. and Canada over the course of 21 days. Starting in California, they trek across the wide expanse of North America to sample the restaurant chain’s beef lava nachos and safari fries. The duo seem to have very different experiences: Burback appears downtrodden, disillusioned by his suburban, jungle-themed environs; whil

Eater Atlanta • 13th December 2022

The Pivotal Role Wine Shops Are Playing in Creating Atlanta’s Wine Scene

Atlanta’s restaurant scene is booming, but for those who choose where to eat according to the wine list, it still feels like something is missing: wine bars.

“I feel like we have no wine bars here,” says Chris McLloyd, known as The Hip Hop Somm. He isn’t wrong. While there are plenty of restaurants with fantastic wine lists, Atlanta lacks true wine bars. Following the closure of 8ARM and its natural wine bar on Ponce de Leon Avenue, many wine drinkers continue to search for the beating heart of

Food52 • 17th November 2022

These Chefs Are Giving Fish Eggs a Fresh Rebrand

It was the summer of 2021 when I first became a caviar evangelist. I had tried it before and enjoyed the oily, buttery texture, the slight, elegant fishiness, the pop of the eggs as they burst on my tongue, but the price point—and everything the price point seemed to suggest—turned me off. Caviar’s lack of accessibility and its stuffiness seemed unappealing and out of place in the same kitchen where I scarfed my 2 a.m. McDonald’s after a night out.

FoodPrint • 14th November 2023

Lowering wine’s carbon footprint starts with the bottle

If you’re looking for a sustainably produced wine at the bottle shop or grocery store, you’ll probably encounter an array of sustainability terms — organic, biodynamic, natural. It’s important to familiarize yourself with what these claims mean (and what certifications are available to corroborate them). But if you’re truly interested in buying sustainable wine, the intricacies of what happens in the vineyard can’t be the only considerations. Although fertilizers, irrigation and pesticides all p

Vintner Project • 14th November 2023

The Rare Parent Grape of Chardonnay, Gouais Blanc, Lives On

Tucked into a half-acre of the Willamette Valley resides a viticultural legend, a genetic insurance policy for grape-growers, and a time capsule of grape production. It’s a wine grape that’s responsible for shaping the wine world we live in today, and yet, it goes largely unnoticed, ignored, banished to the annals of viticultural history. It’s Gouais Blanc, the parent grape of over 80 of the most well-known Vitis vinifera varieties in the world. And, with the help of Björnson Vineyard, it’s find

SevenFifty Daily • 2nd August 2023

What You Need to Know About Albanian Wine

Tucked between Montenegro to the north and Greece to the south is the Mediterranean country of Albania. Despite its current lack of fame on the global wine stage, Albania is one of the oldest wine-producing countries in the world. It’s believed that wine production in Albania began in the Bronze Age, around 3,000 years ago.

Modern Farmer • 1st August 2023

Offaly Delicious: Can the US Learn to Love Organ Meats Again?

If you want to eat more sustainably, the answer seems obvious, according to researchers at the University of Oxford: Go vegan—or at least eat vegetarian as much as possible. Avoid animal products. Get your protein and your iron and your B12 elsewhere. Stock your fridge with tofu, tempeh and beans, and forgo the trip to the meat counter at your local grocery store completely.

Experts agree that limiting meat consumption or avoiding it altogether is the best way for individuals to reduce agricult

Food52 • 31st May 2023

What It Takes to Become a Coffee ‘Sommelier’

It may be 4 o’clock in the afternoon, but the room is filled with the aromas of freshly brewed coffee. You try to block out the noise of your colleagues slurping brown liquid from spoons dipped over and over again into nondescript white mugs as you struggle to distinguish the variety of flavors and acids in your own cups. You’re nervous, you’re over-caffeinated, and you feel your palate giving out on you. “It's like swimming in a sea of lemon juice—with your mouth open!—which makes it very diffe

Paste Magazine • 29th May 2023

An Interview with Sari Shryack of Not Sorry Art on Her Gilded 'Junk Food' Series

I spoke with painter Sari Shryack of Not Sorry Art about her gilded “junk food” series. In this series, the Austin-based artist places her paintings of iconic “junk foods” from the ‘90s and early 2000s, from Cosmic Brownies to Cheetos to Mountain Dew, against colorful patterned backdrops set in sparkling gold frames. The pieces draw on her and her loved ones’ experiences with food as they grew up below the poverty line and ask us to view foods commonly associated with poverty in a new light. Thi

Paste Magazine • 8th June 2022

The Dark History of Modern-Day ‘Emergency’ Food Assistance in the US

At the height of the pandemic, food banks across the country were bombarded with need. Unemployment, uncertainty and the failure of federal and state governments to keep people fed during this particularly difficult point in American history meant that food banks—and their workers and volunteers—were forced to work overtime to attempt to distribute food to those who needed it most.

VinePair • 24th April 2022

It’s About Time We Give Up Glass Wine Bottles

Sustainability is a buzzword in every industry, but when it’s used in reference to wine, there’s an immediate association with organic vineyards, biodynamics, and the ever-elusive concept of “natural” wine. Until recently, every time I carried my clanging, beautifully labeled bottles from the nearest natural wine shop home in my canvas tote, I would revel in my eco-friendliness knowing that I had avoided the mass-produced juice...

Paste Magazine • 14th March 2022

Georgian Winemakers Are Paying the Price of Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine

As war rages in Ukraine, alcohol sales have been halted in many cities as citizens have traded nights spent at cocktail bars with friends for nights spent huddling in crowded bomb shelters. Some Ukrainian wineries are now forgoing wine production and instead using their resources to bottle Molotov cocktails. And since war has not yet been stretched into NATO territory, some may assume that drastic changes to the wine industry stop at the Ukrainian border....