Insight into the worlds of culinary and beverage luminaries.
![Seattle Sounders goalkeeper Stefan Frei [novofogo.com]](https://dailyblender.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/SF24-at-Hitchcock-062421-13-330x220.jpeg)
Novo Fogo’s latest efforts include the introduction of the Tree-Keeper initiative. In partnership with one of Seattle’s top athletes, Seattle Sounders goalkeeper, Stefan Frei, Novo Fogo will donate $100 to the Un-Endangered Forest project for each save made by Frei and his goalkeeping counterparts.
Like so many others in the food industry, Grigg and her business partner, Clara Veniard, have been immersed in the chaos of 2020. Only a few years into their ownership, the pair launched Salumi’s new sister brand, Coro Foods, at the tail end of 2019.
![Chris Hannah, New Orleans [Denny Culbert]](https://dailyblender.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/ChrisHannah_NewOrleans-scaled-e1622135392405-330x248.jpeg)
Bartender Chris Hannah is one of the millions of industry workers navigating these uneasy waters. Hannah, a long-time staple of the New Orleans bar scene, is co-owner of two properties in the Big Easy: Manolito and Jewel of the South.
Before Jean Thompson took the helm at Seattle Chocolate Company a decade ago, the scene wasn’t too far from her regular duties wrangling young kids at home. Communication was strained, facilities were in disarray, and opportunities to advance were being missed.
There was a collective heartbreak this week as news spread of the loss of the great Rocky Yeh. Friends from every corner of the world gathered online to share stories of Yeh’s love and laughter; remembering moments that made Rocky such an extraordinary force in so many lives.
![Portland Cocktail Week [dailyblender.com]](https://dailyblender.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/PDXCW-330x351.jpg)
When the door finally opened on the Portland Cocktail Week tiki event at miniature golf mecca, Glowing Greens, guests streamed down the stairs into the dark of the black light. Bartenders from Seattle’s Rumba were glowing with neon paint, ready to shake and pour for the rush of crowd. As we packed ourselves in for the wait, perusing menus and adhering light-up bracelets and necklaces to ourselves and our accessories, conversations began between friends and strangers.
Long layovers happen to all of us at some point. Most airports have upgraded enough to include a hotel or two, maybe a spot for a shoulder massage or a few restaurants with better-than-mediocre food. If you’re flying through Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (Sea-Tac) with a long layover ahead, leave your luggage in storage and enjoy the best of Seattle’s southside.
To adventures big and small. It jumped out at me as soon as I read it. I was downtrodden when I arrived in Boise in September of 2016, lost and weary from a year of heartbreak and personal loss. But it was at Meriwether Cider where I found renewed inspiration next to their incredible Foothills Semi-Dry.
![Chef Breanna Beike, Heritage Restaurant, Woodinville, Washington [dailyblender.com]](https://dailyblender.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/ChefBre-1-330x322.jpg)
Chef Breanna Beike will be the first to tell you she had a good reason for naming her restaurant, “Heritage.” The vibrant chef shares her culinary inspiration with joy – the memories of cooking with her Mom, the gardens of her grandparents, the desire to celebrate the fruits and labor of the local community.
![Willows Lodge, Woodinville, Washington [dailyblender.com]](https://dailyblender.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Woodinville-330x486.jpg)
Even after two decades in the Pacific Northwest, I still had the idea that Woodinville wine country was a far off place in the distance somewhere on Seattle’s Eastside. Across the bridges, past Mercer Island, over Kirkland and Kenmore, beyond Bothell. In a galaxy far, far away. But it’s closer than you think.
![Vancouver's Chinatown [dailyblender.com]](https://dailyblender.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/chinatown-330x347.jpg)
As we embark on a tour of the city blocks one sunny spring morning, historian Robert Sung gives an impassioned pitch for his Chinatown neighborhood. In the heart of Vancouver, British Columbia, the area still hums with activity, even after the sixty or so years he’s seen of its evolution.
