Food, Wine, and Spirits

Insight into the worlds of culinary and beverage luminaries.

The MilkWood at Edward Lee's MilkWood, Louisville, Kentucky [dailyblender.com]

Bourbon and Beyond: A Weekend in Louisville

There’s never been a debate in our house on how to pronounce Louisville. When I was a kid, my stepfather made frequent business trips south, guiding his Kentucky sales team on the best practices for selling snowblowers before the Midwest winter began.

Steven Soderbergh and his Singani 63 at Expatriate. [dailyblender.com]

Screenplays and Singani 63: An Interview with Steven Soderbergh

If you didn’t know who you were looking for, I’m not sure you would’ve even noticed him standing there on the sidewalk. Pacing back and forth along the curb, a phone pressed to his ear, he had a black cap pulled tightly over his head, black jacket, black shirt, black pants.

Toronto, Canada [dailyblender.com]

Love and Layovers in Toronto

It was tough to sleep on the red-eye from Vancouver, British Columbia, to Toronto, Ontario. When I initially booked my tickets from Portland, Oregon, to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the cheapest route put me through Canada, which I certainly didn’t mind. A short jump to Vancouver, a red-eye flight, and a day to play in Toronto before I boarded for Brazil.

Boise and Snake River Valley [dailyblender.com]

On Boise and Snake River Valley Wines

Aside from your relationship with potatoes, you hadn’t really crossed my mind over the years, your state little more than a hostage to the French fry existence. As it turns out, there’s more to you, with over 180 agricultural products, a top producer of Austrian winter peas, trout, barley, sugarbeets – and yes, potatoes. You also have a serious relationship with wine. Who knew?

Hedges Family Estate [DAILYBLENDER.COM]

Exploring Tri-Cities, Washington, and the Red Mountain AVA

My knowledge of the Tri-Cities area had been somewhere between the Hanford Site and the Kennewick Man over the last fifteen years of my Northwest residence. It seemed a flat, uninteresting corridor in the lower middle of Washington state with nothing but space to offer, overshadowed by the evergreen of Seattle further west.

Quick Spin: Chef Michael Symon

Chef Michael Symon seems like the kind of friend you’re excited to see when you run into when you see each other on the street. A smile on his face, a spring in his step, he is a regular on television and at food and wine festivals across the country, always jovial, always within reach.

Agritopia's Joe Johnston [dailyblender.com]

Daily Blender Exclusive: Restaurateur and Agritopia Founder Joe Johnston

Developed in the early 2000s, after a string of successful coffee shops made Joe Johnston a local celebrity of sorts, it is an oasis in the desert, an agricultural Utopia. A working farmland sits at the heart of the property, with Joe’s Farm Grill, a small Farmer’s Market, and a coffee shop (packed with yoga Moms and strollers at 11 am) perched on one side.

Dining and Drinking: 48 Hours in… San Francisco

We’re venturing to the west coast today, to the place where hearts are left and the Fernet flows freely – beautiful San Francisco, California. The iconic city by the bay is not only a tourist’s dream, it’s food and drink destination, with an abundance of cocktail pioneers and Michelin stars.

Dining and Drinking: 48 Hours In… Indianapolis

This round of ’48 Hours in…’ was penned by my dear friend, Erin Edds. A fellow entrepreneur, Erin and her husband, Stephen, are the operators of the wildly popular Hoosier Momma Bloody Mary mixer line – a favorite at Colts games, the Indianapolis 500, and Kentucky Derby.

Dining and Drinking: 48 Hours in… Los Angeles

First, you head north past Los Angeles’ Hasidic Jewish neighborhood and onto the posh boutique-lined Beverly Boulevard for a bite at Petty Cash, an upscale taqueria. The walls look like an enormous Digital Retna mural, and the bar is stocked with scores of agave spirits, many of which you’ve never seen before. You see the trompo and decide to order tacos al pastor to go with your Paloma.