Cafe Du Monde

Established in 1862, this has been a perennial, twenty four hour destination for any and all visitors to New Orleans. On the edge of the infamous French Quarter, hugging one of the circuitous bends in the mighty Mississippi, Café Du Monde stands as almost a lighthouse – a beacon perhaps. A point of reference. Defiantly, into the night, beignets can be consumed here. Coffee with the distinct additive of chicory – a vestigial flavor left over from rationing during the Civil War.

Bawdy crowds festooned with beads and drenched in a mélange of sweat and metabolized alcohol, plowing through the raucous cacophony of plastic hand grenade drink glasses wrought over the pavement might stop in for a coffee. To take the edge off. The outdoor seating under the canopy is evocative of an old central market place, or a bingo hall at a church festival. Tourists and locals consume gallons of coffee, and great blizzards of beignets.

Hurricane Katrina closed Café Du Monde for a couple of months in 2005, affording opportunity for much needed updates and remodels.

The Jackson Hole Diner

The Jackson Hole Diner, located on Astoria Boulevard at the cusp of where the famed neighborhood of Jackson Heights melds with Astoria, was started as a sort of reprisal of diner culture in New York in 1972. Amid a growing trend of frozen preformed burgers and food, Jackson Hole framed its notoriety around a 7 ounce burger, grilled to order. The restaurant grew to a local chain, now encompassing more than half a dozen stores throughout NYC.

The Astoria Boulevard location was used in the canonical film Goodfellas, where aspiring mobsters Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) and Tommy DiVito (Joe Pesci), are postured beside their car. Checking watches, doffing hair, and waiting for a payrolled truck driver to arrive so they can “hijack” the rig. The Jackson Hole Diner, called the “Airline Diner” in the film, glistened in the muted chrome of the classical diner motif. The art deco edges and chamfers. The hypermodern promise of neon sconces, yet bearing the timeless zig and zag of Greek ferruling. Yes, a burger can be had here. And fast.

Abe’s Coney Island, Ypsilanti, MI

The Northwest corner of Michigan Avenue and Hamilton Street in the “other” city of Ypsilanti (“othered”, of course, by the stalwart sister of Ann Arbor to her west), Abe’s is a twenty four hour destination. College kids, locals, and nearly anyone toddling around the extended, rusted grid of Greater Detroit would be a likely patron of Abe’s at 3:37 am.

The corner is sconced with a vinyl green awning – beckoning, perhaps as a green light to come on in. Have some chili fries. One of Abe’s famous gyros, or maybe one of many stylized omelettes, and some hashbrowns. A steak, and two eggs might do it. Of course, coffee and pie. Padded booths of staunch wood grain Formica contain clusters of twos or fives, as they sway, and clamor loudly into the depths of night, dwindling by the faint light of dawn.

King Arthur Flour Company - Since 1790

Red velvet cake and scrumptious cupcakes…artisan bread loaves and whole grain bagels…sweet cinnamon buns and robust pizzas.

Where would we be without flour?

In 1790, a young George Washington was the first man to be named President in a new and fledgling country known as the United States of America. Also in this year, New York State sold its claims to Vermont for $30,000. In 1790, the shoelace was invented and the Supreme Court commenced for the first time. It was also during this year that King Arthur Flour was born.

Headquartered in Norwich, Vermont (which might have been New York if not for some crafty politicking), King Arthur Flour is still doing what it does best 222 years later. Now an employee owned company, King Arthur stands as the Mount Rushmore to many in the culinary arts, as well as reigning as New England’s premiere flour provider, a feat they also have managed to accomplish in every market in which they have held full distribution.

In addition to the deserved accolades that follow such an esteemed institution in its second century of continuous operation, King Arthur not only provides the proverbial rod-they teach a man how to fish. With online and mobile classes, the very best baked delights, from colonial times until today, are at our disposal, from technique to touch.

So go ahead and scarf down that second doughnut. Thanks to King Arthur Flour Co., we can call it patriotic.

The Meatball Shop

Remember when meatballs were the most banal part of an Italian dinner?

Erase it from your memory.

The Meatball Shop, located throughout NYC, has turned the little beefy globe into a work of art. Founded by new school gourmands Daniel Holzman and Michael Chernow, the shops are streamlined, hip fusions of retro/future menus, nightlife aesthetics, and family oriented vibe. Gothamites enjoy the centuries-old concept with modern twists, such as veggie balls, sliders, and the optional egg addition, and routinely flock to one of The Meatball Shop’s three locations for such nontraditional and delicious varietals as the Bolognese Ball, Buffalo Chicken Ball, and Viva la Mexico Ball.

So popular are the artisan crafted meatballs that the boys were inspired to pen a much in-demand guide, The Meatball Shop Cookbook, which is certain to make us all feel like a traditional Italian mother holding a to-die-for recipe. Of course, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

The Meatball Shop is about as New York as it gets. For those of us outside of that Big Apple, here’s to hoping this particular ball finds its way onto our court.

Naked Juice

Naked is everywhere. The company’s fruit and oat based smoothies, coconut water and other wellness foods seem to be taking over grocery shelves and niche store displays. Naked, as honest and transparent as their name would suggest, appears poised to become the standard of healthy dining; the only question is, will their legacy be as a delicious, all-natural product, or in the eco-friendly manner in which they produce it?

Why not both.

For our good health, Naked supplies vibrant and delicious vantages on fruit and vegetable concoctions that, as recently as twenty years ago, held a flavor profile so bland they would send most running for the hills. Naked has made what was once a task, a treat. Of course man cannot live on juice solely, so Naked employs the use of “boosts”, a shot of the essentials we need to feed the machine. From protein to B12, our bodies thank us for filling the subconscious cravings.

For our Earth’s health, Naked uses the “reNEWabottle”, made from other bottles and (if we hold up our end of the deal) used after consumption to craft future bottles. And these bottles come in a square shape, a sensible “why didn’t I think of that?” system that allows the product to be shipped in a more efficient, fuel-friendly fashion. And to top it all off, Naked truly manufactures their juices as such; at the company’s offices and bottling center, oversized windows and nearly two-thousand sola panels allow as much natural light as possible to shine down. Enough energy is harvested to power twenty-five homes for one year.

As the landscape of commerce continues to change, Naked has a business model that stands the test of time; provide a product that feels great to consume and even greater to purchase, and the customer’s body and soul never go naked again.

Viking Range

In the late 1970’s, a light bulb moment came to Fred Carl, Jr. A fourth generation building contractor, Carl observed the trend of commercial ranges popping up in residential kitchens. Understanding the obvious appeal that the timeless and durable stainless steel restaurant ranges offered to aspiring 5 Star chefs of the stay-at-home variety, Viking Range Corporation was conceived. 

 Though the aesthetic and culinary advantages to high end, restaurant styled commercial ranges in the home were obvious, Carl was met with a barrage of technical roadblocks: searing heat output and extremely hot surface temperatures, a lack of safety features, excessive energy consumption, a forever burning standing pilot and dimensions that were ill equipped for standard residential cabinetry were a few. The solution came in the form of a hybrid, one that pulled from the assets of both. The problem was, it was not only a hybrid, but nonexistent. This was a blank space that Carl and Viking Range Corporation would soon fill.



The exponential growth over the next few decades not only built the very foundations of family dinners and special occasions in the homes of millions, it created a lifestyle. While Viking endures as the premier provider of immaculate culinary appliances, wine cellars, outdoor grills and much more, what began as Fred Carl Jr.’s vision has morphed into a culture- The Viking Life. Viking is not only a major appliance manufacturer, but a culinary company that indulges in all aspects of the kitchen as well as the world of food and wine.  Culinary schools, cooking classes, gourmet events and online instruction, the Viking Life, as the company says, makes the savory world of Viking tangible.

Viking Range Corporation was inspired by Fred Carl Jr.’s quest to make his wife (and perhaps a little bit of himself) happy with the kitchen. With a little perseverance and outside-the-box thinking, he managed to make a nation of gourmands happy as well.

Kellogg's

From the deliciously healthy (Kashi,Morningstar Farms) to the sinfully indulgent (Cheez-It, PopTarts), Kellogg Company has fed our nation for over 100 years. For the company, as well as our collective daily routine, it began with cereal.

W.K. Kellogg, along with forty-four employees, revolutionized the way we dine in 1906. For more than a century, from the company’s Battle Creek, Michigan headquarters to the breakfast table, the Kellogg revolution has morphed into the industry standard. The original breakfast foods organization to fortify cereal, as well as being the first to offer premiums in their boxes, Kellogg has led their product genre through grounbreaking industry innovations and unpecedented marketing and branding campaigns. All, of course, with a reverential adherence to W.K. Kellogg’s M.O.-quality, good health, and savory taste.

Kellogg Company remains the world’s leading producer of cereal, and is a powerful force in convenience foods, such as cookies, crackers, pastries, cereal bars, fruity niblets, frozen waffles and vegetarian foods. And for the sentimentalist in us all, it is the name that was emblazoned on the box in front of us as our Cocoa Krispies turned the milk in our bowls chocolate, a double victory before the school day began. Now, as we watch our kids enjoy the same daily jumpstart, we might be munching on All-Bran or Special K; the Kellogg label, however, remains the same.

And maybe every once in awhile, the child in us all enjoys a bowl of Cocoa Krispies as well.

Stumptown Coffee Roasters

Stumptown Coffee Roasters was born in Portland in 1999. Whether Founder Duane Sorenson was merely seeking to simply produce a quality cup ‘o joe for the neighboring community or attempting to revolutionize the biz is the great unknown. What is known is that Sorenson and Stumptown have completed the latter. There is such a thing as the “Third Wave” in the coffee movement, and Stumptown shares top billing on that film’s marquee.

The culture at Stumptown is considerably different than perhaps any other coffee purveyor. Sorenson is famous for forming lasting relationships with bean farmers, visiting the farms in person and unafraid to pay high prices for that perfect dose of worthy coffee. And perks for employees are hardly the norm. In an era where a growing list of companies are pulling the plug on once-standard benefits such as 401k and health insurance, Stumptown has offered such quirky and unique perks as an on-staff massage therapist and a compilation album for the company’s barista/rock stars.

Keeping up with its trendsetting ways, Stumptown in recent months unleashed Cold Brew Stubbies. With the iced coffee genre on an upswing, the Stumptown version, encased in the retro-cool brown glass bottles, is exactly what longtime cultists have come to expect: high end, crisp, and unrelentingly hip. Stumptown operates out of Portland, Seattle and NYC, with a wholesale unit that can stretch the world.

Our grandfathers bemoan that once they could buy a cup of java for a nickel. Nostalgia being rose-colored, these great men never sipped on a Stumptown Coffee Roasters cup. Score one for the Gen-Xer’s.

Ace Hotels

Founder Alex Calderwood

Ace Hotels stand out from the competition for all the right reasons. Picture a Seattle coffee house if it were a place to rest your head.

Incidentally, Ace Hotels began in Seattle in the late 90’s, when a group of ambitious hipsters recognized the void for travelers much like themselves. The concept of the “Creative class” was created. The hotels maintain an ambiance of bohemian camp, its rooms designed by Roman & Williams. Straying from traditional norms, the rooms at an Ace Hotel feel much like an artist’s loft. Amenities such as wifi and concierge service are of course standard, but an Ace room might be furnished with a Smeg refrigerator, record player, and acoustic guitar (extra strings are available in the lobby).

The inn that was created for the artistic brood has in fact become a home to them. Speaking of home, one might wish to make Ace Hotel their living quarters after a few nights of channeling their inner Hemingway.