Lillie's of Charleston Gullah Pop

Regular readers of my blog will know how much I adore snacks, in particular, popcorn.  I'm always eager to try more brands, particularly ones with interesting flavors.  My seeking out of interesting popcorn lead me to Lillie's of Charleston.Lillie's of Charleston isn't primarily a popcorn distributor, but rather, they make hot sauces, BBQ sauces, and spice mixes.  The use their spice mixed however to create a line of 3 popcorns, known as "Gullah Pop"."Get...

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Monteleone Pasticceria, Brooklyn

When in New York, there are plenty of iconic things you should consume.  Yes, of course, pizza.  Probably bagels.  Perhaps whatever the ridiculous dessert trend that has gone viral of the moment is.  Maybe some Michelin star dining.  The list goes on and on.  But at some point, you should indulge in baked goods from a classic Italian bakery.  I did just that at Veniero's earlier on in my recent visit (swoon, that cheesecake!), and...

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La Société Bar & Café

It has been a while since I've had the chance to organize a large-ish group dining event, but finally, holiday season 2023, I had the opportunity, the first time post-Covid.  I had a work group of 35 to accommodate, with all the standard dietary restrictions (vegetarian, gluten-free, etc).  Our biggest constraints were the date (we had no flexibility, and it fell *right* in the middle of busy December holiday season) and budget (fairly frugal).  When...

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Catering by Cheese Plus

I learned about Cheese Plus early in my time living in San Francisco.   Cheese Plus is a fairly unique place, and a bit hard to describe.  It is part cheese shop, as you'd expect given the name, yes.  But it is also a small grocery store with highly curated artisanal goods, many local, but plenty imported from Italy and other countries.  I first visited when they were hosting one of their annual artisan's festivals, where they had the makers...

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