Matt’s segments for “Connoisseur’s Corner” usually air on WBZ (1030 AM) Saturdays at 7:25, 8:25, 9:25, and 11:55 AM and Sundays at 7:25, 8:25, 9:25 AM.
Recent samples can be found at https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1002-Connoisseurs-Corner-28654273/.
If you have ideas for future segments, please send them to Matt@Matts-Meals.com.
Also, please follow me on Twitter @MattsMeals73.
Thanks for listening and thanks for supporting our friends and neighbors in the food-service industry!
Matt’s segments for “Connoisseur’s Corner” usually air on WBZ (1030 AM) Saturdays at 7:25, 8:25, 9:25, and 11:55 AM and Sundays at 7:25, 8:25, 9:25 AM.
Recent samples can be found at https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1002-Connoisseurs-Corner-28654273/.
If you have ideas for future segments, please send them to Matt@Matts-Meals.com.
Also, please follow me on Twitter @MattsMeals73.
Thanks for listening and thanks for supporting our friends and neighbors in the food-service industry!
During the pandemic, many of us have been experimenting with new recipes and new diets. Among the most popular have been the vegetarian and vegan lifestyles.
That is why it is so good to know that, on Saturday, October 23 from 10 AM to noon, the Boston Vegetarian Socierty will host the 26th Annual Boston Veg Food Fest, all of which will be presented free and online so that people can learn about and even try new foods without leaving their home kitchens!
In fact, the Festival will be taking full advantage of the remote scenario by including not only Boston-area producers but people and products from around the world in a festival they are appropriately entitling “Bringing the World to Boston.”
The Festival will feature chefs and industry leaders from all over the world who will share recipes and discuss food production, nutrition, the environment, and other vital issues. There will even be a virtual vegan marketplace where vegans and the vegan-curious can learn about the many options available not only for food but for fashion and lifestyle as well!
Among the sponsors are our friends at Boston Organics, and many vendors will be offering special discounts and promotions for Festival participants, so be sure to go to https://bostonveg.org/foodfest/ to find out more.
An Vegan Restaurant Week is in the works, and there will surely be enough online to comnvince even the most ardent veggiephobe to try something new and to wow the produce lover in every family.
Matt’s segments for “Connoisseur’s Corner” usually air on WBZ (1030 AM) Saturdays at 7:25, 8:25, 9:25, and 11:55 AM and Sundays at 7:25, 8:25, 9:25 AM.
Recent samples can be found at https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1002-Connoisseurs-Corner-28654273/.
If you have ideas for future segments, please send them to Matt@Matts-Meals.com.
Also, please follow me on Twitter @MattsMeals73.
Thanks for listening and thanks for supporting our friends and neighbors in the food-service industry!
In recent months, we have discussed beer and whiskey without alcohol and kombucha and coffee with it.
Adding to the bevy of bewitched beverages is Sovi, a sparkling non-alcoholic wine that uses the same grapes from Napa Valley as many of your favorite “hard” vintages yet allows even the teatotalers among us to enjoy more of it!
Founded by former sommelier Julia Littauer (who calls her progressive product a “dealcoholized” wine) and her wine-minded husband Alex, Sovi is made from sustainably-grown grapes that are harvested by Sovi’s partners just east of Napa using traditional methods to achieve the flavor and texture of more traditiona wines. Sovi then uses a state-of-the-art technology to remove the alcohol while preserving the delicate aromas and flavors that make each varietal unique. Each serving has just 25 calories and, as there are no unnecessary added sugars or flavors, the premiere sparkling rose lets the armomas and flavors of pink grapefruit, cherry, and watermelon bubble through.
Whether you want a refreshing drink that will not alter your brain chemistry or just a great tasting glass of wine regardless of whatever may or may not be in it, Sovi could be your new fave!
Matt’s segments for “Connoisseur’s Corner” usually air on WBZ (1030 AM) Saturdays at 7:25, 8:25, 9:25, and 11:55 AM and Sundays at 7:25, 8:25, 9:25 AM.
Recent samples can be found at https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1002-Connoisseurs-Corner-28654273/.
If you have ideas for future segments, please send them to Matt@Matts-Meals.com.
Also, please follow me on Twitter @MattsMeals73.
Thanks for listening and thanks for supporting our friends and neighbors in the food-service industry!
Like many, I have gotten on the kombuchaa train in recent months. Even if the research about the health benefits of this fermented drink are speculative at best, the taste can be justification enough to at least try it!
For those who want a bit more bang for their beverage buck, a new set of spiked kombuchas have been emerging that may be able to help both your gut and your vibe.
A few months ago, I raved about Flying Embers hard kombucha. More recently I was introduced to June Shine. If Flying Embers is a hearty red, June Shine is an equually tasty but lighter white or rose, with fun flavors like hopical citrus, blood orange mint, and their head-turning, Tiki-inspired midnight painkiller, all of which are made with organic, probiotic, and gluten-free alcohol and with low sugar.
If you can’t decide or just want to find a fave, June Shine also comes in a hnady sampler pack that is great for entertaining or just chilling as your digestive system grooves on,
Based in California (natch), JuneShine is heading east with events and tasting rooms. But if you just can’t wait (and I recommend not), just go to https://juneshine.com and see what all the buzzy brewing business is about.
Matt’s segments for “Connoisseur’s Corner” usually air on WBZ (1030 AM) Saturdays at 7:25, 8:25, 9:25, and 11:55 AM and Sundays at 7:25, 8:25, 9:25 AM.
Recent samples can be found at https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1002-Connoisseurs-Corner-28654273/.
If you have ideas for future segments, please send them to Matt@Matts-Meals.com.
Also, please follow me on Twitter @MattsMeals73.
Thanks for listening and thanks for supporting our friends and neighbors in the food-service industry!
Though many took the opportunity of lockdown to open up their ovens and learn new cooking skills, many others may by now be done with all of their cookbooks and left to while away the days playing with their food.
Fortunately, there is a new way to play that may even help develop other creative skills!
Watercolor Snacks is a beautiful collection of food-inspired art projects that have been created and compiled by famed food illustrator and animator(!) Volta Voloshin-Smith who also has a delicious website called Color Snack (www.colorsnack.com).
After helping assemble your ingredients (i.e., paints) and utensils (e.g., brushes, paper, and hair dryers), Voloshin-Smith introduces such creative (and culinary) concepts as carrot-based color theory, cauliflower formation, mixing and blending, and how to deal with kitchen glitches.
Once those are set, it is off to the refrigerator to look for inspiration!
From pancakes and donuts to pizza and tacos to popsicles, cupcakes, fruits and veggies, and even drinks (including a signature rainbow cocktail that brings all the colors to the bar), Voloshin-Smith has a guide for every taste that will eventually result in images that look as good as their real-life models taste (if not better!).
So even if your cooking experiments did not come out picture-perfect, now you can paint pictures of what you dream them to be and hopefully inspire yourself and others to keep trying!
Matt’s segments for “Connoisseur’s Corner” usually air on WBZ (1030 AM) Saturdays at 7:25, 8:25, 9:25, and 11:55 AM and Sundays at 7:25, 8:25, 9:25 AM.
Recent samples can be found at https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1002-Connoisseurs-Corner-28654273/.
If you have ideas for future segments, please send them to Matt@Matts-Meals.com.
Also, please follow me on Twitter @MattsMeals73.
Thanks for listening and thanks for supporting our friends and neighbors in the food-service industry!
I know that I have already raved about Polar Park- the new home of the Red Sox farm team. But, speaking of farm, the Park is about to add to their already amazing list of food vendors when it hosts the inaugural Polar Park Food Truck and Crraft Beer Festival on October 2 from 5-9 PM.
Though the games at Polar are usually exciting and the sightlines and fan-friendly features top notch, I would honestly not be surprised if people came primarily for the food! In addition to local legends like Table Talk pies, Wormtown Beer, B.T.’s Smokehouse, Coney Island hot dogs, Wonder Bar pizza and, of course, the entire line of Polar beverages, Polar Park also offers kosher and vegan foods from the Butcherie in Brookline and beers from such Boston faves as Harpoon and Sam Adams.
At the Food Truck and Craft Beer Festival, fans will get a $10 voucher and ten drink tickets all for a $35 admission fee! And if you prefer to help get friends and family home after an amazing night of eating and drinking, there areDesignated Driver tickets for just $25! No matter which route you choose, you will have access to over 20 food trucks and 30 breweries located around the warning track, making it easy to steal a few extra snacks while rounding second. There will also be yard games and live entertainment in the Park and even more food and fun just outside!
The Woo Sox season is drawing to a close, but the fun in Polar Park is set to roll on, so be sure to drop by for a snack and a pint on October 2 or for any of the other exciting and fan-friendly events, all of which can be found at www.polarpark.com/upcoming-events.
Matt’s segments for “Connoisseur’s Corner” usually air on WBZ (1030 AM) Saturdays at 7:25, 8:25, 9:25, and 11:55 AM and Sundays at 7:25, 8:25, 9:25 AM.
Recent samples can be found at https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1002-Connoisseurs-Corner-28654273/.
If you have ideas for future segments, please send them to Matt@Matts-Meals.com.
Also, please follow me on Twitter @MattsMeals73.
Thanks for listening and thanks for supporting our friends and neighbors in the food-service industry!
While I love to support local producers and purveyors, many of our listeners have also loved our spots about people who may be a bit further afield.
Among our most popular partners are our brothers and sisters in Africa, such as Jam Jar wines, Nanakono honeys and preserves, Rwanda Bean coffee (which is actually now based in Portland, ME!), and Three Mountains teas.
Now, I can share the news that South Africa’s Oryx Desert Salts will be available at Whole Foods starting in October!
Sustainably harvested from a vast, ancient saltpan in the remote and unpolluted Kalahari Desert, Oryx’s salts are dried in the South African sun before being packaged and distributed around the world. Their range of satisfying flavors includes smoked salt and their signature BBQ salt, all of which work well in recipes or afterwards for a finishing touch that many African and international chefs will not do without.
As Oryx avoids processing and using preservatives and additives, the salts retain all of their valuable minerals and micro-nutrients, giving them a fuller taste and also making them nutritious wholefoods that belong in Whole Foods.
Though each glass bottle is fully recyclable, they all come with long-lasting ceramic grinder heads that can be used over and over again without adding plastic to the landfills or to your foods.
So the next time you want some international flavor that helps your health, local farmers and the environment, head to Whole Foods and grab the Oryx by the horns (or at least the bottle)!
oryxdesertsalt.co.za
jamjarwines.com
nakakono.com
rwandabean.com
3mountains.org
Matt’s segments for “Connoisseur’s Corner” usually air on WBZ (1030 AM) Saturdays at 7:25, 8:25, 9:25, and 11:55 AM and Sundays at 7:25, 8:25, 9:25 AM.
Recent samples can be found at https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1002-Connoisseurs-Corner-28654273/.
If you have ideas for future segments, please send them to Matt@Matts-Meals.com.
Also, please follow me on Twitter @MattsMeals73.
Thanks for listening and thanks for supporting our friends and neighbors in the food-service industry!
While Boston may still be Dunkin’ country, our friends at Starbucks are doing what they can to support the community by partnering with the Greater Boston Food Bank (where I met my wife!) in the Starbucks FoodShare program.
Through this program, over 200 Starbucks from all over Boston will be donating ready-to-eat meals to the Greater Boston Food Bank. The program is already well on its way to its goal of 250,000 pounds of food (which is the equivalent of over 208,000 meals) this year alone! Especially as production and distribution have been so stretched and requests for food support so high, the Food Bank and its partner organizations are more in need and more appreciative than ever.
According to Food Bank President and CEO Catherine D’Amato, one out of every 10 people and one out of every nine children in eastern MA face hunger. That is why the Food Bank, partners like Starbucks, and programs like FoodShare are all so vital.
So the next time you need a liquid pick me up, think of who might be helping pick up other people from the stresses of food insecurity and other challenges that so many are facing these days and every day.
For more information about the Starbucks FoodShare program at The Greater Boston Food Bank, please visit GBFB.org.
Matt’s segments for “Connoisseur’s Corner” usually air on WBZ (1030 AM) Saturdays at 7:25, 8:25, 9:25, and 11:55 AM and Sundays at 7:25, 8:25, 9:25 AM.
Recent samples can be found at https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1002-Connoisseurs-Corner-28654273/.
If you have ideas for future segments, please send them to Matt@Matts-Meals.com.
Also, please follow me on Twitter @MattsMeals73.
Thanks for listening and thanks for supporting our friends and neighbors in the food-service industry!
During a recent family escape to Santa Fe, I found an AMAZING chocolate store called Kakawa that actually has a branch office in- of all places- Salem, MA!
Apparently, the curatorial team at the world-renowned Peabody Essex Museum (www.PEM.org) comes to Santa Fe each year for the truly phenomenal Native American market, where they engage the artists who help make up their world-leading collection of Indigenous art. During one such visit, some museum members found Kakawa and was so enamored that they asked the talented team to open a shop near the Museum.
In addition to a market-full of chocolates made with their own 80% cacao blend, Kakawa also has a flight of cocoas that will fill your mouth with international lusciousness, an entire raft of homemade ice creams, and even a milkshake made with handmade horchata!
Using ancient Meso-American ingredients and processing traditions, Kakawa presents chocolate creations that are truly worthy of being in a museum! So the next time you head to the Peabody Essex, be sure to take a break nearby and take your mouth on a trip around the world of a different kind!
www.KakawaChocolate.com
Matt’s segments for “Connoisseur’s Corner” usually air on WBZ (1030 AM) Saturdays at 7:25, 8:25, 9:25, and 11:55 AM and Sundays at 7:25, 8:25, 9:25 AM.
Recent samples can be found at https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1002-Connoisseurs-Corner-28654273/.
If you have ideas for future segments, please send them to Matt@Matts-Meals.com.
Also, please follow me on Twitter @MattsMeals73.
Thanks for listening and thanks for supporting our friends and neighbors in the food-service industry!
As more people begin to venture out in search of the novelty of dining without a deliverer, the Boston food scene is being blessed with another creative addition.
Nearly 250 feet long and fully sailable, Navy Yard Hospitality Group’s new Tall Ship Boston (which is anchord at East Boston’s historic Pier One) offers amazing food and breathtaking views as well as live entertainment in a venue that is mostly outdoors so guests will not have to be so anxious about partaking and, yes- enjoying!
With an oyster bar and charcuterie station at the bow (that’s the front, for you landlubbers) and three custom-made mahogany bars circling the main mast (the big pole in the middle), the Tall Ship Boston combines authentic nautical décor and great food and drink with some of the best views in the area.
For those who may not yet have recovered their sea legs after months below decks, there will apso be land-based food and drink vendors nearby, as well as special areas for retail and entertainment, making the East Boston waterfront more ship-shape than ever before!
For those who partake a bit too much, the space will even host weekday fitness classes hosted by such local legends as Rev’d Cycling, Kick It By Eliza, and Barre Groove who also promotes the use of natural fitness products like the cbd roll on by fresh bros.
Tall Ship Boston is currently open Monday through Thursday from 3-11 p.m. and Friday through Sunday from 2-11 p.m. (21+ after 7, please!). Though the official sailing season may be ending, Tall Ship Boston is planning pop-up events and other special programs throughout the year. Be sure to check out tallshipboston.com to learn more.