BONAPITA bucks the trend with EXPANDED menu!

Matt’s segments for “Connoisseur’s Corner” usually air on WBZ 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.

Thanks for listening and thanks for supporting our friends and neighbors in the food-service industry!

Organic fries with veggie ketchup and hand-made vinegar? WOW!

Matt’s segments for “Connoisseur’s Corner” usually air on WBZ 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.

Thanks for listening and thanks for supporting our friends and neighbors in the food-service industry!

A Connoisseur’s Corner Trifecta!

Matt’s segments for “Connoisseur’s Corner” usually air on WBZ 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.

Thanks for listening and thanks for supporting our friends and neighbors in the food-service industry!

As much as I love talking about the many great food and eateries we are privileged enough to enjoy, I really love when I am able to combine them.

For example, the folks who bring Wiltshire Chili Farm sauces to the States are located near our friend Erik Modahl and his new Beantrust Coffee shop in Beverly and our live-saving fave FlavaNaturals in Marblehead, so naturally, I introduced them!

Another great combination I recently put together involved sweet potatoes from Boston Organics, veggie-based ketchup from True Made Foods (which will soon be available in Fenway Park!), and vinegar from American Vinegar Works, which is based in my birthplace of Lowell! 

Connoisseur’s Corner fans know how much I love Boston Organics and True Made, but even though I put vinegar on pretty much everything, I was not aware of my old neighbors’ brand until recently.

Boy, am I glad I found them!

Using a process that goes back to Lowell’s Golden Age of the Industrial Revolution and that is based around machinery that had to be custom made by welders at Boston University, American Vinegar Works makes small- and nano-batch vinegars that expand upon what even a fan like me thought was possible. In addition to traditional white and red wine varieties, AVW uses craft alcohols to make raw vinegars with apple and pear ciders, rice wine, rosé, and even Mayflower and Harpoon beer! Each beautiful glass bottle comes hand-numbered and lovingly swaddled in burlap and make for inventive gifts, especially when paired with an apron, vinegar whisk, or other creative accompaniment for these creative accompaniments. 

The fries were amazing, but I have since found many other uses for these amazing vinegars (that almost swept the 2020 Central Coast Vinegar Competition in California) and am sure that you all will too!

www.americanvinegarworks.com

www.truefoods.me

www.bostonorganics.com

Mighty Lil’ Lentils

Matt’s segments for “Connoisseur’s Corner” usually air on WBZ 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.

Thanks for listening and thanks for supporting our friends and neighbors in the food-service industry!

As a parent and someone who likes to keep my own body running well, I am always looking for healthy snacks that taste good and are good for me.

Among the favorites that I have touted in this forum (and others) have been a variety of beans and legumes, including chickpeas, lupini beans, broad beans, cacao beans, and, of course, coffee beans.

I would now like to add to this list a “lil’” bean with BIG taste and nutrition.

Seapoint Farms has long been known for offering healthy plant-based foods. As the largest importer and manufacturer of edamame products in America, the California-based company also makes veggie dishes and pastas, and snacks made with seaweed! Even among their popular products, their new Mighty Lil’ Lentil snack is a mighty big deal!

With flavors that range from sweet cinnamon to spicy barbecue and even an impressive Falafel flavor, these crunchy little nuggets of nutrition pack protein, fiber, and other nutrients into a tasty treat that can be enjoyed on salad, in yogurt or trail mix, or right out of the bag. They are vegetarian (with two vegan varieties), gluten-free and non-GMO, so the good stuff can shine through as part of almost any diet. Even my twins ask for them, which is no small praise!

Lentils- They’re not just for soup anymore!

www.seapointfarms.com

Wiltshire Chili Farm brings the British heat

Matt’s segments for “Connoisseur’s Corner” usually air on WBZ 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.

Thanks for listening and thanks for supporting our friends and neighbors in the food-service industry!

As a food and travel writer, I have often been told that the food in England is bland and the weather is dreary and cold.

This has not been my experience, and now, thanks to Wiltshire Chili Farm, it will not be yours either!

Though the man behind the heat came from a business and engineering background, the products he has created are all–natural and created in a way that brings the heat without covering up the other fresh flavors in his sauces, rubs, preserves, and seasonings (or in the foods with which you enjoy them)! And while Wiltshire Chili Farm produces the world’s hottest chili sauce– the 12 million scoville unit extract simply called “Regret” – they also offer a wide range of other options that range from mild to wild and that include such complementary flavors as mango, coffee, and chocolate. In order to allow and encourage those who may think that they prefer chillier chilis, the rubs come in revolutionary grinders that go from coarse to fine with a pull of a tab, making it easy to control your gustatory thermostat.

The wide range of flavors and forms also makes these sauces great with everything from fish and meat to popcorn and nachos and many can even be used in beverages!

So if someone tells you that England’s flavor has been rained out, hand them a gift pack from Wiltshire Chili Farm and they will regretthey ever said it!

www.britishhotsauce.com

Harvard study PROVES Flava Naturals is great!

Matt’s segments for “Connoisseur’s Corner” usually air on WBZ 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.

Thanks for listening and thanks for supporting our friends and neighbors in the food-service industry!

While many of their colleagues are trying to figure out how to stop Covid, a dedicated group of Harvard professors have been working on a really important question- How does chocolate affect the body?

Silly scientists- We already know!

In fact, we even know that one of the best ways to get the maximum amount of the flavanols that make chocolate so good for your heart, mind body, and soul is to visit the folks at FlavaNaturals. ThisMarblehead-based chocolate maker packs 5-9x the flavanols found in typical dark chocolates and offers this deliciously health-supporting treat in such amazing flavors as blueberry and green tea, roasted almond and Himalayan sea salt, ginger and Saigon cinnamon, and others (many of which add additional health benefits to each bar). If bars are not your thing, they also offer their morning-coffee-friendly and smoothie-making FlavaMix. 

No matter which variety or form you try, you are sure to enjoy the taste and quality of premium cocoa beans processed with a unique protocol that amps up the nutrition and the flavor. 

Oh- and did I mention that the flavanols have also been shown to help with anxiety?

Go to https://flavanaturals.com as soon as you can so the healing can begin. But please- save some for me!.

Scout & Cellar offers an adult Advent calendar

Matt’s segments for “Connoisseur’s Corner” usually air on WBZ 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.

Thanks for listening and thanks for supporting our friends and neighbors in the food-service industry!

We all know that kids are already counting down to Christmas. But with all that we older folks are dealing with, maybe we need to start celebrating a bit early too!

Fortunately, my friend Judy and her friends at Scout & Cellar have put together a gift that will help make almost everyone a bit merrier (if not brighter).

The Scout & Cellar Celebrate the Season Box contains a hand-picked dozen of their independently-tested Clean-Crafted™wines that includes some pure vintages and limited editions as well as blends and bubblies, all of which are high in flavor and fun and low in sulfites. In addition to coming equipped with a QR code that reveals a special holiday message, the clever container is topped with a dozen individual doors, encouraging responsibly reveling recipients to open one per day, just like an Advent calendar. However, as they are available for order right now and as orders can be timed for accurate arrival, you can re-deck the halls every dozen days with a new set. It is a great holiday gift that need not wait for the holidays (and that you do not necessarily have to share with others)!

If you want a new mixer, Scout & Cellar’s Wilderness Road the Grove is a low-alcohol beverage that brings the flavors of naturalcucumber, lemongrass, ginger and other botanicals to whatever it is you already enjoy, making it another Scout favorite for the holidays or any day.

For more information, please visit www.scoutandcellar.com/judy and tell her Matt sent you!

Green Bee should bee your MAINE drink of choice

Matt’s segments for “Connoisseur’s Corner” usually air on WBZ 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.

Thanks for listening and thanks for supporting our friends and neighbors in the food-service industry!

Despite the on-again, off-again pandemic prohibitions, I snuck up to Maine with my family a few weeks ago and made an amazing discovery. Not only was everyone happy to see us, but Maine has a drink that is worth the potentially law-defying trip!

It is called Green Bee, and while it may be classified as a soda, that term is not used pejoratively in this case, In fact, Green Bee is made from fresh carbonated water that is combined with sustainable Maine honey and natural fruits and herbs from the Pine Tree State. 

Starting with the well-named blueberry dream (for what better fruit to enjoy in Maine?), I quickly found my way to such other creative concoctions as the Rosemary-kissed lemon sting, honeycomb cider, and the ginger buzz that is made with fresh-pressed ginger and reminded me of another area fave- Töst. They also make a seasonal Love Potion that tastes like chocolate-dipped strawberries in a bottle (thank to he inclusion of fresh strawberries and real cacao nibs)!

Having recently won the National Honey Board’s Queen’s Choice Award, Green Bee is sure to be the buzz at your hive soon, so be sure to ask for it wherever you buy sod- I mean delicious drinks!

www.drinkgreenbee.com/

Veteran-owned True Made Foods coming to Fenway

Matt’s segments for “Connoisseur’s Corner” usually air on WBZ 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.

Thanks for listening and thanks for supporting our friends and neighbors in the food-service industry!

Though the Red Sox may not be much to speak of lately, there is still a lot going on around Fenway Park. We have spoken in recent months of the passing of the torch from Bud to Sam Adams, the opening of the new Upper Deck at Fenway above the House of Blues, and the inclusion of Lowell’s own J’enwey Tea. And who can forget the great foods and special view from the Bleacher Bar?

Now, another Matt’s Meals fave is getting the call.

Perhaps encouraged by our own accolades, the folks at Fenway have invited Abe Kamarckof True Made Foods to be their new condiment supplier.

Not only are True Made Foods condiments lower in sugar than most others, they are made with vegetables, so even Fenway Frank fans can get a bit of added nutrition and not so much junk in their system while enjoying a game (or at least pretending to).


What may be the best part of the partnership is that, as readers of my Vetrepreneurs© column learned over a year ago, Abe is a Veteran and hires other brave soldiers to support his brand. If for no other reason, then, Red Sox fans, healthy food fans, and condiment fans should all get into True Made so they can help themselves to delicious, healthy foods while helping those who help us stay safe.

Be sure to look for True Made’s no sugar ketchup, BBQ and hot sauces and their honey, brown, and yellow mustards at Fenway and at your favorite stores.

The Sox may not be great next year, but the Fenway Franks are still legend and now have toppings to match!

www.truemadefoods.com

A Hole-y Union is on the Table

Matt’s segments for “Connoisseur’s Corner” usually air on WBZ 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.

Thanks for listening and thanks for supporting our friends and neighbors in the food-service industry!

While many people in the Greater Boston area may still run on Dunkin’, those in the know head to Union Square for their eponymous donuts. And while the original Somerville shop may be a trek for some (though one many are willing to make), outposts in Boston and Brookline have helped. 

The most recent expansion involves the union of Union Square (which is now headed by Sarah Belisile, formerly of the equally dessert-able  Magnolia Bakery Boston)with the folks at The Bagel Table, who will now be selling the other best hole-y food at their Boston Landing location and plan on keeping the pair together in their Chestnut Hill and Ashland shops.

Each week, a rotating selection of rolling goodies (including such favorites as their Boston Cream, Sea Salted Bourbon Caramel, and Vietnamese Coffee) will appear at The Bagel Table (which is itself well known for their French toast, jalapeno, and signature Chestnut Hill challah-based bagels), making diners’ decisions even more difficult! 

It is a match made in morning pastry heaven and one that brings the two ventures’ tales of farmer’s markets to pop-ups to brick and mortars full circle (sorry!).

www.unionsquaredonuts.com