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 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 climate change and a lack of economic and educational equity continue to weigh down the world, we can all do our part to help stem these troubling tides. And if that help involves delicious wines, all the better!

As more and more companies begin to show their spirit by supporting environmental and community-supporting causes, it has become easier to find new favorites that make you feel good in more ways than one.

New Zealand’s family-run Mohua Winery not only uses sustainable practices to create their delicious Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir, they also put their proceeds to work to help the titular native bird survive in its natural habitat and work with the Department of Conservation to support protection initiatives and sanctuary programs. 

Similarly, Southern Right’s sustainably award-winning Pinotage and Sauvignon Blanc and their rare surargum honey not only delight drinkers and drizzlers but, with help from their associated Hamilton Russell Vineyards (which is a World Wildlife Federation Champion, by the way!), also help fund a school in New Zealand for underprivileged children.

On the other side of the globe, Portugal’s historic Warre’s Port is not only maintining the traditions it established when it first created the world’s first British Port established in Portugal – Warre’s Warrior – but the Symington family that has overseen Warre’s (and other sustainable beverage brands) for five generations is also supporting the community and the world as a B Coporation that maintains the highest standards of social and environmental responsibility.

So the next time you want a delicious grape-based beverage, why not enjoy one that helps others as well? There are plenty to choose from and more jump on the beneficial bandwagon every day.

 www.mohuawines.co.nz / https://southernright.co.za / www.warre.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 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!

Long known for its fabulous fusions of Moscato and Sangria with fresh fruit flavors like berries, coconut, mango, peach, and watermelon, MYX Beverage is debuting its entry into the ever-more-popular lower-calorie and low-alcohol wine world. And while the calories and alcohol levels may be lower, the flavor is not!

MYX LightChardonnay is a slightly dry wine with fresh, crisp notes of apple, Romagna pear, and lemon.  MYX LightRosé is delightfully refreshing and made from Barbera grapes showcasing hints of strawberry, raspberry, and citrus. Each Italian import has only 75 calories per serving, 13 total carbs, and 5% alcohol by volume, making them great options for those long summer nights when more than one beverage may be on the menu.

For those who want to be a bit more bad, MYX has also released a Sinner semi-sweet red wine that has 12.7% ABV.

If you need more of a reason to try them, award-winning singer Nicki Minaj is the founder and creative director of the brand and appears in its ads! But even if you have no idea who that is, MYX make great drinks that will help keep you looking and feeling great too!

https://myxfusions.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 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!

Even though many of us have emerged from COVID, many painful remnants remain.

While restaurant industry continues to recover and count its losses, the rolls of hungry in this country and around the world have continued to rise.

One of my favorite organizations to help with this latter issue is Mazon. Though couched in the Jewish community, Mazon helps people around the world from all backgrounds and faiths and gives more to the people in need than many other organizations of its kind.

After celebrating its 36^th year in existence (36 being two times 18, which relates to the Hebrew word for “life”) with a party that featured famed cookbook authors and chefs Joan Nathan and Gail Simmons and actor Joshua Malina, Mazon has also published a book to celebrate its “double-Chai” year.

Called (appropriately enough) The Celebration Cookbook, this collection of Jewish-inspired international tastes features Nathan and Simmons as well as Michael Twitty, Einat Admony, Adeena Sussman, Gale Gand, Vivian Ku and many others. As with all things Mazon does, proceeds will benefit the hungry around the world.

So help others while helping yourself to some great recipes from some of the best chefs around.

L’chaim!

www.mazon.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 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 people start to venture out again, Pazza On Porter has another great reason!

In addition to their delicious Italian food and already worth-the-trip Amalfi Coast-inspired patio, Pazza On Porter has recently partnered with Jack’s Abby brewery to bring a beer garden to Eastie.

While Pazza is already known for their eponymously “crazy” and freewheeling vibe, the beer garden is definitely raising the fun factor! And as Jack’s is bringing such a wide range of their locally-brewed offerings, there wil be plenty to complement Pazza’s fried burrata and calamari, fig and Ricotta bruschetta, bisteca arancini, Marasla chicken wings, carbonara fries, grilled octopus, homemade pastas and parmigianas, and more!

Speaking of pastas, Pazza offers a special dine-in pasta menu on Tuesdays with each offering only $10! They also have weekend brunches that feature their famous Pazza scramble, as well as lemon ricotta pancakes, the soft-boiled bird’s nest, and poached Benedetto (which I love almost as much as Tony!).

Their website (pazzaonporter.com) has a special password-protected community space where neighbors can get extra-special treatment, but Pazza is always happy to welcome people from further afield and, with the help of Jack’s Abby, surely will!

www.pazzaonporter.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 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 have been raving about the wine bar Frenchie in Boston’s South End since it opened and now am happy to report that people in Cambridge’s Porter Square will be able to get their own taste of owner Sandrine Rossi’s restaurant regality at the new Colette Wine Bistro!

Though we were part of the Frenchie fan base first (natch!), Frenchie was eventually named “Best French Restaurants in Boston” by another area media outlet and continues to garner raves from diners and industry types alike!

While taking over a restaurant is challenge enough, Sandrine did it after having Frenchie vandalized, giving birth, and getting COVID! Fortunately, the French- inspired foods at Frenchie (and now at Colette) offer comfort to everyone involved, thanks to the fact that Sandrine is bringing over Frenchie Chef Alex Falconer and General Manager Philippine Hamilton to oversee and prepare the menus for both venues. 

This means that fans on both locations will be able to enjoy such long-time favorites as Chef Falconer’s oyser du jour, escargot toast, steak tartare, steak frite, duck Magret, as well as his housemade pasta and his creamy take on the ever-popular French onion soup. Brunch fans will be able to enioy Chef’s smoked salmon plate, Croque Monsieur, eggs a la Provencale, duck confit hash, and Nutella crepe on either weekend day (or both!) at Frenchie as well. No matter when you come, the famed wine list and revolutionary Frosé are always avaialble!

So if you love authentic French food served with native love in a comfortable atmosphere, you now have two great choices.

Bon appetit!

www.frenchieboston.com / https://colette1924.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 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 travel to Israel may not be first on everyone’s itinerary right now, those who have been kept away by COVID and who want to support the Jewish state have been returning in droves. And with the help of American Airlines, they can be supportive and more relaxed even before they kiss the ground in Tel Aviv!

On all flights from Dallas, Miami, and New York to Tel Aviv, American Airlines will offer six wines from the award-wining Royal Wine family, including a pair of Kosher options.

Among the highlights the new collection are Baron Herzog Chardonnayand Herzog Lineage Cabernet Sauvignon. The Chardonnay is a full-bodied white that features notes of apple blossom, honeysuckle, peach, tangerine, and caramel.The Cabernet offers fruity flavors of black cherry and boysenberry and a touch of tobacco. Both wines are perfect companions to foods of all kinds (even airline food!) and will definitely set the mood for an Israeli sojourn.

Even if you do not want to travel yet, you can still enioy the taste of the land of milk and honey with any of Royal’s award-winning wines, many of which are made in the United States. In fact, those who go as far as Caifornia can enjoy their beautiful tasting room in Oxnard (whicxh features the award-winning Mediterranean restaurant Tierra Sur), but your living or dining room will surely do as well!

www.royalwine.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 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 non-alcoholic beverages are still coming on, for those who are able, there is nothing like a real adult beverage every once in a while.

When I take a rare opportunity to partake, one of my go-to’s is Crater Lake Spirits’ sweet ginger vodka. 

Made in Bend, OR, by a distillery that is celebrating 25 years in business this year, this delicious drink combines Crater Lake’s venerable vodka with crystallized whole-root ginger for a zingy sweetness that wakes you up and then chills you out with a smile.

In addition to the ginger infusion, Crater Lake Spirits also makes the fabuously fruit-infused Rock and Rye, an authenic recipe Prohibition gin that features hand-picked juniper berries and Cascade Mountain water, and even a Rye barrel-aged reposado agave spirit that is perfect for tequila fnas and people look for another new smooth favorite.

Thanks to such sweet and satisfying sippers, Crater Lake Spirits has not only been able to keep all of its employees on the payroll, but enjoyed a 20% increase in sales this past year!

So when you are ready to celebrate again or whenever you need to take the edge off another challenging day of Zoom, take a dip in Crater Lake and enjoy the natural refreshment!

www.CraterLakeSpirits.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 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 the once laughed-at electric car, non-alcoholic beers are making a comeback and, as people look more to maintain their health while enjoying their favorite foods and drinks, growing bigger than ever!

While many American brewers begin to look into the space, our friends from north of the border are already clearing a path.

Started by a brewer who had a medical condition that prevented him from enjoying traditional beers, Partake brews have only 0.3% alcohol and offer all the flavors of your favorite beers. To make sure that you can find a favorite, Partake comes in a wide range of flavors that includes a blonde, pale ale, IPA, red, and stout, each of which is made with the same quality ingredients and is as refreshing and as satisfying as their fully-loaded namesakes.

Brewed in Toronto, Partake has already won awards on both sides of the border and around the world (including a Gold Medal at the World Beer Awards for Best Non-Alcoholic Beer)! Though Partake continues to expand distrution in the US, for those who want to partake without waiting, there is even a subscription service avaialble that includes advanced updates and discounts on all orders.

https://drinkpartake.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 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 it is published by Green Bean Books, Babka, Boulou & Blintzes: Jewish Chocolate Recipes from Around the World (which has been compiled by Michael Leventhal) is not so much about nutritious, but it makes up for it with DELICIOUS!

As he is also the author of the award-winning children’s book The Chocolate King and an experienced chocolate eater, Leventhal knows of which he compiles and has chosen some of the best friends and colleagues to participate.

In addition to covering the history of our favorite foods, Babka, Boulou & Blintzes also shines a sweet spotlight on Jewish contributions to the worlds of chocolate and food. It also offers recipes from over 50 balabusta bakers, including Joan Nathan’s chocolate mandel cake, Claudia Roden’s Inquisition-worthy Spanish hot chocoalte, Michael Solomonov’s chocolate-alomnd “situation,” Alan Rosenthal’s chocolate chili, and some fish-free dark chocolate and roasted beetroot ice cream from our friends at the Gefilteria. There is even a contribution from Rabbi (and chocolate-minded author) Deborah Prinz whose Basque chocolate cake is a historical revelation!

In the interest of equity and justice, the book also includes savory and naturally gluten-free and vegan recipes to cater to a variety of dietary requirements and levels of chocoholism. In the interest of tzedakah, proceeds are being donared to Chai Cancer Care and can be purchased at www.chaicancercare.org/chocolate and at www.greenbeanbooks.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 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!

Often, when my kids start nagging me about “What’s for dinner?” I tell them we are going to Joe’s House of Chocolate-Covered Broccoli.

Apparenlty, this may not be so bad!

In fact, according to the beautifully- and scientifically-illustrated tome The Art and Science of Foodpairing, what may at first seem to be odd combinations (at least to the unititaited) may end up becoming fast favorites!

For example, if I said I was going to coat your chicken with chocolate, you might blanche. But, if I said I was going to top it with mole, ¡Olé! Similarly, in Boston’s historic North End, you might see locals making an Italian two-fer by dousing their gelato with olive oil. Unexpected? Perhaps. Delicious? Absoluetly!

While some of these combinations may start out as cultural curiosities, more creative kitchens can clearly show how today’s family recipe can transform into tomorrow’s craze. And in the capable hands of Chef Peter Coucquyt, bio-engineer Bernard Lahousse, and entrepreneur Johan Langenbick (the co-founders of Foodpairing®), with help from three-Michelin star chef Heston Blumenthal, it becomes at least easier to see (literally) how such combinations can grow.

Using science to take foods to their molecular levels, this book demonstrates how similar elements of taste profiles can make for intriguing and ultimately enticing combinations that even lesser chefs can handle. And while the book does not offer recipes, it surely will inspire home chefs and chefs of reopening restaurants to try new things and bring life back to the food scene.

And that is something we can ALL enjoy

www.fireflybooks.com