Boxerbrand | Recipe for Success

On a pretty New Jersey farm where hawks once gathered to hunt the freshly tilled soil, blossoms a family vineyard, which bubbles with fresh ideas in sparkling wine and small-production varietals. The Hawk Haven Vineyard & Winery, was launched in 1997 by husband and wife Todd and Kenna Wuerker. Together they grow grapes on the farmland that has been in Todd’s family since it was purchased in 1940 by German immigrant Johan Felix Wuerker. Today, the farm is a popular…

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The challenge of making great food for all tastes is a high bar for any establishment. But when those meals also need to accommodate diners with restrictions, such as stroke-related swallowing issues, or sodium intake, that high bar just hit the stratosphere. Which is why the self-described foodies running the show at independent living facility Ridgmar Place of Fort Worth, Texas, approach their work every day with an all-hands-on-deck zeal to find new presentations, secret ingredients, and novel ways to…

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Annie’s Paramount Steakhouse in Washington, D.C. has been drawing a crowd since 1948. No, they’re not giving away cash. It’s more like love and understanding. The story goes that sometime in the 1970s, Annie Kaylor was working alongside her four sisters at the family owned restaurant, when she observed a two gentlemen having dinner and holding hands underneath the table. And without missing a beat, she told them, “You don’t need to hide that here.” That short declarative sentence, which…

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Long before Pastabilities earned its stripes as a popular Syracuse restaurant, gourmet food merchandiser, and Food Network star, they were hitting home runs serving simple, fresh, homemade pasta; cafeteria style in downtown Syracuse. And from those humble beginnings sprang a well of creativity and success. Thirty-seven years later, their daughter and front-of-house manager Ryland Heagerty, reports that the oldest continually run restaurant in Syracuse has grown and stretched into something quite special. “We’re turning 37 next week,” Heagerty says. “And…

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An elegant ballet of tiny bubbles, a symphony for the senses is how some describe the champagne produced on the small Long Island vineyard, Sparkling Pointe. To those who imagine fine winemaking can only be done in regions of France or the United States west coast, the team at Sparkling Pointe begs to differ. On Nov. 4, Sparkling Pointe founders Tom and Cynthia Rosicki took home an armful of prestigious awards, including two Best in Class, as well as gold…

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Off the beaten path in Paso Robles, Calif. awaits a vineyard and tasting room that welcomes the entire family, even the four-footed members. “Besides offering our customers great red blends, Changala Winery strives to be very welcoming, warm, with no pretensions,” says Barbara Hooker, spokesperson. “It’s a little bit of a drive for people, which takes them through wine country to a secluded tasting room where customers can bring their kids and their dogs.” With outdoor seating positioned near Willow…

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The kitchen was a madhouse. It was Thanksgiving in the late 80s. The club house at The Fair Grounds racetrack in Louisiana seated around 2,000; and on that holiday, all eyes were on the kitchen doors. They remained stubbornly closed. Hungry guests began to wonder why. Finally, Vicky Bayley stood up and decided to find out what was going on. Part of a longtime horse racing family, she’d worked alongside her Thoroughbred-trainer father and eventually went to work for the…

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The feeling of wonderment comes in a rush, the moment a guest steps out onto the roof deck 20 some stories up; instantly awed by The Empire State Building and Manhattan’s glorious skyline. And then in a whirl, the cameras jump out of pockets and purses, and the guests of 230 Fifth’s rooftop garden and penthouse pose and smile for posterity. That moment, says Jason Buffer, of corporate sales and marketing for the 13-year-old establishment, is what he and his…

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For anyone who has ever dreamed of “getting away from it all,” but hasn’t known exactly what that might look like, the panoramic view of Vermont’s Green Mountains and Lake Chittenden, as seen from the luxurious-yet-rustic accommodations of the Mountain Top Inn & Resort, might help form a “visual” on that idea. Three hours north of Boston, roughly mid-state Vermont, is a property that has hit a boom time since the property built a brand new post-and-beam barn to offer…

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Carrol’s Creek Café of Annapolis, MD this year declared its independence from nuts, becoming the first fine-dining establishment to officially declare itself entirely “nut free.” The 35-year-old seafood restaurant, which takes its name from Charles Carroll, the famous Maryland signer of the Declaration of Independence, spent an entire year sourcing everything from craft ice cream to cheddar cheese,  ridding itself of products that had been cross contaminated during manufacture, and ensuring that even diners with the most sensitive nut allergy…

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