Boxerbrand's Recipe for Success

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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Through a hidden door tucked behind a moving bookcase, step the customers who know the game. But before they can pass through a wall to enter the funky subterranean world of Bitter & Pour, a riddle must be answered. The question? That they find out at the door. And once the answer is given and the bookcase slides open, the many pleasures of craft cocktails and impeccable wine become accessible, says Andrew Ferguson, general manager of Bitter & Pour LLC…

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The sunlight streams past a knoll on the Baldacci Family Estate Vineyards, glinting off rows of grapes growing lustily in the Stags Leap soil of Napa Valley. In photographs, the mood of mellow beauty and natural harmony evoke feelings of a day well lived, and expectation of a soothing sip of nectar, which in the case of the industrious family vineyard, is its prized Cabernet Sauvignon. “As stewards of the land and keepers of the grape, we can cultivate, shape,…

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No job was ever too small for Hannah Hopkins. As a restaurant newbie many years ago, her hands were often sunk into hot, sudsy water scrubbing plates until they sparkled. As she cleaned, she absorbed the atmosphere of a busy kitchen, and let’s just say, soaked it all in. “I guess you could say I went to the school of hard knocks,” jokes the owner of Mambo and Bésame, thriving sister operations in Steamboat Springs, Colo. “I went from doing…

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The days of microwaved meals and peanuts in a bag are over for flight-weary travelers thanks in large part to licensing deals that bring comfort brands to heavily trafficked airports. “Airline passengers are more sophisticated than ever and they’re looking for dining experiences to match higher expectations,” says Seth Merin, vice president of operations, Air Ventures, LLC. In this week’s Q&A with Boxerbrand blog Recipe for Success, Merin discusses the business of bringing high-value hospitality to airports. Q: In a…

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Twelve years in, Salvatore Scarlata looked around his popular New Jersey restaurant and thought, “We’re going to need a bigger place.” “Everyone wanted to come in for dinner at Vidalia Restaurant the same time, during the prime-time hour around 7 p.m.,” says the award-winning restauranteur. “It got to be a bit of a challenge.” And closing the doors against all that business lining up for a table at his Lawrenceville, N.J. eatery was not an option. In this week’s Q&A…

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