Porkopolis

I have recently been in Cincinnati and my co workers and I were headed to the Red and Giants game on a rainy Tuesday night. We decided to get some food before the game instead of eating hot dogs all night. We stopped off at Local 127 and was not sure what we were getting into but there was a giant pig in the middle of the restaurant. That is always a good sign.

Secret Tea in Camden Market

We all know the British love their tea. With the rise of the Starbucks era you might feel the age old tradition of tea time fading. At least visually speaking. As you scan the street landscape you’re more apt to find a coffee shop than a tea shop. Don’t get me wrong, you can still grab a wonderful cup of tea at any corner shop in London, just follow the builders. The difference is in how you enjoy that cup of tea. Sitting in a Cafe Nero or a Costa Coffee provides that quiet, comfortable and relaxed atmosphere “tea time” used to include. The problem is that these shops are strongly centered around coffee. From what’s in your cup to the same named cake available under the glass counter, it seems like tea is fitting in less and less with our go-go-go world. From a visitors perspective, one of the MUST DO’s when in Britain is to properly enjoy a proper cup of tea. (Take note of that double “proper”) I hunted for this but with no luck. Then I stumbled into the quintessential tea experience in the last place I ever thought possible…

‘Wich Hunting: Episode 2

Il Bambino – Astoria, Queens, New York

About ‘Wich Hunting: Anthony and I have travelled the world eating everything from Balut in the Philippines to blood sausage in Argentina. In every destination there has always been a sandwich shop. Some were good and some were bad but they all had their unique take on this ubiquitous meal. The origin of the sandwich is highly debated and we’ll dive into that on our journey as we discover, taste and debate the best sandwiches in the world.

CMO Dinner

My friend and west coast supperclub counterpart have long talked about a supperclub collaboration. Until last week the closest we’ve come were a few test dinners and email exchanges over potential menu items. That all changed last Thursday night in a secret kitchen in North Beach San Francisco.

In another cross over between my food world and marketing world Ben and I served a twelve course meal for a table of sixteen marketing executives from some of the greatest companies in the world. To share the food-marketing story love I decided to post the full story over on the Manifold blog this time. Take a look.

Italian Easter Egg

We hope everyone had a great Easter and wonderful passover. We spared the lambs this year and went straight beef. Glorious, thick, fat laced, aged, Ottomanelli’s beef to be exact. Who needs easter egg hunts when you have this…

Foreign No Frills

As a quick follow up to a post about my love of less options and simply designed generic products, Marks + Spencers of London has a nice approach. Not as clean as Canada’s Loblaw’s and certainly not hitting the Pathmark NO FRILLS circa 1978 gold standard but commendable.

A more modern design style with a bit more color and imagery used but it still has a clean and very direct communication of the product. In may cases the ingredients are treated with the same necessity to communicate quickly and strongly. On the jump is…