Peter Luger’s Delivery

Adult cereal and adaptogens are quite old but both are fairly new to most of us. Dare I say trendy. Off Limits is a new cereal brand developed by Emily Miller, famous for all sorts of breakfast stuff like books and tours. Watching my grandmother eat her daily milk doused bowl of bran and wheat germ with a yuck face had me running for my Tony the Tiger well into my 30’s. These days, as a smarter, slower metabolism, dude an alternative was in order. We’ve highlighted some of these new cereal brands before. What takes Off Limits to the next level are these wonderful little adaptogens added to the crunchy O’s. Adaptogens are things you’ve heard of but don’t really know what they are aside from “they are good for you”. Originally created in 1947, I told you they were old, to describe a substance that may increase resistance to stress, today they promote other benefits such as anti-inflammation and hormonal balance. They have crazy names like rhodiola, schisandra and, most trendy, ashwagandha but they are basically roots and plants you can find in various parts of the world. Ashwagandha is the adaptogen in one of the two current Off Limits flavors, Zombie. The green O’s are made from rice, oat, and coconut flour with notes of vanilla and pandan. BTW, pandan is a Southeast Asian plant that when crushed gives off a sweet, floral scent. The other flavor is Dash. Championing a caffeinated female rabbit mascot, these dots are a chocolatey, coffee goodness guaranteed to pep you up. There are three different coffee ingredients in them. WOWO. No chill adaptogens in these. Together these two options get you up in the morning and put you down at night hence their claim that this is cereal for any time of day. As cereal nerds, we like that idea a lot. Aside from the quality and taste, the design of everything from the box to the website wins in our book. Emily partnered with Shepard Fairey’s Studio Number One for the character development and Pentagram partner, Astrid Stavro for the visual identity. She didn’t stop there. We opened this post with “old stuff but new to us”. Continuing on the old is new theme, they even brought back the free toy inside, although it’s not inside. It’s more a carnival ticket system approach. You accumulate tickets with each purchase and then can go shopping in their online toy store for stuff like mascot keychains and other fun tchotchkes. Next time you are hankering for your childhood, need a boost but hate 24hr energy, or need to mellow into slumberland drop some Off Limits in a bowl and fix that need in a most delicious and fun-loving way.

We’ve been big into barrel aged things that traditionally have never seen the inside of a barrel. SOSU Barrel Aged Sriracha takes it to the next, next level by applying this trend to a hot sauce. Just when you thought your hot chicken was perfected, along comes this depth in a jar to add yet another layer of complexity to your dinner party wow-pertoire. Secretly we dip carrots straight into the jar when no ones looking for a quick snack.

On a walk up to Jean-Talon Market we walked into a store that at first seemed to be all duck. As we made our way to the front counter we discovered the Ils En Fument Du Bon sausage counter. Technically they classify themselves as charcuterie but it’s their sausage selection that grabbed us by the taste buds. Scanning the counter our tongues watered over tequila lime, foie gras and spaghetti sausages. There’s spaghetti IN the casing. Crazy. These are only three of about 30 different concoctions. All of them twisting your brain around contrasting ingredients. The picture above does the perfect job of explaining the owner and the vibe of this artisanal brand. If these guys aren’t on VICE by summer someone in editorial blew it.

We couldn’t decide between the bread and butter beets and the Mostarda as our favorites. Preservation Society Members Club allows you to not have to choose. Unfortunately we don’t have a Montreal address so this club wasn’t an option for us. Luckily we have friends willing to pick up (and probably eat) our club benefits. What we love most, besides the quality, unique ingredients and perfectly ripened tastes, is that theirs not secrets or pretension to the small batch brand. Camilla Wynne ♥’s canning and wants to bring that knowledge to as many people as possible. This club is one way she does that. Workshops, events and a tell all book are three others. Talk about approachable. Of course our approach requires a JFK to YUL flight path.