The Culinary Scoop

The First Widely Distributed Wine-Based Seltzer will be Available Nationwide this Spring.

– Barefoot, the most awarded wine and bubbly brand in U.S. competitions, announced today it will enter the popular hard seltzer category with Barefoot Hard Seltzer, the first nationally distributed hard seltzer made with real wine. The brand will begin to roll out Barefoot Hard Seltzer nationwide in February 2020.  

Drawing off the success of Barefoot’s popular Barefoot Spritzer, award-winning Winemaker Jen Wall has worked with her team to craft Barefoot Hard Seltzer, a premium alternative to beer and lighter-bodied alternative to wine. Made with three main ingredients Barefoot Wine, seltzer water, and natural flavor, each 250mL can boasts 70 calories, 2 grams of sugar, 4% ABV and is gluten-free. Barefoot Hard Seltzer delivers a hint of natural flavor and real wine in four vibrant and refreshing flavors – Pineapple & Passion Fruit, Cherry & Cranberry, Peach & Nectarine, and Strawberry & Guava.

Alex Rodriguez Joins Anheuser-Busch As Partner & Chairman for The Dominican Republic’s Own ‘Presidente’ Beer in the US.

Anheuser-Busch today announced a landmark partnership between the iconic Dominican pilsner Presidente Beer and Alex Rodriguez, with the baseball legend and entrepreneur joining as Chairman of Presidente USA.

Long associated with Miami sports, Presidente USA is taking the next step in its legacy by partnering with Rodriguez, who will bring a new energy to the brand by transcending the role of spokesperson and truly helping direct the brand’s efforts toward the rich, Dominican culture that Presidente represents.

Rodriguez, the son of Dominican immigrants, first picked up a baseball on the fields of Washington Heights, New York, before rising to the pinnacle of America’s pastime. His journey embodies the pride and passion that has driven Presidente Beer forward since its inception in 1935.

Kolby McNeal, founder and Chief Culinary Officer of Sweets in a Jar LLC, has launched an on-the-go homemade dessert company based in Little Rock, Arkansas. While excelling in academics as well as athletics at his beloved HBCU, the University of Arkansas Pine Bluff, Kolby has also been working hard to grow his business. This student-athlete phenom turned entrepreneur, who went to school on a full football scholarship, has quickly become known as “Cakes” because of his imaginative spins on tried and true sweets.

Baking his way to the top

In kindergarten, Kolby asked his parents for an easy bake oven and a football. Kolby loved watching Ace of Cakes, and his idols as a kid, G. Garvin, and Michael Vick. He spent his days playing football and making Vanilla Bean Crème Brûlée. He attended football camps, but just as frequently, cooking camps. He was in the first class of the Clinton Foundation Culinary Camp. While in middle school, Kolby was featured on television, making his version of key lime pie, which would become the “I Got the Keys” Key Lime Pie. Always the entrepreneur, his first business was starting a sandwich-making business in middle school to get the money to buy a moped, and that entrepreneur spirit never left.

The unnamed title will hit newsstands in May.

Meredith announced it has another quarterly newsstand title in the works, this time with chef, author and TV personality Ayesha Curry.

This will be the second new title added to the Meredith portfolio in 2020, along with “The Property Brothers,” Drew and Jonathan Scott’s Reveal, which hit newsstands this month.

The new quarterly magazine is similarly aligned to Rachael Ray’s recently rebooted magazine, Rachael Ray In Season, in terms of its business model and rollout strategy.

Like In Season and Reveal, Curry’s still-unnamed title will boast a cover price of $9.99. Also like In Season, it will debut with an initial run of 400,000 copies across the country. Reveal, on the other hand, rolled out with 750,000 copies.

Victor George Spirits has announced that international music star Flo Rida (Tramar Dillard) will partner with Victor G. Harvey Sr to create South Florida’s largest craft vodka – Victor George Vodka (VG Vodka). The two will also build a 13,000-square foot facility to house a 4,500-square foot distillery on historic Sistrunk Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale along with a cigar bar, wine bar, lounge and restaurant.

VG an ultra-premium, gluten free vodka, quickly becoming one of the most popular and most requested vodkas in South Florida, will debut this newly formed partnership through a series of events throughout Super Bowl week. Flo Rida is not just a celebrity endorser; he is also an equity partner in VG Vodka and the distillery coming in late 2020 or early 2021.

Through a $3 million grant from the Walmart Foundation, the 4-H Healthy Habits program provides nutrition education to more than 250,000 diverse youth, their families and communities.

The Walmart Foundation has awarded a $3 million grant to National 4-H Council to reach over 250,000 youth and their communities with essential nutrition education through the 4-H Healthy Habits Program in 2020. Since 2012, National 4-H Council, through funding from the Walmart Foundation, has impacted over one million young people with healthy living programming, focusing on underserved populations who face challenges in achieving positive health outcomes nationwide.

This year, celebrity chef, media personality and Tennessee 4-H alumna Carla Hall is joining the effort as the 4-H Healthy Habits Program Ambassador to help youth build a lifetime of healthy living skills.

As Philadelphia emerges as a top destination for foodies far and wide, it becomes harder for restauranteurs to set themselves apart from the pack. But this is a welcoming challenge for Sammed Okyne, owner and operator of Kings and Queens Liberian Cuisine, a take-out spot specializing in Pan-African cuisine. The City of Brotherly Love boasts a vast array of restaurants offering international cuisine. With an increasing immigrant population, there truly is something for everyone. But one would be hard pressed to find such authenticity as that found at this hidden gem.

A native Liberian, Sammed arrived in the US in 1997, a time when the landscape for international cuisine in Philadelphia was limited. After mastering his Management skills at Penn State University Sammed returned to Philadelphia in 2013 ready to compete with the many well-established African eateries in the city.

SF Beer Week is back. The SF Beer Week Opening Gala on Friday, February 7 – a destination event in the world of craft beer – will launch ten days of community, collaboration and independence. This annual craft beer extravaganza at the historic Pier 35, on San Francisco’s waterfront, shines a light on the region’s exceptional brewing creativity.  

Over 120 independent Northern California breweries will tap more than 300 select beers for tasting. Attendees may also sample five limited-release beers designed and brewed collaboratively by members of the five chapters of the Bay Area Brewers Guild. 

Representing the North Bay, East Bay, South Bay, Monterey Coastal region and San Francisco proper, these collab beers will pour side by side in a friendly showdown. (Tickets for the SFBW Opening Gala are on sale now at sfbeerweek.eventbrite.com).