Have you seen our new book?

Hamptons Real Estate Showcase did a piece on our culinary immersion adventures which are chronicled in our new book - check it out below.

“On the Road with Flavor Forays: An Insider’s Tour of Four of America’s Hottest Food Cities… Austin, Charleston, Portland, and New Orleans — takes readers along on memorable culinary immersions. Stir the pots. Meet the characters. Listen to the stories. And if you get hungry, whip up one of the recipes provided by the chefs and producers on these tours.”

New Orleans: Small Bites, Big Easy - Hamptons Real Estate Showcase - Luxury Real Estate and Lifestyle Magazine

On the Road with Flavor Forays: An Insider's Tour of Four of America's Hottest Food Cities... Austin, Charleston, Portland, and New Orleans - takes readers along on memorable culinary immersions. Stir the pots. Meet the characters. Listen to the stories. And if you get hungry, whip up one of the recipes provided by the chefs and producers on these tours.

You can purchase On the Road HERE.

Praise for On the Road with Flavor Forays

On the Road with Flavor Forays: An Insider’s Tour of Four of America’s Hottest Food Cities — Austin, Charleston, Portland, and New Orleans -- takes readers along on memorable culinary immersions. Stir the pots. Meet the characters. Listen to the stories. And if you get hungry, whip up one of the recipes provided by the chefs and producers on these tours.

On the Road with Flavor Forays - by Barbara Mathias and Beverly Stephen

Get your copy HERE!

Here’s what people are saying -

Love the book! This amazing duo have re-created “live” what they did at Food Arts. Now you can also read about these amazing adventures. Each Favor Forays trip is through the lens of professional and personal interest.  You will go deep into the belly of the culture at the best places with the top players in every location.

Bravo ladies & enjoy the Limoncello!

 Ed Brown

President, Restaurant Services

Restaurant Associates

This book describes perfectly the experience of what Flavor Forays is meant to be.

A travel back to the origins of our industry traditions, meeting with some of the best culinary and mixologist talents, sharing their passion and local best-kept secrets through food and storytelling.

A fantastic networking event I had the opportunity to attend on multiple occasions.

Jean-Marie Clement

Vice President

Food & Beverage Walt Disney World

What better way to experience the food culture than visiting a community and immersing oneself with the locals, hearing their stories, and learning about how their culture evolved over time.  Flavor Forays offers a unique opportunity to meet with local experts, tour farms, producers, restaurants, and more and really learn about the heart of each community they visit in just a couple of days.  Now with this book you can join the adventures as an armchair traveler.

Scott Giambastiani

GoogleFood Services

Till this day I have stacks of Food Arts magazine from 2006-2008, during the time I lived and worked in St. Thomas. Never in a million years did I think one day I would be cooking for the Food Arts pioneers. Beverly and Barbara are two passionate ladies! Their new culinary venture, Flavor
Forays has become one of my favorite events to be a part of. All because of these beautiful ladies and their wonderful spirit. Now with this book, so many more people will have the opportunity to enjoy the Flavor Forays experience.

Chef BJ Dennis

Gullah Ambassador

Anxious for a Road Trip?

On the Road with Flavor Forays: An Insider’s Tour of Four of America’s Hottest Food Cities — Austin, Charleston, Portland, and New Orleans — takes readers along on memorable culinary immersions. Stir the pots. Meet the charac­­ters. Listen to the stories. And if you get hungry, whip up one of the recipes provided by the chefs and producers right from these tours.

Authors Barbara Mathias and Beverly Stephen spent over two decades covering chefs and food trends at Food Arts magazine. After the magazine shuttered, they acted on their dream and started a travel company, Flavor Forays, to bring chefs and food and beverage kingpins on culinary journeys to food meccas.

When they tell people what they do for a living, the typical response is ‘Can I come on one of your trips?’ And now you can. In On the Road with Flavor Forays you can be an armchair traveler on their insider culinary journeys.

Flavor Forays is temporarily grounded due to Covid-19.  During this down time, the authors have been working on their deep dish travelogue based on five years of trips to America’s hottest food destinations. It brought back so many great memories of the new friendships formed and of all the passionate chefs and producers they met along the way.

"Love the book! This amazing duo have re-created 'live' what they did at Food Arts. Now you can also read about these amazing adventures."

—Ed Brown, president Restaurant Services, Restaurant Associates

Click below to get your copy today!

On The Road With Flavor Forays: An Insider's Tour of Four of America's Hottest Food Cities: Austin, Charleston, Portland, New Orleans

Buy On The Road With Flavor Forays: An Insider's Tour of Four of America's Hottest Food Cities: Austin, Charleston, Portland, New Orleans: Read Books Reviews - Amazon.com

Update from Flavor Forays

Hello Flavor Foray Friends,

"For now, traveling down our memory lanes is the only safe travel," Chef Vitaly Paley wrote when he told us about his new cooking show on Instagram, "In the Kitchen with Vitaly Paley.”

In the Kitchen with Chef Vitaly Paley | - Paley's Place

To maintain our sense of community as we stay at home, we're announcing a new series of live recording sessions on Instagram Live:In the Kitchen with Chef Vitaly Paley every Friday at 5 PM PST Vitaly and Kimberly Paley will go live from their home kitchen every Friday to help you sort through your pantry and demonstrate easy recipes with non-perishable items. At the end, the chef will answer all of your burning questions about cooking from home.

Chef Paley and his wife Kimberly are now live on Instagram every Friday evening at 5 PST.  They revisit recipes from some of their favorite travels abroad and help viewers sort through their pantries for simple, homey dishes. Here’s how to participate. Download the Instagram Ap and visit Chef Paley’s personal account @vit0bike. When you see a pink circle around his profile picture the live has started. You can even ask questions.

On our Flavor Forays to Portland, one of our most popular visits is Chef Paley’s Russian Samovar Service at the Heathman Hotel. Chef Paley pays homage to the rich history of the Heathman while adding a Russian flare that speaks to his own heritage. At Christmas time, the Russian tea does 200 to 300 covers a day.

Russian Tea at Portland's Heathman Hotel

Forget scones and clotted cream. Leave it to pioneering Portland, Oregon chef Vitaly Paley to come up with a whole new approach to high tea for the historic Heathman Hotel. Drawing on his own heritage, Paley designed a Russian Tea with samovar service and traditional dishes.

In our last letter, we reported that Treaty Oak Distilling, Dripping Springs, Texas, one of our favorite visits during Austin Flavor Forays, has switched production from Bourbon to hand sanitizer. We have since learned that Desert Door, the sotol distillery nearby in Driftwood, has made 40K bottles of sanitizer which they have donated. Amazing! We’ve also learned that Straightaway Cocktails in partnership with Kombucha Brew Dr. in Portland is also creating hand sanitizer.

Booze itself is a stronger than ever profit center. Drive-by has been a creative solution for sales. The adorable drive-by Rosé wine stand created by Wolffer Estates in Sagaponack, NY, where customers can order from their full portfolio as well as the wildly popular Summer in a Bottle Rosé, helps offset losses from their closed tasting room and restaurants. Back in Austin, Desert Door and Fall Creek Vineyards are also selling drive-by bottles. Award winning Austin restaurant Emmer & Rye is offering a curated wine list for pickup and delivery as well as a sommelier selection featuring six packs of themed wines.  In Portland, Nostrana is selling wine from its extensive cellar. And the fact that many states allowed restaurants to include cocktails in the take-out orders has been a saving grace.

We understand how hard this crisis has hit the restaurant/foodservice industry. Sadly, some restaurants have closed. Hopefully, others are surviving by offering take-out. We would love to hear about any particularly creative approaches you’re taking or any partnerships you may have formed to help you feed first responders or food banks. Perhaps you’re devoting time to r&d, developing new menus, researching new ingredients, or developing new formats of service.  Some hotels are housing first responders. Our hope is that we all have a future in this industry.

Please share your actions and ideas with us. We’ll then compile them and share them with all of you. We don’t want to create a burden when you’re already overstretched. But if you can take a minute to write a sentence or two, and email bstephenwest@gmail, it could be helpful or inspiring to your colleagues.

Heartfelt thanks and stay in touch,

Barbara Mathias & Beverly Stephen
Flavor Forays

What are you doing during the quarantine?

Hello Flavor Foray Friends,

We just learned that Treaty Oak Distilling, one of our favorite visits in Austin, has switched production from Bourbon to sanitizer. Amazing! This has inspired us to ask all of you what you’re doing during this period of isolation.

We appreciate how hard this crisis has hit the restaurant/foodservice industry. Sadly some restaurants have closed. Hopefully, others are surviving by offering take-out and we would love to hear about any particularly creative approaches you’re taking or any partnerships you may have formed to help you feed first responders or food banks. Perhaps you’re devoting time to r&d, developing new menus, researching new ingredients, or developing new formats of service.  Some hotels are housing first responders. Our hope is that we all have a future in this industry.

Please share your actions and ideas with us. We’ll then compile them and share them with all of you. We don’t want to create a burden when you’re already overstretched. But if you can take a minute to write a couple sentences, and email bstephenwest@gmail.com, it could be helpful or inspiring to your colleagues.

Heartfelt thanks,

Barbara Mathias & Beverly Stephen
Flavor Forays

A Letter to Our Friends

Hello Flavor Foray Friends,

Travel has been the key to all our exciting adventures and the formation of our new friendships.

Over the past few years, we have enjoyed traveling with you to many of our terrific cities with vibrant food scenes. Together we have met and been inspired by so many passionate chefs, producers, farmers and fishermen, winemakers and distillers along the way.

And now, we’re all temporarily grounded. And more, in many cases. No matter your role in the hospitality business—from front line to supplier—we’re each facing tremendous changes to the way we operate, no matter who we are.

If we’ve learned anything from being with all of you—the best and the brightest in the business—it’s that you are idea builders, creators, and problem solvers. You also know the value of community.

Personally, we’re inspired by what we see happening locally. Restaurants, hotels, bars and businesses in our neighborhoods coming up with ideas to support their hourly workers or take all the food they have in stock and turn it into money making solutions—or possibly charity enterprises.

So we are starting a conversation here. Perhaps some of you have ideas you’d like to share about what it’s possible for a chef, restaurateur, hotelier, travel consultant, caterer to do to navigate these new times. Or perhaps you’d like to just say hello, we’re all in this together. (Heck, you can even vent!). We are, most of all, connectors of people and thought we’d see if collectively we can help each other.

We are sending this letter individually to all of you wonderful friends who have participated in one of our Flavor Forays. In the spirit of community we will also post it on our Flavor Forays Facebook page where it will be possible for anyone to share comments.

Let’s stay strong. We look forward to the day when travel will once again bring our world together, because wow! do we have plans for you.

Warm regards,

Barbara Mathias Beverly Stephen

Travel Memories: Scarves with a Story

Sometimes the flavor of a destination is revealed as much in its fabrics as in its food. That's especially true in India which has long been renowned for its textiles. Its truly a paradise for scarf hunters and scarves are truly great travel souvenirs.

Travel Memories: Scarves with a Story

By Beverly Stephen You can keep your mugs and magnets, your snow globes, key chains, and t-shirts. I wrap my travel memories around my neck. I buy scarves. They're not marred by logos or slogans. But they speak a sense of place-at least to me. Only I know my

On Wall Street with George Washington

Sometimes you don't need to travel to write a travel story. I realized I was living a travel story right outside my front door. I live near Federal Hall and the statue of George Washington taking the oath as first president. There are other historical sites on my street as well. Read more here.

On Wall Street with George Washington - Hamptons Real Estate Showcase - Luxury Real Estate and Lifestyle Magazine

George Washington lives on my street. Yes, he died in 1799. But his spirit lives on in his bronze statue standing proud on the steps of Federal Hall where he took the oath of office as the first president of the United States.

Haute Indian Cuisine

Chef Manish Mehrotra is on a one-man mission to elevate Indian cuisine to fine dining. His creative spins on traditional dishes can be enjoyed at his flagship Indian Accent in New Delhi as well as outposts of the restaurant in London and new York City.

The Sky’s the Limit for Upcoming NYC Skyscraper Restaurant SAGA

Fine dining options continue to multiply in New York City's financial district (FiDi). SAGA from 11 Madison Park and NoMad veteran James Kent is set to open on the upper floors of 70 Pine around the first of the year. His first foray in the skyscraper, Crown Shy, has been getting rave reviews for its crowd pleasing fare.

The Sky's the Limit for Upcoming NYC Skyscraper Restaurant SAGA

Can you imagine creating the ambience of a ski chalet on the terrace of a New York City skyscraper's 63rd floor restaurant in the winter? Chef James Kent can. He envisions heated seats, blankets and guests warmed by seasonal libations.

Chefs are Reinventing the Elote Wheel

Elotes, the Mexican street corn treat, has always been one of my favorite ways to eat corn, But it wasn't always easy to find in restaurants stateside and on the cob it can be messy. Now chefs are turning it into a plated dish and it's available far and wide so I jumped on the chance to do this story.

Chefs are Reinventing the Elote Wheel

Elote, the Mexican street corn on the cob slathered with mayo, crumbled cotija cheese, chile and lime, is an addictive combination of flavors that leaves you always wanting more. Once you've had it, you never forget it. And yet it wasn't always so easy to come by north of the border.

Chicago!

We've been traveling to Chicago for the restaurant show for many years and each year I love it more--the architecture, the magnificent Magnificent mile and the terrific restaurants. Many of Chicago's great chefs cook up a storm at our annual Championship BBQ & Cook-Off held each May during the restaurant show and for that we're deeply grateful. The more I thought about it, the more I thought Chicago would make a terrific weekend getaway for leisure so I decided to write a travel article. Hope you enjoy it.

Weekends In The Windy City - Hamptons Real Estate Showcase - Luxury Real Estate and Lifestyle Magazine

"C hicago! Chicago! That toddlin' town Chicago! Chicago! I'll show you around. " I can't get that song out of my head. And I can't get the city out of my mind. I've been fortunate to go there on business - luckily in the spring.

BJ Denis is on a Mission to Save Gullah Culture

One of the true highlights of our Flavor Forays to Charleston is the lunch that Gullah chef BJ Dennis cooks for our group on a shrimp dock on Shem Creek. Not only is the food delicious, his stories about Gullah culture are enlightening. Chef BJ is on a mission to preserve Gullah cuisine and culture. Here's a great shout out to him in Bon Appetit magazine.

People Say Gullah Geechee Culture Is Disappearing. BJ Dennis Says They're Wrong

The unofficial chef ambassador takes us deep into the heart of the Low Country, to meet the home cooks keeping the traditions of their enslaved ancestors alive BJ Dennis does not want this story to be about him.

New Texas Pioneers

One of our favorite things about our Flavor Forays is meeting the amazing people who are driving culinary innovation forward throughout the country. In Austin, we had the privilege of meeting miller James Brown who is leading a grain Renaissance in Texas. We first visited with him at his 5,000 square foot Barton Springs Mill and then tasted some of the pizza made with his flour at Apis as well as some of the pasta made with his flour at Emmer & Rye. When we visited Austin again this June, Brown was in the final stages of constructing a 17,509 square foot mill on the grounds of Treat Oak Distillery which also uses his grains in several of their spirits. Phenomenal growth! At the same time, we visited with neuroscientist turned baker and mesquite missionary Sandeep Gyawali who was recently tapped to oversee the bread program for Whole Foods. Nutritious mesquite pods can be ground into flour and used for baking. It also turns out they can play a role in craft cocktails which brings us to another favorite spot, Desert Door, where Sotol or Desert Spoon cactus is distilled into a delicious spirit along the lines of mescal or tequila. Two recent articles explain the work of these innovators in depth. Please read and enjoy.

Barton Springs Mill Is Leading a Texas Grain Renaissance

The smell of fresh stone-ground whole-grain flour is unmistakable. Like bread but raw. It's a scent that carries the promise of pizza, pasta, cakes, dumplings, tortillas. It's immediately recognizable, despite the fact that you've likely never smelled it before, unless you've visited a place like Barton Springs Mill.

In Texas, Even Drinks Love Mesquite | PUNCH

"Mesquite commands respect," says Sandeep Gyawali, neuroscientist, baker, cocktail enthusiast and forager. "It fights back and thrives under harsh conditions. The thorns make harvesting difficult, but there's also heat, scorpions, snakes and cacti." A spiky, prolific, leguminous tree native to the American Southwest and parts of Mexico, mesquite is perhaps best known in the United States for its relationship to Texas barbecue.

The French Laundry Family Tree

Not only is the French Laundry one of the most influential restaurants in America, it serves as a training ground for chefs who go on to open their own restaurants and raise the culinary bar across the nation. Plus they have brought international recognition to the U.S. at the Bocuse d'Or. Beverly Stephen interviewed a half dozen alums about the part they played and where they are now.

The French Laundry: Training Ground for Top Toques

In 1994, self-taught chef Thomas Keller purchased a little restaurant, housed in a former French steam laundry in tiny Yountville, California, from Don and Sally...

California Cuisine

California's leading role in culinary innovation is recognized by the new Michelin statewide guide--the first of its kind. Read more about the history of California cuisine here in this report by Beverly Stephen.

California Cuisine: An Iconoclastic Beginning to Innovating the Future

With its emphasis on fresh, local ingredients, innovative techniques and an openness to the cultural influences of the state's diverse population, California cuisine...

Thrill of the Grill

Record Attendance at the 22nd Annual Championship BBQ & Cook-Off

Competing chefs squared off over hot coals at the 22nd Annual Championship BBQ & Cook-Off and fed over a thousand of the industry’s leading chefs and operators. The event, co-hosted by Flavor Forays and their new media partner Plate magazine, was held May 19 at Galleria Marchetti during the National Restaurant Association show in Chicago.  

Aaron Bickham (Bartolotta Restaurants) came down from Milwaukee and walked away with the grand prize Jade Grill for his Charred Carrara 640 Waygu, Braised Baby Turnip Greens, Smoked Oxtail, Bone Marrow Honey Butter, Masa Bread. Paul Bartolotta and other members of the restaurant team were there to cheer him on.

“Great day for a great cause, the weather broke at the right time,” Bickham says referring to the torrential rains that miraculously stopped just as the BBQ was getting underway. “Cooking outside with the Bartolotta executive team is something we do not get a chance to do enough of. I was honored to take part.”

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 What about that amazing Waygu that had everybody raving?  “The dish was an inspiration from something my older brother would throw together when I was younger. He's also a chef and six years older. When he didn't have time to smoke meat overnight, he would just char beef tri-tip and serve it over braised greens and sliced white bread.  I took a simple dish I grew up with and amped it up.” Did he ever!

 Tony Priolo (Piccolo Sogno), who has been participating in the BBQ for over 13 years, claimed the Vitamix Vita Prep runner up prize for his Grilled House-Made Barese Sausage with Grilled Rapini and White Beans. “The dish was inspired by the neighborhood Piccolo Sogno is in,” Priolo explains. “There’s a small deli that has been there forever, Bari Foods, and they have amazing subs and homemade Bari style sausage. So we decided to make the sausage and serve it with Purgatory beans and grilled rapini and the results paid off.”

“Being a part of the BBQ has always been a highlight for me during NRA,” Priolo says. “It’s a great way to stay in touch with the restaurant community and have a fun competitive barbecue for a great cause.”

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 An Edward Don basket of chefs’ toys went to Décor winner Greg Biggers (Margeaux Brasserie) for his eye-catching display of hanging ducks.

“We are so happy to be involved with the BBQ,” says Biggers. “We had a great time coming up with this dish. We really wanted to do something that was fun for us and representative of what we do at the restaurant.”

 He explains: “We have recently made ourselves a small dry aging ‘cave’ with sea salt rocks that we hang our chicken and ducks in at the restaurant. We have had such good response with it at Margeaux we figured we would try it out over a grill. We had our friend Brandon weld us a rack to fit the grills and slow roasted them over the open fire. Super fun and it turned out visually spectacular!”

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 Sani, a company known for making germs disappear, highlighted the event with an illusionist performing his own disappearing acts.

Meanwhile magic of another kind was taking place in the Plate/Arc-Cardinal VIP Lounge. “Dragon’s Breath”, Chef Katsuji Tanabe’s signature smokin’ caviar was drawing crowds. There the Bravo Top Chef fed curious onlookers Tsar Nicoulai caviar pop rocks paired with J. Lohr wines.

The Chefs!

 Thanks to all the champion chefs who donated their time and talents: Ashlee Aubin (Fisk & Co.), Aaron Bickham (Bartolotta Restaurants), Greg Biggers (Margeaux Brasserie at the Waldorf Astoria Chicago), Amber Lancaster (Fifty/50 Restaurant Group), Ryan McCaskey (Acadia), Maureen Neer (La Sirena Clandestina), Martial Noguier (Bistronomic), Robert Palenski (Ernst & Young, Restaurant Associates),  Tony Priolo and Mike Burke  (Piccolo Sogno); Carlos Ramirez (County BBQ).

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 It was all for a good cause-- World Central Kitchen, an international organization led by chef/humanitarian José Andrés, which uses its network of world-renowned chefs to find sustainable solutions to end world hunger and the Greater Chicago Food Depository, Chicago’s food bank, which distributes the equivalent of 160,000 meals daily.  The food bank also collected the leftover food at the BBQ and distributed it to those in need. Lamb Weston stepped up to make additional donations of $5,000.00 to each charity. A silent auction by Sportsnation Enterprise also benefitted CORE (Children of Restaurant Employees) an organization that supports families of food and beverage employees in times of crisis brought on by medical emergencies, a death in the family, loss of home and other extreme conditions. The auction featured celebrity-signed memorabilia.

Barbara Mathias, former Food Arts publisher, founded the event two decades ago and continues to produce it along with her colleague Beverly Stephen, former executive editor of Food Arts. Their company, Flavor Forays, joined with Plate Magazine as a media sponsor for the first time this year to organize this must-attend industry party.

The following sponsors make the BBQ possible: Anheuser- Busch, Arc-Cardinal, Beam Suntory, Bigelow Tea, ConAgra, Constellation Brands, Elohi, J. Lohr, Jealous Devil, Jade Range, JBF Blended Burger, Lamb Weston, Nestle Waters San Pellegrino and Aqua Panna, Impossible Foods, The Perfect Purée, Sani, Smithfield, Sugar Foods/Schreiber Foods, Schuman Cheese, Sweet Street, VerTerra.

--Beverly Stephen

Captivating Charleston

Charleston is often voted the #1 city in America to visit but few tourists get to look behind the scenes the way Flavor Forays does. We recently enjoyed a delightful culinary immersion there and, believe it or not, there are even things to do between meals! Read more about one of our favorite cities by clicking below.

Captivating Charleston - Hamptons Real Estate Showcase - Luxury Real Estate and Lifestyle Magazine

Charleston charms. No wonder it's so often voted #1 city to visit. Tourism has been the main industry since the 1800s and the city works hard to keep it that way. Visitors walk on cobblestone streets past pastel mansions treasured by preservationists. They enjoy sweeping vistas from roof top bar ...

Kitchen Designers to the Stars

Chefs get showered with glory. But what about a shout out for the designers who set the stage for their work.

Read what some of the top kitchen designers in the field have to say about the kitchens, the chefs, what's hot and what's not.

Kitchen Designers to the Stars

Kitchens are the engines of restaurants. The people who design those engines are the unsung heroes of the restaurant world. When the chefs are honored, especially with Michelin stars, the designers bask in the reflected glory, albeit generally anonymously. Kitchens have become so open, it's hard to tell where the dining room ends.

Drinking in High Style

Glamorous bars in New York City offer delicious craft cocktails and stylish decor for a special night out.

Here are some of the best.

Drinking In High Style - Hamptons Real Estate Showcase - Luxury Real Estate and Lifestyle Magazine

Reclaimed barn beams and Edison light bulbs, can become a little tiresome. So why not indulge in a cocktail at one of these glamorous New York bars that are particularly festive during the holidays. Carefully crafted-and pricey-cocktails are served in luxurious glassware.