Saveur

BACK IN THE GOOD OLD DAYS, SEVEN or eight months ago, a typical magazine food shoot involved a veritable army of professionals. The magazine’s art director, photo director, and at least one editor were usually on set with the photographer, a food stylist, and a prop stylist—all three of whom might’ve brought assistants. Shooting in a studio? Then, you’ve got the studio’s staffon hand too. Start contact-tracing that scenario, including prep days spent at prop houses and specialty grocers, and the danger becomes clear. Sending a crew around the world to shoot on location? Forget about it. So how, exactly, does one make a global food magazine amid a global pandemic? Very, very locally, and involving as few people as possible. When we began work on this issue in May, I…

Grand Velas Riviera Maya takes you beyond all inclusive. Savor gourmet cuisine from renowned chefs, bring balance to body and mind with treatments in the holistic spa and unwind in suites with private terraces, plunge pools, and uninhibited water views. Eight restaurants take you on a culinary journey around the world with beachfront bistros, elegant eateries, and vibrant bars creating an exciting food and drink culture. The Kids’ Club and Teens’ Club won Virtuoso’s award for Best Family Program in 2019. SAVEUR ADVANTAGES: Experience the luxury of the Grand Velas Riviera Maya gourmet experience with a cooking lesson with one of our world-class chefs. Plus, Private one way transfer (airport to hotel), Suite Upgrade, Welcome Bottle of Mezcal and a $50 Spa Credit per person, per night. LOCATION Grand Velas Riviera Maya, Mexico PRICE Go Beyond…

If Money Were No Object… Is there any logic capable of justifying $255 for a single soup ladle? Of course not. But that’s the problem with logic—it’s logical. Desire, on the other hand, burns far brighter. And do I ever desire this functional masterpiece from Erica Moody of Waldoboro, Maine (ericamoody.com). That burnished patina. That forged-steel handle. And then when you hear the craftswoman talk—about sculpting the spun-copper dipper with a ball-peen hammer, or tapping those delicate rivets into place—well, this splurge seems a worthy one. —Kat Craddock…

Blue Apron founder Matt Wadiak has moved onto greener pastures, where happy chickens roam free. ROASTED, GRILLED, PRESSED INTO nuggets—Americans sure do love chicken. Last year, we devoured almost 100 pounds of the protein, per capita, nearly double the amount of beef or pork that each of us, on average, consumed. And the vast majority of our poultry, even the organic free-range kind, comes from a handful of breeds designed to fatten up quick and yield mostly white meat—“efficient feed-conversion” in industry speak. Matt Wadiak calls it “inhumane.” These freakishly fast-growing birds don’t have immune systems robust enough to stay healthy in overcrowded chicken houses. The result? A bland, antibioticlaced product born of cruelty. “Those chicks suffer from the minute they hatch,” Wadiak says. “As thoughtful consumers, we need to consider that.” Wadiak,…

tamara irish produces her wine the au naturale way, by climbing bare-ass naked into the steel milk vat she uses as a crush barrel. “It’s only me here, so I take my clothes offand jump in,” Irish says. “I adopted this ‘immersive technique’ to push the material around with my hands, because every time we put a machine in front of our food or drink, we’re one more step away from it.” The 62-year-old Australian grows five pinot noir clones at Herrmann Wines, her family’s 4-acre vineyard in Victoria’s Henty wine region, 60 miles from the Southern Ocean—close enough that a sea breeze blowing in from Antarctica shivers the vines. Irish barreled her first grapes in 1998, and drew the label for that first bottling, a hand-lettered spiral tone poem about wild…

Serious cooks typical ly frown upon pre-mixed seasonings, but these bottled blends include ingredients that have never darkened Mrs. Dash’s doorstep: Vietnamese anchovies, Persian licorice, green chiles from Hatch, New Mexico. Sprinkle atop finished dishes or incorporate earlier in the process to introduce layers of complexity. —Kat Craddock Desert Provisions Hatch Green Chile Salt This Arizona spice company combines green Hatch chi le powder with unrefined salt from the nearby Sea of Cortez—and not a thing more. Use to rim margarita and bloody mary glasses, or pour a pinch over fatty pork carnitas with lime. ($12 for 3.4 ounces; desertprovisions.com) Red Boat Fish Sauce Spiced Garum Salt Cool-kid Vietnamese sauce company Red Boat paired with Stuart Brioza, chef-owner of San Francisco restaurants the Progress and State Bird Provisions, to create this mix of fermented…