Making the Rounds – An Epic High Seas Holiday

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An Epic High Seas Holiday By Helen Benefield Billings Norwegian Epic is the perhaps the most fitting name imaginable for Norwegian Cruise Line’s bold and stately ship, which made its debut to great fanfare in 2010. Its sleek design…

In & Out

By Ned Barker Does your hotel offer bar or restaurant seating outdoors? If so, are you getting the most you can out of it? Maximum sales and profits? High guest satisfaction? Outdoor restaurant and bar patios, terraces and decks are extremely…

Mai-Kai Restaurant joins National Register of Historic Places

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Certainly an iconic stand-out venue from the heyday of Polynesian themed restaurants and bars that thrived across America from the 1930s to the 1960s, The Mai Kai in Ft. Lauderdale was recently recognized by the National Register…

Editorial Opinion: “Handcrafted” or “Homemade?”

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Who is next to get hit by a lawsuit for claiming, “Handcrafted” or “Homemade?” The class action suit against Jim Beam states… “With regard to Defendants’ false and misleading promotion of their bourbon. Defendants promote their…

Wine Dogs: A Book Review

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On a recent trip to Napa wine country, I came across this new wine publication with a unique twist, which is from a dog’s eye view of the vineyard. Everyone knows that California is home to some of America’s most celebrated wine estates.…

How Low Will the NTSB Go With the Legal Blood Alcohol Limit?

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is on a mission to lower the legal drunk driving limit to .05. For a 120-pound woman, that would spell jail time for having just one drink and then driving. For those of us who work in the alcohol…

Designing Bar Service

Last night my friend was craving a rack of ribs but the neighborhood barbeque place (walk-up counter, no service) was closed on Sunday! So we began a process of elimination and decided to try one of the local steakhouse chains because we like…

Interview with Maeve Pesquera

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Maeve is the national director of wine at Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar. Each year, Maeve selects top-rated wines from around the world as well as from exclusive, limited-allocation boutique wines offered to her, for her coveted…

Women in Spirits

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Jim, Jack and Johnnie … “It’s a man’s world” may never have been a truer saying than when applied to the world of spirits. At a glance, men seem to dominate the liquor shelf. But one does not need to look very hard to see that women…

Spotlight on Liz Lister

Liz Lister is the director of National Accounts West for Stoli USA. She lives in Park City, Utah with her husband Doug and her two children, Wyatt (11) and Piper (7). Liz enjoys the mountain lifestyle of Park City while not on the…

Women of an Influential Nature

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By all accounts, female winemakers make up approximately 10 percent of the vintners in the U.S., with many more involved in the viticulture, sales and marketing and the educational side of winery life. Distributors and brand suppliers are made…

Take 5: Interview with Elizabeth Vianna

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“Being a winemaker is a blend of art and science. It is mainly science, but the artistic dimension is so fun — it’s instinct, using your palate much in the way that you use your imagination.”  — Winemaker Elizabeth Vianna Elizabeth…

The Adventures of George: Egg-nogging

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George found himself in Portland, Oregon on a rather chilly winter’s eve and in need of some warming fortification. Not knowing his way around the city, he inquired with the concierge at the beautiful Monaco Hotel, where he might find a well-crafted…

Raising the Steaks

Saluting the First Lady of Steaks, Ruth Fertel, and Celebrating 50 Years of Building a Legendary Empire

Frozen Assets

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Frozen Assets how ice finally returned to a place of prominence in the American drinking scene.