Letter From the Publisher: Issue 16

01 Feb, 2014 by Erik Totten

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Welcome to the 16^th issue of Food & Spirits Magazine. It’s loaded with some great articles and photos that you’re sure to enjoy. In fact, I think you will find that the articles and accompanying art in this issue are some of the best that have ever graced our pages.

In the food section, the eminently readable Ann Summers tells us about the mindset of the brain trust behind Old Market mainstays, M’s Pub and Vivace. Be sure to check out Ann’s M’s Pub recipe-hack on their baked escargot. A new writer to our pages, Jessica Clem McClaren, takes us along with her on her recent culinary extravaganza in Nepal and, in an unrelated article, breaks down some of Omaha’s best desserts. Speaking of desserts, Trisha Hunter gives us some background on the dessert apron.

Institute for the Culinary Arts student Shelby Hoins tours Benson with The Supper Club, while April Christenson explains some of the latest methods for brewing coffee and lists some of her favorite coffee shops in the Metro. Charles Schlussel provides his recipe for Thai mussels and Kent Cisar tells you want to know when a recipe goes wrong. Benjamin Doyle joins us for the first time with a review of some local places to find pho, and Rachel Mulder gives us the lowdown on juicing.

Our spirits section is particularly strong this issue and loaded with contributions by local wunder-bartenders. Binoy Fernandez gives us some history and perspective on speakeasies, while Dylan Thaemert elaborates on the origins and flavors of Scotch. Lucas Korth details us the freaky science behind blacking out and Mallory Finch has an excellently detailed article on an often misunderstood, and critical, ingredient in our cocktails, bitters.

Our beer expert, Jason McLaughlin, takes us through the delicious and intoxicating adventure of pairing beers with desserts. John Finocchiaro, our resident wine aficionado, tells us about some of the different types of people you run into while attending a wine tasting.

On the last page you’ll find the esteemed Michael Campbell reminiscing about the subject of our cover photo, cotton candy. Speaking of which, Ariel Fried was the photographer behind our cover. I’ve known Ariel and admired her work for a while and I’m glad it finally worked out for her to shoot our cover. She shot the cover photo with the delicious cotton candy that Salt 88 makes. To add to the cottony effect, the cover is printed with a Softtouch coating.

Jacob Herrman was the photographer behind the fantastic photos for the Thai mussels recipe while, also nothing short of fantastic, the photos of the food found in Nepal were shot by Jason McClaren. The incredible Italian lemon cream cake from Nicola’s was contributed by John Shartrand Photography. Shelby, the writer of the Supper Club piece also took the photos for that article. As a whole, they represent some very talented photographers.

Along with the writers, and our designer, Jake Scott, we’re proud to have them as contributors in this issue. Omaha continues to dazzle with the creative talent you’ll find within these pages. We hope you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed creating it for you. And, as always, let us know what we’re doing right – and wrong. It’s created for you, so don’t hesitate to tell us what you think.

Erik Totten

Erik Totten is the founder and publisher of Food & Spirits Magazine in Omaha, Nebraska. He's worked in publications for the last 21 years at all levels. As well as serving as a writer, designer, photographer and editor, he's also founded two publications which have allowed him to grow into being a publisher, which he would describe as his 'true calling'.