Anne Ewbank

1 week ago | atlasobscura.com | Anne Ewbank

If you’ve ever tried to sneak a sip of water in a museum and been yelled at, you know how strict many institutions can be about letting food or liquids near precious art. It’s not an irrational fear, either. In 2006, the Milwaukee Art Museum rented out a pavilion full of sculptures for an event called Martinifest. Fueled by unlimited martinis (tickets were only $30), guests climbed, vomited, and spilled their drinks on the artwork, some of which had to be removed for repair afterward.

2 months ago | ladailypost.com | Anne Ewbank |Carol Clark

This machine made music, not meat. Courtesy/nostri-imagoA recreation of Thomas Edison’s laboratory, now at the Henry Ford Museum. Photo by Andrew BaletBy ANNE EWBANKGastro ObscuraNewspapers worldwide printed that Thomas Edison had invented a miraculous machineEven in 1878, readers of The New York Graphic should have known better than to trust a fantastical-sounding article published on April Fool’s Day.

2 months ago | atlasobscura.com | Anne Ewbank

This article is adapted from the March 29, 2025, edition of Gastro Obscura’s Favorite Things newsletter. You can sign up here. Since the advent of the car, food companies have used them to advertise. Some simply painted their logos onto delivery trucks, while others created spectacles on wheels to get people talking, like the time that Moxie, the old-school soda company, put fake horses on top of cars that could be steered by a rider perched on the animal’s back. But that’s much too confusing.

2 months ago | flipboard.com | Anne Ewbank

NowLos Angeles’s restaurants continue to face difficult headwinds starting in 2023 which led to an industry-wide slowdown that’s continued into 2025. From the lingering impacts of the Hollywood strikes to adverse weather and increased costs (labor, rent, ingredients, etc.), many variables continue to …

Mar 24, 2025 | atlasobscura.com | Anne Ewbank

This article is adapted from the March 22, 2025 edition of Gastro Obscura’s Favorite Things newsletter. You can sign up here. In 2017, Starbucks released the Unicorn Frappuccino for four days only. This swirled, color-changing concoction of purple and blue Lisa Frank hues came on the heels of a wave of social-media food hype for all things “unicorn”: cakes, drinks, and even bagels dyed improbable pastels and often sprinkled with edible glitter. But what did this “unicorn” drink taste like?