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Sep 10, 2024 | 
tabletmag.com | Michael Solomonov |Steve Cook
Bringing Zahav home is not about mastering cheffy restaurant tricks. It’s about replicating flavors. It’s about assembling an inspired stash—a strategic collection of just the right herbs and condiments: the fragrant dried leaves and seeds; the aromatic pods and berries; the silky syrups and deeply pungent peppery pastes; the zesty pickles and spicy sauces; the mellow cheeses and toasty grains, all available from our favorite purveyors. This is where the flavor lives.
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Oct 26, 2023 | 
boomermagazine.com | Annie Tobey |Steve Cook
A restaurant must be either daring or confident to present Southern classics to Richmond-area residents. Maple Street Biscuit Company has confidently taken just such a dare, opening throughout the Southeast, into Texas, Kentucky, Ohio, and now with its third location in the Richmond area. The menu highlights biscuits and fried chicken along with other Southern fare. I had a chance to try some Maple Street gems on opening day at the Hull Street location.
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Oct 20, 2023 | 
boomermagazine.com | Emma Patch |Dale Davis |Rick Steves |Steve Cook
When you want your travel to benefit your health, wellness resorts offer the amenities to help meet your goals, Emma Patch for Kiplinger’s Money Power reports. More than 40% of travelers want to go on a break that focuses on their mental and physical health in 2023, according to research by Booking.com. Wellness programs designed to support physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well-being have become a focus for all-inclusive resorts.
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Oct 17, 2023 | 
boomermagazine.com | Dale Davis |Rick Steves |Steve Cook |Kathy Witt
Decades ago, on their honeymoon to Nassau, a tour guide told Dale Davis and his bride to look outside of the guidebook. Decades later, they still embrace his advice. Our bus driver Clarence waved to the cars honking and passing us on the narrow road. My wife gripped my hand and wondered why we were seeing this rundown area of Nassau. We were on our honeymoon, hoping to return safely to our ship and not crash into oncoming traffic.
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Oct 17, 2023 | 
boomermagazine.com | Rick Steves |Steve Cook |Kathy Witt |Annie Tobey
Cinque Terre is “the lowbrow, underappreciated alternative to the French Riviera,” says travel writer Rick Steves of these five linked Italian towns. I’m up early in my favorite village on the Italian Riviera, as the morning sun touches the tip of Vernazza’s bell tower and greets a peaceful world. The air is damp, cool, and refreshing as I wander downhill, passing underneath the train tracks.
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Oct 12, 2023 | 
boomermagazine.com | Steve Cook |Kathy Witt |Rick Steves |Annie Tobey
Do you like to “waste away” doing nothing and enjoying it fully? If so, Richmond-based food and travel writer Steve Cook has the spot for you: the Dancing Turtle in Hatteras Island, North Carolina. I think the first time I ever visited the Outer Banks, I was in my early 20s. My brother and I took a Greyhound Bus for what seemed to be a 26-hour ride before we were finally dropped off in Nags Head, North Carolina, on a desolate stretch of US 12, Virginia Dare Trail. That’s been a half-century ago.
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Sep 21, 2023 | 
boomermagazine.com | Steve Cook |Peggy Sijswerda |Annie Tobey
Richmond, Virginia food and travel writer Steve Cook takes us to his favorite local ice cream shop as he prepares to celebrate National Ice Cream Cone Day: Scoop RVA tops his list. My guess is that there’s as much excitement around your home today as it is around mine. How could there not be? I’m talking, of course, about National Ice Cream Cone Day. Which happens to be Sept. 22 every year. Unless you choose to celebrate year-round. Hey, we won’t judge. How do you celebrate in your household?
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Sep 7, 2023 | 
boomermagazine.com | Steve Cook |Peggy Sijswerda |Annie Tobey
Food and travel writer Steve Cook takes us to the Great American Ranch in Mechanicsville, Virginia, for great American food, deals, and hospitality. I have been in somewhat of a quandary most of my life. I love to eat. I love checking out new restaurants. But I hate spending money. I don’t guess you could actually say I’m cheap, but I am frugal. So, I’m always looking for a good deal. That somewhat explains my abiding love for all-you-can-eat establishments.
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Jul 27, 2023 | 
boomermagazine.com | Steve Cook |Annie Tobey
Richmond-based food and travel writer Steve Cook takes us on a Central Virginia barbecue road trip to two of his favorite spots, from the West End of Richmond to Gordonsville. NOTE: The original article, March 3, 2022, reviewed a barbecue restaurant that was in Ashland that has since closed. We have updated the article to include another worthy barbecue restaurant in Ashland, in case you want to travel Cook’s Barbecue Triangle.
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Apr 27, 2023 | 
boomermagazine.com | Steve Cook |Annie Tobey
Life-changing tacos? That’s what food and travel writer Steve Cook claims to have found at Lalo’s Pinches Tacos Bar and Grill in Richmond’s West End. He shares his experience – and invites dissent. I had somewhat of an epiphany this week. I realized that I had never stopped to truly appreciate the beauty, the splendor, or the exquisite delights of a taco. I guess I have been taking the taco for granted. Obviously, not all tacos are created equal.
