#New York City dessert franchise

[fluffyfluffysblog]

Top 5 Must-Try Treats from New York City's Dessert Franchise Scene

New York City is a melting pot of culture, diversity, and, of course, delectable treats. Amidst its bustling streets and iconic skyline, the dessert franchise scene stands out as a haven for those with a sweet tooth. From classic confections to innovative creations, here are five must-try treats that encapsulate the essence of NYC's dessert paradise:

1. Cronuts from Dominique Ansel Bakery

When it comes to iconic NYC desserts, the cronut reigns supreme. Created by pastry chef Dominique Ansel, this delectable hybrid of a croissant and a donut has garnered a cult-like following. The flaky layers of a croissant, combined with the shape and indulgence of a donut, are truly a match made in dessert heaven. The flavors change monthly, offering a delightful surprise with each visit. Be prepared to wait in line, but trust me, the heavenly taste is worth every minute.

2. Milk Bar's Compost Cookie

Christina Tosi's Milk Bar has revolutionized the dessert game with its playful and inventive treats. Among their stellar lineup, the Compost Cookie stands out as a must-try. Packed with pretzels, potato chips, coffee grounds, oats, butterscotch, and chocolate chips, this cookie is an unexpected symphony of flavors and textures. It's a perfect representation of NYC's vibrant and eclectic culinary scene.

3. Magnolia Bakery's Banana Pudding

A dessert list in NYC would be incomplete without a mention of Magnolia Bakery's iconic banana pudding. Creamy vanilla pudding combined with fresh bananas and vanilla wafers creates a nostalgic and irresistible treat. It's the perfect balance of sweetness and creaminess that will transport you back to childhood with every spoonful. Pro tip: grab an extra serving because you won't want to share!

4. Levain Bakery's Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookie

Prepare your taste buds for a life-changing experience with Levain Bakery's Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookie. This cookie isn't just large; it's massive in flavor. The crispy exterior gives way to a gooey, fudgy interior filled with chunks of premium chocolate and walnuts. It's the epitome of a classic chocolate chip cookie, elevated to a whole new level.

5. Serendipity 3's Frozen Hot Chocolate

While known for its whimsical décor and extravagant desserts, Serendipity 3's Frozen Hot Chocolate is a standout indulgence. Imagine a rich, velvety chocolate concoction blended into a frozen, creamy delight. Served in a giant goblet with whipped cream on top, this dessert drink is a testament to extravagance and pure indulgence.

The beauty of NYC's dessert franchise scene lies not only in these specific treats but also in the diverse options available. From gourmet bakeries to nostalgic sweet shops, the city offers something for every palate. Each dessert tells a story and represents the creativity and passion of its creators.

Visiting these iconic dessert franchises isn't just about satisfying a sweet craving; it's an experience. From the anticipation of waiting in line to the first heavenly bite, these treats encapsulate the essence of New York City's vibrant food culture.

So, whether you're a local or a visitor, exploring these top-notch dessert spots is a delightful journey through the heart and soul of NYC's dessert scene. Indulge, savor, and immerse yourself in the sweet bliss that only these iconic treats can offer.

[mammonscheeks]

demon brothers + dateables as destinations in the human world

✎ a/n: these are my opinions! i'm south and west asian, so i am most knowlegeable about those countries, please correct me if i've said anything incorrect!

LUCIFER

new york city, usa. he likes the cold, industrial corporate feel of nyc. it helps him avoid his feelings.

anywhere in germany. he likes their no-nonsense culture and unspoken social rules.

MAMMON

las vegas, nevada, usa. he always begs mc to take him there. the flashy lights and casinos are right up his alley.

dubai, uae. he loves the luxurious feel of it, and how its the center of celebrity gatherings, vacations, and parties.

LEVIATHAN

tokyo, japan (especially the akihabara/electronic district). he's always updated on pop culture and the newest technology/games.

seychelles island, africa. he likes swimming, but not socializing on the beach. that's why he likes isolated islands.

SATAN

london, england. he's interested in their medival history and seeing the places that inspired novels like harry potter and the sherlock holmes franchise.

cat island in japan, or any mediterranean country where cats freely roam.

ASMODEUS

paris, france. he'd love paris fashion week. he also just seems french to me, idk.

seoul, south korea. he'd adore seoul's culture, everything from the modern sappy kdramas to traditional dresses, like hanbok. he would bring an empty suitcase to stuff it with beauty products.

BEELZEBUB

mumbai, india. this metropolitan city in india offers so many different kinds of food. he would love to eat his way through the city, if not the entire country.

every city in mexico. he'd try the regional cuisine, but also hang out at the beach with his brothers and mc (so cute).

BELPHEGOR

cairo, egypt. he was once fascinated with humans, and often watched them build civilizations from heaven when he was an angel. he would enjoy the historical wonders of egypt.

reykjavic, iceland. idk why he just gives me iceland vibes. life there can be slow and cold, and it often gets less light than other countries.

DIAVOLO

transylvania, romania. he loves its breathtaking castles and culture, and is intrigued with all the pop culture references of vampires.

petra, jordan. this is a significant place in abrahamic religions, known for being haunted by demons, or jinn. diavolo would be fascinated by this history, whether its actually haunted or not. i know he'd eat up those scary ghost tours (insert fic about that here) and even probably try and scare a few tourist groups, despite barbatos advising him against it.

BARBATOS

istanbul, turkiye. istanbul has well-maintained structures from the byzantine empire, the ottoman empire, and even "newer and hip" neighborhoods. barbatos, being able to see the past and future, would appreciate the blend of it all here, like he's walking through time.

kathmandu, nepal. he'd enjoy the peace of monasteries and mountains, which are as old as the earth itself.

SIMEON

tuscany, italy. he'd enjoy the vast fields, heavenly sunsets, small towns and historic churches. he would find tuscany a peaceful place to write, but appreciates the community feel of small italian towns. would definitely be so friendly he'd get invited to eat dinner at a random family's house.

thessaloniki, greece. he would absolutely love seeing all the greek orthodox churches there, with their blue and white colors and dome roofs. he is just amused to see the religious structures humans have created. he'd also probably be interested in greek mythology, even though he's an angel.

LUKE

cape town, south africa. he would be so excited to see penguins at the beach and would enjoy the burst of color south africa offers. he'd also enjoy the modern bakeries and desserts in south africa.

lyon, france. the country is known for desserts. luke would probably take a baking class there to learn how to bake more things.

SOLOMON

salem, or just any small town in massachusetts. as a sorcerer, he's intrigued with their history of "witch hunting" and the paranormal.

lalibela, ethiopia. being old, he's intrigued with how ancient cities like lalibela have changed since biblical times. he also probably enjoys learning about different cultural practices and what they have in common with his sorcery. he also wants to learn how to cook more dishes from different countries, but fails miserably

[instantdazelady-blog1]

Rekomendasi Restoran Korea

BAB 1 PENDAHULUAN

        I.            Latar Belakang

Saat ini di Indonesia sedang terkenal kebudayaan asing dari korea selatan yang biasa disebut hallyu atau Korean Wave. Selain diperkenalkan dari musik dan dramanya, pop culture kebudayaan Republik Korea Selatan ini juga diperkenalkan melalui makanan. Untuk penggemar dunia per-kpop-an pastinya ingin mencoba memanjakan lidah dengan makanan dari negeri ginseng tersebut, salah satu caranya dengan hunting restoran Korea di Indonesia.

Kuliner Korea Selatan sendiri memiliki beragam jajanan yang khas yang wajib dicicipi antara lain:

-          Topokki

Tteokbokki merupakan kue beras pedas yang menjadi salah satu jajanan Korea yang terkenal dan sering muncul pula di drama korea. Kue beras ini dipotong-potong memanjang dan diberi saus yang pedas dan telah diberi bumbu. Biasanya tteokbokki ini ditambah dengan telur rebus atau pun lembaran fish cake.

-          Samyang / Ramyeon

Samyang dan Ramyeon merupakan mie instan ala korea. Mie Instan ini cenderung memiliki tekstur yang lebih tebal dan cara makannya pun unik, biasanya di kebanyakan film orang korea langsung makan dari pancinya.

-          Odeng

Eomuk atau odeng khas korea merupakan ikan yang telah dihaluskan dan dicampur dengan terigu dan juga bumbu lainnya. Adonan tersebut kemudian ditusuk dan direbus ke dalam air kaldu lobak atau rumput laut.

-          Korean Fried Chicken / Yangnyeom Chicken

Yangnyeom tongdak atau ayam goreng khas korea ini bercitarasa manis yang bercampur pedas. Dengan daging yang terasa renyah dan juga empuk bisa membuat ketagihan.

-          Gimmari

Gimmari merupakan gorengan khas Korea Selatan berbahan dasar rumput laut dan bihun korea.

-          Bingsoo

Patbingsu adalah salah satu dessert atau makanan penutup ala Korea dan sering disajikan pada musim panas. Bingsoo berupa es serut yang pada bagian atasnya ditaburi dengan kacang merah dan sirup ataupun toping lainnya sesuai selera.

-          Mandu

Mandu merupakan pangsit yang sangat khas dari Korea dengan isian daging dan sayuran. Biasanya mandu disajikan dengan cara dikukus terlebih dulu kemudian disajikan dalam keadaan hangat.  

-          Japchae

Japchae adalah makanan yang bahan utamanya terbuat dari bihun ala korea yang ditambahkan dengan sayuran, sekilas tampilan japchae mirip dengan capcay yang ada di Indonesia.

-          Bibimbab

Bibimbap merupakan nasi campur ala korea dengan 7 macam jenis sayuran dengan daging dan telur atau tahu. Disebut dengan nasi campur karena saat memakannya, nasi dan juga lauk pauknya dicampur menjadi satu lalu barulah dimakan dengan tambahan saus sambal.

-          Pajeon

Pajoen adalah nama makanan Korea yang berupa panekuk, adonannya berisi telur sehingga sekilas makanan ini mirip dengan martabak telur dari Indonesia. Biasanya makanan ini selalu ada dalam berbagai perayaan tradisional yang ada di Korea.

-          Kimchi

Kimchi merupakan makanan pendamping tradisional khas Korea yang terbuat dari sayuran yang difermentasikan dan diberi bumbu asam pedas, Variasi sayuran kimchi yang digunakan beragam, ada sawi putih, lobak, kubis, dan mentimun. Kimchi dapat bertahan lama jika disimpan dalam lemari es dengan baik.

-          Bulgogi

Bulgogi merupakan daging sapi Korea yang sudah diiris tipis dan kemudian dipanggang. Biasanya sebelum dipanggang, daging sapi telah dibumbui terlebih dahulu dan cara makannya dengan dibungkus daun selada terlebih dahulu atau dimakan langsung dengan lauk-pauk yang ada.

      II.            Perumusan Masalah

Dengan banyaknya informasi menyebabkan pembaca kebingungan dalam memilih dan mendapatkan informasi yang relevan, menyeluruh serta up to date. Maka, rumusan masalah yang dapat dituangkan dalam penulisan ini adalah:

Bagaimana mengemas informasi yang baik agar pembaca dapat mengetahui lebih detail informasi yang sesuai dengan kebutuhannya mengenai kuliner Korea di Indonesia?

   III.            Tujuan Penulisan

Tujuan penulisan secara umum adalah:

1.      Untuk membuat paket dokumentasi informasi

2.      Untuk memberi kemudahan bagi pembaca dalam memperoleh informasi mengenai kuliner Korea di Indonesia.

 BAB 2 PEMBAHASAN

Berikut tiga restoran Korea Selatan di Indonesia rekomendasi penulis:

        I.            Dookki              

Dookki Restoran merupakan Buffet Topokki Korea no. 1 di Indonesia yang menjadi pilihan tepat dan wajib di kunjungi. Lalu, kita juga dapat menikmati beragam jajanan topokki sepuasnya di Dookki Restauran dengan motto nya “Siapapun bisa merasakan pengalaman memasak dengan berbagai macam bahan topokki buffet yang tak terbatas”.

Arti logo dookki bermakna sebagai pelayanan pelanggan dengan topokki yang lezat dan nikmat dengan saus yang bervariasi dan bahan yang segar. Konsep dookki adalah “topokki untuk santapan pertama, nasi goreng untuk santapan kedua” yang merupakan Slogan dari dookki topokki yang lezat dengan kenikmatan lebih. Simbol restauran dookki sendiri memiliki arti yaitu pengunjung dapat menikmati topokki dengan berbagai macam saus yang memanjakan lidah penuh citarasa dengan memberikan pengalaman menciptakan resep spesial sendiri dari master Dookki Topokki. Berbagai macam saus tersebut antara lain:

-          Dookki sauce: Saus original yang dibuat dengan metode rahasia dari dookki restoran dengan resep rahasia pemiliknya.

-          Ttokmo sauce: Saus khusus yang dibuat oleh pendiri restoran dari resep rahasia Master Topokki.

-          Bulkot sauce: Hati-hati! Saus super pedas yang membakar lidah dan akan membuat ketagihan.

-          Gungjung Sauce: Saus kedelai yang mewah dengan keunikan rasa dari Korea.

-          Cream sauce: Saus dengan kelembutan rasa krim yang nikmat.

Restoran ini juga memiliki Visi & Misi yaitu, Visi: menjadi restoran topokki buffet nomor 1, dan Misi: menjadikan perusahaan sebagai frenchise restoran no. 1 yang terkemuka. Sebelumnya, outlet pertama dookki terdapat di universitas korea pada tahun 2004, dan dipertengahan tahun 2015 dookki sudah memulai bisnis franchise yang mana bisnis ini mulai menyebar di seluruh korea dengan lebih dari 100 outlet. Dookki Retauran juga memiliki target pelanggan yang lebih luas terlihat dari berbagai pengaruh k-wave dan tren premium dining out yang dibuka pada pukul 10.00 am – 10.00 pm.

Lokasi:

ü  Central Park Mall, LG Floor

ü  Lippo Mall Kemang, 1st Floor

     II.            Mujigae

Mujigae merupakan restoran Korea pertama di Indonesia yang mendapatkan Halal Certificate dari MUI pada tanggal 13 Februari tahun 2017.

Mujigae artinya adalah Pelangi, diberi nama pelangi karena mujigae ingin restorannya memiliki filosofi layaknya pelangi, yaitu karya seni dari Tuhan. Selain itu restoran ini diberi nama pelangi dikarenakan Korea terkenal akan sajian makanan yang dihidangkan, bukan hanya mengenyangkan perut tetapi juga memuaskan seluruh indra dengan menerapkan keseimbangan antara Yin dan Yang dalam menghasilkan makanan yang sehat dan proposional sehingga membentuk sebuah seni yang indah dan dapat dinikmati.  

Mujigae sudah menerapkan High Technology dimana menyediakan fasilitas self-service pada setiap mejanya dengan menggunakan iPad, sehingga pengunjung dapat dengan mudah memesan menu, berfoto-foto, memanggil pelayan, hingga menyediakan request lagu K-POP maupun K-Drama yang selalu up-to-date dan akan menemani pengunjung selama makan agar menghadirkan suasana K-Entertainment hanya dengan sentuhan dari meja masing – masing.  

Mujigae juga menggunakan semua resep asli dengan Fresh Ingredients yang dimasak menggunakan bahan – bahan berkualitas, diproses dengan teknik khusus, dan dikontrol dengan standard quality assurance yang ketat. Kini, Mujigae Resto sudah membuat Mujigae Korean Delivery di banyak daerah sehingga konsumen dapat lebih praktis memesan makanan Korea lewat GoFood dari resto terdekat. Tidak hanya itu, mujigae juga sudah memproduksi produk FMCG original yang dapat dipesan dari e-commerce shopee dan tokopedia.

https://shopee.co.id/mujigaeofficial

https://www.tokopedia.com/mujigaeofficial

Lokasi:

ü  FX Sudirman, F1 Floor

ü  Mall Ciputra, UG Floor

ü  Kemang Village, 3rd Floor

ü  Margo City, Ground Floor

ü  Grand Metropolitan Mall, UG Floor

ü  Summarecon Mall Serpong, Ground Floor

ü  Mall Artha Gading, 1st Floor

ü  Green Pramuka Square, Ground Floor

ü  Plaza Kalibata, Ground Floor

ü  Bassura City, Ground Floor

ü  Summarecon Mall Bekasi, Ground Floor

ü  Botani Square, 2nd Floor

ü  Cibinong City Mall, UG Floor

ü  Plaza Atrium, 2nd Floor

  III.            Bon Chon

“Bonchon shines when the sun does: the garlic-and-soy wings are crispy and tangy, while the spicier version has a subtle heat that sneaks up on you at about the third wing…” – NEW YORK TIMES  

Bonchon adalah restoran waralaba khusus menjual ayam goreng ala Korea. Bonchon juga merupakan restoran waralaba ayam goreng yang sudah internasional yang berbasis di Korea Selatan karena lahir di Busan namun dibesarkan di kota New York. Kata Bonchon dalam bahasa Korea berarti "Kampung halaman saya", dan nama ini menjadi salah satu hal yang memastikan bahwa Bonchon walaupun tumbuh di luar negeri namun tidak seperti kacang yang lupa pada kulitnya. Saat bonchon mulai terkenal dan terus berkembang di seluruh dunia dikarenakan popularitas ayam goreng khasnya, bonchon mempunyai misi dengan membawa "kampung halaman saya" ke seluruh dunia dengan berusaha agar setiap pengunjung tetap dapat menikmati kualitas, layanan, dan produk yang segar dan lezat serta memuaskan keinginan pengunjung akan nostalgia dan keakraban, dimana  memuaskan cita-cita untuk merasakan ayam goreng Korea yang identik, otentik, beraroma renyah, dan disertai dengan berbagai makanan unik khas Asia.  

Pada awalnya, Pendiri bonchon, Jinduk Seo, hanya menyajikan saus premium beraroma dan teknik memasak yang mengikuti tren lingkungan secara global dan modern, namun dikarenakan sudah banyak tempat seperti itu di Amerika Serikat, pada akhirnya sang pendiri membuat cara baru untuk merasakan ayam goreng yaitu dengan menyajikan ayam goreng khas asal Korea. Bonchon melanjutkan warisan hasrat pendiri ini untuk menjadi yang terbaik dalam kualitas dan rasa saus, bahan dan teknik memasak untuk menyajikan ayam goreng unik khas Korea. Semua hidangan bonchon dibuat sesuai pesanan, dan disiapkan hanya menggunakan bahan-bahan segar yang berkualitas. Pada tahun 2002, bonchon menciptakan saus khasnya di Korea, dan mempertahankan resep aslinya sejak saat itu. Saus bonchon juga hanya dibuat di Busan, Korea Selatan, sehingga setiap pelanggan di berbagai tempat tetap merasakan rasa otentik yang sama,

Bonchon memiliki metode yang unik untuk setiap penyajiannya. Caranya yaitu setiap potongan ayam bonchon dibuat sesuai pesanan menggunakan metode penggorengan ganda, lalu dilumuri dengan saus khas restoran. Setiap potong juga dihancurkan dengan tangan di dapur setiap hari untuk memastikan tingkat kualitas dan perawatan yang terbaik di masing-masing bagian. Ayam goreng Korea ini disempurnakan oleh pendiri bonchon yaitu Jinduk Seo dengan bangga karena semua ayam di bonchon dibuat berdasarkan pesanan menggunakan bahan-bahan berkualitas tinggi. Hal ini jugalah yang akhirnya menjadikan bonchon terkenal di seluruh dunia untuk ayam goreng khas korea mereka.  

Menariknya, Michelle E. Surjaputra, CEO yang membawa BonChon ke Indonesia, pada bulan Juni tahun 2016 lalu melakukan re-branding dengan mengganti merek BonChon menjadi Chick 'n Roll. Hal ini diputuskan karena sang CEO ingin melakukan penetrasi market ke pasar yang jauh lebih besar yaitu pasar muslim yang mana di Indonesia sendiri merupakan pasar muslim terbesar, karena dengan merek BonChon saat itu agak sulit memperoleh sertifikasi halal. Oleh karena itu, bonchon melakukan re-branding menjadi merek Chick 'n Roll. Dan, sampai akhirnya mulai bulan Februari tahun 2017 lalu, Chick 'n Roll sudah memperoleh sertifikasi halal.

Dan hal terbaiknya adalah selain ayam goreng nya, menu unggulan bonchon yang lain seperti Bibimbap, Japchae dan Tteokbokki, benar – benar otentik namun sehat yang menenangkan pengunjung untuk mencicipi makanan terbaik tanpa perlu merasa bersalah karena dibuat tanpa daging ayam trans-lemak, sayuran segar, dan bahan-bahan segar.  

Ikuti media sosialnya di @bonchonchicken dan twitternya @BonChon_ID

Lokasi:

ü  One Bel Park, 1st Floor

ü  Lippo Mall Puri, 1st Floor

ü  Citywalk Sudirman, Ground Floor

ü  Emperium Pluit Mall, 4th Floor

ü  Supermall Karawachi, LG Floor

ü  UOB Plaza, Basement Floor

ü  Grand Indonesia, 3A Floor

ü  Kota Kasablanka, 2nd Floor

ü  Kemang Village, UG Floor

ü  Gandaria City, 2nd Floor

ü  Central Park, LG Floor

ü  Mall of Indonesia, 2nd Floor

ü  Living World, Ground Floor

ü  Ciputra World, 4th Floor

ü  Bintaro Jaya Xchange, 1st Floor

ü  Grand Galaxy Park, Ground Floor

BAB 3 PENUTUP

Republik Korea yang biasa dikenal sebagai Korea Selatan atau Korsel adalah sebuah negara di Asia Timur yang meliputi bagian selatan Semenanjung Korea. Banyak sekali tempat menarik dari destinasi wisata yang dapat dikunjungi dari negeri ginseng ini mulai dari Seoul hingga Pulau Jeju. Selain itu Korea Selatan juga merupakan negara yang kaya akan budaya serta kulinernya yang tidak boleh dilewatkan. Negara ini dikenal banyak memiliki makanan khas yang lezat dan menggoda selera. Tak heran, banyak yang ingin berkunjung ke negara ini untuk menikmati kebudayaan serta makanan Korea yang khas. Jika berkesempatan untuk berwisata di Korea Selatan jangan sampai lupa untuk mencicipi kulinernya. Karena, sebaik-baiknya makanan Korea yang ada di Indonesia pasti jauh lebih nikmat kalau kuliner langsung di Korea.

Referensi

Retrieved from https://bonchon.com/

Retrieved from http://www.dookki.id/

Retrieved from https://www.zomato.com/id/jakarta

Retrieved from https://www.mujigae.com/

Dwi, M. (2020,  Februari 24). 20 Jajanan dan Makanan Khas Korea yang Enak dan Lezat.  Retrieved from https://keluyuran.com/makanan-khas-korea/

[menuandprice]

Fox’s Pizza Menu Prices

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foxes menu

Fox’s Pizza Menu Prices

Fox’s Pizza (also known as Fox’s Pizza Den) is a pizza restaurant chain that specializes in authentic pizzas, Strombolis, salads, and wedgies. Fox’s Pizza prices are similar to other pizza chains, although they do have more pizza sizes to choose from. The pizza sizes available are small (9 inches), medium (12 inches), large (14 inches), extra large (16 inches), Big Daddy Rectangle (24×12 inches), and The BIG One (30 inches). Although you can create your own pizza and select any toppings you want, Fox’s Pizza also makes Gourmet pizzas which come pre-configured with toppings such as Buffalo Chicken, Meat Supreme, Bacon Double Cheeseburger, Taco, Barbecue Chicken, Chicken Rancher, Steak Rancher, Hawaiian, and Veggie. New Fox's Pizza Menu Prices; Pizza One Topping Pizza (4-Cut)Small$8.39One Topping Pizza (8-Cut)Medium$12.99One Topping Pizza (10-Cut)Large$14.99One Topping Pizza (12-Cut)X-Large$17.49One Topping Pizza (21-Cut)Big Daddy$20.99One Topping Pizza (52-Cut)The BIG One!$44.99Each Topping for Small Pizza$1.30Each Topping for Medium Pizza$1.90Each Topping for Large Pizza$2.00Each Topping for X-Large Pizza$2.40Each Topping for Big Daddy Rectangle Pizza$2.50Each Topping for The Big One Pizza$5.00Fox’s Pizza Menu Prices Double Deals Two PizzasSmall$14.49Two PizzasMedium$19.59Two PizzasLarge$22.59Two PizzasX-Large$25.99Two PizzasBig Daddy$30.99Two PizzasThe BIG One!$77.99Fox’s Pizza Menu Prices Gourmet Pizza Gourmet PizzaSmall$10.39Gourmet PizzaMedium$15.99Gourmet PizzaLarge$18.99Gourmet PizzaX-Large$21.49Gourmet PizzaBig Daddy$25.99Gourmet PizzaThe BIG One!$59.99Fox’s Pizza Menu Prices Hoagies & Wedgies Hoagie6 1/2 in.$5.49Hoagie13 in.$9.49Wedgie$8.49Fox’s Pizza Menu Prices

fox's pizza menu Fox’s Sides Wing Ditties & Boneless Wings1/2 Dozen$5.49Wing Ditties & Boneless WingsDozen$8.49Wing Ditties & Boneless Wings4 Dozen$29.99Wing Ditties & Boneless Wings8 Dozen$55.99Ranch or Blue Cheese$0.79Bread Sticks$4.99Bread Sticks with Cheese$5.99Pepperoni Bites$6.99Toasted Ravioli1/2 Dozen$5.49Toasted RavioliDozen$6.99Buffalo Bites$5.99Southwest Bites$5.99Sausage SnackersOrder of 10$3.99Sausage SnackersOrder of 20$5.99Wedge Fries$2.29Fox’s Pizza Menu Prices Salads Tossed Salad$5.39Chef Salad$6.39Chicken Fry Salad$7.29Steak Fry Salad$7.29Buffalo Chicken Salad$7.29Taco Salad$7.29Chicken Taco Salad$7.29Southwest Chicken Salad$7.29Banquet SaladSmall$23.99Banquet SaladLarge$34.99Chef Banquet SaladSmall$41.99Chef Banquet SaladLarge$54.99Fox’s Pizza Menu Prices Stromboli StromboliSmall$8.39StromboliMedium$12.99StromboliLarge$14.99StromboliX-Large$17.49Side of Sauce$0.79Fox’s Pizza Menu Prices Desserts New York Style Cheesecake$2.99Chocolate Chip Cookie$1.19Cinnamon Sticks$5.49Fox’s Pizza Menu Prices Jim opened a second Fox’s Pizza Den in nearby Harrison City and a third in East Pittsburgh, in 1973. With the opening of his fourth location in Swissvale, Jim introduced an innovative concept that would revolutionize the pizza industry in the Pittsburgh area — home delivery. As word spread, friends began calling Jim about opening franchised pizza shops. Realizing that franchising could help others reach their dreams of independence, Jim incorporated Fox’s Pizza Den in 1974. Fogo de Chao Menu Prices https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMPemJkPqbo Cotton Patch Menu Prices Now celebrating our 45th anniversary, we see it hasn’t stopped growing. Today there are more than 200 franchises operating coast to coast in 25 states. Fox’s Pizza Distribution, formed in 1986, provides the franchises with consistent high-quality product and reliable distribution. Because of its successful formula, Fox’s Pizza Den was voted best pizza franchise of 1993 by the National Pizza and Pasta Association and received PMQ’s 2005 and 2007 Pizza Industry Enterprise (PIE) award. Fox’s has been consistently ranked as one of the best pizza and sandwich franchises in the United States by Entrepreneur and Pizza Today magazines. Fox's Pizza Website. Five Guys Menu Prices How big is a fox's small pizza?The pizza sizes available are small (9 inches), medium (12 inches), large (14 inches), extra large (16 inches), Big Daddy Rectangle (24×12 inches), and The BIG One (30 inches).What is a wedgie from Fox's pizza?Bacon and mozzarella cheese. Ham, Salami, mozzarella cheese, green peppers, onions, topped with lettuce and tomatoes and served with Italian dressing instead of mayo. Wedgies were created by Fox's Pizza Den and are like a sandwich but served on a pizza crust instead of a bun.How many calories are in a Big Daddy's Pizza from Fox?There are 248 calories in 1 slice of Fox's Pizza Den Big Daddy Pepperoni Pizza. * The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a serving of food contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice. Read the full article

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10 Best Steakhouses in Toronto, ON

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10 Best Steakhouses in Toronto, ON

There are fully grown adults who suffer through vegetables on a daily basis, but save their delight for when their mouth meets a heavenly piece of beef. For those adults, the steakhouse was created. Toronto has many steakhouses that have an old-world charm with a gentleman’s club vibe (with ladies certainly welcome these days). We have found the best restaurants with the ability to sear a steak to perfection. Some of them are a little dated in terms of decor, but that’s in part what makes them so appealing.

Note the elegant magnetism of Barberians, a steakhouse that is tucked into a side street just steps from the commotion of Yonge and Dundas Square. It will transport you from our technological universe, into an era where the sizzle of steak could be just the ticket for an early end to a workday. Or try your hand at dry-aged beef at Jacob’s & Co, which can be served with sauteed kale with blue cheese and walnuts. Food math: kale will absorb all other calories surrounding it.

Wash down your once-in-a-lifetime (or ten-times-in-a-lifetime) meal with a $12,000 bottle of wine. Wait, you can’t afford that? Us neither. But that doesn’t mean we don’t deserve a little fancy in our lives. Slip into your finest suit or little black dress and slow down your chewing for an evening.

If you like staring at beautiful cuts of meat as if they were the culinary equivalent of the Mona Lisa, go and visit Michael’s on Simcoe’s many social media accounts. If you have too much money burning a hole in your pocket and you have an equal hole in your stomach, then it is an excellent place to sup. A celebrity hot spot during TIFF, this is the place for melt in your mouth steak that will likely elicit grunts of delight. Go for USDA Prime Angus or Japanese Kobe beef. Warning: the latter can set you back $528 for 24 ounces. What else are expense accounts for?

Recommended for Steakhouses because: A picture perfect meaty menu, and the opportunity to run into a carnivorous celebrity.

Courtney’s expert tip: The in-house baked bread is addictive (this is a steakhouse with an Italian twist), but try your best to save some room for the star of the show: the meat.

Read more about Michael’s on Simcoe →

The Keg Mansion is certainly the best Toronto location of this chain of North American restaurants. The gothic heritage building was built in 1868 during a period of great wealth in Toronto. It has had some renovations since, but apparently retains some of its history in the form of ghosts. You can visit this location on one of Toronto’s ghost walks or go to feast in a stunning atmosphere. The rich appetizers impress, such as Baked Brie with basil pesto or Scallops and Bacon. The prices are impressively lower than average for prime cuts of meat such as Filet Mignon or Manhattan Cut New York. Some cuts have inventive toppings, such as pecans and goat cheese that complement rather than overshadow the steak.

Recommended for Steakhouses because: One of the more romantic choices, the gorgeous mansion is worth seeing even if you don’t want to dine.

Courtney’s expert tip: You can add a blue cheese crust to any steak for $1. This information is not on the menu, but it may just be the best $1 you have ever spent.

Read more about The Keg Mansion →

Photo courtesy of The Shore Club Facebook page

This gem of a restaurant lies within walking distance to the nightlife on King Street West. The Shore Club on Wellington is upscale and impressive, with a warmth that could heat up the iciest Toronto day. The decor pays tribute to art deco ocean liners, and the main dining room exudes elegance. With high ceilings and esteemed artwork, it is worth having some time to let your eyes wander beyond the food. When it comes to the food, however, The Shore Club is a great place to go for variety. Not only are the beautiful cuts of meat (such as Porterhouse and Filet Mignon) cooked to perfection, but the seafood is much more than an afterthought. Try the roasted salmon with warm pear and squash relish. Or go whole-hog and have the steak and lobster. Don’t you deserve the best?

Recommended for Steakhouses because: The Shore Club provides a five star experience. Scrumptious food, stylish service and no pretension. It is a superb way to get your steak fix.

Courtney’s expert tip: If you are driving, you can use the valet service at the Ritz Carlton Hotel. The valet bill of $15 will be added to your bill at The Shore Club for convenience.

Read more about The Shore Club →

Photo courtesy of Jacobs & Co, Robert Gravelle

With cozy golden lighting, solid wood furniture and a grand piano providing background music, Jacobs & Co does not miss a detail. Situated in downtown Toronto, the service, food and atmosphere are consistently top-notch. Jacobs & Co showcases its dry-aged beef in the middle of the dining room in a climate-controlled glass case. Executive chef Danny McCallum works tirelessly to travel the world in search of the best cuts of meat and then ages, butchers and portions them on the premises. They have a french frier that only uses duck fat to make the crispest and addictive french fries that you have ever tasted. This incredible food has nothing to hide.

Recommended for Steakhouses because: The dry aged beef is a cut above the rest, so good that some people fly in for it.

Courtney’s expert tip: The sommelier will be happy to help you to make an informed decision about what to choose to wash down the meal. It is worth considering calling in advance to help you to navigate the extensive wine list.

Read more about Jacobs & Co. Steakhouse →

This futuristic lounge-meets-steakhouse is situated in Yorkville, meaning that the doormen and chic dining room should come of no surprise. This is a global franchise that also has branches in Milan and New York and has experience wowing its clientele with everything from decor to taste. Huge swooping comma like sculptures are throughout the room and black and white elements permeate the space. Sourdough bread is brushed with blue cheese butter. A classic appetizer is the “brgs” (screw the vowels in 2020), a mini slider with wagyu beef and truffle oil. Steaks are simply executed and can be cooked in infrared charbroilers. Just admit it: your steak has a cooler life than you.

Recommended for Steakhouses because: The Jetsons would have dined here and now we can too.

Courtney’s expert tip: Pronounce the restaurant as the letters S-T-K, not as “steak.” (We made the mistake too.)

Read more about STK Steakhouse →

Photo courtesy of Harbour Sixty

The waterfront in Toronto is a prized location, and this restored 1917 Harbour Commission building offers a stunning backdrop for some of the best steak in the city. There are three levels of dining on offer, with baroque-inspired decor. Harbour Sixty is dripping with opulence, from tall candlesticks to marble countertops and freshly ironed tablecloths. The lovely ambiance works well to match the high-quality standards of the food. Their menu is centered around the finest USDA Prime beef which represents the top one percent of all beef. The steaks are well-seasoned and juicy on the inside. The side dishes are often infused with gourmet ingredients, such as lobster mashed potatoes and white truffle mac & cheese.

Recommended for Steakhouses because: Both the food and the clientele are upscale, with steak, seafood and wine that defines the luxurious.

Courtney’s expert tip: This is not a restaurant to go to in jeans. The dress code is business casual, and jackets are encouraged.

Read more about Harbour Sixty Steakhouse →

Run by staff that still have ties to Barberians, Harry’s Steak House has brought the classiness west in Toronto. It’s a small room which will make you feel as if you are dining in a private club. Note the charcoal grill as you walk in (or the aroma may just inform you as to its whereabouts). Steaks are aged at Barberians (resulting in an unmistakable texture) but butchered here and grilled over sugar maple charcoal. The fancy mushrooms are in fact shiitake and maitake and of course smothered in butter and garlic, because no one came to a steakhouse to start a diet. If you have room for dessert, you haven’t done Harry’s right.

Recommended for Steakhouses because: Old school charm with a modern twist, and steaks that will knock your fancy socks off.

Courtney’s expert tip: You will probably go for a bottle of wine, but you can’t go wrong with one of their martinis, especially Shannon’s citrus delight.

Read more about Harry’s Steakhouse →

Photo courtesy of Photo courtesy of Tom Jones Steakhouse

Tom Jones is the place to go to if you have reached an age where you already are starting to say “I remember the days when…” Those days will be back in a flash with stained glass windows, warm woods and waiters in tuxedos. One staircase doubles as a bookshelf, and you can almost imagine gentlemen talking shop with fat cigars, long before green juice counted as dinner. It is dark and cozy, begging you to spend 15 minutes to watch your waiter make your Caesar salad at the table. The portions are quite generous, and the Chateaubriand is worth capping off a special occasion. Located in the Bay and King financial district, this place requires a pretty penny but is class all the way.

Recommended for Steakhouses because: Put on your freshly ironed shirt. You will be awarded with impressive cuts of meat and an award winning wine list.

Courtney’s expert tip: Visit the Conclave Room to view pictures of Toronto in the 1800s. Hint: there isn’t a Starbucks in sight.

Read more about Tom Jones Steak House →

Photo courtesy of Victoria, Barberian’s Restaurant

You can excuse Barberian’s for having a slightly dated atmosphere (and website). The restaurant opened in 1959 and some of the patrons have a long-standing history, equating Barberian’s with celebration for more than 50 years, which certainly bodes well. Barberian’s has a simple charm with artwork by the Group of Seven hanging on the walls. All of the steaks are aged on the premises. There is a myriad of steak sizes and proportions, and the chef’s quiet confidence shines through from the first bite. If you are not in the mood for steak, rack of lamb with mint jelly and their grilled salmon steak will keep you satisfied. If you have a special occasion, consider renting out the Wine Cellar at Barbarians. Housing 20,000 bottles floor to ceiling with the fragrance of fresh cork, it is an unforgettable space. Ask to visit before you sit down for dinner.

Recommended for Steakhouses because: Barberian’s is guaranteed to impress, whether it is an esteemed colleague or an admired date.

Courtney’s expert tip: Consider going to Barberian’s after a night at the theatre (after 10 pm). They have a wonderful after-theatre menu, which includes cheese or beef fondue for two. Enjoy the free pickled vegetables, which some claim are even better than the incredible steak. Plus, you don’t get a lot of free at most steakhouses.

Read more about Barberian’s →

Photo courtesy of Blueblood Steakhouse

Going out for a steak already has an element of opulence to it. Eating your steak in a castle, well, then you are just showing off, aren’t you? Blueblood is situated in the majestic Casa Loma. Start your new fancy lifestyle off with the bread dipped in truffle oil. All of the steakhouse classics are here: French Onion soup, an embarrassingly high seafood tower, the iceberg wedge salad, and (but of course), the steak. The team here is beyond knowledgable about their cuts of meat, which come promptly and seasoned to perfection. Warhols decorate the walls and chandeliers drip from the ceiling, making each customer feel like royalty, if only for a meal.

Recommended for Steakhouses because: Ambience and service that make this splurge of a restaurant well worth it.

Courtney’s expert tip: Self parking is $15 and valet is $20. If you’re eating at a castle, probably not a big deal.

Read more about Blueblood Steakhouse →

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Are Interactive Restaurants the New Way of Dining?

By Laura Rothstein 

Over the past 20 years, we’ve watched the food industry gain traction at a rapid pace. The industry continues to evolve and shape their business model to meet modern day demands. In general though, Americans are more interested in the food they consume on a daily basis – from the ingredient list on the items that land in their grocery cart to the downtown chef sautéing their Brussel sprouts. The public’s curiosity surrounding the food industry has risen drastically and we don’t foresee this changing any time soon.  This movement has especially gained popularity throughout the Midwest, a region once known for mundane meat and potatoes is now home to two of the nations food capitals: Chicago and Minneapolis. These foodie cities find themselves landing on countless lists praising some of the nation’s top chefs and elite dining institutions. As the food culture continues to evolve, we are seeing a new wave of restaurants on the scene – entertainment based restaurants and we can’t help but wonder, is this the new way of dining? Are guests no longer content to sit and eat, must they be entertained as well?

In August 2017, Bon Appetit Magazine named Chicago the best restaurant city in America.  Elske, Giant, and Girl & The Goat all landed on BA’s list earning the title of top Chicago eateries but one in particular stands out to us, Alinea.  Since opening their doors in 2005,  Alinea has accumulated an impressive and growing list of accolades- they are a James Beard award winner, hold a 3-Michelin star rating and have been named the best restaurant in America on three separate occasions, not to mention the international recognition they have received as well. Known for their innovation, modernist cuisine, dining at Alinea is truly an experience. On a typical night diner’s should expect to be presented with around 20 distinct courses, none of which are served in a traditional format. As a matter of fact, there is nothing traditional about Alinea but to give you an idea of their style here are some items that have graced their ever-changing menu: edible green apple balloons,  house-made flavored snow and  hand painted dessert comprised of a juice reduction and assorted chocolates. In many of the dishes, the food elements mimic that of a science experiment so expect the “chemist” by your table providing a brief tutorial. Alinea’s head chef, Grant Achatz, is now recognized at a global level as a leader of the progressive cuisine movement.

Similarly, turning to our local community, one of the Twin Cities most celebrated interactive restaurants to date is Travail Kitchen and Amusements. The chef trio behind Travail strives to create a seriously fun experience for everyone who steps into their restaurant. Like Alinea, Travail’s dining experience consist of an over the top tasting menu of anywhere from 14-20 courses, so come hungry and be ready for anything.  Creativity never falls short at Travail so don’t be surprised if you find yourself back in the prep kitchen at some point in the night or one of the chefs swinging from the chandelier squirting sake into your mouth. Travail is breaking the age-old tradition of dinner and a movie, crafting a more interactive atmosphere in the age of technology.

This trend doesn’t stop at restaurants, it’s expanding into other areas of the industry as well. One of my personal favorite developments is the Eataly franchise. Originating in Turin, Italy in 2004,  Eataly is a large format Italian marketplace comprised of a variety of restaurants, specialty imported foods (think cold pressed olive oil, sea salt, handmade pasta, cured meat, etc.) cooking classes, retail shops and wine bars. Not only is this an environment to shop and eat, the creators have also incorporated an educational element as well – while you buy the imported olive oil, you can learn all about the region it yields from, the process it takes to make it and the family farmstead it was originally harvested on.  In my opinion, this truly elevates the shopping experience and helps justify spending the extra dollar.

The popularity of Eataly has expanded at a rapid pace. In just over a decade, the total number of locations has reached approximately three dozen worldwide, spanning from New York to Tokyo.  The beauty of the Eataly experience is it is exactly what you make of it— whether sipping an espresso while you pick-up groceries for the week or spending a Saturday afternoon eating and drinking your way through the market, Eataly is truly a food (and entertainment) lovers haven.

So where will your next interactive food experience be?

[welllpthisishappening]

Tripping Over the Blue Line (19/45)

It’s a transition. That’s what Emma’s calling it. She’s transitioning from one team to another, from one coast to another and she’s definitely not worried. Nope. She’s fine. Really. She’s promised Mary Margaret ten times already. So she got fired. Whatever. She’s fine, ready to settle into life with the New York Rangers. She’s got a job to do. And she doesn’t care about Killian Jones, captain of the New York Rangers. At all.

He’s done. One more season and he’s a free agent and he’s out. It’s win or nothing for Killian. He’s going to win a Stanley Cup and then he’s going to stop being the face of the franchise and he’s going to go play for some other garbage team where his name won’t be used as puns in New York Post headlines. That’s the plan. And Emma Swan, director of New York Rangers community relations isn’t going to change that. At all.

They are both horrible liars.

Rating: Mature Content Warnings: Swearing, eventual hockey-type violence AN: Have some emotion. All the emotion. Pie-based emotion. As always, I can’t thank you guys enough for every click, comment, message and general flail. It’s the absolute best. Always, always, always thankful for @laurnorder, @distant-rose & @beautiful-swan.  Also living on Ao3, FF.net & tag’ed up on Tumblr. 

Thanksgiving might have been her least favorite holiday.

Or maybe Christmas.

Her birthday?

Did her birthday count as a holiday?

It didn’t matter. Emma hated all of them. She hated the memories that lingered with each and every one of them, the waiting and the hoping and the wanting that came every holiday, the idea of a family to share it with or remember to buy her a birthday present, hanging in front of her like some sort of universe-based tease.

Thanksgiving was some sort of idea for her while she was growing up – pictures of an actual turkey and homemade stuffing and more desserts than she could possibly eat in one sitting – and it never actually happened that way in the half a dozen houses she’d been shipped to from the time someone signed her birth certificate until she turned eighteen.

There was no family.

There was no home.

There wasn’t even a pumpkin pie.

Thanksgiving was just another day and most of the kids in the half a dozen houses Emma had been shipped to hardly even recognized it.

It wasn’t until that last house and the could-have-beens that Emma even allowed herself the idea of a tradition and four walls that felt a bit more like home than anything else ever had. So, naturally, it didn’t work. And, of course, she refused Mary Margaret’s invitation to come home to that tiny town in Maine with her for Thanksgiving weekend the next year.

Emma ate microwave mashed potatoes in her dorm room and watched Miracle on 34th Street by herself.

Mary Margaret dragged her home with her every year after that, David never too far behind, and somewhere along the way the three of them started making pies. Every year. Just...an absurd amount of desserts.

No one ever asked about it. No one ever really talked about it. They just started baking that first Thanksgiving in that tiny Maine town, walking to the grocery store before commandeering the Blanchard family kitchen.

Emma couldn’t get back to New York for Thanksgiving the year before – swamped with in-season obligations and flights from LA weren’t cheap – and she still made pumpkin pie, adding a bit more cinnamon than David would ever allow.

She ate it by herself after the Kings beat the Sharks and watched Miracle on 34th Street.

“You ok?” Mary Margaret asked, sinking onto the couch next to Emma until their shoulders brushed. Emma glanced over at her, apron tied tightly around her waist and a pen somehow stuck in her hair and, of course, she was making a list.

Mary Margaret was nothing if not consistently organized – even on a holiday.

“Of course,” Emma said and it was almost completely true. She hated Thanksgiving, hated holidays and picture-perfect families she didn’t have and this year would be no different.

Ruth was coming and there’d be wedding talk and wedding plans and Emma would probably have to try on her bridesmaid's dress at some point. And then there’d be even more wedding talk and questions about the team and when Mary Margaret and David were going to start having kids, a not-so-subtle reminder that Emma was still sleeping on their couch.

They’d all be there and Emma would, once again, be on the outside looking in, some sort of fifth-wheel in a Blanchard-Nolan family dinner.

At least she wouldn’t be eating pumpkin pie by herself.

Mary Margaret clicked her tongue and Emma could hear her argument as clearly as if she’d actually said the words. She didn’t really have to.

She could probably read Emma’s mind at this point.

“I’m glad you’re here,” Mary Margaret said without any sort of preamble and Emma’s eyes widened just a bit at the emotion behind those few words, the certainty and the way her voice got a little bit harder, like she was willing Emma to understand.

“Ah, well, you can’t throw your kid out on Thanksgiving,” Emma replied glibly. Mary Margaret rolled her eyes. “That’d just be insensitive.” “I am nothing if not a pool of sensitivity.” “That’s actually very true.” Mary Margaret knocked her shoulder against Emma’s, a timer going off in the kitchen alcove. She jumped off the couch as quickly as she’d arrived, pen flying out from behind her hair and Emma leaned forward to grab it, stuffing it into her own loose ponytail as she followed, the smell of pumpkin pie hitting her like some soft of holiday brick wall.

She needed to work on her sensitivity.

They’d made the pie that morning – David actually shaking Emma’s shoulders when he woke her up and she swatted at his knees until he left her alone, laughing and shouting about sticking to the schedule as he went.

She threw flour at him, leaving a distinct handprint on the back of his shirt that he didn’t notice when he left to go pick up Ruth and Mary Margaret hadn’t been able to entirely hide her smile at the two of them. They laughed and Emma dumped in half a container of cinnamon and Mary Margaret, somehow, got nutmeg in her hair while all three of them tried to get a taste of the batter without the other two looking.

They made four pies.

Four pies.

And somewhere in the back of her mind, twelve-year-old Emma who dreaded Thanksgiving and all the things she knew she’d never get, jumped for joy at the moment and these people and the almost-home she’d found.

Almost.

That might have been why she’d been grumbling so much.

She was terrified.

She was happy.

Happy and terrified and it was making it very difficult to get a full night’s sleep on some sort of consistent basis.

Nearly two months into the regular season and the team’s six-game win streak had been snapped two weeks ago – in D.C. after Killian’s short-handed breakaway goal made SportCenter’s top 10 – and they’d started a new streak, riding a five-win performance into Philadelphia that weekend.

And they still hadn’t really told anyone, kept their distance during post-game at the restaurant and tried their best not to even look at each other when they crossed paths at the Garden, but it wasn’t really working.

She was certain half the building had their suspicions now and Robin definitely knew, which meant Regina definitely knew and Ariel probably had some sort of idea and Will might have been the only person on the roster who still believed that whole friends story they’d come up with. Belle probably even knew.

Emma was happy and terrified because she wasn’t quite as nervous to have people know as she had been during the preseason, certain she’d proved herself worthy of this team in some sort of vaguely ridiculous way when she’d gotten Bobby Flay to sign up, officially, for the charity game. She knew she was doing a good job, knew the first line of the New York Rangers believed she was doing a good job and Phillip the Rookie had become a bit of a right-hand man, dedicated and determined to help however he could when it came to planning the charity game. He tweeted about it every other day.

She was doing good work. And she knew it.

But she also knew that she was starting to think things, big, overwhelming, important things with capital letters and it had only been a few months.

It didn’t make any sense at all.

It didn’t – and then he’d send her a text and it’d be the most ridiculous fact about whatever city they were in or a direct quote from Arthur that was just so absurd Emma’s entire body would shake with laughter and maybe it would almost make sense.

She was happy and terrified of what could happen if that changed.

Mary Margaret pulled open the front of the oven and the smell of pumpkin pie increased tenfold as Emma jumped onto the edge of the counter, swinging her feet out in front of her. If she was going to play the role of child in this family, she was going to do it well.

“David’s going to freak when he sees you up there,” Mary Margaret muttered, but she still couldn’t really hide her smile.

“Not nearly as much as he’s going to freak out when he realizes we started eating pie without him,” Emma countered, leaning forward to open the drawer next to her knee. She grabbed a pair of forks and held them out to Mary Margaret who stared at them like she was being challenged with the toughest dilemma in the history of the world.

“We’ll probably burn our tongues,” she said.

Emma nodded thoughtfully. “Probably. But it’ll be a very enjoyable burn.” “Such a rebel.” “Come on, Reese’s, live on the edge a little bit.” “I think you just want pie.” “That is absolutely true.”

Mary Margaret laughed, grabbing one of the several dozen pot holders she inexplicably had in her apartment and grabbed one of the pans, dropping it on the counter next to Emma’s leg. She didn’t say another word before she started eating, humming in the back of her throat at the mix of far-too-hot dessert and how ridiculously good the three of them had gotten at making pumpkin pie.

“This is good,” Mary Margaret mumbled as Emma knocked her fork against her hand, trying to work out her own spot in the pie. “We should open a bakery.” “When would we even find the time?”

She shrugged, taking another bite of pie. “Ah, I don’t know. Maybe when we’re all old. The three of us will be all crotchety and wrinkly and we’ll buy some tiny building and we’ll open a bakery that only serves pumpkin pie.” Emma knew what she meant. She was a rational human being. She knew Mary Margaret wasn’t trying to insult or question or do anything except make Emma laugh at the idea of the three of them being wrinkly and still, somehow, baking pumpkin pie.

She knew all of that.

Her mind, however, didn’t really care.

Because her mind heard the three of them, Emma still the third wheel even when they were crotchety and wrinkly, and her heart might have actually stopped beating at the idea of never quite getting what she wanted.

Mary Margaret glanced curiously at her, eyebrows drawn low and Emma silently chastised herself for ever thinking that the woman in front of her – who, nearly two months into the season, hadn’t even asked when Emma was going to consider getting her own place – could ever mistakenly say something that was anything less than completely supportive.

“You ok?” Mary Margaret asked again, putting her fork down on the counter.

“Yeah, yeah,” Emma said quickly. “I’m just glad I’m here too. I missed the pie.” Mary Margaret smiled at her, reaching forward to squeeze her knee tightly and Emma felt some of her nerves and anxiety dissipate at the movement, something particularly familial about it and maybe she didn’t hate Thanksgiving quite as much as she just hated being alone.

“You say that now,” Mary Margaret laughed, “but wait until Ruth forces you to try on your bridesmaid’s dress because she just won’t be able to picture it without actually seeing you in it. Then talk to me about missing the pie.” Emma scrunched her nose, grabbing another forkful of pie before she felt certain she’d be able to answer without bursting into tears at the same time. “That’s alright,” she mumbled. “Anyway you’re the one who’s going to face the brunt of the wedding-focus this weekend. Ruth’s going to have an opinion on every single dress you even look at.” “Don’t remind me.” “Reese’s! That was almost very close to some sort of mother-in-law stereotyping.” “You’re the one who said it, I was just agreeing to it.” “Seems like you just finally found a way to express your pre-wedding frustration. Did you finalize your menu with Eric?” Mary Margaret nodded, taking another bite of pie and they’d eaten at least a quarter of it already. “Once I convinced David that we absolutely couldn’t get Bobby Flay. He seemed to think you’d just be able to convince him to cater a reception right there in Central Park.”

“Yeah, I don’t think I’ve got that kind of sway with Bobby Flay.” “You got him to agree to actually play in the game though.” “That is not even remotely the same as catering your reception in Central Park. Plus, you don’t want to do that Reese’s, think of all the paperwork you’d have to fill out.” She made some sort of serious noise, but neither one of them could stop smiling or eating pie and this might have been the one they’d added rum too. “So if I ask you something right now,” Mary Margaret started, staring at the fork in her hand, “will you absolutely freak out?” “Depends on what it is, I guess.” “Were you going to bring a date to the wedding?” Emma dropped her fork, metal clanking loudly on the floor when it landed and she tugged on the bottom of her team-branded t-shirt. Mary Margaret made a face, shoulders sagging just a bit as she tried to mutter a quick apology. “Have you told him yet? About...everything?”

“No,” Emma said, shaking her hand. Mary Margaret’s face didn’t change. “I know. I know, but every time I think about it my jaw locks into place and he’s got all of that Reese’s. A family and some sort of ridiculously close relationship with his sister and he’s so good with Roland. It, like, blows my mind every time I see it. I can’t just march up to him and announce the reason I’m so weird about it all the time is because I never had any of that. It’s not exactly the most romantic conversation in the world.” “Are you trying to have a romantic conversation?” “Reese’s.” “That’s a legitimate question.” “If you’re trying to find out whether there have been any sort of declarations, the answer is no.” It wasn’t a complete lie – neither one of them had actually said it and why would they? It had only been a few months and they were in the middle of the season and the team was on a five-game win streak. No one had time for declarations in the middle of a five-game win streak.

But then Emma’s mind would race back to the opener and the morning and the way his eyes had changed just a bit when he stared at her, promising until I met you.

It wasn’t a declaration, but it still made her stomach clench and her pulse stutter and Emma found she kept thinking of that moment more and more.

Mary Margaret wiped off the fork, handing it back to Emma with an apologetic smile and another muttered apology. “You can’t be scared forever,” she said.

She took another bite of pie – far too big than she probably should have and this was definitely the one with rum in it – and nodded slowly, exhaling loudly. And Emma was half a breath away from maybe just telling Mary Margaret every thought that had been running through her mind for the last two months, every want and hope and this all felt a little on the nose for Thanksgiving, but she didn’t get a chance.

Her phone started to ring.

“If that’s Mer with some sort of community relations emergency,” Emma sighed, sliding off the counter and stalking back towards the coffee table. “I’m actually going to throw a fit.” “They don’t play until tomorrow, right?” Mary Margaret asked. Emma hummed in agreement, not even looking at the name when she swiped her thumb across the screen and pressed the phone up to her ear with her shoulder.

It was not Merida.

There was no community relations emergency.

“Did you know that the first Thanksgiving Day parade was held in Philadelphia in 1920?”

Emma felt the smile on her face as soon as she heard the question and she fell over the back of the couch, head bouncing up a bit on the cushion as her legs hung over the side. “I did not know that,” she said. “Are we doing holiday-themed facts now because I’m not sure if I have a Thanksgiving appropriate Flyers fact.”

“Nah, Swan,” Killian laughed. “This was just a coincidence.” “Good timing.” “I thought so.” “Why’d you call?” He didn’t answer immediately and Emma swung her legs back over the couch, pushing back up until she was leaning against the armrest. “Killian?”

Mary Margaret made some sort of noise from the kitchen alcove and Emma heard a fork fall again. She waved her hand through the air, focusing on the phone still pushed against her ear and the distinct silence on the other end. “I’m not near anyone,” he said softly and she could hear the note of disappointment in his voice even several hundred miles away in Philadelphia. “Locksley’s off FaceTiming with Gina and Rol and Belle actually just showed up at the team hotel so she and Scarlet are doing...whatever. We’ve got film later and then some sort of team dinner and I’ll talk to El and Liam and the twins after. I just figured…” He was babbling, voice picking up a bit with nerves and emotion and Emma bit her lip tightly at the rush of that one word she kept trying to pointedly ignore as his voice shot through her entire system. “Killian,” she cut in. “It’s fine. I wasn’t...I didn’t care if you were near people. I just, well, you usually text facts. That’s all.” There was silence again and for half a moment Emma actually thought the call had cut out. Until he started talking again.

“I just…” Killian said slowly and she heard him take a deep breath. “I wanted to talk to you.” She bit her lip tightly, smiling in spite of herself when Mary Margaret tried to prove how busy she was in the kitchen alcove. “Yeah?” “Yeah.” Maybe Thanksgiving wasn’t that bad after all. “So you know how the Flyers were an expansion team?” Emma asked.

“I was aware of that, Swan. If that’s your fact, it pales in comparison to mine.” “Hey, wait two seconds before you pass judgement on my fact.” He laughed on the other end of the phone and Emma could practically see the smirk in front of her. And maybe she wished she could see the smirk in front of her. Or maybe wished she’d just shown up in Philadelphia. “The Flyers were an expansion team,” Emma continued, “but no one thought they were going to be in Philadelphia. Most people thought the league was going to give the expansion to Baltimore and everyone was super surprised when they didn’t get a team.” “Super surprised?” “Super.”

He was smiling. She knew it.

And Mary Margaret was building some sort of pots-based castle on the other side of the apartment, just to show how much she absolutely, positively was not listening to this conversation. “What is that noise?” Killian asked.

“Reese’s,” Emma answered, glancing over her shoulder to find Mary Margaret crouched in front of one of the lower cabinets. “She’s trying to distract herself from listening to me share very impressive hockey facts with you.” “Was my fact not impressive? It was timely.” “I’m not listening,” Mary Margaret shouted, actually sitting on the kitchen alcove floor now. “I’ve got pie things to be worried about.” “Did she say pie things?” Killian asked, laughter obvious now and Emma rolled her eyes before falling back down on the couch.

“She did,” Emma said. “Four pies to be specific.” “Four? Did you make pies?” “Well, we all made pies if you want to get technical. It’s a thing. This year, however, we tried something different and one of the pies has a fairly substantial amount of rum in it.” Killian laughed loudly on the other end and Emma’s smile probably took up half her face at this point, the muscles in her cheeks rebelling from sudden overuse. “That sounds good,” he said. “The Vankalds were always very big on apple.” “Tell him we’ll save him some rum pie,” Mary Margaret called, grumbling just a bit when the pots and pans she’d pulled out of the cabinet didn’t actually fit back into the cabinet. “Or he can just buy some when we open our bakery.” “What was that, Swan?”

“Ah, Reese’s has decided we’re opening a bakery. Specializing in just pumpkin pie apparently.” “That’s very specific.” “We’re going to corner the market,” Emma said and her next words were out of her mouth immediately and without much thought and she nearly bit her tongue in half when she realized. “You wouldn’t happen to be looking to invest in a bakery that only makes pumpkin pies, some with a questionable amount of rum in them, would you?”

“Sure.” It didn’t even take a full breath for him to respond. “Gina will be thrilled. At least now I’ve got some sort of post-hockey plan.” Emma’s stomach did something she was certain was impossible, clenching and twisting and possibly landing on the floor, but she was also certain he was still smiling and he wanted to talk to her.

He’d called her.

Until I met you.

“He’s in,” Emma said to Mary Margaret and she hummed in approval. She hummed in a way that practically screamed take him as your plus-one to my wedding as well, but Emma didn’t let herself consider that for too long.

One vaguely overwhelming question at a time.

The front door swung open and David glanced at Emma, still sprawled out across the couch, while Mary Margaret continued to wage a one-woman war with the cabinet. “We’re here,” he announced, a bag hanging off his shoulder. Ruth wasn’t far behind as they both moved their way into the apartment, weighed down with even more bags and, probably, more baked goods.

“You got to go?” Killian asked.

“David’s mom is here.”

“Ah.” “They’re all going to want to talk about wedding plans and I’m probably going to have to put my maid of honor dress on.”

“Tortuous, Swan.”

“Well, we already ate half the rum pie, so maybe it won’t be that bad.” “I’ve got faith you can handle it.” “Yeah?” she asked, voice catching traitorously on the few letters. David was still staring at her. “Yeah.”

Emma licked her lips, suddenly dry and maybe she should just tell him, a metaphorical fountain of human emotion and Thanksgiving hate and she couldn’t do that now – not when Ruth was already going on about how lace was so in at the moment.

“Let me know if Scarlet actually calls Belle his girlfriend during this team dinner later, ok?” Emma asked and he laughed again.

“Of course, love.”

Lace was, apparently, very much in at the moment.

It was everywhere. On every dress and every veil and Emma was certain both her and Mary Margaret’s eyes were going to get stuck if they kept rolling them at every dress they spotted covered in lace.

They had rolled their eyes almost non-stop all afternoon.

“What about this one?” Ruth asked, holding up another lace-covered dress. This one had a train.

Mary Margaret couldn’t quite turn her gasp into a cough quickly enough and Emma moved in front of her, tugging the hanger out of Ruth’s hands and handing it back to the attendant who never seemed more than a few inches away from them.

“It’s a little long,” Mary Margaret said, always trying to find a positive even in a dress that looked like it belonged in a fairy tale.

“Do you have something for outdoor weddings?” Emma asked, turning on the attendant who widened her eyes in surprise when addressed by anyone who wasn’t Ruth.

“You want to get married outside?” Ruth cut in. Mary Margaret blanched, going the same shade of white as, at least, half the dresses in yet another very expensive bridal boutique.

Emma made a face, doing her best not to actually roll her eyes again. She was going to give herself a headache.

“Um,” Mary Margaret stuttered, glancing quickly towards Emma. “Well, yeah, we were thinking Central Park actually. There’s a castle there.” “Belvedere,” Emma added and Ruth was practically beaming in the middle of this very expensive bridal boutique. “For twenty bucks.” “That’s just for the permit,” Mary Margaret explained. Ruth’s mouth was hanging open now. “We were just thinking we could do something before it got too hot and, well, it is a castle. And there’s a restaurant near our apartment that we love and we’ve got a theme and…”

Ruth moved quicker than Emma had ever seen her move before, lace dresses forgotten as she threw her arms around Mary Margaret and tugged her towards her with a soft oof. Emma didn’t roll her eyes at that.

“That sounds perfect,” Ruth whispered, voice just a bit strained with the weight of her emotion. Mary Margaret looked like she’d frozen in place.

“Does it?” she asked.

“Better than perfect. I’ve been...maybe a bit overbearing I know.” Emma laughed and, that time, Ruth rolled her eyes. The boutique attendant was still standing behind them – three dresses propped up in her hand.

“That’s alright,” Mary Margaret said quickly. “Reese’s,” Emma sighed.

Ruth shot her another apologetic look. “I’ve just always considered you part of this family for so long,” she continued, nodding towards Emma as well. “And I wanted it all to be perfect for both you and David, but you’ve already made sure that it will be. I only want the two of you to be happy. Where’s this restaurant? Near your apartment?” “A couple of blocks away,” Mary Margaret said. “We’re actually going there later tonight to watch the game. It’s kind of the team haunt.” “Emma’s team?” Emma felt her stomach flip at that particular turn of phrase, pressing her lips together tightly. It wasn’t like she’d thought about how the captain of that team had called her the day before or how she was absolutely going to wear his numbers to the restaurant again later that night.

She didn’t think about that at all.

“Plus a castle’s pretty cool,” she added, smiling at Mary Margaret as Ruth wrapped her arm tightly around her shoulders.

“Absolutely cool.” “Did you want to try on any more dresses today?” All three of them snapped their heads up at the attendant’s question, eyes going wide almost immediately when they spotted the dress hanging in front of them.

“Yeah,” Mary Margaret answered breathlessly, eyes zeroing in on a dress that didn’t have any lace, but might actually have feathers.

It didn’t have a train.

“That one,” Emma and Ruth said at the same time.

It took a few minutes in the dress – which did, actually, end up having feathers – for Ruth to declare it was the one and if it had been a TV show Emma probably would have been featured as that one friend who hated weddings, but teared up when she saw the bride in her dress and her veil.

She absolutely teared up.

And Mary Margaret bought the dress.

“You’re really not going to tell me anything about it?” David asked later that night, perched on one of the stools in the corner of the restaurant.

Mary Margaret shook her head. “You can’t just try and break the rules like that,” Emma said, knocking her knuckles across his shoulder. “Bad luck.” “Yeah I’m not into that tradition.” “That’s because you’re impatient.” He shrugged. “Yeah, well that’s true.” “At least you’re honest about it,” Emma laughed, bracing herself when she saw a streaking Roland Locksley moving across the restaurant towards her. Her left knee buckled anyway, breath knocked out of her just a bit when his head collided with her side. She bent down, brushing Roland’s hair out of his eyes. “Hey Rol,” she said. “How was your Thanksgiving?” “We haven’t had it yet.” “No?” “We always wait for Robin,” Regina explained, hand falling on Roland’s shoulder. “We’ll do the whole thing on the off day tomorrow.” “Who’s that?” Roland asked, nodding towards Ruth. “Is she your mom, Emma?” Mary Margaret froze and Emma gripped her drink a bit tighter than she probably should have, threatening to crack the glass in her hand. Regina glanced questioningly at her and, of course, she did – it was an unnatural reaction to a simple question.

But it was Thanksgiving weekend and they’d spent all day trying on wedding dresses and Emma was somewhere in the realm of maybe, maybe, feeling as if she’d settled out of that never-ending transitional period her life seemed to always be in. She should have gone to Philadelphia.

She should tell Killian the truth.

“Hey,” David laughed, stepping in to diffuse the situation as he ruffled the top of Roland’s hair. “Don’t go giving my mom away, Rol.”

Emma exhaled and the tension fell out of her shoulder blades as quickly as it had come, eyes darting towards Mary Margaret who reached forward to grab her hand. David bent down, grabbing Roland around the waist and dropping him on the edge of the bar, grinning as the six-year-old started laughing, the sound louder than just about anything else in that very loud restaurant.

“And just who are you, young man?” Ruth asked, holding her hand out to a still-giggling Roland when a plate of onion rings just happened to appear next to him.

“Roland Locksley,” he said matter-of-factly. The game started before he could say anything else and, suddenly, Roland Locksley didn’t care about anything except the team on the screen behind him, spinning on the top of the counter with Regina’s hand hovering protectively behind his back.

“His dad’s on the first line,” Emma explained to Ruth, one eye on the screen as the anthem began. She fidgeted with the bottom of her t-shirt, tugging on a loose string and this weird, constant nervousness she felt during games was frustrating.

It’d be fine.

The win streak would be fine.

She absolutely did not care about the win streak.

Ruth nodded like she understood what Emma was talking about, gaze moving over her shoulder and then back to the t-shirt. “Oh,” she said, smile tugging on her mouth. “With your guy, then?” “What?”

Mary Margaret was frozen again.

“Well you’re wearing the same jersey as that other guy on the ice. You know him?” “I mean, I know all of them,” Emma said lamely, not quite as combative as she’d hoped it would be.

“Emma always wears Hook’s number,” Roland said, not even bothering to turn away from the screen as Robin won the opening faceoff.

“That so?” Ruth asked.

Emma rolled her eyes, head falling onto her shoulder and it was almost astounding how bad they really were at under the radar. She should probably stop wearing his number. This was, absolutely, her fault.

“Don’t,” she said, but Ruth didn’t lower her eyebrows and the smile didn’t fall off her face.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, sweetheart.” “Yuh huh. You’ve got that look.” “What look?” “That one where you think you know what’s best.”

“I know absolutely nothing, Emma. You haven’t actually said anything.”

And Mary Margaret probably was some sort of actual superhero, because she swooped into the conversation exactly when Emma needed her the most – bordering dangerously close to just shouting Killian Jones, captain of the New York Rangers, and I are totally dating and we’ve been dating for months – in the middle of the restaurant.

Ruth was occupied with wedding conversation for the rest of the period – huddled together with David and Mary Margaret and Eric and a catering menu Emma hadn’t actually seen yet. She grabbed the stool next to Roland, tugging on the side of his jersey.

“How’s it going?” she asked, nodding towards the screen and the zeroes on the TV scoreboard.

“Ok,” Roland muttered. He sounded like an analyst. “Arthur got really mad at the third line when they nearly gave up a really easy shot, but Jeff saved it. And Uncle Will’s been checking that one guy a bunch of times. They almost dropped gloves.” “Something we’ll have to have a talk with Uncle Will about,” Regina muttered from Roland’s other side. “He’s been doing that far too much tonight.” Emma nodded slowly and she should have known immediately – as soon as she heard about the fighting and dropping gloves.

It had all been going far too well.

Philadelphia was moving into the zone, skating toward Jeff and Will moved to cut them off. It didn’t work. He didn’t get the right angle and the Flyers winger skated right around him, fast enough that Will lost his edge.

And Emma was certain she could actually hear the crack when he slammed into the boards – skates first.

There was a collective gasp across the restaurant and Roland practically jumped up, barely able to keep his balance when he started screaming at the TV. Regina didn’t even try to get him to sit back down.

Will didn’t get up.

The play kept going and the Rangers were on the other side of the ice and the camera panned back to him – crumpled in a heap against the boards.

Jefferson was the first one to realize – and Emma refused to consider the idea that it was only because he heard Will screaming – dropping his stick and skating behind the net as Robin and Killian raced back down the ice.

Will still hadn’t moved.

Victor was out on the ice, crouched down over Will’s back and they hadn’t even tried to shift him around at all, leg bent out at an angle that was anything but medically appropriate. Emma couldn’t really breathe and Roland was still yelling.

Her hand had fallen on his back almost unconsciously, holding onto his jersey tightly as the restaurant remained frozen, eyes wide and mouths open and, God, Belle was in Philadelphia.

“You want to take a walk, Rol?” she asked, glancing towards Regina. She nodded – get him away from the TV and the restaurant and the shell-shocked New York Rangers front office before they inevitably carted Will off the ice.

He still hadn’t moved.

“Come on,” Emma continued, wrapping an arm around Roland’s waist and momentarily marveling at how easily Killian regularly just threw him over his shoulder. Roland didn’t argue, cheeks just a bit tear-stained now as he kicked his feet out over the front of the counter.

They stayed outside for the rest of the first period and the entire intermission and Emma was decidedly out of her element.

She wasn’t not a kids person, but she’d never particularly been a kids person either and that was mostly a product of inexperience and years spent in apartments that were always silent when she got home from games.

It was never quiet in New York.

Roland, however, didn’t seem to notice her nerves, sniffling just a bit as he leaned against her. They hit their stride after the second question – what position he was going to play when he, finally, made it to the NHL.

It was easy after that.

They talked hockey and the team and Stanley Cup hopes and even delved a bit into first-grade academics, Roland’s voice picking up just a bit when he started talking about the book they were reading that week.

Emma’s heart might have sputtered just a bit at that.

“Em,” David said, leaning out of the front door of the restaurant. “Second period’s about to start. If you guys want to come back in.” She nodded once, Roland’s head not moving away from her side. “Yeah, we’ll be there in a second.” The win streak got snapped that night – no one seemingly able to find their footing once Will was off the ice and the announcers only brought it up again once, something about a lower-body injury as if that wasn’t almost painfully obvious.

Ariel spent the majority of the night on the phone with Belle, providing updates to the entire restaurant. They’d taken Will to the hospital.

Emma was quiet on the walk back to the loft – Ruth sent back to her hotel in a cab with a slightly sympathetic look on her face – and she couldn’t really do anything work-related until she got confirmation on the injury and how long he’d be out and it was a waiting game she didn’t particularly enjoy playing.

David hugged her as soon as they walked into the living room and she exhaled loudly against the front of his team-branded shirt, not even arguing when his hand found its way around the back of her head. She just kept breathing and made sure she didn’t actually leave his shirt too damp when she finally moved her head away.

“It’ll be fine,” David promised.

“Haven’t we done this before?” Emma asked. “I feel like this has happened before.” David shrugged. “This is my job,” he said simply and, for the second time in as many hours, Emma’s heart stuttered in her chest. “Get some rest, Em.” She didn’t fall asleep right away – or at all, really – twisting and turning and glancing at her phone every five seconds for the response to the text message she’d sent as soon as Mary Margaret and David were out of earshot.

It’s going to be ok.

She hadn’t really considered what she was writing, just knew she had to send something, couldn’t just let him sit on the team bus back from Philadelphia without some sort of message or support and if talking to Roland was decidedly out of her element, this was practically some other emotion-based universe.

And he didn’t message back.

It must have been somewhere in the realm of two in the morning when the knock came, nearly scaring Emma out of her skin as she sat up, eyes roving across the pitch black living room like whoever was knocking on the door would suddenly appear in front of her.

The floor creaked when David appeared behind her and Emma actually laughed when she saw him holding a bat in his hands.

“You’re a giant cliché,” she said.

He just made a face in response, Mary Margaret a few steps behind him with a bathrobe tugged tightly in front of her. The knock came again, but it wasn’t quite as strong that time. A possible murderer wouldn’t have knocked like that.

“Where did he even get a bat?” Emma asked, glancing back at Mary Margaret who just waved her hand through the air.

“The precinct has a pickup softball league in the spring. He thinks he’s the greatest player on the team.” Emma scoffed again and David hissed for both of them to shut up, God as he moved towards the door slowly, hand hovering over the knob. “David, jeez,” Emma whined. “Just open the goddamn door.” “Don’t move,” he said, falling into police voice as he swung open the door and all three of them gasped in unison when they saw who was on the other side of the threshold.

He was still wearing his league-mandated suit, but the tie was a bit loose, like he’d been tugging on it the entire bus ride from Philadelphia or the cab ride he probably had to take from the Garden to get uptown.

“Hey,” Emma said, moving off the couch before her mind had really caught up with the sight in front of her. It took five steps to cross the entire living room, hand falling on the front of Killian’s shirt. David’s eyes looked like they were going to fall out of his head.

Maybe they had been ok at under the radar.

Or maybe Mary Margaret was just exceptionally talented at running under the radar relationship interference.

Killian wrapped his fingers around Emma’s hand and his shoulders visibly moved when he took a deep breath. He looked exhausted.

And she realized, rather suddenly, she might not be the only one who always hated Thanksgiving.

“David,” Mary Margaret said softly, tugging the bat out of his hand and resting it against the side of the door. “Come on.” “But that’s….” “Yeah, yeah it is. Come on.” They were gone half a moment later and neither Emma nor Killian had actually moved, hands wrapped up in each other. He hadn’t said anything yet.

The absence of Mary Margaret and David seemed to wake him up though, fingers tightening just a bit as he sighed. “I’m sorry, Swan,” Killian said.

“What? Why?” “This is the exact opposite of under the radar. I just...it was bad. They think it’s broken in a couple different places and Belle was...it was bad.” She gripped the front of his shirt, fabric pressed in between her fingers, and took a step forward, pushing him out into the hallway. They were going to do this.

Emma Swan was going to talk.

“How did you get up here?” she asked, resting her back against the wall just to the right of the door.

“Ariel. I got your text and I kind of...wanted to be here. I shouldn’t have…” “No,” Emma interrupted, shaking her as she turned on him. He couldn’t seem to meet her eyes, staring at his shoes and she hadn’t even put socks on. God, she was an idiot. “Don’t...don’t do that. I’m glad you’re here.” “Yeah?” Killian asked and there it was again – the question within the question. Emma nodded, tongue brushing over her bottom lip before she sank her teeth into the edge.

“Like a lot.” He smiled at that, nerves not quite as obvious when he finally glanced up at her and Emma tried to find some sort of courage she wasn’t entirely convinced she actually had when he kissed the top of her forehead. “I, um,” she muttered, “I want to tell you something. Or explain something. Or I don’t know.” “What’s the matter, Swan?”

“I hate Thanksgiving.” She was off to a banner start. Eventually they were going to have one of these conversations and Emma wouldn’t just blurt out half sentences and half explanations. Killian blinked, head pulled back just a bit as he waited for her to continue.

“I hate Thanksgiving,” Emma repeated. “Because I never really had a Thanksgiving when I grew up. I, um, didn’t really have anything.” “I don’t understand.” “You were very lucky,” she said and she tried not to let the accusation into her voice. It wasn’t his fault. It wasn’t anyone’s fault.

“I know that. What does that have to do with Thanksgiving?” “You asked me before about living in so many places?” Killian nodded slowly, hand finding its way back to Emma’s. “That’s because I wouldn’t have been able to get parental permission to go on the ice either. What I mean is...I got shipped around a lot. Foster system and then for awhile I was a ward of the state and I never...I never liked Thanksgiving. I was in six different group houses and eight different states by the time I turned eighteen. This time of year...it was always kind of a reminder of what I didn’t have and wouldn’t have and that’s why.” Killian didn’t say anything for an eternity and Emma blinked quickly, trying to will the telltale signs of emotions from actually falling down her cheeks. It didn’t work. His thumb brushed under her eye, wiping away tears and his hand lingered, fingers pushed into her hair and wrapped around her neck and she’d never been more glad someone had shown up at her best friend’s apartment door in the middle of the night.

“Why what, love?” he asked.

“I’m jealous.” “Of?” Emma pressed her lips together tightly and tried to come up with the right words. “You know they sent me back?” His eyes widened and she could practically feel the anger rippling off him, the sudden shift in emotion taking her off guard.

“Yeah,” Emma muttered. “I was nine and I was in Pennsylvania. They were going to adopt me. They wanted me. Until they found out they were going to have their own baby and suddenly taking in a nine-year-old that was already just a bit jaded didn’t seem quite as appealing anymore. So they sent me back. Same thing happened in Minnesota. Or, well, kind of. The papers were almost processed and it was really more a formality, I was almost eighteen, but it was the idea, you know?

She left. The papers were supposed to get approved in like a month and this lady, the one who’d promised to give me a home and a family and everything, she was just gone. I’d been living in her house already. So they made me a ward and I stayed with a family in Nissawa and all the kids talked and I packed up and left as soon as graduation was over.

That’s why I’m so jealous and why I get so weird when you...when you talk about Elsa and Anna and Liam. I never had that. Not really. Reese’s and David have been close, but they’re their own unit and they’ve got parents and I’ve just always been...Emma.” Killian stared at her, the intensity of his gaze making Emma shift on her feet and duck her eyes and she shouldn’t have talked that long.

But he’d shown up in front of the apartment door and he wanted to see her and, well, fuck under the radar.

“And why, love,” Killian said, finding some space that absolutely hadn’t existed a few moments before, pushing her farther against the wall. “Would you think that being anything except Emma wasn’t enough?” Her mouth went dry and her stomach did something impossible and she barely had enough time to take a breath before his lips were on hers, hands lingering on her hips. He moved like he’d been awake for the last twenty-four hours – slow and lazy and meaningful in a way that nothing had ever been meaningful before.

They’d completely fallen for the set-up from the get-go, jumping into kissing and making out across the Garden and then more than kissing and making out in places that weren't the Garden, so quickly Emma couldn’t quite think about it without feeling like she’d completely lost her center of gravity.

It didn’t make sense.

Not in some sort of real-world scenario where there was a Stanley Cup to win and free agency looming around the corner and they were down a defenseman.

It shouldn’t have felt like everything.

It did.

“You’ve got a family,” Emma said softly, tears falling a bit more freely than they had before. “And I don’t even know what that is.” Killian smiled at her, thumb back on her cheek and his eyes were just unfairly blue. “Now you can,” he said softly.

She nodded, not quite able to actually come up with the words, just gripped the front of his shirt and the lapels of his league-mandated jacket. He’d shown up for her – because the win streak got snapped and Will got hurt and he wanted her.

And Emma couldn’t remember the last time that happened.

Or when she’d ever wanted something back quite as much.

“You really asked Ariel for Reese’s address?” Emma asked.

“Several times until she finally answered, sounding very pleased with herself that she had known this entire time or something. I was only half listening. Strictly speaking I probably should have asked you, but I wasn’t really thinking and I don’t think I’ll be able to get that sound out of my head for weeks.” She didn’t have to ask what sound – the crack she’d been certain she heard from Philadelphia had been reverberating in her own head for hours.

“So what happens now?” “They’ll probably call up a defenseman from the ‘Pack. I mean we play again on Sunday, so Arthur doesn’t have a lot of time to make this work.” “It’s going to be alright.” “Is that positivity, I hear, Swan?”

She shrugged, but her stomach fluttered and it had been a very weird weekend. “Do you, uh, do you want to come in?” Emma asked, silently cursing herself for stuttering over the words.

“It’s late, Swan.” “Exactly. And you’re like twenty blocks away and you’ll never get a cab and…” He didn’t let her finish, ducking his head to kiss her again. “Ok,” Killian said, fingers trailing across the side of her t-shirt. She was still wearing team-branded merchandise. She was still wearing his number.

She wasn’t sure when she fell asleep, only dimly aware of an arm around her shoulders and a body underneath her cheek when she woke up. He couldn’t have been comfortable, shoes kicked off so he could stretch his legs across the coffee table and his head slightly tilted back over the edge of the couch, but he hadn’t complained once.

He just sank into the corner of the cushions and tugged her flush against his side, lips brushing over her forehead when he agreed it would be alright.

David, to his credit, didn’t bring the bat back out when he walked into the living room the next morning to find Emma asleep next to the captain of the New York Rangers. He just made pancakes and Mary Margaret made coffee and forced a slice of pie into Killian’s hands, promises that it almost counted a breakfast.

And it wasn’t quite what she’d pictured in those foster houses and group homes when the promise of a family felt like something Emma could never quite get – it was better.

[tonyduncanbb73]

New York’s Magnolia Bakery Is Finally Opening in Quincy Market This Week

Now Boston Carries can eat fancy cupcakes (and banana pudding), too

New York City’s Magnolia Bakery — which Sex and the City helped popularize in 2000 — has been working on its Boston location for quite a while, previously targeting a December 2017 opening at Quincy Market after initially announcing a desire to expand to Boston way back in 2012. Restaurant openings rarely run according to schedule, so a little extra time has passed, but Magnolia is finally set to open this Thursday, March 29, at 10 a.m., right in Faneuil Hall Marketplace’s main food colonnade in Quincy Market.

Magnolia owner Steve Abrams told Eater last September that he was excited to expand to Boston, especially to Quincy Market.

“Faneuil Hall is one of the most iconic places in the United States,” he said. “When you get the opportunity to open a shop there, you can’t ignore it.”

Along with offering everything from its flagship shop on Bleecker Street in Manhattan — including cupcakes, banana pudding, and more — Magnolia’s Quincy Market location will serve some special local items, including a Boston cream pie banana pudding that will feature layers of vanilla pudding, vanilla wafers, bananas, and chocolate fudge. The company’s “chief baking officer,” Bobbie Lloyd, is behind the new dessert, and it’s not a stretch for her to make a Boston-inspired treat: Back in the day, she studied at Madeleine Kamman’s acclaimed Modern Gourmet cooking school in Newton, later becoming co-owner of American Accent, a now-defunct restaurant and bakery in Brookline.

As a way of ingratiating itself to the community during its first week of business, Magnolia will be giving away 50 Boston cream pie banana puddings with the purchase of another item.

Aside from the well-known banana pudding and Carrie Bradshaw’s favorite accessories — Magnolia’s cupcakes — the bakery also serves muffins, scones, icebox pies, mini cheesecakes, cookies, and other treats. This location is part of Magnolia corporate, not a franchise. It joins the original location on Bleecker Street and several others in New York, along with locations in Chicago, Los Angeles, the Middle East, Korea, Japan, and Mexico. Magnolia is also planning another location in Washington, D.C.’s Union Square and actively seeking to franchise more international locations.

Magnolia Bakery’s Quincy Market location will be open daily: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday.

• Magnolia Bakery Will Debut at Faneuil Hall in December [EBOS] • NYC’s Magnolia Bakery Wants to Open in Boston [EBOS]

[harryfisheraa82]

Trend Spotting: Soft Serve

Considering its inherent associations with smoke-belching Mr. Softee trucks, and corporate franchises such as Carvel and Dairy Queen (not to mention that it’s typically a pre-mixed, highly-processed, low quality product, composed of up to 60% air), soft serve has long been low on the totem pole on the ice cream world — it’s somewhat nostalgic and satisfies a sugar craving, but generally nothing to get roused about.

So it’s certainly no surprise that its hard-packed, milk fat-saturated sibling was first to attain artisanal glory, becoming the Madagascar vanilla and Michel Cluizel chocolate-flavored focus of contentious indie shops around New York.  Yet since there’s nary a subject left unexplored, in the city’s current quest for constant culinary innovation, soft serve has nonetheless been thrust smack into the spotlight.

It started with a few early innovators such as Big Gay Ice Cream (home of the infamous Salty Pimp) and the avant-garde Dominique Ansel, who expanded his repertoire from epicurean cones (burrata, olive oil, cold-brew), to whimsical constructs such as “What-A-Melon,” whose interior ribbons of piped soft sorbet actually help keep its outer watermelon shell crisp.  But within the past year, machine-dispensed swirls have inspired a slew of dedicated businesses, from Milk & Cream (which merges soft serve with another burgeoning trendlet, cereal, to produce signature sundaes like Froot Berry Bliss, Apple Jack Avalanche and Chocolate Cocoa Crunch), to Asian-inspired, Instagrammer favorites like Soft Swerve — whose vibrantly-hued sweets are stained with black sesame, green tea and ube purple yam — and Taiyaki, where the feather-light ice cream gapes from the mouths of fish-shaped pancake cones.

Soft serve is at peak popularity in Brooklyn, where it’s the thrust of Andrew Carmellini’s William Vale-located food truck, Mister Dips (try the “Berry Gibbs,” with boozy strawberries and whipped cream), and a new favorite at both Roberta’s and Lilia’s casual, adjacent café’s (look for coconut-culantro custard at the former, and soft gelato at the latter).  But the fact that it’s taken over the borough’s top-tier restaurants as well is a whole lot more telling; the James Beard-acknowledged Olmsted funnels its garden-to-table ethos into vanilla-violet and strawberry-rhubarb cones (culled from a machine that lives in its very own shed, next to the eatery’s tub of crawfish), while at no-waste trailblazer, Sunday in Brooklyn, soft serve is refined enough to make the in-house dessert menu; think dairy-free dark chocolate, crowned with sugar crisps and toasted marshmallow, and black raspberry paired with citrus meringue and mint.

Forget about hard ice cream, it seems that Mr. Softee has some stiff city competition.

Big Gay Ice Cream 125 E 7th St (212) 533-9333 biggayicecream.com

Dominique Ansel 189 Spring St, New York, NY 10012 (212) 219-2773 dominiqueansel.com

Milk and Cream 159 Mott St (201) 509-2667 milkandcreambar.com

Soft Swerve 85B Allen St (646) 476-6311 softswervenyc.com

Taiyaki 119 Baxter St (212) 966-2882 taiyakinyc.com

Mister Dips 111 N 12th St mrdips.com

Roberta’s Moore St (718) 417-1118 robertaspizza.com

Lilia’s 567 Union Ave (718) 576-3095 lilianewyork.com

Olmsted 659 Vanderbilt Ave (718) 552-2610 olmstednyc.com

Sunday in Brooklyn 348 Wythe Ave (347) 222-6722 sundayinbrooklyn.com

The post Trend Spotting: Soft Serve appeared first on Restaurant Girl: Best Food Blog & Restaurant Guide.

[rentahomeinmalaysia]

5 fun facts you should know about Bubble Tea

If you haven't heard of the latest fashion drink, get ready because we have 5 fun facts you should know about Bubble Tea, also known as Boba Tea. If you haven't tried or heard it, you will definitely want to go to the nearest Bubble Tea cafe after reading these fun facts about these drinks.

This tea is not the healthiest drink for you as it contains a lot of sugar and fructose-based syrups. The good news is that some cafes / shops serve healthier versions as they use organic milk, homemade syrups and the like ...

Either way, it's a delicious, fun, and super refreshing drink that is truly authentic!

Below you will find 5 fun facts about Bubble Tea that we promised you and you should also popular bubble tea shops ...

1. Origin of bubble tea. This originates from Taiwan. However, a popular story about what this is like: A woman named Ms. Lin Hsiu, who worked at a tea stall in the 1980s, felt a little bored during one of her breaks and in search of entertainment left her dessert Taiwanese called "Fen Yaun" and his sweet tapioca pudding directly into his Assam iced tea and drank it. It was delicious!

In fact, it was so rich that it was added to the menu. Later, it became the best-selling drink in the franchise. After other cafes / houses saw the success of this spontaneously created drink, they began adding tapioca pearls and a variety of fruit flavors to their iced teas. As we know it, this is how it came to be ...

2. Bubble Tea is a trend: as you may or may not know, the popularity of this tea is exaggerated! Today, you can find Bubble Tea shops on every street in Taiwan. The popularity has increased so much that it has spread through the streets of China and South Korea. In addition, in the United States it is also exploiting, since it is a big problem in cities like San Francisco, California and in different cities in New York. However, for most Westerners, it has not yet been discovered, but it is growing in popularity, however ...

There are approximately 800 Bubble Tea stores in the United States, primarily in California and New York, and other stores have been seen in more than 30 countries.

3. Bubble tea at McDonald's? In 2012 McDonald's was the first global fast food chain to find out about this new drink / trend and actually try it ... McDonald's served Bubble Tea for a month at its German locations. Customers were offered three different options: with or without milk, seven syrup flavors, four available options, and two gelatin options. In the end, there were a total of 252 combinations that customers could choose from.

4. Adults who drink bubble tea: Yes, adults actually drink this tea. We can see how the name can be misleading and people can easily assume that it was made for children or young adults.

The fact is, this tea first became a sensation with schoolchildren in Taiwan. But, it's certainly not just for kids. It is like any other typical iced tea. However, when you drink this tea, you will have much more fun! In New York, in 2008, a bar was going up. Now ... Is that creative or what? Unfortunately, this bar in New York is now closed.

5. The many names of bubble tea - it's just one of the many popular names for this fun drink. But, it has quite a few names that it goes through in popular culture. Some of these names include: Tapioca, Momi Milk, Q, Boba Nai Chai, Milk Tea, Boba Tea, Pearl Tea, and frankly, a bunch of other names ... Call it what you like. As you can see there are many names to choose from.

Again, if you haven't tried this tea, maybe it's time for you to ... Bubble Tea is a delicious drink, that's a lot of fun to drink too! Best of all, you can fully customize this tea. From the tea you choose to the flavor. In addition, you can add the amount of sugar you want, and finally, you can order your tea with tapioca pearls or gelatin.

[jobsearchtips02]

How 2 buddies turned an Airbnb Experience into a 6-figure business

This story is readily available exclusively on Company Insider Prime. Sign Up With BI Prime and begin reading now.

Buddies and organisation partners Manville Chan and Jeff Parsons began hosting ramen-making classes in San Francisco to generate income while Chan searched for a new job in tech.

After beginning to share their courses on Airbnb Experience, Chan and Parsons have scaled their service and now get the majority of their reservations through their own website.

They run 2 to four classes every day, including most weekends, in a space they bought from a former bbq restaurant.

Chan approximated that his full-time organisation generates $60,000 to $100,000 in earnings monthly.

Click On This Link for more BI Prime stories.

Manville Chan and Jeff Parsons began hosting Italian suppers on culinary experience platform EatWith while living in Texas in2014 At the time they pursued this side gig, Chan worked as an item manager at a little tech company and Parsons worked in interactions.

” With EatWith, I had three-course/five-course inventive Italian suppers. Both consisted of pasta as one of the courses,” Chan said. “I’ve always enjoyed to cook and have actually constantly been enthusiastic about Italian food, particularly pasta.”

After Chan was laid off as part of a series of job cuts, he moved to San Francisco in December 2017 in search of a brand-new task. “I thought, San Francisco is where the tech jobs are, so I’ll look there,” Chan said. Around the same time, Parsons’ business moved him to San Francisco to manage West Coast operations of the company.

Chan didn’t have numerous connections in the area, so he and Parsons decided to continue to host a cooking class so that Chan could “manage” while out of a job.

Manville Chan reveals his class how to prepare ramen noodles.

The Story of Ramen.

Nevertheless, instead of pasta, they decided to host a ramen-making tutorial.

” Switching to ramen was a concept that I initially developed in January2017 At the time, I understood that ‘just serving supper’ does not supply value contributed to consumers to require a higher rate for a small-scale operation. I came up with some cooking ideas. Ramen was among them, and it took off,” Chan stated.

He and Parsons established the ramen cooking class as an Airbnb Experience in Chan’s San Francisco apartment. The experience became so popular that, in July 2018, Chan decided to desert his search for a full-time tech job in San Francisco and take on the job full-time. He expanded the business beyond Airbnb and named it The Story of Ramen People can book the class through business’s site or through Airbnb.

” When we started, neither Jeff nor I were professionally trained in ramen making,” Chan said. “No one complained, but since then, we did go to a ramen school to end up being skilled.”

Airbnb Experiences are activities collaborated and led by “regional hosts” around the world. They consist of everything from cooking classes, like Chan and Parsons’ experience, to image shoots throughout New York City They can be a good avenue for small company owners like Chan due to the fact that Airbnb provides marketing for the classes offered through its site. Experiences can likewise provide full-time workers an opportunity to start and grow a side gig.

Initially, Chan got 64%of his reservations through Airbnb. Now that his class is more well known in San Francisco, he receives most of them through his company’s site. His class stays on Airbnb, and he receives numerous reservations from people checking out the area through the platform, he stated. Chan acts as the chief experience officer of The Story of Ramen, and Parsons as the chief marketing officer.

” We applied to do the Airbnb Experience not long after the experience platform introduced, so the application was rather easy,” Chan informed Company Expert. The application requested for a description of the experience he wanted to host, he recalled, and for his credentials.

In his application, he described the pasta dinners he ‘d hosted in Texas through EatWith and connected to reviews of the class. Within about 4 weeks of applying, he and Parsons received a short interview with Airbnb.

” The interview was about 20 minutes and casual,” Parsons stated. “They wanted to hear more about our knowledge and what we provided that was distinct.”

Airbnb authorized the experience approximately three to 5 weeks after the interview. Chan kept in mind that, at the time, the “Airbnb Experience team was really little and they were brief staffed in processing applications.” Since then, he said, the group has grown.

Parsons and Chan started hosting the ramen classes in Chan’s apartment, which could only fit 10 to 12 people. Wishing to move the experience outside of Chan’s personal space, they ultimately started leasing another apartment in San Francisco to host the class. However when landlords learned about the experience, they had to set up shop in other places– again and once again and once again.

A year and a half ago, Chan and Parsons moved into their existing place, a former barbeque restaurant.

Chan and Parsons run anywhere from 2 to 4 ramen-making experiences nearly every day of the week.

” When visitors come in, we right away serve them potstickers as appetizers,” Chan stated.

One individual prepares the noodles for her ramen dish.

The Story of Ramen.

Chan highlighted that individuals frequently sign up for these types of experiences with friends or as a group, so to guarantee pals have time to bond, they end with a mochi dessert.

” We think the business that we do is the future of dining in creating an experience around food,” Parsons shared.” We don’t take a look at ourselves as a cooking class or a traditional dining establishment. We are right in the middle, where we want you to have an experience around the food you are eating, and in our case, we’re going to teach you how to make the ramen.”

Chan and Parsons currently run ads for their site on Yelp. Besides those ads, they depend on word of mouth, Airbnb, and seo to keep their experience reserved.

” We put all of the info on the assistance page,” Chan said. “We have our gluten-free policy, our policy on bringing family pets, our policy on children, and so on. The more info you have, the more people you pick up with Google, so that’s how we increase our reach.”

Chan stated when they first started, their clients were mostly city visitors or locals trying to find a brand-new experience. Now, 70%of their organisation is from business teams in San Francisco, like Uber and Lyft, who are looking for some team bonding.

” A lot of companies inform me they do not have to just pick a dining establishment or a bar for the group bonding due to the fact that everyone will just eat and drink,” Chan stated. “They desire something more interesting. Making noodles and working as a group is interactive and appealing.”

Chan estimates that the organisation brings in $60,000 to $100,000 in earnings per month, depending on how lots of classes he runs in an offered month.

Month-to-month expenses– which include the mortgage, updating equipment, and purchasing food– fall in between $40,000 and $50,000, according to Chan; for a private class, he estimated the cost of food per individual to be $7.

For those looking to open their own experiences on Airbnb, Chan recommended scaling the company early.

” This could be done by working with temperature personnel and renting pop-up areas,” he said.

As The Story of Ramen grows more, Chan and Parsons are hoping to step away from teaching and focus on structure franchises outside of San Francisco. “But it’s not easy to discover somebody on the street who can teach ramen, so we are still teaching now,” Chan said.

Axel Springer, Insider Inc.’s moms and dad business, is an investor in Airbnb.

More:

BI Prime Ramen Airbnb hosts BI-freelancer

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from Job Search Tips https://jobsearchtips.net/how-2-buddies-turned-an-airbnb-experience-into-a-6-figure-business/

[smilystore]

So You Want To Boycott A Trump Donor

Many cosmopolitan conveniences are connected to Trump donors. What are you going to do?

Patrons of luxury gym Equinox and the self-help spin studio SoulCycle are canceling memberships and skipping classes nationwide after news that the owner of both outfits, Related Companies CEO Stephen Ross, planned to hold an elite fundraiser for President Donald Trump in the Hamptons.

Neither Ross nor his Related Companies are exactly household names. But the real estate and equity investment firm holds stakes in the hottest lifestyle brands for urban and suburban professionals. Ross owns major stakes not only in SoulCycle and Equinox Fitness but also celebrity chef David Chang’s Momofuku, dessert entrepreneur Christina Tosi’s Milk Bar, fast-casual chain &pizza and the online restaurant reservation app Resy. He also owns the Miami Dolphins NFL franchise.

Boycott calls like these can only be expected to increase in an age where the president, backed to the hilt by one of the two major political parties in the country, is a naked racist. That is particularly true when economic activity and investment is increasingly concentrated in urban and suburban areas where residents find the president’s racism odious.

It’s particularly true for brands that seek to gain loyalty by creating emotional bonds with their customers. You’re supposed to break up with someone who hurts you, and Trump opponents surely don’t want to identify with brands that fund his racism.

But what happens when every brand is connected through our financialized economy to a Trump donor?

Say you decide to do something with your friends in the city this weekend. You hit them up on WhatsApp, take a Lyft to their place, order some food on Postmates and commiserate over the death of David Berman by listening to Purple Mountains on Spotify.

Those companies are all funded by billionaire Trump donor Peter Thiel. He was a key early funder for Facebook, which later purchased WhatsApp and Instagram, and also the other above-named companies. He donated $250,000 to the president’s reelection campaign in 2018.

Lyft doesn’t just run an app-based taxi service, but it also owns almost every bike-share company in the country and a dockless scooter company. Spotify also owns a big part of the podcast industry after purchasing Gimlet Media and Anchor in February.

If you’re trying to book a room on Airbnb, guess what? That’s funded by Thiel, too. He’s also an investor in Compass Real Estate. And the sports news site The Athletic.

There are a number of sports teams you’ll have to boycott, too. The owners of the Chicago Cubs, New York Knicks, New York Rangers, New York Jets, San Francisco Giants and the football team in Washington, D.C., have all contributed at least six figures to Trump’s reelection. (Or you could look at this as a good excuse to avoid watching these bum franchises, save for the Cubs and Giants, that is.)

You won’t be going to the movies much anymore either, since every movie coming out today is a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and Ike Perlmutter, the chairman of Marvel Entertainment, is a major Trump donor. Perlmutter was removed from any oversight role for Marvel films in 2015, but that didn’t stop actor Armie Hammer from pointing out he’s still the chairman:

By Paul Blumenthal

The post So You Want To Boycott A Trump Donor appeared first on Smile store.

source https://smilystore.com/2019/08/10/so-you-want-to-boycott-a-trump-donor/

[anachef]

I Heart Mac & Cheese Completes Sale of Corporate Store in Patchogue, New York, Converting to Franchise Location

Private Group Acquires Patchogue Location on Heels of Successful First Quarter in Operation; Deal Includes Plans to Expand Popular Franchise Across All Five New York City Boroughs, Starting with Lower Manhattan/NYU Location Opening Later This Year

Boca Raton, FL  (RestaurantNews.com)  I Heart Mac & Cheese, a rapidly expanding fast-casual concept specializing in customizable, made-to-order macaroni and cheese bowls, grilled cheese sandwiches and specialty salads, today announced it has the sale of its corporate store in Patchogue, New York, as part of a multi-year New York City development deal.  A private entity will operate the Patchogue store as a franchise effective immediately and begin executing a plan to expand the I Heart Mac & Cheese brand into all five boroughs of New York City.

“Our first corporate owned restaurant in Patchogue opened in January of this year and has been performing incredibly well, creating a lot of buzz locally and generating a lot of attention from potential partners,” said Stephen Giordanella, I Heart Mac & Cheese, CEO and chairman.  “By aligning with this group in Patchogue and opening I Heart Mac & Cheese locations across the five boroughs, we are able to further our mission of bringing our one-of-a-kind concept to as many people as possible.”

I Heart Mac & Cheese is well-known for custom, build-your-own macaroni and cheese bowls, grilled cheese sandwiches and salads. Guests select a pasta, bread, or salad base along with seven different proteins, vegetables, and cheeses. Gluten-free options are also available.  In addition to customized options, the menu contains specialty chef items including Baked Chicken Parmesan, Baked Meatball Parmesan, The Cuban, Pepperoni Pizza, and Lobster & White Truffle Mac, among others. Side dishes include Cheesy Broccoli, Balsamic Tomatoes and Tomato Soup; desserts include Mini Chocolate Chip Cookies, Brownies, Marshmallow Treats and Caramel Cookies.

A unique franchise concept in the restaurant industry with no fryers, grease trap systems or hood systems, I Heart Mac & Cheese requires a low investment and can be opened in a small space, such as a mall kiosk or food court. Shopping malls, sports venues, areas close to colleges and universities, and high-traffic pedestrian areas are also ideal locations.  With a home office in South Florida, I Heart Mac & Cheese offers franchise owner training, marketing support and ongoing development opportunities to ensure each location’s success. Just this month, I Heart Mac & Cheese was ranked by Entrepreneur Magazine as one of the top new franchise opportunities in 2019.

The first new I Heart Mac & Cheese location to open as part of this New York City development deal will come later this year in Lower Manhattan, near New York University.  Several other restaurants have recently been announced as well, with upcoming openings in other areas of New York State, as well as Florida and Georgia.

For more information on I Heart Mac & Cheese visit iheartmacandcheese.com. For more information on franchise opportunities, visit iheartmacandcheese.com/franchise/ or call 561-300-5343.

About I Heart Mac & Cheese

I Heart Mac & Cheese is a fast-casual concept specializing in customizable, made-to-order macaroni and cheese bowls, grilled cheese sandwiches and salads. Also, on the menu are lifestyle choices with quinoa, broccoli and cauliflower bowls. The menu combines award-winning recipes resulting in a grown-up approach to this classic childhood dish. The first location opened in 2016 in Fort Lauderdale. South Florida locations include Pembroke Pines, Jupiter, Coral Springs and Boca Raton. Additional locations are slated to open in New York, Florida and Georgia. In 2017, the company launched its franchising program nationwide and has a franchisee locations in Davie, Florida and Patchogue, New York.

Media Contacts: Hemsworth Communications Rachel Tabacnic / Lacey Outten 954-716-7614 or IHeartMCPR@HemsworthCommunications.com

source http://www.restaurantnews.com/i-heart-mac-cheese-completes-sale-of-corporate-store-in-patchogue-new-york-converting-to-franchise-location-041819/

[tonyduncanbb73]

New York’s Magnolia Bakery Is Finally Opening in Quincy Market This Week

Now Boston Carries can eat fancy cupcakes (and banana pudding), too

New York City’s Magnolia Bakery — which Sex and the City helped popularize in 2000 — has been working on its Boston location for quite a while, previously targeting a December 2017 opening at Quincy Market after initially announcing a desire to expand to Boston way back in 2012. Restaurant openings rarely run according to schedule, so a little extra time has passed, but Magnolia is finally set to open this Thursday, March 29, at 10 a.m., right in Faneuil Hall Marketplace’s main food colonnade in Quincy Market.

Magnolia owner Steve Abrams told Eater last September that he was excited to expand to Boston, especially to Quincy Market.

“Faneuil Hall is one of the most iconic places in the United States,” he said. “When you get the opportunity to open a shop there, you can’t ignore it.”

Along with offering everything from its flagship shop on Bleecker Street in Manhattan — including cupcakes, banana pudding, and more — Magnolia’s Quincy Market location will serve some special local items, including a Boston cream pie banana pudding that will feature layers of vanilla pudding, vanilla wafers, bananas, and chocolate fudge. The company’s “chief baking officer,” Bobbie Lloyd, is behind the new dessert, and it’s not a stretch for her to make a Boston-inspired treat: Back in the day, she studied at Madeleine Kamman’s acclaimed Modern Gourmet cooking school in Newton, later becoming co-owner of American Accent, a now-defunct restaurant and bakery in Brookline.

As a way of ingratiating itself to the community during its first week of business, Magnolia will be giving away 50 Boston cream pie banana puddings with the purchase of another item.

Aside from the well-known banana pudding and Carrie Bradshaw’s favorite accessories — Magnolia’s cupcakes — the bakery also serves muffins, scones, icebox pies, mini cheesecakes, cookies, and other treats. This location is part of Magnolia corporate, not a franchise. It joins the original location on Bleecker Street and several others in New York, along with locations in Chicago, Los Angeles, the Middle East, Korea, Japan, and Mexico. Magnolia is also planning another location in Washington, D.C.’s Union Square and actively seeking to franchise more international locations.

Magnolia Bakery’s Quincy Market location will be open daily: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday.

• Magnolia Bakery Will Debut at Faneuil Hall in December [EBOS] • NYC’s Magnolia Bakery Wants to Open in Boston [EBOS]

[businessguide12-blog]

International Franchise Association Foundation Announces Grand Prize Winners of 2019 NextGen in Franchising Global Competition

New Post has been published on https://businessqia.com/awesome/international-franchise-association-foundation-announces-grand-prize-winners-of-2019-nextgen-in-franchising-global-competition/

International Franchise Association Foundation Announces Grand Prize Winners of 2019 NextGen in Franchising Global Competition

Of hundreds of applicants from around the world, top four millennial entrepreneurs receive investment to grow their businesses

Washington, DC( RestaurantNews.com) The International Franchise Association’s( IFA) Foundation announced today the grand prize winners of its 2019 NextGen in Franchising Global Competition — established by founding sponsor David McKinnon, CFE — which was held at IFA’s 59 th Annual Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada. The four millennial entrepreneurs, who hailed from the United States, Philippines, Australia, and Kenya, were selected from a group of 12 wins of the Global Competition, a worldwide program that engages millennial entrepreneurs seeking to grow their businesses through the franchise business model, and the only start-up business accelerator in the world focused on franchising.

Former Fortune 50 CEO and 2016 Presidential Candidate Carly Fiorina resulted a panel of magistrates for the final round of the Global Competition — which was sponsored by the Frederick A. DeLuca Foundation and Subway International — on Wednesday, Feb. 27, when each participant pitched their business concept to Fiorina and a panel of industry experts, as part of a convention with virtually 4,000 attendees, for the chance to win an investment of $5,000- $10,000 to assistance grow their business. In addition to Carly, judges included Suzanne DeLuca Greco, board member of the Frederick A. DeLuca Foundation, and Shelly Sun, CFE, CEO and Founder of Brightstar Franchising LLC.

“I have counseled numerous entrepreneurs and business leaders throughout my career and can honestly say the 2019 NextGen in Franchising Global Competition wins are an unbelievably talented group with bright futures ahead of them, ” said Carly. “It was an honor to share my experiences and advice on how to persevere as a leader as they move their businesses forward, continue to expand, and inspire the lives of many throughout their journey .”

This year, Jeremy Hassell, founder of City Cave, took home first place, which included a $10,000 cash prize. Princess Diana Rosario, founder of What’s Your FLAN ?, and Brooke Gagliano, founder of Frutta Bowls each received $5,000. The magistrates also awarded a $5,000 award to Venuste Kubwimana, founder of A Water Kiosk at School, a social enterprise franchise.

“We are highly excited to be announced as the 2019 NextGen winners amongst some of the worlds greatest talent. It’s unbelievable to think our franchise from little old Brisbane in Australia has taken the big prize, ” said Hassell. “Our biggest win here is the friends, mentors and networks we have been exposed to and can not wait to implement all we’ve learned into our franchise model. We look forward to returning to the conference next year and couldn’t be more thankful to the IFA Foundation for this incredible opportunity.”

Since the program’s inception in 2015, over 2,500 millennial entrepreneurs from more than 75 countries have applied. Many NextGen winners ought to have featured in top business publications such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Inc ., and Fast Company, among others.

“What I love about the NextGen in Franchising Global Competition is that, per year, our winners genuinely represent the future of our industry. They have embraced franchising and are passionate about empowering others to go into business for themselves, but not by themselves, ” said David McKinnon, CFE, founding sponsor of the NextGen in Franchising program. “These are some of the brightest young entrepreneurs I’ve had the pleasure of meeting and I am aroused to see how they leverage the knowledge gained and connects made over the last few days to grow their businesses.”

The 2019 NextGen in Franchising Winners vying in the final round were :P TAGEND

Brooke Gagliano, Frutta Bowls( United States)- Brooke graduated from Drew University in 2014 majoring in business with a minor in biology and art. After college, Brooke used her passion for athletic education to start her own business develop sports squads and clients, which is where “shes been” first introduced to acai. While on a trip out west, Brooke had her first acai bowl and the relevant recommendations for Frutta Bowls was bear. With the backing of her friends and family, she opened her first store in May 2016 in Howell, New Jersey, at age 23 with cofounder Chris Ives. The Frutta Bowls dreaming started as a local idea with two locations. It has since grown into a nationwide idea, continuing to positively affect many lives along the way. Frutta Bowls defines itself apart by not only its commitment to providing healthy and delicious food, but also by its involvement in the communities surrounding each locating. Princess Diana Rosario, What’s Your Flan?( Philippines)- Princess is the founder of What’s Your Flan ?, a company founded in 2016 that is the product of her passion for cooking. What’s Your Flan? serves original mouthwatering desserts that are all freshly built, natural, and have no food coloring or preservatives. From humble beginnings and 14 failed industries, she was shaped to be a better business owner, influencing the launch of her Philippines-based business designed to help fellow entrepreneurs have the opportunity to become their own boss. After two hardworking years of business, What’s Your Flan? has expanded from a single location to 70 franchisees nationwide, one international franchise in Dubai UAE, and hundreds of registered resellers. Jeremy Hassell, City Cave( Australia)- Recognise the need for a health and wellness center that focused on longevity and total well-being of individuals, Jeremy Hassell launched City Cave in Australia with cofounder Tim Butters. Since the opening of its first location in 2016, City Cave has grown to offer a mix of holistic and clinical services tailored to each guest’s needs and provides the ideal space for relaxing and meditation. From float therapy to infrared saunas and yoga, City Cave aims to deliver the perfect facility that adds years of quality life to those in the community. Today, City Cave has 4 places across Australia, with plans to continue its expansion. Venuste Kubimana, A Water Kiosk At School( Kenya)- Named amongst Africa’s Top 50 Innovators in 2018 and AIDF Global Innovator of the Year, Venuste Kubwimana is a youth activist and social entrepreneur based in Kenya. He is the Founder and Secretary General of the International Transformation Foundation, a parent organization of the franchising initiative A Water Kiosk at School launched by Venuste in 2014. He was inspired by personal experiences growing up in communities where students stroll long distances to gather water for their families before and after going to school. As a result, many children in the area have a high propensity to drop out of school in order to meet their needs. A Water Kiosk at School is a school-based and student-managed business selling clean tap water to community residents at an affordable price. It is both an educational and profitable business teaching students business and entrepreneurial skills and making much-needed income for schools.

The additional 2019 NextGen in Franchising wins include: Abedalrahman AL-Zghoul, Bread for Education( Jordan ); Gamal Albinsaid, Garbage Clinical Insurance( Indonesia ); Jason Dolan, Core9 Fitness( Australia ); Reka Oszlanczi, Creppy Franchise System( Hungary ); Rihab Hasanain, Blooming B’s( Saudi Arabia ); Ruth Agbaji, Code Wiz( United States ); Samuel Munguti, Farmers Pride( Kenya ); and Timea Vas, Don’t Panic English( Hungary ).

NextGen wins received a spot at the NextGen in Franchising Summit, an educational and networking program for new generations entrepreneurs at the IFA Annual Convention, a year membership with the IFA; an opportunity to participate in the final round of the NextGen in Franchising Global Competition for a chance to win a monetary investment to help grow their businesses; and opportunities to network with leading franchisors, franchisees and suppliers and with other young entrepreneurs.

The NextGen in Franchising program is built possible due to the generosity of its donors and sponsors, which include David McKinnon, the founding sponsor; the Frederick A. DeLuca Foundation/ Subway; the Stewart& Jane Bainum Fund; Lawrence ” Doc ” Cohen, Doc& Associate; J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation; Tariq Farid, Edible Arrangings; Charlie Chase, FirstService Brands; Aziz Hashim, NRD Holdings; Joe Bourdow, Valpak; Tony Valle, ELM Perform; Dave Mortensen, Anytime Fitness; and Melanie Bergeron, Two Men& A Truck Intl.

For more information about the NextGen in Franchising Global Competition, please contact Gionne Jones at gjones @franchise. org or +1( 202) 662 -0 772.

About the IFA Foundation

Celebrating 36 years of education, the investigations and excellence, the International Franchise Association( IFA) Foundation is a 501( c )( 3) tax-exempt organisation and supported through the generous contributions of IFA members and others. The Foundation’s mission is to advance franchising and the free enterprise system by increasing the knowledge and professional standards of all members of the franchising community; training the new generations of franchise practitioners; increasing recognition of franchising’s key role in the free enterprise system; and providing comprehensive information and research about important developments and trends in franchising.

About the International Franchise Association

Celebrating 58 years of excellence, education and advocacy, the International Franchise Association is the world’s oldest and larger organization representing franchising worldwide. IFA runs through its government relations and public policy, media relations and educational programs to protect, enhance and promote franchising and the more than 733,000 franchise establishments that support nearly 7.6 million direct chores, $674.3 billion of economic output for the U.S. economy and 2.5 percent of the Gross Domestic Product( GDP ). IFA members include franchise companies in over 300 different business format categories, individual franchisees and companies that support the industry in marketing, statute, technology and business development.

Contact: Chelsea Bear Fish Consulting cbear@fish-consulting.com 954 -8 93 -9 150

Gionne Jones IFA Foundation gjones @franchise. org 202-662-0772

Read more: restaurantnews.com

[rickhorrow]

10 TO WATCH/5 SPORTS TECH/POWER OF SPORTS: RICK HORROW’S TOP SPORTS/BIZ/TECH/PHILANTHROPY ISSUES FOR THE WEEK OF SEPT. 10: Mayors edition

with Tanner Simkins

With the 2018-2019 NFL season finally here, a few key questions are left to be answered this season. According to SportsBusiness Journal, the NFL has seen its TV viewership fall the past two seasons, leaving the league scrambling to buck that trend. Many in the industry noted that they expect declines for a third consecutive year, noting that it is uncertain “as to whether there is anything the league can do to fix the issue.” From a change in delivery, going from traditional broadcast to OTT and streaming services, to “increased competition for screen time,” some of the industry’s top executives are predicting a yearly decline in the “5-7%” range stemming from a multitude of factors, particularly those previously listed. Apart from TV ratings, the league is still dealing with problems related to head trauma and player safety, while also trying to combat the decline in youth participation. Unrest at the top of its broadcast partner companies likely doesn’t help NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell slumber either – most recently the ouster of CBS Chairman Les Moonves on Sunday.

The meaty main course of college football’s opening week has come and gone and now it’s time for dessert – across the U.S., top teams are being treated to pricey cupcakes. According to USA Today, roughly $175 million will exchange hands between college football’s haves and have nots to fill out nonconference menus in 2018, mostly during the first few weeks of September. In Week 2 alone, Arkansas State collected $1.7 million to travel to Tuscaloosa for a beat down by Alabama, and Western Michigan pocketed $1.2 million from No. 21 Michigan (out of a total $4.6 million the Wolverines will give away during their nonconference schedule). But the cupcake revenue wars may well be won by Kent State, which will pocket $3.65 million in appearance fees via treks to Illinois, Penn State, and Ole Miss. In the words of Jackie Gleason, how sweet is.

Group1001 and IndyCar rookie driver Zach Veach have announced a partnership with leading education technology company EVERFI, Inc that will bring hands-on STEM teaching to classrooms nationwide and inspire the next generation of engineers. The interactive STEM program, called Endeavor, introduces middle and high school students to exciting careers in technical fields and uses gamified lessons to encourage and prepare students for a career in STEM. As part of the course experience, students will virtually hear Veach talk about his passion for STEM education, the incredible amount of technology that he leverages while piloting his race car, and the critical role his engineering and pit crew teams play in powering his performance. Said Dan Towriss, CEO of Group1001, “We know that initiatives at the intersection of sports and education bring positive social change and can help the next generations of learners prepare to solve the challenges of tomorrow through STEM. As the first auto sports driver to join EVERFI’s impressive roster of athlete ambassadors, Zach is the perfect role model for kids. He has an unmatched passion and dedication to what he does and is now using his understanding of math and engineering to begin achieving his dreams as an Indy driver.” Interesting to note that 80% of the nation’s fastest-growing careers require skills from one or more STEM fields – both outside and inside of sports.

The Oakland Raiders could be leaving the Bay Area sooner than expected. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the Oakland City Council has “authorized a multimillion-dollar antitrust lawsuit against the NFL and the Raiders over the team’s impending move to Las Vegas.” Team executives have already stated that they will not sign any future lease agreement at the aging Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum should the lawsuit be filed. The lawsuit “will likely seek millions of dollars in damages for the team’s exit” to Las Vegas; Oakland Councilman Noel Gallo noted that the lawsuit could result in up to $500 million in damages being paid out by the NFL and the Raiders. The franchise is currently under a year-to-year lease with the Coliseum Authority, but is in a temporary bind pending the construction of its new stadium in Nevada. One possible alternative to staying in Oakland any longer could be playing home games at the San Francisco 49ers’ Levi’s Stadium, though Owner Mark Davis “can’t stand Levi’s Stadium.” Regardless of where the Raiders play next year, Oakland fans no doubt wish one Raiders fixture still called the Bay Area home: star pass rusher Khalil Mack, just dealt to the Chicago Bears for $141 million.

Despite failing to break back into the NFL, former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick is the new face of Nike’s 30th anniversary “Just Do It” campaign. According to the New York Times, Kaepernick recently signed a new, multiyear deal with Nike as his previous one, signed back in 2011, was about to expire. Instead of dropping him from the company payroll, Nike re-signed the former NFLer, made him the star of the new campaign, and donated money to his “Know Your Rights” campaign. Nike elected to do so as a way to give the politically-outspoken icon a “larger platform”; his message of standing up for what he believes in still resonates with athletes and fans all around the country. The first ad shows a close-up black and white photo of his face and reads: “Believes in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything.” Since tweeting the photo on his account, the campaign has generated at least $43 million in free advertising for Nike. Research conducted by Edison Trends has also revealed that Nike’s online sales surged 31% Sunday-Tuesday – a noteworthy measure for any campaign.

A recent report from Nielsen boldly states that a fully mature U.S. sports gambling market could be worth as much as $2.3 billion to the NFL. According to ESPN.com, the report, commissioned by the American Gaming Association, assumes that following the Supreme Court’s decision to legalize sports betting in all 50 states, media rights fees, sponsorships by betting operators of teams, ancillary advertising, and the purchasing of official league data are all set to increase going forward. The report does not factor in “integrity fees,” where the league would receive a fixed percentage of the total amount bet on NFL games. The report projects that the annual purchasing of league data alone would contribute $30 million per year to the NFL’s top line. The AGA is not opposed to “the idea of betting operators purchasing the official league data,” but is opposed to the idea of operators being forced to do so. The sports gambling market is still in a state of infancy, with years to go until it fully matures, though the outlook is positive for the NFL here.

The Arizona Cardinals have a new naming rights sponsor: State Farm. According to SportsBusiness Journal, the Cardinals have signed State Farm to an 18-year deal, replacing the University of Phoenix as the stadium’s title sponsor. The value of State Farm’s new deal has not yet been disclosed, though the University of Phoenix was paying between $8-9 million per year since signing on in 2006. News of this deal comes less than a week after the Atlanta Hawks announced State Farm as their new naming rights partner, changing from Philips Arena to State Farm Arena for this coming season. The 20-year deal is reportedly worth $175 million over its lifetime, making it the fifth-largest naming rights deal in the NBA currently. “We think these give a far broader audience than we’ve ever had,” commented State Farm Exec Vice President and Chief Agency Sales & Marketing Officer Rand Harbert on the two deals. “In both cities, these will help us to connect, and not only fly the brand flag, but to do good.” Now, the 0-1 Cardinals need to win a few games before State Farm changes its mind.

A group from Seattle is set to present to the NFL’s executive committee next month regarding a potential expansion franchise. According to the Seattle Times, the meeting with take place on October 2, “and if the presentation meets approval, the full NHL BOG would vote in December in Florida on whether to award the city an expansion franchise.” If given a team, the ownership group would have to pay an expansion fee of $650 million before starting play. The ownership group, commonly known as NHL Seattle, comprises some of the area’s most successful businessmen, including MLS Sounders Owner Adrian Hanauer, Chris and Ted Ackerley — whose father was a longtime Sonics owner — Amazon Web Services CEO Andy Jassy, and BDA CEO Jay Deutsch. Boston Celtics minority Owner David Bonderman gives the potential franchise another touchpoint in professional sports, lending additional credibility to the group with the hope of impressing the executive committee next month.

Nashville’s MLS expansion team finally has concrete and approved plans to build a soccer-specific stadium. According to the Nashville Tennessean, it has been months in the making, but the city’s Metro Council gave “final approval to three ordinances and a resolution for a much-debated $275 million” stadium at the Fairgrounds Nashville, just south of downtown. The team’s MLS debut is set for 2020, with the stadium expected to be open by February 2021. The approval from the council now means that it can issue $225 million in “revenue improvement bonds for the stadium” — the ownership group, led by publishing magnate John Ingram, will pay $9 million per year over a 30-year period to repay the bonds. In addition to building the 27,500-seat stadium, construction plans call for a 10-acre mixed-use development with housing, retail, and a hotel built on the Fairgrounds site. Nashville over the last decade has developed quite the hipster reputation – an MLS franchise will only boost its appeal with millennials and their soccer-happy younger siblings.

David Beckham is one step closer to finally having his long-awaited MLS franchise in Miami after revealing the team’s name, colors, and crest. According to the Miami Herald, Club Internacional de Fútbol Miami is the official name of the expansion franchise, which still lacks a finalized stadium site to build on. The front and back pages of the Miami Herald were printed pink with the club’s logo in the center of the page, boldly announcing the team’s arrival. “This is such a proud day for myself and for the entire team,” team owner and president of operations David Beckham said. “It’s an honor to announce the new name and crest to our fans — we are taking another important step in establishing our Club and today marks an important moment in the history of Club Internacional de Fútbol Miami.” The team’s name is meant to pay homage to the diverse population that constitutes Miami and Southern Florida as a whole. Inter Miami CF, the club’s shortened name, is set to begin play in 2020. No doubt, the club will add to Miami’s long and colorful sports legacy, of which I have been proud to have played a part.