Letter from the Editors
Kate Nelson: In 2022, the kitchen remains one of the few sacred places where we can truly feel inspired. Nobody embodies that energy more than Athena Calderone, the multi-hyphenate whose world blends design, food and entertaining. You’re probably familiar with her popular online destination, EyeSwoon. It was a thrill to chat with her about her love of food, her personal style and her pandemic lessons in our exclusive interview. (page 118)
Hayley Saunders: The inspiration doesn’t stop there. Everything’s coming up spring in Chris Plantan’s charming garden, where she shares the entertainer’s must-have wine essentials (page 60). DeMarco Williams takes us inside the Nashville Black-owned dining scene, highlighting five restaurants to try on your next stop to Music City (page 104). And beloved actor Stanley Tucci reflects on his Italian upbringing and shares some family recipes (page 199).
KN: How and what we eat has certainly changed over the past two years. Anne Roderique-Jones examines the grand tradition of doing business while breaking bread and asks: Is the power lunch dead (page 64)? Plus we’re in the midst of a major mushroom boom, propelled by a foraging frenzy, a DIY renaissance and a plant-based eating movement. Brittany Chaffee explores this pandemic-driven phenomenon (page 206). Kitchen connoisseur Andrew Parks, meanwhile, takes us on a wild ride chasing down the world’s greatest copperware (page 190).
HS: This issue also offers a few life lessons. First, stop and smell the roses, as Bonnie Culbertson suggests in her Provence scent guide (page 180). Next, enjoy the many riches around you, like resident outdoorswoman Laura Schara does with her favorite wild Minnesota foods (page 185). And finally, do good, like the trailblazers leading the upcycled beauty charge that’s helping combat American food waste (page 50).
Happy reading,
Kate Nelson, Editor-in-Chief, and Hayley Saunders, Managing Editor + Associate Publisher
