Pidge Boards

Handmade cutting boards crafted from exotic hardwoods, with matched quality and beauty

A quality wood cutting board will last a lifetime and only improve with age and use. With summer barbecue and picnic season in full force, we wanted a board that would stand the test of time and look good along the way. Pidge Boards from Boulder, Colorado-based artisan Ryan McMurray are just the board, and with occasional mineral oil treatment—necessary for all wood cutting boards—Pidge …

Underground Food Collective

The Midwest's premier culinary crew keeps its staff at the forefront and its provisions local

Deep in the American heartland, an unconventional answer to the modern food system is steadily gaining momentum. Breaking many conventions of the food industry, Madison, Wisconsin’s Underground Food Collective (UFC) defies category. Originally a non-profit focused on local food events, UFC has grown into a restaurant, catering outfit, butchery and meat shop while continuing to serve the community. With pre-industrial, single ingredient-themed dinners in Chicago …

Marou, Faiseurs de Chocolat

Two chocolatiers combine Vietnamese ingredients with traditional French methods for award-winning bars

Marou, Faiseurs de Chocolat is appealing at first for its sweet packaging, but even more so for what’s inside. Two French chocolatiers, whose names together make Marou, created the first “bean to bar” single-origin chocolate company in Vietnam after a trip through the region in 2010. Using the purest Vietnamese ingredients and traditional French methods, the company has created five superior chocolate bars—and they were …