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Sweet Baby Ray's: The Fastest Growing Barbecue Sauce in America

by Carrie Coolidge (RSS feed) — Jul 16th 2010 at 3:16PM

Sweet Baby Ray's is a nominee for a Luxist Readers' Choice Award for Best Gourmet Sauces.

The company was founded in 1985 when a local Chicagoan named "Chef Larry" perfected his family's recipe for a sweet and tangy BBQ sauce. He entered it into the country's largest rib cook-off ("The Mike Royko Rib-Off"). Chef Larry called his sauce Sweet Baby Ray's after his younger brother, David, who got the nickname playing basketball on the west side of Chicago.

On the day of the rib-off, Sweet Baby Ray's beat out nearly 700 entrants to come in second--an amazing feat for an unknown. Word of Sweet Baby Ray's spread like wildfire. By 1994, Sweet Baby Ray's distinctive bottle could be found on grill pits and dinner tables across the Midwest. By the end of the century, Sweet Baby Ray's sales in the U.S. exceeded 500,000 cases annually and today, is the fastest growing BBQ sauce company in America.

Gallery: Sweet Baby Ray's Barbecue Sauce

Sweet Baby Ray's products come in a variety of favors, including: Sweet Baby Ray's Original, Sweet Baby Ray's Honey, Sweet Baby Ray's Hickory & Brown Sugar, Sweet Baby Ray's Sweet 'n Spicy, Sweet Baby Ray's Honey Chiptole and Sweet Baby Ray's Sweet Vidalia Onion. It comes in 18 oz,, 28 oz, 40 oz and 80 oz bottles.

Sweet Baby Ray's gourmet sauces are available for purchase at most large grocery store chains, including Kroger, Walmart, Meijer, Cub Foods, Albertson's, Ralphs, Vons, Safeway, Wegmans and Stop & Shop, among many others. For more information call Sweet Baby Ray's toll free line at (877) 729-2229 or email it at service@sweetbabyrays.com.

Vote for the Gourmet Sauce that you believe is the best of breed. The voting period runs through July 31 and winners will be announced on August 1.

Tags: awards-main, barbecue, barbecuing, barbeque, gourmet sauces, luxist-awards, Sweet Baby Rays

Citarella: Fresh Seafood from the Ultimate Gourmet Market

by Carrie Coolidge (RSS feed) — Jul 16th 2010 at 2:46PM

Don't confuse Citarella with citronella. The grocery store may not be quite as adept at warding off insects as the candle with a similar name, but it's one of the best when it comes to fresh fish – and good enough to earn a Luxist nomination in the best online seafood category.

Mike Citarella founded his eponymous store in New York's Sugar Hill section in 1912. The original location was a turn-of-the-century marvel, awash in sawdust and dotted with marble slab counters. Citarella eventually moved south to the present location at Broadway and 75^th Street, building on an early reputation as a terrific seafood market.

Gallery: Citarella: The Ultimate Gourmet Market

In 1983, Joseph Guerra purchased the shop and started building the company into what it is today. The child of a family that owned a seafood shop, he developed relationships with the vendors at New York's Fulton Street Fish Market; within a few years he'd acquired his own wholesale operation at the famous seafood bazaar. In 1997, he expanded to the Hamptons, ensuring that New York's wealthiest could get their fix even when on vacation.

Tags: awards-main, best seafood, Citarella, luxist-awards, online seafood, seafood

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Dean & DeLuca: Where Epicureans Go for Gourmet Sauces

by Carrie Coolidge (RSS feed) — Jul 16th 2010 at 2:16PM

Dean & Deluca is a nominee for a Luxist Award for Best Gourmet Sauce
Dean & DeLuca is a nominee for a Luxist Readers' Choice Award for Best Gourmet Sauces.

The company is one of America's finest online grocers -- offering a wide array of food, wine and even kitchenware.

Dean & DeLuca's wide array of gourmet marinades represent just about every corner of the globe. There's a Wine Country marinade, a Moroccan marinade, Argentinean marinade, Vietnamese marinade, Thai and Indian marinades. There's also a delicous Black Truffle barbecue sauce, in addition to a large variety of pasta sauces, pestos, bruschetta toppings, salsas, steak sauces and mole sauces.

Gallery: More from Dean & DeLuca

Today, the website makes the grocer's trademark gourmet sauces, herbs and spices available to those who aren't lucky enough to have a store nearby. Dean & DeLuca also markets its private label products to other retailers and wholesalers throughout the world.

Vote for the Gourmet Sauce that you believe is the best of breed. The voting period runs through July 31 and winners will be announced on August 1.

Tags: awards-main, Dean Deluca, gourmet sauces, luxist-awards

Porky's Gourmet Foods: Gourmet Sauces for Over 100 Years

by Carrie Coolidge (RSS feed) — Jul 16th 2010 at 1:46PM

Porky's Gourmet Foods is a nominee for a Luxist Awards Readers' Choice Award for Best Gourmet Sauces.

Porky's Gourmet Foods & Lynchburg Merchandise Co. was founded in Lynchburg, Tennessee and has been in business since the late 19th century. A family-owned and operated business, it produces gourmet sauces, seasonings & rubs, salsas, relishes, jellies and other condiments. The company's products have won nearly 200 national and international awards.

Its Lynchburg Tennessee Whiskey Brand products all include Jack Daniel's Black Label Whiskey. The products are slow simmered in small batches to insure consistency and old family recipes are used.

The company also offers a Sugar Free Zesty Grilling Sauce, a Bellycheer Habanero Hot Sauce, a Historic Lynchburg line of BBQ sauces, and a large variety of hot sauces.

Porky's Gourmet Foods sauces can be ordered online from Porky's directly. Many of its sauces are also available for purchase through Amazon.com. For more information, contact Porky's at its toll-free number: (800) 767-5911.

Vote for the Gourmet Sauce that you believe is the best of breed. The voting period runs through July 31 and winners will be announced on August 1.

Tags: awards-main, gourmet sauces, luxist-awards, Porkys Gourmet Foods

The Fresh Lobster Company: Seafood from America's Oldest Seaport

by Carrie Coolidge (RSS feed) — Jul 16th 2010 at 1:16PM

What better way to get fresh lobster than straight from the fishermen themselves? The Fresh Lobster Company does exactly that – part of the reason it's a Luxist nominee in the best online seafood category.

Located in Gloucester, Ma., The Fresh Lobster Company has built its name by forming relationships with the New England lobstermen and using the connection to get the freshest fish possible. The company's offerings are taken directly from the boats and shipped overnight all across the country.

Gallery: The Fresh Lobster Company

The company specializes in shipping live lobsters, ranging from tiny (one pound: $20) to jumbo (twelve pounds: $152), which are delivered in special water-filled contained to ensure optimal freshness. The Fresh Lobster Company also offers live sea urchins, live sea scallops, live crabs and other critters; there's also gourmet sushi, steaks and desserts on the menu.

Tags: awards-main, best seafood, luxist-awards, online seafood, seafood, The Fresh Lobster Company

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Peter Luger: A New York Institution since 1887

by Carrie Coolidge (RSS feed) — Jul 16th 2010 at 12:31PM

Since 1887, Peter Luger Steak House has served the finest of steaks. For 26 consecutive years, Peter Luger has been the number one steak house in New York, according to Zagat's, and its customers have included a host of celebrities, from Alfred Hitchcock to James Cagney and Robert De Niro.

Fans of the New York institution rejoiced when the esteemed steakhouse entered the cyberworld of online meat purveying with the launch of PeterLuger.com. It is easy to understand why Peter Luger is nominated for a Readers' Choice Award for Best Online Meat Company.

Peter Luger Steak House offers only the finest USDA PRIME meat available. The selection process is crucial and is done only by members of the family who visit the wholesale markets on a daily basis.

Gallery: Peter Luger Steak House

A new online ordering service allows Peter Luger customers to order its famous USDA Prime Dry Aged Steaks, including its famous Porterhouse cuts. All meat packages are shipped via FedEx Overnight. Shipping rates are calculated upon check out after the shipping destination has been entered. All shipping is done Monday through Thursday. Meat orders received by 11AM will be shipped that same day for next day delivery. All orders received after 11AM Thursday will be shipped overnight the following Monday.

Peter Luger Steak Sauce is world-famous and can be ordered online. It is available in boxes of six ($34.20 a box, plus shipping) or twelve bottles ($57.90 plus shipping). The online butcher shop also offers steak knives and cutting boards.

Vote for the Online Meat Company that you believe is the best of breed. The voting period runs through July 31 and winners will be announced on August 1.

Tags: awards-main, best online meat, best steaks, luxist-awards, online shopping, Peter Luger, Peter Luger Steak House, steak, steakhouse, steaks

Dean & DeLuca: Purveyors of Fine Seafood

by Carrie Coolidge (RSS feed) — Jul 16th 2010 at 11:44AM

Though Dean & Deluca started out as a bricks-and-mortar location in New York -- offering a wide array of food, wine and even kitchenware -- it's now one of the country's finest online grocers, particularly when it comes to fresh fish. As such, Dean & Deluca has earned a Luxist award nomination in the best online seafood category.

In 1977, Joel Dean and Giogio DeLuca started their company in a small shop in New York's SoHo neighborhood. In those days, SoHo wasn't the chic shopping enclave it is today; rather, it was gritty corner of the Big Apple. Jack Ceglic, Dean & DeLuca's founding partner, designed the first store to feel like a turn-of-the-century food department. Beneath the hum of high ceiling fans, shelves overflowed with rare artisan foodstuffs from flavored salts to cured meats.

Gallery: Dean & DeLuca

As the years went on, Joel and Giorgio continued to expand their operation, adding another New York shop with four times the space of the original in 1988. Boutiques throughout the city followed, as did locations in Charlotte, Kansas City and Washington, D.C., and Dean & Deluca expanded its offerings to include fresh fish.

Tags: awards-main, best seafood, Dean DeLuca, luxist-awards, seafood

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Ottomanelli Brothers: Serving the Finest Meats in New York Since 1900

by Carrie Coolidge (RSS feed) — Jul 16th 2010 at 10:31AM

Since 1900 Ottomanelli Brothers, a nominee for a Readers' Choice Award for Best Online Meats, has been catering to the carnivores of New York City, with its unbeatable steaks, filet mignon, steak burgers, prime rib, lamb, veal, seafood and more. Savvy New Yorkers traveling throughout New England are easily spotted by the Ottomanelli's green thermal bags they carry, which are filled with the butcher's delicious steaks, steak burgers, chicken, sausages and more. As Ottomanelli die-hards can attest, once you've been spoiled by eating Ottomanelli's meats, it is impossible to dine on anything else.

A family-owned and operated business that dates back to 1900, members of the Ottomanelli family are still found clad in their white aprons behind the counters of their butcher shops. Today under the leadership of the fourth and fifth generation of Ottomanelli's, products are enjoyed by discerning consumers across the country and around the world. Family patriarchs and co-chairmen, Nicolo and Joseph Ottomanelli are credited with turning the family meat business into a multifaceted mini-empire, which includes meat markets, cafes, packaged goods, bakeries and a thriving online operation.

Gallery: Ottomanelli Brothers

The Ottomanelli brothers butcher shops are located on the upper east and upper west sides of Manhattan with a third location located in Flushing, N.Y. New Yorkers who'd rather sit down and order a delicious grilled steak can frequent one of the family's restaurant locations on Manhattan's upper east side.

All products are flash frozen and packed with dry ice in a reusable "keep fresh" cooler and shipped via FedEx Priority Overnight Service. Ottomanelli's also offers a selection of BBQ sauces (hot and mild are both offered), delicious steak sauce and wonderful pasta sauces (including marinara, white clam, red clam and Alfredo varieties). Orders can be placed online or by calling Ottomanelli's toll free number at (888) OTTOBRO.

Vote for the Online Meat Company that you believe is the best of breed. The voting period runs through July 31 and winners will be announced on August 1.

Tags: awards-main, best online meat, luxist-awards, Ottomanelli Brothers, Ottomanellis, steak

Wild Edibles Seafood Market: Hand Picked Specialties from the Seas

by Carrie Coolidge (RSS feed) — Jul 16th 2010 at 10:16AM

Wild Edibles Seafood Market is a nominee for a Luxist Awards' Readers' Choice Award for Best Online Seafood Company.

Just because Wild Edibles Seafood Market isn't quite as well-known as some of our other nominees doesn't mean its pedigree is any less impressive. Co-founder Michael Reynolds trained with world-renowned chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten and became something of a food legend in his own right – just part of the reason Wild Edibles is a nominee for a Luxist award in the best seafood category.

In the summer of 1992, Reynolds was waiting tables at Vongerichten's new bistro, JoJo, when the restaurant's legendary proprietor asked if he'd like to go on a culinary adventure to Portland, Maine. Reynolds obliged, and soon he and Vongerichten were knee-deep in wild mushrooms, giant scallops and fresh sea urchins -- none of which were readily available on the New York market.

Gallery: Wild Edibles Seafood Market

When Reynolds returned to the city, he called his brother-in-law, then manager of Trattoria del Arte. The pair decided to start a seafood business, focusing on the sort of freshly caught, wild seafood Reynolds had discovered in Maine. In October 1992, Wild Edibles was born, relying on its founders' refrigerators at first. Within a year, the business had swelled to include a van and a distribution center.

Tags: awards-main, Luxist-awards, Wild Edibles, Wild Edibles Seafood Market, WildEdiblesSeafoodMarket

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Lobel's of New York: A Family Tradition for Over 140 Years

by Carrie Coolidge (RSS feed) — Jul 16th 2010 at 9:31AM

Lobel's of New York is a nominee for a Readers' Choice Award for Best Online Meat Company.

The family-owned and operated business is located on the Upper East Side of New York. Ten years ago, Lobel's launched Lobels of New York (www.lobels.com), an online butcher shop, enabling its customers to order and have its products delivered to their door in all 50 states.

The Lobel family have been in the business for five generations. It all started back in the 1840's when Nathan Lobel began raising cattle in Austria, and with the help of his son, later added a slaughterhouse to the business. Nathan's grandson Morris joined the famly business as a boy, and in 1911, at the age of 17, he emigrated to the United States. He eventually settled in New York where he opened a butcher shop, first in the Bronx and later at the current location at 1096 Madison Avenue (at East 82nd Street) in Manhattan.

Gallery: Lobel's of New York

Service and quality have always been the hallmarks of the Lobel's business. Morris' sons Leon, Nathan, and Stanley, followed in their father's footsteps. Stanley remains active in the store, while his sons, David and Mark, as well as his nephew, Evan, have emerged as the fifth generation of the Lobel family to work in the business.

Tags: awards-main, beef, Lobels, Lobels of New York, luxist-awards, online shopping, outdoor-entertainment, steaks

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Allen Brothers: Where Some of the Best-Known Steakhouses Get Their Meat

by Carrie Coolidge (RSS feed) — Jul 16th 2010 at 8:31AM

Ever wonder where some of the nation's best-known steakhouses get their meat? Restaurants including Morton's The Steakhouse, Gene & Georgetti, Charlie Trotter's, Emeril's Chop House, Lawry'sThe Prime Rib and others have long relied on Allen Brothers for the USDA Prime beef and other fine meats on which their reputations depend.

Chicago-based Allen Brothers is a nominee for a Readers' Choice Award for Best Online Meat, and it is easy to understand why. A fourth-generation family-owned company, with its origins in the heart of Chicago's fabled Union Stockyards, Allen Brothers is known for its "best of the best" USDA Prime aged beef and as the home of "The Great Steakhouse Steaks." Meats are hand-selected, meticulously aged by proprietary methods and hand-cut by master butchers. Both dry-aged and wet-aged beef steaks are available.

Gallery: Allen Brothers: The Great Steakhouse Steaks

Its Wet-Aged and Dry-Aged products are Grain/Corn Fed, while its Pintades/Poulet Fermier Breasts are Free Range. Its veal comes from humanely-raised calves that are never given growth hormones or antibiotics.

Allen Brothers' partnership with Emeril Lagasse, is responsible for Red Marble Steaks, which is a highly marbled beef. Allen Brothers also offers an impressive line of Kobe Wagyu Beef products, from filet mignon and strip steaks to Korean beef short ribs and Wagyu steak burgers.

Tags: Allen Brothers, awards-main, best online meat, Chicago, emeril lagasse, luxist-awards, steak

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Chicago Gourmet Steaks: A Reputation at Steak

by Carrie Coolidge (RSS feed) — Jul 16th 2010 at 7:31AM

Chicago Gourmet Steaks is a nominee for a Readers' Choice Award for Best Online Meat Company.

Chicago Gourmet Steaks has ties back to 1919 and the Chicago Union Stockyards. Its parent company was an icon in the Chicago Union Stockyards. Lincoln Meat Co. was created in 1919 and operated as a beef slaughterhouse through the peak and decline of the Chicago Union Stockyards, and was actually the last beef slaughterhouse in the city of Chicago. Chicago Gourmet Steaks was created and was one of the first few mail order steak company's.

Chicago Gourmet Steaks hand selects primal cuts of beef from quality corn-fed Midwestern cattle. Its corn-fed, Midwestern beef is USDA inspected and naturally aged for 18-21 days for exceptional taste and ultimate tenderness. No water, fillers, preservatives, chemicals or coloring are ever used. Its expert butchers carefully cut the steak, exactly to a customer's order specifications.

Gallery: Chicago Gourmet Steaks

Steaks are individually packaged in an air-tight vacuum sealed poly bag. Steaks are then flash-frozen to lock in freshness and flavor. Finally, the steaks are carefully boxed and placed in a cooler with dry-ice, and shipped.

Orders can be placed online or by calling (800) 997-8325.

Vote for the Online Meat Company that you believe is the best of breed. The voting period runs through July 31 and winners will be announced on August 1.

Tags: awards-main, best online meat, chicago, Chicago Gourmet Steaks, luxist-awards, steak

WannaJet Aims to Make Private Jets Available to Commercial Fliers

by Annie Scott (RSS feed) — Jun 14th 2010 at 8:01AM

Thought it may sound glamorous, most frequent fliers -- even those who tend to fly business or first class -- never consider a private jet for their trip. WannaJet, a new company founded by Parisian Philippe Bo (above), is aiming to change that.

The former CFO and Vice President of Finance at GE had been shuttled all over the world on commercial airlines. With the knowledge that a huge portion of private jets sit on the ground, unused, he had an idea to bring the convenience and comfort of private flying to an entirely new demographic by creating a sharing service with no membership fee and never more than six passengers per plane. The prices can be as low as a first class ticket: a private jet from New York to Boston starts at just $446.

Here's how it works: WannaJet doesn't own any aircrafts, but arranges charters on a by-request basis. You may be flying with strangers, but you'll have an empty seat next to you (as well as a luxe plane and no commercial airport hassles), and you won't be bearing the full brunt of the cost for things like fuel, maintenance and other fees which prevent most of the population from being able to fly privately. If you want to fly from New York to Boston on a particular day, you start by checking whether or not they already have a partially-filled plane going. If they don't, you can request a new plane. You will be told your price before you book (unlike with other per-seat charter companies). The price model is built for four to six passengers. If only three people have booked tickets 72 hours before the flight is scheduled to depart, they will be offered the chance to pay 30 percent more each, or the flight will be canceled -- and WannaJet will book you on a commercial flight of equal value at no charge. You also earn frequent flier minutes (not miles) on WannaJet flights, which can be used toward future WannaJet travel. Sounds fair!

WannaJet launched in the USA on June 9, 2010 with a presentation and cocktail fete held appropriately at New York's Intrepid Museum. We interviewed Mr. Bo at the party about how the service works and the charities WannaJet will be supporting.

Luxist: A private jet from New York to Boston for $446 seems just unbelievable. How are you able to offer such low prices?

Phillipe Bo: It's because you can divide the price of the jet by four or five passengers. If you divide it by four or five -- and provided that you book a return flight, because you get a 20 percent discount -- you get a revenue that is basically around $4,000 - $5,000.

Gallery: WannaJet Launch at The Intrepid Museum in New York City

Tags: phillipe bo, private jet, wannajet

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Personal Assistant Service Puts Virtual Assistants Within iPad Reach

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) — Jun 13th 2010 at 4:02PM

Your Personal Assistant LLC (YPA), a global on-demand personal assistant service, is sweetening the deal for new clients, providing a free iPad with YPA technology for all new annual retainer clients. The company is also offering a free iPhone, Blackberry or Droid should you not be quiet ready to jump on the iPad bandwagon quite yet.

The YPA application uses "State of the Smart" GPS mapping and instant messaging for communication and coordination between a client and their YPA Emissary. Annual retainers begin at $100 per month, or $1200 for the year, and may be applied to any of over 100 YPA services that including basically anything that can be delegated, from reservations for services to helping with computer upgrades and event planning.

YPA Emissaries are on the ground in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New York City, Washington DC, London, Zurich, Geneva, Hong Kong, Beijing, and Shanghai and the on-demand assistants promise a higher level of service, expertise, and attention to detail than concierge services, call centers, agencies, or other virtual assistant services. Services come with a 100% satisfaction guarantee.

Tags: AssistantRobot, ipad, personal assistants, virtual assistant, Virtual Assistants, your personal assistant

Schedule Your Beauty Appointments on Facebook

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) — May 24th 2010 at 8:02PM

Addicted to Facebook? Well now you don't even have to log off for a minute to schedule beauty and spa appointments at your favorite service providers. Schedulicity has created a new Facebook widget that allows you to set appointments within the social networking program as easily as 'liking' or 'sharing' -- with a simple click of the mouse. Advanced Bodywork Center, Kennett Square Massage, and Sunrise Acupuncture Clinic are just a few of the businesses already taking advantage of the technology (see it by clicking on the "Schedule Now" tab on the top of their pages) and so far the reviews are good. Ginny Ozelton, hairstylist, commented "My clients love being in charge of their own scheduling because they don't have to play phone tag with me anymore."

What do you think, convenient and time-saving use of technology or just another way the internet is making life more and more impersonal?

Tags: facebook, Facebook Widgets, salon appointments, spa appointments, technology, widgets

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