LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
AT THE TABLE: GO TO YOUR HAPPY PLACE
We all have our happy places—moments when everything seems right with the world and life is especially sweet.
Well, here’s mine: the first jackets-and-scarves-cold fall day, a rainy afternoon, and I’m inside a neighborhood coffee shop, where I’m sipping a soy latte, clacking away at my laptop and watching the wet city sidewalk gleam silver.
I know it may not be your version of paradise, but for me that is heaven.
In this issue, I share my highly personal guide to East Passyunk Avenue in our Road Trip column (page 42). Naturally, it begins with a coffee shop, Black & Brew. That’s not the only caffeine in this issue: associate editor Katherine Rapin examines why Function Coffee Labs in Bella Vista is finding success on a corner where six other coffee shops have failed in her How to Succeed in (Coffee) Business feature (page 24).
Is coffee not your cup of tea? Don’t worry, we’ve got tea covered as well. This is our beverage issue, after all. Estelle Tracy profiles Kennett Square-based Health & Tea (page 20).
In the mood for something stronger? Turn to page 28, where Sarah Maiellano takes you to a few distilleries around Philly that are creating some very interesting and unusual spirits.
Even though Marisa McClellan serves her holiday gravy in a pitcher, we’re not going to consider it a beverage. Her essay about her family recipe for turkey gravy (page 18) falls firmly on the food side of this issue. Ditto Kristin Donnelly’s dollars-and-cents story of how one local baker made her business dream a reality with New Hope’s Factory Girl Bake Shop (page 38). Given those rich, crumbly scones, I’m sure Factory Girl is a very happy place for more than a few of its regulars.
Why don’t you hang out with us on Instagram @EdiblePhilly and share a picture of your own happy place this fall? Use the hashtag ediblehappyplace so we can find you.
Joy Manning
Editor
[email protected]
PHOTOGRAPH: DAN CALL
