“That’s so smart! You are totally protected!” So said someone walking past the three clear plastic geodesic domes in Mint Plaza, imagining what it would be like to sit inside. These domes were perched out front of Hashiri, a fine dining restaurant that for about 10 days in August 2020 ensconced their outdoor dining tables…
Eating Right for Morality and Gender: Class Assignment
Cover image, “Moral Mountain,” by the very generous Gastronaut Jasmin Drake. In March, my Master’s thesis advisor invited me to return to the warm embrace of my former academic home in the Gastronomy program at Boston University, and to lead as a guest instructor one evening of my favorite course, Food and Gender. Dr. Megan…
Z Line Vermouth: The Botanicals
Vermouth: Aromatized and Fortified Wine Vermouth can be aromatized with any botanical product, which makes for a vast and rich field of possible flavors. When I set out to collaborate on a vermouth with family friend and farmer Sam Merwin, I knew the botanicals would tell a story: a story of his family’s farm and…
Vermouth Storytelling: ASFS 2020
It has become a familiar feeling in 2020: the wrenching heartbreak of hearing a long-awaited in-person gathering has been cancelled. Even if one knows it to be the only choice, it stings to mourn the loss of one more thing. That’s why I was delighted when when my favorite annual Food Studies conference was moved…
Decisions, Decisions: Winemaking
Before I could make Z Line Vermouth, I needed wine (vermouth’s base ingredient). Though a total novice, I hoped to make the wine myself. My friend Sam is a fourth generation farmer who has started growing chardonnay grapes under contract in the last five years. Sam graciously allowed me to harvest 100 pounds of grapes…
Ariana Gunderson 