Author: Tiffany Vincent

Every September, a quiet shift takes place inside Starbucks locations. Something in the air shifts, but the baristas continue to call out names, and the green straws remain the same. The color of the cups becomes warmer. Words like “pumpkin” and “spice” become more prevalent on the menu board. And for months, someone has been figuring out how to make people wait in line before sunrise somewhere in the back office of a very big coffee company. This year, someone placed a tiny beagle wearing a pumpkin hat on a glass cup, and to be honest, it may have been…

The first pumpkin spice beverage of the season has an almost ceremonial quality. The leaves are still mostly green, and the temperature hasn’t quite dropped, but as soon as the warm, spiced scent hits, something changes. For many people, fall doesn’t start on a calendar. It starts at a coffee shop. And on September 8, 2026, Dunkin’ made that moment somewhat more accessible to almost everyone. Dunkin’ offered free medium Pumpkin Spice Signature Lattes, either hot or iced, with any qualifying purchase at participating locations across the country from 2 to 6 p.m. local time. There is no need for…

When a fast food drop feels truly unexpected, there’s a certain kind of excitement that builds around it. Something that makes you stop and wonder, “Wait, where did that come from?” rather than just a new sauce or a rearranged combination. That’s about the excitement surrounding Panda Express’s newest limited-edition product, Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken, a crispy dish inspired by street food that started testing at a few locations in seven U.S. cities on September 8, 2026. It appears to have landed harder than anyone anticipated, based on early reactions. The dish’s inspiration comes from yán sū jī, a well-liked mainstay…

Somewhere along the Isle of Skye’s single-track road that winds toward Colbost, you begin to question whether you’ve made the wrong turn. With the Duirnish hills in front of you, the gray loch water to your left, and virtually nothing else, the scene changes from dramatic to nearly otherworldly. There are no signs indicating restaurants. There isn’t a collection of structures that indicates civilization is nearby. It’s the kind of emptiness that causes you to tighten your grip on the steering wheel. Then a low whitewashed croft house with smoke curling from its chimneys appears, nestled into the shoreline as…

Watching a line form outside a strip mall suite before 11 a.m. in a parking lot on Ranch Road 620 in northwest Austin is almost surreal. Not a valet. No large signs. This Wednesday morning, it was just a simple door, a cloud of post oak smoke rising from somewhere behind the building, and perhaps seventy people who shared the same thought. This is InterStellar BBQ, a four-day-a-week restaurant with a Michelin star that runs out of food before most patrons have finished their lunch. There’s a feeling that Pitmaster John Bates, who has been in the hospitality industry in…

When she first entered Albert Square, she was sixteen years old. Just a teenager acting like a teenager, complete with a leather jacket, smudged eyeliner, and that now-famous growl directed at Jessie Wallace from across a small living room. As Zoe Slater, Michelle Ryan became one of the few soap opera characters who truly made a lasting impression on the country. She returned twenty years later. And in a matter of hours, the whole event had already been reduced to a discussion about her weight in some online forums. Watching that happen makes it difficult to avoid feeling uneasy. Almost…

For decades, Jamie Oliver has worked to persuade people that preparing delicious food doesn’t have to be difficult. He has written about quick meals, inexpensive meals, Italian meals, Mediterranean meals, and now, at fifty, he is back with something more intimate. His 2025 cookbook, Eat Yourself Healthy, debuted in September along with a Channel 4 series of the same name. In typical Oliver fashion, the response has been a mix of quiet skepticism and warm enthusiasm. Instead of an apology, the book begins with an argument. Oliver is not implying that all of his earlier works were garbage. Still, it…

There’s a time in November when you’re at a market stall, looking at a heap of deep-purple beet or knobbly celeriac, and you wonder, “What exactly do I do with this?” For the better part of three decades, Nigel Slater has been responding to that question with a quiet confidence that most food writers only feign. Slater has never claimed to be a strictly vegetarian chef. However, his relationship with vegetables changed from supportive to central at some point. It is clear from reading his winter recipes from the past few years—such as the miso-glazed onions, the baked squash with…

The decision of a company that sells $400 stand mixers and copper cookware to publish a cookbook specifically targeted at children seems almost counterintuitive. Nevertheless, Lisa Atwood’s Cookbook for Kids, published by Williams Sonoma, had a different reception than most children’s cookbooks. It didn’t seem like a marketing ploy. It seemed as though someone had taken the time to consider what children would like to prepare. The book’s 128 pages contain over 60 recipes, which may seem dense at first, but as you turn the pages, you’ll see how well it flows as a whole. The recipes don’t speak down…

The same phrase appears in the autocomplete suggestions every time Tracy Moore searches her own name online, something that most public figures do with a mixture of fear and conceit. “Tracy Moore weight gain.” It remains in the top three results, unsolicited and obstinate. She herself has made reference to it, albeit with a hint of dark humor. This seems to be the most intriguing aspect of a woman who has spent decades creating one of the most well-known careers in Canadian broadcasting, according to the internet. That has an almost ridiculous quality. Tracy Moore has interviewed designers, chefs, health…