Food Booze and Beyond
by Hunter Styles | Oct 8, 2019 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Food + Booze, Food Booze and Beyond, The Beerhunter
When the staff at Hitchcock Brewing Company unlocked the front door of their new taproom on South Street in Bernardston on Sunday morning at 11 a.m., customers were already waiting outside. The first pair to arrive at the bar ordered a crisp Columbus-hopped pale ale...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Jul 26, 2019 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Food Booze and Beyond, The V-Spot
Editor’s note: Sex and relationship advice columnist Yana Tallon-Hicks is currently on maternity leave. While she’s gone, we’re reprinting some of her best columns of the past several years, and are looking forward to her return in September. This column was...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Jun 28, 2019 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Food Booze and Beyond, The V-Spot
Editor’s note: Sex and relationship advice columnist Yana Tallon-Hicks is currently on maternity leave. While she’s gone, we’re reprinting some of her best columns of the past several years, and are looking forward to her return in September. In the mean time,...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Jun 24, 2019 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Food Booze and Beyond, The V-Spot
Content note: This column talks about nonconsensual relationship dynamics. Hi Yana! I’m a pansexual woman currently in college. I had a really bad relationship for about three months, and I ended it about nine months ago. I struggle with depression, anxiety, and PTSD,...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Jun 10, 2019 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Food Booze and Beyond, The V-Spot
Hi Yana, Over the course of the last couple months my partner’s sex drive has slowly fallen off, and is now creating tension in our relationship. We’ve been together for nine months, and true to form, the beginning was full of passion, romance, and sexual exploration....
by Monte Belmonte | Jun 6, 2019 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Food Booze and Beyond, Monte Belmonte Wines
“This one’s good, what’s it called again?” “White wine.” “Freakin’ LOVE it.” Netflix and chill? Great. Netflix and wine and chill? Even better. Wine Country on Netflix and wine and chill? It makes for a nice evening. You may get a good laugh watching Wine Country, but...
by Hunter Styles | Jun 5, 2019 | Articles, Featured, Food Booze and Beyond, News, The Beerhunter
In the Advocate’s monthly craft beer column The Beerhunter, I keep my finger on the pulse of local craft beer business. The column began in 2014. From day one, I had plenty of little dramas and lucky breaks to cover, from small-business zoning woes to creative...
by Karima Rizk | Jun 4, 2019 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Food Booze and Beyond, O Cannabis!
On May 20, three adults collapsed in a Cape Cod restaurant after trying edibles for the first time and apparently took a relatively high dose. One woman fainted and her two companions were soon lying semi-conscious on the ground. While the unfortunate incident is not...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Jun 3, 2019 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Food Booze and Beyond, The V-Spot
Hello! You’ve probably heard this question before, but how do you approach the topic of group sex with people who you think might be down? I have had a few scenarios happen organically, and been approached myself, but I’m scared of seeming like a creep (for example, a...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | May 28, 2019 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Food Booze and Beyond, The V-Spot
Dear Yana, My past two relationships have both been non-monogamous. In both, I felt open (even excited) to communicate about my other hookups and sweeties with my more settled partners. I always made clear with my settled partners my need for transparency in regards...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | May 20, 2019 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Food Booze and Beyond, The V-Spot
Yana, I’m a trans male and my partner is non-binary. While I identify as asexual, I love pleasuring my partner so much! But I don’t let them touch me. I want to but I’m so self conscious about not having “male anatomy” (gender/sex am I right?) that them touching me...
by Monte Belmonte | May 14, 2019 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Food Booze and Beyond, Monte Belmonte Wines
“This is super important, Monte. You can do something. Having this knowledge that you do. Knowing both the word and knowing what you know about wine. You can do something to help this word along.” So was the charge of The Word Nerd, Emily Brewster, my resident...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | May 13, 2019 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Food Booze and Beyond, The V-Spot
Yana, My partner of a year and I live together and emotionally I’m so content! However, our intimacy has hit a wall. For a while, we enjoyed our pleasure-based fun and our communication was on point! I didn’t think much about the fact that he didn’t seem interested in...
by Hunter Styles | May 7, 2019 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Food + Booze, Food Booze and Beyond, The Beerhunter
Since I started this column in 2014, it hasn’t gotten any easier to keep up with the craft beer news pouring out of the Valley (not that I’m complaining). I try to go straight to the source by touring breweries, chilling in taprooms, and talking with local brewers....
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Apr 29, 2019 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Food Booze and Beyond, The V-Spot
Hi Yana, I’m a virgin and I’m in college. Being in college seems to come with a hookup culture and an expectation to be having sex which isn’t the case for everybody. I find myself either lying or being very quiet during conversations about sex with people I’m not...
by Lauren Simonds | Apr 17, 2019 | Articles, Featured, Food Booze and Beyond, News
I’m not sure I’m ready for modern cannabis. Don’t get me wrong. I’m all for legal weed — for medical purposes and for grown-ass adult consumption (stay in school, kids, and just say no). As a young adult in my 20s and 30s, I indulged regularly. I inhaled frequently....
by Karima Rizk | Apr 16, 2019 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Food Booze and Beyond, O Cannabis!
The legalization of adult-use cannabis in Massachusetts has ushered in a brave new world for adult past times, including a first for many of us — the opportunity to legally grow cannabis outdoors. Massachusetts state law allows for adults to cultivate up to six plants...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Apr 15, 2019 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Food Booze and Beyond, The V-Spot
Dear Yana, My new reciprocated crush is terrified of and obsessed with sex. He hasn’t had many good experiences, and I’m excited to potentially be a part of his new, positive experiences. But I’m also nervous and feel a lot of pressure to navigate his sexual trauma....
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Apr 8, 2019 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Food Booze and Beyond, The V-Spot
Hi Yana! I’ll just dive right in — it’s come to my attention my boyfriend has Grindr on his phone. He was talking to multiple people, sending scandalous pictures, and making plans to have sex. We’ve talked about this and he says it’ll never happen again and he’s...
by Monte Belmonte | Mar 19, 2019 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Food + Booze, Food Booze and Beyond, Monte Belmonte Wines
“I think we’ve kind of created, like, a black barbershop type of community.” A black barbershop may not be one’s first impression when walking into the new wine shop, Shelburne Falls Cork, but that’s how renowned local chef and newly pinned sommelier, Michaelangelo...
by Monte Belmonte | Feb 28, 2019 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Food + Booze, Food Booze and Beyond, Monte Belmonte Wines
MNARK: I’m so proud of him. I actually have his bumper sticker on my car in San Francisco, which was interesting because we just had an election for mayor. DNARK: Did I get any votes? Northampton Mayor David Narkewicz may have made headlines when he was the first...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Feb 20, 2019 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Food Booze and Beyond, The V-Spot
Hello from Vienna, Austria, Yana! Over the years I’ve realized that I like being dominated in sex. I want strong men who play with my brain, mainly verbally. A year ago I met a guy on a kinky hookup app. We went out on a date and hit it off immediately. In the...
by Hunter Styles | Feb 19, 2019 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Food + Booze, Food Booze and Beyond, The Beerhunter
It is right about now, during the shortest month of the year, that I have sat through some of the longest evenings of my life. Cabin fever is no joke, even if your cabin comes equipped with a fire, good books, and a stockpile of craft beer (plus some loved ones, I...
by Monte Belmonte | Jun 26, 2018 | Columns, Featured, Food Booze and Beyond, Monte Belmonte Wines, Newsletter
Massachusetts is no Bordeaux. It’s no Napa. Perhaps with global warming, someday it will rival the great wine regions of the world, which is why I keep a tire fire burning in my backyard at all times. But given the limitations of our climate, are our burgeoning...
by Monte Belmonte | May 29, 2018 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Food + Booze, Food Booze and Beyond, Monte Belmonte Wines, Newsletter
How would you like to buy a bottle of Château Lafite Rothschild for $1.75? Maybe a bottle of Château Haut-Brion for $1.95? Interested in two bottles of Château Mouton-Rothschild for a whopping $2.95 each? Or go ahead and splurge on a case of Château Margaux for $25....
by Monte Belmonte | May 15, 2018 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Food + Booze, Food Booze and Beyond, Monte Belmonte Wines, Newsletter
“Our neighbor in France had a trained donkey and a goat. We noticed the donkey and goat were always together during the evenings. During the day the goat was around but the donkey was gone. He had trained his donkey to do weed control in the vineyard. The donkey was...
by Meg Bantle | Mar 28, 2018 | Articles, Food + Booze, Food Booze and Beyond, News, Newsletter
With the last of the snow (hopefully) behind us, many people across the Pioneer Valley are looking forward to celebrating religious holidays in the early Spring. I was not raised Christian Orthodox, but I often celebrated Easter with my family with Orthodox food and...
by Monte Belmonte | Mar 20, 2018 | Articles, Columns, Food Booze and Beyond, Monte Belmonte Wines, Newsletter
“There’s nothing in the Torah about the Passover Seder. We first hear of it about 2000 years ago in a book of Rabbinic custom and law called the Mishnah. And the first thing they talk about is that everyone has to have four cups of wine.” Well G-d, if you insist! I...
by Meg Bantle | Mar 7, 2018 | Articles, Columns, Food Booze and Beyond, Newsletter, O Cannabis!
Cannabis regulations were finally finalized on March 6 and Massachusetts marijuana enthusiasts have a lot to look forward to in 2018. Medical marijuana patients will be protected from shortages and applicants from communities worst affected by cannabis criminalization...
by Hunter Styles | Mar 7, 2018 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Food + Booze, Food Booze and Beyond, Newsletter, The Beerhunter
In 2011, Anheuser-Busch InBev bought the Chicago craft brewery Goose Island. Today, the international conglomerate owns stake in a dozen formerly-craft American breweries. (Leah Kelley photo) I used to bartend at one of the oldest dive bars in Western Mass,...
by Monte Belmonte | Mar 7, 2018 | Articles, Columns, Food + Booze, Food Booze and Beyond, Monte Belmonte Wines, Newsletter
“Weird. What the heck does it smell like? Roses? It tastes like Oil of Olay.” “It smells like…you know how, in spring, the buds are coming out on the trees? Like those trees that smell like sex?” “Like a ‘period’ tree.” “It smells like sex is about to happen. It...
by Chris Goudreau | Mar 6, 2018 | Articles, Food + Booze, Food Booze and Beyond, News, Newsletter
A limited edition craft beer called “the Farm to Trail Ale” was recently released on March 4 and celebrates the legacy of the Amherst-based Kestrel Land Trust, which has conserved more than 25,000 acres of forests and farmlands since the 1970s. The beer is a...
by Hunter Styles | Feb 12, 2018 | Columns, Featured, Food + Booze, Food Booze and Beyond, Newsletter, The Beerhunter
Chris Peterson tweaks his craft beer recipes the same way he works on multimillion-dollar military aircraft: very, very carefully. Peterson is a tech sergeant in the 439th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron at Westover Air Reserve Base in Chicopee. As a technician and...
by Monte Belmonte | Jan 16, 2018 | Articles, Columns, Food + Booze, Food Booze and Beyond, Monte Belmonte Wines
All natural. The kind of buzz words that make my extremely savvy, health-conscious wife cringe. When you see “natural flavors” on raspberry flavored items, it might as well read “flavors expressed from a beaver anus.” It’s true. Or at least it used to be. Google it....
by Advocate Staff | Dec 18, 2017 | Featured, Food Booze and Beyond, News, Newsletter
Let’s face it: We live in uncertain times. Seas are rising. The climate is changing. Nuclear-armed countries are escalating their rhetoric, with our own president making threats of nuclear strikes. Increased dependence on automation is making us ever more vulnerable...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Dec 18, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Food Booze and Beyond, News, Newsletter, The V-Spot
Dear Yana, I have a cold, dead heart. Well, not really but pretty much, yeah. I was married to my ex-wife for nearly a decade and the end of our relationship was really complicated. I feel almost certain that I don’t have the capacity to be in love or be in a...
by Hunter Styles | Dec 11, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Food + Booze, Food Booze and Beyond, Newsletter, The Beerhunter
Now that the colder months have blown in, bar managers across the Valley are pulling IPAs, pale ales, and pilsners from their tap handles to make room for some thicker, darker brews like stouts, porters, and barrel-aged specials. Seasonal variety is all well and good,...
by Hunter Styles | Nov 8, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Food + Booze, Food Booze and Beyond, News, The Beerhunter
Family-run business is the city’s first visitable craft brewery As the Valley’s local craft beer bubble continues to grow, Westfield looks primed for business. Downtown on Elm Street, Skyline Trading Company — a craft beer bar and homebrew shop — has proven a welcome...
by Kristin Palpini | Oct 23, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Food + Booze, Food Booze and Beyond, News, Newsletter, O Cannabis!
The harvest is in and I can’t believe the results. My husband and I didn’t weigh our cannabis haul from our home garden, but we were able to fill a bunch of regular-size salsa jars with marijuana. This is more than good enough for me! Like many weed enthusiasts in the...
by Kristin Palpini | Sep 11, 2017 | Articles, Missed Connections, News
The Missed Connections forum on Craigslist is a wasteland of terrible poetry, dick pics, and whining, but among the detritus are some truly fascinating, funny, and occasionally sweet entries. The following are highlights from the Western Mass Missed Connections forum,...
by Monte Belmonte | Sep 5, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Food + Booze, Food Booze and Beyond, Monte Belmonte Wines, News
You are reading a wine column that was written by a non-expert: a rank novice who has never worked in the wine industry, or the restaurant industry; who has never been to France (outside of Charles de Gaulle) or to California (outside of L.A.); and who, frankly, has...
by Kristin Palpini | Sep 5, 2017 | Articles, Missed Connections, News, Newsletter
The Missed Connections forum on Craigslist is a wasteland of terrible poetry, dick pics, and whining, but among the detritus are some truly fascinating, funny, and occasionally sweet entries. The following are highlights from the Western Mass Missed Connections forum,...
by Advocate Staff | Aug 21, 2017 | Articles, Missed Connections, Newsletter
The Missed Connections forum on Craigslist is a wasteland of terrible poetry, dick pics, and whining, but among the detritus are some truly fascinating, funny, and occasionally sweet entries. The following are highlights from the Western Mass Missed Connections forum,...
by Advocate Staff | Aug 14, 2017 | Articles, Food + Booze, Food Booze and Beyond, News, Newsletter
Whether you’re pulling an all-nighter cramming for a test, pub crawling with friends, working the graveyard shift, or just woke up in the middle of the night with the sudden urge for a slice of pizza, there are restaurants, diners, joints, and donut shops in the...
by Hunter Styles | Aug 4, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Food Booze and Beyond, Newsletter, The Beerhunter
The thing to remember about summer in the Valley — aside from which SPF to use and which local farm stands sell the best corn — is that it will be over before you know it. Sure, the swimming holes don’t really warm up until September, and the cows at Cook Farm gamely...
by Warren Johnston | Aug 9, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Food + Booze, Food Booze and Beyond, The Pour Man
Riojana; Rosé, 2016; La Rioja, Argentina, $6.99 Not only is Riojana rosé a very good wine that sells for an incredibly low price, but it is also a wine that you can feel good about drinking. Riojana wines are produced by La Riojana, a certified Fairtrade cooperative...
by Compiled By Kristin Palpini | Jul 24, 2017 | Articles, Missed Connections, Newsletter
The Missed Connections forum on Craigslist is a wasteland of terrible poetry, dick pics, and whining, but among the detritus are some truly fascinating, funny, and occasionally sweet entries. The following are highlights from the Western Mass Missed Connections forum,...
by Kristin Palpini | Jul 24, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Food Booze and Beyond, News, O Cannabis!
We’re no Nevada, but last week Massachusetts took two rippin’ steps toward weed legalization and protection in the state. First the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that a business cannot fire an employee for being a medical marijuana patient — a decision...
by Dave Eisenstadter | Jul 24, 2017 | Articles, Food + Booze, Food Booze and Beyond, News, Wellness
Why should the farmers have all the fun harvesting the fresh fruits and vegetables from their own farms? U-pick farms abound in the Pioneer Valley. Strawberry season has mostly gone by, but blueberries are ripe for the pickin’, and it won’t be long before apple season...
by Kristin Palpini | Jun 19, 2017 | Articles, Missed Connections, Newsletter
Compiled by Kristin Palpini The Missed Connections forum on Craigslist is a wasteland of terrible poetry, dick pics, and whining, but among the detritus are some truly fascinating, funny, and occasionally sweet entries. The following are highlights from the Western...
by Hunter Styles | Jun 5, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Food + Booze, Food Booze and Beyond, Newsletter, The Beerhunter
Any out-of-towner who would guess Western Mass has a quiet craft beer scene is bound for a rude, brewed awakening. But even locals may be surprised at the scope of the second annual Western Mass Beer Week, which runs June 10-17. Last year’s series of events at...
by Compiled And Illustrated By Kristin Palpini | May 30, 2017 | Articles, Missed Connections, News, Newsletter
The Missed Connections forum on Craigslist is a wasteland of terrible poetry, dick pics, and whining, but among the detritus are some truly fascinating, funny, and occasionally sweet entries. The following are highlights from the Western Mass Missed Connections forum,...
by Compiled And Illustrated By Kristin Palpini | May 22, 2017 | Articles, Missed Connections
The Missed Connections forum on Craigslist is a wasteland of terrible poetry, dick pics, and whining, but among the detritus are some truly fascinating, funny, and occasionally sweet entries. The following are highlights from the Western Mass Missed Connections forum,...
by Advocate Staff | Apr 19, 2017 | Articles, Food Booze and Beyond, Missed Connections
If you’ve never checked out Craigslist’s Missed Connection forum, you really should. The following is a sample from the Western Mass forum. Post dates have been added. Federal St, You were painting your house — m4w (Greenfield) About 3:45, I drove down federal...
by Kristin Palpini | Apr 18, 2017 | Articles, Food + Booze, Food Booze and Beyond, Taste-Off!
Cheesecake is one of the most decadent and delightful treats of all the sweets. A cheesecake should be fluffy and creamy, sugary and buttery, fresh and delicate. Because when it’s not, it’s a damn waste of calories slathered onto your hips. Being one of the best...
by Hunter Styles | Apr 10, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Food + Booze, Food Booze and Beyond, The Beerhunter
Two worthwhile breweries off exit 9 The naturalist John Muir once observed that “when one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.” I’m no bearded environmental philosopher, but I do like to kick back with a pint sometimes and...
by Compiled By Kristin Palpiniillustration By Catherine Gibbs | Apr 10, 2017 | Articles, Food Booze and Beyond, Missed Connections, Newsletter
If you’ve never checked out Craigslist’s Missed Connection forum, you really should. The following is a samples from the Western Mass forum. Post dates have been added. RR Restaurant 3/26 — m4w (Spfld) You are soooo attractive! We exchanged glances multiple times. I...
by Warren Johnston | Apr 3, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Food Booze and Beyond, Newsletter, The Pour Man
Les Hauts de Lagarde, Rouge Bordeaux, France; 2015. $12.99This is a period of transition on many fronts. There still may be snow on the ground and temperatures in the teens, but the warm spring sun is a clear signal that it’s time to start trimming down, putting...
by Kristin Palpini | Mar 27, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Food Booze and Beyond, News, Newsletter, O Cannabis!
Now that marijuana is legal, the perception of the drug is changing. We’re on the road of cannabis no longer being thought of as some seedy contraband in a sandwich bag tossed through a car window to potheads, but a varied, quality — and dare I say, refined —...
by Warren Johnston | Mar 13, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Food + Booze, Food Booze and Beyond, Newsletter, The Pour Man
Lunetta Prosecco is one of the hottest sparkling wine brands on the American market, and there’s a good reasonta why — it’s well-made, inexpensive and widely available, an excellent wine to celebrate. It also is lower than many wines in alcohol, about 11.5 percent, so...
