Ah yes, the Chocolate Invader. Molded with single origin 66% Dark Chocolate crafted from Costa Rican cacao. Made in New York. Deliciously geeky.

Buy now and it will arrive in a laser engraved wooden box– inside you will find a small poster, sticker, postcard and a bunch of pixels that you can eat. It looks like they’re made to order as it takes 4 days to get. Costs $25. Yum!

Jeff tipped me off to this. For better or for worse (I think the former), this is the future.

Gotham Greens is a hydroponic farm located on a rooftop in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. They will be growing a diverse range of lettuce, salad greens and culinary herbs. They just began harvesting this month!

Wandering around Sydney on my second night here, I found what turned out to be the gem of all gems– a small sushi restaurant in The Rocks area of town called Yoshii. No a la carte, just three different prix fixe menus to choose from.

I chose the Sashimi and Sushi course, which started with a small appetizer, and then a delightful array of beautiful fresh sashimi, and then sushi. The tuna, salmon (Tasmanian I assume) and unagi melted in my mouth. As good as any I’ve ever tasted. Between the sashimi and sushi courses I was given a lemon grass champagne sorbet to cleanse my pallet. A fantastic idea!

Next time I definitely need to try the long Yoshii Course menu though– with kitchen dish highlights like a seafood crepe filled with whiting and crystal bay prawn, and deep fried tooth fish tempura. I’ll be back before my trip is over, that’s for sure!

I love a good underdog story. Who else makes chocolate in Hershey, Pennsylvania (or the small farming community of Derry Church)? Well, Derry Church Artisan Chocolates does. They hand-produce world-class French style chocolate bon bons. They make a point on their website to note that their delicious gourmet chocolates are produced in small batches, by human beings, not machines. Who might they be comparing themselves to? They also use 100% organic and natural ingredients (and all their cream and butter comes from local PA dairy farms).

My favorite is the chocolate in a Japanese Bento Box. So great. Support Chef Cayton and the local underdogs!

I’ll definitely be grabbing some of these limited edition Dom Perignon Andy Warhol champagne bottles when they’re out in the USA. So gorgeous. Jean has more shots.

Inspired by Warhol’s unconventional representation of icons, and the playful use of codes and colour in his work, Dom Pérignon commissioned the Design Laboratory at Central Saint Martin’s School of Art & Design to reinterpret its timeless bottle. The result is a unique collection of three bottles, each with its distinct label in red, blue or yellow, paying homage to Warhol’s iconic colour games.

Is Art Art, Or Tea? Beautifully packaged organic Chinese Tea with a modern twist. Check it out.

The attitude of revv coffee is more “snap into a Slim Jim!” than Juan Valdez hauling beans on his donkey. But that’s fine, because most everyone we work with needs a decent caffeine jolt in the middle of the day. Revv uses a K-Cup system (the single-shot cup that’s used in Keurig coffee makers), each containing more Arabica beans than traditional ones — think more espresso, less Americano. They also have revv Pulse, which adds a little something extra: Ginseng and Guarana. They call it a “high octane” energy boost, we call it blowing through naptime.

If anyone out there wants to try some high test joe, we have three revv Launch Packs available. They include everything you need: a bunch of revv K-Cups, a brewer, and some mugs. Leave a comment below for a chance to win.

My friend Scott Belsky spent nearly 5 years writing “Making Ideas Happen: Overcoming The Obstacles Between Vision & Reality” – a book all about execution and how some of the most productive people and teams in the creative world operate. The book was published two days before his 30th birthday, so his wife went all out and made him a cake. The cake was tasty, and the book is now a bestseller on Amazon.

Making my own customized chocolate bar on Chocri right now. Over 10 billion possibilities. I’ll let you know how it turns out! Very nifty.

Mary & Matt are designers in New York. Chocolate Editions is their line of chocolates made with natural ingredients in small batches. It’s, as they put it, a celebration of the candy bar as a perfect pop object. The Black and White Bar, Neapolitan Bar, Strawberry Stripes Bar and my favorite, the Chocolate Pie Chart. Check ‘em out, looks delicious.

If there was ever a luxury beer made for food pairing, my South African buddy Rui created it with Collective Sao Gabriel. And damn, they did such an incredible job with packaging. Wonder how it tastes? Stay tuned.

It might be the weather, the water, or the love with which it’s made, but regardless of the cause, the fact remains that the gelato is just better in Italy. Most gelaterias in Rome are pretty amazing. Of course, there are ones that are sub-par too (Blue Ice is the chain you’ll run into frequently). But for true craft gelato, the only choice is San Crispino. For the last couple of decades it’s been the gelateria that’s stayed true to the art of gelato, using only fresh, local ingredients and constantly striving to innovate new flavors. In the past 24 hours I’ve been to their location by the Trevi fountain three times. Here are my flavor combos: strawberry and Barolo wine (made with a 15-year-old bottle), honey and ginger & cinnamon, and hazelnut and plum. I’ve only scratched the surface and I’m already addicted.

I lived in Bangkok from age zero to thirteen and only realized I took true Thai food for granted after I spent some time in the US. Yes, it’s true that there’s plenty of Thai folk working their culinary magic right here in America (especially in New York), but I’d given up hope for perfectly authentic Thai food until I experienced SriPraPhai, a little spot in Queens that made me miss home more than ever. The place is not exactly fancy, but that just adds to the effect, reminiscent of the Thailand I remember where the best food is at street level and won’t cost you much. While I’ve always favored beef noodle soup, that’s about the most basic thing on the extensive menu, which includes obscure items from every region. Go there once and take a Thai person with you. They’ll agree, the proof is in the spicy som tam.

Gross. Awesome. Cheeseburger Cupcakes. Grossly awesome.

My boyfriend surprised me on my birthday with these amazning little cupcakes. They were a huge hit so we decided to make a how-to page for everyone that always asks about them. By Kate Wienburg from Toronoto.

It’s not often that someone throws a birthday party and gives you a present. Checking in with my local beer wholesaler last week, Stone’s 13th Anniversary Ale is now widely available on the East Coast. Like most of Stone’s best work, the brewery’s first Imperial IPA/Double Red offering has more hops than a froggie jamboree (those that just bought The State on DVD know what I’m talking about). Tons of dry-hopping give it the citrus aroma and bitter-smooth finish, and the “Imperial” in the name means you’re looking at a bell-ringing 9.5% ABV. The sadists over at Stone put their usual 1000 word diatribe on the back of the bottle, but bring up a good point as Good Beer Month comes to a close: in these trying times, invest in what really matters.