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.

Idyllic summer nights in Brooklyn leave little to be desired–unless you’re Q Tonic founder Jordan Silbert, that is. The gin and tonic lover discovered that the tonic water he was drinking four summer ago was chock full of artificial flavors and high fructose corn syrup, and in the name of not standing up for something so undignified, he set out to create a crisper tonic. After pulling together quinine from South America, organic agave and lovingly designed floral-inspired glass bottles, Silbert’s concoction can now be found at Gramercy Tavern and the Four Seasons in New York and NOPA in San Francisco. “One of the things that excites me most about Q Tonic is that it enables you to actually taste the difference between and gin and tonic made with different gins–a gin and tonic made with Plymouth and Q Tonic tastes very different than a G&T with Hendricks and Q Tonic,” says the drink maker, who slaved over the recipe in his Brooklyn kitchen for more than a few seasons. “Unlike when you use mass produced tonic waters, you can actually taste the different botanicals that make different gins great in their different ways.”

The term “fast food” usually applies to the speed in which a frozen hunk of processed mystery ingredients mutates into a wondrously cheap and edible delight; not the rate at which a seemingly innocuous old shipping box transforms into a chic new restaurant. Alas, MuvBox might change the meaning of fast food forever, not only with it’s unique sort of sanctuary, but also with the gourmet fare being dished out on site. The space-saving solar-powered Montreal eatery created by Daniel Noiseux serves up high quality cuisine using the finest of local ingredients. Customers delight in savory seafood pizza, lobster rolls and the like. And when the day is done and it’s time to shut up shop, it all goes back in the box in a matter of minutes. If you want to witness this magnifique mealtime miracle head to Montreal’s Old Port and satisfy your inner fast foodie.

Via Springwise

Fashion cupcakes shot by Swedish photographer Therese Aldgard and styled (or something like that) by Lisa Edsalv. Look for delicious pictures of Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Christian Louboutin and Betsey Johnson.

What, no vegan or gluten free Stella? Via High Snobiety

A pre-lunch visit to the online marketplace Foodzie is not for the faint of heart: the startup’s efforts to highlight the products of independent food producers includes images and details about cheeses, chocolates, and sauces that will make your mouth water. The artisan product provider earned recognition as one of BusinessWeek’s Best Young Tech Entrepreneurs earlier this year, and the results have been delicious.

While working for a private label market in North Carolina, Emily Olson, one of the three member Foodzie founder team (above in the middle), realized how hard it can be for small producers to get their products in front of retailers. The stories behind the foods and companies weren’t being well conveyed, and she set up shop with Rob LaFave and Nik Bauman to create a marketplace where producers could promote their products easily. “This lets them focus on chocolate or what they’re really good at,” said Olson, whose notable finds since starting the site have included truffle popcorn and almond butter crunch toffee. “We see ourselves as part of a bigger movement around more sustainable and high quality food. And even in a recession, we’ve found that people may not be going for big extravagances but are still buying small luxuries.” Sounds like it’s time for a gourmet pickle party pack.

Our pals at [Me] and Goji, the ones that let you “create and make your own healthy organic custom cereal an granola” are making the world a better place in the process. In celebration of Earth Day (today, folks), they have decided to go ahead and make a donation to American Forests for each Cereal Capsule ordered. So, if you order 1 mix, they plant 1 tree. 4 mixes, 4 trees. And of course, get your entire office to order and they’ll plant a forest (I’m going to try). It’s deliciously good– trust me, I made some Speareal with chocolate covered goji berries and it was absolutely great. Go, do it!

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We have eaten at a lot of tasty, beautiful, hidden and wonderful restaurants. When I made my way to Reef in Houston, TX I instantly found all of those things. A very attractive restaurant, visually– I was relieved to not see any blue or stuffed fish carcases hung all over the walls. Instead the restaurant felt like a 60s soft art-deco in a very open room with large windows for a really nice downtown feel. The settings and amazing food are worth the trip alone, but the really interesting thing about Reef comes from chef Bryan Caswell (checkout his personal fish blog). Raised in Houston, but training and cooking in coastal areas all over the world, Caswell has returned to Houston and opened up his own restaurant highlighting some of the overlooked fish from the Gulf of Mexico. A large majority of the fish on the menu at Reef come from the local waters (we approve). Besides the obvious cut back on shipping, it’s supporting the local fishermen. For a city that is infamous for being the fattest city in America (and thus the world), Reef is a gem of a contrast for it’s flavors and sustainability. But seriously, don’t forget to try the deserts, wow.

Since I started up cycling again, I’ve been thinking about how to help my body recover not only after, but during the ride. I drink a ton of water when I am doing cardio, but lately it occurred to me that if I’m going to be drinking anyway, I may as well bring electrolytes into the mix. Enter nuun (pronounced noon), a startup by a professor and student duo from Darthmouth’s business school. Nuun comes in five different flavors (such as orange ginger, lemon-lime, and citrus fruit) and is packaged in convenient tubes that hold 12 tablets each. Each tablet, when mixed with 500ml (16 oz) of water, forms the perfect hydration tool. It’s effervescent and two minutes after dropping it in (no stirring or shaking required) the tablet is completely dissolved. I love that once it’s dissolved, it’s not fizzy (harder than it sounds); the last thing I need to drink during my workout is something carbonated.

You are going to have to manage your carb intake because nuun has none. It is strictly sodium, potassium, magnesium and calcium. It contains no sugar nor does it leave a powdery residue at the bottom of your bottle. If you give nuun a try, tell us what you think!

We all try to eat healthy, but what do you do when it’s mid-afternoon and you need a pickup, but you need to stay at work? Usually that means a vending machine snack. That was until we discovered Graze. It’s a simple concept: fresh fruits are delivered to your office every couple days. Their website allows you to choose the natural snack you’d like and how often. Then, whatever day you select, a little box arrives just in time. Unfortunately it’s U.K. only. Delivered boxes begin at £2.99, which usually is cheaper and easier than running down to corner shop, and Graze has a special promotion running for half off your first box.

When you’re watching over a city, it’s imperative that you’ve got enough caffeine to get you through the night. So, put down the decaf and pick up a 10 oz. can of “Veidt Enterprise’s Nite Owl Dark Roast” created by celebrity photographer Clay Enos’s charitable coffee company, The Organic Coffee Cartel. Inspired by the coffee Dan and Laurie drink aboard the Night Owl, this limited-edition java blend is guaranteed to have you staring at the ceiling at 3 a.m — which, would be an ideal time for you to thumb through Watchmen Portraits, a book of photographs from Enos, the official photographer on the Watchmen set.

In addition, any customer who purchases a collectible blend before February 26 will have a chance win two tickets to the Los Angeles premiere and after-party for Watchmen from the OCC.