Natasha’s Mulberry & Mott grows, just a little

Mother and daughter owners Vicki and Natasha Goellner were determined to protect the artisanal nature of their business when they decided to split the production and retail parts of their business, leasing a storefront on the Country Club Plaza and production space in Waldo.

Boulevard’s Neil Witte is a certified beer geek

To earn the title of master cicerone, Witte put his encyclopedic craft brew knowledge and keen palate to the test. The grueling two-day affair included 10 hours of written questions, two hours of oral questions and two hours of beer tasting and evaluation.

Heavenly angel food cake from Conception Abbey

Guerric Letter, a monk, priest and the assistant kitchen manager at the abbey, offers up the recipe for this devilishly good treat that was handed down to him by a childhood neighbor from Black Creek, Wis., where he grew up the youngest of 11 children.

Orange Box cafe’s fans range from bankers to bikers

Chef Scott Welsch’s funky cafe across from the Roasterie factory is in an unlikely neighborhood of warehouses, businesses and a few modest homes. But last year’s opening of the Roasterie factory café drew in droves of downtown office workers and artists hungry for his fresh, from-scratch food.

Rawxies treats take vegan mainstream

Rawxies — a cross between “raw” and “foxy” — are oat-based, heart-shaped snacks are aimed at the mainstream consumer looking for a healthy indulgence rather than a Clif-style energy bar power lift.

Primo Tap is a revolutionary way to serve wine

Brad Harsha’s Primo Tap system works much like beer lines. Wine is pushed out of a cask through tubes and dispensed through a tap. As the wine level drops in the cask, nitrogen gas fills the space to prevent the wine from coming into contact with oxygen, so the last glass tastes the same as the first.

Rare beer for $5 a glass at Haus

Haus co-owner Desmond Carr learned that many brews he was interested in had extremely limited availability. Instead of turning down interesting beers that could not be purchased in large enough quantities to put on the permanent menu, Carr brings in one scarce beer a month and sells it for $5 a glass until it runs out.

Boulevard beer byproducts make better steak

Every couple of days an 18-ton truck drives up to the Boulevard Brewing Co. plant on Southwest Boulevard and hooks up hoses to empty a silo of spent grain. The grain is hauled to Nunemaker-Ross Farms in Lawrence, where it is fed to a herd of about 900 head of cattle.

The Jacobson elevates flask service

At the Crossroads Arts District restaurant, mixologists are funneling original craft cocktails into 8.5-ounce or 17-ounce clear glass flasks, which are then set in an ice-filled silver bowl in the middle of the table. A server pours out the first drink into glasses filled with rocks that guests can then refill on their own.

Jude’s Rum Cakes finds a new spirit

When owner Craig Adcock learned of a rum maker in the 9th Ward of New Orleans that was struggling to regain its footing after the post-Katrina flooding, he toured the factory, tasted the rum and decided to make the switch.

K-State teaches food safety in its Olathe kitchens

Since August 2011 more than 3,300 students from across Johnson County have visited the campus kitchens, which include cooking spaces for consumer sensory testing, as well as a theater kitchen and classrooms, in the International Animal Health and Food Safety Institute building.