If you've ever flown into or out of the San Francisco airport, you have probably looked out the window and wondered about those weird red ponds scattered along the edge of the Bay. Wonder no more: they're sea salt harvesting ponds!

I was recently invited along on Diamond Crystal Salt's annual sea salt harvest right here in the San Francisco Bay. Let me tell you, it was a fascinating trip from Bay to box. Oh, and why the startling red color in those ponds? You'll never guess. More

Helen Russell and Brooke McDonnell of Equator Coffees and Tea got into the coffee business fifteen years ago with two retail coffee shops in San Francisco and Oakland. After three years of rising with the sun, they decided it was time to switch gears. They wanted to have more control over the roasting process and be transparent about the way it was done--something that wasn't happening in the industry at the time. More

Jeni Britton Bauer has a thing or two to tell artisans who want to create and sell good local food. "Be a rock star. You have to go out there and go at it like you're trying to be President of the United States." In other words, you probably need to do what she did: Work 80 hours a week. Don't take a salary for years. Be on your toes every single day. This is part of Jeni's story, which has become a story of truly local food making good on a wildly successful scale.

We visited Jeni a few weeks ago to hear her story in person, and to visit the kitchen where all her delicious ice cream is made. But that's not all: She's working on a book, and we wanted a sneak peek of the goodies that home cooks are going to get when it's released next summer. More

Flying cupcakes, rogue banana pops, a sleeping nook behind the refrigerator ... where on earth is this kitchen?! It depends on who you ask. Yummyclare, the kooky character who lives in this kitchen, and the kids (and adults) who are obsessed with her cooking show would tell you it's located between the walls of the little girl Una's house. A less imaginative, yet equally splendid, answer would be that it's inside Clare Crespo's Los Angeles garage. Either way, this is one enchanting place.

More

Boulevard Beer has just hit its 20th anniversary here in Kansas City, Missouri. They started out small and have grown over the last two decades, to be the largest craft brewer in the Midwest and largest independently owned brewery in Missouri. We only have one conflict with this local beverage institution and that's between which is more beautiful, the beer they make — or the actual brewery itself. Join us for a tour!

More

One of the benefits to living in the Midwest is being able to witness the amazing skill and artistry that goes into the competitive art of smoking meats. Every October, fleets of vehicles pulling smokers of all shapes and sizes pour into our city and the year's best smelling party and competition takes place. This year we brought our camera so we could give you a tour.

More

We seem to spend a lot of time bemoaning the state of food in America. There's so much that isn't the way it ought to be that sometimes we forget to celebrate and appreciate places that are producing food in creatively sustainable ways. One of those places is Snowville Creamery in southeast Ohio. We visited Snowville to bring you a peek at a dairy that is doing things right. Take a quick trip with us to this tiny creamery; you'll see a few herds of happy, healthy, sociable cows, and an owner who is practically a force of nature himself.

More

We don't do restaurant reviews or restaurant chatter here at The Kitchn. We focus on the ways that home cooking can transform your home into an even more nourishing space. But what happens if your passion for food overflows? What if you want to make your table bigger — big enough to feed a neighborhood?

That's what happened to Molly of Orangette and her husband, Brandon. They extended their kitchen table into one big enough to fill a restaurant called Delancey, which is opening tonight. And we have just a little peek for you. More

Something's brewing in NYC's Nolita. Hidden away down a narrow flight of concrete steps off Lafayette St. is Pravda, an atmospheric Russian bar-bistro. Infused with the rich, warm tones of well-worn wood and old leather, and accented with earthy reds, Pravda's Old World style doesn't end with the decor. Earlier this week, I visited their bar kitchen to find out more...
More

This being Ice Cream Month and all, we wanted to focus on the ingredients and producers that let us make this sweet creamy treat. So today we have another sort of treat for you: a tour of a dairy farm!