WISSOTZKY’S EXOTIC CHAI TEAS
Hello Foodie Friends,
On occasion we do gourmet product reviews and today’s post is on Wissotzky’s Exotic Chai Teas. I was sent a variety box to try out which is what I did over the last couple of months. While I enjoyed them all, the Pumpkin Spiced Chai proved to be my favorite. Here’s a little more about the teas. Please share with us what your favorite is and whether you tried it hot, cold with milk or other non dairy substitute.
WISSOTZKY’S EXOTIC CHAI TEAS QUENCH CONSUMERS’ THIRST FOR INDULGENT HOT AND ICED BEVERAGES

New Varieties Bring Intriguing, Spicy Warmth to Cold Winter Days And Delicious Refreshment in Spring & Summer
Four intoxicating varieties are perfect to start off your day, for an afternoon pick me up or an after dinner treat. Simply brew and serve with milk and sweetener as desired or serve them over ice for a flavorful iced beverage.
Salted Caramel Chai: a sweet and savory beverage redolent of warm cinnamon, ginger root, cloves, sea salt, and cardamom.
Ginger and Turmeric: the earthy flavor of turmeric (known for its health benefits) blended with ginger root, cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom.
Spiced Nana Mint: robust, flat-leaf Mediterranean mint complemented by cinnamon, ginger root, cloves, cardamom, and pepper.
Pumpkin Spiced Chai: a toasty balance of cinnamon and ginger with pumpkin pieces, cloves, cardamom, black pepper, and chili. Bayonne, NJ, JUNE 19, 2019– With today’s exploding fascination with international cuisines, American palates are increasingly eager to experience bolder, spicier flavors. That’s why more and more consumers are indulging in chai tea – a blend of aromatic herbs, spices and black tea that can be enjoyed, as Indian custom dictates, sweetened with milk or iced for a uniquely refreshing experience.
Wissotzky Tea Company is satisfying our mass demand for chai – and need for convenience – with its new Artisan Spiced Tea collection. Each blend artfully pairs hand-selected premium black tea leaves with market spices, herbs, and other natural ingredients. Each carefully crafted blend is packed in a delicate pyramid tea bag that allows for the perfect release of aroma and flavor.
How to Make The Perfect Iced Tea
Hot-Brewed:
Bring 8 cups water to a simmer; remove from the heat and add 6 tea bags. … Let steep about 4 minutes, until it’s the strength you like. Remove the tea bags. Let cool, then transfer to a pitcher, cover and refrigerate.
Cold-Brewed:
Combine 8 cups cold water and 10 tea bags in a pitcher. Cover and refrigerate 15 to 36 hours, until it’s the strength you like. Remove the tea bags.
Serve in Tall Glass with Lemon wedge or a few berries for an extra kick of flavor.
Like all Wissotzky products, the Artisan Spiced Tea collection is OU kosher and non-GMO. It is available in packs of 6 per case (MSRP $4.99 per 16-serving box).
Wissotzky, Family owned and operated since 1849. Wissotzky travels the world’s tea gardens and exotic spice markets to deliver exceptional blends for tea lovers everywhere.
Its products are distributed by KAYCO (www.kayco.com), the leading purveyor of kosher foods in the U.S.
Wissotzky Tea is an international, family-owned tea company based in Israel with offices in London and the United States. It is the leading tea distributor in Israel. Founded in 1849 in Moscow, Russia, it became the largest tea firm in the Russian Empire.
Until we drink again…
I send you delicious wishes, xo
Denise
Tavern on the Glades – Whole Foods Market Boca Raton
Hello Foodie Friends,
I am sorry for the big gap in between posts. I have been busy growing my company. Lots of exciting things will soon be revealed. A brand new website is just one of the things you can expect to see before the end of the year, woo hoo!
For any of you who have ever been on one of our culinary tours, you probably received a goodie bag provided by one of our sponsors, Whole Foods Market, which we fill with info and offers from each of the places we took you to during the tour, plus a sample from another sponsor, Sheila G’s Brownie Brittle.
Today’s blog post will be short and sweet. I wanted to let those of you in or near the Boca Raton Whole Foods Market location know that you should make a point to stop into their new Tavern on the Glades. This full service sit-down eatery located inside the store celebrates flavor and features all-day breakfast, pub burgers, amazing salads, sandwiches and more. At the Tavern, guests can choose from 16 craft beers on tap, Sommelier selected wines and non-alcoholic beverages.
TAVERN HOURS ARE 8AM TO 9PM, DAILY
Whole Foods Market is located at 1400 Glades Road, Boca Raton, FL 33431 561.447.0000
Check out their menu!
Until we eat again…
I send you delicious wishes, xo
Denise
FitFoodz That Make You Feel Fantastic!
Hello Foodie Friends,
Well as the healthy eating trend continues and the number of restaurants & cafe’s that serve this market continue to pop up, I’m happy to share with you one that I believe is a true trend setter in this arena. Today’s feature is on Fit Foodz Cafe, located in West Boca (Clint Moore Rd & 441). I had met Susan Klein, the owner of Fit Foodz Cafe years ago when I still worked for Investments Limited and organized a health food fair in Royal Palm Place right around the time she was starting Fit Foodz Cafe, back in 2011. Susan’s passion for reinventing comfort foods in a healthier way stemmed from her own personal desire to change her lifestyle after being in the restaurant industry for over 20 years, to lose weight and eat healthier, in addition to incorporating an exercise regime into her schedule.
Fit Foodz Cafe offers a wide variety of healthy meals, including breakfast, lunch, dinner, homemade snacks, refreshing juices and replenishing smoothies. Also offered are the popular individually portioned meals that change weekly to keep things interesting. Susan’s mission is to ensure her customers are able to enjoy healthy food that is both delicious and satisfying. And boy does she accomplish this! The dishes are sooooooo creative and super tasty!!! Check out some of the many delicious dishes we got to try during a recent blogger tasting:
This tuna poke has skyrocketed to becoming one of my all time favorites! My tablemates and I couldn’t stop eating this but reluctantly stopped knowing we had so much more before us yet to taste, lol! Don’t let the “hot sweet chili sauce” in the title scare you if you are sensitive to heat. It’s really not hot at all, take it from this heat whimp.
Just look at those strawberries…do you think they could be more perfect?!? The answer is NO! They were served at the peak of their ripeness and so sweet and delicious and paired extremely well with the goat cheese and nuts. It was unanimous, we all loved this salad. The combination of ingredients played very nicely together creating a very balanced dish.
Nut lovers rejoice. This salad is made in your honor and has your name written all over it! It is packed with a whole lot of nuts, so much so that for me, I found it a bit hard to detect the mixed greens.
I loved, loved this dish. The zucchini zoodles were so yummy (and long!!!) I would have these any day over regular spaghetti noodles. The sauteed veggies were cooked perfectly and the sauce was out of this world. I loved all the flavors and can’t wait to come back and have this dish again…
I have to admit I was a little skeptical when I saw we were being served chicken pad Thai because let’s face it, last time I checked, we were not in a Thai restaurant and that is the only place I have ever had this dish before. I was pleasantly surprised that all components of this dish came together and the flavor profiles were spot on and riveled any pad Thai you might find at your local Thai restaurant, but I bet this tasty healthy version will leave you feeling a little lighter.
I was excited to see this on our tasting menu because I had only been to Fit Foodz once before and had this dish and loved it, so I couldn’t wait to have it again. I can’t recommend it enough. Come, try, fall in love! 🙂
-Gluten free choc cake/brownies- gluten free all purpose flour, raw cocoa, egg whites, vanilla, canola oil, water, baking powder, raw turbinado- for the brownies I added some natural peanut butter, for the cake I added a vegan frosting
-Almond butter cookies- almond butter, raw turbinado sugar, baking soda, egg whites and choc chips.
-Raw bars- homemade almond butter and date paste, chia, almonds, walnuts, vanilla, pumpkin seeds, raw protein, vegan choc chips, coconut flakes, almond milk
I couldn’t believe how delicious the gluten free desserts were! I didn’t miss the gluten one bit.
Susan Klein was on to something 7 years ago and thanks to her and her dedicated staff at Fit Foodz Cafe, through their hard work and deliverance of exceptional quality food, they have become a staple in the lives of many in the South Florida region.
In addition to her thriving business, Susan has touched the community of South Florida with her philanthropy. She has donated both food and money to many charities and organizations and also participates in local events to show her support. “Giving back to my community is of the utmost importance,” she says. “If we thrive as a community, we can also thrive as individuals.”
Well said Susan, and we wish you many more continued years of success and hope that our readers come in and tell you they heard about you from Denise Righetti from Savor Our City.
Fit Foodz Cafe is located at 9704 Clint Moore Rd, A-108, Boca Raton 561.451.1420
Hours of Operation: Mon – Fri 9am – 8pm; Sat – Sun 9:30am – 7pm
Until we eat again…
I send you delicious wishes, xo
Denise
The World’s First Banini Was Created…
Dear Foodie Friends,
A Banini, you ask? Certainly. The magnificent union of a bagel and a hot fresh pressed panini. It’s not only brilliant, but it’s delicious! I was invited for a tasting of a variety of banini, amongst other delicious items at the Brooklyn Water Bagel Company, the brand behind this creation, at their Fifth Avenue Shops location on Federal Highway in Boca Raton.
The Aha Moment
The aha moment struck one fateful Thanksgiving dinner when Steve Fassberg realized the recipe for success had been there all along. The seeds for Brooklyn Water Bagel and replicating that New York bagel were actually planted early on in his childhood. For Fassberg, creating the ideal bagel began the moment it clicked: “It’s all about the water.”
Precious Cargo
At the age of 13, Brooklyn-born Steve Fassberg trekked from Massapequa, New York to Miami, Florida, hauling bags full of NY bagels in the plane’s overhead compartment. He was bringing the Big Apple staples to his grandparents, whom upon seeing Fassberg exclaimed not “hello,” but “did you bring the bagels?!” Fassberg’s grandparents hadn’t eaten a good one since leaving New York and it was because the quality of water in Florida, they reasoned, didn’t match that of the New York water they had been accustomed to. New York water and its properties created that perfectly crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside combination.
The Beginning
The bagel visionary, a larger than life personality, cut his teeth in the world of entrepreneurship earlier than most. During the day, he poured his hours into banking and working with mortgage financing. At night he moonlighted as a restaurateur. By the age of only 21, he had saved up $80,000, just enough to open his very first deli. The Fassberg Kosher Deli in Flushing, Queens, furnished with booths made in Fassberg’s own garage by him and his friends, was opened in April of 1983 to huge success. In 1985, at the age of 25, Fassberg sold the deli for over a million dollars, marking the first of his many highly successful ventures in the restaurant industry.
It’s All About the Water
The visionary continued his career in investment banking, all the while opening and selling a roster of fruitful delicatessen and restaurant concepts. One Thanksgiving dinner, a new idea struck. The phrase “It’s all about the water” hit home once again and Fassberg dove into the chance create the perfect bagel, right here in Florida.
Brooklyn Water Bagel didn’t spring to life right away. Fassberg dedicated months of research to discovering and creating the perfect bagel, which involved not only the right oven, temperature and baking stone, but also the right water. New York pizza and bagels are so good, he discovered, because of the water. It was the only thing in baking that seemingly couldn’t be kept consistent everywhere, until then.
With the help of various water treatment companies and experts, Fassberg discovered what went into the ideal water and what had to go out. He utilized a 14-step system that purified the Florida water by methods like reverse osmosis and reduction of ions, removing from it the chlorine and ammonia present and neutralizing its pH level, among other processes, that would render it “Brooklynized™”.
- Monte Cristo fresh-roasted turkey, ham, melted Swiss cheese, thousand island dressing
- Chicken Bacon Avocado fresh-roasted chicken, fresh avocado, baby spinach, crisp bacon, tomato, lemon aioli
- Chicken/Turkey BLT fresh-roasted chicken or turkey, crisp bacon, lettuce, tomato
Development of Concept
Once Fassberg’s water formula was in place, it was time to create the concept which would support a world class bagel product. The next few months were focused on testing menu opinions, Brooklyn design elements and of course the creation of Cubsta “iced coffee” cubes. This is a real treat. Be sure to stop in and try one of their iced coffees using these special coffee ice cubes. You’ll be hooked for sure!
Breaking Bread with Larry
After being open only a short time in Delray Beach, Florida, Fassberg had wild success by virtue of the first authentic New York bagel produced outside New York. Armed only with a really great recipe for a bagel and a shared passion for Brooklyn, he was able to land the attention of iconic television and radio host Larry King. Fassberg flew to Los Angeles to meet with King, who couldn’t believe the bagel he was eating was made outside New York. By 2010, moved by Fassberg’s passion for Brooklyn and creating a product so well thought out and unique, King signed on to be Brooklyn Water Bagel’s first franchisee and national spokesperson.
Now, the company has 25 location in 6 states around the country, including Florida, North Carolina, Maryland, California, Georgia and Massachusetts. In addition to featuring authentic Brooklyn-style bagels, The Original Brooklyn Water Bagel menu includes egg sandwiches, deli sandwiches, omelets and muffins along with a variety of farm-sourced and artisan-roasted coffee blends.
For more info on the company, check out their website.
They are located at: 2250 N. Federal Highway, Boca Raton, FL 33431
(561) 206-6821
They are open every day from 6am – 3pm.
I want to thank my friends at The Gab Group and Josh and Joe at the Brooklyn Water Bagel Company for having myself and my companion in to try out this lovely assortment. Thumbs up on food and hospitality. We will be back!
Until we eat again…
I send you delicious wishes, xo
Denise
Beach Park Cafe
Hello Foodie Friends,
When’s the last time you took a trip to Lithuania? Well if you’re like me, never. Fortunately, I have discovered a cute little Cafe that just opened up in East Boca, just steps away from the beach and now you can taste a little of Lithuania (and European fare) without having to take a transatlantic flight.
Beach Park Cafe is owned by Lithuanian husband and wife, Vaidas and Luiza who had previously been in the wholesale distribution business overseas for 20 years. With the help of their daughter Egle who handles the company’s social media marketing as well working there at the Cafe a couple days a week to relieve her parents, along with Chef Anthony who was brought in to help out in the small open kitchen, the team work together efficiently to bring the customers in and convert them into loyal repeat customers, one bite at a time, and it’s working!
Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to bring a friend with me to try the place out for lunch. It was just before noon when we arrived and the place was quiet, a couple other tables inside and one or two more outside. We immediately met the owners, Vaidas and Luiza and they showed us to a table. We discussed some tasting options and off went Vaidas to the kitchen while Luiza stayed behind and talked with us openly about their journey that brought them to owning this cute little Cafe in Boca Raton, FL.
We started off with teas (iced for my companion) and hot for myself, although they are known for their great coffees…
While we were waiting for our first tasting course to come out, we were delivered samples of their Lazy Cake: this refrigerated cake-like sweet is very famous in Lithuania and other countries in that part of the world . It is not actually a real cake, as it contains no flour or eggs, and no baking is required, so it’s so easy that anyone can make, that’s why it’s called “Lazy Cake”. Apparently, in those countries, it is common to keep some in the freezer to take it out in any emergency in the case of unexpected visits. Even though I never heard of this scrumptious treat before, several recipes came up on my Google search. For those of you familiar with the Boca restaurant Flakowitz, it kind of reminds me of the little cake they put out at the tables when you sit down for a meal there.
The Beach Park Cafe has several panini on the menu and the one we decided to try was chicken saltimbocca. I liked the idea of having this classic Italian entree served between two pieces of bread and pressed. The panini are served on sour dough bread which is imported frozen from Europe and baked fresh there. The description sounded appealing and the sandwich worked! Two thumbs up on this one. The pickle by the way is not your typical pickle either, made with very little vinegar in the pickling process. (for what it’s worth).
The Park Cafe is very proud of their crepes and so it was decided that we should try one of their savory and one of their dessert crepes.
Forget the traditional bagel, cream cheese and lox…time for a European twist on this American classic. The bagel replaced by a light and airy crepe, the cream cheese replaced with a ricotta and sour cheese mixture with spring onions and topped with a mornay sauce (sort of like a béchamel sauce with cheese) and capers. It was very large and very filling. We both enjoyed this dish, two thumbs up!
Now in all fairness, we did not have the time to stay and eat our dessert crepe there and this pic was taken after it had been put in the refrigerator to be eaten at a later time. I don’t recommend doing that, as it didn’t look as pretty as when it was initially presented and there’s nothing like having a fresh warm crepe right off the crepe maker. They have some really interesting dessert crepes on the menu, so I will definitely go back and try either the Nutella Banana, Honey Lemonello or the Dolce de Leche next.
The Park Cafe serves breakfast & lunch all day, so you can basically have brunch here anytime you come in! Here’s a sample of one of their breakfast specials:
I’m definitely coming back to try this French Eggs Benedict. It sounds right up my alley! Ooh la la!
The Beach Cafe is located at 896 E. Palmetto Park Rd, just west of the beach pavilion. Call ahead for take out, eat there or they will deliver to the beach pavilion. Other deliveries may be made through Delivery Wow through their website. Catering is also available. 561-430-3899.
They are open Monday – Thursday 9AM – 4PM; Friday – Sunday 9AM – 6PM
Check out their menu here.
Until we eat again…
I send you delicious wishes, xo
Denise