Tons of story leads and a dose of raw vegan nostalgia

And a cautionary tale ...

Hi Friends!

Before I concentrated on food and travel writing (way back in the stone age!) I was predominantly a beauty writer. And I remember there was a point about a decade ago that SO MANY of the press lunches I attended were at Pure Food & Wine.

Now, it's no secret I'm a mega carnivore and always have been. However, I loved this raw vegan restaurant, which, at the time, was one of the "of the moment" spots. Even though I rarely was able to attend daytime events, even then, I tried my best to never miss those lunches!

It's part of why I was so enthralled watching the Bad Vegan documentary last weekend, and why I was extra excited to write today's story for The Kitchn. The original chef from Pure Food & Wine is doing a ghost kitchen in partnership with Netflix and Postmates, and NYCers who miss that awesome raw vegan lasagna will be able to score the meal for free (yes, totally free!) tomorrow and Saturday. Read my story for all the details. (And I'm so excited to be able to enjoy a preview of the meal today. I will share how much it resembles the original on my Instagram this afternoon....)

In other plant-based news (I’m feeling extra Park Slope today!), later this afternoon I’m scheduled to take a virtual mixology class that involves using fresh herbs from my window garden. As those are two of my favorite hobbies combined, it’s sure to be a good one.

More newly published stories

Pawp: Dog Ate A Grape? What To Do If Your Dog Eats Grapes

Clean Plates: 6 Delicious Ways to Supercharge Your Morning Coffee for Increased Health, According to Nutritionists

If you or your client are featured in any of these stories, please be sure to share on social media. It's very appreciated!

Here's what I'm working on:

Be sure to read the below list carefully. Many are stories I posted about yesterday, but some of yesterday's stories are no longer listed and a few new ones have been added since yesterday. This (below) is everything that is still a currently open opportunity as of today.

RetailMeNot

1 - Mother's Day Jewelry Under $100.  I'm trying to include choices from Amazon, Walmart, Target, but absolutely open to a few from non-giant-retailers too for great finds.

2 - Stores Closed on Easter Sunday (+ Easter Store Hours for 2022) -- I realize this reads like the flip side of the Today.com story I'm also working on, but there's a few subtle differences. I'm updating this story - so if you represent any of the stores in it, I would love it if you can contact me to let me know if your hours have changed or not for Easter, or when you will know. While the TODAY story is just restaurants, this is all sorts of stores, from grocery stores to department stores. Please assume that something needs to be a chain to be included, so your one-off location of a sushi shop doesn't really apply.

Clean Plates

I'm rounding up kosher for passover healthy recipes that can be found online. NOT looking for cookbooks but rather from food blogs that I can link to. We're trying to keep things healthy, so consider...say, a cauliflower kugel, brisket with no added sugar, etc. Please email me a link to the blog/recipe and a description to be considered - and remember, we're trying to keep this healthy, and also to ingredients that are kosher for passover.

The Best Items To Buy From Trader Joe's For Really Fast, Low-Lift Lunches According to Nutritionists - so these are the quick and easy lunches - the bowls, the wraps, the salads, the prepared meals, etc - that come nutritionist-recommended (and why!). I'm looking to include a mix of prepared foods (like some of the premade salads, sandwiches, and soups), some frozen options, and one or two super-fast (like under-5-minute) kits that you can saute together real quick or whatever? And some DIY options, like their smoked trout + one of their healthier lettuce mixes + their plantain croutons + their green goddess dressing = a fantastic lunch salad that comes together fast. Would love RDs and nutritionists to weigh in on this one please!

Please email me and I'll give you a rundown of specific questions and what I'm looking for.

Today.com

I'm looking for restaurant chains nationwide doing special deals/discounts for tax day. If you have any, please email me with what the restaurant is (chains only please), what the freebie/discount/deal is, and how to claim it.

Forbes.com 

 For Forbes.com I'm rounding up Kosher For Passover wines and spirits for an upcoming story. I'm also doing a story on fun finds in Kosher For Passover snacks/treats/new products. These items must exist online and they MUST be shippable. And please please make sure the item is kosher for passover certified (that's a different thing than kosher, so if something is kosher, it's not necessarily KFP) - I'll do a dedicated newsletter soon explaining the difference for anyone who doesn't quite understand. But meanwhile, you can always email me questions. And, please, pitch me!

For Forbes, I'm also doing a roundup of fun Easter-themed desserts and cocktails at restaurants and bars. This HAS to be dishes/drinks that ARE or WILL be ont he menu (so if you are a vodka brand don't just send me a recipe for a drink that may exist on your website, it has to exist at a bar that someone can go visit.) - if you have anything to pitch me, please do so in the following format:

Drink/dish name

where sold (name of restaurant or bar, city, state, URL of website)

description (do NOT want or need a recipe)

quote from bartender or chef about the drink/dish

high-res image

Would love responses for this one by March 29 please.

To pitch me for ANY of these stories, please email me at alywalansky@gmail.com (and start a new thread, please!).

Job leads

Food Network & Cooking Channel New York City Wine & Food Festival is hiring a social media contractor from May-October. If you're interested, shoot them an email at info@nycwff.org

PR Pros & DTC brands

Last chance to secure your spot in the Affiliate PR Masterclass (and at a deeper discounted rate!) that kicks off March 29th! This four-week live Zoom training intensive will teach you the basics and how-tos of affiliate marketing, managing an affiliate program, and scaling an affiliate PR program by securing high-rev affiliate articles. All sessions will be recorded (so you can buy now and watch later)!

Hosted by Kaila O'Connor of KMO Consulting who comes from PR agencies and Emma Moon of Moonbeam Consulting who comes from in-house growth - the two combine their experience running 50+ successful affiliate PR programs for DTC brands in an effort to train others how to start, scale and manage successful affiliate PR programs. Masterclass price is $2,500 - BUT if you use ALY500 at checkout you'll receive $500 off now through April 1. Learn more and secure your spot here.

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Please don’t do this

Earlier this week, someone who had been a paid subscriber for all of one month decided to unsubscribe. That’s fine, that’s her business. However, she decided to do so by disputing the charge for that month’s subscription through her credit card rather than just…clicking unsubscribe on her email or emailing me and asking me to handle it for her. Either would have been fine.

But, I suppose, those *normal* options were not dramatic enough for her? Anyway, her way of doing this resulted in me being charged a penalty fee worth several months subscription. In other words, her very short stint as a paid subscriber ended up costing me money. Please don’t do this. I try to keep these rates as low as possible for paid subscribers (about the cost of taking someone out for a monthly coffee!) and this newsletter is meant as a public service more than anything else - but I’d appreciate if it doesn’t end up COSTING me money.

If at any point, you ever don’t want to be here anymore, you leave with my best wishes and good tidings. (But I sure as hell hope you stick around! We’re having fun, right?)

No one else has done anything like this, and I assume that this person just had her own issues, but keep in mind that you do not live in a vacuum and your deeds can harm other people and their livelihood.

Sorry for that little bit of soap box. Have a wonderful afternoon! I have to set up for cocktail class!

<3

aly