Sam Stone
Senior Editor
Sam Stone reports on nearly everything for BA, including food culture, restaurant news, and sneaky cooking ideas that (hopefully) make your life easier. A Rhode Island native, he’s currently based in New York City where he can usually be found searching out the city’s best bakeries. Before BA, he spent years working in fine dining while also writing for several publications about food, queer culture, entertainment, and how they intersect. In his free time, Sam occasionally writes humor pieces like this one. samstone.nyc
Cooking
The Best Store-Bought Marinara, According to Our Taste Test
We tasted 17 jars of pasta sauce. These are the ones we’d recommend.
Culture
When Is a Line Worth It?
And other questions I asked myself chasing New York's most elusive reservation
Culture
American Food Safety Is in Its Flop Era
Plus the snack hyperacceleration, our golden age of pickles, and more.
Culture
Gen Z is Drinking Again, I Guess
Plus RFK Jr.’s YouTube cooking show, the fires in Bordeaux, and more
Culture
What's Actually in Circe's Stew, According to Food Historians
In Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey, this one scene had movie-goers gagging.
Culture
At A24’s “Tony” Premiere Party, Stars Celebrated Anthony Bourdain’s Memory
Dominic Sessa, Kareem Rahma, and food media personalities sipped martinis and Negronis at Golden Steer in Greenwich Village.
Culture
We Can’t Escape Hot Bacteria Summer
Plus the best restaurants in museums, the latest in the Ben & Jerry’s fight, and Dominic Sessa becomes Bourdain
Cooking
The Best Mezcal, According to our Taste Test
From smoky and savory to vegetal and bright, we found the mezcals that stand out
Culture
Will the James Beard Awards Leave Chicago?
Plus cyclospora safety guidance, a fiery sandwich debate, and the people paid to stand in lines.
Cooking
We Found the Best Store-Bought Corn Tortillas
We tasted 11 nationally available brands; these are the three we’d bring home.
Cooking
World Cup Fans, This Is the Ranch Dressing Worth Packing in Your Suitcase
The best brand according to our staff taste test, plus a carry-on hack.
Culture
I Witnessed History at the ‘Super Bowl of Swine’
At the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest, the only thing hotter than the smokers is the pitmasters’ drive to win.
Culture
The World’s First 3 Michelin Star Mexican Restaurant
Plus the SF gay bars scanning patron’s faces, Keke and Sean forever, and how foods become American.
Drinks
Mexican Wine Breaks All the Rules
Norm-challenging winemakers and a liberating lack of rules make for one hell of a wine scene south of the border.
Culture
World Cup Tourists Love Ranch
Plus Boston bars were drunk dry, Dua Lipa;s rumored party favors, and the best moments from this year's James Beard's
Culture
John Early Thinks Internet Food Is Weird
In the dark comedy Maddie’s Secret, Early dissects the odd eroticism of online food content
Restaurants
The Winners and Best Moments from the 2026 James Beard Awards
From impassioned speeches, red-carpet looks, and plenty of surprise wins, this year’s awards did not disappoint.
Culture
Will Your Beef Get More Expensive?
Plus, Prada goes Katz’s mode, world cup service fees, and our picks for drinks and bites in the US’s World Cup cities.
Cooking
The Best Coffee Ice Cream, According to Our Taste Test
We tried 10 popular supermarket brands in the Test Kitchen.
Culture
There’s Trouble at Ben & Jerry’s
Plus four wonderful things to know about the baklava guy, a new bakery you’re going to want to know about, and this year’s James Beard Award nominees.