Sweet'N Up with Jeff Spencer

Anne Grossman is the founder & owner of Rebel Daughter Cookies a gourmet cookie company located in Norwalk, Connecticut. After moving to the area from Brooklyn and frustrated she couldn’t find the “big, gooey” gourmet cookies like the ones she recalls at her favorite bakeries in Chicago and New York, and disappointed at how the ingredients in those beloved cookies had changed over time, she decided to make her own, starting with the classic chocolate chip cookie. The result was a set of recipes for cookies that were big in size, with textures, and “salty-sweet, grown-up versions” of cookies kids love, thus the beginning of Rebel Daughter Cookies which is taking CT and the rest of the Country by storm. Since launching in 2019, Rebel Daughter Cookies has been featured on Food Network 4 times and has grown an ever rising following. Rebel Daughter cookies is also shipped nationwide.

Check out Rebel Daughter Cookies here: https://www.rebeldaughtercookies.com/

Born and raised on the beautiful island of Ischia, Italy, Pierluigi Mazzella is the founder and owner of Fatto A Mano Bakery. His father is a professional fisherman on the island and showed their family what it really means to buy fresh and local. This passion for high quality food never left Pierluigi as he moved through his culinary-based high school and into the professional food industry. He worked his way around Italy in pizzerias, restaurants, and artisanal bakeries before coming to the US to work in 2017. He then decided to quit his job to open his own bakery, Fatto A Mano and well the rest is history!

I had a fantastic conversation with Pierluigi talking about his early days growing up in Italy, coming to the states, his ambitions of opening a bakery with a storefront, the time and effort that goes into everything he does, his thoughts on Connecticut & America and so much more!

Check out Fatto a Mano here: https://fattoamanobreads.com/

Kimberley Locke is an American singer-songwriter and television personality. She has recorded in the dance and pop genres, and has targeted the adult contemporary radio format. She was the cohost of the daytime talk show, Dr. and the Diva, Second Runner up on Season 2 of American Idol behind Ruben Studdard & Clay Aiken, her music has been on Billboards top charts countless times, she’s been a guest on Ellen, performed on Ellen, was a guest co-host of The View, and she can be seen on TV today co hosting infomercials for kitchen appliances with the wonderful Emeril Lagasse.

Matthew Banever is the founder and owner of Bards Clothing and began his business based on two loves: storytelling and clothing. Matthew graduated from Marist College with a degree in history and after graduating began working at a national retail organization.  Over the next 5 years he moved to a few different stores, always positioned as manager, and finally landed in West Hartford, CT at a men’s specialty store. There he spent four and a half years spearheading the custom department, working under a master tailor, and developing relationships with the the best mills in the world.

At Bards Clothing they ask you about your hopes, desires, and achievements as well as uncover your goals and values and turns them into top of the line garments that tell your story.  In today’s age, the internet reigns supreme and those images are cast out for an unimaginable audience to see. Matthew believes your clothing plays a vital role in selling yourself, even if it’s as simple as a well fitted shirt and a pair of jeans.

I had such a great time chatting with Matthew and our conversation lasted for just about two hours and like other episodes of the show we once again have broken this episode up into 2 parts, Part 1 and Part 2. Enjoy Part 2!

Check out Bards Clothing here: https://www.bardsclothing.com/

Matthew Banever is the founder and owner of Bards Clothing and began his business based on two loves: storytelling and clothing. Matthew graduated from Marist College with a degree in history and after graduating began working at a national retail organization.  Over the next 5 years he moved to a few different stores, always positioned as manager, and finally landed in West Hartford, CT at a men’s specialty store. There he spent four and a half years spearheading the custom department, working under a master tailor, and developing relationships with the the best mills in the world. 

At Bards Clothing they ask you about your hopes, desires, and achievements as well as uncover your goals and values and turns them into top of the line garments that tell your story.  In today’s age, the internet reigns supreme and those images are cast out for an unimaginable audience to see. Matthew believes your clothing plays a vital role in selling yourself, even if it’s as simple as a well fitted shirt and a pair of jeans.

I had such a great time chatting with Matthew and our conversation lasted for just about two hours and like other episodes of the show we once again have broken this episode up into 2 parts, Part 1 and Part 2. Enjoy Part 1!

Check out Bards Clothing here: https://www.bardsclothing.com/

John Watson is head brewer and owner of Watson Farmhouse Brewery located in Southbury, Connecticut and is also the head brewer at NewSylum Brewing Company on the Fairfield Hills Campus in Newtown, Connecticut. John started brewing beer as a hobby, after his wife Tracy gifted him a home-brewing kit, more than 25 years ago. He quickly became frequent with the home-brew competition circuit, medaling in the National Homebrew Competition with his recipes. In 2000, he was named New England Home Brewer of the Year and in 2004 earned Best of Show at the Master's Championship of Amateur Brewing.

He has collaborated with a host of local commercial brewers, from Willimantic Brewing, Captain Lawrence Brewing Company in Pleasantville NY, and more!

Along the way, he helped build commercial breweries for others, including Veracious Brewing Company in Monroe, Tribus Beer Company in Milford and Beer Naked in Wilmington VT.

John and I had an amazing conversation live inside of his brewery in Southbury, CT. Our conversation lasted for almost two hours and you already know we covered everything I just mentioned and so much more! 

John Watson is head brewer, founder and owner of Watson Farmhouse Brewery located in Southbury, Connecticut and is also the head brewer at NewSylum Brewing Company located at the Fairfield Hills Campus in Newtown, Connecticut. 

John started brewing beer as a hobby when his wife Tracy gifted him a home-brewing kit more than 25 years ago. He quickly became frequent with the home-brew competition circuit, medaling in the National Homebrew Competition with his recipes. In 2000, he was named New England Home Brewer of the Year and in 2004 he earned Best of Show at the Masters Championship of Amateur Brewing.

John has collaborated with a host of local commercial breweries, from Willimantic Brewing, Captain Lawrence Brewing Company and more! Along the way he helped build commercial breweries for others, including Veracious Brewing Company in Monroe, Connecticut, Tribus Beer Company in Milford, Connecticut and Beer Naked in Wilmington, Vermont.

John and I had an amazing conversation live inside of his brewery in Southbury, Connecticut. Our conversation lasted for almost 2 hours, so we cut it up into 2 episodes, Part 1 and Part 2. Part 2 coming next week!

Visit Watson Farmhouse Brewery here: https://watsonfarmhousebrewery.com/

Visit NewSylum Brewing Company here: https://www.newsylumbrewing.com/

Tina Zaccardi is a world class baker from Westchester County, NY. She is known on social media as The Italian Cookie and she has appeared on The Chew, The Today Show, The Rachael Ray Show, Hallmark Home + Family, Bridge Street TV, Daytime and was the Season 4 winner of ABC’s The Great American Baking Show making her one of the top bakers in America!

I had a fantastic conversation with Tina via Zoom talking about where her love of baking began, how she got through the COVID-19 pandemic, her journey on The Great American Baking Show from the beginning to her incredible victory, her appearances on other TV programs such as Rachael Ray, her advice and tips on baking, what she enjoys doing in her free time and so much more!

Check out her work here: https://tinazaccardi.com/

Instagram: @theitaliancookie