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Collier’s Cuts: The Devil You Know Returns for ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’

By
Kylie Thomas
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Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep, and Stanley Tucci stand in a group during The Devil Wears Prada 2.
(L-R) Anne Hathaway as Andy Sachs, Meryl Streep as Miranda Priestly and Stanley Tucci as Nigel Kipling in 20th Century Studios' THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA 2. Photo by Macall Polay. © 2026 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.
A graphic rating banner for The Devil Wears Prada 2 featuring a screengrab of Emily from the movie and a 2.5/5 star rating.

Twenty years after the Oscar-nominated first film, the stars return for The Devil Wears Prada 2, a film with the courage not to rely on nostalgia — but no willingness to innovate. The results are funny and pleasant but decidedly light.

The Devil Wears Prada 2, a Sequel Review

Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway) returns, picked up by Runway when her high-minded newspaper undergoes budget cuts. She steers the publication through a minor public-relations flap while renewing polite hostilities with Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep), the publication’s clever and condescending editor-in-chief.

There are obstacles — an unhappy advertiser represented by former colleague Emily Charlton (Emily Blunt), a stalwart chairman (Tibor Feldman) replaced by his clueless son (B.J. Novak) — but none add up into a serious complication or even a consistent plot.

At one point, Nigel Kipling (Stanley Tucci) bemoans the small size of print magazines in the age of digital; a recent issue of Runway, the film’s stand-in for Vogue, was “so thin you could floss with it,” he says. The script, by returning scribe Aline Brosh McKenna, acknowledges the considerable changes in the publishing world in the decades since the original film debuted. Yet these threats are always fleeting; there’s always another money man to be called, another deal to be made.

It Looks Good, But Don’t Read It Cover to Cover

There are genuine laughs; Streep, a Best Actress nominee for the first film, embodies the character’s wit and cutting charm beautifully. There’s also a society page worth of special guest appearances — this will probably be the only film to feature both NBA star Karl-Anthony Towns and presidential offspring Jenna Bush Hager — many of which are fun, if not impactful.

There’s also an unannounced A-list star in the third reel; good thing, because by then, you’ll likely have checked out. The Devil Wears Prada 2 is thoroughly agreeable, and director David Frankel elegantly depicts both New York and Milan, but the story can’t support the film’s 119-minute runtime.

Fashionistas and Streep (or Tucci) superfans won’t regret buying a ticket. For the rest of us, save this one for your next transcontinental flight; it’ll eat up miles and might even lull you into a midair slumber.

An Animal Farm That Orwell Probably Didn’t Imagine, and More New Releases

The title Animal Farm lends itself to an animated feature. The content of George Orwell’s dystopian novel… not so much. That didn’t stop comedy writer Nicholas Stoller and director Andy Serkis, who have adapted the book into an all-ages parable, complete with slapstick jokes and celebrity voices. Reviews aren’t kind; writing for Consequence, Liz Shannon Miller says, “There are bad movies, and then there are movies that drain all life and joy out of a person’s soul.”

Perhaps young viewers will be better off at home: Swapped, a new animated feature from Netflix, features a loaded voice cast headlined by newly minted Oscar winner Michael B. Jordan.

Speaking of last year’s awards season, I Swear, the biography of a Tourette’s advocate that became an unfortunate point of controversy, expands to more American screens this weekend. By all accounts, the film is nuanced and powerful — unlike the ensuing flap.

AMC has a fun theme in its Thrills & Chills horror series: You Didn’t Stay Out of the Woods, a group of fright flicks set in remote cabins. They’ll show the 4K Director’s Cut of 2002’s Cabin Fever on May 1, then The Cabin in the Woods on May 8.

Story by Sean Collier
Featured Photo by Macall Polay Courtesy of 20th Century Studios

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Your May 2026 Horoscope for the Full Moon in Scorpio

By
Kylie Thomas
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0
A full moon in a blue sky peaks through May white flower tree blooms.

The Full Moon on the first of May falls in Scorpio, and the date is worth pausing on.

May Day and the Full Moon in Scorpio

May Day carries layers of accumulated meaning: a threshold festival in the old calendar, marking the turn between spring and summer with bonfires and ceremony; and in the modern world, International Workers’ Day, a commemoration born directly from labor’s confrontation with power that would rather operate without scrutiny.

A Full Moon in Scorpio lands with unusual aptness. This is a sign that understands, at a structural level, what it means to hold a line – to absorb pressure from above while protecting what lies below. Whether you encounter this lunation in its civic dimension or in the quieter contests of your own life, the underlying question is the same: are you aware of what you’re defending, and at what it’s costing you?

Learn more about May Day from the Old Farmer’s Almanac, including some ways you can celebrate this Middle Ages holiday.

Scorpio’s Impact

One of the philosophically cold signs, Scorpio belongs to late autumn, when growth withdraws and moisture settles close to the ground. Unlike the other water signs, Scorpio doesn’t flow outward or dissolve at the edges. This is a fixed sign where pressure accumulates rather than dispersing, and the environments Scorpio describes are accordingly enclosed: guarded resources, sealed arrangements, concealed fault lines.

Its ruler, Mars, supplies the imperative to act – but through Scorpio, that force gathers inward before it moves outward, building intensity rather than venting it prematurely. The result is a sign capable of both extraordinary endurance and decisive, targeted release. When limits are crossed, a response arrives with precision.

History of the Scorpion

The ancient world understood the scorpion as a guardian figure rather than a threat. In Egypt, the goddess Serket – her name meaning something close to “she who causes the throat to breathe” – wore a scorpion on her crown and presided over medicine and healing, protection of the dead, and the defense of those who could not defend themselves. She was one of the four goddesses who stood at the corners of the sarcophagus, holding the space between life and what comes after it.

In Mesopotamia, scorpion-beings stood at the gates of the Sun as sentinels. The sting, in these traditions, shows their office: those who cross boundaries should consider themselves vulnerable to deadly attack. That dimension of Scorpio is easy to miss when attention goes straight to the stinger, but it is exactly what a Full Moon in this sign tends to illuminate: the protective work already underway, and the question of whether that protection is still useful to the people and things it was built for.

Want to learn more about the zodiacal sign Scorpio? It’s helpful to understand the ways the sign manifests if you hope to spot the influence of this Scorpio Full Moon. Read this article from astrologer Deborah Houlding on Skyscript, a site written for astrologers and subject enthusiasts, by seasoned astrologers.

Ambition Without a Ceiling: Mars Square Jupiter

Mars rules pressure, heat, and the imperative to act. Jupiter governs expansion, moral vision, and the confidence through which societies and individuals project their values outward. In a cooperative aspect, these two can combine to produce something genuinely useful: disciplined force in service of a larger principle, courage that knows the difference between a winnable contest and an unwinnable one. A square keeps both planets active but pulls their energies in directions that don’t naturally coordinate. Drive increases, and so does the appetite for scale – but without the guarantee of proportion that makes either reliable.

What this tends to produce in practice is confidence that outruns the situation. Jupiter keeps enlarging the goal while Mars pushes for immediate resolution; or, Mars pushes its advanced to conquer new territory while Jupiter advises that the objective has already been met, and it would be wiser to hold. Either combination makes sustained, methodical effort feel inadequate even when it is exactly what is called for. Conflicts escalate not through bad intent but through an impatience that overestimates what the situation will bear – the assumption that enough force, or enough conviction, will be sufficient to carry the day.

Jupiter’s Role in Things

An afflicted Jupiter often describes a gap between what is presented as just or wise and what the underlying conduct reveals.

Jupiter’s better qualities remain accessible under this aspect, but they require deliberate cultivation. Proportion, ethical clarity, the capacity to hold a long view – these are Jupiter at its best, and the square doesn’t eliminate them, it just makes them harder to sustain under pressure. The practical corrective is to give ambition a realistic container: specific aims, honest assessment of what the current moment can support, and willingness to accept partial progress. Then, for good measure, take something off the plate. Force applied to a defined and manageable target will accomplish more under this sky than force distributed across everything at once.

A Steadying Hand: Sun Sextile Jupiter

Where the Mars-Jupiter square generates pressure, the Sun’s sextile to Jupiter tempers with something more deliberate: an opening toward coherence, where confidence and good judgement find workable alignment. The Sun represents the organizing will – in civic life, the figures who carry authority; in personal life, the part of you that acts from a clear sense of who you are and what you’re doing. Jupiter governs the frameworks that give those actions meaning: principle, perspective, the sense that effort is pointed in a worthwhile direction.

In a sextile, these two planets work together sans friction, and toward very good effect. It’s an aspect that rewards initiative taken from the overlap of two things that don’t always agree: the heart’s read on the present moment, and the deeper confidence that only accumulated experience can supply.

In practice, this is a good sky under which to move something forward – a conversation you’ve been putting off, a decision that needed a cleaner moment, a collaboration that benefits from goodwill on both sides. Generosity should come more easily, and so does the capacity to see past immediate obstacles toward a longer view. People tend to respond well to directness under this aspect, and institutions – workplaces, families, formal processes – are more navigable than usual.

The Jupiter caution applies here as it does anywhere: expansion is available, but keeping a proper sense of measure matters, too. Confidence is an asset right now, and there’s no need to inflate it. The sextile’s particular gift is that genuine ability and honest effort tend to be recognized for what they are. Lead with what you have, and this aspect will work in your favor.

The Moon on the Star Acrux, the Base of the Cross

Acrux sits at the foot of the Southern Cross — stars visible to ancient Greeks that had, through the slow drift of precession, fallen below the European horizon by 400 AD. They were re-charted by European navigators in the late 1500s CE, whose voyages into southern waters were also voyages of conquest, displacing, enslaving, and destroying peoples and cultures whose descendants are still living with the consequences. The Cross entered Western astronomical consciousness through that history, and the constellation it was carved from makes that lineage legible.

The Greeks knew this region of sky as the hind feet of the Centaur – a mythical creature with ungoverned instinct, where human reason and animal appetite share a body without fully overpowering the other.

More on the Centaur

European colonizers who pushed into the southern hemisphere frequently described the peoples they encountered in exactly these terms: savage, half-beast, requiring conquest and civilizing. The projection was doing specific work. It reframed what was straightforwardly theft and violence – operating well outside the behaviors that advance civilizations – as a civilizing mission. The Centaur describes a creature that takes what it wants and calls it natural law. What the colonizers called savagery in others was a mirror they declined to look into themselves.

And yet the Centaur also carried an exemplary figure in Chiron: gifted healer, teacher of heroes, astronomer. Chiron’s flaw was that he could not treat his own chronic wound from a poisoned arrow. He traded his immortality to be free of his pain, and was placed among the stars.

The Creation of the Southern Cross

Colonizers named this new constellation the Southern Cross, and perhaps without knowing it, named their own legacy accurately. We all have our crosses to bear – the phrase has worn smooth with use, but it points to something most of recognize: the weight of what we inherit, what we caused, what we cannot undo. That same symbol also carries resurrection in it, glory freed from hardship, hope that survives the worst of what came before.

Chiron, who was once associated with the stars in the Southern Cross before they were reassigned from Centaurus, had his own parallels to that symbolism. He couldn’t heal himself, but he made healers. He couldn’t escape his wound, but he gave others the means to escape theirs. Time spent making things better for others is not a poor substitute for fixing yourself – it’s often the road on which a true solution eventually finds you.

The Centaur is a fascinating creature in human imagination, and the Encyclopedia Britannica does a great job presenting its history alongside prominent Centaurs throughout myth.

Seasonal Guidance: Spring and Your Horoscope

Mid-spring is generous with energy, appetite, and the pull toward more of everything. The days are longer, the weather is cooperative, and the body has largely shaken off winter. Ease is flowing, but it’s also the season’s main trap. The tendency now is to overextend in all directions at once: too much food, too many late nights, too much scheduled into the weeks ahead. A little deliberate governance goes a long way.

Fire Signs (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius)

You’ve been running warm since early spring, and by May that sustained output starts to show. Sleep is where it catches up with you first – the longer days make it easy to push past genuine tiredness, and a few weeks of that compounds into irritability and poor recovery. Protect your sleep more than you think you need to. Exercise is still best in the morning rather than midday. Lighter meals suit you better now than rich or heavy ones; bitter greens, fish, and cooling vegetables like cucumber balance what the season is already amplifying. Alcohol and spice hit harder than they did in March.

Earth Signs (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn)

Mid-spring is genuinely favorable for you. The warmth eases stiffness, digestion improves, and moods start to lift. The risk is comfortable inertia: the season feels good enough that there’s little urgency to move, and easy routines can quietly become sedentary ones. This is the best time of year to increase physical activity, because the body is most receptive to it. Warming spices, ginger, and well-seasoned food keep digestion sharp. Sleep is fine, but oversleeping in spring produces the exact heaviness it feels like it’s curing.

Air Signs (Gemini, Libra, Aquarius)

The season matches your natural rhythm closely, and you’ll feel it as a general abundance: more ideas, more social appetite, more of everything seeming possible. That alignment is pleasant but not without its own excess. More than any other element, air signs are vulnerable to taking on too much in spring and noticing the cost in June. Regular meals matter more than you’d think, as grazing through busy days on little substance will fray things eventually. Keep sleep times consistent despite the long evenings, and give yourself downtime rather than just swapping one form of stimulation for another.

Water Signs (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces)

Spring is actively working in your favor by mid-season, burning off the heaviness that tends to accumulate through winter. Help it along with movement (brisk walking, anything rhythmic) and warming, well-spiced food rather than cold or heavy meals that slow things down again. Dairy and rich food in excess compounds sluggishness; this isn’t the season to lean into too much coziness. Mornings respond well to a warm, active start. Afternoon naps, however tempting, tend to leave water and earth types more tired than rested right now – keeping a consistent wake time does more for energy and mood than extra sleep will.

Sabian Symbol for 11° Scorpio: A Brilliant Assembly of Officials at an Official Embassy Ball

It’s probably the case that this image is one of curated access – a gathering where the invitation itself is a form of power, where what you wear, how you speak, and who you’re seen with all carry information beyond their surface meaning. This is diplomacy as theater, and theater as diplomacy; the two are not always easy to tell apart. In settings like these, the question of whether you belong is never quite settled, even for those who clearly do.

Read against a Scorpio Full Moon, the symbol carries some irony. Scorpio sees through performance almost reflexively, and embassy balls are nothing if not performed – protocol layered over strategy, charm deployed in service of outcomes nobody states directly. The symbol doesn’t condemn this so much as ask you to be clear-eyed about it, including when you are the one performing. There is a real difference between adapting to a social environment skillfully and losing track of yourself in the adaptation.

The practical question this image raises is one of access and authenticity: are you in the room you want to be in, and are you showing up as yourself once you’re there? Social confidence is an asset, I’ll grant you, and knowing how to move through different registers – different rooms, different languages, different registers of formality – is a useful skill. It’s just that, if put on auto-pilot, it’s energy that you use maintaining appearances that aren’t natural to you and specifically you, or angling for a seat at a table whose decisions you have no real stake in. The Full Moon in Scorpio will likely expose which situation you’re in.

Read more about the Sabian symbols from a globally recognized expert on their use, Linda Hill.

What is Special About This Full Moon in Scorpio?

The themes of this Full Moon will play out differently depending on where Scorpio falls in your chart. What follows offers sign-by-sign guidance for working with the weeks ahead. For a more detailed picture of how this lunation engages your own chart, a consultation with a professional astrologer can help clarify what is personal and what is simply passing through.

Want to see a professional astrologer? I offer birth chart consultations that explore dominant life themes through your present circumstances – whether you’re looking to align your actions with what’s ahead, get a sense of near- and mid-term timing, or simply understand your chart more deeply. Get a sense of what we can accomplish together.

What Does the May 2026 Full Moon in Scorpio Mean for Your Horoscope?

Aries

There’s more energy available to you right now than you may know what to do with – the urge to act, assert, and move fast is genuine. What’s also genuine, and easier to miss, is something running underneath: this Full Moon is pulling you into deeper water, toward questions about power, loss, or what you actually want from your closest bonds. Jupiter is building something quietly at your foundation, suggesting the most important growth this month isn’t public-facing. The charge forward matters somewhat less than what you’re charging toward.

Taurus

Relationships are the main event this Full Moon, and they’re running warmer than usual. Partnerships – romantic, professional, or otherwise – become the mirror in which you’re reading yourself right now, which means other people’s moods land closer than they normally would. Venus moves to your house of resources suggesting the material side of life should start feeling satisfying again. The more interesting work is happening beneath the surface: Mars is stirring something private, an old frustration or a pattern you’ve been circling. Better examined than avoided!

Gemini

You’re presenting well right now – warm, magnetic, easy to be around – and that social ease is an asset worth deploying deliberately. Work and health are absorbing more emotional energy than you’d like, the daily grind carrying a weight that efficiency alone won’t fix. Saturn is meanwhile doing something slower in the background: testing friendships, networks, and long-held ambitions to see which ones hold under pressure. Some connections will prove more solid than expected, others less so; you may have a hand in why that is, so stay present and intentional.

Cancer

Jupiter is doing something big and wonderful for you right now – confidence is up, opportunities are arriving, and the sense that you’re growing into something larger than last year’s version of yourself is likely to be reliable. Don’t waste it on half-measures. Mars is driving hard toward professional recognition, which gives that growth a public direction. The Full Moon pulls in a different register entirely: toward play, pleasure, romance, and the parts of life that don’t need to be productive to matter. Let them. Ambition that never rests tends to forget what it’s working for.

Leo

The restlessness you’re feeling has a source: big ideas, a desire to travel or push into new territory, and a social world that’s genuinely rewarding are all pulling you outward. But the Full Moon is anchoring something closer to home, and it won’t let you ignore it. Family, private life, or an old emotional pattern is asking for attention that your ambitions keep deferring. The friends and causes energizing you right now are worth your time – just don’t let the momentum abroad become a way of avoiding what needs tending at the foundation.

Virgo

What you say is carrying some weight – in professional settings especially, where charm and social ease are working in your favor, but where what you say and how you say it is being noticed. The Full Moon is making communication feel more charged than usual, thoughts colored by feeling, conversations going deeper than planned. Running alongside all of it is a Saturn pressure that won’t be rushed: shared finances, old debts, or the question of what you’re still carrying that no longer belongs to you. Are you ready to resolve that?

Libra

Mars in your 7th house suggests someone close is either a genuine collaborator or a source of friction, and this month the line between the two may be thinner than usual. How you navigate that will matter professionally, because Jupiter wants to enlarge your public reputation and the people watching include some worth impressing. Underneath all of that, the Full Moon is pulling your attention toward something more private: what you own, what you need, and whether your sense of security rests on something solid or just on familiar habit.

Scorpio

This Full Moon lands directly on you, and there’s no buffer between what you’re feeling and how it reads on your face. Emotions are close to the surface and driving decisions more than usual – worth knowing before you act on them. Underneath that, something more private is stirring: questions around intimacy, shared resources, or what you’re willing to give and to whom. Mars is pushing hard through your daily life, making work and health feel urgent. Productive, if you pace it. Costly if you don’t.

Sagittarius

Something is asking to be processed privately before it’s ready for the world – and that’s worth honoring, even when relationships are pulling for your presence and attention. Venus is making partnerships warm and workable right now, which is a resource, not a demand. The more interesting pressure is Saturn’s long work on joy itself: what you find pleasurable, how freely you express yourself, and whether creativity has become something you approach with more caution than it deserves. Rest, but don’t disappear. The answers are closer than the solitude suggests.

Capricorn

Is something stirring at home? Old patterns, a domestic tension, or simply the recognition that the foundation needs work before you can build higher? That’s the private story. The public one looks more promising: key relationships are making your world bigger in ways that feel useful, bringing people into your orbit whose perspective and generosity are worth paying attention to. The Full Moon is charging your social world with feeling, and the alliances forming now carry more weight than casual ones. Let the right people in, and deal with the home front honestly.

Aquarius

Your public life is under a brighter light than usual – career matters feel more emotionally loaded, and how you’re perceived by people in authority carries more weight than you’d like it to. That’s the pressure. The release valve is elsewhere: Venus is making creative work, romance, and simple enjoyment feel genuinely restorative right now, and worth protecting in the schedule. Mars is sharpening your tongue and quickening your thinking, which is useful in the right rooms and counterproductive in others. Know the difference before you speak.

Pisces

It’s a great time to travel abroad, so book those tickets. Saturn is asking a hard question closer to home: what do you have that is truly yours, and is it enough? Financial honesty matters more than it has in recent months. The good news is that home itself feels restorative right now, a place worth returning to rather than escaping from. Let that be the base from which the bigger questions get answered, not the thing you’re running away from while you answer them elsewhere.

Horoscope Author

Wade Caves, based in Brooklyn, NY, is an astrological consultant and educator specializing in problem-solving applications of astrology. He teaches astrological divination and astronomy at the School of Traditional Astrology. Wade also publishes his work on world astrology through Skyscript’s In Mundo publishing desk. He even hosts the World Astrology Summit. A conference dedicated to the advancement of astrology for global problem-solving. Website: wadecaves.com • skyscript.co.uk/inmundo. Email: hello@wadecaves.com.

Story by Wade Caves
Photo Courtesy of 一只猫的橘

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412 Food Rescue is Turning Pittsburgh’s NFL Draft Food Waste Into Community Care

By
Star Laliberte
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0
A man in a blue chef coat dumping pasta from a strainer into a pot.

As the city was redding up around “tahn” post NFL Draft, a group of invited guests gathered for a family-style dinner, Fourth & Feast: From the Field to the Table, held inside the Good Food Project kitchen in Millvale. The purpose? To learn more about 412 Food Rescue, the work they do, and their roll in rescuing the extra food left over from the Draft that would otherwise go bad. After a chance to meet the staff and mingle with other guests, invitees gathered around tables soon to be filled with rescued ingredients transformed into vibrant dishes—literal proof of what 412 Food Rescue stands for.

412 Food Rescue: Turning Pittsburgh’s Food Waste Into Community Care

As attendees enjoyed each course, all prepared from rescued food, they listened to a fireside chat focused on food insecurity, food waste, and one of Pittsburgh’s biggest recent opportunities—and challenges—the NFL Draft.

The top of a menu for the Fourth & Feast: From the Field to the Table Sunday after the Draft dinner event.

The panel consisted of moderator Natalie Bencivenga, a socially conscious, award-winning independent journalist and entrepreneur, and featured Alyssa Cholodofsky, CEO of 412 Food Rescue, and Chefs Jamilka Borges and Dianne DeStefano, co-owners of Lilith, a highly regarded restaurant located in Shadyside.

A picture of 4 women on the panel of a fireside chat for 412 Food Rescue.
Alyssa Cholodofsky, CEO, 412 Food Rescue, Natalie Bencivenga, Chef Jamilka Borges, and Chef Dianne DeStefano

In a city known for its grit, resilience, and strong sense of neighborhood pride, 412 Food Rescue has become one of Pittsburgh’s most impactful answers to food insecurity and food waste. At its core, the organization operates on a simple but powerful belief: good food should feed people—not landfills.

“We want people to get something they’re going to enjoy, that they’re going to eat, that’s going to be flavorful,” Alyssa Cholodofsky explains. “Our philosophy is about the dignity of the meal.”

That philosophy is what led to the creation of the Good Food Project, an initiative focused not just on rescuing food, but transforming surplus ingredients into balanced, nutritious meals. Guided by USDA MyPlate principles, meals include protein, vegetables, and flavor—because dignity means more than simply providing calories.

Every course at the event reflected that mission.

A women behind a counter finishing off individual small plates of food for an event for 412 food rescue.

Guests began with an amuse-bouche of cornbread delicately soaked in orange and clove syrup, available with or without fried prosciutto crumbles, followed by a cucumber and celery salad in a cool yogurt-dill dressing. A shell pasta primavera tossed with spring vegetables celebrated the season, while the main course—a comforting cabbage and chicken soup—delivered warmth and nourishment. Dessert, a subtly sweet rice pudding with hints of almond, was a take-away reminder of the gathering’s purpose.

An older woman holding a can of n/a Virtue Signal Brewing Co. on a wooden bar with cans in the background.

Sparkling water, soda, spirit-free cocktails, and genuine craft non-alcoholic beer donated by Virtue Signal Brewing Co. rounded out the meal.

“It’s not just about feeding people—it’s about feeding them well,” Jamilka Borges says. “Food nourishes people. If we build better systems around that, we can stop so much unnecessary waste before it starts.”

The NFL Draft and the Unexpected Waste Problem

During Pittsburgh’s recent NFL Draft festivities, 412 Food Rescue found itself preparing for what was expected to be an overwhelming influx of visitors—and food.

A chair with footballs and a sign behind them the says 412 Food Rescue, a decoration for a post NFL Draft dinner held by the organization.

Restaurants stocked up. Bakers prepped extra inventory. Food trucks, sports venues, and hospitality groups all anticipated massive crowds. But the crowds didn’t materialize the way many expected. Instead, many local restaurants experienced one of their slowest weekends in recent memory.

Some well-known restaurants reportedly had zero reservations for the weekend. Others operated at just a fraction of normal business. One bakery in Market Square prepared large amounts of extra food and ended up doing only about a quarter of its usual business.

The result: significant food waste.

“It broke my heart,” Bencivenga says. “Restaurants bought extra food expecting a huge weekend, and then so much of it ended up getting thrown away. That’s devastating when so many people are still going hungry.”

That’s exactly where 412 Food Rescue stepped in.

Ready to Scale Up

With support from Visit Pittsburgh and funding from The Heinz Endowments, 412 Food Rescue had spent months preparing for the possibility of excess food during Draft weekend.

Their team expanded operations, rented an additional truck, and even deployed a “street team” downtown. Teams were sent to educate restaurants and vendors about how to donate surplus food quickly and safely.

A man unloading boxes of rescued food for 412 Food Rescue.

“We can scale up and scale down,” Cholodofsky explains. “Whether it’s a couple prepared meals from a convenience store or a pallet of food from the Strip District, we can do all of that—and we can do it quickly.”

Because much of the food being rescued is fresh or prepared, speed is everything. Their volunteers and drivers work fast to move food from donor to nonprofit partner before it goes to waste.

As of today, 412 Food Rescue has already rescued 26,085 pounds of food from NFL Draft-related events. An estimated goal of 60,000 pounds will be rescued by the time Draft rescues are complete.

That includes 12 total rescues from four donor partners, distributed to five nonprofit organizations across the region. Eight 412 Food Rescue volunteers have assisted operations, moving food quickly and efficiently.

But, it Goes Beyond Just Food Rescue

While food rescue is central to the mission, 412 Food Rescue sees itself as one part of a much larger solution. Food rescue works alongside food banks and food pantries. They help bridge immediate gaps while larger systemic issues—like food access, poverty, and policy reform—are addressed.

“There’s no single solution,” Cholodofsky says. “Food rescue is one piece of the puzzle.”

A man and a young boy carrying boxes off of a 412 Food Rescue truck of rescued food.

The organization also advocates for policy improvements that make food donation easier and safer for businesses. One major breakthrough has been Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act. The act protects restaurants, grocery stores, and food donors from liability when donating food in good faith.

“That was a huge breakthrough,” she says. “It helps our work tremendously because people are often nervous about donating food.”

Jamilka and Dianne agreed that they believe many kitchens still hesitate simply because they don’t know what to do.

“A lot of operators are afraid of donating food because they think they’ll get in trouble,” Dianne DeStefano says. “Sometimes it feels easier to throw something away than make the phone call—but that’s exactly where education and support matter most.”

Jamilka emphasized the importance of chefs understanding more about programs available. She mentioned that donation planning should be built into major events from the start.

“There should be a plan before the event even happens,” DeStefano says. “Food donation shouldn’t be an afterthought.

Why Pittsburgh Works

There’s something uniquely Pittsburgh about the success of 412 Food Rescue.

As a neighborhood-driven, working-class city, Pittsburgh has a natural aversion to waste—especially food waste.

“People don’t want to see food wasted at home, in restaurants, or at venues,” Cholodofsky says. “That mindset matters.”

A picture of Alyssa Cholodofsky, CEO, 412 Food Rescue during the fireside chat at Fourth & Feast: From The Field to The Table post Draft dinner event.
Alyssa Cholodofsky, CEO, 412 Food Rescue

“Pittsburgh has a lot going on, but we don’t always have a lot of self-esteem around what we’re doing,” she says. Natalie Bencivenga noted that Pittsburgh often underestimates itself. “Watching this organization blossom and now expand to other cities—it proves that what starts here can have a much bigger impact.”

The organization was founded by two Pittsburgh women, Leah Lizarondo and Giselle Fetterman. They recognized both the problem and the opportunity. What began over a decade ago with spreadsheets and Facebook messages evolved into the innovative Food Rescue Hero app, a technology platform that connects volunteers with available food rescues in real time.

That local innovation has since scaled far beyond Pittsburgh.

Today, Food Rescue Hero is licensed in 22 cities across the U.S., as well as in Canada and South Africa—proof that a Pittsburgh-born solution can address a global issue.

“The problems we’re facing are not just Pittsburgh problems,” Cholodofsky says. “Food waste and food insecurity are national and global issues.”

Fighting the “SNAP Gap”

One of the most important realities 412 Food Rescue addresses is what many call the “SNAP gap.”

Nearly half of all food-insecure people in Allegheny County do not qualify for SNAP benefits. These are often working individuals—sometimes holding multiple jobs—who still cannot consistently afford groceries.

The term often used is ALICE: Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed.

These are people who may be financially stable one month and struggling the next.

“When grocery prices rise, but rent and utilities stay the same, groceries are often the only place people can cut back,” Cholodofsky explains.

Organizations like 412 Food Rescue help fill that gap, ensuring that people can still access fresh, quality food without shame.

A Community Responsibility

One of the biggest challenges, panelists noted, is education.

Many restaurants still hesitate to donate food. They fear liability, don’t know the process, or assume it creates more work for already overburdened kitchen staff.

In reality, food donation can be simple—and transformative.

“Food is meant to feed people,” Cholodofsky says. “It is terrible to waste it.”

A chef in a blue chef coat preparing pasta.
Greg Austin, Director of Distribution Initiatives, 412 Food Rescue

Bencivenga stressed that solving food insecurity requires community-wide participation.

“I bet you probably know someone who is food insecure and just isn’t talking about it,” she says. “These programs allow people to live with dignity. It takes all of us—in our homes, our businesses, and our communities—to make a dent in this issue.”

Food With Dignity

As guests finished their meals, the point became clear: the meal prepared with rescued ingredients was delicious and nutritious. And it proved the mission. Food rescue is not about leftovers.

It is about dignity.

It is about making sure food fulfills its purpose.

And in Pittsburgh, 412 Food Rescue is making sure it does.

Story by Star Laliberte
Photography by Tyler Newpol for 412 Food Rescue

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Memories of the Pittsburgh Public Theater On Its 50th Anniversary

By
Kylie Thomas
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A woman in a yellow sweater holds a radio up to her ear, a newspaper under her arm.
Saige Smith in Steel Magnolias at Pittsburgh Public Theater

One night in 1980, my grandmother took me to Pittsburgh Public Theater to see the musical I’m Getting My Act Together and Taking It On the Road. The theater had been a big part of Pittsburgh culture since the mid-’70s. It drew in people who took theater seriously. As an amateur actress and full-time orthopedic nurse, as someone who craved great storytelling and compelling live performance, my grandmother was exactly that kind of person.

The musical centers on a woman named Heather, a singer-songwriter in her late 30s who has come through a divorce and decided she’s done performing a version of herself that other people find comfortable. Her manager pushes back hard — he wants the old, palatable her. She refuses. The show was written by Gretchen Cryer and Nancy Ford, a groundbreaking female songwriting partnership, and what they created was something genuinely rare: a rock musical where the songs landed like emotional arguments, each one making the case for a woman’s right to be fully, sometimes inconveniently, herself.

I remember the electric guitar most of all — vivid, almost defiant. And the lighting, those deep oranges and blues that made the stage feel both intimate and urgent. And the vertiginous seating to either side of the main stage.

My grandmother was divorced, fiercely engaged with causes and people she cared about, and truly devoted to theater and cabaret in Pittsburgh, New York, and elsewhere. She once drove all day to New York to see Barbra Streisand’s last performance in Funny Girl, and drove all night back to Pittsburgh. After a couple of hours of sleep, she reported to work the next day … perhaps overtired but elated all the same. She also had a particular love for Alberta Hunter and would insist on being dropped at the Gramercy Park Hotel door for those concerts, absorbing every note alone, then sharing the whole experience with us over dinner afterward. 

Seeing I’m Getting My Act Together, a story of a woman claiming her independence, while seated next to my grandmother, who had claimed her own, made everything sharper and more personal.

I believe she was showing me something that night. That living well takes work, takes nerve, takes a willingness to stop performing for other people’s comfort. I hope I’ve carried that forward. I hope I’ve lived a life she’d recognize as worth the trouble.

Celebrating the Golden Anniversary of Pittsburgh Public Theater

On Thursday, May 7, the Public will host Turning the Page, a book-launch event for Turning the Page: 50 Years of Pittsburgh Public Theater. More than a mere event, though, Turning the Page will be a gathering of the artists and supporters that have made a half-century of theater possible.

Attendees are encouraged to come dressed as their favorite character from the theater’s first five decades. The event is expected to be packed, but the theater is currently accepting waitlist requests.

More Memories of the Public

“My favorite Public production was Steel Magnolias, directed by Marya Sea-Kaminski. That show is a total love letter to womanhood, sisterhood and friendship. I have such fond memories of building relationships with the cast and crew. It was also one of the first plays I ever read, so it will always have a special place in my heart.” — Saige Smith, Actress

“Arcadia, by Tom Stoppard, directed by Eddie Gilbert. Set in the same house in two different time periods, covering topics like history, philosophy, love and death. Featuring two great Pittsburgh actors — David Conrad and Gretchen Cleevely.” — Rob Zellers, playwright, former Pittsburgh Public Theater Education Director

“Mad Forest, by Caryl Churchill, directed by Mark Wing Davey. Set during the Romanian Revolution, with a large cast playing multiple characters both real and fictional. Dramatically staged in the Hazlett Theater.” — Jean Zellers, Retired Advertising Executive

“My favorite production would have been For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf by Ntozake Shange, [produced at the Public in] 1979. Although I was not quite 2 years old at the time … it is quite amazing to think my Turning the Page outfit is being designed by Venise St. Pierre, who also designed the wardrobe for the Public’s production. I am looking forward to being a part of living history on May 7.” — Shaunda McDill, Pittsburgh Public Theater Managing Director

“There were three very different shows in the mid-2000s, right as I was getting started as a theater critic in Pittsburgh, that at that time struck me as defining the scope and quality of what the Public had to offer: The Chief, of course, and Tom Atkins‘ incomparable transformation into Art Rooney Sr.; a terrific production of August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean; and the world premiere musical The Glorious Ones, by Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens.” — Sharon Eberson, Theater Critic and onStage Pittsburgh Founder

“SWEAT at Pittsburgh Public Theater in 2018, by Lynn Nottage and directed by Justin Emeka, remains the most unforgettable theatrical experience I’ve had at the Public. In the final moments, Jerreme Rodriguez and Tony Bingham held the audience in pin‑drop silence, revealing how deeply and irrevocably one life had been changed. I was changed in that moment, too.” — Aja Jones, Pittsburgh Public Theater Chief of External Affairs

“Inevitably, the Public production I have the most memories of is The Chief, the heartwarming and often hilarious spotlight on Art Rooney, Sr. — written by my father, Gene Collier, and Rob Zellers. But setting The Chief aside, I was shaken to my core when I saw the theater’s 2001 production of Medea. The unforgettable ending of that show taught me how shocking and jarring theater could be, influencing me both in my appreciation of theater and my later work as a theater creator.” — Sean Collier, TABLE Arts & Cultural Editor

Story by Keith Recker
Photo Courtesy Pittsburgh Public Theater

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Pomegranate Mint Julep

By
Kylie Thomas
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A pomegranate mint julep in a silver tin julep cup with crushed ice and a sprig of rosemary.

Strolling into the month of May, we welcome warmer weather, we start planting flowers, and we celebrate one of our favorite events of the year: The Kentucky Derby. At what other event can you find lavish, large-brimmed hats, pastel tone jackets, and focus only on horse racing? While you sit back to watch the races, prepare yourself (and your friends) this Pomegranate Mint Julep. It elevates your usual derby drink with a rosemary simple syrup and fresh pomegranate juice. Talk about a tangy and satisfying way to cheer on your favorite horse (we’ll be rooting on Renegade!).

How Did the Mint Julep Become a Part of the Kentucky Derby?

The association between the mint julep and the Kentucky Derby really extends to southern traditions. The mix of bourbon, sugar, water, and fresh mint dates back to the 1800’s and its popularity rose mainly in the south. As bourbon became associated with the home state of the Kentucky Derby, the mint julep took the spotlight as both refreshing and elegant. The derby officially began serving the cocktail in signature souvenir glasses in 1937 and the rest is history. Now the Kentucky Derby serves around 125,000 mint juleps each year.

Print
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A pomegranate mint julep in a silver tin julep cup with crushed ice and a sprig of rosemary.

Pomegranate Mint Julep

  • Author: Justin Matase
Print Recipe

Description

Take your Mint Julep to the next level…

Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 oz bourbon
  • 2 oz pomegranate juice
  • 1 oz rosemary simple syrup
  • 1–2 cups finely crushed ice

For the rosemary simple syrup:

  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup water
  • 4 sprigs of rosemary

Instructions

  1. Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker, stir and pour over ice.
  2. Garnish with a sprig of rosemary.

For the rosemary simple syrup:

  1. Bring to a boil, and let cool.

Did you make this recipe?

Share a photo and tag us — we can’t wait to see what you’ve made!

Recipe by Justin Matase
Photography by Dave Bryce

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Film Pittsburgh’s JFilm Festival Returns to Spotlight Jewish Filmmakers

By
Kylie Thomas
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0
A film screen in front of an audience in a theatre.

You’ve probably heard of the big film festivals like Sundance, Cannes, and South by Southwest. But, did you know Pittsburgh has its own JFilm Festival and it also happens to be the largest Jewish cultural event in the region?

JFilm Festival in Pittsburgh Highlights Over 20 Films and Shorts by Jewish Independent Filmmakers

The JFilm Festival by Film Pittsburgh features Jewish independent films from filmmakers in the United States, France, United Kingdom, Israel, and other countries around the globe. The screenings show at Row House Cinemas in Dormont, Carnegie Mellon’s McConomy Auditorium in Oakland, and The Lindsay Theater in Sewickley, allowing you to explore different parts of the city as you go.

This year the festival runs from April 30 to May 10, skipping Friday, May 7. You can choose between an all-access virtual pass (as long as you’re a resident in Pennsylvania, Ohio, or, West Virginia), a combination pass for in-person and virtual, or single tickets for in-person and virtual screenings. Students and those under 25 can even grab discount tickets 30 minutes before each screening when available.

What Films are Showing at JFilm Festival 2026?

As usual, the program includes films in a diversity of genres including animation, comedy, documentary, drama, and romance, as well as shorts. Fans of animation will be happy to hear this year’s line-up features three films. Even four romances bless the screens this year including a full-length feature in Dutch and French that follows a radio sound engineer during WWII-era (The Soundman).

Plus, a Virtual Opportunity

For those looking forward to the virtual festival, there are five films and two catalogs of shorts available on May 1. Then you’ll have nine days to watch the films and 24 hours to finish once you start one. The five films include Ethan Bloom about a boy preparing for his bar mitzvah while feeling a call to Catholicism; Hold on to Your Music, A Mother’s Legacy that chronicles concert pianist Mona Golabek’s mother Lisa Jura, rescued as a child from the holocaust in Europe; Sabbath Queen featuring a 39th generation Orthodox rabbi and drag queen; Validity, which is a Pittsburgh-shot drama following researcher Dr. Sidney Randall as she fights for validation of her life-saving data on Nazi camps; and We Met at Grossinger’s, which takes a look at the resort in the Catskills that was the inspiration for Dirty Dancing.

JFilm Festival offers locals a chance to support not only independent filmmakers but also the entire Jewish community at a time where that support is crucial. Lift up your neighbors and learn something new by attending one of the screenings over the next nine days.

You can check out the schedule now for the in-person screenings and events on JFilm’s website.

Story by Kylie Thomas
Photo From Film Pittsburgh

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Thoughts on Scotch From Aficionado Gordon Valle

By
Kylie Thomas
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Gordon Valle pours Scotch from a bottle into a small tasting cup.

While traveling through Lochcarron in Scotland’s West Highlands, TABLE Magazine Editor-in-Chief Keith Recker met Gordon Valle, a dedicated Scotch enthusiast with a serious personal collection. Valle later welcomed Keith into his home for a private tasting and a chance for a new perspective on Scotch. We get his thorough appreciation in a Q&A about what Scotch actually is, what all the words on labels mean, and how to start tasting yourself.

Scotch Insights from Gordon Valle

What Defines Scotch? How Does a Whisky Qualify as Scotch, and How is It Different from American Whiskey? Japanese Whiskey? 

Gordon Valle: For a whisky to qualify as Scotch it has to be distilled and matured in barrels in Scotland. I believe the name “Scotch whisky” has protected status  in much the same way as Champagne can only be made in the Champagne region of France.  

Scotch (or Malt Whisky as it’s more commonly referred to in Scotland) is made from malted barley and must be aged in barrels for at least three years and a day. The barrels used to mature a Scotch whisky are often re-used barrels so previously may have been used for sherry, rum or bourbon for example. These different casks give the particular whisky the unique flavours of these barrels which cater for a variety of tastes. I am quite fond of a sherry cask myself! The flavour of a good malt can also be influenced by the environment where it is made, for example, salty flavours if the whisky is made by the sea – Oban is a great example of this. Peaty or smokey flavours are also common in malts. 

American whiskey is made from corn and other grains and matured in virgin oak barrels. I’m not too familiar with the process of making American whiskey other than that (and that it’s got an extra ‘e’ in it’s name!!!) 

I believe that, although the Japanese whiskey industry is relatively young, they have studied the processes used in Scotland meticulously, and attempted to follow very similar methods. Many Japanese whiskies have a very good reputation for quality as, indeed, many have sourced materials and expertise from Scotland in helping set up and run their operations. 

How Does One Go About Decoding the Label? How Do You Interpret Common Terms Like “Single Malt,” “Blended,” and Age Statements (e.g., “12-year-old”)? Which of These Should a Novice Pay Attention To? 

GV: The term single malt basically means whisky made from malted barley at one distillery. Blended Scotch can be made from whisky produced from multiple distilleries. Single malt is often seen as an indication of quality. This is true to a certain extent but there are some very good blended Scotch options out there too – just to confuse things! 

The age of the Scotch indicates the minimum amount of time the whisky has spent in the barrel. So say you have a 12 year old single malt, all of the Scotch must be from the same distillery. If, for example, the 12 year old single malt came from 3 barrels and had spent 18 years, 15 years, and 12 years in those separate barrels, it could only be called a 12 year old even though some of the Scotch used was 18 years old because it goes by the minimum amount. I hope that makes sense! 

Generally the more time Scotch spends in the barrel, the smoother it becomes and the more flavour it picks up from the barrel. As a rule of thumb the older the Scotch the better it gets. There is a lot of nuance to consider other than the age of Scotch when determining the quality however. 

What Are the Key Elements of the Flavor Profile of Scotch? What Do You Look For When You’re Choosing a Scotch? 

GV: Scotch can have multiple flavour elements to make up the overall taste and smell of the whisky. The main flavours are; maltiness (sweet), peat/smoke, vanilla and caramel, fruit and spice, oak and wood spice. 

Personally, when I’m looking for a Scotch, I enjoy tasting something that I haven’t tried before so I look for something unusual. In general though I don’t like anything too peaty. That being said, I have friends who will not drink Scotch unless it is the most peaty Scotch possible so it’s quite an individual thing. I would say that for someone starting out choosing a Speyside Scotch is a good place to start. 

What Is Peat? How Does It Influence the Taste of a Peated Scotch? What’s the Best Way for a Beginner to Approach a Peated Whisky? 

GV: Peat is a type of fuel that was traditionally used to heat homes in Scotland in the Highlands and Islands. It is dug or “cut” from the ground, dried out and burned in open fires or stoves to heat homes. It is very rare to see peat used to heat homes in modern times as more efficient and cleaner alternatives are available.

In the whisky industry peat is used to toast the barley to dry it out before the malting process. When peat is burned it creates a very strong and distinctive smoky smell and this flavour is transferred to the barley and ultimately the whisky. The level of peaty taste in the Scotch really depends on how much peat is used during this process. 

For a beginner tasting peated whisky, I would start with something lightly peated and work up. It seems to be an acquired taste. Most of the heavily peated whisky tends to come from the island of Islay so maybe work up to that! But don’t be put off from peaty/smoky whisky. If you go to Islay there are many different distilleries where peated whisky is made – proving its popularity.  

How Should a Novice Properly Taste Scotch? What Are the Basic Steps of a Scotch Tasting—From Glassware and Nosing to the First Sip. Should We Add Water? 

GV: There are many opinions on how to taste Scotch. Generally a little water is recommended to release the flavours . Some would say you must do this or must do that but really I think you should do what you like. If you like a few ice cubes in your glass, have ice. If you like a splash of water, have water. Whatever gets you the most enjoyment and taste – I would, however, draw the line at mixing with Coca-Cola though!  

The different flavours can be nosed (smelled), tasted on the palate or on the finish. This taste of flavour on the finish is why tasting a good malt cannot be rushed. Savouring that warm lingering finish is a must. 

As far as glassware is concerned the Glencairn style glass is popular for tasting. It has a heavy base, is bulbous at the bottom and narrows towards the lip of the glass. This allows you to swirl the Scotch easily. Then you can smell or “nose” through the narrow top where the smell is now concentrated. Again, glassware is down to personal preference. I prefer a good quality, wide based heavy glass to relax and sip from. 

What Are Some Approachable and Affordable Bottles You Would Recommend to a Newcomer?  

GV: To get started I can’t see past an Oban 14 year old. It is the Scotch that got me started and is a classic all rounder. Although I am a bit biased as it is from the West Highlands like me! 

If you would like to try an Islay Scotch but don’t want anything too peaty then Classic Laddie from the Bruichladdich Distillery is a good option. Just overlook the slightly garish bottle. 

There are many good Speyside malts to choose from and this is a good place for a beginner to start. I quite like Balvenie and they do lots of different cask options. If you are looking for something sweeter you could try the Balvenie Caribbean Cask. 

As mentioned earlier Islay is generally the place to find the more smokey/peated Scotch. But, there is also Talisker from the Isle of Skye to consider if you are feeling brave! Many new distilleries are opening up each year. The Harris distillery is now producing its Hearach collection which is proving very popular.

Story by Gordon Valle
Photography by Cody Baker

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6 Refreshing Kiwi Dessert Recipes for Spring and Summer

By
Kylie Thomas
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Six round swirls of pavlova with kiwi jam in the center, a piping of orange zest whipped cream, and a half strawberry on top.

Juicy and green with black seeds and a fuzzy skin, kiwi is one of the most identifiable fruits out by sight. Its tangy flavor is quite an identifier, too! Widely available year-round in grocery stores, you can use kiwis anytime but they’re especially refreshing in the spring and summer. In order to use this small fruit to the best of its ability, we’re incorporating kiwi’s bright and tropical nature into some of our favorite dessert recipes like tarts, cakes, and even pavlova. Each recipe is perfect for those sunny, warm days and wows at your next family picnic.

6 Kiwi Dessert Recipes

Kiwi Lime Tart

A kiwi and lime tart in a pie tie with meringue, lime wedges, kiwi, and pomegranate seeds on top.

The filling here is a smooth, silky mix of kiwi, lime, egg yolks, and sweetened condensed milk that goes directly into a homemade tart crust. Plus it uses both lime juice and zest to round out the depth and brightness of this recipe.

Black Sesame Kiwi Cheesecake

A black sesame kiwi cheesecake with a gelée layer in green sits witha. slice being taken out and kiwi slices all around the outside.

This Black Sesame Kiwi Cheesecake elevates your basic cheesecake into an unforgettable recipe. The toasty flavor of black sesame seeds in the homemade graham cracker crust is a great counterpart to the tangy sweetness of kiwi.

Vanilla Cakes with Kiwi Jam

Three mini personal two-layer vanilla cakes with strawberry buttercream and kiwi jam in between the layers and a half strawberry on top.

Between two layers of cake sits a swirl of strawberry Swiss meringue buttercream with a spoonful of homemade kiwi jam in the center. Plus, if you’re really a fan of the kiwi jam you can always add more to the top of the cake or even preserve a jar for a breakfast accompaniment.

Kiwi-Coconut Cream Pie

A kiwi-coconut cream pie sits on a green plate with whipped cream, shredded coconut, and kiwi slices on top.

This cream pie starts with a buttery homemade crust using apple cider vinegar for flakiness. Then, we fill with a coconut and kiwi filling that’s creamy like a custard. For a little extra coconut, we’re also covering the top with a homemade coconut whipped cream.

Kiwi Matcha White Chocolate Cookies

A green plate full of Kiwi Matcha White Chocolate Cookies with a cube of dried kiwi on top of each.

Warm, melty white chocolate chips lend a sweetness to the addition of earthy, umami matcha powder as well as tart dried candied kiwi. The textures here work well together to make a perfectly chewy cookie that reminds us of childhood.

Kiwi Jam Pavlova

Six round swirls of pavlova with kiwi jam in the center, a piping of orange zest whipped cream, and a half strawberry on top.

Since pavlova is so simple to make and doesn’t carry much of a flavor on its own, we’re dressing it up with a homemade kiwi jam that’s succulent and tangy. Plus, each pavlova gets its own topping of orange zest whipped cream that adds that extra punch of flavor.

Recipes by Marla Harvey
Photography by Dave Bryce

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5 Stylish Cocktails Inspired by ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’

By
Kylie Thomas
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0
Five cocktails for The Devil Wears Prada 2 sit on a white table in tall and short glasses and various colors.
A banner for a collaboration between Ritual House and TABLE.

Fans of The Devil Wears Prada have waited 20 years for a sequel to the hit comedy-drama that follows an entry-level assistant trying to make it in the fast-moving worlds of media and fashion. Finally, on May 1, Anne Hathaway, Stanley Tucci, Emily Blunt, and Meryl Streep return for The Devil Wears Prada 2 and there’s plenty of hot goss that awaits.

While we wait for our turn to watch the movie on the big screen, we’re taking inspiration from our favorite The Devil Wears Prada characters to mix up a batch of cocktails Runway Magazine would promote. Whether your heart connects with lovable Andy, witty Nigel, ambitious Emily, or imperious Miranda, we have a cocktail to ensure that your night is as luxurious as a Runway Magazine party.

To put together this series of cocktails, we collaborated with Ritual House in Downtown Pittsburgh to feature the five cocktails below on their menus from April 27 to May 3. Plus, the fifth cocktail is one you can only get at their bar. Miranda would love that exclusivity: “Everyone wants to be us, Andrea!”

Cocktails Inspired by The Devil Wears Prada 2

The Andy

An orange color cocktail in a tall glass with a lemon twist garnish and a floral backdrop behind it.

We could not be more ecstatic for Andy’s confident transformation in the new film. Our recipe for The Andy (Anne Hathaway) uses bourbon for structure, while Aperol and Amaro Nonino introduce a bittersweet sophistication. Then a final splash of champagne adds a celebratory lift to Andy’s success.

The Short King (AKA The Nigel)

A pair of round glasses lean against a Nigel cocktail in red color with ice cubes as a luxardo cherry on a toothpick balances on the glasses.

The Short King cocktail channels a refined, expressive, and balanced energy, just like Nigel (or frankly, like Stanley Tucci himself!). Tart pomegranate and fresh lemon create a foundation for Empress 1908 Gin’s botanical depth. Add accents of Luxardo, red vermouth, and a dash of Angostura bitters. You’ll see that this drink has just the right amount of edge.

The Emily

A tall glass with a yellow cocktail with a lemon twist garnish.

Always one step ahead, Emily (Emily Blunt) thrives in a world where details matter so we’ve made a cocktail she would approve if it came across her desk. Grey Goose Vodka provides a clean base for Chinola Passion Fruit Liqueur’s burst of tropical flavors. Fresh lemon sharpens the focus and a bit of bubbly also adds that perfect finish.

18 Karat Espresso Martini (The Miranda)

Miranda's espresso martini in a tall glass with gold leaf coffee beans on the white table below it.

Miranda, portrayed by Meryl Streep, is elegance, style, power, and precision personified. For a cocktail that follows suit, the 18 Karat Espresso Martini is rich and unapologetically luxurious. The secret here is the combination of coffee liqueur and cold brew concentrate. Gold leaf coffee beans are the ritzy, high-end garnish.

Runway Ready

A dark filled martini glass sits beside a dark filled shoe glass container.

A lychee and blackberry forward cocktail, the Runway Reader embodies Runway Magazine with its mix of trending flavors. This exclusive cocktail from the Ritual House bar team will be available only for purchase at their establishment April 27 to May 3 as you prepare for the film of the year!

All cocktails above will also be available for purchase at Ritual House from April 27 to May 3 as a part of a collaboration between Ritual House and TABLE Magazine.

Story by Kylie Thomas
Recipes by TABLE Magazine Staff
Photography by Dave Bryce
Special Thank You to the Ritual House Team

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Shop the Perfect Mother’s Day Gifts in Pittsburgh for Your Type of Mom

By
Kylie Thomas
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0
A gift bag with flowers and a note for mom about Mother's Day inside.

Just as kids come with their own built-in personalities and senses of style, so do moms. This Mother’s Day, meet your mom where she is, and buy her a gift that reflects her interests, her vibe, her je ne sais quoi. Here are a few mom “types,” with two gift options each — one bougie, one budget friendly. 

We’ve included some experiential gifts, too, because moms just don’t like to get gifts, they like to have fun — with you, their friends, and special someones, too. 

Let us know what you might add to this list, so we’re sure our mothers are getting the best that’s out there. (And moms, if you’re the one reading this list — and see something you want — quietly share this list with The Kid Who Gets Things Done. You know which one they are.)

Pittsburgh Gift Shopping for Mother’s Day Based on Your Type of Mom

The Globe-Trotting Mom

For moms who like to travel, having a safe and hands-free place for her phone, keys, wallet, and glasses, is key. Visit Roberta Weissberg Leathers on Walnut Street (or online), for a selection of cross-body bags that are a stylish step up from synthetic. Visit Scribe across the street to pick up a travel journal to round out the gift. 

A woman in a black leather jacket unzips a black leather purse at her waist.
Photo From Roberta Weissberg Leathers

A gift certificate for an overnight for two in Bedford Springs, less than two hours from the ‘Burgh, is a seriously splurge-y way to celebrate your mom. The Omni Bedford Springs Resort & Spa offers eight natural mineral springs, indoor and outdoor pools, a spa, restaurants, a golf course, and more than 2,000 acres to explore. Minutes away is the historic town of Bedford, which is worth the drive itself, with its antiquing and a lovely shopping district. 

Two chairs inside a large pool room in a hotel.
Photo From Omni Bedford Springs

The Yogi

Phipps Conservatory started offering Yoga in the Garden to much fanfare, and this year, it begins the series on May 23 and runs select Saturday mornings through September 12. Classes are held in their lush outdoor garden, among the fountains, ferns, and perennial gardens.

Three wrap around gold bracelets with a blue gem on a jewelry holder.
Photo From Inner Light

Inner Light, a serene shop in Mt. Lebanon, features metaphysically inspired jewelry that pairs well with yogic sensibilities. You can also pick up spiritually themed books, botanical beauty products, locally made art, and organic clothing. If your mom is a “seeker,” you can sign her up for a Tarot or astrology reading or a sound-healing class. 

The Mom Who’s a Foodie Too

With its 1970s Palm Springs motif, its greens and golds, its velvet chairs, swanky light fixtures, and murals of coastal California, Palm Palm enriches you with glamour. The emphasis on small plates — such as mini lobster rolls, tuna sushi tots; fried burrata with pesto and tomato cream — the meal is like a mini-culinary adventure. A night at Palm Palm feels indulgent, yet light and fun. Plus, the cocktail menu will please any cocktail enthusiast, even mom. 

Four spoons of Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup Dumplings.
Palm Palm

With our buzzing culinary scene, buying a gift card from Big Burrito Restaurant Group will give your mom a lot of options for her next Saturday night dinner (or Sunday brunch). Big Burrito offers more than just Mad Mex, they run Fox Chapel’s veggie-forward, modern take on Italian, Alta Via; the longstanding Shadyside faves Soba and Casbah; Eleven and Kaya in the Strip District, and more.

A table full of food on different blue plates all on a wood table.
Photo From Big Burrito

The Flower Lover

Newer to the CSA block is the Floral CSA, where your mom can get locally grown, seasonal flowers delivered (or picked up at set locations) throughout the growing season. Check out the selections from Eleven Mile Farm, such as a 6-week Summer Bouquet option, and CSAs that are delivered to Sewickley and Shadyside/Squirrel Hill neighborhoods. At their beautiful 50-acre farm, Eleven Mile also hosts many events, including a Mother’s Day Workshop on May 9, where participants create arrangements for — or with — their mom.

A woman holds a bouquet of photos in front of a dark wood wall.
Photo From Eleven Mile Farm

Tiny Seed Farms also delivers a 16-week Floral CSA blooming with zinnias, sunflowers, dahlia, snapdragons, and seasonal flowers.

Red, orange, and purple flowers on a bench.
Photo From Tiny Seed Farms

Shopping at Roxanne’s Dried Flowers in the Strip District is like the adult version of being a kid in a candy store. It’s a delight to your senses, with a sumptuous array of dried florals, including the Spring Mist Wreath, with its spray of pinks, greens, and whites. There’s a section of gifts less than $50, including a Lavender Garden Bouquet, framed pressed flowers, and a beautiful set of Healing Plants botanical cards. 

The Bookish Mom

As our city punches higher for our weight when it comes to all things literary, we have several reading series, including Ten Evenings, which concludes its season with quite the finale. Was your mom a fan of The Mysteries of Pittsburgh or Wonder Boys? Pick up two tickets for Ten Evenings’ Night with Michael Chabon — who studied at Pitt and CMU — for May 11, the day after Mother’s Day. If she invites you as her date, treat her to dinner at the Café Carnegie, which hosts a special Arts & Lectures Dinner Series menu. Make your mom proud and buy the Chabon tickets and make reservations for the dinner in advance — like today. 

A cover of the book "Wreck" with a house on the front and an orange sky.
Photo From Harper Perennial

One of the keynote authors at the 2026 Pittsburgh Book Festival, Catherine Newman, wrote her literary novel, Sandwich, about a woman negotiating menopause, grown children, and aging parents — sound familiar? — set within the backdrop of a week-long family beach vacation. Sandwich quickly hit The New York Times bestseller list, praised for its humor and heart. Newman’s follow-up, Wreck, published in late 2025, reunites readers with the same family. You can pick up her books at White Whale in Bloomfield, Penguin Bookshop in Sewickley, or at one of our many of our independent bookstores. Oh, and tuck in discussion registrations for the Pgh Book Fest — a day-long celebration of the love of the book — held May 30 at the Carnegie Library in Oakland. 

Two women pick up books at the PGH Book Fest.
Photo From Pgh Book Fest

The Green Thumb

Buy your mom two tickets to Pittsburgh Botanic Garden (PBG), which offers electric cart garden tours, a wonderful way for Moms with limited mobility to explore the gardens. The tours are led by PBG docents every Thursday from April 23 through October. Your mom and her guest can learn how the PBG transformed their 460 acres, land once used to mine coal, into cultivated gardens, woodlands and a heritage homestead that reflects life on the land in the 1700s. Their Canopy Café is a great stop for lunch, and be sure she visits the gift shop, Forage & Finds, which sells native herbs and plants, gardening goods, and artwork.  

The outside of Pittsburgh Botanic Garden with purple flowers peaking out of a bush.
Photo From Pittsburgh Botanic Garden

Gardeners work hard for their home-grown haul. Why not give mom a traditional, high-quality basket to carry her celebrated harvest?  We tried to source this locally, to no avail, but this lesser-known item — a hod — is the gardening convenience your mom didn’t know she needed. These mesh-bottomed, pine baskets were originally used by Maine clam diggers as the hod design allowed the diggers to both hold and rinse their catch in the same basket. It makes for a one-stop shopping when it comes to harvesting. Available in three sizes. 

Two gardening hods with grown vegetables placed in them.
Photo From Gardener’s Supply Company

The Loves-to-Stay-at-Home Mom

For Mother’s Day, why not bring a restaurant quality, hot-out-of-the oven meal to your homebody mom? DiAnoia’s allows you to do just that with their Mother’s Day Meal Kit, which comes with freshly baked focaccia, Sicilian cannellini bean dip, gnocchi sorrentina (creamy and cheesy), Tuscan-stuffed chicken, and strawberry shortcake. Order now before they sell out — if they do, check Local Provisions for some of DiAnoia’s frozen pastas, meatballs, and sauces. DiAnoia’s pastry team is also baking pastry trays for the big day.

A gold plate of pastries with confections and other treats on a white marble table.
Photo From DiAnoia’s

Cheeks Lingerie shop in Shadyside is home to lots of luxurious, comfy pajama sets and robes. They sell popular brands such as P.J. Salvage, Cat’s Pajamas, Pluto, Eberjay, and VP La Boehme Robe. Loungewear never looked — or felt — so good.  

The Home Chef

Istituto Mondo Italiano is home to all things Italian, including its Pasta Like Nonna series — each BYOB session features a different pasta that you make by hand, then share with fellow classmates at a sit-down meal. Vivianna Altieri, born and raised in Rome, leads a variety of instructionals focused on Italian dishes, from pizzelles and cannoli to mozzarella to gnocchi, as well as a Regions of Italy Cooking Club. Other cooking classes in the ‘Burgh include at In the Kitchen in the Strip District (upcoming offerings include Spanish paella and California rolls) and Crate in Mt. Lebanon (on the docket are cocktails & charcuterie and pierogi). 

Handmade pasta on a table in the shape of a heart.
Photo From Istituto Mondo Italiano

The Rosti Margrethe mixing bowl has earned a reputation as one of those must-have kitchen items. Featured by the New York Magazine, goop, Eater.com, and Dwell, the melamine bowl was created in 1954 by Copenhagen-based designer who named their bowl —with royal permission—after Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, It features a non-skid bottom, a lip that makes it easy to pour, an ergonomic handle, and a lid so it’s easy to store your mixables. Available in red, black, curry, and Nordic green, the Rosti Margrethe comes in a variety of sizes (which also nest, of course). Be sure to tell your mom it’s a bowl worthy of a queen. 

A stack of mixing bowls in different colors are held outside of In The Kitchen
Photo From In The Kitchen

The Die-Hard Pittsburgh Lover

Pittsburghers love David DiCello’s now iconic images of our city, many taken from Mt. Washington. You can order from a wide variety of images — downtown in the moonlight, the Duquesne Incline at dawn, cherry blossoms blooming with the backdrop of a Three Sisters Bridge, Kaufmann’s clock a flurry in snow — as a print, ornament, wrapped canvas, and more. Delivery is also quick. 

A white towel with a printed typewriter on it that says "Dear Pittsburgh, I Love You"
Photo From Love, Pittsburgh

Perfect for the mom who adores her city and a hip tea towel, the Dear Pittsburgh, I Love You dish towel is a fun, 100% cotton reminder of the place she loves — and of the person who gifted this little delight to her. Find it online or IRL at Love, Pittsburgh, a Strip District, Mt. Washington, and Downtown shop that is chock full of locally made, Pittsburgh-forward goods, like a framed topographic map, a Pittsburgh-neighborhoods puzzle, and a sweet-and-savory gift box with Goat Rodeo caramels, Parma Sausage hot and mild Soppressata, and Steel City Salt Co.’s Everything Salt. 

The Pampered Mom 

If the ambiance at EsSpa feels European, it comes by it naturally, as spa owner, Eva Sztupka-Kerschbaum hails from Hungary. She opened EsSpa in 2002 and knows the business of enhancing beauty and wellness. Spa services include hydrofacials, light therapy, and plasma fibroblasting. They offer a range of massages, such as Thai, hot stone, Swedish, and warm bamboo. For Mother’s Day, EsSpa offers a BOGO that includes two facials for the price of one.

A person holds crystals over a table with more crystals and gems below in bowls.
Photo From Evolve Wellness Spa

Shadyside’s Evolve Wellness Spa is a place where your mom can receive facials, microdermabrasion, massages, lash and brow work, as well as integrative services such as Reiki, crystal attunement, sound massage, chakra balancing, and somatic breath-work. Evolve’s spa packages combine services to give your mom a full journey into well-being.  

The Jewelry Lover

Shadyside’s longtime jeweler, Henne, features a Mother’s Day Collection, including a Monica Rich Kosann yellow gold-and-diamond infinity charm necklace, a Shy Creation 14-karat Diamonds by the Yard chain, an EF Collection 14-karat white gold-and-diamond bracelet that spells out “MAMA,” and many other pieces at a variety of price points.  

A gold necklace with an infinity sign at the bottom of the chain.
Photo From Henne

Take a trip towards Hartwood Acres to shop for mom at So Me Artisan Wares and Jewelry Studio. Their curated selection of wearables is crafted by local designers and So Me’s owner, a trained bench jeweler, Amy McGinley. So Me is earthy and bohemian yet upscale, its gold and sterling silver pieces enhanced with natural stones and gems, such as turquoise, quartz, and amethyst. So Me also sells vintage and estate jewelry, plus layering and statement necklaces. With its wide array of gifts, you can find lots of other goodies to pick up for mom, including glass avocado vases, wall art, and hand-poured candles.

A silver ring with a large orange gem on the inside on a ring holder.
Photo From So Me

Have fun celebrating your mom! And if you need ideas of what to make mom for dinner, we have you covered.

Story by Lauri Gravina
Photo Courtesy of Fujiphilm

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