We don't do paid ads... yet. But when we find products we like, we're happy to sing their praises.
Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens? How about just good stuff cheap??
GENERAL GOOD STUFF-- STURDY & USEFUL
DannyM. went off in search of a REAL shovel (not some flimsy piece of crap made overseas) and found it at A. M. Leonard-- a heavy-duty, 12-gauge forged shovel head securely riveted to a sturdy ash handle. In addition to shovels, they offer a broad range of high-quality hand tools and built-to-last gardening equipment.
(Why so picky about a freaking shovel? See "THEY RUINED THE FREAKING SHOVEL")
HERITAGE STAINLESS-- American Steel for the discerning home chef.
American-made stainless clad cookware... an ever-shrinking category, as overseas manufacturing floods the market and displaces domestic companies and their products. (And what, exactly, is a rondeau? A wide-based pan with medium-high walls - a happy medium between a stock pot and a sauté pan. Can be used as a dutch oven.)
Vintage Wool Treasures-- Better AND Cheaper Than New.
Sometimes old is better AND cheaper than new! In our essay about Garage, Yard, & Tag Sales we recommended looking for old-school hand tools, Troy-Built tillers, and steel-framed vintage European 10-speed bikes. We should have included Swedish or German chainsaws, as in pre-Husky Jonsered(s) and Stihl. When shopping on eBay, one finds a wonderful array of Vintage Wool Sweaters for very little money. Likewise, Harris Tweed jackets get better (and cheaper!) with age. And if you're ever looking for ultra-heavy-duty used restaurant equipment (like meat grinders, slicers, mixers, etc.) the only name you need to know is HOBART.
DannyM. playing rugby as a young lad? Um, he's not quite THAT old.
Rugby Shirts
Nothing says "old school" quite as literally as the game of rugby. Likewise, nothing screams "rugged and durable" as loudly as a real rugby shirt... the perfect go-to top for all manner of outdoor work and play. The venerable J. PRESS company-- clothier to several generations of the Ivy & Tweed set-- offers a wonderful variety of genuine versions, while the Oregon upstart WITHERNOT company separates itself from the scrum with bold yet traditional color combinations. There are too many good manufacturers to fully enumerate, but click HERE for a definitive rundown of great rugby shirts by THE ROBB REPORT.
Meanwhile, NEW genuine international team jerseys are available from RUGBY IMPORTS, while eBay offers numerous vintage versions. But buyer beware-- a search for pre-owned GENUINE rugby shirts on eBay might turn up plenty of knock-offs from the big designer houses, yet nothing ever actually worn on a rugby pitch. (Maybe that's because a lot of ornery old ruggers are choosing to die and then eternally repose in their team colors.)
A LOST WORLDS better-than-new, late-WWII sheepskin/goatskin ANJ-4 Flight Jacket.
No matter how young you are, this jacket will outlive you.
And then there's LOST WORLDS, one of the most incredible and unique clothing stores on Earth, offering ultra high-quality (and accordingly expensive) motorcycle, bomber, and safari jackets. Everything is made to order. Please forgive their stone-age website.
NEED TO BUY A GREAT GIFT?
Need a fantastic and quirky gift for someone who doesn't really need anything? Hammacher Schlemmer has been around so long that Ian Fleming mentioned them in a James Bond short story ("The Hildebrand Rarity,"* 1960) and they go back a full century before that. Hammacher Schlemmer's most basic core value has remained unchanged since 1848-- offering their customers the very best of everything.
(*HERE for one's reading pleasure is a pdf of Fleming's 1960 collection "FOR YOUR EYES ONLY: FIVE SECRET OCCASIONS IN THE LIFE OF JAMES BOND." The fifth and last short story is the aforementioned "THE HILDEBRAND RARITY." )
Thanks to HALLMARK, Vermont = Christmas, and vice-versa. We could certainly do a lot worse.
Need a great Christmas gift? (Or maybe even a gift for some other time of the year?) The Vermont Country Store combines a cozy New England General Store atmosphere with a convenient online presence-- a winning concept! They offer sensible clothing, cooking and dining ware, edible treats, New England-specific stuff, and more.
DID SOMEONE MENTION WINE?
DannyM. spent several decades in various aspects of the wine business, so wine is a really big deal around Danny's Table. We taste and evaluate a great number of wines, and we are always delighted to share our tips and insights. Living near the Finger Lakes provides us a ringside seat for exciting new developments in one of America's most dynamic wine regions, so we give them lots of attention.
DANNYM.'S "GRANDS CRUS" OF THE FINGER LAKES WINE REGION
A gorgeous view of one of New York State's eleven Finger Lakes, from one of the hundreds of
vineyard/wineries that surround them. Many of these wineries are good, some are wonderful, and a few are excellent. We've found THREE (so far) worthy of our highest recognition-- GRAND CRU.
"The Impossibly Perfect Winery" in the eastern Finger Lakes region, the Heart and Hands Wine Company specializes in small-production, hand-crafted, estate-bottled Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, bubbly, and Riesling. They also sell our favorite wine glasses in the world.
Another top-quality, cutting-edge Finger Lakes winery, Red Tail Ridge Winery offers estate-bottled favorites such as Chardonnay and Riesling along with lesser-known Northern Italian varieties such as Teroldego and Lagrein. Their pure and precisely-made sparkling wines are among the very best in the region.
“Hermann the German” established his eponymous winery in 1979 with an emphasis on Riesling. The Hermann J. Wiemer Vineyard is famous for consistently excellent versions thereof, and their Burgundian-style Chardonnay and hand-crafted methode champenoise sparkling wines are likewise superb.
MORE WINE?
This is where you can buy $60 or even $80 wines online for only $20. de Négoce does this by purchasing surplus wine from super-premium wineries, signing an airtight non-disclosure agreement, and then selling it under their own label, passing tremendous savings along to us customers. (See "HOW TO BUY $60 WINE FOR $20") A separate and unaffiliated site (click HERE) is dedicated to guessing the sources and sharing user reviews.
Many French Champagne firms now produce bubbly in the US, but it was the bold experiment known as Domaine Chandon that blazed the trail. Established in 1973 by the venerable Möet et Chandon Champagne house, Napa Valley-based Domaine Chandon successfully combines Old-World expertise and tradition with Californian sunshine and ripeness to produce a line of affordable and fabulous Champagne-style sparkling wines.
More bubbles? New Mexico has been making wine longer than California, and the Gruet family of French Champagne fame found the high altitude desert climate perfect for making their upright and serious style of American bubbly. The Gruet 100% Chardonnay Blanc de Blancs might well be the best value worldwide in its category.
FOOD, GLORIOUS FOOD!
RESTAURANT DEPOT-- This is what we mean by "going BIG."
“Where Restaurants Go To Shop.” Want to up your grocery game and shop with the pros? Stop by a Restaurant Depot near you— they’ll issue you a Day Pass and turn you loose in Wholesale Foodie Heaven. (Maybe their motto should be “Go Big Or Go Retail!”)
The Shadow Hill sugar house in February
There’s “Table Syrup,” and then there’s REAL Maple Syrup… and there's absolutely no comparison. Likewise, there’s ordinary real Maple Syrup, and then there’s Shadow Hill Dark Amber-- DannyM.'s personal favorite! This fantastic artisanal production facility is also an owner-built architectural masterpiece that serves as one-of-a-kind wedding venue.
Need an elegant nibble with your tea-time bubbly? Taylor Shellfish Farms is the go-to source for delicious, top-quality smoked Pacific oysters (available in convenient 3 oz. cans) and other tasty morsels from the sea, including the rare and highly prized geoduck clam.
Pâté de Foie Gras en Croûte-- an old-school French classic from Dufour Gourmet.
Gotta hand it to the all-knowing Internet for bombarding me with ads for Dufour Gourmet, a great source for handmade, retro-French delicacies like country-style pâtés, duck foie gras terrine, porcelet ham, and more.
--PRIME RIB, STEAK, AND OTHER MEATS--
Cattle ranching at its best, from the Snake River Farms website
A legendary premium meat supplier and Wagyu pioneer, Snake River Farms is an especially good source for holiday roasts. Double R Ranch is a sibling company (accessible from Snake River's site) that offers responsibly-ranched choice and prime beef.
A sibling company to de Négoce, the Holy Grail Steak Company offers fantastic steaks as well as other meats and even some seafoods. My go-to prime rib comes from their grass-fed prime-grade portfolio, and their Mangalitsa ham is mouth-wateringly fantastic.
Talk about role reversal— how about BEEF Bacon and PORK Brisket? We are proud to include Porter Road among the small handful of online meat purveyors that we happily recommend. Whether beef, pork, or chicken, Porter Road has plenty of pasture-raised, hormone- and antibiotic-free options.
A Miami-based online butcher shop, Meat N' Bone offers an affordable Wagyu-Angus crossbreed ribeye as part of a broad array of products ranging from elk roasts to alligator tenderloin.
US Wellness Meats/Grassland Beef was founded in 2000 in Monticello, Missouri (pop. 98) by visionary farmers who saw that big-business cattle-raising practices were taking a toll on our animals and our health. By returning to rotational grazing practices that are both good for the planet and good for our cattle, they led the way in introducing a new generation to the unmatched taste, tenderness, and healthiness of grass-fed beef.
--ARTISANAL DAIRY FARMS--
Serenity Meadows Certified Raw Milk (Weedsport, NY)
Situated a couple of miles north of x40 on the NY Thruway, Serenity Meadows produces and sells what we call "the Wagyu of Milk"-- Mennonite-raised, 100% grass-fed, A2 milk from Jersey cows, sold raw.
Jersey cows at Highlawn Farm in the Berkshires.
High Lawn Farm (Lee, MA)
Perched on a scenic hill in the heart of Berkshire County, High Lawn Farm offers a wide range of products from their Jersey herd-- milk, heavy cream, cheeses, and particularly wonderful ice cream.
-- SPORTING GOODS --
The Sutton Company (Naples, NY)
Manufacturers of the famous, hand-crafted Sutton Spoon, long the go-to lure for those who troll for Finger Lakes trout. The Sutton Company occupies a humble storefront in the gorgeous little downtown Naples, NY... a shop that's not just for fishermen. Look for the lazy cat in the window.
The Excalibur Recurve Crossbow-- Simple, Reliable, and Effective.
If necessary, you can actually change out the string in the wild.
You wouldn't wear your fancy Swiss watch into the forest, right? In contrast to the complex and intricate actions of the super-expensive compound crossbows, Excalibur Crossbows are RECURVES, simple to use and maintain as well as incomparably sturdy and reliable. Multitudes of successful hunters can also attest that they are deadly accurate.
Something special for one's inner cowboy (or COWGIRL!)
A Henry Brass Sidegate in .30-30 with an octagonal barrel.
Henry Repeating Arms is America's leading manufacturer of lever-action rifles. Their goal is to manufacture classic, well-crafted firearms that every enthusiast can afford. The passion, expertise, and dedication of their employees embody the company’s motto— “Made in America Or Not Made At All.”
The Concept2 Rowing Ergometer is the worldwide gold standard.
Vermont-based Concept2 makes top-quality exercise equipment that gives you a great total-body workout in your home or gym. Check out the RowErg rowing machine, the SkiErg ski machine, or the BikeErg indoor exercise bike. Buying directly from the manufacturer saves you money.
Beloved co-driver Mr. E, rocking the XXL TAG Safari jacket
that DannyM. bought him for his annual trip to Africa.
Great safari jackets and other sporting wear for those of us who love to dress well for outdoor adventures. TAG Safari has a motto— “Helping Africa Through Trade, Not Aid”— that reflects their commitment to improving lives and conditions in Zimbabwe and elsewhere in Africa.
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With a winning combination of extensive training and a gentle touch, Andrea's Foot Care & Nails offers effective care for your precious feet, providing advanced foot care techniques based on German Podology in the comfort of your home. All implements are sterilized in a medical-grade autoclave.
Win Herne Photography & Design
A full-service graphic designer and web developer, Ms. Win Herne is the fabulous "webmistress" for Danny's Table.
Hope Dealers BTC Inc.
Webmistress extraordinaire Win Herne also runs Hope Dealers BTC Inc., an all-volunteer charity organization that helps people (and their friends and family) who suffer from substance use disorder, mental health issues, and homelessness. They are always accepting donations and volunteers. (The "BTC" stands for "be the change.")
