Title: Shop Listener 2024: Food and Drink

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Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC. To wrap up the show today, it's time for another round of Shop Listener. Today we'll take calls from those of you in the business of food and drink. Anything that you're selling that's appropriate for a holiday gift in the area of food and drink. 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692. Do you own a restaurant, bakery, cafe, or any other food-related establishment offering holiday gifts of any kind? 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692.

Why are we doing this? If you've missed the previous segments in this series, over the past few years we've put together this holiday gifting series in which we invite listeners who happen to own businesses to call in and promote your goods if they are appropriate for holiday gifts. Because we're public radio, we like to support our listener community, and so we do this thing called Shop Listener. We also have a webpage. If you don't want to call in on the air or you can't get through because our lines are jammed, you can go to wnyc.org/shoplistener, wnyc.org/shoplistener.

Gift sellers, go there to post what you've got. Gift buyers, go there to browse and maybe you can buy some holiday gifts to give to your loved ones or to take for yourself. From a fellow WNYC listener. 212-433-WNYC is our call-in number if you are selling anything that's gift-appropriate in the food and drink category today. To go shopping, again, go to wnyc.org/shoplistener as well as to post your wares of any kind that's gift-appropriate stuff. www.wnyc.org/shoplistener.

Today in the food sector, we've done other ones in this series that are brick-and-mortar-oriented, online seller-oriented. Today it can be either of those. We've done some that are geography within our area oriented. Today maybe you have a special holiday wine stocked in your wine store or a beautifully wrapped box of sweets in your chocolaterie. Do you sell your products in person or online? Either is okay. Call in to shout out your food and drink-related businesses that sell holiday gifts. 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692.

Again, that quick reminder for listeners without businesses. You can check out our database. If you haven't done all of your holiday shopping yet, support this Brian Lehrer Show community and maybe even get a discount on your purchase which some of them offer in conjunction with Shop Listener. wnyc.org/shoplistener. Right after this break, we'll go to your calls. If you are selling any food or drink-related holiday gift-appropriate merchandise, 212-433-WNYC, 433-9692 to your calls on Shop Listener right after this.

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Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC. Now to your calls on today's edition of Shop Listener. If you are selling holiday gifts in any food or drink business that you own in person or online, 212-433-WNYC. We'll start with James in Asbury Park. Greetings, Asbury Park. Hi, James.

James: Hey, Brian. How are you?

Brian Lehrer: Good. What you got?

James: my wife and I own Boosker Doo Coffee. We specialize in fresh roasted coffee. You can order it at booskerdoo.com, that's spelled hyperphenetically, B-O-O-S-K-E-R-D-O-O.com. We roast, pack, and ship the coffee all on the same day so you get it a couple of days later and it is fresh and the best coffee you've ever had. This is our 12th year in a row doing our Festivus for the Rest of Us blend, the official unofficial coffee blend of the Festivus holiday and that can all be ordered atbooskerdoo.com.

It's a small family business and we have shops all over Monmouth County, New Jersey, and a new one in Ardsley, New York, up in Westchester.

Brian Lehrer: Very cool. Is there a shopper favorite that they tend to buy at your store that you might recommend?

James: Definitely the Festivus blend. We also have a diner-style blend which is the coffee that tastes like coffee but the best, freshest version of it.

Brian Lehrer: Festivus as an old Seinfeld joke lives into 2024. James, thank you very much. Here's Rotimi in Brooklyn. Hi Rotimi. You're on WNYC.

Rotimi: Good morning, Brian. I love your show. I'm calling to ask people to shop at my wine shop in beautiful Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. It's called Bed-Vyne Wine. B-E-D-V-Y-N-E. We deliver all over the country. We sell wine and spirits, and right across the street, there's Bed-Vyne Brew. We have 10 taps of craft beer and we have growlers to go. Come to Bed-Stuy. Come support. Thank you.

Brian Lehrer: Do you have any pick this year or thing in particular, a wine in particular that people like to give as gifts?

Rotimi: Champagne is always a great gift. We have a Bedford–Stuyvesant–based champagne company, Beast Iverson. We carry that. We also have our private label Lambrusco and our private label, Bed-Vyne Prosecco. Our number one seller, Lambrusco Prosecco, Bed-Vyne brand.

Brian Lehrer: It's Bed-Fine. B-E-D-F-I-N-E on Tompkins Avenue in Bed-Stuy?

Rotimi: B-E-D-V-Y-N-E.

Brian Lehrer: V. Vyne, of course, like the Grapevine. Bed-Vyne. Okay. Rotimi.

Rotimi: Exactly.

Brian Lehrer: Good luck with it. Thank you very, very much. Jerry in Jackson Heights, you're on WNYC. Hi, Jerry.

Jerry: Hey, Brian. How are you? I'm a sustained member of your program. I listen to you every day. I am in the restaurant business for 52 years in Jackson Heights.

Brian Lehrer: Congratulations.

Jerry: We need more customers. Thank you. It's so difficult with the cost of expenses. Our real estate prices goes up, our electricity bill goes up. We need people to come and support these small little restaurants. I really need some help in January and February, Brian. Why don't you come by and I'll give you a discount.

Brian Lehrer: You need help after the season, but how about during the-- You just want people to come to your restaurant. That'd be a great gift if anybody's near Jackson High.

Jerry: We also have gift certificates. On Northern Boulevard. We've been in business, like I said, for 52 years. I've been listening to you guys for many, many years. You do a great job, Brian. Great Job.

Brian Lehrer: Thank you. Armando's on Northern Boulevard in Jackson Heights, near what street?

Jerry: It's 7316 Northern Boulevard. Armando's Italian Restaurant.

Brian Lehrer: That's right near that big subway stop, the 74th Street Roosevelt Avenue subway stop.

Jerry: Yes, exactly. We're two blocks away.

Brian Lehrer: What's your own favorite dish from your menu if you're willing to pick one out?

Jerry: Oh, my goodness. Listen, our chicken parmigiana is probably one of the nicest, most popular dish. We make our lasagna bolognese. We have a linguine with red or white clam sauce. It's just a nice little neighborhood restaurant. We have a Christmas party tonight. We're all booked, so thank God for a little holiday special, but come January, early February, it does get to be difficult. Your expenses stay the same, but your incomes goes down. That's so hard for small businesses.

Brian Lehrer: Good luck during and after the holidays, Jerry. Thanks so much for your support and for calling in. Kevin in Port Washington, you're on WNYC. Hi, Kevin.

Jerry: Hi, Brian. Good morning and thank you so much for all the work you do. I really appreciate what you bring to us every day on the show. My company is goldcoastcookiecompany.com. We're a fresh-baked cookie delivery company. Our cookies are delivered warm to people's homes and offices. We do a lot of gifting and a lot of get-well treats, which is very fun. I love meeting people as I deliver them. We're very popular. 80% of our customers are repeat customers. Once people try us, they come back over and over and over again.

Brian Lehrer: Gold Coast Cookies, referring to that part of the north shore of Long Island, Gold Coast, right?

Kevin: Yes. goldcoastcookiecompany.com. We deliver from Greatneck to Glen Cove to Brookville. Again, the favorites are usually our triple dark. We use the highest quality ingredients and especially with ingredients going up, we try to provide a really good value to our customers and get a really delectable cookie using Belgian chocolate, European butter, organic flowers. It really creates a truly different cookie and our customers appreciate it.

Brian Lehrer: Kevin, thank you very much. Good luck in Port Washington with Gold Coast Cookie Company. That's all the time we have regarding calls on the air, but again, anybody who owns a business that sells holiday gifts can post on our website for Shop Listener www.wnyc.org/shoplistener and everybody else, go shop from WNYC Listeners at wnyc.org/shoplistener. That's not the last shop listener call-in we're going to do either. Our next one is scheduled for Wednesday next week when we're going to invite you to call in if you're selling experiences as holiday gifts.

Those are always fun to give instead of stuff. Experiences. We'll do that on Wednesday's show. That's it for today's produced by Mary Croke, Lisa Allison, Amina Srna, Carl Boisrond, and Esperanza Rosenbaum, with Zach Gottehrer-Cohen editing our daily politics podcast. Our interns this term finishing up today are Andrés F. Pacheco-Girón and Olivia Greene. Thank you both so much for your great work and good luck.

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