Men’s Journal aims to feature only the best products and services. If you buy something via one of our links, we may earn a commission.
Patio furniture, garden essentials, e-bikes, soundbars, tool storage—Walmart is a top destination for deals on all kinds of home and outdoor gear, but that’s just scratching the surface; many lesser-known product categories also see incredible deals. Maybe Walmart isn’t the first place you’d shop for your next great pocket knife, for example, but it often has standout discounts on blades, and we just stumbled on a great one from Buck Knives.
The Buck Knives 375 Deuce Pocket Knife is on sale for $11, a 56% discount from its normal price of $25. This knife is a bestselling item at Walmart, and with its dual-blade design, it offers unmatched versatility in a compact package. It’s earned nearly 200 five-star ratings from Walmart shoppers, including one who said it’s “the perfect size to carry” and noted the blades are “really sharp” right out of the package.
Buck Knives 375 Deuce Knife, $11 (was $25) at Walmart
The 375 Deuce is both super useful and a handsome tool that features a folding clip blade and a folding coping blade for excellent cutting versatility. You can use this knife to handle all kinds of tasks, from slicing cheese to creating kindling for a campfire, and yet it’s small enough to stash in a pocket. Both blades are made from sturdy 420J2 stainless steel, and they each feature a nail notch for easy opening. But the blades are just the start—this knife is full of high-quality details. The black pakawood handle contrasts nicely with the polished brass liners, genuine nickel silver bolsters, and the Buck Knives logo in nickel silver. Plus, the knife’s riveted construction gives it solid durability, so you can expect many years of use from it.
Walmart shoppers have great things to report about this knife. One said it’s “very well made” and “sharp and useful,” even though it’s small in size.
“It’s razor sharp from the factory, and fit and finish are excellent,” another shopper wrote. “My favorite small pocket knife,” declared another. “It doesn’t take up much room in my pocket.”
Whether you’re a knife collector or just need a useful tool for EDC purposes, the Buck Knives 375 Deuce Knife is an excellent purchase at just $11. But it’s also a bestseller, and that means it won’t stay in stock long, so grab yours today before it’s gone.
This Friday, on May 2, Marvel’s new comeback epic, Thunderbolts*, hits theaters. It’s a fun, brisk, and deeply strange new entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but unlike some of the more recent TV series or forgettable films (cough, cough, Quantumania), Thunderbolts* is anything but inessential. Instead, the movie feels like a preamble to a rough-and-tumble Marvel comeback, a version of the MCU that will feel oddly scrappier than it did a few years ago.
That said, there’s a decent amount of continuity that Thunderbolts* is built on. Bucky (Sebastian Stan) has been with us since 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger, while even a relatively new character like Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen) made her MCU debut back in 2018 in Ant-Man and the Wasp. Meanwhile, The Red Guardian (David Harbour) and Yelena (Florence Pugh) come from 2021’s Black Widow, which was forced to make its debut in theaters and on Disney+ because it was still COVID times and movie theaters were not fully “back.” That same year gave us The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which is where we get John Walker (Wyatt Russell), the sort of knock-off Captain America. The scheming Valentina (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) has also been around since 2021, popping up, recruiting these super-rejects in both The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Black Widow.
Do you need to understand all of these characters’ backstories? No, not really. Because the one thing to remember before watching Thunderbolts* is pretty easy to keep straight: All of the members of this squad were disgraced or, at some point, literally bad guys, before the movie starts. This is the main idea of Thunderbolts* it’s a superhero movie, not about B-list superheroes, but about discarded baddies who are, deep down, more or less, good.
You can certainly rewatch Black Widow or The Falcon and the Winter Soldier for more context, if you’d like. But, Thunderbolts* does a decent job of organically reminding you of those events anyway.
In a sense, Thunderbolts* feels like Marvel’s attempt to take those plot threads from the lost era of 2021, and turn some of those darker ideas into a concept that is a little more upbeat. You don’t need to do your homework on these characters to enjoy the movie. Instead, just remember that none of them were ever mainstream superheroes before, even though they wanted to be. Once you know that, everything else will fall into place.
Thunderbolts* hits theaters on May 2, 2025. Some screenings begin on Thursday evening.
Like many Top Chef fans, I’ve spent years judging dishes from my couch. But last fall, after nearly two decades of watching the Emmy-winning Bravo series, I got the chance to try the food for myself while on set in Toronto, Canada.
Spoiler alert: I only kind of knew what I was talking about.
My visit took me behind the scenes of both a Quickfire and an Elimination Challenge (yes, I tasted pizza made by the cheftestants — more on that later). I also sat down with host Kristen Kish, who stepped in for Padma Lakshmi after her 2023 exit, along with longtime judges Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons.
Simmons, a Toronto native, had been campaigning for a Canadian season “for years.”
“But now that it’s here, it was actually a little more overwhelming and intimidating than I thought it would be,” she tells me while on location at a beautiful vineyard near Niagara Falls where the Elimination Challenge was taking place.
That didn’t stop her from jumping in to help shape the season. “I sent them lists of chefs. I sent them lists of locations. I sent them lists of ingredients and ideas we talked them through,” she says.
Kish’s connection to Canada is more recent. She spent time in Montreal while writing her 2017 cookbook with Canadian author Meredith Erickson, and her wife has family in Toronto. “We’ve probably been here three or four times this year,” she says. “But I can’t say I’ve really eaten through the city.”
Fun fact: Kish once stayed at Simmons’ in-laws’ house. “She was like, ‘Oh, you can stay with my in-laws, they have a room,’” Kish laughs. “I didn’t have a hotel or do anything like that. It was really nice.”
Colicchio, who has several restaurants in New York and one in Las Vegas, says “the food scene’s great” in The Six. “Years ago I did a guest dinner here. I’m forgetting who it was with, but I did a guest chef series, and then I was recently here looking at a restaurant space,” he explains. “I don’t think it’s going to happen, but I’ve been here over the years.”
David Moir/Bravo
The day of my visit, the chefs were tasked with reimagining pizza for what Kish calls Top Chef’s first-ever pizza party. “We were asking to make something new, something different, something unique,” Colicchio says.
Not everything hit the mark, though. “I think some are successful and some are less, but that’s always how it is,” Simmons says. “Today wasn’t actually necessarily their best showing, but almost every episode there have been dishes that stand out to us and that we’ve been going way by that been really, really excellent.”
One dish that did stand out for me? A scallion pancake “pizza” made by chef Shuai Wang — one I thoroughly enjoyed and couldn’t help but wonder if my amateur palate aligned with the judges. “The biggest problem with some of the pizzas today was the doughs,” Colicchio tells me after the tasting. “And so if you’re not comfortable doing that and you think you can make a really good scallion pancake and it kind of fits it, then I’m OK with that. So yeah, I would consider that in the context of what we’re looking for.”
Wang’s pizza didn’t give him the win but did land him in the top three. And despite the overall uneven showing that day, Simmons says the cast keeps leveling up. “It’s not really just about how good you are as a cook, right? It’s a combination,” she says. “You need to be on television, you need to be able to talk cooks, tell stories. You have to be a very well-rounded person. It’s a very complicated casting process. I think harder than people realize.”
Colicchio echoes the difficulty of assembling the right group of chefs each season. “I think it’s when we we’re casting diversity, we’re casting equal amounts of men or women. Our industry is not made up equally, men or women there. …And so I think they’re trying to balance that.”
He adds, “I think what happens with our show, and this is what I think that we’ve done really well because of the diversity, the hardest thing, especially for women and minorities, is to raise money. The visibility that they get on the show makes it easier to do that.”
Kish is one example of that visibility paying off. After winning Top Chef Season 10, she went on to succeed outside the kitchen too — and in 2023, she stepped in as host and earned an Emmy nomination her very first season.
“It gave us a real opportunity to reset,” Simmons says. “Kristen came with fresh eyes and great ideas and totally humble, no expectations, and just wanted to do the best she can and work with us in a way that made everybody better. And that’s rare in a show that’s had our kind of history and our close relationships, but she was already part of the family.”
Colicchio agrees: “She fits right in. She’s really good at it. And I think for the contestants, it’s really great having a judge that has been in the competition. I think they feel there’s better sense of empathy for that.”
Still, Kish admits the transition wasn’t easy. “I was nervous and overthinking a lot last year,” she says. “Whether that came off on television or not, probably not, but internally I felt it.”
That pressure was balanced by her firsthand experience — something that gives her a unique advantage as host.”I was a sous chef and I was cooking every night and I was doing nightly menus all by myself, all this stuff. And I had that practice underneath my belt, which I think helped me,” she says of competing. “You have some great executive chefs that barely touch a knife anymore. So you really never know. There’s so many challenges that play to people’s strengths and weaknesses. I don’t know the right formula, but all I know is that these chefs right now are doing a really great job.”
As for what’s next for the award-winning competition now in its 22nd season, Colicchio is intrigued by the idea of an all-winners edition — or even one featuring runner-ups. “Winners don’t want to do it because they’re like, ‘I already won.’ Except I would love to see if we can get a half a million-dollar prize together, a million-dollar prize together,” he says. “That might be enough to entice everybody to come out.”
The bigger challenge? Time. “Everybody’s really busy these days, especially if you won. They don’t have time to take off six weeks.”
Fox & Friends co-host Steve Doocy revealed he is making a major career change, and he got emotional while sharing the news.
The announcement came during the May 1 episode of Fox & Friends. Doocey announced that after 30 years waking up at 3:30 every weekday morning, he was leaving the “curvy couch” in the show’s New York City studio.
Doocy noted that he has hit the couch for those early mornings over 6,800 times while on Fox & Friends. He said, “It’s a great job, but the hours s_ck.”
“After decades of getting up at 3:30 and driving into New York City in the dark, today is the last day I will host this show from the couch.”
He paused briefly, then added, “I’m not retiring, I’m not leaving the show. I’m still a host, but it’s time for a change.”
Doocy will no longer be in the studio in New York City, but he will still appear on Fox & Friends three days a week. However, he will be based in Florida and travel to report from different areas of the country.
He quipped, “I will be based in Florida, which means you may never see me in a necktie again.” Doocy also joked he will now be the “coast-to-coast host” for the show.
The long-time Fox correspondent admitted that he missed having breakfast with his kids throughout their childhoods, due to his early work hours. “Starting tomorrow, I’m gonna have breakfast with my grandkids and my children whenever I can,” he declared.
Before shifting to his new work schedule, Doocy and his wife will spend time visiting their kids and grandkids across the country.
“Gaga and Grandpa are hitting the road to spoil all of our kids and our grandkids. Not with stuff, per se, but just by being there,” he shared.
Doocy choked up when he began talking about how much he was going to miss being in the studio in person.
He admitted this was “one downside” to the new arrangement, and credited “The security guys, the cafe crew, especially the hair and makeup team, because they are geniuses at what they do.”
The 2025 Tony Nominations have been unveiled and Buena Vista Social Club leads the pack with 10 nominations. Other nominees include Sunset Boulevard, John Proctor Is The VIllain and Dead Outlaw. However, despite historic ticket sales,Othello was completely snubbed, with stars Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal absent from the acting category.
In addition, musicals such as The Last Five Years and Redwood were entirely shut out of the Tony nominations.
Hosted by Cynthia Ervio, the 78th Tony Awards wil air on June 8 at 8PM EST on CBS. Here are the official list of nominees.
Best Musical Buena Vista Social Club Dead Outlaw Death Becomes Her Maybe Happy Ending Operation Mincemeat
Best Play English The Hills of California John Proctor Is the Villain Oh, Mary! Purpose
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical Darren Criss: Maybe Happy Ending Andrew Durand: Dead Outlaw Tom Francis: Sunset Boulevard Jonathan Groff: Just in Time James Monroe Iglehart: A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical Jeremy Jordan: Floyd Collins
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical Megan Hilty: Death Becomes Her Audra McDonald: Gypsy Jasmine Amy Rogers: BOOP! The Musical Nicole Scherzinger: Sunset Boulevard Jennifer Simard: Death Becomes Her
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play George Clooney: Good Night, and Good Luck Cole Escola: Oh, Mary! Jon Michael Hill: Purpose Daniel Dae Kim: Yellow Face Harry Lennix: Purpose Louis McCartney: Stranger Things: The First Shadow
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play Laura Donnelly: The Hills of California Mia Farrow: The Roommate LaTanya Richardson Jackson: Purpose Sadie Sink: John Proctor Is the Villain Sarah Snook: The Picture of Dorian Gray
Best Revival of a Musical Floyd Collins Gypsy Pirates! The Penzance Musical Sunset Boulevard
Best Revival of a Play Eureka Day Our Town Romeo + Juliet Yellow Face
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical Brooks Ashmanskas: Smash Jeb Brown: Dead Outlaw Danny Burstein: Gypsy Jak Malone: Operation Mincemeat Taylor Trensch: Floyd Collins
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical Natalie Venetia Belcon: Buena Vista Social Club Julia Knitel: Dead Outlaw Gracie Lawrence: Just in Time Justina Machado: Real Women Have Curves Joy Woods: Gypsy
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play Glenn Davis: Purpose Gabriel Ebert: John Proctor Is the Villain Francis Jue: Yellow Face Bob Odenkirk: Glengarry Glen Ross Conrad Ricamora: Oh, Mary!
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play Tala Ashe: English Jessica Hecht: Eureka Day Marjan Neshat: English Fina Strazza: John Proctor Is the Villain Kara Young: Purpose
Best Book of a Musical Will Aronson and Hue Park: Maybe Happy Ending Itamar Moses: Dead Outlaw Marco Pennette: Death Becomes Her Marco Ramirez: Buena Vista Social Club SpitLip (David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson, Zoë Roberts): Operation Mincemeat
Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre David Yazbek and Erik Della Penna: Dead Outlaw Will Aronson and Hue Park: Maybe Happy Ending Noel Carey and Julia Mattison: Death Becomes Her Joy Huerta and Benjamin Velez: Real Women Have Curves David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson, Zoë Roberts: Operation Mincemeat
Best Direction of a Musical Saheem Ali: Buena Vista Social Club Michael Arden: Maybe Happy Ending David Cromer: Dead Outlaw Christopher Gattelli: Death Becomes Her Jamie Lloyd: Sunset Boulevard
Best Direction of a Play Knud Adams: English Sam Mendes: The Hills of California Sam Pinkleton: Oh, Mary! Danya Taymor: John Proctor Is the Villain Kip Williams: The Picture of Dorian Gray
Best Choreography Joshua Bergasse: Smash Camille A. Brown: Gypsy Christopher Gattelli: Death Becomes Her Jerry Mitchell: BOOP! The Musical Justin Peck and Patricia Delgado: Buena Vista Social Club
Best Orchestrations Bruce Coughlin: Floyd Collins David Cullen and Andrew Lloyd Webber: Sunset Boulevard Marco Paguia: Buena Vista Social Club Andrew Resnick and Michael Thurber: Just in Time Will Aronson: Maybe Happy Ending
Best Scenic Design of a Musical Rachel Hauck: Swept Away Dane Laffrey and George Reeve: Maybe Happy Ending Arnulfo Maldonado: Buena Vista Social Club Derek McLane: Death Becomes Her Derek McLane: Just in Time
Best Scenic Design of a Play Marsha Ginsberg: English Rob Howell: The Hills of California Marg Horwell and David Bergman: The Picture of Dorian Gray Miriam Buether and 59: Stranger Things: The First Shadow Scott Pask: Good Night, and Good Luck
Best Costume Design of a Musical Dede Ayite: Buena Vista Social Club Gregg Barnes: BOOP! The Musical Clint Ramos: Maybe Happy Ending Paul Tazewell: Death Becomes Her Catherine Zuber: Just in Time
Best Costume Design of a Play Brenda Abbandandolo: Good Night, and Good Luck Rob Howell: The Hills of California Marg Horwell: The Picture of Dorian Gray Holly Pierson: Oh, Mary! Brigitte Reiffenstuel: Stranger Things: The First Shadow
Best Lighting Design of a Musical Ben Stanton: Maybe Happy Ending Jack Knowles: Sunset Boulevard Tyler Micoleau: Buena Vista Social Club Justin Townsend: Death Becomes Her Scott Zielinski: Floyd Collins
Best Lighting Design of a Play Natasha Chivers: The Hills of California Jon Clark: Stranger Things: The First Shadow Heather Gilbert and David Bengali: Good Night, and Good Luck Natasha Katz: John Proctor Is the Villain Nick Schlieper: The Picture of Dorian Gray
Best Sound Design of a Musical Jonathan Deans: Buena Vista Social Club Adam Fisher: Sunset Boulevard Peter Hylenski: Just in Time Peter Hylenski: Maybe Happy Ending Dan Moses Schreier: Floyd Collins
Best Sound Design of a Play Paul Arditti: Stranger Things: The First Shadow Palmer Hefferan: John Proctor Is the Villain Daniel Kluger: Good Night, and Good Luck Nick Powell: The Hills of California Clemence Williams: The Picture of Dorian Gray
Men’s Journal aims to feature only the best products and services. If you buy something via one of our links, we may earn a commission.
Between navigating business casual dress codes and finding the ideal wear-anytime smart casual shirt, more guys are opting for pieces that can look stylish and sharp without feeling too buttoned-up. It’s not just apparel, though—dress sneakers have become all but mandatory at semi-formal occasions, and there’s no better option than Cole Haan’s Zerogrand shoes, which are down to 50% off at Nordstrom Rack.
The Cole Haan Zerogrand Plain Toe Oxford is now on sale for $110, half off its normal $220 cost—a quite incredible price when you compare it to what Amazon is charging. Nordstrom Rack has them on sale in the iconic British Tan and classic black colors, and they’re available in sizes 8 to 13.
Cole Haan Zerogrand Plain Toe Oxfords in British Tan Ivory, $110 (was $220) at Nordstrom Rack
The Zerogrand Plain Toe Oxfords are all business on top, mixed with smooth comfort on the bottom. Leather with fine stitching and subdued laces govern the shoe’s upper while a foam-cushioned footbed keeps you far more comfortable than you may think with a shoe that looks like this. The shoes’ soles are great for walking everywhere in, with grooves in the bottom that combine easy grip and straightforward cleaning. It’s subtle, but if you look closely at one of the Oxfords’ backs, you’ll notice great heel to ankle coverage without making it impossible to slip into the shoe easily.
Cole Haan Zerogrand Plain Toe Oxfords in Black, $110 (was $220) at Nordstrom Rack
Of course, longstanding fans of the Zerogrand line won’t be surprised by this. Cole Haan’s creation of the Zerogrand line, which it refers to as its boardroom disruptor, has always been about creating a shoe that combines corporate-friendly appearance with foot-smart soles because, let’s face it, most dress shoes aren’t comfortable.
If you want these Zerogrand Oxfords while they’re 50% off, you should do so now. We’re already seeing Remastered versions float around, so when these sell out, you may never find them again.
If high-end, award-winning whiskey bars are the exception, then what’s the rule? The best day-in, day-out place to enjoy whiskey is a dive bar. It’s not because I don’t respect the handful of spots with leather-bound spirits menus listing hundreds of bottles. They’re just not readily accessible when you want to sit down for a no-reservation drink with a buddy.
Whiskey and dives are kindred spirits. They’re an aesthetic match, as dark bar tops and dim lights complement the gleam of brown bottles while whatever game that’s on the TV splashes color across the glass. And excellence for both bourbon and bars is a product of time. Aging a barrel of bourbon is a long and dirty process, much like establishing the lived-in feel of a comfortable dive.
“It just feels right to drink whiskey at a dive bar,” Tim Heuisler, global ambassador for James B. Beam Distilling, told me. When I reached him, he’d been working on his laptop from the Philadelphia-themed dive Olde City in Manhattan. Heuisler represents, has ready access to, and appreciates Beam’s most premium, allocated liquids in addition to those that decorate the backbars of dives.
“Sometimes, I just want 100 proof whiskey over some ice cubes that I don’t need to think about,” he said. “There’s nothing wrong with a two-by-two clear ice cube with a stamp on it, but sometimes I really just want hotel ice.”
Yes, standard dives are typically limited to bottom- and mid-shelf whiskey—but those are still great bottles.
“The standards of production for American whiskey are so high that even the cheap stuff is still pretty nice,” said Katsumi Manabe, dive enthusiast and bartender at the upscale Scotch Lodge in Portland, OR.
Katsumi’s dive bar pour of choice is a bit controversial. “I take a lot of heat for this, but I’ve always been a fan of Jack Daniel’s Old No. 7,” he said. “Internationally, a bottle of Jack Daniels can be $50. It’s kind of a treat for other people.”
There’s no question dives lack the well-trained, whiskey-fluent staff of a dedicated bar like Mike Vacheresse’s Travel Bar in Brooklyn, where any of its 400 bottles are served by the ounce. He was quick to point this out when I asked his thoughts on my dive bar rule.
Travel Bar in Brooklyn has 400 bottles of whiskey on its menu.
Courtesy Image
“[Dives] are not a good place to taste whiskey. Yeah, it’s a good place to experience whiskey, but not to taste it,” Vacheresse said. “If you’re tasting to taste, that’s one thing. If you’re tasting just to socialize, that’s another.”
Lest I judge Vacheresse as a spoil sport, he added that he enjoyed his 50th birthday in a dive where his Maker’s Mark was poured from 1.75L handles, and the price of every whiskey was written on the bottle in Sharpie.
I disagree that I can’t enjoy the taste of whiskey in a dive, but he’s right on the service. Dives, however, offer a different kind of hospitality. Though the friendly bartenders at my local spot, Richie’s Pelham Pub, aren’t spirits connoisseurs—they’re occasionally surprised by what they find on their back bar—their pours are generous and they abide by the culture of buy backs.
In my opinion, that lack of deep knowledge in a dive is part of the fun. You never know when you’re going to get the best deal of your life. Ordering is a minor gamble. You either win with an affordable whiskey or win big when a dive prices rare bottles like everything else.
Manabe recalled a memorable convergence of dive bar magic. His regular after-work spot got in a bottle of Weller Full Proof, one of his absolute favorites, and was charging $14 a pour. That doesn’t sound like an astounding deal, but using his professional bartender’s eye, he estimated his first pour at a whopping 3.5 ounces.
At Richie’s, the dive pricing gambit is straightforward. There’s only one price for whiskey: $10. That’s all I’ve been charged no matter what I ordered. On my last visit, I enjoyed a healthy splash of Redbreast 12. Next time, I’ve got my eye on a couple dusty Balvenie bottles in the back that look lonely.
To be clear: Great whiskey bars, like Travel Bar and Scotch Lodge, aren’t the enemy of dive bars. In my universe, Travel Bar is the yin to Richie’s yang.
The enemy of whiskey would be middle tier restaurants and sports bars. Maybe it’s just endemic in my neck of the woods, but these spots combine the worst of both worlds: poor service and painful prices.
A few weeks ago, I walked into an otherwise reasonably priced barbecue joint for a whiskey and spotted a couple bottles of Old Rip Van Winkle 10 Year Bourbon behind the bar. When I asked the price, the friendly but under-trained bartender took five minutes to tell me it was $55. I settled for a $20 ounce of Old Forester 1920 and tabbed out.
Down the street from me is a nice Italian spot where I will occasionally order a $20 Blanton’s at a cramped bar alongside empty nesters enjoying one more espresso martini while waiting for their table. Old Rip sits atop that back bar, too. The upgrade in ambiance makes it a $100 pour.
The most egregious crime against whiskey I’ve seen is a number of restaurants in New York City with “whiskey” in their names. To their credit, they do offer a whiskey menu, but it’s an offense to the senses. Take American Whiskey in midtown Manhattan. For $20, you enjoy the privilege of sipping a single ounce of Woodford Reserve—though Buffalo Trace, a more coveted bourbon, is $18.
If you think that I’m just picking on a Manhattan bar for having Manhattan prices, I have proof that there’s no need for to gouge. Less than a mile away, just outside the no less bustling Times Square, sits Rudy’s Bar and Grill.
Rudy’s Bar and Grill is a cost-friendly dive near Times Square with an impressive whiskey selection.
Courtesy Image
On my last visit, I saw a large sign behind the bar advertising $15 Blanton’s. Through the din of the ongoing happy hour, I ordered pour from the bartender. Nonplussed, he stared back from behind his rimless glasses for a moment, then grabbed the horse-topped bottle, and charged me $10. Dive magic in action. Though the whiskey came with the option of a free hot dog—a famous and endearing feature at Rudy’s—I opted to wait until my next round.
As Manabe pointed out to me, spots like American Whiskey—and many hotel bars—run up prices simply because they have captive audiences and don’t have to convince people to come in. You’re already packed into that corner of Manhattan or stuck in a hotel with no better option.
However, I’m the last dive bar lover to claim the institution is flawless. By and large, dive establishments are lousy places to enjoy great beer. Though I appreciate the scientific precision that goes into making every Miller Lite taste the exact same, dive bar beer selections are at best on par with the equivalent of choosing between Canadian Mist and Seagram’s 7.
I might be wrong, though. The more I talked with Vacheresse, the more I wished his Travel Bar was down the street from me, not an 80-minute train ride away. If I truly sought cheap whiskey, he pointed out, his menu has a $8, 2-ounce pour of Benchmark Bourbon.
What else, I asked, can he offer that dives don’t?
“Chairs with backs,” he replied. Point taken.
By the end of our chat, however, Vacheresse seemed to reinforce my point. He has arguably the most comfortable, approachable spot to enjoy a dram in all of Brooklyn, if not New York City. But in its singular perfection, it embodies the exception to prove the rule.
Emily in Paris star Lucas Bravo just made things Instagram official with Shailene Woodley, 33, sharing a desert-set photo dump from their recent trip to Slab City, California. Among the art installations and sun-soaked backdrops were cozy snaps of the couple holding hands, donning cowboy hats, and posing with Sofi Tukker and Sophie Hawley-Weld.
Bravo, 37, captioned the post “Howdy Slab City,” marking their first public social media debut as a couple. This comes nearly a month after he confirmed his romance to People that he was “really happy” in the relationship.
The duo first sparked dating buzz in March after being spotted holding hands in Paris. This marks Woodley’s first public relationship since her 2022 split from NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
The news comes as Bravo had to say goodbye to one of his Emily in Paris cast members, Camille Razzat. The French actress revealed that she will not be appearing in season 5 of the show, which is now in production in Rome before an expected return to Paris.
Kohl’s fired its CEO, Ashley Buchanan, for an “inappropriate” business decision.
The American department store retail chain has appointed Chairman Michael Bender as its interim CEO on Thursday, May 1. The change comes after Kohl’s found that Buchanan had committed to a suspect business decision.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Buchanan was accused of instructing Kohl’s to enter into a “highly unusual” with a woman whom he has a romantic relationship with.
The woman, Chandra Holt, reportedly worked at Walmart with Buchanan years ago. He ended up leaving Walmart to run crafts chain Michael’s and took the Kohl’s CEO job in November. But a couple of months later, he’s out.
Holt, meanwhile, is serving as a consultant and the founder of Incredibrew, a coffee brand.
A Kohl’s board investigation found that Buchanan violated the company’s code of conduct in two instances with a vendor with whom he had a personal relationship and whom it didn’t name, according to a regulatory filing.
The filing said he directed the retailer to conduct business with this vendor and he caused the company to enter into a multimillion-dollar consulting agreement, where that person was part of the consulting team.
Kohl’s said Buchanan didn’t disclose the relationship as required by its code of ethics and determined the conduct in both cases constituted cause for termination. Buchanan will forfeit all equity awards from Kohl’s and be required to reimburse the company on a prorated basis a signing bonus worth $2.5 million.
Kohl’s numbers have been down this year, too.
The American retail giant said that sales were down about 4 percent in the most recent quarter. The company is expected to post another loss when it reports sales later this spring.
Jax Taylor does not think his estranged wife, Brittany Cartwright, used him to get on Vanderpump Rules. The Bravo TV personality spoke out on the May 1 episode of hisPodcast One podcast, In the Mind of Jax Taylor, after a fan asked if he felt the Kentucky native sought him out just to get on the reality show.
“I get this question all the time,” Taylor said. “I want to say I hope not. Her mom knew who I was, but she told me she never knew who I was. I want to give her the benefit of the doubt and say no, she didn’t know. I don’t think she would have done something like that …I don’t think she’s that kind of person.”
Taylor met Cartwright at a club in Las Vegas while he was filming the fourth season of Vanderpump Rules in 2015. He brought her back to Los Angeles with him to interview with Lisa Vanderpump. Cartwright scored a job at Vanderpump’s West Hollywood restaurant SUR and eventually a main role on Vanderpump Rules.
Taylor and Cartwright married in 2019 and split in early 2024. They are currently going through a bitter divorce.
Taylor’s new comments came just after Cartwright appeared on Watch What Happens Liveand was grilled about their broken relationship. The former SUR waitress told host Andy Cohen there was no chance that she would ever reconcile with Taylor. She also gave a shady answer when asked to rate her former husband’s skills in the bedroom.
“There was times when he was about a seven or an eight,” Cartwright said of Taylor on the April 29 edition of Cohen’s talk show. “But the majority of the time, no stamina—no nothing.”
Cartwright also posted a comment on Instagram to explain why she gave her ex such a harsh critique. “Let’s be clear,” she wrote. “I was ASKED this question on WWHL and it’s my right, after all the s— I have been through, to answer honestly.”
Taylor didn’t directly address Cartwright’s remarks about his bedroom performance, but he hinted on his podcast that he and his wife got lazy in their decade-long relationship.
