Hidden Wisconsin Restaurant Serves Espionage Fun With Food

A truly exceptional themed restaurant needs to go further than some wall decor and select menu items, it needs to provide a full theme experience, something that the SafeHouse Restaurant and Bar in Milwaukee, Wisconsin seems to have nailed completely. Let's put it this way, when you arrive at the 'hidden' SafeHouse, you need to provide a password to gain entry, but once you get inside the real show begins. more

Personal recommendation... The Mission Impossible - Go rogue with this mission. A large fishbowl filled with Bacardi Superior Rum, Roaring Dan's Dark Rum, orgeat, lemon, orange, pineapple, and grenadine - serves 2 spies nicely or 1 brave agent. more

A Spy, a Botanist, and a Strawberry

The year was 1712. An engineer in the French Army Intelligence Corps named Amédée-François Frézier was sent by King Louis XIV on a reconnaissance mission to Chile. Between covert visits to Chilean military fortifications where he posed as a tourist in order to gain access, Frézier was also charged with documenting the local flora and fauna. One day he came upon a familiar sight: a berry that looked similar to one he knew from Europe, but significantly larger...

Frézier packed up some of these plants and took them back to France where they were planted among other species. The crossing of Fragaria chilenosis with another species from the new world, Fragaria virginiana, resulted in a hybrid that would eventually become the strawberry we know today... Eventually the hybrid made its way back across the Atlantic and took hold in North and South America.

Did you happen to notice our French spy's name, Frézier? That might sound familiar because the French word for strawberry is fraise. An ancestor of Frézier’s was knighted and bestowed the name by the king of France in the year 916 after offering his highness a gift of ripe strawberries. Seems it was Amédée’s destiny to become intertwined with this noble berry. more

Interesting Article in Food Safety Magazine

In addition to nation-state industrial espionage, companies face a wide range of threats. 

“Hacktivists” launch attacks for ideological, political, or religious reasons, or simply for the challenge.

Criminal organizations attack for profit, trying to extract payment from the victim.

In addition, companies sometimes become victims even if they are not the intended target, such as the notpetya attack, which targeted a software company but had much broader impact, including the food and agriculture industry.

It is important to know that nation states and criminal organizations both do target corporations, and this article will provide solutions on how companies can better protect themselves. more

Ag Tech Being Targeted by International Espionage

In a special report, HAT (Hoosier Ag Today) focuses on how ag biotech has become a top priority for foreign spies. It sounds like the plot of a James Bond thriller: foreign governments trying to steal top secret military technology to take over the world. But, in reality, it has become agricultural technology that foreign governments want to steal from the U.S. “If you have a competitive advantage in the field of agriculture, there is a high chance that a foreign government would target that technology,” says Craig Moringiello, special agent with the FBI...

However, companies and universities are not the only ones at risk. The FBI is urging farmers to be vigilant as well. “Farmers should be vigilant  in protecting their operations and security measures,” said Moringiello. He warned farmers to be aware when having foreign visitors on their farms. more

Even Popcorn Has Trade Secrets

Caramel Crisp LLC, the owner of Garrett Popcorn Shops (“Garrett”), the renowned Chicago-based purveyor of deliciously flavored popcorn, recently filed suit in federal court in Chicago against its former director of research and development, Aisha Putnam, alleging that she misappropriated the company’s trade secrets, including its recipes for Garret’s famous popcorn...

Garrett alleges that when she learned about the termination, Putnam began downloading “virtually all of [Garrett’s] trade secrets and confidential information in her possession to a personal USB drive, which she took home.”...

This case offers two helpful reminders to employers that seek to protect their valuable trade secrets.  

First, in determining whether something qualifies as a “trade secret,” one factor considered by courts are the reasonableness of the efforts to maintain the confidentiality of the trade secrets...

Second, whenever an employee with access to trade secrets leaves their employment (either voluntarily or involuntarily), employers should consider whether to conduct a forensic review of their computers and other storage devices to determine whether the employee took any confidential information on his or her way out the door. more

Crack the Code - Get a Drink

The Bletchley is a spy-themed London bar where you have to crack codes to order drinks.

To do that, you use imitation World War 2 Enigma machines which generate a unique code for every "agent." Orders are then transmitted via radio to the bar.

The venue is inspired by Bletchley Park, the site where British mathematician and codebreaker Alan Turing and his team used to crack German codes during World War 2. more with video

What Do You Call the New Vinyard in Spy Valley? ..."The Must Sea"?

NZ - A Marlborough wine company with an espionage theme is calling on members of the public to help name their new vineyard.

Crowd sourcing names can be a risky business, as the National Environment Research Council in the United Kingdom found out earlier this year...

Although they derived their name from the presence of the communications orbs in the Waihopai Valley, McCone said Spy Valley Wines did not hold any contracts to supply spooks with wine.

"They do occasionally come in their unmarked vans to buy some wine on a Friday afternoon though," he said. more

Business Espionage: The Cruffin Caper (and 230 other recipes swiped)

It takes three days to make a cruffin, a muffin-croissant hybrid that is the signature of Ry Stephen, a 28-year-old pastry chef. His shop, Mr Holmes Bakehouse, has been open three months and inspired a wild following, with customers lining up early to buy the ice-cream-cone-shaped cruffins, which reliably sell out before the line is gone...

Now, the tempting sweet may have inspired a crime. Overnight last week, a thief stole the recipe for cruffins, and Mr. Stephen’s 230 other recipes, from binders in the bakery’s kitchen. Nothing else in the store was touched: not money, valuable baking equipment, an iPad or other computers...

Mr. Stephen does not think it was an inside job. He said he trusts his employees and has told them, “You can have any recipe you want, provided you know how to execute it.” Plus a new surveillance system had been installed, but was not yet operational, although the employees did not know that. more

This is a cautionary tale with important points for your business...

1. Secure your proprietary information and business secrets. Keeping them in your "locked" office, on a shelf, where everyone knows where they are, is not adequate.

2. Use top notch security to protect your business secrets. Hire an independent security consultant to assist you with this. Periodically double-check to make sure your security systems are 100% operational.

Expect to see cruffins everywhere, soon.

"The World's First Espionage Snacks"

New Branding and Espionage Snacks at the Winter Fancy Food Show, January 11-13, 2015

 ...launching at the show, and sure to change the snacking game as we know it, are Captain Honeypot and Admiral Hornblower, the world’s first espionage snacks that allow you to spy on yourself and honeypot with others.

At the helm of these snack innovations is Robert Ehrlich, who has rocked the snack world as the Shaman of Snacks for the past 29 years, creating some of the most iconic snacks on the planet.
(more)

The Rube Goldberg Toy I Want for My Birthday

The Pepsi Spycam

Enjoy it for the Spycam...

“Ag-gag” Laws and The Jungle

“Ag-gag” laws threaten journalists’ reliance on whistleblowers 

A recent spate of nationwide legislative measures designed to curb undercover recording at farms and other agricultural facilities may potentially restrict reporters’ ability to gather and publish important information about the food industry.

Some of the measures would directly prohibit journalists from photographing or recording farm animals and other items and activities involved in food production in a manner not likely to pass constitutional scrutiny.

Others, however, seek to cut off the dissemination of this information at its source, by criminalizing the actions of whistleblowers. (more)

Dot Connections:
The Jungle is a 1906 novel written by American journalist, socialist, politician, and muckracker Upton Sinclair (1878-1968). The novel was first published in serial form in 1905... It was based on undercover work done in 1904: Sinclair spent seven weeks gathering information while working incognito in the meatpacking plants of the Chicago stockyards at the behest of the magazine's publishers.

Public pressure led to the passage of the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, which established the Bureau of Chemistry that would become the Food and Drug Administration in 1930.

"How I lost three fingers making a cupcake bomb in the kitchen of my mom."

British intelligence agents have hacked into the online magazine of the Yemeni branch of Al Qaeda and sabotaged an article on bomb making, a government official said Friday. 

The English-language magazine Inspire had published an article last year titled “Make a Bomb in the Kitchen of Your Mom.” The agents, reportedly working for Britain’s eavesdropping agency, replaced the instructions with a recipe for cupcakes. (more) (cupcake cannon video)

I Spy Father's Day - Secret Safes and more...

59372 98324 19043 78903 95320...
Date: Sunday, June 21
Assignment: Get Pop something cool!
Suggested material: Peanut Butter Safe
Facts: Everybody’s got peanut butter tucked in the back of their cupboards. Now you can keep your valuables back there, too, without anyone knowing the difference. It looks—and weighs—just like a real jar of old fashioned peanut butter, but the top screws off to reveal a hollowed out center for hiding small items. Smart food, indeed!
Fun fact: We’ve had college kids buy these to hide their cell phones in.
Technical Data: Interior space 4” x 2”
Cost: $18.00
Procurement: Click here.
Alternate Spy Gear: Click here.
Top Secret: Until Monday...
Free $10 Gift Card with Orders Over $50.
...59372 98324 19043 78903 95320 O&O

Spies Need a Safe Place to Eat

The Safe House is located on the hard-to-find Front Street, which is basically an alley that runs one block west of Water Street between Wells and Mason Streets. The building -- adorned with a few flags -- does not have a Safe House sign, but does have a small placard that reads "International Exports Ltd."

After trying two other locked doors, the boys finally found an unlocked door that led them into a very small room with a large book shelf.

At night, guests are greeted by a person -- playing the role of "Ms. Moneypenny" from the James Bond films -- who asks for the password. During the day, however, a voice pipes through a speaker (this is a new feature) and asks if you know the password.

The password has not changed in four decades, but if you do not say it exactly right, you are asked to take a special "spy test" proving that you are indeed a spy who deserves entry into the Safe House. At night, the spy test can get a bit sassy, but when kids are involved, the test is G-rated, requiring those that don't know the password to like act like a monkey or hop on one foot.

Video cameras are hidden in the wall of the Safe House entry way, so unbeknownst to the new guests, diners are watching their antics on television screens inside the restaurant.

If you whisper the password correctly into the speaker, or once you pass the spy test if you didn't know the password, the faux book shelf opens like a door and allows you to walk down a hallway to the bar / restaurant. The Safe House opened in the late '60s, and since then, very little has changed. (more)

Prove you are a worthy secret agent, man.
Figure out Safe House's home city.
Be seeing you.
~ Kevin

"And just how do you think we are going to pay for all these renovations?!?!"

When we last looked, the Spy Bar in Cleveland had closed its doors forever, and the Spy Bar in Chicago had closed its doors for renovations.
What's a spy to do?
Go to Stockholm???

Good news! Spy Bar (Chicago) re-opens this week after a $1mil disguise upgrade. But our spies tell us that the bigger news is the new truth serum, "1996 Dom Perignon Rosé ($$$).. hooked up with Vosges Haut-chocolat ($$$) which is behind the truffles being paired with the Champagne." (more)
"Miss. Moneypenny, an advance from petty cash, please."

Teckies Mourn this Week

Pamela Low, who was credited with developing the flavored coating for Cap'n Crunch cereal, has died. ... She drew upon a recipe that her grandmother, Luella Low, used to serve at home in Derry. "She used to serve rice with a butter-and-brown sugar sauce that she made. She'd serve it over the rice on Sundays." (more)

Edward Traisman, an innovative U.S. food scientist, researcher and inventor, has died of heart disease at age 91. Traisman, who lived in Monona, Wis., the Wisconsin State Journal said. Over his long career, he was part of a Kraft Foods team that created Cheez Whiz. (more)

Fish & Chips with Hellfire

The Hand &Flowers restaurant / pub is located in the beautiful Georgian town of Marlow, UK. There you will find award winning cuisine by Michelin chefs, in warm and welcoming surroundings. Their Fish & Chips dish (awarded Best in the UK - 2005) is delicious and well worth the journey. An Abbot Ale makes the meal complete. 

While in the area, visit The Hellfire Caves in West Wycombe. They consist of almost a mile of underground passages with various figures depicting the life and times of the the members of the infamous Hellfire Club.

Pictured is the entrance to the cave.

"Hell-Fire clubs were notorious, thought to be the home of sexual rites, orgies, abuse of alcohol, hedonism, satanism, freemasonry, and the worst of all: free thought! All in all, much of it is probably true, but Satanic goings-on and Black Masses are most likely the product of imaginative fantasy. From todays point of view, where swinger clubs, rave parties and hard rock concerts are rather common, the 18th century bigotry seems rather naive.

Probably to be safe from witnesses or because of the strange atmosphere, Sir Francis Dashwood used the former chalk quarries of West Wycombe for meetings of his club. He enlarged them, which gave work to numerous men and produced enough chalk to build a road. The Monks of Medmenham doubtlessly held wild parties here, but it's doubtful that they ever did any more than that. The caves are cold, dank and damp and not very comfortable for orgies."


Hellfire is a perfect off-site corporate meeting location—the ultimate in privacy. I know someone who can make your event happen there. Call me when you are ready. ~Kevin
(more) (more photos)

World's Best Crabcakes (still)

Food Spy Diary

May 2001 - While at the NSA this week I picked up the following bit of intelligence... "Go to a non-descript strip mall in Linthicum, MD. Look for the 'G&M' sign."

I arrived at 10:54 AM. The door was locked. Other people were milling around waiting... waiting for their fix. At precisely 11:00 AM the door was unlocked. Everyone filed in and took seats.

According to the Washington Post and the Baltimore Sun, I had just entered the home of "the best crab cake platter." ... After barely finishing my baseball-sized crabcakes (you get two), I had to agree. These are The Best! ... P.S. You can order them over the Internet. Delivered FRESH (not frozen) by FedEx.

September 2002 - 'G&M' has baseball-sized crabcakes (you get two). Still 'the best'.

May 2007 - Nothing has changed. The place is still non-descript. The parking lot appears to be full of the same cars. The interior still makes me itch. Cryptonerds still populate the tables, and... 'G&M' is still pumping out "The World's Best Crabcakes". (more)