Cracker Barrel Names New CEO Following Rebranding Backlash

The moment most people said in the midst of last year’s Cracker Barrel fiasco would come, finally has. The family restaurant chain is replacing CEO Julie Felss Masino (inset) following her ill-fated efforts to rebrand the chain with a more modern look. Masino, who is due to step down on August 10, will be succeeded by David Deno, the former CEO of Bloomin’ Brands, which owns Outback Steakhouse. Masino was tasked with attracting new customers and revitalizing a chain that now operates about 660 restaurants in 43 states. Part of the revitalization included brighter walls and more contemporary seating in place of the chain’s familiar rustic interiors. To add insult to injury, Masino also changed the Cracker Barrel logo, which prompted a major backlash among regular customers. The company listened to its loyal customers and reversed the logo change, vowing that “Our Old Timer will remain.” In addition, they suspended restaurant remodeling, leaving locations that had not already been renovated with their familiar interiors. Revenue dropped 2.9% during the renovation period but has since rebounded.

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Chester's Escape: After Fleeing His Captors, This Turkey Found a New Flock

Dave Comer was driving around Amherst, Virginia, in May 2025 when he spotted something in the road. He opened his truck door, look down, and there was a huge white thing on the ground. That white thing ended up being a wild turkey. Dave — who retired from the Navy in 2007 and now builds communication systems for aircraft carriers — didn’t know a thing about turkeys. He just knew he couldn’t leave this one lying on the road. He suspected that the turkey had fallen off a truck on its way to slaughter, so he decided to save the turkey’s life a second time by taking him home. When Dave arrived home, his wife Christina was shocked. “He opened the truck door, I looked down, and there’s this huge white thing,” explained Christina. The couple named the bird Chester and have been taking care of him ever since. Chester now spends his days watching TV, snacking on romaine and watermelon, waiting for the FedEx man, and following the Comers around like……..well…….a 50-pound chick. The couple estimates they’ve spent around $3,000 for Chester’s care to date. Their vet says the turkey may live as long as 10 years, especially if he slims down a bit — not an easy task for a butterball breed. “The rest of his life, he’ll live comfortably with us,” said Dave. “He certainly deserves it. You’re a good boy!"

 

 

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The World's Most Expensive Chocolate

Imagine paying $450 for a 1.76-ounce single bar of chocolate. First some background — craft chocolate is different than mass-produced chocolate. The ingredient list on the average Hershey’s chocolate bar is: milk chocolate (sugar; milk; chocolate; cocoa butter; lactose; milk fat; soy lecithin; PGPR emulsifier, vanillin, artificial flavor). The ingredient list on a craft chocolate bar is: cacao beans, cane sugar. Because craft chocolate doesn’t have additives, it’s inherently more expensive for two reasons: (1) there’s more chocolate in the final product and (2) the cacao beans need to be naturally flavorful, which means there’s less of a supply of them. The best craft chocolate you can buy comes from To’ak, an ultra-luxury Ecuadorian chocolate house renowned for treating chocolate like vintage wine or aged whiskey. To’ak exclusively utilizes DNA-verified Heirloom Nacional cacao, which is 100% pure. High-end signature bars are presented in handcrafted Spanish elm wood boxes and include a single roasted cacao bean placed in the center. They come packaged with custom wooden tongs so that oils from fingers don't alter the chocolate's delicate aroma. To’ak’s Art Series and Master Series bars typically cost between $450 and $500 per bar. So, if you’re ready to shell out some big bucks for a taste of the best chocolate on the planet, head over to the company’s website and indulge.

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Here’s How to Increase Your Attention Span Right Now

If you feel as if your attention span is going down the drain, you’re not wrong and you’re not alone. In fact, researchers have found that most of us can only concentrate for 2½ minutes straight. With the pervasiveness of screens that deliver non-stop notifications, plus the rise of short-form videos that train us to focus in ever-shrinking bursts, it’s no wonder our attention span is significantly shorter today than it was a couple of decades ago. The good news is that you can train your brain and begin building back your ability to focus. Here are just a few things that will help you get started.

• • Pick up a book. Book are an excellent way to retrain the mind. When you’re immersed in something, you lose track of the world around you, which means you get your attention back.
• • Get enough sleep. When you’re fatigued, you have a harder time focusing, so be sure to get enough shut-eye each night. That way, you’ll wake up with a full tank of attention capacity.
• • Take breaks. When you’re cognitively spent, everything becomes a distraction. The next time you find your attention waning, go for a walk. Not only does it force a break by separating you from the work, but it might spark ideas too. 
• • Decide what’s meaningful. The things we pay attention to matter. A barrage of TikTok videos will shape your attention span in a different way than a deep conversation or a good book will. After all, we are the sum total of all the things we pay attention to.

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