Many fans of Jeffrey Dean Morgan and his wife, Hilarie Burton Morgan, are aware that the couple co-own Samuel's Sweet Shop located in Rhinebeck, New York. The shop is a Hudson Valley gem that has won Best Candy Shop in the Hudson Valley in previous years. This year, the shop is nominated for USA Today's 10Best Readers' Choice Award and needs your daily votes.
Fans can head to the USA Voting page, where Samuels was ranked 7 of 20 at the time this article was published. Voting can be done once per category per day. The nominees are submitted to a panel of experts, and the 10Best editors then narrow down the final list of nominees for the Readers' Choice Awards.
The boutique candy and gift shop has a long history, opening in 1994 by Ira Gutner under the name Samuel’s of Rhinebeck. Gutner named the shop after his uncle Sam, who introduced him to penny candy as a child. After Gutner's sudden passing in 2014, it appeared that the shop would be closed. But thanks to the generosity of locals who couldn't stand to see the closing of the beloved shop, reopened what is now known as Samuel's Sweet Shop.
Currently owned by The Morgans, Paul Rudd and his wife Julie, with Andy Ostroy, Pheobe Jonas, and John Traver, the shop prides itself on continuing to serve the best coffee and tea, candies, and chocolate.
If you are ever in the Rhinebeck area, you have to put Samuels on your must-stop list. Better yet, try the delectable treats now by placing an online order via the website. The site has great sampler packs including two featuring favorites of The Morgan's and another featuring Paul Rudd's favorites. You can even join the Samuel's Candy Club, a subscription service that provides monthly deliveries of the newest seasonal offerings from the shop.
Years ago, JDM was a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and brought Fallon a basket full of candy, to which Fallon asked, "Why is Negan bringing me candy?" Morgan then explained his role in co-owning the store and laughed about how he and Rudd have nothing to do with anything going on at the shop, but their kids love it.
Samuels Instagram post encourages fans to vote daily through June 10th.
