Off With Their Ties! 21 Club Goes California
Posted on January 30, 2009 - Filed Under Food News | Leave a Comment
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The New York Times reports, a bit belatedly, that the venerable 21 Club in New York City has ended its must-wear-tie policy for men, which applied just at dinner. Evidently, the ties came off after Labor Day, but it [...]
New Contest Opens ‘Top Chef’ Competition to Everyone
Posted on January 29, 2009 - Filed Under Food News | Leave a Comment
Ever dream of competing on Top Chef?
Now’s your chance with a new contest being sponsored by Quaker Oaks.
Enter the Quaker Oats Viewer Quickfire Challenge to find out. You could be flown to New York where you’ll compete against other Top Chef Fans. The winner will have the chance to attend a future Top Chef episode. [...]
‘Top Chef’ Pits Old Against New
Posted on January 27, 2009 - Filed Under Food News | Leave a Comment
Things get a little testy on tomorrow’s Top Chef Super Bowl run-up in which current contestants square off against former contestants with Scott Conant, chef-restaurateur of the NYC’s Scarpetta Restaurant, serving as guest judge. The theme is football-watching food.
Read More..>>Happy Surprises Are Always Nice
Posted on January 23, 2009 - Filed Under Food News | Leave a Comment
I wasn’t expecting much when I decided that I’d better pay a visit to the lone race track in Southern California that I had yet to visit, so when I got to Los Alamitos Race Course and its signature Vessels Restaurant, I was curious but not enthusiastic.
Wow, was I wrong. The scene was actually fairly [...]
Restaurant Wars Returns to ‘Top Chef’
Posted on January 20, 2009 - Filed Under Food News | Leave a Comment
You can’t get your Top Chef laurel without surviving at least one restaurant war, wherein the cheftestants are paired in teams to create their own restaurants and their own menus–and to act as wait staff as well.
This time, it appears that the budding relationship between Hosea and Leah heats up (is this a soap opera or [...]
Flay Joins Colicchio On the Sued List
Posted on January 19, 2009 - Filed Under Food News | Leave a Comment
In December, Top Chef judge and co-host (and owner of the Craft chain of restaurants) Tom Colicchio was sued for wage abuse, specifically for withholding tips and overtime pay, and now Iron Chef Bobby Flay is joining him on the courthouse steps.
Flay, of Mesa Grill fame (New York, Las Vegas and the Bahamas), is being sued [...]
The Oakville Grade Forces a Discovery: Schug Winery
Posted on January 16, 2009 - Filed Under Food News | Leave a Comment
All I could hear as we left the Wine Train was that no one would tolerate the thrill-a-second experience of the Oakville Grade ever again, so I naturally promised the Berkeley student a trip over the mountain when she graduates. She demurred.
Anyway, fearing that senility was setting in and I’d never find my way back [...]
Fear and Loathing on the Oakville Grade
Posted on January 14, 2009 - Filed Under Food News | Leave a Comment
When the grey-haired but robust gentleman at a market in the boondocks asked me, after I had enquired of the fastest way to Napa, "Do you mind driving through curves?" I had no idea he meant a Hunter S. Thompson-like experience better done on a combination of drugs and alcohol to cure the inherent fear and [...]
Read More..>>Alice Still Lives Here, But Man Has It Changed
Posted on January 14, 2009 - Filed Under Food News | Leave a Comment
To be honest, I’m not sure if the legendary Alice Waters actually lives in Berkeley, Calif., but her restaurant named Chez Panisse is on Shattuck Avenue, a legend unto itself. Home to the creation of California Cuisine (and, one could argue, to the slow food movement itself), Chez Panisse–believe it or not–opened in 1971. (Identity of [...]
Read More..>>Don’t Get Hung Up on This Episode of ‘Top Chef’
Posted on January 13, 2009 - Filed Under Food News | Leave a Comment
I did when I read that Hung, the season three winner who would throw anyone under the bus–or the carving knife–to win, serves as the Quickfire Judge when the challenge is using canned goods.
The Final Elimination heads to the countryside for some fresh ingredients with Blue Hill Restaurant owner and chef Dan Barber as judge.
