Top Chef Masters Undertake a Rite (Night?) of Passage

Posted on July 29, 2009 - Filed Under Food News | Leave a Comment

If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!This week on Top Chef Masters, the master chefs have made it to the Champion’s Round and must go through a classic Top Chef "rite of passage": The Mise En Place Relay Race.
A special Top Chef guest is enlisted [...]

Former ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ Winner Rates Season Six

Posted on July 25, 2009 - Filed Under Food News | Leave a Comment

Okay, so I never saw season three of Hell’s Kitchen. In fact, I didn’t join in the revelry until season five, I believe, but the winner of season three, who calls himself Chef Rock (pictured), provides an interesting analysis of the new season.
Now, I wish Rock would learn a little English grammar to clean up his writing, but he [...]

How Many Wine Countries Are There in California?

Posted on July 24, 2009 - Filed Under Food News | Leave a Comment

I was blithely driving down the I-15 toward San Diego and what I expected to be either a day at the races (opening day of Del Mar Race Track) or an afternoon at Petco Park with the Padres when…
…midway through Temecula, nature called. I figured the Pechanga Resort and Casino would have nice bathrooms, so I turned off [...]

It Ain’t Coq au Vin, but It’s Bastille-ish Anyway

Posted on July 18, 2009 - Filed Under Food News | Leave a Comment

I saw in this morning’s Wall Street Journal that the paper’s wine writers celebrated Bastille Day by making White Wine Coq au Vin.
That makes me an official Bastille Day cropper. The best I could come up with (pictured) was ratatouille and pasta.
I also didn’t indulge in any French wine for accompaniment. Since the fall of [...]

‘Top Chef Masters’ Turn Fast Food into Gourmet Treats

Posted on July 15, 2009 - Filed Under Food News | Leave a Comment

Tonight the Top Chef Masters must concoct from fast food, another Quickfire segment repeated from Top Chef season one. For the Elimination round, they must cook for 100 of the show’s biggest fans and also create their own food stations.

When the Weather Is Perfect: Hornblower Yacht Cruises

Posted on July 12, 2009 - Filed Under Food News | Leave a Comment

To be honest with you, the only reason I signed up for a Hornblower Yacht Harbor Tour (with buffet brunch and endless sparkling) was that I obtained a discount by using Goldstar.
However, i was not disappointed. We took the lunchtime tour of the Long Beach, Calif., Harbor (duration: two hours) and found it relaxing, picturesque [...]

Squeeze Inn Squeezed Out by Extortionist Lawsuit

Posted on July 10, 2009 - Filed Under Food News | Leave a Comment

The iconic Squeezeburger, featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives on Food Network, is being forced out of its aptly named Squeeze Inn because a disabled woman’s lawsuit–one of many she’s filed as a way to fatten her coffers–has forced the Inn’s owner to make the place accessible under provisions of the Americans With Disabilities (ADA) act.
This [...]

Top Chef Masters Cook With Just One Hand

Posted on July 8, 2009 - Filed Under Food News | Leave a Comment

The Quickfire challenge on tonight’s Top Chef Masters is to cook an egg with one hand tied behind your back, which actually doesn’t sound that difficult if you’re just doing a fried, boiled or poached egg and nothing fancy to go with it.
The Elimination challenge is to prepare a dish based on the theme of [...]

Lola Gaspar: Fun Retreat in Santa Ana’s Artists Village

Posted on July 7, 2009 - Filed Under Food News | Leave a Comment

Okay, I confess: I had never heard of a Santa Ana restaurant named Lola Gaspar Kitchen & Bar until I read about it in the newspaper, and I had no idea that Santa Ana harbored a scenic hideaway called Artists Village (pictured at the bottom of my post) that features artists’ studios, the charm of a [...]

Joey Chestnut Gobbles 68 Dawgs for New Record

Posted on July 4, 2009 - Filed Under Food News | Leave a Comment

I can’t believe I actually watched Nathan’s 2009 Hot Dog Eating Contest this morning. It was gross, but the title remains in America for aother year as Joey Chestnut vanquished 68 dogs, a new record: