Unsurprisingly, Vancouver area restaurants saw a significant increase in business during the recent Olympics events. According to Ian Tostenson of the British Columbia Restaurant & Foodservices Association, local eateries, particularly those in the Olympic Zone, saw an increase of 100-300% in overall sales.
“The restaurants in the outer edges, I would say sales there were flat, which in the recession that we all have experience, is pretty good,” Tostenson said. “Sales had been trending negative.
Restaurants in the Yaletown area, located near multiple event venues, saw the largest increase in sales.  Beer …

In the ongoing battle of wage disputes, throwdown man Chef Bobby Flay is the latest to become embroiled. According to the Village Voice, Flay has agreed to pay $800,000 to settle claims filed by former employees of his Mesa Grill, Bar Americain, Bobby Flay Steakhouse, and Bolo restaurants. Though Flay denies any wrongdoing, the settlement came about with the intention of avoiding formal court proceedings.
According to Business Week, the same thing seems to be happening to the food facilitators of the U.S. Open. Daniel Yahraes, a former employee at the …

Just as they did last fall, local wine aficionados gathered together again this week to support the annual Classic Wines Auction here in Portland. In a lead up to this Saturday’s gala auction, dinners were held around town to promote the event and learn more about the winemakers involved in the auction.
I happily attended Wednesday’s dinner held at The Heathman Restaurant & Bar downtown. Hosted by Panther Creek Cellars and Silvan Ridge Wines, guests were treated to wine pairings with each of the courses provided by Heathman chefs Karl Zenk …

While I wasn’t able to stay up late enough to catch the live action, Chef Tom Colicchio made it to last night’s Jimmy Kimmel to demo a great pork and clam dish. Jimmy starts off with a little intro to Colicchio, mentioning Craft and Craftsteak as well as the recent opening of Colicchio & Sons, named, the chef notes, by his wife shortly after the birth of the chef’s second son. When Kimmel jibes him on whether his young sons are hard at work at the restaurant’s kitchen, Tom confesses, …

There are certain benefits to living on the Oregon coast. Stunning views when you are on your way to the grocery store, delicious Dungeness crab for an affordable price and the sounds of the ocean while you go to sleep. There are trade offs, too – I can’t find any Indian food, and coastal life can be a bit sleepy, especially in the rainy, chilly days of February.
The 33rd Annual Newport Seafood & Wine Festival brought some much-needed revelry to the central Oregon coast this past weekend. Eighty local wineries, …

Yesterday afternoon, it was announced that Chef Laurent Tourondel and business partner Jimmy Haber had parted restaurant ways, just shy of the six year anniversary of their successful partnership. According to the The New York Times, Tourondel’s split with BLT Restaurant Group is amicable, with the chef relinquishing his part in the company’s wholly owned restaurants – BLT Steak, BLT Fish, BLT Prime, and BLT Burger of New York, as well as additional BLT Steak locations in Los Angeles and Washington DC – while remaining executive chef at ten management …

Under the shadow of the Space Needle, the fantastic Seattle Food & Wine Experience took place this weekend in the heart of Seattle Center. Bringing together wineries, breweries and restaurants from around the Pacific Northwest, the event proved to be a spectacular one, selling out before doors opened early Sunday afternoon.
City hot spots like Artisanal Brasserie & Winebar, Sugar Bakery, Frost Doughnuts, Café Campagne, Salty’s on Alki, and popular food truck Maximus Minimus offered an array of tasty dishes including Asian BBQ pork sliders with cucumber kimchee, ono ceviche, housemade …

It became completely obvious to me when I was part of the catering business that I was, indeed, what I had long suspected…a perfectionist. At the beginning of every event, the chef and I would go back and forth on the minute details of everything from the tables to the dishes to the staff, the eternal battle between one woman’s client ideals versus one man’s culinary vision.
I’d return to the buffet table a dozen times before the guests arrived, adjusting each candle, reorganizing napkins, dishes, accompaniments. I’d rehearse the evening’s …

Now in its ninth year, the Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival is prepped and ready to rock-n-roll this weekend along the sunny beaches of Miami, Florida. Presented by Food & Wine Magazine, Southern Wine & Spirits, and the Food Network, fans can expect to see all of their television food favorites, from Rachael Ray to Paula Deen to Emeril Lagasse, with a few culinary masters thrown in for good measure. With Chef Mario Batali making waves during last year’s dinner with the King and Queen of Spain, …

A big congratulations to local Portland chefs Jenn Louis, Gabriel Rucker, Oswaldo Bibiano, Cathy Whims, John Gorham, Andy Ricker, Naomi Pomeroy, and Matt Lightner for being named to this year’s list of James Beard Foundation Award semifinalists. The list, which was released late last week, includes 397 fantastic chefs and restaurants from around the country nominated for an award in one of nineteen categories.
Notable 2010 award nominees:

Chef Tom Douglas (Outstanding Restaurateur)
Chef Tom Colicchio (Outstanding Chef)
Chef José Andrés (Outstanding Chef)
Chef Michael Mina (Outstanding Chef)
Chef Julian Serrano (Outstanding …

When I began in the food industry, it had more to do with paintbrushes and less to do with pots and pans. The local apple orchard was a popular one and they hired high school students to work their frenzy of a fall festival from August to November every year. Seasonal hires would work tirelessly every weekend from morning to night, entertaining whiny kids, enduring country music cover bands, and staving off nausea from the rampant smell of french fries and horse droppings, all while trying to stay warm as …