The fabulous foodie extravaganza happening in Portland this week culminated in an outrageous collection of food carts galore at Saturday’s Eat Mobile. Coordinated by local paper Willamette Week, Eat Mobile came together under the Southeast edge of the Morrison Bridge, perfect for rain or shine or even the bit of chill that floated in.
Carts from around the city congregated to offer bits of their oft-revered offerings, including crowd favorites Fifty Licks, Pyro Pizza, Potato Champion, and People’s Pig. Organic soup delivery service Soup Cycle handed out delish cream of cauliflower soup, …

With the increase in interest in the developing culinary scene, the subject of food documentation is a hot topic. Bourdain covered it in a recent No Reservations (and was not loved for his opinion), with Chicago chef Grant Achatz the latest to comment on the oft-discussed situation.
Achatz, the owner and chef at the award-winning Alinea, is world-renowned for his extensive dishes. According to Time Out New York, Achatz began with a tweet on the dining room invasiveness, and followed up with a post on the restaurant’s discussion board. As the …

Where does one even begin when writing about Anthony Bourdain? A chef whose fame has had more to do with sharp wit than kitchen skill, he is outspoken, unapologetic, and controversial. Recognized around the world for his renegade restaurant stories, his books, his shows, his raw, raucous comments have become the religion of guerrilla chefs everywhere, resulting in a reputation that certainly precedes him.
So, where to begin?
In searching for the right words, a recent episode of No Reservations came to mind. After traveling along the Hudson River with his friend, …

The food world seemed astonished earlier this week when New York Times restaurant reviewer Frank Bruni unleashed a four-star rating on Danny Meyers’ Eleven Madison Park. With previous two and three star ratings, the highly regarded food aficionado awarded an additional star to the New York establishment, commenting that it’s “the best restaurant Danny Meyer has ever operated.”
In response to the collective foodie surprise, Bruni followed up his initial review with more thoughts on the four-star rating, expounding on his reasoning for the additional star while discussing others who have …

Poor Martha! With the recent blight breakout taking down tomato plants across the Northeast left and right, apparently no garden has gone unscathed! The domestic kitchen queen posted a blog note this morning about the aggressive fungus attacking her tomato plants. She’s even kind enough to include a slideshow of the ugly attack.
While Martha notes that the fungus tends to appear in smaller batches at the end of the summer naturally, Chow.com refers to a New York Times opinion piece that points fingers at home gardeners who purchase plants from …

Here it is – the official wrap up from my Food & Wine Classic weekend extravaganza! I made sure to throw in a few of my favorite photos from the event as well!
My five favorite moments from Aspen:
1) Cooking Demonstrations with Jose Andres. Oh Jose! Such a funny man. The sassy Spaniard brought along his daughter, Carlotta, to assist in the demos, and harassed her about throwing in too much salt. But my favorite moment was an impromptu visit from Chef Ming Tsai, where Jose commented, “You give a man …

Father’s Day is upon us once again! Time to give thanks for those special Dads in our lives. As with every Hallmark holiday, though, remember Father’s Day should be every day – not just one day a year.
Today, we’re listing our five favorite foodie fathers – Dads who are proactive  foodies and fathers!
1) Rick Bayless. I’ve only recently started to follow Rick on Twitter, but I’m impressed with the amount of time he still spends with his family, even while he’s busy winning – OOPS! – competing on TV or …

Obama Foodorama has a great follow up on Michelle Obama’s Harvest Party earlier this week. The posts include photos of the First Lady with Chef Sam Kass and the lucky group of Bancroft kids who attended the harvest picnic. Mrs. Obama reinforced the need to develop healthier school lunch programs here in the US:
“…because these meals are the main source of consistent nourishment for these kids, we need to make sure we offer them the healthiest meals possible…we need to improve the quality and nutrition of the food served in …

Food documentary Food Inc. opens nationwide today! Interested in finding a theatre near you? Check out the master list! Looking for a few reviews of the controversial film? Variety has one here and we linked to few on our initial post about the movie.
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Oooh, the food blog world is all a-twitter about the possible leak from Bravo’s Top Chef Masters. YumSugar reported this morning that food writer Grace Ann Walden announced the show’s winner in her newsletter last week. The rumored winner? Frontera Grill’s Rick Bayless. Even if Rick is …

Our friends over at Obama Foodorama have noted that today is harvest day at the White House! First lady Michelle Obama and chef Sam Kass will be assisting Bancroft Elementary students in picking and choosing fresh produce out the White House garden today in hopes of fostering continued education on healthy food production and consumption. Once the food items have been selected, the kids will join Kass and Mrs. Obama in the White House kitchen to learn how to turn great produce into a great meal.
The Obamas, who are the …

This week, we’re offering up five food blogs we love reading here at Dailyblender.com. A few of the big guys, a few of the little guys, and lots of good reading all around.
1) RealFoodMedia.com : This site is really a collection of great food blogs, all focusing on organics and sustainability. Be sure to check out their Real Food Wednesday Blog Carnivals as well, with links to other great green blog posts around the web.
2) Eater.com : Eater covers all kinds of food news, from New York to Los Angeles. …

Juliette over at Super Chef notes that tomorrow night is the start of the new Top Chef series, Top Chef  Masters. Instead of your average kitchen Joe, Bravo’s Top Chef series has wrangled a number of well-known, accomplished chefs to battle Top Chef-style – with the winner awarded $100,000 to donate to their chosen charity!
I’m really looking forward to seeing a few of my favorite chefs – Rick Moonen, Wylie Dufresne, Rick Bayless – in a timed competition. Let’s see if the big guys can really step up to the …

The folks at the Food Channel recently published their list of Top Ten Dessert Trends for 2009. Number one? Ice creams! (Hopefully, a seasonal trend, as I was super unimpressed with ice cream as a dessert menu option in the dead of winter.) Other dessert trends include shareable presentations, interactive desserts, and a nod to nostalgic food items. Yay for seasonal and local desserts as well!
In following the food trends, the Boston Globe says ice cream flavors are turning towards the unusual, mixing spicy, sweet, and savory. A few of …

Thanks to our friends over at Slashfood for pointing us in the direction of the Endless Simmer blog, and the post of the Top 10 Top 10 Food Lists!
The list includes everything from the Top Ten Creepiest Fast Food Mascots (oh man, the Quiznos rat thingie was indeed super creepy) to the Top Ten Things to Expect When Dining with a Food Blogger. Ha ha ha.
I’ll throw in a few Daily Blender Top 10’s as well, including Ten Things Celeb Chefs Won’t Tell You and the Ten Top Earning Chefs.
~Jennifer …

Fab and foodie magazines, Cookie and Gourmet, have teamed up to develop a new Kids’ Restaurant Week!
According to Juliette at Super Chef, the two publications are sponsoring the first ever Kids’ Restaurant Week this month in Washington DC, June 13-21st, with additional weeks in Chicago and New York, June 20-28th. Participating restaurants will offer special discounts and fixed-price menus with dinner seatings from 5 p.m to 7 p.m. Prices are spectacular, with kids aged 11 and under paying their age, while adults and children 12 and over will pay $29.00 …