Chef Michael Chiarello wears a bevy of hats – cook, restaurateur, vintner, businessman, food personality, father, husband – and he does it with aplomb.
Over the last twenty years, the gregarious chef has managed to stake a solid claim in an already-revered mecca of food and wine – California’s Napa Valley. As owner and chef of Bottega, he’s been applauded for his dedication to locality and sustainability, with a cuisine highlighting dishes from his Italian heritage. As a vintner, Chiarello has built his own respected wine estate, cultivating a handful of …

Season four was the first Top Chef season I ever watched. Introduced to a dozen great chefs from around the country, it was the first time I learned who Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons were, and the first time I was introduced to chef Stephanie Izard.
With fans across the country, I cheered for Izard, and her many now-familiar competitors, throughout the season and watched the final episode as she secured the Top Chef win from competitor Richard Blais. I almost immediately scoured the web for contact information for the winning …

By the time Sunday began, I was ready for a little leisurely imbibing. With the weekend coinciding with the Great American Distillers Festival, I dropped in to Portland’s Leftbank Annex to check out the selection of distillers and distributors bringing the best spirits to Stumptown. My plans, however, were a bit thwarted when Oregon Bartenders Guild president David Shenaut asked me to step in to judge the final round of the GADF cocktail competition. Joining fellow judges Ali Tahsini, who took home first prize in last year’s competition, and Paul …

Like many of her peers, Miami chef Paula DaSilva spent much of her formative years in the kitchen. The daughter of two self-taught restaurateurs, DaSilva learned the basics from her parents before taking the path of culinary education post-high school. Now the Executive Chef at 1500˚, located in the hip Eden Roc Renaissance Hotel along the sunny shores of South Beach, DaSilva has been incorporating those early years of inspiration into her menu since the restaurant’s opening last fall. Fresh off the heels of her stint as a contestant on …

There is a majestic magic to New York’s Le Bernardin.
Before arriving in New York in 2008 to attend my first New York City Wine & Food Festival, I preemptively made pre-theatre reservations at the famed seafood restaurant. Dining with my mother, the decor of the room, the bustle of the service staff, and the grandeur of each dish left a marked impression. Meeting chef Eric Ripert during the dessert course, as we enjoyed pastry chef Michael Laiskonis’s signature egg, only added to the magnificence of the visit.
Founders Maguy and Gilbert …

A longtime supporter of Share Our Strength and its many outstanding initiatives, including Taste of the Nation, the Great American Bake Sale, and National Dine Out, I was thrilled to see that Portland’s own Sarah Schafer would be hosting a “No Kid Hungry” dinner here in Stumptown this fall featuring an all-star lineup of accomplished female chefs.
“People in Portland love everything local, so I thought the best thing to do for the first year was to only have local chefs. I remember talking to someone who said it was difficult …

You know that I’ve been keeping tabs on the ongoing development of the famed Tavern on the Green over the past few years, first as it went through a change of hands and then ultimately as it fell to bankruptcy. After all, the restaurant, after nearly a decade in business, had become a staple in the Big Apple’s grandiose history. The latest on the New York icon, however, involves something a bit… unusual. While the last we heard, the location, nestled in the city’s Central Park, was going the way …

I kind of appreciate Gordon Ramsay. He, like a select few in the culinary world, helps to keep the industry all spicy and news-riddled. Long at war with his father-in-law, Chris Hutcheson, the Daily Mail reported last week that the British chef is in the process of suing Hutcheson, over everything from email hacking and embezzlement. The drama includes a tangled web of mistresses, spyware, most of Ramsay’s wife’s family tree, and heaps of money funneled into personal trips and expenditures. Oy, the drama!
The newspaper also reported days later that …

Even though I knew my chances of finagling a reservation were slim to none, I, like many other dining-denied foodies around the world, breathed a heavy sigh as the last plates of the notable El Bulli left the kitchen over weekend. Those of us who are serial Tweeters followed as famed chefs Jose Andres, Grant Achatz, Andoni Aduriz, Massimo Bottura, Joan Roca, and Rene Redzepi joined chef Ferran Adria, and his brother Alberto, in the revered Catalan restaurant to assist with the final service of what has been an inspirational …

During my visit to Uncork’d, I was most interested in covering Saturday’s Viva Las Vegan event hosted by the newest addition to the hotel’s supervisory culinary team, Chef Tal Ronnen. At the request of owner Steve Wynn, Ronnen, who has spent his career focused on vegan and vegetarian recipes, was recently brought on board to help with the development of vegan dishes at all of the location’s fine dining restaurants.
According to Wynn, who welcomed guests to the afternoon luncheon, it was a video on veganism that helped to change his …

The 2009 Vegas Uncork’d Grand Tasting held poolside at Caesar’s Palace was admittedly my first. As one of the early food and wine events ever covered by Daily Blender, I arrived a bit late, uneducated on media call times or red carpet access, my new strappy heels already cutting off circulation to a few toes. I found myself relying heavily on my guest photographer to take the right shots, a local friend who, thankfully, was more familiar with the faces of the Vegas culinary scene than I. Not an hour …

Hosted at the beautiful Lincoln Center in New York City, top chefs gathered last night for the 2011 James Beard Foundation Awards gala. Lasting a lengthy three hours, a black tie clad crowd of 2,000 was in attendance for the awards, with favorite chefs and past Beard award winners, like Tom Colicchio, Emeril Lagasse and Ming Tsai announced the 2011 winners.
Here in Portland, fans were thrilled that two of our favorite chefs brought home awards. Gabriel Rucker, of French restaurant Le Pigeon, finally won the Rising Star of the Year …

Oh, Vegas. The bright lights, big city, sounds of ding-ding-dingity-ding in every direction. I don’t make it there often, but when I do, it always amazes me how there seems to exist a full-fledged metropolis within an metropolis, an excess of eating, imbibing, and miscellaneous debauchery all along one long strip. It’s warmly reminiscent of a time gone by full of Frank Sinatra and dollar buffets, replaced instead with flashy hotels of every theme and size packed to the gills with guests and business people alike – and one of …

On Sunday night, Portlanders rallied across the city as local chef Vitaly Paley took on Iron Chef Jose Garces on this week’s episode of Food Network’s Iron Chef America. As owner and head chef of Northwest favorite, Paley’s Place, Chef Paley is no stranger to the quick pace of a kitchen, though he admitted that he was a bit anxious about the taping.
“I was nervous the morning before while eating breakfast, but once I got to the studio, there was just no time to be. [Food Network executives] were really …

Amid the hustle and bustle of New York’s already hopping food scene, chefs, restaurateurs, and media descended on the Upper East Side last night to celebrate the announcement of Food & Wine’s annual Best New Chefs. Hosted at the beautiful Bohemian National Hall, Best New Chef alumni, including Tom Colicchio, Missy Robbins, and Jonathan Benno, kept guests happy with dishes of olive oil poached bigeye tuna with chickpeas, spice roasted duck, and taleggio fonduta while everyone met, mingled, and welcomed the 2011 inductees.
And the 2011 Food & Wine Best New …