Oh, how I wish I could make it to every luxurious food, wine, and spirits event there is. Flying to and fro – Europe, Asia, Australia – eating, traveling, writing. It took Bourdain a few years to finally get to that point, and it’ll take me a few years to get to that point, too, so until then, I’ll just wrap up pleasant little posts on my favorites so that the rest of you can imbibe and gallivant to your heart’s content. Or at least dream about it with me.
We …

I awoke on Friday and made a beeline to the Meatpacking District to pick up my event passes, stopping in at Pastis for a late brunch, and taking in the electricity of the festival’s first day. Heading back uptown, I headed to Keens Steakhouse, a legendary New York restaurant, for the day’s panel discussion with chefs Tom Colicchio, Dan Barber, Alex Guarnaschelli, and Daniel Humm. Moderated by Esquire‘s food editor Ryan D’Agostino, the chefs, along with Patrick Harris of Heritage Foods, batted back and forth their thoughts on the definition …

It seems autumn has snuck up on us once again. Here in the Pacific Northwest, the rain set in over the weekend and remains lingering, burrowing itself into our days and nights. Though offset by a few moments of sun, it has become clear that summer is over.
Every fall, one of my favorite food and wine excursions is my travel to the East coast for the Food Network New York City Wine & Food Festival. The festival, which was started in 2008 by founder Lee Schrager, always includes a roster …

When he announced he’d be closing his world-famous El Bulli, chef Ferran Adrià made his plans for an upcoming new culinary school known. According to Time, the advisory board of Adrià’s new Basque Culinary Center recently came together in San Sebastian to brainstorm about the new institution. The culinary dream team – chefs from around the world, including New York’s Dan Barber, Copenhagen’s Rene Redzepi, and London’s Heston Blumenthal – met in the beachside Spanish city to discuss the aims and goals of the new school. Tackling culinary consciousness, a …

An amazing evening was had this past Monday night in New York City as the 2010 James Beard Foundation Awards were announced in Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. Amid beautiful early summer weather, big industry names from Jacques Pépin to Grant Achatz and everyone in between came together to celebrate culinary greats from around the country. Chefs, mixologists, and food personalities made it down the red carpet early in the evening, stopping for laughs and poses as photographers, journalists, and food fans snapped photos of their favorites. Hosts Lidia …

After much ballyhooed discussion over chef Ferran Adrià’s future and the final fate of his famed El Bulli, the Washington Post reported this week that Adrià would join chef José Andrés at Harvard in the fall as instructors of a new culinary physics course. Adrià, who announced that El Bulli would become a foundation in 2014, will participate in a 13-week course at the Boston school, with other star chefs, like Blue Hill’s Dan Barber, joining the Andrés/Adrià team throughout the term.
“All cooking, if you look at it, is soft-matter …

TED videos have just become all the rage – great speakers, fantastic content. A most recent winner is one from Chef Dan Barber of Blue Hill. In the video, Barber discusses his stance on seafood sustainability and his love of certain fish, including one he fell out of love with after deciding that it “tasted like chicken.”

~Jennifer Heigl

When I started this Friday Five, I was thinking I’d just jot down a few of the restaurants I’m still needing to visit. As I started compiling my wishlist, however, it grew until it became more of a collection of culinary treks I’d like to make – and all the restaurants I want to hit during those adventures. Food & Wine’s feature on top ten “life-changing” restaurants didn’t help either.
My five ambitious foodie adventures:
1. Royal Mail Hotel, Dunkeld, Victoria, Australia. After studying abroad in Australia for a year in college, …

Oy! Sometimes you just never know when your writing may be called in for legal questioning! Such is the case of former New York Times restaurant reviewer Frank Bruni, who’s restaurant review and personal emails are now part of a wrongful termination lawsuit currently underway in New York.
According to Grub Street, Bruni’s communications regarding Dan Barber’s Blue Hill at Stone Barns restaurant were taken into consideration in the suit recently brought on by a former employee. Allegedly fired due to “not [being able to] perform her duties at a level …

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 …

Vegas Uncork’d uncorked! Aspen Food & Wine devoured! On to the New York Wine & Food Fest! Arriving again this October, the 2009 New York Wine and Food Festival takes over New York during Columbus Day weekend. Masterminded by South Beach Wine & Food Fest producer Lee Schrager, the NYC festival, now in its second year, features a number of 2008 crowd favorites (Meatball Madness, TimesTalks) as well as a few new top-notch gatherings (Paula Deen’s Down South Up North). The kids aren’t left out either, with the festival offering …

Last week’s Fast Company offered up a list of the ten most creative folks in food – and it’s an interesting list. They’re not all chefs, necessarily, and I’m not sure they’re the *most* creative in the bunch (I agree with one commenter – where’s Ferran Adrià in the list?) but it’s certainly a list up for discussion.
Their top ten?
1. Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Jean-Georges Management
2. Dan Barber, Blue Hill restaurants
3. Will Allen, Growing Power
4. Dan Cutforth and Jane Lispitz, Magical Elves Productions
5. Floyd Zaiger, Zaiger Genetics
6. Ed Kaczmarek, Kraft
7. Temple Grandin, …

The blog at the James Beard Foundation has a great Q&A session with recent Outstanding Chef James Beard Award winner, Dan Barber. Barber, who’s the Executive Chef of Blue Hill, mentions his wishes of humane fois gras,which he’s now working to provide through Stone Barns.
According to Nation’s Restaurant News, fast food giants Wendy’s and McDonald’s are now ‘exploring’ the option of utilizing cage-free eggs on their menus, with Wendy’s recently announcing they would implement the cage-free option for 2% of their egg purchases. While minimal, the Humane Society of the …

Posted by Jennifer Heigl
It was quite the Twitterfest for last night’s James Beard Awards! Between @seriouseats and @eaterny, as well as @beardfoundation, tweeting live from the awards ceremony, Daily Blender was able to stay on top of the winners as they were announced!
In case you didn’t get a chance to follow us, we’ve wrangled together the complete list of winners for you!
Outstanding Restaurant:
Jean Georges (Chef/Owner: Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Owner: Phil Suarez, New York, NY)
Outstanding Chef:
Dan Barber (Blue Hill, New York, NY)
Rising Star Chef:
Nate Appleman (A16, San Francisco, CA)
Best New Restaurant:
Momofuku Ko …

Only a mere 60 or so days left in 2008 – and Halloween is already upon us. From recipes to candy alternatives, the web seems abuzz with Halloween food suggestions.

Serious Eats writer Kerry Saretsky schools us on how to roast perfect pumpkin seeds.
The New York Times checks in with Dan Barber of Blue Hill and his favorite pumpkin recipe, a tempting Pumpkin Seed Brittle.
Pumpkin-less this Halloween? Seems a few pizza chains are hoping that pizza is on your mind instead! Papa Murphy’s is even offering a Jack-O-Lantern pizza, just in …