Famed chef Mario Batali has announced that in order to bring more awareness to the cuts looming over the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, he’s launched a campaign called the Food Stamp Challenge Friday. According to Crain’s New York, participants in the challenge will live within the constraints of $31 for an entire week of meals – the average “food stamp” weekly allotment. Thus far, nearly 200 people have signed up, including New York meat man Pat LaFrieda and Food Bank for New York City CEO Margarette Purvis.
“While a one-week food …

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 …

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 …

Chef Gordon Ramsay’s luck seems to ebb and flow a bit drastically, with nearly his every move making headlines. He’s opened restaurant locations, closed restaurant locations, been lambasted for public comments, and battled financial woes – all just in the last few years. The latest chapter of the Ramsay tome is unfortunately on the bad side of business, with the recent announcment of the closing of his Cape Town, South Africa location.
According to the UK’s Daily Mail, Maze Cape Town shuttered its doors last Tuesday, after only a year in …

Numerous outlets reported last week that popular chef Mario Batali and his business partner, Joseph Bastianich, were being sued over wage violations. According to the Wall Street Journal, two current employees of the pair’s Babbo location in New York’s West Village allege that the restaurant has been illegally withholding tips and overtime from staff members.
Attorneys D. Maimon Kirschenbaum and Denise A. Schulman, both of whom have lead previous lawsuits regarding wage and labor violation disputes, hope to develop a class-action lawsuit that would affect 50 to 100 of the Babbo’s …

Reason #429 why I’ll never critique your restaurant in print: You just never know who’s a little off kilter.
Thanks to my fine friend, restaurant critic Patrick Coleman of the Portland Mercury, I’ve come across the trailer for a recently released independent horror film titled Bitter Feast, which made its debut at the Los Angeles Film Festival last month. As shown in this slightly frightening clip, the freaky film focuses on revenge when a popular chef (and television personality) takes aim at a food blogger who pens a negative review about …

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, …

All the dreary winter weather certainly has me Aspen dreaming this week. Tickets recently went on sale for the 28th Annual Food & Wine Classic held in Aspen every June, and I’m already thinking about the lush mountains, the clean air, and the beautiful blue skies that surround the fabulous event.
The Food & Wine Classic is the mother of all food and wine festivals, developed nearly thirty years ago to showcase the best of the best in the industry. I was more than ecstatic to attend last year’s event, dropping …

Knee-deep in the third quarter of 2009, and the restaurant industry continues to struggle. Out of USAToday, reports that many of the high-end, well-known restaurants across the country have cut their menu prices in an effort to keep consumers coming in. Chef Marcus Samuelsson of Aquavit and Riingo notes more “menu engineering” over the past two years to offer more lower-priced dishes. Chef Mario Batali has been adjusting his menus accordingly as well.
“At Del Posto, our fanciest restaurant, we have taken some of the luxury items off and dropped the …

It looks like we’re not making any more friends in the Canadian culinary scene. According to The Guardian, a number of folks north of the border are up in arms over the upcoming release of Coco from Phaidon Books. The coffee-table book (with recipes? I can’t tell) offers “100 emerging culinary stars chosen by 10 of the world’s greatest chefs” – with Canadian chefs curiously absent from the list. A slight oversight or a lack of stand-out Canadian culinary stars?
Chef and food writer Shaun Smith decided to take matters into …

After his sweeping meatball madness win at the Aspen Food & Wine Classic’s Best New Chefs Dinner, chef Nate Appleman recently sat down with San Francisco’s Grub Street to talk food and business – as well as those pesky winning meatballs. Appleman is an Ohio native who manages two Italian restaurants in the San Francisco area, A16 and SPQR, and already has a James Beard Rising Star Chef award under his belt.
A few of my fave tidbits from his interview:
Q: Speaking of food both more refined and less: At the …

From the gorgeous Roaring Fork Valley, the 27th Food & Wine Classic in Aspen kicked off this week, with notable bashes all around! Guests were treated at last night’s Welcome Reception to flavorful dishes created by Bravo’s Top Chef winners Harold Dieterle, Stephanie Izard (no, it doesn’t rhyme with ‘lizard’), Ilan Hall, and Hosea Rosenberg. Afterwards, super chef Jose Andres threw a Spanish-style barbeque featuring his favorite wine from Spain.
Today – the culinary sessions began! Chefs Ming Tsai, Jacques & Claudine Pepin, and Michael Symon started the morning with signature …

We’re only a week away from the mother of all food festivals, the Aspen Food & Wine Classic. Sponsored by Food & Wine, the Aspen Food & Wine Classic looks to be a fantastic adventure!
A few of the events we’re looking forward to include:

Asian Tapas with Ming Tsai
Osteria Mozza with Mario Batali and Nancy Silverton
Burgers, Shakes, and Fries with Bobby Flay
The Farm-To-Fork Connection: Creating a Sustainable World at Your Table with Michael Chiarello and Peter Jacobsen
Food and Wine’s Grow for Good Green Living Panel Discussion
In The Kitchen with Top Chef …

You may recognize her from her win on this season’s Top Chef, but Chef Stephanie Izard has been cultivating culinary success since her early years. Stephanie was kind enough to sit down to answer a few questions on where she’s been and where’s she’s headed. Heck, she’s even joined the blogging ranks these days!

Q: You originally graduated from University of Michigan with a degree in Sociology. How did you end up in the culinary world?
A: Grew up loving to cook and when I did not find anything I loved …