Born and raised on Maui, chef Isaac Bancaco embarked on a grand adventure to begin his culinary career. Growing up in a family, and a culture, where food and history are so revered, Bancaco made the early decision to pursue a life on the line. Shortly after high school graduation, the chef departed for Portland to pursue his culinary education at the city’s Western Culinary Institute (now Le Cordon Bleu), finagling an externship at Ming Tsai’s Blue Ginger in Boston and working four years through the restaurant’s kitchen ranks before …

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 …

In a number of new food and wine events that have sprung up over the last few months, the Barbados Food & Wine and Rum festival certainly caught my eye. After realizing earlier this year at the Cayman Cookout that every festival weekend should involve sand, surf, and sun, Barbados is yet another wonderful event that fits the bill.
For this year’s inaugural weekend happening November 19-22, a handful of favorite chefs will be offering culinary demonstrations and general beach-friendly fare for those who make the trek to the tiny tropical …

I can never pass up a reason to visit New York in the fall.
With growing up in Michigan, I have a special place in my heart for a full-flavored autumn, the anticipation of wonderful events bringing friends and colleagues together. From Sunday chili to donuts and cider, it is a time for fine food and drink, hand-in-hand with laughter and celebration.
A warm end-of-the-summer wind met me when I arrived in the city late Thursday evening for the 2010 Food Network New York City Wine and Food Festival – a weekend …

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, …

Many kudos this morning to Chef Ming Tsai and all who’ve encouraged Massachusetts legislature to require that restaurants become more aware of consumer food allergies! It was announced late last week that the state would move to implement regulations requiring food allergy training for restaurant staffers starting this spring. According to the state’s Department of Public Health, under the new rules, restaurant menus will include information on potential food allergens, and employees will be taught how to facilitate food delivery without allergen contamination – both ideals that Chef Tsai has …

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 …

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 …

How much do I love Chef Ming Tsai? Just a little. The good looks? The great sense of humor? The love of all things in an Asian kitchen? I like it all. With his Simply Ming nominated for two Daytime Emmys this year (Outstanding Culinary Program and Outstanding Culinary Host) I’m obviously not the only one.
Thanks to his fabulous publicist, and the alignment of the stars, I had a chance to chat with Chef Tsai while we were both at the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen this past weekend. …

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 …

Let me tell you – Day 2 was long! But fabulous! After my morning session with Chef Michael Chiarello and organic farmer Peter Jacobsen, I ventured to the Grand Tasting tent. After running into a few of my Vegas Uncork’d friends – Tony Abou-Ganim and Steve Olson – I made my way to the Asian Tapas demo with Chef Ming Tsai of Blue Ginger. Not surprisingly, he’s just as entertaining in person as he is on television.

Ming opened with a fabulous Ginger Margarita demo, noting that you should always use …

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 …

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 …