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 …

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 …

Via a speculative post on Eater, restaurant fans learned today that Colicchio & Sons chef de cuisine Shane McBride would be moving on from his position at the New York restaurant. McBride, who has been a part of the Colicchio staff for the last three years, formerly manned the Craftsteak kitchen helm before making the transition with the restaurant to Colicchio & Sons. Though there’s always curiosity as to whether a departure is part of a restaurant’s master plan or simply a change of scenery, Craft’s Damon Wise left a …

Longtime advocate chef José Andrés is steamed over the delay in revision of school food legislation. The Spanish-born chef spoke with the Chicago Tribune recently regarding the recent Congress heel-dragging over changes to the Child Nutrition Act.
Andrés, who resides in D.C., has been an outspoken proponent of the revised legislation, along with a number of well-knowns in the culinary industry, many of whom gathered at the White House this past summer to support the act. The legislation, which has been mercilessly edited in hopes of getting it passed, made its …

After living abroad in Adelade, South Australia many years back, amongst the beautiful rolling hills, sandy beaches, luscious wineries, and decadent food, I was thrilled to read about chef Tom Colicchio making his way through the food-rich state earlier this summer. Recently, however, it became clear that the trip was more than just sightseeing, with the announcement of Colicchio as a new ambassador to South Australia. Earlier this week, Craft Los Angeles held an Aussie-themed dinner earlier this week in support of the chef’s participation with the South Australian state …

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 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 …

Back when I was running the catering business, my favorite, and most rewarding of our contracts, was with a private elementary school here in the Portland area. Tired of poor lunch choices, we were contacted by a parent who was interested in finding healthier school food options for her children. As a small operation, we hadn’t even considered developing a school lunch program, but parents were so eager to provide better food options for their children that we created a program specific to the school’s needs.
Surprisingly, we found that the …

When I arrived in Aspen this year, the weather greeted me with a big smile and a warm hug, with sun shining across the flourishing green mountains. In what I consider to be icing on a year of cake, I was thrilled to be invited back to the picturesque Colorado town to cover the 2010 Food & Wine Classic after having an incredible time at the event in 2009.
Last year, as a bit of a food & wine newbie, I sadly made it to town only too late to participate …

Chef Tom Colicchio is more than just a pretty face. Most often recognized due to his stint as judge on Bravo’s Top Chef, Colicchio doesn’t just sit behind a table and critique ill-fated dishes delivered by nerve-wracked cheftestants every day.
He actually cooks in his kitchen.
It’s five o’clock on a Sunday in New York, and the eve of the James Beard Foundation Awards. Colicchio seems calm, cool, and collected as we take a seat in the dining room of Colicchio & Sons, despite being nominated for Outstanding Chef this year. Of …

Hurrah! The 2010 James Beard Foundation Award finalists were announced this morning in New Orleans with a number of great names making the list. Chefs and supporters were welcomed to the Big Easy over the weekend with a traditional New Orleans boil celebrating twenty years of award history. Chefs really do throw the best parties.
Notable finalists on the Restaurant and Chef awards list:

Locanda Verde (NYC) – Best New Restaurant
Chef José Andrés – Outstanding Chef
Chef Tom Colicchio – Outstanding Chef
Chef Tom Douglas – Outstanding Restaurateur
Alinea (Chicago) – …

While I wasn’t able to stay up late enough to catch the live action, Chef Tom Colicchio made it to last night’s Jimmy Kimmel to demo a great pork and clam dish. Jimmy starts off with a little intro to Colicchio, mentioning Craft and Craftsteak as well as the recent opening of Colicchio & Sons, named, the chef notes, by his wife shortly after the birth of the chef’s second son. When Kimmel jibes him on whether his young sons are hard at work at the restaurant’s kitchen, Tom confesses, …

A big congratulations to local Portland chefs Jenn Louis, Gabriel Rucker, Oswaldo Bibiano, Cathy Whims, John Gorham, Andy Ricker, Naomi Pomeroy, and Matt Lightner for being named to this year’s list of James Beard Foundation Award semifinalists. The list, which was released late last week, includes 397 fantastic chefs and restaurants from around the country nominated for an award in one of nineteen categories.
Notable 2010 award nominees:

Chef Tom Douglas (Outstanding Restaurateur)
Chef Tom Colicchio (Outstanding Chef)
Chef José Andrés (Outstanding Chef)
Chef Michael Mina (Outstanding Chef)
Chef Julian Serrano (Outstanding …