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 …

Like many, I’ve been increasingly intrigued by the ongoing saga of street food. Growing at mind-boggling rates, mobile vendors have sprung up in cities across America, leaving city and state lawmakers scratching their heads and scrambling to enact new regulations, while traditional restaurateurs are left baffled at how to manage the customer ebb and flow due to this increasingly popular sector of the culinary world.
I’ve been most curious about the inter-industry vibes, of course. The ever-evolving, ongoing dynamics of brick and mortar chefs vs. mobile chefs. At first, I had …

When a friend asked how my weekend in Beverly Hills was going, I equated it to something of an unknown. “It’s like reaching a destination you’ve only read about,” I explained, remembering a similar feeling when I caught my first view of the Sydney Opera House. “You’ve seen it in magazines and movies, but you never believe it actually exists until you’re there.”
With my Southern California naïveté thinly veiled, I smiled with goofy tourist glee when I caught sight of the recognizable Hollywood sign nestled in the dusty hills as …

Even with hiking shoes on, I was pleased to see that the four-mile hike was a downward slope. High in the mountains of Beaver Creek, Vail’s sparkly snow-driven sister, I was happy to find that the town’s tagline – Not exactly roughing it – equated into a Walk & Wine that was just my speed. Along with my “hiking” buddies, I leisurely made my way down to the Grouse Mountain Grill for my first event of the weekend’s Beaver Creek Wine & Spirits Festival sponsored by Bon Appetit. After being …

Surprisingly enough, I’ve never been outside of LAX during my trips to/through Los Angeles. Unsurprisingly, while sprinting between airport terminals in a vicious attempt to catch my connecting flights, I saw very little of the city. So when the Taste of Beverly Hills was announced, another fantastic Food & Wine-sponsored production, I took it as an opportunity to make plans for a proper visit to the City of Angels.
Starting next Friday, September 2 – 9.02.10, in case you didn’t know – the Taste of Beverly Hills will kick off its …

Travel companies from sea to shore continue to up the ante when it comes to culinary offerings these days. According to a recent press release, Royal Caribbean’s newest ship, the Allure of the Seas, will feature a rising star Chef de Cuisine when it launches this December.
Graduates from the Culinary Institute of America were invited to enter the company’s recent Allure of the Seas Culinary Challenge to compete for a one-year contract spot as Chef de Cuisine of the ship’s signature restaurant, 150 Central Park. Entrants were required to create …

After all was said and done in Aspen, there was still one more event on the docket for many – the Grand Cochon. Featuring heritage breed pigs and top chefs from around the country, the Grand Cochon was the final culmination of weeks of national Cochon 555 competitions. The ten winning chefs, who were each crowned the ‘Prince of Porc’ in their respective cities, were invited to compete for the final crown and the title of ‘King of Porc’.
Hosted by the always lovely Gail Simmons of Food & Wine and …

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 …

It seems like the Washington, DC dining scene has really taken off over the past few years. Local chefs garnered six finalist nominations for the 2010 James Beard Awards, and diners were interested to hear last year that New York’s popular BBQ joint, Hill Country, would be expanding to DC, a city where names like José Andrés (a Beard nominee), Jean-Georges Vongerichten, and Charlie Palmer are already leading the culinary pack. Even Bravo’s Top Chef is headed there.
A recent article in the Washington Business Journal took a look at why …

I watch a lot of Top Chef each season, but Top Chef Masters is really one that pulls my interest. Last year’s season included a number of great culinary masters, including chefs Hubert Keller, Michael Chiarello, and Rick Bayless. This season looks to be another fantastic competition. Yesterday, the top-level cheftestants were announced.
According to Entertainment Weekly, the chosen few are:
Jody Adams – Rialto Restaurant, Cambridge, MA
Govind Armstrong – 8 oz Burger Bar, Los Angeles, CA
Graham Elliot Bowles – Graham Elliot Restaurant, Chicago, IL
Jimmy Bradley – The Red Cat, New York, …

Chef Eli Kirshtein, a former “cheftestant” on Bravo’s Top Chef, has made his way out of Atlanta and into the Big Apple as guest chef for NYC’s Solo Restaurant. The talented chef from down south will be guesting in the kosher kitchen located in the Sony Arcade in midtown Manhattan, helping to “take Kosher cuisine to a new level.”
Said Joey Allaham, owner of Solo Restaurant, “We are privileged to have him in our kitchen and excited to see how he blends his already unique style with our New American Kosher …

With a great hurrah, the fantastic Cayman Cookout festivities came to an end on Sunday. Just before noon, guests gathered for the Bon Vivant Sunday Moet & Chandon Champagne Brunch Cook-off. Featuring a mind-boggling display of decadence from the staff at the Ritz-Carlton, from caviar and fresh made blinis to sushi and dim sum, the food offerings were only a part of the adventure – with a live cookoff staged during the brunch.
The competition, emceed by the lovely Gail Simmons of Food & Wine and Bravo’s Top Chef (and the …

While the rain poured down around us, I had a chance to sit in on the ‘F is for Food’ event at this weekend’s Bumbershoot. The festival, which features local and national artists, always includes a wonderful lineup of book types, and this year’s schedule was no exception. To kick off Saturday’s literary events, author Kathleen Flinn, of The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry, and Pacific Northwest chef and restaurateur, Tom Douglas, talked culinary school, food memories, and their favorites, from cooking at home to local eateries. Both …

Later in the afternoon, after I attended Ming Tsai’s demonstration, I had a chance to sit in on a cooking demonstration from Food & Wine’s Gail Simmons and Chef Tom Colicchio – also well known for their appearances on Bravo’s ‘Top Chef’ and ‘Top Chef Masters’.
Side by side, Gail mixed up an ‘East Meets West’ adaptation, which included citrus vodka, Grand Marnier, strawberries, and lychees, while Tom worked on a fabulous Spiced Lobster with Pea Ravioli. As Gail muddled her strawberries, Tom joked that you should “crush them to a …