April 14
I just got an e-mail about my old friend Chris Cheung.
It seems he’s teaming up with Wally Chin, the co-owner of Chin-Chin, to open a restaurant called Walle in Midtown East (in the former Il Nido space at 249 E. 53rd St., between second and third avenues). It’s scheduled to open in mid-May.
It sounds like it will be Chris Cheung food, which is to say American with Chinese influences, although the sample items listed in the e-mail from Chin’s publicist are really pretty American: a Burger served on a Shanghai pancake bun, using Pat Lafreida beef, with a side of shoestring potatoes; Macaroni and Bleu Cheese; Bacon Crusted Black Cod with Stewed Tomato.
I’m waiting for the full menu, but I imagine that Chris, with his history of foie gras dumplings and short rib spring rolls, will Chinese the food up a bit.
It will be a moderately priced restaurant, with appetizers ranging from $8 to $14 and main courses selling for $18 to $26.
Chris most recently was chef at Fushimi, which has locations in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Bay Ridge as well as Staten Island and Vue Restaurant and Lounge at Hotel Le Bleu, on the western edge of Park Slope in Brooklyn. But he tells me he’s phasing himself out of those operations to focus on Walle.
So there you have it.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Tuesday, April 06, 2010
Best New Chefs?
April 6
I thought I was going to have a slightly insane morning. The Food + Wine Best New Chefs party is tonight. It's a good party, and until a few years ago it was very newsworthy in the food world because that magazine's career-making selection of 10 great up-and-coming chefs was announced at the party.
Then the magazine started releasing that list on the morning before the party, to fit into the news cycle better.
It was still a fun party, but, naturally, with fewer surprises.
So I was expecting an e-mail to land in my box this morning with an announcement of the new chefs, which I would feel obligated to write about as quickly as possible, both for nrn.com and for this blog. And, frankly, I have other things to do today, including meeting with two great up-and-coming chefs who are in town for some reason.
I set my alarm early in anticipation of getting an e-mail from Food + Wine, but it seems the magazine has gone back to their old, secretive ways.
Are my visitors today, Chad Robertson of Tartine in San Francisco and Rick Gresh of David Burke's Primehouse in Chicago, on the Food + Wine list.
I guess I'll have to wait until tonight to find out.
6:10 p.m update: Nope. Here’s the list, parsed out a couple hours early by Ben Leventhal over at Feast:
Roy Choi Kogi of BBQ truck in Los Angeles; Matt Lightner of Castagna in Portland, Ore.; Clayton Miller of Trummer's on Main in Clifton, Va.; Missy Robbins of A Voce in New York City; Jonathon Sawyer of The Greenhouse Tavern in Cleveland, Ohio; Alex Seidel of Fruition in Denver; Mike Sheerin of Blackbird in Chicago; John Shields of Town House in Chilhowie, Va.; Jason Stratton of Spinasse in Seattle, and James Syhabout of Commis in Oakland, Calif.
I thought I was going to have a slightly insane morning. The Food + Wine Best New Chefs party is tonight. It's a good party, and until a few years ago it was very newsworthy in the food world because that magazine's career-making selection of 10 great up-and-coming chefs was announced at the party.
Then the magazine started releasing that list on the morning before the party, to fit into the news cycle better.
It was still a fun party, but, naturally, with fewer surprises.
So I was expecting an e-mail to land in my box this morning with an announcement of the new chefs, which I would feel obligated to write about as quickly as possible, both for nrn.com and for this blog. And, frankly, I have other things to do today, including meeting with two great up-and-coming chefs who are in town for some reason.
I set my alarm early in anticipation of getting an e-mail from Food + Wine, but it seems the magazine has gone back to their old, secretive ways.
Are my visitors today, Chad Robertson of Tartine in San Francisco and Rick Gresh of David Burke's Primehouse in Chicago, on the Food + Wine list.
I guess I'll have to wait until tonight to find out.
6:10 p.m update: Nope. Here’s the list, parsed out a couple hours early by Ben Leventhal over at Feast:
Roy Choi Kogi of BBQ truck in Los Angeles; Matt Lightner of Castagna in Portland, Ore.; Clayton Miller of Trummer's on Main in Clifton, Va.; Missy Robbins of A Voce in New York City; Jonathon Sawyer of The Greenhouse Tavern in Cleveland, Ohio; Alex Seidel of Fruition in Denver; Mike Sheerin of Blackbird in Chicago; John Shields of Town House in Chilhowie, Va.; Jason Stratton of Spinasse in Seattle, and James Syhabout of Commis in Oakland, Calif.
Monday, April 05, 2010
Eating Frank Bonanno
April 5
Frank Bonanno was born in Bergen County, N.J. (father's side of the family is Sicilian, from Palermo, mother's side is Tuscan, from Lucca), but he has adjusted well to life in Denver. When he greeted me at his fine-dining Italian restaurant, Luca D'Italia, a little chaw of tobacco was bulging from his lower lip, reminding me of the LaCrosse players at East High when I was there.
Bonanno and I are about the same age, and we graduated from college in the same year — 1990. He got a finance degree from Denver University, which was of about as much use then as my degree in history was.
Compared to the current recession, the one in 1990 was cute, but it was obnoxious enough at the time, and Bonanno, who had worked in restaurants during college, went to the Culinary Institute of America and then came back to Denver to cook some more — mostly at Mel's Bar and Grill (that’s better than it sounds) — with stages on both coasts in all the right places (Gramercy Tavern, The French Laundry ...).
He opened Mizuna, a fine-dining French-influenced restaurant, in Denver in 2001 and hasn’t looked back. Since then he has opened Luca d'Italia; a casual place in Larimer Square called Osteria Marco; and, most recently, a fast-fine noodle restaurant called Bones, which is also Frank’s nickname.
He says his next place will likely be a casual French-style charcuterie, serving pâtés and whatnot.
His casual places, Marco and Bones, are the real moneymakers in his business, he says. They’re certainly on-trend, especially Bones, where I ate last year. There high-end ingredients (Frank has an exclusive deal with his distributor for the Japanese noodles he uses) are served in a casual setting that allow customers to get in and out quickly.
New York has a number of noodle bars like that. Other examples of fast-fine in that city are ’wichcraft and the Upper East Side taqueria Cascabel, where chef-partner Todd Mitgang has super-premium añejo tequilas on offer for $22 a shot.
Mitgang has no background in Mexican food, and Bonanno doesn’t have any experience with Asian cuisines, but you wouldn’t know that from their restaurants.
Bonanno says he has gotten some negative feedback from the richness of the broth he serves his noodles in, but he thinks that’s because most of the Asian noodles in Denver are pho, which is supposed to have a thin broth. That’s not true of all Asian noodles, though.
Since I’d been to Bones, during this trip to Denver I took my mother to Osteria Marco, and my 14-year-old niece, Tahirah Thorn, to Luca D’Italia, where she had her first taste of octopus, scallops and truffle oil.
She also was quite enamored of the virgin cocktail beverage director Adam Hodak made for her, out of house-made tonic water, muddled orange and cherry, limonata, sparkling water and grenadine.
What else we ate and drank:
At Osteria Marco:
Salumi and cheese platter of Prosciutto di San Daniele and house made coppa, bresaola and other goodies, plus assorted cheeses including Bonanno’s version of burrata, filled with ricotta instead of cream and shredded mozzarella
Whole grilled lemon-roasted artichoke with aïoli
House salad with pine nuts and house-made cheese
Odell’s Mountain Standard Reserve deep mahogany ale
Seared scallops with caramelized fennel, potato purée and grapefruit agrodolce
Slow-roasted suckling pig
The house red wine, which that evening was a Barbera d’Alba for $6 per glass
Butterscotch pancetta mousse with chocolate gelato and candied bacon
Double espresso
At Luca d’Italia (where general manager and sommelier Mark Sandusky went a little bit crazy, in a good way, when I asked him to pick some wine):
Grilled octopus with squid ink (called nero di seppia on the menu), crispy beans and arugula
Yellow fin tuna carpaccio with red pepper relish and Calabrian chile aïoli
2007 Bruno Verdi Riesling (Lombardy)
2008 Casal di Serra Verdicchio (Le Marche)
Lasagnette with lobster, shrimp, lump crab and white wine tomato sauce
Fusilli with wild mushrooms, shaved Grana Padano cheese and creamy white truffle sauce
2007 Moroder Rosso Conero (Le Marche)
2007 Paitin Barbera D’Alba (Piedmont)
Seared diver scallops with lump crab risotto, spring onions and peas
Colorado lamb chops with fava beans, porcini fonduta and braised shoulder
2005 Reversanti Barolo (Piedmont)
2008 Inama Soave Classico (Veneto)
Chocolate marble brownie with vanilla gelato, amaretti cookie and caramel sauce.
2001 Piazzano vin santo (Tuscany)
Pousse-Luca cocktail — a three-layered drink with equal parts Dom Benedictine liqueur, Grand Marnier and Luxardo Bitter Cherry in the middle, Sambuca on the bottom and Fernet Branca on top
Thursday, March 25, 2010
How to make a tandoor
March 25
Last night I had dinner with my friend Blain Howard at Tamba, a new Indian restaurant on that stretch of Lexington Avenue in Murray Hill known as Curry Hill. We were joined for much of the meal by the restaurant’s owner, Sikender Malik, a former civil servant from Delhi who for a number of years ran Malika Palace in Queens and Malika in Midtown Manhattan.
His wife Daljeet is the executive chef.
Since they’re from Delhi, the food at Tamba is mostly northern Indian, but, Sikender explained, the restaurant that previously occupied that space was a southern Indian restaurant, so they kept some southern dishes on the menu — dosai, iddly etc. — to try to retain some of the previous restaurant's customers.
Makes sense.
The name Tamba means copper, which Sikender said was good for you — that if you let water sit in a copper vessel overnight and then drank it, it had wonderful curative properties.
Might be an Ayurvedic thing.
There is a copper statue of the Hindu goddess Lakshmi, wife of Lord Vishnu, on the bar. She looked well.
The place has just been open around nine weeks, but the Maliks managed to snag some good press.
And by good, I mean positive. This piece of — well, I don’t like to criticize other journalists’ work, but they said Tamba’s been open for three months, not nine weeks — not that big a difference, but still wrong — they spelled Daljeet’s name wrong and, at the end of the segment, Tony Tantillo, in praising the food, said to Daljeet, "that’s why you’ve been in business for so long.”
Even if they had been open for three months, that’s not a long time, even for New York. So it’s nice press, but it’s not good.
It does present a nice view of a tandoor, however, the traditional top-loading northern Indian oven.
Daljeet’s chef made her tandoor. That’s the custom: If you’re a tandoori chef, you know how to make a tandoor.
That was explained to me back in 1996, when I interviewed Jagat Ram, who at the time was chef of Rang Mahal, a high-end Indian restaurant in Bangkok’s Rembrandt Hotel.
He said a tandoor is made of clay mixed with some straw, jute and finely powdered glass. It’s shaped into a round oven, open at the top. A wood fire is built inside the oven and it burns for a couple of days, acting as a sort of reverse kiln.
Another layer of clay mixture is applied and then it’s fired again.
Next the oven is seasoned, literally, with a mixture of yogurt, salt, mustard oil and a coarse brown sugar called jaggeri. That’s used to coat the inside of the oven and it’s baked again, but more slowly this time, because if the fire’s too hot you run the risk of cracking the entire oven, and you’d have to start over.
That seasoning process is repeated five to seven times. It not only helps to insulate the oven (burnt, liquefied sugar is pretty serious stuff), but it also keeps the clay from flaking off onto the food. That’s particularly important because naan and other flat breads are placed directly onto the walls of the oven when they’re baked.
Anyway, that’s a tandoor.
What we ate:
pappadum — spiced crackers
lasani gobhi— fried cauliflower in garlic-tomato sauce
chicken dosa — a sort of south Indian lentil crêpe stuffed with chicken and served with a spicy sauce called sambar
“chicken delight” — little chicken pinwheels clearly intended for Western customers
goan lamb vindaloo — spicy lamb curry
palak paneer — spinach with cheese cubes
assorted naan
coconut, tomato, mint and tamarind chutneys
pistachio kulfi
masala tea
The seasoning mixture, along with the jute and clay, help to insulate the oven (burnt, crystalized sugar is pretty serious stuff.
Last night I had dinner with my friend Blain Howard at Tamba, a new Indian restaurant on that stretch of Lexington Avenue in Murray Hill known as Curry Hill. We were joined for much of the meal by the restaurant’s owner, Sikender Malik, a former civil servant from Delhi who for a number of years ran Malika Palace in Queens and Malika in Midtown Manhattan.
His wife Daljeet is the executive chef.
Since they’re from Delhi, the food at Tamba is mostly northern Indian, but, Sikender explained, the restaurant that previously occupied that space was a southern Indian restaurant, so they kept some southern dishes on the menu — dosai, iddly etc. — to try to retain some of the previous restaurant's customers.
Makes sense.
The name Tamba means copper, which Sikender said was good for you — that if you let water sit in a copper vessel overnight and then drank it, it had wonderful curative properties.
Might be an Ayurvedic thing.
There is a copper statue of the Hindu goddess Lakshmi, wife of Lord Vishnu, on the bar. She looked well.
The place has just been open around nine weeks, but the Maliks managed to snag some good press.
And by good, I mean positive. This piece of — well, I don’t like to criticize other journalists’ work, but they said Tamba’s been open for three months, not nine weeks — not that big a difference, but still wrong — they spelled Daljeet’s name wrong and, at the end of the segment, Tony Tantillo, in praising the food, said to Daljeet, "that’s why you’ve been in business for so long.”
Even if they had been open for three months, that’s not a long time, even for New York. So it’s nice press, but it’s not good.
It does present a nice view of a tandoor, however, the traditional top-loading northern Indian oven.
Daljeet’s chef made her tandoor. That’s the custom: If you’re a tandoori chef, you know how to make a tandoor.
That was explained to me back in 1996, when I interviewed Jagat Ram, who at the time was chef of Rang Mahal, a high-end Indian restaurant in Bangkok’s Rembrandt Hotel.
He said a tandoor is made of clay mixed with some straw, jute and finely powdered glass. It’s shaped into a round oven, open at the top. A wood fire is built inside the oven and it burns for a couple of days, acting as a sort of reverse kiln.
Another layer of clay mixture is applied and then it’s fired again.
Next the oven is seasoned, literally, with a mixture of yogurt, salt, mustard oil and a coarse brown sugar called jaggeri. That’s used to coat the inside of the oven and it’s baked again, but more slowly this time, because if the fire’s too hot you run the risk of cracking the entire oven, and you’d have to start over.
That seasoning process is repeated five to seven times. It not only helps to insulate the oven (burnt, liquefied sugar is pretty serious stuff), but it also keeps the clay from flaking off onto the food. That’s particularly important because naan and other flat breads are placed directly onto the walls of the oven when they’re baked.
Anyway, that’s a tandoor.
What we ate:
pappadum — spiced crackers
lasani gobhi— fried cauliflower in garlic-tomato sauce
chicken dosa — a sort of south Indian lentil crêpe stuffed with chicken and served with a spicy sauce called sambar
“chicken delight” — little chicken pinwheels clearly intended for Western customers
goan lamb vindaloo — spicy lamb curry
palak paneer — spinach with cheese cubes
assorted naan
coconut, tomato, mint and tamarind chutneys
pistachio kulfi
masala tea
The seasoning mixture, along with the jute and clay, help to insulate the oven (burnt, crystalized sugar is pretty serious stuff.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Beard Handicapping 2010
March 22
The long list of contenders for this year’s James Beard Foundation Awards was whittled down today, when the actual nominees were announced.
Of the 91 names on the list for the chefs and restaurant awards — not counting those in the Best New Restaurant category — 53 were on the list last year, too, which is kind of par for the course.
It’s probably fewer returnees than last year, actually. Most categories usually have three or four of five nominees returning from the previous year — obviously not all five can return because someone has to win and then is ineligible for a number of years.
But this year there was a big shakeup that I don't understand in the Outstanding Wine Service category, in which only Blackberry Farm returned.
The Outstanding Service Award and the regional awards for the Mid-Atlantic, Southwest and Pacific have just two returning nominees.
For the Beard Awards, that’s almost revolutionary.
Still, I shall endeavor to predict the winners.
Mind you, these are not my choices for who I’d like to win. They are who I think will win based on how popular they seem to be with media.
Because although anyone can participate online in the process of picking semifinalists, the judges in the two rounds of voting required to pick the actual nominees and the winners are former winners and the food writers who made them popular in the first place. It’s kind of an insular world, and people tend to feed off of one-another’s opinions.
That being said, my predictions don’t have a great record. This will be my fourth year of Beard Handicapping. The first two years I guessed 7 out of 19. Last year I got 8 out of 19. So, that’s less than half, but quite a bit better than a monkey picking at random (and if you think about it like baseball, I batted .421 last year).
Now let’s get on with the predictions, shall we?
Outstanding Chef:
We have Andrés, Colicchio and Goin returning from last year. Both of the newcomers are from San Francisco and I think they’ll split that city's vote. The question is, are the judges tired of Tom Colicchio or worried that José Andrés is too creative for these serious times? If so, they’ll express love for the homey food of Sunday dinner at Lucques and vote for Suzanne Goin.
But I think star power will prevail and Tom Colicchio will win.
José Andrés
Tom Colicchio
Gary Danko
Suzanne Goin
Charles Phan
Outstanding Restaurant:
Babbo, Boulevard and Highlands Bar & Grill are back from last year, but the newcomers, Daniel and Spiaggia, are hardly new.
It’s never wise to predict against a victory for Mario Batali or Daniel Boulud. We’re in the mood for classics this year, which means Spiaggia has a good chance. But I think I’ll predict Daniel.
Babbo
Boulevard
Daniel
Highlands Bar & Grill
Spiaggia
Outstanding Restaurateur:
These are all the same guys as last year except for Pat Kuleto, who’s replacing last year’s winner, Drew Nieporent. Will judges feel bad about not picking Boulevard as outstanding restaurant and vote for its owner, Kuleto, for restaurateur? I’m thinking they won’t. Keith McNally is not particularly press-friendly, which could hurt him or help him depending on whether food writers like restaurateurs who play hard to get. I think mostly they don’t like that.
I’ll predict Richard Melman.
Tom Douglas
Pat Kuleto
Keith McNally
Richard Melman
Stephen Starr
Outstanding Service:
Oh who knows? La Grenouille and Vetri are back from last year. The rest are new. Robuchon’s Las Vegas restaurant is up for three awards this year (service, the regional award for the Southwest and pastry chef). But I think Grant Achatz’s star power will outshine it. I think Alinea will win.
Alinea
Joël Robuchon at MGM Grand Hotel & Casino
La Grenouille
Michael Mina
Vetri
Best New Restaurant:
This category actually kind of matters, because you only have one chance to win it. I suppose it’s possible that Marea and Locanda Verde will split the New York vote, except Flour + Water, Frances and RN74 are all in San Francisco. Does that mean Biboou in Philadelphia will slip through like a beta salmon while the big fish duke it out?
Maybe, but I think Marea will win.
Bibou
Flour + Water
Frances
Locanda Verde
Marea
RN74
Outstanding Pastry Chef:
Kamel Guechida, Nicole Plue and Mindy Segal are all back. I predicted that Mindy Segal would win last year, and I’m going to predict it again.
Amanda Cook
Michelle Gayer
Kamel Guechida
Nicole Plue
Mindy Segal
Rising Star:
This award, given to a chef aged 30 or younger, is important because it can really help launch a career. Johnny Monis, Gabriel Rucker and Sue Zemanick are all back from last year. Tim Hollingsworth doesn’t really need to have his career launched as he’s already chef de cuisine at The French Laundry, but we love the House of Keller (Hollingsworth's predecessor, Corey Lee, won this award), and I predict he will win.
Timothy Hollingsworth
Johnny Monis
Grégory Pugin
Gabriel Rucker
Sue Zemanick
Wine & Spirits Professional:
Paul Grieco of Hearth in New York is the only newcomer here. He could win, but I think we’re going to go with booze this year, so I predict Julian P. Van Winkle, III of Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery in Louisville, Ky., will win.
Merry Edwards
Paul Grieco
Garrett Oliver
John and Doug Shafer
Julian P. Van Winkle, III
Outstanding Wine Service
Blackberry Farm’s the only returning nominee, and maybe it’s back for a reason, but I don’t think the media love affair with Frasca is over yet. I predict that restaurant will win.
A16
Blackberry Farm
Frasca Food and Wine
Jean Georges
Restaurant Gary Danko
Regional awards:
Great Lakes:
Michael Carlson of Schwa is the only newcomer, replacing Michael Symon who won last year. People like Schwa’s homey style, but I hear so much buzz about Paul Kahan’s restaurants that I think Koren Grieveson, his chef at Avec, will win.
Michael Carlson
Koren Grieveson
Arun Sampanthavivat
Bruce Sherman
Alex Young
Midwest:
Lenny Russo of Heartland in St. Paul is the only newcomer in this group, replacing Tim McKee who won last year. I have to say I have no idea about this one, but a prediction must be made, and so I shall make it for Colby Garrelts.
Isaac Becker
Gerard Craft
Colby Garrelts
Alexander Roberts
Lenny Russo
Northeast:
Peter Kelly’s the only newcomer on this list. I know the Frasier-Gaier team at Arrows has to win one of these years, but this year I’m guessing, once again, that it will be Marc Orfaly.
Clark Frasier and Mark Gaier
Peter X. Kelly
Michael Leviton
Tony Maws
Marc Orfaly
New York City:
Daniel Humm and Michael White are both new in this category, and they’re both super-white hot. Michael White gets to win best new restaurant for Marea, and Daniel Humm was anointed by Frank Bruni as the city's newest New York Times four-star chef. Woe unto he (or she) who dares to tilt at that mighty windmill.
Michael Anthony
Wylie Dufresne
Gabrielle Hamilton
Daniel Humm
Michael White
Mid-Atlantic:
Cathal Armstrong of Eve in Alexandria, Va., and Peter Pastan of Obelisk in DC are the returning contenders. I’m going to bet on the power of Top Chef
Cathal Armstrong
Jeff Michaud
Peter Pastan
Michael Solomonov
Bryan Voltaggio
Southeast:
Interestingly, two of the nominees here, newcomer (to this list) Andrea Reusing of Lantern, and Bill Smith of Crook’s Corner, are from Chapel Hill, N.C. Linton Hopkins of Restaurant Eugene is the sole representative from Atlanta. Hugh Acheson is from Five and Ten in Athens, Ga., and Sean Brock, the other newcomer, is from McCrady’s in Charleston, S.C.
Sean actually isn’t a newcomer as he was nominated to be rising star last year, but you can only be on that list for so long. I think he’ll win the regional award this year.
Hugh Acheson
Sean Brock
Linton Hopkins
Andrea Reusing
Bill Smith
South:
Scott Boswell of Stella! in New Orleans and Christopher Hastings of Hot and Hot Fish Club in Birmingham, Ala., are new to the list, although really it’s more that Chris Hastings was just given the year off in 2009. He was nominated in 2007 and 2008.
Is the third time a charm? Mmm, I think it’s a toss-up between him and Zach Bell, who’s Daniel Boulud’s chef in Palm Beach.
As I said, it’s always dangerous to bet against mighty Daniel, but one must occasionally live dangerously.
Zach Bell
Scott Boswell
John Harris
Christopher Hastings
Michael Schwartz
Southwest:
Ryan Hardy of Montagna at The Little Nell in Aspen and Claude Le Tohic from Robuchon’s restaurant in Vegas are back from last year. You’d think Robuchon would win something, but I’ve been hearing a lot from Rick Moonen’s people lately, and not just because he’s on top Chef Masters, after years of relative quiet. I think it’s his year.
Bryan Caswell
Saipin Chutima
Ryan Hardy
Claude Le Tohic
Rick Moonen
Pacific
I would love for Jeremy Fox to win since he’s since left his job at Ubuntu, for which he was nominated last year as well as this year. It would be a tad awkward. David Kinch of Manresa is also back. Quince, Michael Tusk’s restaurant, I think has the admiration of the Bay Area crowd, but Matt Molina of Mozza has celebrity chefs at his back.
Michael Cimarusti
Jeremy Fox
David Kinch
Matt Molina
Michael Tusk
Northwest
Naomi Pomeroy of Beast in Portland and Andy Ricker of Pok Pok, also in Portland, are the newcomers in this category. Together with Cathy Whims of Nostrana in Portland, that means they have three nominees, and Seattle has just two. How embarrassing.
One of them might win, but I think the award will go to Jason Wilson of Crush in Seattle.
Naomi Pomeroy
Andy Ricker
Ethan Stowell
Cathy Whims
Jason Wilson
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, these are not necessarily who I’d like to win, they’re who I think will win. All of the nominees whose restaurants I’ve visited or whose food I have eaten are absolutely deserving of this award yada yada yada.
Congratulations to all the nominees.
The long list of contenders for this year’s James Beard Foundation Awards was whittled down today, when the actual nominees were announced.
Of the 91 names on the list for the chefs and restaurant awards — not counting those in the Best New Restaurant category — 53 were on the list last year, too, which is kind of par for the course.
It’s probably fewer returnees than last year, actually. Most categories usually have three or four of five nominees returning from the previous year — obviously not all five can return because someone has to win and then is ineligible for a number of years.
But this year there was a big shakeup that I don't understand in the Outstanding Wine Service category, in which only Blackberry Farm returned.
The Outstanding Service Award and the regional awards for the Mid-Atlantic, Southwest and Pacific have just two returning nominees.
For the Beard Awards, that’s almost revolutionary.
Still, I shall endeavor to predict the winners.
Mind you, these are not my choices for who I’d like to win. They are who I think will win based on how popular they seem to be with media.
Because although anyone can participate online in the process of picking semifinalists, the judges in the two rounds of voting required to pick the actual nominees and the winners are former winners and the food writers who made them popular in the first place. It’s kind of an insular world, and people tend to feed off of one-another’s opinions.
That being said, my predictions don’t have a great record. This will be my fourth year of Beard Handicapping. The first two years I guessed 7 out of 19. Last year I got 8 out of 19. So, that’s less than half, but quite a bit better than a monkey picking at random (and if you think about it like baseball, I batted .421 last year).
Now let’s get on with the predictions, shall we?
Outstanding Chef:
We have Andrés, Colicchio and Goin returning from last year. Both of the newcomers are from San Francisco and I think they’ll split that city's vote. The question is, are the judges tired of Tom Colicchio or worried that José Andrés is too creative for these serious times? If so, they’ll express love for the homey food of Sunday dinner at Lucques and vote for Suzanne Goin.
But I think star power will prevail and Tom Colicchio will win.
José Andrés
Tom Colicchio
Gary Danko
Suzanne Goin
Charles Phan
Outstanding Restaurant:
Babbo, Boulevard and Highlands Bar & Grill are back from last year, but the newcomers, Daniel and Spiaggia, are hardly new.
It’s never wise to predict against a victory for Mario Batali or Daniel Boulud. We’re in the mood for classics this year, which means Spiaggia has a good chance. But I think I’ll predict Daniel.
Babbo
Boulevard
Daniel
Highlands Bar & Grill
Spiaggia
Outstanding Restaurateur:
These are all the same guys as last year except for Pat Kuleto, who’s replacing last year’s winner, Drew Nieporent. Will judges feel bad about not picking Boulevard as outstanding restaurant and vote for its owner, Kuleto, for restaurateur? I’m thinking they won’t. Keith McNally is not particularly press-friendly, which could hurt him or help him depending on whether food writers like restaurateurs who play hard to get. I think mostly they don’t like that.
I’ll predict Richard Melman.
Tom Douglas
Pat Kuleto
Keith McNally
Richard Melman
Stephen Starr
Outstanding Service:
Oh who knows? La Grenouille and Vetri are back from last year. The rest are new. Robuchon’s Las Vegas restaurant is up for three awards this year (service, the regional award for the Southwest and pastry chef). But I think Grant Achatz’s star power will outshine it. I think Alinea will win.
Alinea
Joël Robuchon at MGM Grand Hotel & Casino
La Grenouille
Michael Mina
Vetri
Best New Restaurant:
This category actually kind of matters, because you only have one chance to win it. I suppose it’s possible that Marea and Locanda Verde will split the New York vote, except Flour + Water, Frances and RN74 are all in San Francisco. Does that mean Biboou in Philadelphia will slip through like a beta salmon while the big fish duke it out?
Maybe, but I think Marea will win.
Bibou
Flour + Water
Frances
Locanda Verde
Marea
RN74
Outstanding Pastry Chef:
Kamel Guechida, Nicole Plue and Mindy Segal are all back. I predicted that Mindy Segal would win last year, and I’m going to predict it again.
Amanda Cook
Michelle Gayer
Kamel Guechida
Nicole Plue
Mindy Segal
Rising Star:
This award, given to a chef aged 30 or younger, is important because it can really help launch a career. Johnny Monis, Gabriel Rucker and Sue Zemanick are all back from last year. Tim Hollingsworth doesn’t really need to have his career launched as he’s already chef de cuisine at The French Laundry, but we love the House of Keller (Hollingsworth's predecessor, Corey Lee, won this award), and I predict he will win.
Timothy Hollingsworth
Johnny Monis
Grégory Pugin
Gabriel Rucker
Sue Zemanick
Wine & Spirits Professional:
Paul Grieco of Hearth in New York is the only newcomer here. He could win, but I think we’re going to go with booze this year, so I predict Julian P. Van Winkle, III of Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery in Louisville, Ky., will win.
Merry Edwards
Paul Grieco
Garrett Oliver
John and Doug Shafer
Julian P. Van Winkle, III
Outstanding Wine Service
Blackberry Farm’s the only returning nominee, and maybe it’s back for a reason, but I don’t think the media love affair with Frasca is over yet. I predict that restaurant will win.
A16
Blackberry Farm
Frasca Food and Wine
Jean Georges
Restaurant Gary Danko
Regional awards:
Great Lakes:
Michael Carlson of Schwa is the only newcomer, replacing Michael Symon who won last year. People like Schwa’s homey style, but I hear so much buzz about Paul Kahan’s restaurants that I think Koren Grieveson, his chef at Avec, will win.
Michael Carlson
Koren Grieveson
Arun Sampanthavivat
Bruce Sherman
Alex Young
Midwest:
Lenny Russo of Heartland in St. Paul is the only newcomer in this group, replacing Tim McKee who won last year. I have to say I have no idea about this one, but a prediction must be made, and so I shall make it for Colby Garrelts.
Isaac Becker
Gerard Craft
Colby Garrelts
Alexander Roberts
Lenny Russo
Northeast:
Peter Kelly’s the only newcomer on this list. I know the Frasier-Gaier team at Arrows has to win one of these years, but this year I’m guessing, once again, that it will be Marc Orfaly.
Clark Frasier and Mark Gaier
Peter X. Kelly
Michael Leviton
Tony Maws
Marc Orfaly
New York City:
Daniel Humm and Michael White are both new in this category, and they’re both super-white hot. Michael White gets to win best new restaurant for Marea, and Daniel Humm was anointed by Frank Bruni as the city's newest New York Times four-star chef. Woe unto he (or she) who dares to tilt at that mighty windmill.
Michael Anthony
Wylie Dufresne
Gabrielle Hamilton
Daniel Humm
Michael White
Mid-Atlantic:
Cathal Armstrong of Eve in Alexandria, Va., and Peter Pastan of Obelisk in DC are the returning contenders. I’m going to bet on the power of Top Chef
Cathal Armstrong
Jeff Michaud
Peter Pastan
Michael Solomonov
Bryan Voltaggio
Southeast:
Interestingly, two of the nominees here, newcomer (to this list) Andrea Reusing of Lantern, and Bill Smith of Crook’s Corner, are from Chapel Hill, N.C. Linton Hopkins of Restaurant Eugene is the sole representative from Atlanta. Hugh Acheson is from Five and Ten in Athens, Ga., and Sean Brock, the other newcomer, is from McCrady’s in Charleston, S.C.
Sean actually isn’t a newcomer as he was nominated to be rising star last year, but you can only be on that list for so long. I think he’ll win the regional award this year.
Hugh Acheson
Sean Brock
Linton Hopkins
Andrea Reusing
Bill Smith
South:
Scott Boswell of Stella! in New Orleans and Christopher Hastings of Hot and Hot Fish Club in Birmingham, Ala., are new to the list, although really it’s more that Chris Hastings was just given the year off in 2009. He was nominated in 2007 and 2008.
Is the third time a charm? Mmm, I think it’s a toss-up between him and Zach Bell, who’s Daniel Boulud’s chef in Palm Beach.
As I said, it’s always dangerous to bet against mighty Daniel, but one must occasionally live dangerously.
Zach Bell
Scott Boswell
John Harris
Christopher Hastings
Michael Schwartz
Southwest:
Ryan Hardy of Montagna at The Little Nell in Aspen and Claude Le Tohic from Robuchon’s restaurant in Vegas are back from last year. You’d think Robuchon would win something, but I’ve been hearing a lot from Rick Moonen’s people lately, and not just because he’s on top Chef Masters, after years of relative quiet. I think it’s his year.
Bryan Caswell
Saipin Chutima
Ryan Hardy
Claude Le Tohic
Rick Moonen
Pacific
I would love for Jeremy Fox to win since he’s since left his job at Ubuntu, for which he was nominated last year as well as this year. It would be a tad awkward. David Kinch of Manresa is also back. Quince, Michael Tusk’s restaurant, I think has the admiration of the Bay Area crowd, but Matt Molina of Mozza has celebrity chefs at his back.
Michael Cimarusti
Jeremy Fox
David Kinch
Matt Molina
Michael Tusk
Northwest
Naomi Pomeroy of Beast in Portland and Andy Ricker of Pok Pok, also in Portland, are the newcomers in this category. Together with Cathy Whims of Nostrana in Portland, that means they have three nominees, and Seattle has just two. How embarrassing.
One of them might win, but I think the award will go to Jason Wilson of Crush in Seattle.
Naomi Pomeroy
Andy Ricker
Ethan Stowell
Cathy Whims
Jason Wilson
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, these are not necessarily who I’d like to win, they’re who I think will win. All of the nominees whose restaurants I’ve visited or whose food I have eaten are absolutely deserving of this award yada yada yada.
Congratulations to all the nominees.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Orthodox un-orthodox bagels
March 17
Who knew Moriah middle school in New Jersey’s Bergen county was a crucible for restaurant entrepreneurship?
Apparently it is. Mile End, a deli in Brooklyn’s Cobble Hill, was opened a few months ago by a Moriah alumna, and today comes word from her former classmate Danielle Sarna (you might know her as publicist for the Max Brenner chocolate-themed restaurant) that another former attendee of that Orthodox Jewish day school is opening Vic’s Bagel Bar in Manhattan (Murray Hill — on Third Avenue between 36th and 37th streets).
Borrowing a shtick from Cold Stone Creamery (which got it from Steve’s), Vic’s has you pick a bagel (chocolate chip is among the options, showing that they are not orthodox in their bagel offerings), pick a spread (cream cheese, peanut butter, hummus, white fish, what have you — baked salmon salad I hope) and then a mix-in (bananas, capers, scallions, goodness knows what else), and it’s all assembled for you in have-it-your-way (or Burger King) style.
It sounds like a very on-trend concept. Fast, customizable, slightly non-traditional but not in a weird or freaky way. If they offer something local, seasonal or sustainable they’ll have all their bases covered.
The web site’s not up yet, but I’m told the restaurant’s open now.
Who knew Moriah middle school in New Jersey’s Bergen county was a crucible for restaurant entrepreneurship?
Apparently it is. Mile End, a deli in Brooklyn’s Cobble Hill, was opened a few months ago by a Moriah alumna, and today comes word from her former classmate Danielle Sarna (you might know her as publicist for the Max Brenner chocolate-themed restaurant) that another former attendee of that Orthodox Jewish day school is opening Vic’s Bagel Bar in Manhattan (Murray Hill — on Third Avenue between 36th and 37th streets).
Borrowing a shtick from Cold Stone Creamery (which got it from Steve’s), Vic’s has you pick a bagel (chocolate chip is among the options, showing that they are not orthodox in their bagel offerings), pick a spread (cream cheese, peanut butter, hummus, white fish, what have you — baked salmon salad I hope) and then a mix-in (bananas, capers, scallions, goodness knows what else), and it’s all assembled for you in have-it-your-way (or Burger King) style.
It sounds like a very on-trend concept. Fast, customizable, slightly non-traditional but not in a weird or freaky way. If they offer something local, seasonal or sustainable they’ll have all their bases covered.
The web site’s not up yet, but I’m told the restaurant’s open now.
Friday, March 12, 2010
Atlanta rallies behind Miller Union
March 12
In this blog’s latest poll, which ended last Sunday, readers voted on their choice for best new restaurant of 2009 from the list of semi-finalists released by the James Beard Foundation.
It’s a pretty long list — 31 names — but only 11 of them got votes from Food Writer's Diary readers, and almost all of the 74 votes cast were for Miller Union in Atlanta.
The final tally's below. The full list of Beard Foundation semifinalists can be found here.
In other blog-related news, my experiment to see if my blog would attract more readers if I mentioned Sarah Palin showed that no, in fact, my readers don’t care about Sarah Palin and mentioning her in my blog didn’t attract any new readers. That’s good to know.
Sorry I’ve been such a lazy blogger of late, but I have some fascinating entries in store that I hope you’ll enjoy. You’ll see them soon.
Until then, those poll results I promised you:
WHICH OF THESE BEARD FOUNDATION NOMINEES FOR BEST NEW RESTAURANT WOULD YOU PICK?
Miller Union, Atlanta: 61 (82%)
Marea, New York City: 3 (4%)
Ping, Portland, Ore.: 2 (2%)
A Mano, New Orleans: 1 (1%)
Bibou, Philadelphia: 1 (1%)
Bluebird Tavern, Burlington, Vt.: 1 (1%)
Eos at Viceroy, Miami: 1 (1%)
Koo Zee Doo, Philadelphia: 1 (1%)
Locanda Verde, New York City 1 (1%)
Sage at Aria Resort & Casino, Las Vegas: 1 (1%)
Trummer’s on Main, Clifton, Va.: 1 (1%)
In this blog’s latest poll, which ended last Sunday, readers voted on their choice for best new restaurant of 2009 from the list of semi-finalists released by the James Beard Foundation.
It’s a pretty long list — 31 names — but only 11 of them got votes from Food Writer's Diary readers, and almost all of the 74 votes cast were for Miller Union in Atlanta.
The final tally's below. The full list of Beard Foundation semifinalists can be found here.
In other blog-related news, my experiment to see if my blog would attract more readers if I mentioned Sarah Palin showed that no, in fact, my readers don’t care about Sarah Palin and mentioning her in my blog didn’t attract any new readers. That’s good to know.
Sorry I’ve been such a lazy blogger of late, but I have some fascinating entries in store that I hope you’ll enjoy. You’ll see them soon.
Until then, those poll results I promised you:
WHICH OF THESE BEARD FOUNDATION NOMINEES FOR BEST NEW RESTAURANT WOULD YOU PICK?
Miller Union, Atlanta: 61 (82%)
Marea, New York City: 3 (4%)
Ping, Portland, Ore.: 2 (2%)
A Mano, New Orleans: 1 (1%)
Bibou, Philadelphia: 1 (1%)
Bluebird Tavern, Burlington, Vt.: 1 (1%)
Eos at Viceroy, Miami: 1 (1%)
Koo Zee Doo, Philadelphia: 1 (1%)
Locanda Verde, New York City 1 (1%)
Sage at Aria Resort & Casino, Las Vegas: 1 (1%)
Trummer’s on Main, Clifton, Va.: 1 (1%)
Monday, March 08, 2010
Kai’s closing
March 8
If you love Kai restaurant, on 69th and Madison, or have meant to check it out, you have one month left to eat there.
Ito En, the tea company that owns Kai, announced that it’s closing the restaurant and tea store on April 9.
“... with our lease up on the building, it was a time for us to re-evaluate our business strategy and focus on our core business of ready-to-drink beverages, tea leaves and teabags,” said Yosuke Honjo, chief executive and president of Ito En North America, in an e-mail.
But Donguri (309 E. 83rd St., between First and Second avenues), is staying open, and Hitoshi Kagawa, former executive chef of Kai, is running the kitchen there.
If you love Kai restaurant, on 69th and Madison, or have meant to check it out, you have one month left to eat there.
Ito En, the tea company that owns Kai, announced that it’s closing the restaurant and tea store on April 9.
“... with our lease up on the building, it was a time for us to re-evaluate our business strategy and focus on our core business of ready-to-drink beverages, tea leaves and teabags,” said Yosuke Honjo, chief executive and president of Ito En North America, in an e-mail.
But Donguri (309 E. 83rd St., between First and Second avenues), is staying open, and Hitoshi Kagawa, former executive chef of Kai, is running the kitchen there.
Thursday, March 04, 2010
Ornella
March 4
Giuseppe Viterale thought a pay-by-the-pound churras-caria would do well in the Queens neighborhood of Astoria. So he opened a Samba Grill on 23rd Avenue, near the Astoria-Ditmars stop of the N and W trains.
It turned out that location didn’t have enough foot traffic to support it, so last November he transformed it into Ornella, an Italian trattoria named after his wife, who is also the mother of their four children and the restaurant’s executive chef.
I ate there last night.
The restaurant’s publicist told me that many of the recipes come from Ornella’s family (except for the takeout items like, you know, veal Parmigiana and spaghetti carbonara), but Giuseppe has some influence, too. His father owned mills in an Italian village near Salerno, so he learned a lot about different kinds of flour. So he serves a pasta made with 75 percent chestnut flour (with cherry tomato and arugula in a garlic-oil sauce), and another one — pizzocheri della valtellina — with buckwheat flour, served with cabbage, potato and fontina cheese (it's a Lombardian dish).
The chestnut pasta dish is the one in the picture.
I also had some Nduja — pronounce it and you'll see that it’s a cousin of andouille — a spicy sausage of pork and veal from Calabria that Ornella serves as a pâté on bread — and, because I was in an Italian restaurant in New York City, after all, bruschetta with tomatoes and olive oil.
Then I had tilapia in cartoccio (prepared in an aluminum foil balloon along with clams and mussels etc.; to be broken open at the table so the diner can inhale the garlic-shellfish aroma), followed by a dessert sampler of an Italian sort of flan, cheesecake and chocolate cake.
But then Giuseppe was testing out the chestnut pasta with tuna bottarga and wanted me to check it out, too. So I did. The idea was to have that sharp fishiness of the bottarga contrast with the mild sweetness of the chestnuts.
I think it worked, but I can't say for sure because I’d just had chocolate cake.
What can I say? It’s part of my job.
Giuseppe Viterale thought a pay-by-the-pound churras-caria would do well in the Queens neighborhood of Astoria. So he opened a Samba Grill on 23rd Avenue, near the Astoria-Ditmars stop of the N and W trains.
It turned out that location didn’t have enough foot traffic to support it, so last November he transformed it into Ornella, an Italian trattoria named after his wife, who is also the mother of their four children and the restaurant’s executive chef.
I ate there last night.
The restaurant’s publicist told me that many of the recipes come from Ornella’s family (except for the takeout items like, you know, veal Parmigiana and spaghetti carbonara), but Giuseppe has some influence, too. His father owned mills in an Italian village near Salerno, so he learned a lot about different kinds of flour. So he serves a pasta made with 75 percent chestnut flour (with cherry tomato and arugula in a garlic-oil sauce), and another one — pizzocheri della valtellina — with buckwheat flour, served with cabbage, potato and fontina cheese (it's a Lombardian dish).The chestnut pasta dish is the one in the picture.
I also had some Nduja — pronounce it and you'll see that it’s a cousin of andouille — a spicy sausage of pork and veal from Calabria that Ornella serves as a pâté on bread — and, because I was in an Italian restaurant in New York City, after all, bruschetta with tomatoes and olive oil.
Then I had tilapia in cartoccio (prepared in an aluminum foil balloon along with clams and mussels etc.; to be broken open at the table so the diner can inhale the garlic-shellfish aroma), followed by a dessert sampler of an Italian sort of flan, cheesecake and chocolate cake.
But then Giuseppe was testing out the chestnut pasta with tuna bottarga and wanted me to check it out, too. So I did. The idea was to have that sharp fishiness of the bottarga contrast with the mild sweetness of the chestnuts.
I think it worked, but I can't say for sure because I’d just had chocolate cake.
What can I say? It’s part of my job.
Wednesday, March 03, 2010
Google Search: "Sarah Palin" restaurant
March 3
We in the trade media can be pretty self-satisfied sometimes, because we don't cover the same stories everyone else covers. Tiger Woods gets decked by his wife for messing around? We don’t care.
A kid goes up in a runaway balloon but not really? We don’t care.
Kim Kardashian — well, I don’t even know enough about Kim Kardashian to finish this sentence.
So we sit in our offices on Park Avenue and wonder a bit smugly why those people — those consumer journalists — insist on all reporting on the same things, and on things that, quite frankly, are not germane to the interests of their audience.
Of course we know why — we might be smug but we’re not stupid. It builds their audiences. It’s what the public responds to.
We wondered if we could experiment with this. Was there some way we could connect Sarah Palin, say, with restaurants in a newsy way and report on it? Would that increase our readership?
I did a quick Google search for “ “Sarah Palin" restaurant” and was rewarded with the video I have embedded here for your amusement.
It’s not newsy. It's from the 2008 election campaign and was posted to YouTube.com on September 28 of that year. It's a visit by Mrs. Palin to Tony Luke’s, which from what I understand is generally the third place for food tourists in Philadelphia to visit for cheese steaks. The first two are, of course, Pat’s and Geno’s.
I think the Geno’s crowd is probably a better fit for the former vice-presidential candidate.
Anyway, this blog entry is just a test to see if writing about Sarah Palin will increase readership.
It’s not a perfect test, but what test is? Even the landmark study indicating that oatmeal lowered cholesterol was flawed.
Seriously so, in fact: Test subjects were either given oatmeal for breakfast or bacon and eggs. Did the study show that oatmeal lowered cholesterol or that not eating bacon and eggs every single day for breakfast lowered cholesterol?
See? Even though I’m acting like consumer media and writing blog entries to try to drive traffic, I’m still able to educate my readers.
Thanks for stopping by.
We in the trade media can be pretty self-satisfied sometimes, because we don't cover the same stories everyone else covers. Tiger Woods gets decked by his wife for messing around? We don’t care.
A kid goes up in a runaway balloon but not really? We don’t care.
Kim Kardashian — well, I don’t even know enough about Kim Kardashian to finish this sentence.
So we sit in our offices on Park Avenue and wonder a bit smugly why those people — those consumer journalists — insist on all reporting on the same things, and on things that, quite frankly, are not germane to the interests of their audience.
Of course we know why — we might be smug but we’re not stupid. It builds their audiences. It’s what the public responds to.
We wondered if we could experiment with this. Was there some way we could connect Sarah Palin, say, with restaurants in a newsy way and report on it? Would that increase our readership?
I did a quick Google search for “ “Sarah Palin" restaurant” and was rewarded with the video I have embedded here for your amusement.
It’s not newsy. It's from the 2008 election campaign and was posted to YouTube.com on September 28 of that year. It's a visit by Mrs. Palin to Tony Luke’s, which from what I understand is generally the third place for food tourists in Philadelphia to visit for cheese steaks. The first two are, of course, Pat’s and Geno’s.
I think the Geno’s crowd is probably a better fit for the former vice-presidential candidate.
Anyway, this blog entry is just a test to see if writing about Sarah Palin will increase readership.
It’s not a perfect test, but what test is? Even the landmark study indicating that oatmeal lowered cholesterol was flawed.
Seriously so, in fact: Test subjects were either given oatmeal for breakfast or bacon and eggs. Did the study show that oatmeal lowered cholesterol or that not eating bacon and eggs every single day for breakfast lowered cholesterol?
See? Even though I’m acting like consumer media and writing blog entries to try to drive traffic, I’m still able to educate my readers.
Thanks for stopping by.
Monday, March 01, 2010
Jonathon Sawyer eats everybody else’s lunch
March 1
Thanks to a groundswell of Jonathon Sawyer fans, the executive chef of The Greenhouse Tavern in Cleveland dominated in last week’s poll, in which I asked you to cast your own vote among semifinalists in the James Beard Foundation Rising Star Chef awards.
Indeed, the young chap, who I must say made a breathtakingly delicious clam chowder at an IFEC event I attended awhile back, took 43 percent of all of the votes.
He was followed by Kevin Gillespie of Woodfire Grill in Atlanta, with 14 percent of the votes, and Sonja Finn of Dinette in Pittsburgh, with 10 percent.
Rounding out the list of five who would make it onto the short list of finalists if the Beard Award judges vote the way Food Writer’s Diary readers did are Sue Zemanick of Gautreau’s in New Orleans, who got 5 percent of the votes, and Timothy Hollingsworth of The French Laundry, who got 4 percent.
Now, was this a plot on the part of Greenhouse Tavern patrons, or possibly workers, to stuff the ballot e-box for Jonathon? Almost certainly — my readership from Ohio jumped significantly last week.
But other restaurants could have done the same thing. They did not.
A total of 85 people participated in the poll. Full results can be found below.
Now on to what I think is the other important James Beard Foundation chefs and restaurant award — best new restaurant.
The other awards are nice to win, but they tend to include a revolving door of favorites, replaced after a time by the protégés of the favorites. But best new restaurant you can only win once. Voting has begun. Click on a button on the long column on the upper right hand part of this page.
Poll results:
Who would you pick from the James Beard Foundation's list of semi-finalists as rising star chef?
Jonathon Sawyer, The Greenhouse Tavern, Cleveland: 37 (43%)
Kevin Gillespie, Woodfire Grill, Atlanta: 12 (14%)
Sonja Finn, Dinette, Pittsburgh: 9 (10%)
Sue Zemanick, Gautreau's, New Orleans: 5 (5%)
Timothy Hollingsworth, The French Laundry, Yountville, Calif.: 4 (4%)
Will Gilson, Garden at the Cellar, Cambridge, Mass.: 3 (3%)
Johnny Monis, Komi, Washington, D.C. 3: (3%)
Sam Gorenstein, BLT Steak at the Betsy Hotel, Miami Beach, Fla.: 2 (2%)
Charles “Chip” Roman, Blackfish, Conshohocken, Pa.: 2 (2%)
Gabriel Rucker, Le Pigeon, Portland, Ore.: 2 (2%)
James Rugile, Venue Bistro, Denver 2: (2%)
Josh Adams, June, Peoria Heights, Ill.: 1 (1%)
Justin Basye, Stella Sola, Houston: 1 (1%)
Casey Lane, The Tasting Kitchen, Venice, Calif.: 1 (1%)
Grégory Pugin, Veritas, New York City: 1 (1%)
Justin Aprahamian, Sanford, Milwaukee: 0 (0%)
Benjamin Bailly, Petrossian, West Hollywood, Calif.: 0 (0%)
Vanessa Garcia, Restaurant Charlie at the Palazzo, Las Vegas: 0 (0%)
David Gilberg, Koo Zee Doo, Philadelphia: 0 (0%)
Carly Groben, Proof, Des Moines, Iowa: 0 (0%)
Colin Hazama, Kauai Grill at the St. Regis Princeville, Kaua‘i, Hawaii: 0 (0%)
Perry Hoffman, Etoile Restaurant at Domaine Chandon, Yountville, Calif.: 0 (0%)
Matthew Lightner, Castagna, Portland, Ore. 0: (0%)
Joshua Smith, A Mano, New Orleans: 0 (0%)
Lee Styer, Fond, Philadelphia: 0 (0%)
Sameh Wadi, Saffron Restaurant & Lounge, Minneapolis: 0 (0%)
Thanks to a groundswell of Jonathon Sawyer fans, the executive chef of The Greenhouse Tavern in Cleveland dominated in last week’s poll, in which I asked you to cast your own vote among semifinalists in the James Beard Foundation Rising Star Chef awards.
Indeed, the young chap, who I must say made a breathtakingly delicious clam chowder at an IFEC event I attended awhile back, took 43 percent of all of the votes.
He was followed by Kevin Gillespie of Woodfire Grill in Atlanta, with 14 percent of the votes, and Sonja Finn of Dinette in Pittsburgh, with 10 percent.
Rounding out the list of five who would make it onto the short list of finalists if the Beard Award judges vote the way Food Writer’s Diary readers did are Sue Zemanick of Gautreau’s in New Orleans, who got 5 percent of the votes, and Timothy Hollingsworth of The French Laundry, who got 4 percent.
Now, was this a plot on the part of Greenhouse Tavern patrons, or possibly workers, to stuff the ballot e-box for Jonathon? Almost certainly — my readership from Ohio jumped significantly last week.
But other restaurants could have done the same thing. They did not.
A total of 85 people participated in the poll. Full results can be found below.
Now on to what I think is the other important James Beard Foundation chefs and restaurant award — best new restaurant.
The other awards are nice to win, but they tend to include a revolving door of favorites, replaced after a time by the protégés of the favorites. But best new restaurant you can only win once. Voting has begun. Click on a button on the long column on the upper right hand part of this page.
Poll results:
Who would you pick from the James Beard Foundation's list of semi-finalists as rising star chef?
Jonathon Sawyer, The Greenhouse Tavern, Cleveland: 37 (43%)
Kevin Gillespie, Woodfire Grill, Atlanta: 12 (14%)
Sonja Finn, Dinette, Pittsburgh: 9 (10%)
Sue Zemanick, Gautreau's, New Orleans: 5 (5%)
Timothy Hollingsworth, The French Laundry, Yountville, Calif.: 4 (4%)
Will Gilson, Garden at the Cellar, Cambridge, Mass.: 3 (3%)
Johnny Monis, Komi, Washington, D.C. 3: (3%)
Sam Gorenstein, BLT Steak at the Betsy Hotel, Miami Beach, Fla.: 2 (2%)
Charles “Chip” Roman, Blackfish, Conshohocken, Pa.: 2 (2%)
Gabriel Rucker, Le Pigeon, Portland, Ore.: 2 (2%)
James Rugile, Venue Bistro, Denver 2: (2%)
Josh Adams, June, Peoria Heights, Ill.: 1 (1%)
Justin Basye, Stella Sola, Houston: 1 (1%)
Casey Lane, The Tasting Kitchen, Venice, Calif.: 1 (1%)
Grégory Pugin, Veritas, New York City: 1 (1%)
Justin Aprahamian, Sanford, Milwaukee: 0 (0%)
Benjamin Bailly, Petrossian, West Hollywood, Calif.: 0 (0%)
Vanessa Garcia, Restaurant Charlie at the Palazzo, Las Vegas: 0 (0%)
David Gilberg, Koo Zee Doo, Philadelphia: 0 (0%)
Carly Groben, Proof, Des Moines, Iowa: 0 (0%)
Colin Hazama, Kauai Grill at the St. Regis Princeville, Kaua‘i, Hawaii: 0 (0%)
Perry Hoffman, Etoile Restaurant at Domaine Chandon, Yountville, Calif.: 0 (0%)
Matthew Lightner, Castagna, Portland, Ore. 0: (0%)
Joshua Smith, A Mano, New Orleans: 0 (0%)
Lee Styer, Fond, Philadelphia: 0 (0%)
Sameh Wadi, Saffron Restaurant & Lounge, Minneapolis: 0 (0%)
Friday, February 26, 2010
C-CAP and other parties
February 26
It has been a busy week. Lot's of parties, which doesn't seem normal for a blustery week in late February.
Before I go into detail, though, let's start with the news: A new pastry chef is starting at Aquavit on Monday. Candice Chia, formerly pastry sous chef at Café Boulud, will be executive pastry chef there. And Marcus Jernmark, who last time we heard, was running the kitchen, but hadn’t been promoted yet, is now executive chef.
That’s all according to Aquavit owner Håken Swahn (Marcus Samuelsson’s business partner). He’s the gentleman in the picture at the beginning of his blog entry, standing next to Rita Jammet, a former restaurateur and very proud mother of Nicolas Jammet, partner in the burgeoning Sweetgreen salad and frozen yogurt chain.
I learned all of that on Wednesday at the annual C-CAP benefit. But the week started, as weeks do, on Monday, when D’Artagnan, supplier of foie gras and other goodies, threw a big party at Guastavino to celebrate its 25th anniversary.
I invited my friend Blain Howard, the ultimate combination of video game geek and cool guy. It was interesting to watch him as he talked about video games with Autumn, a friend of Will Blunt of Starchefs.
She asked him what his favorite video game was, and he said Super Mario Bros. 3, and then went into details as to why, and how that was his favorite of old-school games but his favorite new game was Bioshock, which is apparently a really scary one.
And then he really geeked out on all the details and I lost track.
It’s fascinating to see someone who once worked at Abercrombe & Fitch as one of those models/salespeople talk like that. Such poise and confidence while also being so phenomenally dorky. It’s charming.
So we ate ribs and foie gras and cassoulet while drinking wine from Southwestern France and sharing opinions about Caprica.
On Tuesday I went to the launch of Burger King's new batch broiler during lunch and then stayed at work late to finish writing about sourcing obscure ingredients — a story you'll get to enjoy a couple of weeks from now.
Wednesday, as you know, was the always awesome C-CAP fundraiser, which you can read about here (complete with slide show).
The second picture in this blog entry is of John Fraser, executive chef of Dovetail, and Gramercy Tavern pastry chef Nancy Olson. John gave me the scoop on a big, exciting change underway at Dovetail and then asked me not to tell anyone.
So I won’t tell anyone, but be on the look-out for an excellent announcement from John in early March. Second Monday of the month maybe.
Last night was a really fun party at the Astor Center celebrating the 10th anniversary of Gastronomica, where the irrepressible Dave Arnold, director of culinary technology at the International Culinary Center aka The French Culinary Institute, was making cocktails out of local rye whiskey, and also serving up amazing little passion fruit puffs, made by adding a little bit of one of those methylcellulose compounds to passion fruit purée, puffing them up and then freezing them in liquid nitrogen.
Dave said this was an old trick, possibly developed by Sean Brock, but he wasn’t sure, after the gang in molecular gastronomy world realized that things that didn't contain much moisture were easily eaten even right after they'd been frozen with liquid nitrogen.
So he poured liquid nitrogen over the little passion fruit puffs, popped one in his mouth and then blew what looked like smoke out of his nose. Like a dragon.
Of course it was vapor from the liquid nitrogen, but it was awesome.
Pavia Rosati ate her passion fruit puff seductively and elegantly, blowing vapor out of her mouth like she'd just smoked a cigarette and then French-inhaling it again up her nose.
She’s marvelous, that Pavia. She really is.
It has been a busy week. Lot's of parties, which doesn't seem normal for a blustery week in late February. Before I go into detail, though, let's start with the news: A new pastry chef is starting at Aquavit on Monday. Candice Chia, formerly pastry sous chef at Café Boulud, will be executive pastry chef there. And Marcus Jernmark, who last time we heard, was running the kitchen, but hadn’t been promoted yet, is now executive chef.
That’s all according to Aquavit owner Håken Swahn (Marcus Samuelsson’s business partner). He’s the gentleman in the picture at the beginning of his blog entry, standing next to Rita Jammet, a former restaurateur and very proud mother of Nicolas Jammet, partner in the burgeoning Sweetgreen salad and frozen yogurt chain.
I learned all of that on Wednesday at the annual C-CAP benefit. But the week started, as weeks do, on Monday, when D’Artagnan, supplier of foie gras and other goodies, threw a big party at Guastavino to celebrate its 25th anniversary.
I invited my friend Blain Howard, the ultimate combination of video game geek and cool guy. It was interesting to watch him as he talked about video games with Autumn, a friend of Will Blunt of Starchefs.
She asked him what his favorite video game was, and he said Super Mario Bros. 3, and then went into details as to why, and how that was his favorite of old-school games but his favorite new game was Bioshock, which is apparently a really scary one.
And then he really geeked out on all the details and I lost track.
It’s fascinating to see someone who once worked at Abercrombe & Fitch as one of those models/salespeople talk like that. Such poise and confidence while also being so phenomenally dorky. It’s charming.
So we ate ribs and foie gras and cassoulet while drinking wine from Southwestern France and sharing opinions about Caprica.
On Tuesday I went to the launch of Burger King's new batch broiler during lunch and then stayed at work late to finish writing about sourcing obscure ingredients — a story you'll get to enjoy a couple of weeks from now.
Wednesday, as you know, was the always awesome C-CAP fundraiser, which you can read about here (complete with slide show).The second picture in this blog entry is of John Fraser, executive chef of Dovetail, and Gramercy Tavern pastry chef Nancy Olson. John gave me the scoop on a big, exciting change underway at Dovetail and then asked me not to tell anyone.
So I won’t tell anyone, but be on the look-out for an excellent announcement from John in early March. Second Monday of the month maybe.
Last night was a really fun party at the Astor Center celebrating the 10th anniversary of Gastronomica, where the irrepressible Dave Arnold, director of culinary technology at the International Culinary Center aka The French Culinary Institute, was making cocktails out of local rye whiskey, and also serving up amazing little passion fruit puffs, made by adding a little bit of one of those methylcellulose compounds to passion fruit purée, puffing them up and then freezing them in liquid nitrogen.
Dave said this was an old trick, possibly developed by Sean Brock, but he wasn’t sure, after the gang in molecular gastronomy world realized that things that didn't contain much moisture were easily eaten even right after they'd been frozen with liquid nitrogen.
So he poured liquid nitrogen over the little passion fruit puffs, popped one in his mouth and then blew what looked like smoke out of his nose. Like a dragon.
Of course it was vapor from the liquid nitrogen, but it was awesome.
Pavia Rosati ate her passion fruit puff seductively and elegantly, blowing vapor out of her mouth like she'd just smoked a cigarette and then French-inhaling it again up her nose.
She’s marvelous, that Pavia. She really is.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Opening the Beard Award selection process
February 22
I spoke with James Beard Foundation president Susan Ungaro this afternoon about the fact that so many of the 397 semi-finalists for this year’s chef and restaurant awards are newcomers to the list.
As I mentioned when I reported on the semi-finalists last week, more than half (the actual figure is 53 percent) were on the list last year, too. But considering how many of the same nominees return year after year, that’s pretty good turnover.
Susan explained that the nomination process has been democratized.
Although just about 400 people — past winners and the media — judge the awards, anyone can nominate a chef. That’s been true since 2008, when the awards went all-electronic. That year more than 9,000 people submitted nominations in the 17 chef and restaurant categories. Last year 15,000 people participated in the process, and this year it was more than 21,000.
Then in most categories the awards committee picks the top 20 names, and those are the semifinalists.
An exception is the Rising Star award, which goes to chefs age 30 and younger, so they have a limited window in which to win it. The awards committee takes that into consideration and lets a few more names slip on.
The result is the ungainly-looking list of 26 names you see meandering down the upper right-hand side of this page.
Susan told me one of her goals as president was to try to alleviate the foundation's reputation as an elitist group focused on the East and West Coasts (I'd accuse it more of being New York-centric, actually), and to extend a hand to the masses.
Has she succeeded?
Well, if you look at that list, only one nominee is from New York, but that was true last year (it was Ryan Skeen from Irving Mill, in case you were wondering).
This year’s list has more chefs from cities in the interior* — Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, Des Moines, Denver, Cleveland, Minneapolis and Peoria Heights, Ill. There's also a nominee from Hawaii’s smallest major island, Kaua‘i, Colin Hazama from the St. Regis hotel there. I guess that’s off the beaten path in the grand scheme of things.
But he was also a nominee last year. So was Sameh Wadi from Minneapolis. The rest weren’t on last year’s list and the only other interior cities that were represented were Farmington, Pa., Rochester, Minn., and Memphis, Tenn.
Okay, so this year’s list isn’t that much more geographically diverse than last year's. It’s still dominated by coastal cities, but then again, coastal cities are most of the country's major population centers.
I do wonder why Chicago’s not represented, though. Maybe too many great young chefs split the local vote.
*for these purposes I’m going to classify Philadelphia and its suburbs as East Coast, even though it’s technically not, because it is culturally, and the rest of Pennsylvania as interior; and Las Vegas as West Coast; New Orleans is unclassifiable, but since it has always been considered an important food city I'm going to say it's not interior, but I'll go ahead and say Houston is interior. That’s just how I roll. Chicago is always well represented in the awards, although it doesn’t have any rising star nominees this year, unless you count Peoria as a suburb, and I think that’s stretching it a bit.
I spoke with James Beard Foundation president Susan Ungaro this afternoon about the fact that so many of the 397 semi-finalists for this year’s chef and restaurant awards are newcomers to the list.
As I mentioned when I reported on the semi-finalists last week, more than half (the actual figure is 53 percent) were on the list last year, too. But considering how many of the same nominees return year after year, that’s pretty good turnover.
Susan explained that the nomination process has been democratized.
Although just about 400 people — past winners and the media — judge the awards, anyone can nominate a chef. That’s been true since 2008, when the awards went all-electronic. That year more than 9,000 people submitted nominations in the 17 chef and restaurant categories. Last year 15,000 people participated in the process, and this year it was more than 21,000.
Then in most categories the awards committee picks the top 20 names, and those are the semifinalists.
An exception is the Rising Star award, which goes to chefs age 30 and younger, so they have a limited window in which to win it. The awards committee takes that into consideration and lets a few more names slip on.
The result is the ungainly-looking list of 26 names you see meandering down the upper right-hand side of this page.
Susan told me one of her goals as president was to try to alleviate the foundation's reputation as an elitist group focused on the East and West Coasts (I'd accuse it more of being New York-centric, actually), and to extend a hand to the masses.
Has she succeeded?
Well, if you look at that list, only one nominee is from New York, but that was true last year (it was Ryan Skeen from Irving Mill, in case you were wondering).
This year’s list has more chefs from cities in the interior* — Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, Des Moines, Denver, Cleveland, Minneapolis and Peoria Heights, Ill. There's also a nominee from Hawaii’s smallest major island, Kaua‘i, Colin Hazama from the St. Regis hotel there. I guess that’s off the beaten path in the grand scheme of things.
But he was also a nominee last year. So was Sameh Wadi from Minneapolis. The rest weren’t on last year’s list and the only other interior cities that were represented were Farmington, Pa., Rochester, Minn., and Memphis, Tenn.
Okay, so this year’s list isn’t that much more geographically diverse than last year's. It’s still dominated by coastal cities, but then again, coastal cities are most of the country's major population centers.
I do wonder why Chicago’s not represented, though. Maybe too many great young chefs split the local vote.
*for these purposes I’m going to classify Philadelphia and its suburbs as East Coast, even though it’s technically not, because it is culturally, and the rest of Pennsylvania as interior; and Las Vegas as West Coast; New Orleans is unclassifiable, but since it has always been considered an important food city I'm going to say it's not interior, but I'll go ahead and say Houston is interior. That’s just how I roll. Chicago is always well represented in the awards, although it doesn’t have any rising star nominees this year, unless you count Peoria as a suburb, and I think that’s stretching it a bit.
What Celina Tio’s up to these days
February 22The last time, I mentioned Celina Tio, she was planning on opening a restaurant called Julia(n) in Charlotte, N.C.
Well, plans for that fell through awhile back — something to do with a disagreement with the landlord, if memory serves — and it turns out that she’s back in Kansas City and is the proud chef and owner of Julian (sans parenthesis — as a general rule, it’s a good idea when you’re thinking of putting parentheses in your restaurant’s name to think again).
Celina’s billing the food as refined but comforting food made with local, seasonal ingredients, which is to say that she’s doing what most other fine-dining chefs in the country are doing.
I don’t mean that in a bad way, in fact, I mean that in a good way. It makes sense to respond to the Zeitgeist, after all, doesn’t it?
The full menu’s on the restaurant’s web site, but it includes things like lobster shepherds pie, cassoulet, short ribs with gratin potatoes and Brussels sprouts, a cheeseburger — you get the idea.
There are also "popcorn sweetbreads" for appetizers, and a lobster salad with grapefruit, fennel and argan oil.
Who knew argan oil would get so popular?
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Beard Awards season begins
February 18
The James Beard Foundation has released its long list of semifinalists for the James Beard Foundation Awards, following a tradition started two years ago when Josh Ozersky let the list leak when he was the grand poobah of Grub Street. Before then, just the finalists were announced.
This year, that will happen on March 22, and the winners will be awarded in an exceedingly long black tie ceremony at Avery Fisher Hall on May 3.
In the meantime, two rounds of voting are underway. First, starting today, judges will narrow down each category to five (or occasionally six) finalists, who will then be voted on by that same group of judges. The winner will have the opportunity to capitalize on the publicity. It’s generally very good for a chef to win a Beard Award. It doesn’t make him or her a better chef, but it can generate considerable publicity and revenue if the chefs play their cards right.
The nominees are already pretty well-known, at least in their markets, and quite often the same people are nominated year after year – although from what I’ve perused so far of the long list this year, there are quite a few new names, which is refreshing.
Mostly the Beard Awards are a feel-good popularity contest and a chance for the fine dining world to throw a series of big, fun parties. There’s nothing wrong with that.
And I consider two of the awards to be rather important: best new restaurant, and rising star.
The Rising Star award goes to a chef aged 30 or younger and can be a real career-maker. Past winners include Marcus Samuelsson, Andrew Carmellini, Grant Achatz, Chris Lee, Corey Lee, David Chang, Gavin Kaysen and, most recently, Nate Appelman. It’s a good award to win.
And best new restaurant, well, you only have one shot at it, and that alone makes it interesting.
Voting is done by former winners and food writers like me. But I’d like to give you a chance to vote, too.
So my new poll, as you can see in the upper right hand corner of this page, is your chance to make your pick for Rising Star chef of 2010.
Will this vote count in the actual selection process?
No, it will not.
Will it at least influence how I vote?
Again, no.
But it should be fun anyway, and it will give whichever chef wins a chance to promote himself or herself as the Food Writer’s Diary Rising Star Chef. It might not be as prestigious as the Beard Awards, although really, it depends on how you spin it.
And isn’t that true of any award?
The James Beard Foundation has released its long list of semifinalists for the James Beard Foundation Awards, following a tradition started two years ago when Josh Ozersky let the list leak when he was the grand poobah of Grub Street. Before then, just the finalists were announced.
This year, that will happen on March 22, and the winners will be awarded in an exceedingly long black tie ceremony at Avery Fisher Hall on May 3.
In the meantime, two rounds of voting are underway. First, starting today, judges will narrow down each category to five (or occasionally six) finalists, who will then be voted on by that same group of judges. The winner will have the opportunity to capitalize on the publicity. It’s generally very good for a chef to win a Beard Award. It doesn’t make him or her a better chef, but it can generate considerable publicity and revenue if the chefs play their cards right.
The nominees are already pretty well-known, at least in their markets, and quite often the same people are nominated year after year – although from what I’ve perused so far of the long list this year, there are quite a few new names, which is refreshing.
Mostly the Beard Awards are a feel-good popularity contest and a chance for the fine dining world to throw a series of big, fun parties. There’s nothing wrong with that.
And I consider two of the awards to be rather important: best new restaurant, and rising star.
The Rising Star award goes to a chef aged 30 or younger and can be a real career-maker. Past winners include Marcus Samuelsson, Andrew Carmellini, Grant Achatz, Chris Lee, Corey Lee, David Chang, Gavin Kaysen and, most recently, Nate Appelman. It’s a good award to win.
And best new restaurant, well, you only have one shot at it, and that alone makes it interesting.
Voting is done by former winners and food writers like me. But I’d like to give you a chance to vote, too.
So my new poll, as you can see in the upper right hand corner of this page, is your chance to make your pick for Rising Star chef of 2010.
Will this vote count in the actual selection process?
No, it will not.
Will it at least influence how I vote?
Again, no.
But it should be fun anyway, and it will give whichever chef wins a chance to promote himself or herself as the Food Writer’s Diary Rising Star Chef. It might not be as prestigious as the Beard Awards, although really, it depends on how you spin it.
And isn’t that true of any award?
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Emilia-Romagna and Sicily
February 16
Emilia-Romagna and Sicily tied in this blog's latest poll, which asked readers to pick their favorite Italian region for food.
You can read the full results at nrn.com.
Emilia-Romagna and Sicily tied in this blog's latest poll, which asked readers to pick their favorite Italian region for food.
You can read the full results at nrn.com.
Friday, February 12, 2010
Cocktail news from Pranna
February 12
So much to write about, so little time.
For now I’ll just mention some news I learned last night at a sort of networking party thrown by the New York City Hospitality Group, formed by a dozen people with different types of expertise in the foodservice and lodging industries who want to network with others. It’s a good idea.
They threw a party at Pranna, at which publicist Andrew Freeman spoke briefly but entertainingly and intelligently about foodservice trends.
The party was in Pranna’s basement, and we ate fried and stuffed things and naan, and I drank red wine.
Pranna has a serious Asian-oriented cocktail list intended to go with the cuisine from South Asia (that's the Indian subcontinent) and Southeast Asia (Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia etc.)
But bar manager Eric Greczel says they plan to mix it up downstairs, which Pranna’s owners have told him to turn into a proper high-end cocktail bar, with drinks that take five minutes to make, rather than the 90 seconds they have at the busy bars upstairs.
So keep your eyes open for that.
So much to write about, so little time.
For now I’ll just mention some news I learned last night at a sort of networking party thrown by the New York City Hospitality Group, formed by a dozen people with different types of expertise in the foodservice and lodging industries who want to network with others. It’s a good idea.
They threw a party at Pranna, at which publicist Andrew Freeman spoke briefly but entertainingly and intelligently about foodservice trends.
The party was in Pranna’s basement, and we ate fried and stuffed things and naan, and I drank red wine.
Pranna has a serious Asian-oriented cocktail list intended to go with the cuisine from South Asia (that's the Indian subcontinent) and Southeast Asia (Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia etc.)
But bar manager Eric Greczel says they plan to mix it up downstairs, which Pranna’s owners have told him to turn into a proper high-end cocktail bar, with drinks that take five minutes to make, rather than the 90 seconds they have at the busy bars upstairs.
So keep your eyes open for that.
Saturday, February 06, 2010
Bocuse d’Or USA
February 7
I’m going to sleep soon, but first, in case you really need to know who won the Bocuse d'Or USA competition and don’t follow me on Twitter but can’t wait until it’s up on the Nation's Restaurant News web site later this morning, I’ll go ahead and tell you it's James Kent from Eleven Madison Park.
I saved the good pictures for NRN.com, because I know where my bread is buttered, but this is an outtake, of (from the right), Eleven Madison Park executive chef Daniel Humm, Bocuse d’Or USA champion and today’s king of the world James Kent, EMP general manager Will Guidara (or as people in the chain restaurant biz say, “Frank's boy”) and Tom Allan, who like James Kent is one of EMP’s sous chefs, but James played captain in this competition, so he's the winner. Tom will accompany him to Lyon in January of next year to represent the stars and stripes there.
Tonight, everyone in this picture is probably getting drunk.
I’m going to sleep soon, but first, in case you really need to know who won the Bocuse d'Or USA competition and don’t follow me on Twitter but can’t wait until it’s up on the Nation's Restaurant News web site later this morning, I’ll go ahead and tell you it's James Kent from Eleven Madison Park.
I saved the good pictures for NRN.com, because I know where my bread is buttered, but this is an outtake, of (from the right), Eleven Madison Park executive chef Daniel Humm, Bocuse d’Or USA champion and today’s king of the world James Kent, EMP general manager Will Guidara (or as people in the chain restaurant biz say, “Frank's boy”) and Tom Allan, who like James Kent is one of EMP’s sous chefs, but James played captain in this competition, so he's the winner. Tom will accompany him to Lyon in January of next year to represent the stars and stripes there.
Tonight, everyone in this picture is probably getting drunk.
Friday, February 05, 2010
Rome on the Hudson
February 5
Maialino is probably the hottest Roman restaurant in New York City right now. It can’t help it; it’s a Danny Meyer restaurant and New Yorkers love Danny Meyer.
But there’s a lot of Roman food out there.
Lupa’s full name is Lupa Osteria Romana.
Sandro Fioriti, currently of Sandro’s on the Upper East Side, has been dishing up carciofi alla giudia and any number of carbonara and amatriciana dishes for the better part of 25 years, and, well, Florence Fabricant recently gave a rundown of Roman restaurants in the Times.
That makes Roman the trendiest Italian regional cuisine in New York at the moment, but there’s a poll on the right side of this screen asking you what your favorite Italian region is for food. Go ahead — pick one. (Rome’s in Lazio, by the way).
Not too long ago I had lunch at one of New York's newer Roman places, Sora Lella. Sora’s slang for Signora, or madam, and Lella was the nickname for Elena Trabalza, the original chef of the original restaurant, on Isola Tiberina, a little island in the Tiber River in Rome.
I went to the New York branch with the restaurant's publicist, which is a good thing, because the restaurant was closed for lunch that day and its owners don’t speak a whole lot of English, except for the chef, Fabio, who, you know, had to be in the kitchen making lunch.
I understand a fair number of Italian food words, but not much else.
Sora Lella’s owners are a nice group, all family members, who said they decided to finally open in New York after visitors from Gotham to their restaurant in Rome had been bugging them to do so for years. They opened their doors in far western SoHo (Spring St., between Hudson and Renwich streets) about nine months ago.
Their business partner, who owns the building, told me about how many new residences and businesses were being established in the area, something I'd been hearing about the neighborhood since Dani opened four years ago two blocks away from where Sora Lella is now. Dani failed to thrive and closed a scant two years after it opened, but a bunch of restaurants have opened around there since then, like 508 — at 508 Greenwich St., a block and a half away.
The owners of both Sora Lella and 508 say they’re doing well and enjoy good followings from local denizens, including the celebrities who live not too far away.
When I had dinner at 508 recently, Thom Filicia, the interior design guy from Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, was at the bar, so that’s something.
At Sora Lella, Fabio’s family entertained me and poured me glasses of Roman wine while the chef served me his grandmother's polpettine, which the menu translate”s as “Nonna Lella’s Sliders.”
Nonna means grandmother, and polpettine are actually meatballs. But I guess "sliders” are slightly more trendy than meatballs — although maybe not, according to my friend Andrew Knowlton who I just saw on TV a little while ago declaring meatballs the food of 2010.
I’m afraid I don’t know what show he said that on, because I don’t watch morning TV programs that invite people like Andrew to talk about food, but a tiny clip of it was replayed either on The Daily Show or The Colbert Report, and I saw it there.
Back at Sora Lella, I also had classic gnocchi all'Amatriciana and braised oxtail with pine nuts, among other things.
The Trabalzas have embraced their restaurant’s new American location, and even are offering a Super Bowl menu this Sunday.
Here it is, for $65 (not including tax or tip), including all the beer and wine you can get down your neck (house wine, of course):
Classic Caesar Salad
Polppettine della Nonna Lella
Beef “sliders”, Breaded, Deep Fried and Topped with Tomato Sauce.
Fried Calamari with a Spicy Tomato dipping Sauce
Supplí
Bite-size Roman Riceballs
Pizza
Our Pizza is Stuffed with a Choice of the Following:
Broccoli and Sausage; Classic Margherita; Eggplant and Zucchini
Bruschette
Topped with Lardo, Liver Mousse, Classic Tomato, Artichoke
Mixed Cured Olives
Maialino is probably the hottest Roman restaurant in New York City right now. It can’t help it; it’s a Danny Meyer restaurant and New Yorkers love Danny Meyer.
But there’s a lot of Roman food out there.
Lupa’s full name is Lupa Osteria Romana.
Sandro Fioriti, currently of Sandro’s on the Upper East Side, has been dishing up carciofi alla giudia and any number of carbonara and amatriciana dishes for the better part of 25 years, and, well, Florence Fabricant recently gave a rundown of Roman restaurants in the Times.
That makes Roman the trendiest Italian regional cuisine in New York at the moment, but there’s a poll on the right side of this screen asking you what your favorite Italian region is for food. Go ahead — pick one. (Rome’s in Lazio, by the way).
Not too long ago I had lunch at one of New York's newer Roman places, Sora Lella. Sora’s slang for Signora, or madam, and Lella was the nickname for Elena Trabalza, the original chef of the original restaurant, on Isola Tiberina, a little island in the Tiber River in Rome.
I went to the New York branch with the restaurant's publicist, which is a good thing, because the restaurant was closed for lunch that day and its owners don’t speak a whole lot of English, except for the chef, Fabio, who, you know, had to be in the kitchen making lunch.
I understand a fair number of Italian food words, but not much else.
Sora Lella’s owners are a nice group, all family members, who said they decided to finally open in New York after visitors from Gotham to their restaurant in Rome had been bugging them to do so for years. They opened their doors in far western SoHo (Spring St., between Hudson and Renwich streets) about nine months ago.
Their business partner, who owns the building, told me about how many new residences and businesses were being established in the area, something I'd been hearing about the neighborhood since Dani opened four years ago two blocks away from where Sora Lella is now. Dani failed to thrive and closed a scant two years after it opened, but a bunch of restaurants have opened around there since then, like 508 — at 508 Greenwich St., a block and a half away.
The owners of both Sora Lella and 508 say they’re doing well and enjoy good followings from local denizens, including the celebrities who live not too far away.
When I had dinner at 508 recently, Thom Filicia, the interior design guy from Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, was at the bar, so that’s something.
At Sora Lella, Fabio’s family entertained me and poured me glasses of Roman wine while the chef served me his grandmother's polpettine, which the menu translate”s as “Nonna Lella’s Sliders.”
Nonna means grandmother, and polpettine are actually meatballs. But I guess "sliders” are slightly more trendy than meatballs — although maybe not, according to my friend Andrew Knowlton who I just saw on TV a little while ago declaring meatballs the food of 2010.
I’m afraid I don’t know what show he said that on, because I don’t watch morning TV programs that invite people like Andrew to talk about food, but a tiny clip of it was replayed either on The Daily Show or The Colbert Report, and I saw it there.
Back at Sora Lella, I also had classic gnocchi all'Amatriciana and braised oxtail with pine nuts, among other things.
The Trabalzas have embraced their restaurant’s new American location, and even are offering a Super Bowl menu this Sunday.
Here it is, for $65 (not including tax or tip), including all the beer and wine you can get down your neck (house wine, of course):
Classic Caesar Salad
Polppettine della Nonna Lella
Beef “sliders”, Breaded, Deep Fried and Topped with Tomato Sauce.
Fried Calamari with a Spicy Tomato dipping Sauce
Supplí
Bite-size Roman Riceballs
Pizza
Our Pizza is Stuffed with a Choice of the Following:
Broccoli and Sausage; Classic Margherita; Eggplant and Zucchini
Bruschette
Topped with Lardo, Liver Mousse, Classic Tomato, Artichoke
Mixed Cured Olives
Monday, February 01, 2010
Not for NRN readers
February 1
Nation’s Restaurant News, the magazine of which this blog is part, is intended for, and mostly read by, people who own or manage restaurants or are in some way involved in buying or selling things for restaurants.
A lot of food writers read it, too, and many of your favorite consumer magazines and newspapers subscribe and copy liberally from it.
Some NRN readers also read this blog, but a lot of people who read this don’t read NRN (and, as the lackluster number of responses to my poll on MUFSO illustrate, they're not interested in big chain restaurant conventions). They are simply food enthusiasts or restaurant scene voyeurs and the sort of people who might be interested in the casting call announcement I just received, which I will paste below, exclamation marks and all.
Restaurant operators and former operators are not invited.
Thank you for your attention.
OPEN CASTING CALL
Food Network and the producers of The Next Food Network Star are looking for two person teams for a new competition series!
Have you always dreamed of running your own restaurant? Does your wife, husband, brother, sister, mother, partner or friend share that dream?
Do you make restaurant quality meals at home and want to show that you can take it to the next level? Are you a pro in the kitchen while your teammate is a star in the front of the house? Are you ready to prove that you have what it takes to run a restaurant? If so, we want to meet you!
NEW YORK CASTING CALL INFORMATION
Date: Friday, February 12, 2010
Time: 10am – 3pm
Location: Professor Thoms
219 2nd Avenue, New York, NY 10003
*Please go to www.24hourrestaurantbattle.com to download two applications (one for you, one for your partner). Please bring completed applications along with recent photos to the casting call.*
WHO SHOULD APPLY:
Two person teams with pre-existing relationships: Husband & wife, ex-husband & wife, father & daughter, mother & son, newlyweds, brothers, sisters, twins, cousins, best friends, etc.
The Skills to Run a Restaurant: Applicants may have no restaurant experience, a ton of experience, or some combination of the two. One member of the team will be the chef and run the kitchen, and the other will run the “front of the house,” so all we ask is that you have the skills to, as a team, actually run a restaurant.
Personality that Pops: Are you and your teammate charismatic and outgoing? We’re looking for lots of energy and charm!
*Please don’t apply if you already own your own restaurant or have previously owned a restaurant.
• If you have any questions, please contact us at casting24NY@gmail.com
• Applicants must (a) be a US citizen or permanent legal resident with the unrestricted ability to work in the U.S. and (b) be at least 18 years of age.
Nation’s Restaurant News, the magazine of which this blog is part, is intended for, and mostly read by, people who own or manage restaurants or are in some way involved in buying or selling things for restaurants.
A lot of food writers read it, too, and many of your favorite consumer magazines and newspapers subscribe and copy liberally from it.
Some NRN readers also read this blog, but a lot of people who read this don’t read NRN (and, as the lackluster number of responses to my poll on MUFSO illustrate, they're not interested in big chain restaurant conventions). They are simply food enthusiasts or restaurant scene voyeurs and the sort of people who might be interested in the casting call announcement I just received, which I will paste below, exclamation marks and all.
Restaurant operators and former operators are not invited.
Thank you for your attention.
OPEN CASTING CALL
Food Network and the producers of The Next Food Network Star are looking for two person teams for a new competition series!
Have you always dreamed of running your own restaurant? Does your wife, husband, brother, sister, mother, partner or friend share that dream?
Do you make restaurant quality meals at home and want to show that you can take it to the next level? Are you a pro in the kitchen while your teammate is a star in the front of the house? Are you ready to prove that you have what it takes to run a restaurant? If so, we want to meet you!
NEW YORK CASTING CALL INFORMATION
Date: Friday, February 12, 2010
Time: 10am – 3pm
Location: Professor Thoms
219 2nd Avenue, New York, NY 10003
*Please go to www.24hourrestaurantbattle.com to download two applications (one for you, one for your partner). Please bring completed applications along with recent photos to the casting call.*
WHO SHOULD APPLY:
Two person teams with pre-existing relationships: Husband & wife, ex-husband & wife, father & daughter, mother & son, newlyweds, brothers, sisters, twins, cousins, best friends, etc.
The Skills to Run a Restaurant: Applicants may have no restaurant experience, a ton of experience, or some combination of the two. One member of the team will be the chef and run the kitchen, and the other will run the “front of the house,” so all we ask is that you have the skills to, as a team, actually run a restaurant.
Personality that Pops: Are you and your teammate charismatic and outgoing? We’re looking for lots of energy and charm!
*Please don’t apply if you already own your own restaurant or have previously owned a restaurant.
• If you have any questions, please contact us at casting24NY@gmail.com
• Applicants must (a) be a US citizen or permanent legal resident with the unrestricted ability to work in the U.S. and (b) be at least 18 years of age.
Friday, January 29, 2010
On eating contests
January 29
My old Jewish youth group chapter, Judge Saul Pinchick AZA 6, in Denver, has a Facebook fan page.
That’s not surprising.
Its profile picture is a shot of the members of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity from the movie Animal House, which either shows a certain continuity of culture from when I was in AZA 6, or simply illustrates what a seminal work (the second definition) that film was in creating the vision of a society to which so many fraternal organizations aspire.
When I was president of that chapter, we had a social event called The Food Olympics, that was a series of eating competitions. Being a Jewish youth group, we would say the Hebrew blessing appropriate for the food that we were about to try to eat more of faster than our fraternal brothers. Instead of firing a gun, or shouting "go," or counting down from 3, to signal the start of the competition we would say "amen."
The regional adviser at the time suggested that perhaps we were being sacrilegious — actually, she said it outright and wasn’t very nice about it — and in retrospect she had a point.
But it still won an award at the B'nai B'rith Youth Organization international convention as the best social function of the year.
I think it won in large part because I filled out the application using all the typographical bells and whistles that were available on my family's new MacIntosh 128k computer. It being 1983, unusual shadowed fonts were novelties that likely impressed the judges.
So I was delighted to receive the press release below a few minutes ago — so delighted that I thought I’d write a blog entry about it.
Because Jeff Ackerman was also in AZA 6 at the same time I was.
He didn’t participate in the Food Olympics as he was already Grand Aleph Mazkir (AZA language for international secretary) and didn’t fiddle much with our little chapter activities.
But still, well, I’ll let the press release speak for itself (except to point out that Chair 5 is also the name of a ski lift in Vail, and to note that Jeff graduated from Boston College in 1990):
Qdoba Mexican Grill Spices Up Hockey Beanpot
With Sixth Annual Rice & Bean Pot Burrito-Eating Contest
Local College Students Vie for Coveted Chowing Crown in Preliminary Rounds; Final Showdown Benefits Kevin Youkilis Hits for Kids Foundation
BOSTON – (January 29, 2010) – Winter is heating up thanks to Qdoba Mexican Grill’s spicy sixth annual Rice & Bean Pot Burrito-Eating Contest, scheduled to sate appetites at the Paradise Rock Club on February 10.
In celebration of Boston’s real Winter Classic, the venerable Beanpot College Hockey Tournament, Qdoba Mexican Grill will give students from Boston College, Boston University, Harvard University and Northeastern University the chance to demonstrate their speed — and appetites — as they battle for the coveted Rice & Bean Pot championship title. The high-stakes competition consists of four teams of four students from the Beanpot schools facing off in a speed-eating showdown for ultimate bragging rights and a trip for four to Mexico.
“We’re thrilled to unite our loyal Qdoba customers, sports enthusiasts, local musicians, and hockey fans alike to enjoy a fun-filled night celebrating one of Boston’s most beloved traditions, the Beanpot,” said Jeff Ackerman, President and CEO of local Qdoba franchise Chair 5. “We are overjoyed this year to support our partner Kevin Youkilis and his Hits for Kids Foundation, as we strongly believe in its mission and goals for the youth of Greater Boston and beyond.”
To advance to the final round, teams must win their preliminary round, held on or near their respective campuses on the following days:
Tuesday, February 2, 7 p.m. - Boston College Preliminary Round, Conte Forum (Gate C), Boston College Campus
Wednesday, February 3, 7 p.m. - Northeastern University Preliminary Round, Qdoba Mexican Grill, 393 Huntington Avenue
Thursday, February 4, 7 p.m. - Boston University Preliminary Round, Qdoba Mexican Grill, 961 Commonwealth Avenue
Saturday, February 6, 7 p.m. - Harvard University Preliminary Round, Qdoba Mexican Grill, 1280 Massachusetts Avenue
Teams of four students may register at www.riceandbeanpot.com or by emailing matt@chair5.com with the names, phone numbers, and email addresses for all team members. The first 25 teams to register will compete in the preliminary competition round.
Tickets for the Rice & Bean Pot finals may be purchased for $10 in advance at www.riceandbeanpot.com or by calling the Paradise Rock Club box office at 617-562-8820. Tickets purchased at the door cost $12.
Proceeds from the event will benefit the Kevin Youkilis Hits for Kids Foundation, a charitable organization focused on raising support and awareness for the health, advocacy, safety and well-being of children.
The Rice & Bean Pot also features Qdoba’s Beanpot Battle of the Bands, with bands from BC, BU, Harvard, and Northeastern — all voted into the battle by their respective classmates. Local band Bad Rabbits will headline the event with their soulful dance blend, while WAAF-FM’s morning-show host Greg Hill will serve as the evening’s host.
As part of Qdoba’s support of Kevin Youkilis Hits for Kids Foundation, the fast casual restaurant will offer the baseball star’s personally designed “Youk Burrito,” a chicken queso burrito with a choice of fajita or grilled vegetables, at all Qdoba locations in Massachusetts. A portion of the proceeds from every Youk Burrito will benefit Youkilis’ foundation.
“I’m honored and grateful that Hits for Kids is this year’s Rice & Bean Pot beneficiary,” said Youkilis. "I am personally a huge fan of Qdoba and am thrilled that the restaurant has chosen to support our charity, not only with the Youk Burrito but with this year’s Rice & Bean Pot.”
It goes on for a bit more, but you get the idea.
My old Jewish youth group chapter, Judge Saul Pinchick AZA 6, in Denver, has a Facebook fan page.
That’s not surprising.
Its profile picture is a shot of the members of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity from the movie Animal House, which either shows a certain continuity of culture from when I was in AZA 6, or simply illustrates what a seminal work (the second definition) that film was in creating the vision of a society to which so many fraternal organizations aspire.
When I was president of that chapter, we had a social event called The Food Olympics, that was a series of eating competitions. Being a Jewish youth group, we would say the Hebrew blessing appropriate for the food that we were about to try to eat more of faster than our fraternal brothers. Instead of firing a gun, or shouting "go," or counting down from 3, to signal the start of the competition we would say "amen."
The regional adviser at the time suggested that perhaps we were being sacrilegious — actually, she said it outright and wasn’t very nice about it — and in retrospect she had a point.
But it still won an award at the B'nai B'rith Youth Organization international convention as the best social function of the year.
I think it won in large part because I filled out the application using all the typographical bells and whistles that were available on my family's new MacIntosh 128k computer. It being 1983, unusual shadowed fonts were novelties that likely impressed the judges.
So I was delighted to receive the press release below a few minutes ago — so delighted that I thought I’d write a blog entry about it.
Because Jeff Ackerman was also in AZA 6 at the same time I was.
He didn’t participate in the Food Olympics as he was already Grand Aleph Mazkir (AZA language for international secretary) and didn’t fiddle much with our little chapter activities.
But still, well, I’ll let the press release speak for itself (except to point out that Chair 5 is also the name of a ski lift in Vail, and to note that Jeff graduated from Boston College in 1990):
Qdoba Mexican Grill Spices Up Hockey Beanpot
With Sixth Annual Rice & Bean Pot Burrito-Eating Contest
Local College Students Vie for Coveted Chowing Crown in Preliminary Rounds; Final Showdown Benefits Kevin Youkilis Hits for Kids Foundation
BOSTON – (January 29, 2010) – Winter is heating up thanks to Qdoba Mexican Grill’s spicy sixth annual Rice & Bean Pot Burrito-Eating Contest, scheduled to sate appetites at the Paradise Rock Club on February 10. In celebration of Boston’s real Winter Classic, the venerable Beanpot College Hockey Tournament, Qdoba Mexican Grill will give students from Boston College, Boston University, Harvard University and Northeastern University the chance to demonstrate their speed — and appetites — as they battle for the coveted Rice & Bean Pot championship title. The high-stakes competition consists of four teams of four students from the Beanpot schools facing off in a speed-eating showdown for ultimate bragging rights and a trip for four to Mexico.
“We’re thrilled to unite our loyal Qdoba customers, sports enthusiasts, local musicians, and hockey fans alike to enjoy a fun-filled night celebrating one of Boston’s most beloved traditions, the Beanpot,” said Jeff Ackerman, President and CEO of local Qdoba franchise Chair 5. “We are overjoyed this year to support our partner Kevin Youkilis and his Hits for Kids Foundation, as we strongly believe in its mission and goals for the youth of Greater Boston and beyond.”
To advance to the final round, teams must win their preliminary round, held on or near their respective campuses on the following days:
Tuesday, February 2, 7 p.m. - Boston College Preliminary Round, Conte Forum (Gate C), Boston College Campus
Wednesday, February 3, 7 p.m. - Northeastern University Preliminary Round, Qdoba Mexican Grill, 393 Huntington Avenue
Thursday, February 4, 7 p.m. - Boston University Preliminary Round, Qdoba Mexican Grill, 961 Commonwealth Avenue
Saturday, February 6, 7 p.m. - Harvard University Preliminary Round, Qdoba Mexican Grill, 1280 Massachusetts Avenue
Teams of four students may register at www.riceandbeanpot.com or by emailing matt@chair5.com with the names, phone numbers, and email addresses for all team members. The first 25 teams to register will compete in the preliminary competition round.
Tickets for the Rice & Bean Pot finals may be purchased for $10 in advance at www.riceandbeanpot.com or by calling the Paradise Rock Club box office at 617-562-8820. Tickets purchased at the door cost $12.
Proceeds from the event will benefit the Kevin Youkilis Hits for Kids Foundation, a charitable organization focused on raising support and awareness for the health, advocacy, safety and well-being of children.
The Rice & Bean Pot also features Qdoba’s Beanpot Battle of the Bands, with bands from BC, BU, Harvard, and Northeastern — all voted into the battle by their respective classmates. Local band Bad Rabbits will headline the event with their soulful dance blend, while WAAF-FM’s morning-show host Greg Hill will serve as the evening’s host.
As part of Qdoba’s support of Kevin Youkilis Hits for Kids Foundation, the fast casual restaurant will offer the baseball star’s personally designed “Youk Burrito,” a chicken queso burrito with a choice of fajita or grilled vegetables, at all Qdoba locations in Massachusetts. A portion of the proceeds from every Youk Burrito will benefit Youkilis’ foundation.
“I’m honored and grateful that Hits for Kids is this year’s Rice & Bean Pot beneficiary,” said Youkilis. "I am personally a huge fan of Qdoba and am thrilled that the restaurant has chosen to support our charity, not only with the Youk Burrito but with this year’s Rice & Bean Pot.”
It goes on for a bit more, but you get the idea.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Johnny Rockets, what not to say to a sports legend, and how many Twitter followers everybody has
January 21
Thanks a lot, Twitter followers.
A week ago I tweeted the following: “Introducing Joe Theismann tonight at launch of Johnny Rockets Sports Lounge on UES. Was told to ask him about punting. Good idea, right?”
Did anyone warn me? Did anyone point out that the football legend, on one bad day in his mostly extraordinary career, famously kicked a punt of approximately one yard and that to bring it up, as countless others no-doubt do all the time, would be rude?
No, they did not.
One follower, InsideFandB, basically said “hey, that guy took my pen,” but otherwise, my approximately 1,600 followers — and you know who you are — were silent. Not a word of warning that I might hurt the feelings of a man whose feelings don’t deserve to be hurt and who, although now 60 years old, could easily fold me up into a pretzel and toss me out of the nearest window without breaking a sweat.
Chris Matthews was the one who suggested I bring up the punt. Not that Chris Matthews, wine writer Chris Matthews, who contributes to the New York Law Journal, among other publications, and is husband of food writer Kathryn Matthews. They’re a lovely couple.
We were at the 15th anniversary party of i Trulli, standing around, eating gnocchi and cavatelli and whatnot.
I met the restaurant’s executive chef, Patti Jackson. A pastry chef by training (most recently at Alto under Scott Conant, so not that recently), she told me about how she struggled to make perfect orecchiette — the little flat, round pasta with a name that literally means “small ears.” She was working meticulously, as pastry chefs do, to perfect each and every piece, and she was fretting about her inability to do so to the Italian woman who was teaching her, who finally said, “just shut up and make the pasta!”
Anyway, I told Chris and Kathryn that I would be introducing Joe Theismann at the opening of Johnny Rockets’ new sports lounge, Chris made the punting remark — obviously joking — and I thought I’d see if my Twitter followers cared about me.
I learned that they don’t.
Theismann seemed like a nice guy, though. He shook my hand and I asked him about his restaurant career, which started in 1975, when he was in the second year of his football career, as the Washington Redskins’ third-string quarterback.
Restaurateurs in Alexandria, Va., were looking for someone to lend his name to their restaurant and Theismann threw his hat in the ring. They asked why they should use his name when he was virtually a nobody. He told them it couldn’t get any worse.
Of course, he became a football legend, and the restaurant was a success. Theismann sold out of it in 1990, but a couple of years ago he came back into the restaurant business as a member of Johnny Rockets' board of directors.
The PR people at the burger chain had asked me to use my negligible star power (remember my 1,600 Twitter followers? Yeah well Frank Bruni as of this writing has 4,657, “Amateur Gourmet” Adam Roberts has nearly 6,000 and Tyler Florence has 182,429) to introduce Mr. Theismann, who used his considerable star power to introduce John Fowler, the proud father of Bryanna and McKenna Fowler, as the new president and chief executive of Johnny Rockets.
Joe Theismann does not appear to have a Twitter account, but I reckon that he has more star power even than Tyler Florence anyway.
John Fowler a big sports fan. He was in New York on a sort of media tour, talking to journalists like me, appearing on Bloomberg TV, meeting people at Time magazine.
I’m told that the Time meeting was a particular thrill for him because he was in the same offices as Sports Illustrated, a magazine of which he has every copy since he started reading it at age 12.
John’s such a big sports fan that when news of the sports lounge reached his friends, they told him that it had his fingerprints all over it.
John pointed out to them, however, that he’d only been CEO for a few days, which is not enough time to conceive of and execute a new restaurant concept.
Basically, it’s a regular Johnny Rockets on the ground floor, and then upstairs is a full bar, typical bar snacks like nachos and spring rolls and cheese sticks, a lounge area and a bunch of giant TVs.
The opening party seemed to be a success. A bunch of franchisees were there, and a bit of media. I had a fairly long chat with lawyer Andy Freedman, who with his wife, lawyer Jill Freedman, does the blog Wined and Dined and has 1,245 Twitter followers, as he snacked on cheeseburgers and such. He wondered if the Upper East Side really needed another sports bar.
It’s a fair question, and one to which I suspect Johnny Rockets Sports Lounge will find the answer.
Thanks a lot, Twitter followers.
A week ago I tweeted the following: “Introducing Joe Theismann tonight at launch of Johnny Rockets Sports Lounge on UES. Was told to ask him about punting. Good idea, right?”
Did anyone warn me? Did anyone point out that the football legend, on one bad day in his mostly extraordinary career, famously kicked a punt of approximately one yard and that to bring it up, as countless others no-doubt do all the time, would be rude?
No, they did not.
One follower, InsideFandB, basically said “hey, that guy took my pen,” but otherwise, my approximately 1,600 followers — and you know who you are — were silent. Not a word of warning that I might hurt the feelings of a man whose feelings don’t deserve to be hurt and who, although now 60 years old, could easily fold me up into a pretzel and toss me out of the nearest window without breaking a sweat.
Chris Matthews was the one who suggested I bring up the punt. Not that Chris Matthews, wine writer Chris Matthews, who contributes to the New York Law Journal, among other publications, and is husband of food writer Kathryn Matthews. They’re a lovely couple.
We were at the 15th anniversary party of i Trulli, standing around, eating gnocchi and cavatelli and whatnot.
I met the restaurant’s executive chef, Patti Jackson. A pastry chef by training (most recently at Alto under Scott Conant, so not that recently), she told me about how she struggled to make perfect orecchiette — the little flat, round pasta with a name that literally means “small ears.” She was working meticulously, as pastry chefs do, to perfect each and every piece, and she was fretting about her inability to do so to the Italian woman who was teaching her, who finally said, “just shut up and make the pasta!”
Anyway, I told Chris and Kathryn that I would be introducing Joe Theismann at the opening of Johnny Rockets’ new sports lounge, Chris made the punting remark — obviously joking — and I thought I’d see if my Twitter followers cared about me.
I learned that they don’t.
Theismann seemed like a nice guy, though. He shook my hand and I asked him about his restaurant career, which started in 1975, when he was in the second year of his football career, as the Washington Redskins’ third-string quarterback.
Restaurateurs in Alexandria, Va., were looking for someone to lend his name to their restaurant and Theismann threw his hat in the ring. They asked why they should use his name when he was virtually a nobody. He told them it couldn’t get any worse.
Of course, he became a football legend, and the restaurant was a success. Theismann sold out of it in 1990, but a couple of years ago he came back into the restaurant business as a member of Johnny Rockets' board of directors.
The PR people at the burger chain had asked me to use my negligible star power (remember my 1,600 Twitter followers? Yeah well Frank Bruni as of this writing has 4,657, “Amateur Gourmet” Adam Roberts has nearly 6,000 and Tyler Florence has 182,429) to introduce Mr. Theismann, who used his considerable star power to introduce John Fowler, the proud father of Bryanna and McKenna Fowler, as the new president and chief executive of Johnny Rockets.
Joe Theismann does not appear to have a Twitter account, but I reckon that he has more star power even than Tyler Florence anyway.
John Fowler a big sports fan. He was in New York on a sort of media tour, talking to journalists like me, appearing on Bloomberg TV, meeting people at Time magazine.
I’m told that the Time meeting was a particular thrill for him because he was in the same offices as Sports Illustrated, a magazine of which he has every copy since he started reading it at age 12.
John’s such a big sports fan that when news of the sports lounge reached his friends, they told him that it had his fingerprints all over it.
John pointed out to them, however, that he’d only been CEO for a few days, which is not enough time to conceive of and execute a new restaurant concept.
Basically, it’s a regular Johnny Rockets on the ground floor, and then upstairs is a full bar, typical bar snacks like nachos and spring rolls and cheese sticks, a lounge area and a bunch of giant TVs.
The opening party seemed to be a success. A bunch of franchisees were there, and a bit of media. I had a fairly long chat with lawyer Andy Freedman, who with his wife, lawyer Jill Freedman, does the blog Wined and Dined and has 1,245 Twitter followers, as he snacked on cheeseburgers and such. He wondered if the Upper East Side really needed another sports bar.
It’s a fair question, and one to which I suspect Johnny Rockets Sports Lounge will find the answer.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
bad day for flip fans
January 20
Cocktail doyenne Audrey Saunders says her Pegu Club was visited by the health department last night and, well, this is what she told her Facebook "friends":
"Everything was fine until the inspector looked on our menu, saw the Earl Grey MarTEAni, and told us that ... even with the warning we have printed on our menu about raw eggs, using raw eggs is a violation ... and that we have to switch to pasteurized eggs in our cocktails."
No-doubt the American Egg Board, egg producers' promotional body, would support the move, because they support anything that helps prevent food poisoning from eggs (wouldn't you? I mean you don't want people getting sick from your product), but in fact only one in about 20,000 eggs contains salmonella, according to the AEB.
I tell ya, eggs get a bad rap. They're not likely to raise your blood cholesterol either. From what I understand, the biggest contributing factor to blood cholesterol is genetics, and after that it's saturated fat. Eggs have a lot of dietary cholesterol, but not much saturated fat, and, counter-intuitive as it may seem, dietary cholesterol doesn't contribute to blood cholesterol.
In fact, egg yolks are really good for you. They contain all sorts of good micronutrients, including folate, Vitamins B6, B12, A and E, a bit of D and all sorts of carotenoids, which are good for your eyes, like carrots are.
Egg whites are pretty much protein.
Cocktail doyenne Audrey Saunders says her Pegu Club was visited by the health department last night and, well, this is what she told her Facebook "friends":
"Everything was fine until the inspector looked on our menu, saw the Earl Grey MarTEAni, and told us that ... even with the warning we have printed on our menu about raw eggs, using raw eggs is a violation ... and that we have to switch to pasteurized eggs in our cocktails."
No-doubt the American Egg Board, egg producers' promotional body, would support the move, because they support anything that helps prevent food poisoning from eggs (wouldn't you? I mean you don't want people getting sick from your product), but in fact only one in about 20,000 eggs contains salmonella, according to the AEB.
I tell ya, eggs get a bad rap. They're not likely to raise your blood cholesterol either. From what I understand, the biggest contributing factor to blood cholesterol is genetics, and after that it's saturated fat. Eggs have a lot of dietary cholesterol, but not much saturated fat, and, counter-intuitive as it may seem, dietary cholesterol doesn't contribute to blood cholesterol.
In fact, egg yolks are really good for you. They contain all sorts of good micronutrients, including folate, Vitamins B6, B12, A and E, a bit of D and all sorts of carotenoids, which are good for your eyes, like carrots are.
Egg whites are pretty much protein.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Korean!
January 19
It’s official: Korean will be the next big ethnic cuisine in America, at least according to the 33 readers of this blog who were good enough to respond to my poll on the topic, eight of whom picked Korean.
Seven picked Indian and, well, you can see the results yourself below.
I asked about Roman cuisine because we've seen a little trendlet of Roman happening here in New York, as Florence Fabricant reported in The New York Times last week. I asked about Scandinavian because that was advocated by my friend Jody Eddy of Art Culinaire. She’s been on a big Iceland kick lately. Technically, last time I checked, Iceland wasn’t part of Scandinavia, but it’s close enough. I mean, they’re practically Vikings up there.
I think it’s interesting that regional Italian got no (0) votes. I’d be curious to know what the three people who said the next cuisine would be one I didn’t list think the next cuisine will be. If you’re one of those people, or even if you’re not, feel free, by all means, to comment below.
My next poll is in honor of the fact that we’re in the planning stages of our next MUFSO conference and, as always, we’re looking for feedback.
What will be the next big “ethnic” food to emerge in the United States?
Indian: 7 (21%)
Korean: 8 (24%)
West African: 3 (9%)
Roman: 1 (3%)
not Roman, but some other regional Italian: 0 (0%)
Scandinavian: 3 (9%)
Regional Mexican: 1 (3%)
Malaysian/Indonesian: 1 (3%)
Vietnamese: 1 (3%)
Regional American : 1 (3%)
An ethnic cuisine you didn’t have the good sense to list: 3 (9%)
Ethnic fads are done; it’s all about local, seasonal ingredients now: 4 (12%)
It’s official: Korean will be the next big ethnic cuisine in America, at least according to the 33 readers of this blog who were good enough to respond to my poll on the topic, eight of whom picked Korean.
Seven picked Indian and, well, you can see the results yourself below.
I asked about Roman cuisine because we've seen a little trendlet of Roman happening here in New York, as Florence Fabricant reported in The New York Times last week. I asked about Scandinavian because that was advocated by my friend Jody Eddy of Art Culinaire. She’s been on a big Iceland kick lately. Technically, last time I checked, Iceland wasn’t part of Scandinavia, but it’s close enough. I mean, they’re practically Vikings up there.
I think it’s interesting that regional Italian got no (0) votes. I’d be curious to know what the three people who said the next cuisine would be one I didn’t list think the next cuisine will be. If you’re one of those people, or even if you’re not, feel free, by all means, to comment below.
My next poll is in honor of the fact that we’re in the planning stages of our next MUFSO conference and, as always, we’re looking for feedback.
What will be the next big “ethnic” food to emerge in the United States?
Indian: 7 (21%)
Korean: 8 (24%)
West African: 3 (9%)
Roman: 1 (3%)
not Roman, but some other regional Italian: 0 (0%)
Scandinavian: 3 (9%)
Regional Mexican: 1 (3%)
Malaysian/Indonesian: 1 (3%)
Vietnamese: 1 (3%)
Regional American : 1 (3%)
An ethnic cuisine you didn’t have the good sense to list: 3 (9%)
Ethnic fads are done; it’s all about local, seasonal ingredients now: 4 (12%)
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
ironic kitsch for the masses
January 13
Rock of Ages is not a good show. You might enjoy it, especially if you like those songs from the mid-1980s that currently are most popular in karaoke bars, but it’s not a quality production. A paper-thin plot ties together a medley of songs performed with medium gusto, often choreographed by someone who didn’t seem to be listening to the lyrics (an ensemble performance of Whitesnake’s “Here I Go Again” — “Here I go again on my own/Goin’ down the only road I've ever known/ Like a drifter I was born to walk alone” — excuse me?), ending, lest there be any doubt that the soundtrack was thrown together to strike a chord with the lowest common denominator in pop culture, with Journey's "Don't Stop Believin',” which is enjoying new popularity, as you probably know, because it was the last thing heard in the final episode of The Sopranos.
Still, it’s a fun show. You spend a couple of hours watching attractive, talented people sing and dance on stage, and I had a good time watching it with Johnny Rockets’ new president and chief executive, John Fuller.
John loves Rock of Ages. This was his second time seeing it. “It’s like Broadway for Dummies,” he says.
He has a point. It’s not like the performers are taking themselves seriously, and to emulate a stadium concert from the 1980s they hand out tiny flashlight-like things that light up when you push a button, simulating in a Broadway sort of way the lighters that people would use at those shows.
And they sell beer — Corona Light or Coors Light — so through the course of the performance I had four Coors Lights.
It’s sort of ironic kitsch for the masses.
John, who was just promoted from chief financial officer to CEO, is the opposite of pretentious. He’s 6'6" but he usually flies economy class to help control costs, and he says his biggest personal thrill since getting his promotion was the reaction of his daughters, 12-year-old Bryanna and 10-year-old McKenna, when he told them. They were tremendously excited and told him how proud they were.
After the show, John, two of his colleagues and I went next door to the Glass House Tavern, and so did much of the cast, so John had his picture taken with some of them, and got to hang out with his favorite performer, Mitchell Jarvis, who plays Lonny, the show's narrator, and who John referred to astutely as “that Jack Black guy.”
I decided to let my snobby side out and drank an Irish single malt whiskey I'd never heard of. John had Amstel Light.
Rock of Ages is not a good show. You might enjoy it, especially if you like those songs from the mid-1980s that currently are most popular in karaoke bars, but it’s not a quality production. A paper-thin plot ties together a medley of songs performed with medium gusto, often choreographed by someone who didn’t seem to be listening to the lyrics (an ensemble performance of Whitesnake’s “Here I Go Again” — “Here I go again on my own/Goin’ down the only road I've ever known/ Like a drifter I was born to walk alone” — excuse me?), ending, lest there be any doubt that the soundtrack was thrown together to strike a chord with the lowest common denominator in pop culture, with Journey's "Don't Stop Believin',” which is enjoying new popularity, as you probably know, because it was the last thing heard in the final episode of The Sopranos.
Still, it’s a fun show. You spend a couple of hours watching attractive, talented people sing and dance on stage, and I had a good time watching it with Johnny Rockets’ new president and chief executive, John Fuller.
John loves Rock of Ages. This was his second time seeing it. “It’s like Broadway for Dummies,” he says.
He has a point. It’s not like the performers are taking themselves seriously, and to emulate a stadium concert from the 1980s they hand out tiny flashlight-like things that light up when you push a button, simulating in a Broadway sort of way the lighters that people would use at those shows.
And they sell beer — Corona Light or Coors Light — so through the course of the performance I had four Coors Lights.
It’s sort of ironic kitsch for the masses.
John, who was just promoted from chief financial officer to CEO, is the opposite of pretentious. He’s 6'6" but he usually flies economy class to help control costs, and he says his biggest personal thrill since getting his promotion was the reaction of his daughters, 12-year-old Bryanna and 10-year-old McKenna, when he told them. They were tremendously excited and told him how proud they were.
After the show, John, two of his colleagues and I went next door to the Glass House Tavern, and so did much of the cast, so John had his picture taken with some of them, and got to hang out with his favorite performer, Mitchell Jarvis, who plays Lonny, the show's narrator, and who John referred to astutely as “that Jack Black guy.”
I decided to let my snobby side out and drank an Irish single malt whiskey I'd never heard of. John had Amstel Light.
Friday, January 08, 2010
philosophy
January 8
The biggest self-deceptions are that life has a “meaning” and that each of us is unique.
That’s a favorite quotation of my friend Kenyon Phillips from one of his idols, David Byrne (his other big idol, musically, at least, is Brian Eno).
Perhaps that quotation sounds bleak to you, but it’s not really. If life has no set meaning then we can imbue it with whatever meaning we like. We can point our own moral compass, seek our own destiny, live life as we think we should. That’s wonderful.
Not that Kenyon’s incapable of being bleak. He’s a warm, thoughtful, good-natured guy, but he has a pronounced dark side, and the lyrics to his music are full of pain and aggression and reflections on destructive, often masochistic relationships. He gets a kick out of that.
Philosophy was in order last night, as we were eating in what is possibly New York City’s most philosophical restaurant, Rouge Tomate.
The New York venue is Rouge Tomate’s second location. The first one was opened in Brussels in 2001 by Emmanuel Verstraeten, founded on a principle he made up called Sanitas Per Escam — which is Latin, no less, for “health through eating.”
From the web site (scroll down if you get bored):
SPE® is an innovative approach toward nutrition, transcending the idea of balanced eating to offer optimal nutrition that maintains, protects and strengthens the body.
In order to offer optimal nutrition, the SPE® approach revolves around three key elements:
Sourcing: selecting ingredients seasonally, locally, and with a focus on nutritional characteristics.
Preparation: using specific cooking techniques that preserve the integrity and nutritional qualities of the ingredients.
Enhancement: optimizing nutritional value by the synergy of product combination and menu diversity.
Okay, so it’s sourcing local, seasonal products and preparing dishes from them that keep nutrition in mind.
That’s nice. It’s kind of taken for granted in the cuisines of China, Japan and much of South Asia and Southeast Asia, so I don’t know that it’s particularly innovative.
I get skeptical any time someone tells me they’re doing something innovative. And the more words they use to describe what’s innovative about what they’re doing, the less innovative it usually is.
Still, it’s nice.
However, it’s worth noting that flavor and taste aren’t mentioned in the restaurant’s principles. Maybe Mr. Verstraeten thought it went without saying that the food should taste good, although anyone who has been subjected to “health food” knows that it shouldn’t go without saying, that for decades Americans claiming to proffer food that was good for you were so smug about its healthful qualities that they seemed uninterested in making it tasty.
I’d heard only good things about Rouge Tomate since it opened in October of 2008, though.
I’ve also had good interviews with Rainlove Lampariello (Rainlove, I know!), who’s in charge of the restaurant’s beverage program, and I’ve always enjoyed the work of its chef, Jeremy Bearman, whose food I last had when he was at Lark Creek Steak in San Francisco.
So it made sense for Kenyon and me to check the place out.
[update: it turns out that Rainlove’s not with Rouge Tomate anymore. Taking up the slack at the moment is executive sommelier Pascaline Lepeltier, a very nice woman from the Loire region — which is where France’s most popular restaurant wines come from — who recently places third in the Best Sommelier of France competition; that’s the best a woman has ever done in that contest].
Kenyon’s a teatotalling vegetarian, so I like to take him to restaurants with strong non-alcoholic beverage programs and an emphasis on good produce. Those restaurants should be able to put their best feet forward with him.
Kenyon and I spoke of many things as we ate — I ate his amuse-bouche of salmon tartare and avocado, and the scallop mid-course that Jeremy sent out for us — such as Avatar, and Kenyon’s favorite parts of the Marquis de Sade.
And this is what we ate and drank:
Green Tornado: Green juice (tarragon, spinach, basil, butter lettuce and fennel), mint and lemon juice
French Daisy: Gin, bitters, lemon juice and huckleberry syrup topped with sparkling wine
Chickpea hummus with sweet peppers, house-cured olives and flatbread crisps
Peekytoe crab and celery root panna cotta with grapefruit, marcona almond and feuille de brique
2008 Nikolaihof “Hefeabzug” biodynamic Grüner Veltliner (Wachau, Austria)
House-made fettuccine with wild mushrooms, sunchoke, celery root, chervil and crispy onions
Alaskan black cod with winter bean stew, prosciutto, lacinato kale and Provençal oil
2006 Michel Lafarge “Raisins Dorés” biodynamic Bourgogne Aligoté (Burgundy, France)
Blood orange with pomegranate, black sesame and bourbon vanilla ice cream (although it seemed more like a semifreddo to me)
bittersweet mi-cuit: banana, molten chocolate cake and coffee ice cream
cardamom chai
La Colombe Brazilian Bourbon Rainforest Alliance-certified French press coffee
The biggest self-deceptions are that life has a “meaning” and that each of us is unique.
That’s a favorite quotation of my friend Kenyon Phillips from one of his idols, David Byrne (his other big idol, musically, at least, is Brian Eno).
Perhaps that quotation sounds bleak to you, but it’s not really. If life has no set meaning then we can imbue it with whatever meaning we like. We can point our own moral compass, seek our own destiny, live life as we think we should. That’s wonderful.
Not that Kenyon’s incapable of being bleak. He’s a warm, thoughtful, good-natured guy, but he has a pronounced dark side, and the lyrics to his music are full of pain and aggression and reflections on destructive, often masochistic relationships. He gets a kick out of that.
Philosophy was in order last night, as we were eating in what is possibly New York City’s most philosophical restaurant, Rouge Tomate.
The New York venue is Rouge Tomate’s second location. The first one was opened in Brussels in 2001 by Emmanuel Verstraeten, founded on a principle he made up called Sanitas Per Escam — which is Latin, no less, for “health through eating.”
From the web site (scroll down if you get bored):
SPE® is an innovative approach toward nutrition, transcending the idea of balanced eating to offer optimal nutrition that maintains, protects and strengthens the body.
In order to offer optimal nutrition, the SPE® approach revolves around three key elements:
Sourcing: selecting ingredients seasonally, locally, and with a focus on nutritional characteristics.
Preparation: using specific cooking techniques that preserve the integrity and nutritional qualities of the ingredients.
Enhancement: optimizing nutritional value by the synergy of product combination and menu diversity.
Okay, so it’s sourcing local, seasonal products and preparing dishes from them that keep nutrition in mind.
That’s nice. It’s kind of taken for granted in the cuisines of China, Japan and much of South Asia and Southeast Asia, so I don’t know that it’s particularly innovative.
I get skeptical any time someone tells me they’re doing something innovative. And the more words they use to describe what’s innovative about what they’re doing, the less innovative it usually is.
Still, it’s nice.
However, it’s worth noting that flavor and taste aren’t mentioned in the restaurant’s principles. Maybe Mr. Verstraeten thought it went without saying that the food should taste good, although anyone who has been subjected to “health food” knows that it shouldn’t go without saying, that for decades Americans claiming to proffer food that was good for you were so smug about its healthful qualities that they seemed uninterested in making it tasty.
I’d heard only good things about Rouge Tomate since it opened in October of 2008, though.
I’ve also had good interviews with Rainlove Lampariello (Rainlove, I know!), who’s in charge of the restaurant’s beverage program, and I’ve always enjoyed the work of its chef, Jeremy Bearman, whose food I last had when he was at Lark Creek Steak in San Francisco.
So it made sense for Kenyon and me to check the place out.
[update: it turns out that Rainlove’s not with Rouge Tomate anymore. Taking up the slack at the moment is executive sommelier Pascaline Lepeltier, a very nice woman from the Loire region — which is where France’s most popular restaurant wines come from — who recently places third in the Best Sommelier of France competition; that’s the best a woman has ever done in that contest].
Kenyon’s a teatotalling vegetarian, so I like to take him to restaurants with strong non-alcoholic beverage programs and an emphasis on good produce. Those restaurants should be able to put their best feet forward with him.
Kenyon and I spoke of many things as we ate — I ate his amuse-bouche of salmon tartare and avocado, and the scallop mid-course that Jeremy sent out for us — such as Avatar, and Kenyon’s favorite parts of the Marquis de Sade.
And this is what we ate and drank:
Green Tornado: Green juice (tarragon, spinach, basil, butter lettuce and fennel), mint and lemon juice
French Daisy: Gin, bitters, lemon juice and huckleberry syrup topped with sparkling wine
Chickpea hummus with sweet peppers, house-cured olives and flatbread crisps
Peekytoe crab and celery root panna cotta with grapefruit, marcona almond and feuille de brique
2008 Nikolaihof “Hefeabzug” biodynamic Grüner Veltliner (Wachau, Austria)
House-made fettuccine with wild mushrooms, sunchoke, celery root, chervil and crispy onions
Alaskan black cod with winter bean stew, prosciutto, lacinato kale and Provençal oil
2006 Michel Lafarge “Raisins Dorés” biodynamic Bourgogne Aligoté (Burgundy, France)
Blood orange with pomegranate, black sesame and bourbon vanilla ice cream (although it seemed more like a semifreddo to me)
bittersweet mi-cuit: banana, molten chocolate cake and coffee ice cream
cardamom chai
La Colombe Brazilian Bourbon Rainforest Alliance-certified French press coffee
Thursday, January 07, 2010
It’s street food, stupid
January 7
Thank you for participating in my latest poll, which I think garnered some interesting results.
I asked what you expected to be the driving factors influencing trends in 2010, and I let you pick more than one response. So from 24 respondents I got 38 answers.
Most people ticked the economy, not surprisingly. But the next highest-scoring category was street foods. I wonder if that’s really a big trend or if the chefs who read this blog were simply really jazzed about the Culinary Institute of America’s recent World’s of Flavor conference, which covered the topic of street food.
I guess we’ll find out as the year unfolds.
Only four respondents ticked “flavor,” perhaps because it sounded vague or silly or obvious.
But according to research my colleagues and I either did or reported on for our upcoming January 11 “Forecasts & Trends” issue of Nation’s Restaurant News, the most important driving factor for customers deciding what to eat isn’t nutrition profile or convenience or even price, and it’s certainly not environmental concerns. It’s how the food tastes.
Indeed, long-term studies of consumer attitudes with regard to food indicate that flavor is more of a factor now than it was just a few years ago.
You can find the full results of my Food Writer's Diary poll below. For all the goodies in our Forecasts & Trends issue, you’re going to have to wait until Monday, and even then, I’m pretty sure some of the info will only be available to subscribers.
If you’re in the unfortunate position of not being an NRN subscriber, you can remedy that situation by clicking here.
The poll results are below, and a new poll is on your right. Enjoy it, and feel free to write in comments below.
Thank you.
What will be the driving factors influencing trends in 2010
The economy: 15 (62%)
Health concerns: 4 (16%)
Environmental concerns: 5 (20%)
Flavor: 4 (16%)
Trendy ethnic foods: 2 (8%)
Street foods: 7 (29%)
Pork belly: 1 (4%)
Thank you for participating in my latest poll, which I think garnered some interesting results.
I asked what you expected to be the driving factors influencing trends in 2010, and I let you pick more than one response. So from 24 respondents I got 38 answers.
Most people ticked the economy, not surprisingly. But the next highest-scoring category was street foods. I wonder if that’s really a big trend or if the chefs who read this blog were simply really jazzed about the Culinary Institute of America’s recent World’s of Flavor conference, which covered the topic of street food.
I guess we’ll find out as the year unfolds.
Only four respondents ticked “flavor,” perhaps because it sounded vague or silly or obvious.
But according to research my colleagues and I either did or reported on for our upcoming January 11 “Forecasts & Trends” issue of Nation’s Restaurant News, the most important driving factor for customers deciding what to eat isn’t nutrition profile or convenience or even price, and it’s certainly not environmental concerns. It’s how the food tastes.
Indeed, long-term studies of consumer attitudes with regard to food indicate that flavor is more of a factor now than it was just a few years ago.
You can find the full results of my Food Writer's Diary poll below. For all the goodies in our Forecasts & Trends issue, you’re going to have to wait until Monday, and even then, I’m pretty sure some of the info will only be available to subscribers.
If you’re in the unfortunate position of not being an NRN subscriber, you can remedy that situation by clicking here.
The poll results are below, and a new poll is on your right. Enjoy it, and feel free to write in comments below.
Thank you.
What will be the driving factors influencing trends in 2010
The economy: 15 (62%)
Health concerns: 4 (16%)
Environmental concerns: 5 (20%)
Flavor: 4 (16%)
Trendy ethnic foods: 2 (8%)
Street foods: 7 (29%)
Pork belly: 1 (4%)
not fusion
January 7
Does anybody talk about fusion cuisine anymore? I’m pretty sure they don’t. I think it has gone the way of Continental cuisine.
But Susan Rike wasn’t taking any chances last night as she hosted a press dinner for a new client of hers, Favela Cubana.
The seven-month-old restaurant on the garden side of LaGuardia Place between Bleecker and West 3rd, right next to Rhong Tiam, serves Cuban food and Brazilian food, "but not fusion," Susan said as many as 150 times last night.
So Cuban ropa vieja sits right above Brazilian picanha ná chapa on the menu, but there's no picanha vieja, no mofongo feijoada.
That's not to say chef Oscar Santana — a French-trained chef from Mexico City — doesn't add his own flourishes. Of course he does. He's a chef.
His boss is Marco Britti, an Italian, from Naples, whose background is in drumming. He was Marc Anthony’s drummer, he was the drummer for Jennifer Lopez' album Rebirth, and he’s currently the drummer in a band called Shadows Lie.
Given the popularity of Italian and Mexican food in the United States, you might wonder why Britti and Santana would commit themselves to cuisines that, like all “ethnic” cuisines except for Chinese, are less popular than Italian and Mexican.
Britti kind of shrugged when I asked him that, but, well, a person has to follow his dreams.
Even though people don’t talk about fusion cuisine anymore, they do cook it. I mean, really, all cuisine is fusion. No culture is so isolated that it doesn't have dialogue, as the anthropologists say, with other cultures. All cuisines evolve, and in the melting pot of New York there’s no reason why practitioners of one cuisine can’t learn from practitioners of others.
Besides, you can’t be 100 percent “authentic,” whatever that means, anywhere other than where a dish originated. Basil in the United States tastes different from Italian basil, for example, so a caprese salad here can’t be completely "authentic." I’m sure passion fruit in Brasil has a zing that it doesn’t have here. That’s just the way it goes.
Many chefs still cook fusion food proudly, even though they don’t call it that anymore. I'm thinking of Anita Lo's chicken and Thai basil dumplings at Rickshaw Dumpling Bar, or Chris Cheung’s liquid foie gras bao or crispy short rib gold coins with truffle-sriracha foam at China 1.
Fusion food shouldn’t be feared, only bad fusion food should be, and, really, that’s true of food generally, isn’t it?
Anyway, this is what we ate and drank at Favela Cubana:
bolinho de bacalhau (salt cod croquettes)
fish empanadas
orange-basil mojitos
Cuban dishes:
Ropa vieja (braised beef with olives, onions and peppers)
Picadillo Habana (ground turkey, onions, peppers, garlic, cumin, paprika, olives)
black beans and rice
Brazilian dishes
Camarão a balana (sautéed shrimp with roasted peppers, onions and tomatoes)
Bacalhau (more salt cod, this time sautéed and served with black olives, mashed potatoes and tomatoes)
yellow rice and coconut milk sauce
2008 Bodegas Lurton Torrontes (Argentina)
2008 Barco Viejo Merlot (Chile)
Panna cotta de maracuja (that’s Portuguese for passion fruit)
Flan (topped by Oscar with caramelized sugar)
Copacabana: Cachaça, passion fruit, lemon juice and chile flakes
Does anybody talk about fusion cuisine anymore? I’m pretty sure they don’t. I think it has gone the way of Continental cuisine.
But Susan Rike wasn’t taking any chances last night as she hosted a press dinner for a new client of hers, Favela Cubana.
The seven-month-old restaurant on the garden side of LaGuardia Place between Bleecker and West 3rd, right next to Rhong Tiam, serves Cuban food and Brazilian food, "but not fusion," Susan said as many as 150 times last night.
So Cuban ropa vieja sits right above Brazilian picanha ná chapa on the menu, but there's no picanha vieja, no mofongo feijoada.
That's not to say chef Oscar Santana — a French-trained chef from Mexico City — doesn't add his own flourishes. Of course he does. He's a chef.
His boss is Marco Britti, an Italian, from Naples, whose background is in drumming. He was Marc Anthony’s drummer, he was the drummer for Jennifer Lopez' album Rebirth, and he’s currently the drummer in a band called Shadows Lie.
Given the popularity of Italian and Mexican food in the United States, you might wonder why Britti and Santana would commit themselves to cuisines that, like all “ethnic” cuisines except for Chinese, are less popular than Italian and Mexican.
Britti kind of shrugged when I asked him that, but, well, a person has to follow his dreams.
Even though people don’t talk about fusion cuisine anymore, they do cook it. I mean, really, all cuisine is fusion. No culture is so isolated that it doesn't have dialogue, as the anthropologists say, with other cultures. All cuisines evolve, and in the melting pot of New York there’s no reason why practitioners of one cuisine can’t learn from practitioners of others.
Besides, you can’t be 100 percent “authentic,” whatever that means, anywhere other than where a dish originated. Basil in the United States tastes different from Italian basil, for example, so a caprese salad here can’t be completely "authentic." I’m sure passion fruit in Brasil has a zing that it doesn’t have here. That’s just the way it goes.
Many chefs still cook fusion food proudly, even though they don’t call it that anymore. I'm thinking of Anita Lo's chicken and Thai basil dumplings at Rickshaw Dumpling Bar, or Chris Cheung’s liquid foie gras bao or crispy short rib gold coins with truffle-sriracha foam at China 1.
Fusion food shouldn’t be feared, only bad fusion food should be, and, really, that’s true of food generally, isn’t it?
Anyway, this is what we ate and drank at Favela Cubana:
bolinho de bacalhau (salt cod croquettes)
fish empanadas
orange-basil mojitos
Cuban dishes:
Ropa vieja (braised beef with olives, onions and peppers)
Picadillo Habana (ground turkey, onions, peppers, garlic, cumin, paprika, olives)
black beans and rice
Brazilian dishes
Camarão a balana (sautéed shrimp with roasted peppers, onions and tomatoes)
Bacalhau (more salt cod, this time sautéed and served with black olives, mashed potatoes and tomatoes)
yellow rice and coconut milk sauce
2008 Bodegas Lurton Torrontes (Argentina)
2008 Barco Viejo Merlot (Chile)
Panna cotta de maracuja (that’s Portuguese for passion fruit)
Flan (topped by Oscar with caramelized sugar)
Copacabana: Cachaça, passion fruit, lemon juice and chile flakes
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Free lunch
December 29
It turns out that I have one more blog entry to make this year, to let you know about a free lunch tomorrow at Rhong Tiam East, formerly known as Kurve. That's 87 2nd Ave., at the northwest corner of 5th St.
Chef-owner Andy Yang is promoting his rendang. That's actually an Indonesian dish, but Andy tells me it's made in Thailand, too, where it's called panang neua toon. It's a rich, dark brown curry that should be appropriate for the blustery cold day that Wednesday the 30th promises to be.
Andy's using his grandmother's recipe and serving it with either flat wide noodles called sen yai or the Thai version of ramen, called ba mee.
Rendang is traditionally made with beef, but Andy's serving it with either beef of chicken. As I said, it's free tomorrow, from noon to 3. Every day after that it's $4.95.
It turns out that I have one more blog entry to make this year, to let you know about a free lunch tomorrow at Rhong Tiam East, formerly known as Kurve. That's 87 2nd Ave., at the northwest corner of 5th St.
Chef-owner Andy Yang is promoting his rendang. That's actually an Indonesian dish, but Andy tells me it's made in Thailand, too, where it's called panang neua toon. It's a rich, dark brown curry that should be appropriate for the blustery cold day that Wednesday the 30th promises to be.
Andy's using his grandmother's recipe and serving it with either flat wide noodles called sen yai or the Thai version of ramen, called ba mee.
Rendang is traditionally made with beef, but Andy's serving it with either beef of chicken. As I said, it's free tomorrow, from noon to 3. Every day after that it's $4.95.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
trying for a better decade
December 23
I have a feeling I’m not going to have much to report to you for the rest of the year. I’m lying low for Christmas and still waiting to see what materializes for New Year's Eve.
I rarely plan in advance for New Year's Eve, because that inevitably raises expectations and usually results in disappointment. Last minute invitations generally find their way to me around December 28, and if they don't, well, I’m happy to spend the holiday quietly at home, avoiding the amateurs who crowd the restaurants and bars that night — people who don’t go out much and don’t know how to drink properly or, really, behave in public generally. You see them in restaurants on Valentine’s Day, too.
The last time I tried to make plans in advance for New Year’s Eve was in 1999, because, you know, that was kind of a big deal, it being the end of the millennium and all (I know, technically the millennium ended in December of 2000, but you know what I mean).
I failed. My friends, turned off by all the hype, were mostly planning quiet affairs at home. So I made myself prime rib with Yorkshire pudding and asparagus and planned to enjoy myself that way, when I got phone calls from two friends, separately, who had suddenly popped up in the city, and, after I finished my dinner, I ended up party hopping with them. They were Thomas Crampton, who if memory serves was working for The International Herald Tribune and doing a stint at a sister publication called The New York Times, and Craig Stuart, who at the time was in business school at Yale and dating Susan Kim, who is now Susan Kim-Stuart, and Craig is a vice president at Wells Fargo Bank. I’m so proud.
It was a good evening.
If you’re old enough, you’ll remember that New Year's Eve of 1999 was a big bust for the hospitality industry, which had, for the most part, jacked up prices in anticipation of revelers feeling obligated to pull out the stops for this once-in-a-lifetime celebration opportunity.
Well, the American public quietly and non-confrontationally rebelled. Instead of doing what was expected, like they do on most Valentine’s Days and New Year's Eves, they said, “Screw you, we are not paying $1,000 per person for dinner,” and stayed home.
I’d never seen a consumer rebellion like that before, and I haven’t seen one since.
Some restaurant operators I spoke to afterwards blamed all the hype about Y2K (remember that?) for people staying home, but I think they were just fed up with the obvious greed of the restaurants, hotels and bars where they otherwise would have celebrated. It was just too much.
That was ten years ago, and since then, well, I, personally, have had a great decade, but from 9/11 to the economic collapse and every lousy piece of garbage in between — war, hurricanes, tsunamis — so far the 21st Century has been lousy.
And here’s something weird: We have yet to pick a name for this decade. I think we all figured that some name would emerge. The leading candidate seems to be “the aughts,” or possibly “the naughts,” although both of those seem so early 20th Century. “The naughties” has been suggested, and “the oughties,” and we'll see if either one of those takes.
The TV show Futurama refers to this period, broadly, as The Stupid Ages, and, frankly, that works for me.
Let's hope the teens are better.
I have a feeling I’m not going to have much to report to you for the rest of the year. I’m lying low for Christmas and still waiting to see what materializes for New Year's Eve.
I rarely plan in advance for New Year's Eve, because that inevitably raises expectations and usually results in disappointment. Last minute invitations generally find their way to me around December 28, and if they don't, well, I’m happy to spend the holiday quietly at home, avoiding the amateurs who crowd the restaurants and bars that night — people who don’t go out much and don’t know how to drink properly or, really, behave in public generally. You see them in restaurants on Valentine’s Day, too.
The last time I tried to make plans in advance for New Year’s Eve was in 1999, because, you know, that was kind of a big deal, it being the end of the millennium and all (I know, technically the millennium ended in December of 2000, but you know what I mean).
I failed. My friends, turned off by all the hype, were mostly planning quiet affairs at home. So I made myself prime rib with Yorkshire pudding and asparagus and planned to enjoy myself that way, when I got phone calls from two friends, separately, who had suddenly popped up in the city, and, after I finished my dinner, I ended up party hopping with them. They were Thomas Crampton, who if memory serves was working for The International Herald Tribune and doing a stint at a sister publication called The New York Times, and Craig Stuart, who at the time was in business school at Yale and dating Susan Kim, who is now Susan Kim-Stuart, and Craig is a vice president at Wells Fargo Bank. I’m so proud.
It was a good evening.
If you’re old enough, you’ll remember that New Year's Eve of 1999 was a big bust for the hospitality industry, which had, for the most part, jacked up prices in anticipation of revelers feeling obligated to pull out the stops for this once-in-a-lifetime celebration opportunity.
Well, the American public quietly and non-confrontationally rebelled. Instead of doing what was expected, like they do on most Valentine’s Days and New Year's Eves, they said, “Screw you, we are not paying $1,000 per person for dinner,” and stayed home.
I’d never seen a consumer rebellion like that before, and I haven’t seen one since.
Some restaurant operators I spoke to afterwards blamed all the hype about Y2K (remember that?) for people staying home, but I think they were just fed up with the obvious greed of the restaurants, hotels and bars where they otherwise would have celebrated. It was just too much.
That was ten years ago, and since then, well, I, personally, have had a great decade, but from 9/11 to the economic collapse and every lousy piece of garbage in between — war, hurricanes, tsunamis — so far the 21st Century has been lousy.
And here’s something weird: We have yet to pick a name for this decade. I think we all figured that some name would emerge. The leading candidate seems to be “the aughts,” or possibly “the naughts,” although both of those seem so early 20th Century. “The naughties” has been suggested, and “the oughties,” and we'll see if either one of those takes.
The TV show Futurama refers to this period, broadly, as The Stupid Ages, and, frankly, that works for me.
Let's hope the teens are better.
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