May 23 2010
People
- Trains, Planes and Automobiles Later, and I Finally Make My Pilgrimage to Chez Panisse* The iconic Chez Panisses in Berkeley, Calif., should be on every foodie's bucket list, as now should Comal as well (if only for the Tequila libations)
- Spitfire Grill: Execution Betrays Concept, Menu The Spitfire Grill at the Santa Monica Airport aims for high concept but falls well short in execution
- Golf, Wine & Dine (& Chocolate Truffles) On one Saturday, I discovered two great, affordable wines, one tasty restaurant, and chocolate truffles to die for -- a day of rare finds
- Umamicatessan: Calling Willie Degel While the food is fine at downtown L.A.s Umamicatessan, the wait staff seems to have its own idea of how to run things--of, by and for themselves
- Hangar 24 the Place to Be in Redlands Isolated near the Redlands Airport, Hanger 24 brewery is a lively and fun place. Try it before every Redlands Symphony performance, or before whatever you're doing in Redlands.
- Stumbled Upon: Catch 21 in Downtown L.A. It's places like this that make me want to live or at least work downtown. Literally, I could go to Catch 21 several times a week for lunch or dinner and never get tired of it.
- Alie and Georgia Bring Energy to L.A. Times Travel Show Alie Ward and Georgia Hardstark are two charming and funny mixologists who take their show on the road, to our delight
- Last Dinner on the Titanic Was Titanic Titanic Belfast is an exhibition opening to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic--enjoy your last supper as well
- Johnson's Hot Dogs: All They Need Is Beer The perfect complement to a great hot dog is a great beer; alas, Johnson's Hot Dogs has great dawgs but no beer
- The Bazaar by Jose Andres Serves Up a Split Personality The Bazaar by Jose Andres in Beverly Hills is a glamour destination, but the menu can be a bit bewildering
- Oysters, Cars and Wine: Splendid Combo I was only thinking of going to the L.A. Auto Show, but along the way I also discovered a great wine tasting at Bottle Rock in Los Angeles
- Highland Springs Resort: Good Grub, Good Escape, Better Wine The Grand Oak Steakhouse and Bar at the Highland Springs Resort in Cherry Valley, Calif., is a grand escape with good food and drink priced right
- Ludo, You Ain't No Coop's The totally overrated Ludo Lefebvre can't even complete with KFC, let alone El Pollo Loco.
- Peter's Gourmade: 100 Square Feet of Success Peter's Gourmade in Tustin, Calif., all 100 square feet, serves yummy food and has a nice story behind its inception
- Truck Norris: Best Shepherd's Pie Ever Truck Norris serves up the most phenomenal Shepherd's Pie anywhere, and for just $4!
- Slater's 50/50 Burgers: Half a Success After my first visit to Slater's 50-50 Burgers in Anaheim Hills, Calif., all I can say is half of what I experienced was stellar, the other half, well, ordinary or not to my liking.
- Western Foodservice and Hospitality Expo Continues at the San Diego Convention Center The ongoing Western Foodservice and Hospitality Expo in San Diego couples entrepreneurial gambles with savvy technology and food shortcuts
- Just When I Thought Food Trucks Were Dead... Just when I thought the food truck scene was dead in Southern California, a prominent food editor calls food trucks a key to L.A. being 'the food city of the moment'
- Gina Melcher Too Mellow for 'Hell's Kitchen'? Gordon Ramsay unexpectedly eliminated Gina Melcher on 'Hell's Kitchen' when there were more deserving candidates for the axe
- Trucks Galore at OC Farmers' Market The weekly food truck gathering at the OC Farmers' Market in Costa Mesa, Calif., featured a cooking competition on July 23
- International Taste Tour: Chef Haley Nguyen and the Secrets to Vietnamese Cooking At an event sponsored by the Southern California Gas Co. Vietnam-born Haley Nguyen demonstrated Vietnamese cooking techniques, combinations and secrets
- Schooner or Later: Try It Sooner Schooner or Later has dibs on a prime waterfront location in Long Beach, Calif., and serves humongous portions of American favorites
- Follow the Celebrity Chefs on OpenSky and Save 60% on Their Favorite Products OpenSky lets you follow your favorite stars and gives you 60% off their favorite products--join today!
- Will Chatting While Cooking Cost Someone $20,000 on 'Rocco's Dinner Party'? 'Rocco's Dinner Party' continues with its high profile guests at Rocco DiSpirito's New York pad
- 'Top Chef' Season Nine to Use San Antonio? The blogosphere is atweet with news that 'Top Chef' has been seen filming Season Nine in San Antonio, Texas
- Brothers Go at It on 'Rocco's Dinner Party' Brothers square off on 'Rocco's Dinner Party' with an Italian theme on Wednesday, June 29
- 'Rocco's Dinner Party': Surprisingly Good 'Rocco's Dinner Party' is surprisingly good given how shallow and egotistical I once held Rocco DiSpirito to be (he seems improved this time around)
- Has Bobby Flay Met His Match? Bobby Flay got his way and Soul Daddy won 'America's Next Great Restaurant,' and a month later two of three locations have been shuttered
- And Then There Was One, Top Chef Master, That Is... This season's Top Chef Master will be crowned on Wednesday, June 15, and be awarded $100,000 for the charity of his or her choice
- 'Top Chef Masters' Nears Season's End In its next-to-last segment, 'Top Chef Masters' fetes returning servicemen and women but still eliminates one challenger
- 'Top Chef Masters': She's Baaaack! Padma Lakshmi returns as a judge as the competition on 'Top Chef Masters' heats up--and winds down
- Blind Taste Test Goes Smell-less and Sound-less on 'Top Chef Masters' The remaining 'Top Chef Masters' undergo a taste test blind-folded, ear-folded, and nose-folded on the May 18 episode on Bravo
- Going to the Cats? Former 'Top Chef' contestant Carla Hall is now a spokesperson for Fancy Feast cat food, leading a campaign for customer suggestions on new flavors
- 'Iron Chef Masters': Cooks Out of Water? Or Rocking to a New Beat? The remaining 'Top Chef Masters' contestants are challenged to create a feast for Grammy-winning rock group Maroon 5
- Turkinis and James Beard In impeccable timing, just as the annual James Beard Awards were announced, the Carl's Jr./Hardee's icon--Miss Turkey's bikini--went on auction on eBay
- Top Chef Masters Do Drive-Thru Contestants on the May 4 episode of 'Top Chef Masters' are challenged to operate a drive-thru restaurant
- Miss Turkey Is Adorable, But What About Her Namesake at Carl's Jr.? Miss Turkey probably never ate turkey before she promoted the Carl's Jr./Hardee's turkey burger. So how does it taste?
- Cavalcade of Carl's Jr. (Babe) Ads Through the years, Carl's Jr. (Hardee's) has featured a bevy of sexy women in revealing situations to tout their hamburgers--see them all
- 'Top Chef Masters': Three Squares But Only 1,200 Calories Allowed, Total! The 'Top Chef Masters' must create delicious dishes of less than 1,200 calories for all three meals (4/27/2011)
- 'Amazing Wedding Cakes': Winter Wonderland, BBQs, and Bridesmaids 'Amazing Wedding Cakes' episode 5 finds three teams with three unique challenges
- It's a Bug's Life on 'Top Chef' The Quickfire Challenge on April 20's 'Top Chef: Masters' features some earth-bound ingredients--it's truly a bug's life
- 'Tale of Three Cities' in a Cake Takes Shape on 'Amazing Wedding Cakes' A couple wants three cities incorporated into their wedding cake this Sunday on 'Amazing Wedding Cakes'
- Celebs Visit 'Top Chef Masters' Two entertainment celebrities will bring their own idea of cooking challenges to 'Top Chef Masters' on Wednesday, April 13
- Next Up on 'Amazing Wedding Cakes' 'Amazing Wedding Cakes' pits two competitors in a baking competition each Sunday night on WE tv
- 'Top Chef Masters' Returns Tonight 'Top Chef Masters' begins a new season on Bravo with new host Curtis Stone on Wednesday, April 6, 2011
- Life After TV: The NomNom Truck How are Misa and Jen with their Vietnamese-inspired 'banh mi' food truck doing after massive exposure on the Food Network? I finally caught up with the vehicle.
- Judgment Day for Top Chef All Stars For the series finale of 'Top Chef: All Stars,' finalists Richard Blais and Mike Isabella get to create the menu of their dreams
- 'Top Chef: All Stars': Down to Three Reality begins to sink in for Richard Blais in the next-to-last episode of 'Top Chef: All Stars' as Mike Isabella begins looking more and more like a real winner
- 'Amazing Wedding Cakes' Returns March 27 for All-New Competition 'Amazing Wedding Cakes' begins an all-new season on WE tv, debuting on Sunday evening, March 27
- It's March Madness as Final Four Top Chefs Do a Battle of the Sexes With just a quartet of contestants remaining, 'Top Chef: All Stars' on March 16 features its own version of the Final Four
- Top Chef Finalists Vie in the Bahamas The five remaining 'Top Chef: All Star' competitors find themselves on the Bahamas in a face-to-face challenge with the winners from their respective seasons
- Ellis Island Beckons on 'Top Chef' The Top Chef: All Stars take the ferry to Ellis Island and discover they must cook up a repast based on their family's heritage (March 2, 2011)
- Fondue and Jimmy Fallon a Potent Mix Jimmy Fallon orders up a birthday fete and feast while fondue separates the winners from the losers tonight on 'Top Chef: All Stars'
- Toranoko: Can You Say 'Oishii'? Aburiya Toranoko Sushi Bar and Izakaya in L.A.'s Little Tokyo serves up some of the most delicious food anywhere
- Top Chefs Meet The Sopranos On the Feb. 2 episode of 'Top Chef: All Stars,' the Quickfire Challenge is judged on presentation only by Isaac Mizrahi, and then the Elimination Round features Italian dinners prepared at Rao's and judged by Soprano Lorraine Bracco
- An Afternoon of Grands Crus Bordeaux Tasting amid Vintage Aircraft James Suckling leads an extraordinary private Bordeaux tasting at the Barker Hanger at Santa Monica Airport on Saturday, Jan. 22, 2011
- Return of Restaurant Wars Anthony Bourdain and Restaurant Wars both return to 'Top Chef: All Stars' for the Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2011, episode
- ‘Wine and Dogs’ Does Not a Repast Make, But Pits Grapes and Growls Wine and Dogs was held this past Sunday, Jan. 16, 2011, in the Artist District of Downtown Los Angeles, featuring wine from nine wineries and dogs of every variety as guests
- Top Chef Wannabes Go Fishing On 'Top Chef: All Stars' on Jan. 12, 2011, the contestants find themselves out to sea to fish for the protein to prepare for their competition
- Colicchio v. 'Top Chef' Contestants As 'Top Chef: All Stars' returns for 2011, judge and chef Tom Colicchio faces off with the contestants in a Quickfire challenge
- Park Ave. in the OC: When It Says Steak House, Stick to the Red Stuff Park Ave. in Stanton, Calif., is a warm and inviting steak house, but stick to the meats
- L.A. Times Food Critic Outed Los Angeles Times 'anonymous' food critic S. Irene Virbila has been outed by an irate restaurant owner, who took and posted her picture with scathing remarks online
- Things Get Bloody on 'Top Chef' Top Chef: All Stars on Dec. 22 forces the chefs to prepare a holiday dish using only their hands and not utensils
- Tonight on 'Top Chef: All Stars': Mise en Place Relays and More For its Dec. 15, 2010, episode 'Top Chef: All Stars' has the contestans competing in four of New York's top restaurants.
- Zwacked-Out Oatmeal Cookies Zwack is a traditional Hungarian after-dinner liqueur that smacks of licorice and other spices but is best mixed in a drink called an Oatmeal Cookier
- Singer Joe Jonas to Serve as Guest Judge on 'Top Chef: All Stars' Singing sensation and Disney star Joe Jonas will be a guest judge on the 12/08 episode of 'Top Chef: All Stars'
- 'Top Chef All Stars' Debuts Dec. 1 Get a sneak peak at the opening episode of 'Top Chef All Stars,' which reunited 18 'losers' for a final chance at redemption!
- 'Amazing Wedding Cakes' Season Finale Tonight on WE tv The we.tv series 'Amazing Wedding Cakes' comes to a close with a champion crowned tonight, Nov. 14, 2010
- As Season Finale Approaches, Down to Four on 'Top Chef: Just Desserts' The Wednesday, Nov. 10, episode of 'Top Chef: Just Desserts' finds the remaining four contestants battling it out over truffles for a spot in the finale
- 'Top Chef: Just Desserts': Lone Woman Left Standing Danielle Keene is the lone female contestant left competing on 'Top Chef: Just Desserts' on Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2010
- 'Top Chef: Just Desserts' Declares War in a Sugary Type of War 'Top Chef: Just Desserts' uses a version of restaurant war called dessert war on the Oct. 27 episode
- Wanted: A Quickfire Souffle! Top Chef: Just Desserts melds fashion and chocolate on the Oct. 13 episode
- Tune in for the Ultimate Ice Cream Sundae Showdown Tonight Contestants on Top Chef: Just Desserts must create the "ultimate ice cream sundae" for the Oct. 6 episode.
- 'Top Chef: Just Desserts': Stress Test The heat is on as contestants weigh their fates in week three of Top Chef: Just Desserts.
- A Groom's Wedding Cake The series Amazing Wedding Cakes turns to the southern tradition of the groom's wedding cake.
- Will the Pea Puree Thief Stand Up? Will Alex own up to stealing the pea puree on tonight's Top Chef Reunion?
- 'Top Chef: Just Desserts' Debuts Top Chef: Just Desserts makes its debut on Sept. 16 on Bravo TV following the crowning of the new Top Chef.
- 'Top Chef' Real Finale Tonight Top Chef reaches its finale tonight, Sept. 16, in Singapore, as Angelo falls ill and Hung springs to the rescue!
- Whitney Doesn't Collapse This Time Master Chef finals, coming up Sept. 15, looks to be a contest between the men and the women, two each for the final title and $250K in filthy lucre.
- Top Chefs Sling It Out in Singapore With the remaining four Top Chef contestants slugging it out in Asia, will this be a human version of the Singapore Sling on Top Chef Sept. 8, 2010?
- An 'Edward Scissorhands' Wedding Cake? See It Tonight on WE Tv A bakery team is challenged to create a cake based on "Edward Scissorhands" tonight on 'Amazing Wedding Cakes' on WE Tv
- Slim Lusts for Joe Bastianich? Wow! With Slim gone, there's not much charm left on Master Chef, so I'll have to root for beauty-cum-brains in contestant Sheetal Bhagat.
- Amanda Gone, Others Set to Blast Off Acerbic chef-author-raconteur Anthony Bourdain is set to liven up proceedings on the Sept. 1, 2010, episode of Top Chef.
- 'Amazing Wedding Cakes' Returns Amazing Wedding Cakes, a new competition, premieres on WE Tv this Sunday, Aug. 29, 2010.
- Is Sheetal on the Master Chef Black List to Reduce Her Exposure? Sheetal Bhagat is not only a surviving participant on Gordon Ramsay's Master Chef TV competition, she is also a natural beauty with talent and ambition, who may be getting reduced in air time because of her marketing efforts.
- How About Squid on a Stick? Will the remaining six Top Chef contestants consider the Japanese baseball snack squid-on-a-stick as they prepare 'innovative' treats for fans at a Washington Nationals baseball game?
- Is There Life After Kenny? Top Chef takes on a secret mission as the finalists cook at the CIA for a group of spymasters.
- Restaurant Wars Return to 'Top Chef' As 'Top Chef' Washington, D.C., draws to a close, the producers rolls out the legendary restaurant war competition.
- 'Top Chef' Finalists Face Ethiopian Challenge on Quickfire The remaining Top Chef contestants tackle a variety of foreign cuisines for Top Chef Master Marcus Samuelsson and foreign dignitaries on the Aug. 4, 2010, episode.
- First Iron, Then Top, Now Master...Chef, That Is Gordon Ramsay seeks to one-up the entire cooking competition industry with his debut of Master Chef, which pits home cooks against one another—and even against professionals!
- 'Top Chef' 7/21: Let the Sniping Begin 'Top Chef' on July 21 lets teams of finalists judge one another--let the sniping begin!
- 'Top Chef': Kid Food Challenge Contestants on Top Chef this week (July 7, 2010, airing) are forced to go high and low. For the Quickfire Challenge, the competing chefs must create a dish that can be re-purposed for toddlers. Then for the Elimination Round, they're tasked with cre...
- Celebrity Chefs Make the Rounds Chef Jonathan Waxman, Bobby Flay's mentor, makes his second cameo/judge appearance in one week on the June 30 episode of Top Chef.
- Top Cheftestants Target Childhood Obesity for Week 2 Competition Top Chef D.C. contestants are tasked with making a slender-bender of a meal on a shoestring budget for local schoolchildren.
- Soul of a New Cuisine Is the cooking of Marcus Samuelsson truly stellar? If my trip to the Signature Kitchen in Costa Mesa is any indication, yes, it is.
- Ripert to the Rescue: 'Top Chef' Returns for a Lucky Seven French chef extradordinaire--and ultimate gentlemen--Eric Ripert is joining the Judges' Table when season seven of Top Chef gets under way June 16.
- Of Cabbages and Kings, Top Chefs, Head Chefs and Wannabe Stars Now comes Next Food Network Star to round out the summer's reality cooking shows.
- Handicapping 'Top Chef Masters' Finale: Who Wears the Crown? Le Food News predicts Susur Lee will win the 2010 competition for the title of Top Chef Master.
- Top Chef Masters Called On to Improvise, Or Be Eliminated During the next-to-the-last round of competition for the Iron Chef Master title, the contestants are given a three-word riddle by which to prepare their Elimination Round dish.
