News Bites: Foxwoods’ Star Eateries; Mondavi Dead; CBS Buys Chow.com

We’ve mentioned Foxwoods before back in March. Well, finally the casino’s expansion, plus the opening of the MGM Grand there, all happens this weekend. And of course while there are tons of new and wild things to mention about rooms and casinos and such — we’re choosing to ignore all of that and just concentrate on the food. From the Hartford Courant:

Foxwoods was always bigger, but foodwise, Mohegan Sun cast a large shadow over its nearby casino neighbor. With Michael Jordan’s Steak House, Todd English’s Tuscany, Jasper White’s Summer Shack, SolToro Tequila Grill and many other venues that offered great burgers, barbecue and Asian fare, Mohegan Sun always trumped Foxwoods when it came to good eats.

That changes this weekend. With three high-powered chefs opening restaurants at Foxwoods Resort Casino and the new MGM Grand at Foxwoods, the casino giant in Mashantucket can now rightly claim that it’s as much a culinary destination as a gaming and resort destination. With the arrival of Tom Colicchio’s Craftsteak and Michael Schlow’s Alta Strada (both at MGM Grand, which opens this weekend) and David Burke’s Burke in the Box (which opens this weekend at Foxwoods, to be followed later in the summer by a lavish steakhouse called David Burke Prime), Foxwoods is now a culinary high roller.

In other news, from the Associated Press via the NY Times:

Robert Mondavi, the vintner who built his career and helped an iconic Northern California industry blossom by insisting that Napa Valley wines can compete with the best in the world, died in the valley Friday. He was 94. […] ”It is hard to imagine anyone having more of a lasting impact on California’s $20 billion-a-year wine industry than Robert Mondavi,” Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said in a statement.

[…] When Mondavi opened his winery, California was still primarily known for cheap jug wines. But he set out to change that, championing use of cold fermentation, stainless steel tanks and French oak barrels, all commonplace in the industry today. He introduced blind tastings in Napa Valley, putting his wines up against French vintages, a bold move. His confidence was rewarded in 1976 when California wines beat some well-known French vintages in the famous tasting known as the Judgment of Paris.

L to R: Peter Mondavi, Sr., Magrit Mondavi, Martha Stewart and Lee Schrager and Robert Mondavi, (seated)

And lastly, CBS spends nearly two billion dollars to acquire the vast CNet holdings. From The Times:

CBS said Thursday it would buy CNET Networks for $1.8 billion in cash, marking its biggest online acquisition since hiring Quincy Smith, a former media and technology investment banker, to lead its interactive unit in late 2006. The deal came as CNET, whose assets include a popular technology-news Web site, was trying to fend off a group of activist investors seeking to take control of its board of directors.

And from CBS itself a list of CNETs holdings and why they wanted it:

Based in San Francisco, CNET Networks owns many of the Internet’s leading entertainment, news and information sites including CNET, ZDNet, GameSpot.com, TV.com, mp3.com, CNET news.com, UrbanBaby, CHOW, Search.com, BNET, MySimon and TechRepublic. The company, which reported significant profits in 2007 on revenues of $406 million, has a large international footprint, particularly in China.

The news to us foodies is that in buying CNET, CBS now owns Chow.com and the ChowHound food forums.

International Restaurant and Foodservice Show Starts Today

The 15th Annual International Restaurant & Foodservice Show of New York begins today March 9 and goes until March 11, 2008 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City. Among the many highlights:

Thomas Keller and Jasper White will be keynote speakers at the inaugural Ferdinand Metz Foodservice Forum presented by the New York State Restaurant Association. These two world renowned chefs will be showcasing their cooking skills and sharing their success stories. Thomas Keller will be speaking on Sunday, March 9th at 1:30 pm and will conduct a cooking demonstration on the Show floor in Booth 1667 at 3:00 pm. Jasper White will be part of the star-studded line up of speakers at our Successful Restaurateur Breakfast on Monday, March 10 at 9:00 am and will conduct a cooking demonstration in Booth 1667 on the Show floor at 12:00 pm

Photography for Philanthropy — Art Auction to Benefit City Harvest. This collection of autographed photographs will be a special exhibit on the show floor and have been auctioned off pre-show to benefit the City Harvest food rescue program. A group of renowned celebrity chefs, including Lidia Bastianich, Daniel Boulud, Tom Colicchio, Larry Forgione, Johnny Iuzzini, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Francois Payard, Eric Ripert and Laurent Tourondel have prepared exquisite culinary dishes that have been captured through the lens of famed photographer Diana DeLucia

For more details, check out the rest of this PRNewswire release.