Archive for the 'News Bites' Category
Posted on June 7th, 2008
Many weekends are slow, food news-wise. This is definitely not one of those.
On the air we have a preview of Paula Deen’s new cooking show on Sunday early afternoon and later that night episode 2 of NFNS. Off the air and live, the biggest thing of this weekend and perhaps of the year is the Annual James Beard Awards Sunday night.
First up is Tyler Florence who travelled to Boise for a food charity event, A Chefs’ Affaire. What it is involves a five-course gourmet dinner created by Idaho chefs from 20 different restaurants. There is also a live chef auction and a silent auction. Benefits go the the Idaho Foodbank. Celebrity chef Tyler Florence presents a cooking demonstration prior to the dinner.
Sunday night is the 2008 James Beard Awards, basically the Oscars of the Culinary World. For who’s up for what check out are post on the Beard Finalists we did in March. On Monday we’ll let you know who the winners were. Ah, but for a moment let’s look at last night in Big Apple, namely the Chefs’ Night Out party hosted by Bon Appetit at the Edison Ballroom in New York City.
Well some bloggers (not me, sniff) were lucky enough to go, so let me quote the ulterior epicure:
It’s kind of an unofficial kick-off for the James Beard weekend of festivities leading up to the James Beard Awards Ceremony and Gala Reception at Lincoln Center on Sunday, June 8. The event involved loud music, a dance floor, lots of cocktails, a dessert “buffet,” passed finger foods, an ice cream truck, and lots of people-watching.
Attendees included: Barbara Fairchild, Andrew Knowlton, Tom Colicchio, Tracie des Jardins, Johnny Iuzzini, Anita Lo, Drew Nieporent, Gail Simmons, Ilan Hall, Grant Achatz, Donatella Arpaia, Michael Psilakis, Bradford Thompson, David Kinch, Harold Dieterle, Anne Burrell, Fabio Trabocchi, John Besh, Lee Ann Wong, and many more…
And for photos of the event there was “live blogger” snack (that’s her cool name) taking photos on her cellphone straight to her blog. No captions but I know for sure I saw Gail Simmons, and Ted Allen with some guys and Daniel Bouloud sucking on a Good Humor bar (I kid you not), and a blurry pic of a guy against a wall who’s hair reminds me of Marcel from the first season of Top Chef. Not saying it was, some blurs look like other blurs, but it could have been.
As for television, on Sunday night there is a brand new Iron Chef America with star chef Marcus Samuelsson entering Kitchen Stadium for the first time, taking on Iron Chef Bobby Flay; that’s at 9pm Eastern, followed at 10pm Eastern with the second episode of The Next Food Network Star (which we both showed a clip of and talked about the other day.)
In the daytime however, there’s a Paula Deen marathon from 11am to 2pm, culminating at 1:30pm with a sneak peek of her latest new cooking show, Paula’s Best Dishes. As FN describes it this way: “What happens when America’s favorite Southern cook opens up her kitchen to family, friends, viewers, and the best home cooks in the country? Paula is cookin’ up something new as she rescues viewer recipes, learns the secrets of some of America’s best cooks and shares stories and traditions with friends and strangers alike.”
For this Sunday’s show the theme is “Deli Delights” with guest local Savannah chef, Alan Nowell paying a visit. Next week the show premieres in its regular Sunday at 12:30pm time slot with Paula managing to get her husband Michael into the kitchen with her.
Posted on May 17th, 2008
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.
Posted on May 14th, 2008
Pack Your Knives and … Enter. Broadcasting & Cable has the scoop on the mega-blitz Bravo is launching to capitalize on all things Top Chef:
Bravo Media is striking new partnerships to sell everything from cruises to cookbooks tied to its shows, in an effort to take its brand name beyond television. The deals, which include a Top Chef cruise, calendar and cooking class. For “Chef”, the network will launch a 20-city mobile tour with an 18-wheel semi-truck branded with show graphics and staffed with former contestants. The truck makes its first appearance at the upcoming NCTA cable show in New Orleans. Separately, Bravo has paired with Jazz Cruises for a Top Chef cruise in May 2009. The boat will hit Mediterranean cities, with former contestants presenting how food is made in each one.
Bravo has also paired with the Culinary Institute of America on Top Chef-branded classes, and with Rizzoli to create “Top Chef: The 2009 Calendar” with fan-favorite chefs and a monthly cooking challenge. A Top Chef cookbook published by Chronicle Books has sold more than 65,000 copies since launching this spring and has been in the top 10 cookbooks on Amazon.com. It is also selling well at Costco, Target and other retailers, and has been ordered for a reprint. Separately, the network has paired with Calphalon to package the book with cookware at retail outlets.
Amadeus, Amadeus. That’s right TMZ broke this one. And man someone is going to get pucked up big time. Seems that down the street for Wolfgang Puck’s Spago, someone has opened up a restaurant called Wolfgan’s Steakhouse. Thing is, yes, Wolfgang does have a chain of steakhouses and they are called Cut, but folks certainly do (search Google if you don’t believe me) often call them Wolfgang’s Steakhouse. According to TMZ: “The most common reaction is, ‘It says Wolfgang’s Steakhouse and you are Wolfgang.’ […] The lawsuit claims trademark infringement and unfair competition. Wolfie wants an injunction.
Robin Uncorks Vegas. I’ve commented before how Robin Leach’s Luxe Life blog is the most amazing chronicle of everything-Vegas any where. Check out today’s for a textural and photographic wrap-up of last week’s Vegas Uncorked F&WF. Yeah we did a good job telling you what to expect, now go to Robin’s and find out how it actually went off.
Posted on April 17th, 2008
We just, I mean literally just the other day posted about ten new food shows coming on the Food Network and wham we found yet another one. This time we found it through the casting call pages. The current working title of the show is Food: True Life and would be on FN via Al Roker Productions, so you can guess who the host of the show might be. From the casting call:
Food Network is looking for amazing food related stories for a groundbreaking new series! (Just so you know, really, this was originally in all caps the entire sentence and had three exclamation points after it. It really did.) Do you or someone you know have an amazing food related story to tell? Do you know someone who has gone from being homeless to the owner of their own restaurant, makes pop art out of pineapples, or eats nothing but peanuts? Do you know someone who is battling food fears or phobias? Has food helped to cure an illness, changed the course of your life, or helped to inspire you in some dramatic way? We are looking for all types of stories even those that are odd or humorous to feature on and upcoming series for the Food Network. Casting is underway, so Email a brief description of your story with your contact information and picture of yourself ASAP to michaelraptis@alroker.com
In other news, “Jamie Oliver has beaten his culinary competition to be named the most iconic British chef of all time.” From the Manchester Evening News:
The 32-year-old TV chef and scourge of the Turkey Twizzler is now a bigger name than chefs of the past, who have changed the way Britons cook, as well as his contemporary rivals. Delia Smith, 66, whose reputation as the nation’s cookery queen began to crumble when she advocated tinned mince and frozen mashed potato in her latest TV series, ranks second in the poll. Gordon Ramsay’s foul-mouthed reputation does not stop the 41-year-old restaurateur and Kitchen Nightmares star from scooping third place.
In case you’re wondering the list when like this: 4. Rick Stein, 5. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, 6. James Martin, 7. Nigella Lawson, 8. Keith Floyd, 9. Nigel Slater, and, 10. Elizabeth David. And if you would like to know who made 11 through 20 and in what order … go read the article.
So Jamie gets the position of “Top Chef”, but it’s Gordon Ramsay who the people want for Mayor of London! A recent poll of who besides the two actual candidates running would Londoners like to see had Ramsay come in at an amazing 31 percent (which is as high or higher than what the real candidates running currently have in the real polls.)
Little Britain star David Walliams came in a distant second, with almost 15 percent of the votes, whilst the former Mrs McCartney, Heather Mills, took the title of ‘Least Desirable Celeb Mayor’ with less than one percent of the vote:
Kate Moss: 4.05%, Kelly Osbourne: 7.05%, Prince Harry: 13.87%, David Walliams: 14.68%, David Beckham: 7.05%, Heather Mills: 0.92%, Madonna: 3.35%, Gordon Ramsay: 31.21%, Hugh Grant: 7.40%, Other: 10.40%
Other celebrities nominated by public: Richard Fairbrass, David Tennant, Katie Price, Stephen Fry, Prince William, Gary Barlow, Mick Jagger, Richard Madeley, Paul McCartney, James Nesbitt, and Jeremy Clarkson.
Posted on April 10th, 2008
Sara’s Weeknight Meals — Wow. This one flew so low under the radar I nearly missed it. (Alas, PBS shows are always like that though, aren’t they? Never any commercials for them. Never any pre-marketing on their own network. You either get lucky looking or you find it months after it’s been on.) Fortunately this new show starts this week.
Celebrity chef and cookbook author Sara Moulton returns to 200 public television stations — check here for location, day and time — on Sara’s Weeknight Meals, her new 20-episode cooking show series. Over 80% of American households can join Sara as she shares everything she knows about getting flavorful healthy meals on the table each weeknight with minimal fuss and maximum satisfaction.
Admired by millions as the host of Cooking Live, Cooking Live Primetime, and Sara’s Secrets, Moulton was one of Food Network’s defining personalities during the outlet’s first decade. Food Network continues to rerun Sara’s Secrets. “I’m delighted to have found a new home,” says Moulton. “Public television remains the bastion of truly educational food programming in America.” In fact, public television is a natural fit for Moulton, whose first work in the medium was as a behind-the-scenes associate of Julia Child on public television’s Julia Child and More Company in 1979.
Based on her cookbook, Sara’s Secrets for Weeknight Meals, the show demonstrates Sara’s rethinking of dinner, featuring fast and tasty entrees that break out of the predictable mold, including ideas for “Breakfast for Dinner,” “Soup for Supper” and “The Substantial Sandwich.”
Top Chef — Spike is Top Chef’s leech this year. Ok, this might not immediately convey the thought intented, so let me explain. Every reality show, every season, every year there is at the very least one contestant you don’t like. They may not totally qualify as the “villian” per se (they could, they might not). But they are the one you least like. The one you most wish would be voted or judged off. But they some how never go. (At least they don’t go fast enough.) And that is the that show’s “leech”. So it’s not that they are leeching off another contestant (necessarily). It means they grab a hold of something and won’t go. They’re that moving bug in the Roach Motel you can’t shake out, or shake completely into the glue. They’re clinging on. They’re teflon-coated. The fly you either can’t swat, or which you swear you keep hitting yet it buzzes away seemingly unharmed.
For Top Chef this year that is definitely Spike. What a major pain in the butt. And so stupid too. Last week Manuel got knocked off for not fighting hard enough and for going with Spike’s disaster. This week does Spike learn from that? No! Of course not! That would require brains. So Spike is the one to go along with something that wasn’t a good idea. Does Spike face irony and get axed? Of course not! He’s a leech, I tell you! … Who’s the ultimate Top Chef leech? I’m thinking it has to be Hung Huynh. Afterall isn’t he the first winner that no one liked at the time? That’s the ultimate leech when you win the contest after millions of viewers were virtually shaking the TV set back and forth.
Hell’s Kitchen — Meanwhile on Hell’s Kitchen, contestant Sharon — more famously known on the show as “Barbie” for being so interested in wearing makeup in the kitchen while getting everything else wrong in the kitchen — got tossed off. And we find that Petrossa who’s a catering director hasn’t been on “the line” in a kitchen in over 20 years. Brilliant! I will say one thing, it’s refreshing to see the guys actually win the first contest of the day. Think that’s the first time in the series. Not sure. I didn’t get to watch the first season. But the last two the girls always seem to win the morning challenges and get the adventures and the men always lost and got the penalty duty. So, good to see that change finally. It was getting to be a real pattern.
Oh, right and we found out Corey can be a real piece of work as she was trying to nominate people to get axed based on her strategies not real experience. What else did we find out in the last two episodes? Jen just will not shut up. Not just talking about her mouth in the kitchen, her long boring stories of justification to chef Ramsay. Vanessa is too meek. Jason we already know is an idiot from episode one, but number two confirms it. Ironically, Ben a former cook and Rosann a former cook are strong contenders; who would have thought it?
Cooking for Real — Sunny Anderson’s Food Network cooking show started on Sunday morning. What’s my review? Well, I have a rule: I do not do an official television series review of a new show until I’ve seen at least three episodes. So, look for that later this month. Meanwhile, my recommendation? All I can say is, her food had my mouth watering and she kept me interested. So, bet you can guess where I’m leaning on this on.
