NYCWFF

Michael Chiarello is no stranger to reality TV cooking competitions: he was a runner-up on the first season of Top Chef: Masters and has been a guest on Bravo's regular Top Chef series.

When I caught up with him briefly at the New York City Wine & Food Festival, I was curious to know what would compel the seasoned chef — who's a fan of YumSugar! — to put himself on the cutting board once again.

See what he had to say when you keep reading.

Between Alex's Day Off, her two restaurants, and a column on Food Network, star chef and restaurateur Alex Guarnaschelli has her hands pretty full. Still, she's somehow made room to compete in the forthcoming star-studded season of Next Iron Chef, which premieres this Sunday, Oct. 30.

We caught up with her at the New York City Wine & Food Festival to get her thoughts on competing under pressure, making new celebrity chef friends, and the show's most emotional moments.

YumSugar: What was it like competing in Next Iron Chef: Super Chefs?
Alex Guarnaschelli: It was like going to sleep-away camp and being 18 again, in a way. You're removed from your normal life, in an abyss, with a knife and chunks of meat. It was an interesting experience. I made some friends that I didn't expect to make, like this one. [Michael Chiarello walks up].

Michael Chiarello: We had a love child on the series. [Winks.]
AG: I'd never met Michael Chiarello, as an example. I thought, "Wow, he's a tough cookie — I don't know about that one," but then we wound up in tears, laughing so hard, so many times. He would just give me that little look and a little flick of the eye, that little Clint Eastwood facial expression and it just kind of reboots you. It reminded me how alive we are. I don't know if that's good. It's kind of like being whipped with a thunderbolt.

Read on to hear more of Alex's takeaways from Next Iron Chef: Super Chefs.

Food Network personality Anne Burrell has come a long way since appearing as Mario Batali's sous chef on Iron Chef America; this coming Sunday, Oct. 30, she'll have come full circle, appearing as a contestant herself, as part of the star-studded cast of Next Iron Chef: Super Chefs.

Earlier this month, we sat down with the brazen blond chef to ask her a few questions about appearing on the show's upcoming fourth season, her brand-new cookbook, and what she's seen on her other show, Worst Cooks in America.

YumSugar: Was the whole experience filming Next Iron Chef emotional?
Anne Burrell: It's all so emotional, the roller coaster, the ups and downs of all of it, beyond words. I was really shocked about how much it got to me. When the whole thing was said and done, I couldn't believe how much of it stuck with me. I thought about it, I went over it, I rehashed it, all of this stuff, the highs and lows of the season, stayed with me for weeks.

After the break, more of Anne on Next Iron Chef: Super Chefs.

Eggplant parm is one of our favorite vegetarian entrées, and we love how it's ideal for feeding a crowd. But did you know that it makes fancy-looking party bites, too?

I came across the creative idea at Carts in the Parc, where FoodParc vendor Fornetti was serving bite-sized antipasto skewers — along with miniature stacks of eggplant parmesan. The execution was elegant, but the idea simple: construct a towering sandwich of battered, fried eggplant slices, mozzarella cheese, and flatbread, then skewer and slice into one-inch mouthfuls. Serve each skewer on its side to show off its layers of flavor and texture, and top it off with marinara sauce and a chiffonade of basil.

Two important takeaways: serve the skewers on their sides to show off their impressive construction, and insert some sort of bread to help secure everything in place. Oh, and takeaway number three: everything tastes better on a stick — eggplant parm included.

To kick off the third morning of the NYC Wine & Food Festival, four of the industry's top tastemakers, restaurateurs Mario Batali and Marcus Samuelsson, TV host Andrew Zimmern, and Food & Wine editor in chief Dana Cowin gathered for a panel discussion to talk about what makes the best restaurant experience.

They all had plenty to say about the state of dining — especially the jocular Batali. Here are just a few of his one-liners.

• On turning tables: "We have loud music at Babbo while you're eating soigné food. From 7:30 to 8:15 p.m. we turn it up and make it faster to get people out of there."
• On tables in New York: "The beauty of New York is, even if five million people on Yelp hate me, there are still eight million left."
• On how far the industry's come: "Thirty years ago, restaurant staffs were people who just got out of jail or people who'd just gotten out of the military and were on their way to jail."

Keep reading for the rest of Mario Batali's restaurant zingers.

We've hit the ground running at the New York City Wine and Food Festival, and last night we kept busy (and full) stuffing our faces at Meatball Madness (our favorite: a brilliant duck and porcini creation).

While our mouths were pretty much full the entire time, we'd have been remiss not to catch a word with the evening's host, Giada De Laurentiis, who had the weighty task of evaluating all 25 meatball contenders at the event. She took a minute to tell us what makes a great meatball at home, as well as her Halloween plans and her latest big project.

More on meatballs, her favorite homemade Halloween candies, and food trends she's over when you keep reading.

I just attended our first event of the New York City Wine & Food Festival, Giada De Laurentiis's Meatball Madness (check out that meatball selection!), and our favorite meatball of the night was — gasp! — not even made from red meat at all.

First, a disclaimer: a delayed flight meant that by the time I'd arrived, most of the meatballs were entirely picked over. But of those that were still being served, the one that stunned me the most came from midtown Manhattan's Fresco by Scotto. I'll admit that the restaurant — a Manhattan mini-chain that's recently branched out into, of all things, frozen dinner deliveries — was a bit of an unlikely contender. But I was blown away by the restaurant's impressively tender meatball of ground duck and porcini mushrooms, served in a sauce of sun-dried cherries and Barolo wine.

Despite a longtime love affair with ground meats, it had never, ever occurred to me that a meatball composed of duck meat could be so delectable. After tonight, I've decided that it's going to have to be my next kitchen experiment! Have you ever had a duck meatball?

It's the best time of year to be in New York! No, I'm not speaking about the weather (although that's seriously nice, too); I'm referring to the New York City Wine and Food Festival, the long weekend in October each year when food fanatics convene in the big city to watch Food Network talent like Bobby Flay and Alton Brown dish on everything from celebrity cooking gossip to their favorite kitchen techniques.

Claire Robinson's Tacos	Surprising Giada Facts	Alton Brown Gets Funny
Behind the Burger Bash	Top Grand Tasting Picks	Tyler's Ultimate Dinner

For real-time updates, be sure to follow us on Twitter — it'll be just like you're right there. To get you pumped for the return of New York's favorite food event, check out some of our top moments from years past.