2012 Aspen

Considering how excited we were to see Andrew Zimmern at the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen, it's a good thing his cooking demo took place first thing Friday morning. In the Game On! seminar, the Bizarre Foods host (pictured here at Austin Food & Wine) showed the audience how to cook with game like antelope, elk, and venison, but he also prepared a Japanese yakitori-style duck breast over rice. Even more informative than his duck preparation was his discussion of duck fat, which he declared useful in just about everything. Here are a few things we discovered could be made better with duck fat:

1. A classic French farmhouse vinaigrette — Zimmern shared his favorite recipe for us, divulging that he stole it from Pierre Gagnaire in Paris. "I use cider vinegar, peanut or safflower oil, cream, and salt and pepper," he told us.
2. Potatoes — Duck fat fries are a thing, but if you can't be bothered to turn on the deep-fryer, then just toss roasted potatoes with seasonings and duck fat.
3. Steak — Here's one we really hadn't thought of: to make your next aged steak really over-the-top, drizzle melted duck fat on top of it. Talk about the ultimate indulgence!

We can't wait to try the farmhouse vinaigrette. What do you do with duck fat?

One of the most coveted awards in the food industry is the title of Best New Chef, an honor bestowed upon 10 young chefs each year by Food & Wine magazine. Now, the editors of the magazine are taking the accolade — along with sophisticated dining — to the next level, with a new dining adventure called Chefs Club. The concept? Build a restaurant inside a well-respected hotel (in this case, the St. Regis Aspen Resort) and feature a menu with a rotating guest list of current and former Best New Chef winners. Behold: a new way to afford diners a chance to eat the food of Best New Chefs from around the country.

The menu will change according to season, with Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter menus, each featuring dishes from four chefs. Since Chefs Club's been in the works for over a year, the inaugural menu won't include the Best New Chef class of 2012 just yet. "We didn't know who they were until a month ago, but it's possible we'll use one or two of them for the second season," said Christina Grdovic, Food & Wine's publisher.

Food won't be the only item to write home about. "We'll have 10 cocktails from 10 different bars, based off of Food & Wine Cocktails," Grdovic added. In addition to this program, curated by deputy editor of Food & Wine Cocktails Jim Meehan, there'll be a wine list, too. The list, developed by executive wine editor Ray Isle, will include specific wine pairings for each of the Best New Chef dishes.

In an era of food truck meetups and Fashion Week pop-up shops, Chefs Club could be the next frontier in dining. "People want to be able to go out and have a high-end, innovative experience, but also a quick, affordable meal. Chefs Club is going to do both of those things," Grdovic said. "It'll be the kind of restaurant where you want to go back over and over again. That's what people want."

Source: Thinkstock, Food & Wine

Gail Simmons has a pretty full plate right now: in addition to being in charge of special projects at Food & Wine magazine, she's also got some pretty steady gigs as a judge on Top Chef and the host of Top Chef: Just Desserts. But on top of that, her first book, Talking With My Mouth Full, was just released yesterday.

Over the phone, we caught up with Gail, who despite being at the top of her game, offered plenty of her time to share candid thoughts on everything from the health hazards of celebrity chefdom to her plans 15 years from now.

Find out her thoughts on current food issues, her plans for now (and later), and the one question she'd be happy to never hear again, when you keep reading.