New York City Wine and Food Festival

In January, Southern cooking queen Paula Deen — who's known for recipes like deep-fried butter and burgers with doughnuts as buns — revealed that she'd been living with type 2 diabetes for years. Public outrage ensued. Since then, she's stayed busy trying to help confused fans reconcile her famous lowcountry cooking with a healthier way of living. She addressed this at a recent New York City Wine & Food Festival event, a TimesTalk hosted by The New York Times and moderated by Kim Severson. During the forthright (and at times bizarre) conversation, I was surprised to learn a number of surprising facts about Paula.

Talk about starting off with a bang: last night, the 2012 New York City Wine & Food Festival kicked off with a comedic roast of Anthony Bourdain by celebrity chefs and comedians, and it seemed like just about every star chef who's seen a camera was there to sling mud at the food personality who made his name slinging mud. As pal Sarah Silverman told Bourdain in a prerecorded video message: "There's gonna be a lot of great lines tonight, and you can't snort any of them."

Great lines indeed. It was a rare opportunity to see another side of the stars of Food Network, who puts on the yearly festival; everyone from the bubbly Rachael Ray to the modest Eric Ripert cracked a dirty sex joke (or 10). Although Bourdain was the subject of the roast, there were plenty of other subjects of interest, primarily Guy Fieri's douchiness, Mario Batali fat jokes, and Ray's inability to cook. Catch up with the best lines you missed from last night's shockingly irreverent, profanity-filled comedy roast of Anthony Bourdain.

We can't help but relive some of our favorite moments from the 2011 NYC Wine & Food Festival to gear up for the 2012 festivities, starting tomorrow, Oct. 11. Enjoy all of the goodness from last year's delicious long weekend, featuring food and insight from some of the biggest names in celebrity chefdom.

Giada De Laurentiis's Meatball Wisdom

Grand Tasting Favorites

The Basics of Caviar

Food Trends: Green Juice

Brazen Bites at Burger Bash

Mario Batali One-Liners

Duck Meatball Madness

Carts in the Parc

Anne Burrell on Being a Chef and Cookbook Writer

We're covering this year's festival from Oct. 11-14, so follow us on Twitter for real-time updates — it'll be just like you're right there.

Sure, Black Friday and Cyber Monday are over — but for all you wine lovers out there, you should know that right now's still the time to get the best beverage deals.

According to Ray Isle, executive wine editor for Food & Wine, when it comes to Beaujolais — especially Beaujolais Nouveau! — you should buy it right after Thanksgiving. Beaujolais Nouveau, that unaged red that's the first of the harvest in the northern hemisphere, is most anticipated when it's first released the third Thursday of November, and its bright, fruity flavors make it a popular part of the Thanksgiving meal. But Beaujolais Nouveau, which is meant to be enjoyed immediately, shouldn't be kept into the New Year, so it's quickly marked down to keep it flying off shelves.

You might be surprised to hear that bubbly is discounted this time of year, but according to Isle, sparkling wine has major discounts during the holiday season as well. The important thing to note is timing: "There are big Champagne markdowns until two weeks before Christmas," he reminded me at a New York City Wine & Food Festival seminar.

With so much holiday entertaining on the horizon, it makes sense for many of us (myself included!) to stock up now. Where have you spotted wine discounts recently?

Since day one, Alton Brown's been host of the competition The Next Iron Chef, and this star-studded season, which premieres tomorrow night at 9 p.m., the Food Network favorite will be back and bigger than ever.

Earlier this month, I ran into Alton at the New York City Wine & Food Festival, where he talked about what makes The Next Iron Chef: Super Chefs different from previous seasons, and why he's not just any old TV host.

More on the show — including his opinion of the final outcome! — when you read ahead.

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.