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Yummy Link: Anthony on Why Food Network Is Reairing His Show

YumSugar — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 14:28:11 -0800

You may have read that Food Network is reairing Anthony Bourdain's orginal show A Cook's Tour, but have you read Anthony's thoughts on why they're doing it? - Travel Channel

Set the Tivos! Bourdain Comes Back to Food Network!

YumSugar — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 13:28:31 -0800

This morning I read a press release I never thought I'd read. Food Network is bringing back Anthony Bourdain's A Cook's Tour. That's right: The network that the feisty Bourdain seems to have nothing nice to say about is bringing back his original show. The half-hour episodes of A Cook's Tour originally aired in 2002 and lasted for two seasons. After those two seasons Bourdain departed from Food Network and rumors speculated that the network would never air the episodes again.

Well turns out that it was either a vicious rumor, or someone at Food Network has had a change of heart. Perhaps they're jealous of Bourdain's success on the Travel Channel, or perhaps they're looking to invigorate their lineup. Bob Tuschman, senior vice president for Programming and Production at Food Network, said:

Anthony Bourdain is a passionate foodie who has amazing stories to share as he takes viewers on a unique tour of our planet. We look forward to introducing new viewers to this memorable Food Network series and know they will enjoy Anthony's unique voice and unforgettable adventures.

Well, no matter what the reason, I'm just thrilled that they're finally reairing them. I've only seen a few of these episodes and am really looking forward to seeing the rest. If you're interested in checking them out, they're running a minimarathon on Christmas from 9–11p.m. If you've got plans on Christmas, then you'll be able to catch the episodes on Tuesday at 10:30p.m. starting Jan. 8.

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Noteworthy Nibbles - Nov. 3-10, 2009

YumSugar — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:00:07 -0800

Kick-start the new month with a number of celebratory fêtes that are happening this week. Learn all about the art of butchering (and enjoy fire-cooked meats) in Napa Valley; sample food from Boston's best new chefs; or watch Paula Deen's antics in the nation's capital.

Where will your stomach lead you this week? Let us know below.

Boston, MA: StarChefs Boston Rising Stars Revue - Nov. 3
Washington DC: Tour de Champagne - Nov. 6
Houston, TX: Chocolate Festival of Texas - Nov. 6-7
Big Sur, CA: Big Sur Food & Wine Festival - Nov. 6-7
New York, NY: Cook. Eat. Drink. Live. - Nov. 6-8
St. Helena, CA: PRIMAL Napa - Nov. 7
Abbeville, LA: Giant Omelette Celebration - Nov. 7-8
Washington DC: Metropolitan Cooking & Entertaining Show - Nov. 7-8
Los Angeles, CA: Great Chefs Go Organic - Nov. 8
San Antonio, TX: New World Wine & Food Festival - Nov. 8-15

Gwyneth Loves to Cook, Set For Second TV Food Tour

YumSugar — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 12:15:00 -0700

Actress Gwyneth Paltrow is shunning personal chefs and raw-foods-only diets for the joys of home cooking. She recently told People magazine:

I cook all the meals for my house. I really love to cook. Breads and pizzas is what I'm cooking and we all love it. We have a wood-burning pizza oven in our garden. Right now the weather is nice in London, so I'm using that oven a lot. You can cook anything in there. It's amazing.

It's no surprise that Paltrow is so passionate about cooking, her first travel food show, Spain . . . On the Road Again with Mario Batali, debuted on certain PBS stations over the weekend.

The dynamic duo has already signed on to do a second series that will take place in Italy further cementing Gwyneth's love for food.

Did you tune in this past weekend to see the pair eat their way through Spain? What did you think of it, and will you be watching their follow-up in Mario's motherland Italia?

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Julie & Julia's Julie Powell Sets the Record Straight

YumSugar — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 15:20:00 -0700

The highly-anticipated film Julie & Julia, set for release Aug. 7, has sparked a renewed curiosity about both protagonists portrayed in the film: The late Julia Child, as well as writer Julie Powell, author of the memoir Julie & Julia. Over drinks, the self-effacing Powell, who was in town promoting the film, discussed the movie, the extramarital affair that is the subject of her next book, and her response to less-than-kind feedback from both Julia's editor, Judith Jones - and Julia herself. Get the scoop when you keep reading

Top Chef, the Magazine?

partysugar — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 07:50:10 -0700

First there was Top Chef. Then there was the cookbook, the tour, t-shirts, and other products. Next came spinoffs Top Chef Masters and Top Chef Juniors. The latest to be added to the Top Chef franchise? A magazine.

At a panel discussion hosted by Mediabistro, Ellen Stone, the senior vice president of marketing at Bravo, discussed the partnership between the show and Food & Wine magazine. The connection between the companies is judge Gail Simmons, who appears on the show and works for the magazine. Apparently the two brands are "working together to create a Top Chef magazine."

There are no specific details on the content of the magazine, but I'm thinking it may follow in the format of Food Network's new glossy (which is currently one of the top 100 best-selling magazines in America) and feature recipes from and stories about past Top Chef contestants and judges. Considering I read just about every cooking magazine known to mankind, I'm excited to see how this news develops. Are you interested in Top Chef, the magazine?

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Top Chef's Tour Bus Hits the Road Again!

YumSugar — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 15:00:49 -0700

If you've got a hankering for a serving of Top Chef before Top Chef: Masters begins, you're in luck. Top Chef: The Tour 2 - the show's second national tour - will kick off its 22-city tour this Friday at the Flatiron Pedestrian Plaza in New York. Each stop, including a special visit to Churchill Downs on Kentucky Derby weekend, will feature two cheftestants hosting four interactive live shows with cooking demos and food tastings.

I'm really disappointed to see that they're hitting 22 cities, but San Francisco will not be one of them. Is the tour hitting your town? Find out when you read more.

New York, NY - March 27-28
Hollywood, FL - April 5
Delray Beach, FL - April 6
Jacksonville, FL - April 9
New Orleans, LA - April 14
Houston, TX - April 17
Dallas, TX - April 19
Little Rock, AR - April 21
Nashville, TN - April 24
Hopkinsville, KY - April 27
Louisville, KY - May 1-2
Atlanta, GA - May 4
Raleigh, NC - May 6
Washington, DC - May 9
Westchester, NY - May 13
Boston, MA - May 15
Pittsburgh, PA - May 20
Columbus, OH - May 23-24
St. Louis, MO - May 27
Chicago, IL - May 30-31
Des Moines, IA - June 6
Los Angeles, CA - June 12, 13

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Noteworthy Nibbles - May 5-12, 2009

YumSugar — Tue, 05 May 2009 14:00:11 -0700

Many of you are gearing up for Mother's Day, but if you've got some time to spare, there are plenty of enjoyable events worth checking out. There are two national events to note: You can celebrate American Craft Beer Week (find out what is happening in your neck of the woods) and on Saturday, help fight hunger at the Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive.

Here at Yum, we're all over the specials going on during Sexy Dishes Week and the new cocktails being showcased at SF Cocktail Week. Where will you be?

Humboldt, TN: West Tennessee Strawberry Festival - May 3-9
Bay Area, CA: Sexy Dishes Week - May 4-8
Atlanta, GA: Taste of the Nation Atlanta - May 6
Manchester, NH: Taste of the Nation Manchester - May 6
Hartford, CT: Taste of the Nation Hartford - May 7
Las Vegas, NV: Vegas Uncork'd - May 7-10
New Orleans, LA: World Cocktail Week in the Big Easy - May 8

To see the rest, read more.

Charlotte, NC: Beer, Bourbon & BBQ Festival - May 9
Brooklyn, NY: James Beard Dumpling & Noodle Tour - May 9
Anhalt, TX: Cajun Music & Gumbo Cook-Off - May 9
Santa Monica, CA: Los Angeles BBQ Festival - May 9-10
San Francisco, CA: San Francisco Cocktail Week - May 11-18

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Noteworthy Nibbles - Apr. 14-21, 2009

YumSugar — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 14:00:15 -0700

Food festival season appears to be in full swing! The weekend's chock full of fancy food productions, from Scottsdale to Pebble Beach to Blue Ridge food and wine festivals. A number of your favorite celebrity chefs, like Top Chef's Fabio and Carla, Paula Deen, and Thomas Keller, will be making appearances across the nation. And what Southerner could miss out on crawfish and grits? If you think of anything we've left off, please feel free to add in below. What events will you be hitting up?

Scottsdale, AZ: Scottsdale Culinary Festival - Apr. 14-19
Charlotte, NC: Taste of the Nation Charlotte - Apr. 15
San Antonio, TX: Paso Robles Grand Tasting Tour - Apr. 15
Atlanta, GA: World Barista Championship - Apr. 15-19
Atlanta, GA: Toast of the Town Atlanta - Apr. 16
Austin, TX: Texas Hill Country Wine & Food Festival - Apr. 16-19
Pebble Beach, CA: Pebble Beach Food & Wine Festival - Apr. 16-19
Blowing Rock, NC: Blue Ridge Wine Festival - Apr. 16-19
Biloxi, MS: MS Coast Coliseum Crawfish Festival - Apr. 16-19
Springfield, MO: Rock 'n Ribs BBQ Festival - Apr. 17-18

To see the rest, read more.

York, PA: Pennsylvania Herb Festival - Apr. 17-18
St. George, SC: World Grits Festival - Apr. 17-19
Salisbury, MD: Pork in the Park - Apr. 17-19
New York, NY: Coffee & Tea Festival NY - Apr. 18-19
Moulton, AL: Alabama Chicken & Egg Festival - Apr. 18-19
Atlanta, GA: Metropolitan Cooking & Entertaining Show - Apr. 18-19
Norfolk, VA: Virginia Culinary Expo - Apr. 19
Princeton, NJ: Taste of the Nation Princeton - Apr. 20

Talking Food With Cookbook Authority Sheila Lukins

YumSugar — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 16:15:00 -0800

Sheila Lukins is one of America's most prolific cookbook authors. More than 25 years ago, she published The Silver Palate Cookbook, which introduced the boomer generation to upscale at-home cuisine. In addition to publishing other blockbuster cookbooks, Lukins has edited the food pages of Parade magazine for over 20 years.

I had a chance to enjoy breakfast with Sheila on a sunny Saturday morning, while she was on tour for Ten, her latest (and seventh!) cookbook. Over coffee, she offered her best tips for home cooks, and talked about the ever-so-controversial seasonality issue. To see more of what she had to say, read more.

YumSugar: Why did you come out with Ten?
Sheila Lukins: My editor [Peter Workman], and I were talking about all the foods we craved. Everybody really has the same favorite foods; we all love noodles, ribs, Italian food. He said, there's a book in that - you could have 10 recipes for each of your favorite foods.

YS: You've got whole chapters dedicated to tomatoes, corn, asparagus. Should home cooks use seasonal vegetables year-round?
SL: I believe in eating seasonally; there's nothing like going to the farmers market and getting Silver Queen corn, but you get certain things year-round these days. It's not like I want to eat hard or yellow strawberries, but . . . certain tomatoes, let them ripen on the counter, and they're okay. I'm not going to say I'm never going to eat [an out-of-season] tomato.

YS: Why do you think your books resonate with people?
SL: The recipes are so clearly written; they are so specific. I make up every recipe, first with a yellow pad at the stove, at home, in my own kitchen - and they work. We go over it and over it and over it. You can't do bad recipes, and then have people spend money on ingredients and get a recipe that doesn't work well. That's so horrible.

YS: What were some of your most memorable moments in the kitchen?
SL: I got almost electrocuted by an eggplant. I wrapped it in aluminum foil and was baking it so I could make baba ghanoush. I opened the foil and got a horrible shock!

YS: What's your advice for the home cook?
SL: Find a couple things you enjoy making. Try them ahead of time, then make them when you're having people over. Don't feel like you have to make every dish in a cookbook. Most people don't; they have their favorites. Read recipes through, and be sure you have your ingredients. Make sure you check your cabinets, and keep things in stock so you don't have to keep shopping from scratch every time you want to cook.

YS: Where are your favorite places to eat out?
SL: In New York, I used to go downtown a lot, but now I go a lot less because there are such good places on the Upper West Side. I love Tom Valenti and his restaurants - that would be Ouest, and a new one, West Branch. Craft is very good for special occasions. Love Balthazar. I always get Chinese food from Shun Lee West, and I get pizza from Patsy's because they deliver, and it's near my house. Because I've lived on the Upper West Side, these are places that are very convenient to me, and also very delicious. We used to have no good food on the Upper West Side. Daniel Boulud just opened Bar Boulud, and I go there a lot.

Photo Courtesy of Francesco Scavullo