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10 Things You Probably Don't Know About Thomas Keller

YumSugar — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 06:50:09 -0700

On this Wednesday, we don't just celebrate Hump Day for the week; we also honor French Laundry chef and restaurant legend Thomas Keller, who turns 54 today. The culinary pioneer - who's been called everything from the food industry's Yoda to Father Jesus Keller - shows no signs of slowing down. He's about to open a Bouchon restaurant in LA and a new inn in Napa Valley. Although chef Keller gets plenty of press, he still manages to keep a lot of his personal life under wraps. Here, 10 things you probably would never have guessed about him.
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Must Read: New York Cooks

partysugar — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 10:15:56 -0700

Everyone knows New York City is one of the country's top places for eating, so it comes as no surprise that a new cookbook, New York Cooks ($30), celebrates the city's chefs and restaurants. Since I don't live in NYC, I was very excited when I got my hands on a copy of the book. To find out what I thought of it, read more.

Pros:

Each chef has multiple recipes. Before the recipes, there are a couple of pages that describe the restaurant with interesting quotes and details from the chef.
From appetizers to entrees to salads, there's a wide variety of dishes.
Although the cover states there's 100 recipes, because many dishes have sauces or vinaigrettes, it seems like there are more than 100 recipes.
When I dined at Casa Mono, my favorite dish was the fideos with cockles and chorizo. The book has the recipe, so now I can re-create it at home!

Cons:

It's format is hard to follow - it's broken down into section by cuisine. Instead of listing out the recipes in the table of contents, only the cuisine, chef, and restaurant are mentioned.
New York's restaurant scene is forever changing and some of the chefs, for example Anne Burrell, are no longer working at the restaurants associated with their recipes.
Some recipes are complicated with lots of steps. They seem more suited to a restaurant than a home kitchen. Also, others lack detail.
There are no desserts.

Recipes: While I've never heard of a few of the restaurants or chefs, it is the recipes that are important. Here are the ones that caught my eye.

Anne Burrell's taleggio, speck, and egg pizzetta
Mikey Price's blood orange and red onion salad
Joey Campanaro's gravy meatball sliders
Michael Lomonaco's Philly cheesesteak sandwich

Imagery: This read is full of delicious-looking food images and fun restaurant shots. However, not all of them are in color. Every recipe does not have a corresponding picture. Some of the chef's photographs seem dated. After seeing her on Top Chef Masters, it looks as if the picture of Anita Lo was taken years ago.

Overall: This book is a wonderful collection of recipes. It would be an excellent gift to a foodie moving to or from New York. Any well-respected home cook who loves to dine out while vacationing in NYC will also enjoy this tome.

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Test Your Knowledge of the Food Network's Chefs!

partysugar — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 06:50:24 -0700

One of my favorite specials on the Food Network is Chefography, an hour-long show that details the life of one of the network's celebrity chefs. It's fascinating to learn about their background, personal life, and how they got their start in the food industry. However, not all the chefs have been featured on Chefography. Sure, the heavy hitters (Rachael, Giada, Bobby) are highlighted, but what about the newer chefs? I've done some Internet searching and found a bunch of fun facts about the rising stars of Food Network. Think you can guess which chef's life I am describing?

Question 1 of 8

Which chef's grandmother Alma inspired her to become a cook?

Guess Who?

partysugar — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 07:00:32 -0700

Can you guess which chef was hamming it up with fellow French chef and this week's guest Top Chef judge, Daniel Boulud?

How Well Do You Know Chef Rick Bayless?

partysugar — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 06:50:14 -0700

By now you probably know that the winner of Top Chef Masters was chef Rick Bayless from Chicago. From watching the final episode we learned a little bit about Rick's history. For example, his parents owned a barbecue joint that served a special homemade barbecue sauce.

But, other than that, you probably don't know that much about Bayless. Thus, I've put together a quiz that teaches you about the acclaimed Mexican cuisine expert. Sound like fun? Take it now!

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Giada: From Pretty Cook to Full-Blown Celebrity Chef

YumSugar — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 05:50:24 -0700

Regardless of whether you think she hosts the best Italian cooking show, Giada De Laurentiis has made a tremendous mark on home cooking in America. Over the years, Giada's evolved from fresh-faced home caterer to full-blown celebrity TV personality - and tomorrow, the Food Network star turns 39 years young. To pay tribute to her influence, I thought I'd show you a glimpse of her best moments over the years. Check it out when you keep reading.

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Guess Who?

partysugar — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 07:30:37 -0700

Can you guess which chef made an appearance on the Late Show With David Letterman earlier this week?

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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Let's Dish: What Music Do You Cook To?

partysugar — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 12:50:26 -0700

Last week the San Francisco Chronicle ran an interesting article that discusses the role of music in the commercial kitchen and features the favored playlists of several Bay Area chefs. With so much time spent prepping, it's no surprise that "music cuts through the monotony of the day," according to one chef. Although cooking at home is very different from being in a restaurant kitchen, I too enjoy listening to some groovy tunes. My favorite cooking music is Chambao, a Spanish group whose flamenco fusion is fabulously chill. How about you? What tunes do you listen to while cooking?
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Is There a Difference Between Male and Female Cooking?

partysugar — Wed, 27 May 2009 10:15:04 -0700

Food blog Eater recently featured an upcoming course at New York City's Astor Center. The class (which is really more of a social experiment) will examine the myths of gender in the restaurant kitchen. During the event, 10 chefs‚ including Alex Guarnaschelli and Johnny Iuzzini, will cook a five-course meal to be blind taste-tested by Grant Achatz and Gwen Hyman. The judges will try and discern which dishes are made by a man and which ones are made by a woman. While I find the concept behind the class fascinating and am curious to see the final results, I doubt there will be a notable difference between the way a male and female cook. What do you think?

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