Louisiana-based restaurant chain Hana Japanese Steakhouse and Sushi Bar has agreed to pay more than $100,000 in back wages to 135 chefs and servers in multiple locations following a Labor Department investigation. KALB reports that employees "were paid a fixed salary, regardless of hours worked, that often... caused the wages to fall below the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour." [KALB-TV]
Real friends deserve real chips. What are real chips, you ask? Well, Kettle Brand has been cooking up potato chips made with real ingredients by real people in Oregon's Willamette Valley for over 30 years. So it's a safe bet that if it is not an all-natural ingredient, it has no business getting near their potato chips, and even less business getting near your mouth.
Whether your summer party is about watching the game, playing some games, or simply basking in the sun, Kettle Brand has 24 delicious all-natural flavors to keep your guests there until the very end. For the traditionalists among you, stock up on Sea Salt. For a pure taste of summer, grab some Backyard Barbecue®. And for those who like it spicy, go for the Jalapeño.
Give Kettle Brand Potato Chips a try for your next gathering. >>
The Mind of a Chef, the Beard Award winning PBS television series from Zero Point Zero, Anthony Bourdain, and WGBH, is back for a second season, and this time it will feature chefs Sean Brock and April Bloomfield. "Season two goes inside the heads of two chefs," says Bourdain in the teaser trailer. "And we'll lift the skulls on both of them." (The first season mainly focused on David Chang and his travels.)
According to a press release (below), the series will "consist of 16 episodes, with the first eight featuring Brock and the second half featuring Bloomfield." Here's some information about the destinations from Executive Producer Chris Collins: "With Sean we plow headfirst into his world of true Southern cuisine – from long lost seeds and crops in the lowlands of South Carolina to rice fields in Senegal. April is marching us from the Pacific Northwest to Birmingham, England, tracing culinary tradition, instinct and obsession – from cops to curries to clams."
The Mind of a Chef season two premieres Fall of 2013 on PBS. Here's the teaser trailer and the press release:
]]> Video: Mind of a Chef Season 2 TeaserSEAN BROCK AND APRIL BLOOMFIELD TO BE FEATURED IN SEASON 2 OF JAMES BEARD AWARD WINNING PBS SERIES "THE MIND OF A CHEF"Zero Point Zero Production, Anthony Bourdain and WGBH are proud to announce that season two of THE MIND OF A CHEF will climb inside the heads of two chefs - Sean Brock and April Bloomfield. "It's our privilege to be working with two incredibly talented and driven chefs this season," says Executive Producer Chris Collins. "With Sean we plow headfirst into his world of true Southern cuisine – from long lost seeds and crops in the lowlands of South Carolina to rice fields in Senegal. April is marching us from the Pacific Northwest to Birmingham, England, tracing culinary tradition, instinct and obsession – from cops to curries to clams. This is going to be an amazing season of food and ideas."
Sean Brock is Executive Chef and Partner of McCrady's and Husk in Charleston, SC and the newly opened Husk in Nashville, TN. April Bloomfield is Executive Chef and Co- Owner of The Spotted Pig, The Breslin Bar & Dining Room, The John Dory Oyster Bar and Salvation Taco, all in New York City.
Season two of THE MIND OF A CHEF will premiere in the Fall of 2013 on PBS. The series will consist of 16 episodes, with the first eight featuring Brock and the second half featuring Bloomfield. Zero Point Zero is currently in pre-production on the show and will start principal photography in June. THE MIND OF A CHEF recently won a prestigious James Beard Foundation Award for best Television Program on Location
· Mind of a Chef Season 2 Teaser [YouTube]
· All The Mind of a Chef Coverage on Eater [-E-]
· All Food TV Coverage on Eater [-E-]
Ombré-haired James Beard Award-winning Mission Chinese Food chef Danny Bowien will be making an appearance in Oklahoma City this weekend. Bowien will be working the line at the OK Chefs Relief pop-up restaurant to help benefit victims of the tornado that hit Moore, Oklahoma earlier this week. [NewsOK]]]>
The story of Amy's Baking Company in Scottsdale, Arizona keeps getting messier: Samy Bouzaglo, one half of the delusional married couple that owns the restaurant, is possibly facing deportation. According to The Republic, Bouzaglo is attending immigration hearings based on the fact that he did not disclose certain key facts to immigration authorities, like, oh, say, the fact that he's banned from France and Germany and has a history of drug and extortion charges. The deportation process has been going on for two years and has nothing to do with the couple's infamous appearance on Kitchen Nightmares.
]]> The restaurant reopened yesterday to diners with reservations only, and they had security guards on hand to prevent media and other hecklers from entering. According to Radar, they opened with an entirely new staff, all of whom allegedly haven't seen the episode of Kitchen Nightmares. One diner told the Arizona Star, "The wait staff were all really nice. Samy was really nice. The food was good. We didn't have any problems."An unconfirmed report on Reddit from someone who did not actually eat at the restaurant but watched from outside says, "At one point Samy was yelling at a girl and telling her to leave. He basically pushed and forced her out the door. You could tell she was somewhat shocked at that happening." So take that as you will. Another Redditor posted photos of a security detail guarding the restaurant.
Amy's not squeaky clean herself: in 2003, she pleaded guilty to "misuse of a Social Security number when she applied for a $15,000 bank loan." She even spent a year in prison in 2008.
Below, Bouzaglo gives local media the "international salute."
Video: Amy's Baking Company Co-Owner Faces Deportation
· Amy's Baking Company Co-Owner Faces Deportation [The Republic]
· All Amy's Baking Company Coverage on Eater [-E-]
The Tennessean has photos from inside chef Sean Brock's new restaurant Husk Nashville. Brock, on why he chose to open it in a historic home over a "shiny, new high-rise": "We looked for a long time, secretively, and couldn't find a place with that feel that you could only get from a 19th-century home... The floors have to creak a little, and it has to be a bit quirky. And it has to have a certain feel, because that's what the food is about." [Tennessean]]]>
The crazy kids over at Modernist Cuisine are up to their old tricks, announcing they'll release a third book in October: The Photography of Modernist Cuisine by Nathan Myhrvold. The book will contain 399 photos from their previous project, 145 of which will be "full-bleed across one or two full pages." And those pages will be huge, 60% larger than the original Modernist Cuisine at 26 inches by 16.3 inches. It will be printed on LumiSilk 200 gsm art paper, and while it won't contain any recipes, it will have back stories to how the photographs were achieved.
This is the third Modernist Cuisine book in as many years, and the first that's attributed to Myhrvold alone. Last year's Modernist Cuisine at Home was attributed to Myhrvold and Maxime Billet; Billet has since moved on to other projects. The original book was credited to Myhrvold, Billet, and Chris Young, who has since gone on to found the online culinary education site ChefSteps with original Modernist Cuisine photographer Ryan Matthew Smith.
Below, a video preview of the book, as well as some exclusive Eater photographs of the book's blad. The Photography of Modernist Cuisine comes out October 22 (pre-order).
]]> Preview: The Photography of Modernist Cuisine
[Photos: Paula Forbes / Eater]
Video: The Photography of Modernist Cuisine
· Announcing Our New Book: The Photography of Modernist Cuisine [Modernist Cuisine]
· All Modernist Cuisine Coverage on Eater [-E-]
Cake Boss Buddy Valastro may soon be dipping his toes in some red sauce: Eater Vegas has on good authority that he is headed to Vegas to create an Italian-concept restaurant in the former First Food & Bar space at the Palazzo. It will likely open in the Fall. [-ELV-]]]>
· A Pair of Belgians Hoists Adventurous Eaters High in the Air [WSJ]
· NASA Is Funding a 3D Food Printer, Starting With Pizza [The Verge]
· Printable Food to End Hunger? No. [Uncrunched]
· Chinese Hot Pot Chain Hai Di Lao Makes Move to U.S. [WSJ]
· Chef Isaac McHale: Snacks Are Killing Off the Canapés at Restaurants [Metro]
· Lotteria's Ramen Burger Topped with 10 Extra Ramen Servings [Slice]
· Head Chef Wrongfully Accused of Being Stoned [NZ Herald]
· 56 Must-Read Disney Dining Secrets [Disney Food Blog]
· Walter Manzke's Petty Cash Taqueria Opens [Eater LA]
Here's a video interview from Imbibe and Inspire with owners Grant Achatz and Nick Kokonas (Alinea, Next and the Aviary). They talk about everything, from renewing a 10-year lease for Alinea's space, to their thoughts on the 50 Best restaurant list, and which chefs they would invite to a conference on American cuisine. (Achatz would ask "Sean Brock to talk about the South," "Dan Barber to talk about sustainability," and "David Kinch to talk about some of the aspects of chef-and-farmer relationships.") It's not as crazy as the trailer they made for Next's vegan menu, but they do start off drinking some homemade Bloody Marys before Kokonas dives into his opinions on the World's 50 Best judging process:
]]> Said Kokonas:It's difficult for great American restaurants that are not located in New York [to make it to the top of the 50 Best list] ... Almost everybody who had come to Alinea had to have voted for us, for us to make it to number six, because we just don't have the volume of people coming through from Europe than we would if we were in New York. ... It's difficult to encapsulate the world with 900 judges. ... Do I think we're at a disadvantage being in Chicago, which is basically flyover country for most of these judges outside the US? Yeah, I do. Does it bother me? Not really.
Kokonas also discusses why he never wants to be mentioned in a Michelin guide:
I think Michelin doesn't like the idea of hardcore innovation. Culinary innovation, they think is great, but restaurant renovation? They don't know what to do with it. Which is fine, because that's the whole idea of Next. I hope they they never put us in the guide. [Grant] does not. He's going to kill me for saying that.
Achatz and Kokonas also name-drop a handful of the Alinea alum they're proudest of, including Empellon Cocina/Taqueria chef Alex Stupak, whom Kokonas actually tried to talk "out of doing the Mexican place." Take a look at the video below:
Video: Grant Achatz and Nick Kokonas
· Grant Achatz and Nick Kokonas [Imbibe and Inspire]
· All Grant Achatz Coverage on Eater [-E-]
· All Nick Kokonas Coverage on Eater [-E-]
Ever visit Facebook and realize that there's not nearly enough Eater going on? Click on over to the Eater National Facebook page or the "Follow Us" section on the right, and then like magic, Eater's top stories will start showing up in your Facebook feed. It's like friends with benefits! But we understand if you want to take it slow at first, so how about we just follow each other on Twitter or Google+ first? [Facebook]]]>
BERKELEY — After a fire closed it back in March, Alice Waters' Berkeley restaurant Chez Panisse has an opening date: the Summer Solstice. For those not astronomically inclined, that is June 21. [LA Times]
FLORIDA — There's a new food festival for St. Petersburg, Florida: E.A.T. ST. PETE – St. Pete & the Bay Area Festival of Food, Wine and the Arts. Taking place November 15–17, this festival has everyone: Donatella Arpaia, Duff Goldman, Ingrid Hoffmann, Masaharu Morimoto, Ming Tsai, Scott Conant, and Todd English. [Eaterwire]
OKLAHOMA — Do not miss this video recorded by a KFC cook in Newcastle, Oklahoma of the monster tornado. [NBC]
BOSTON > LONDON — DooWee & Rice in Somerville, MA — a restaurant that's gained a food nerd following for dishes like crispy chicken hearts atop French fries doused with "great white sauce" — is expanding to London. The overseas location will be a franchise. [Eater Boston]
Chez Panisse [Photo: Brooke Raymond/Flickr]
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· Presenting 21 of Seattle's Must-Have Food Truck Dishes [Eater Seattle]
· Restaurants Slim Down Cocktail Calorie Counts [Ad Age]
· "Water" Is One of the Top 10 Culinary Trends at 2013 NRA Show [NRN]
· A Sociology Professor on Our Love of Service [Rationalist]
· Q&A: Chef Jonathon Sawyer [FoodGPS]
· The Ultimate Twin Cities Oyster Happy Hour Guide [-EMPLS-]
· A Guide to the 2013 New Orleans Wine & Food Experience [Eater NOLA]
· 11 Places to Stuff Your Face With Awesome Donuts [Eater Houston]
· Loyal Customers Outraged by Rumors of Lure Shuttering [Eater NY]
New York Times critic Pete Wells dropped a goose egg on NYC's Beatrice Inn today. Although Wells is on board with the restaurants efforts to "broadcas[t] a return to the days when dinner required no explanation," he finds the food at times "unremarkable," "desperately undercooked," and simply "awful." [NYT]
Here's another Food Network show/personality-branded frozen food offering: Iron Chef America À La Cuisine frozen meal kits. The Iron Chef America-inspired dinners will retail for $14.99, and come in "an assortment" of flavors like Garam Masala Chicken, Beef Mongolian, Thai Green Curry Beef, and Spicy Szechuan Chicken. According to the press release, the kits will feature "fresh ingredients that are low in sodium and preserve their nutritional value." Unfortunately Iron Chefs were not involved in the process of creating these frozen meals, unlike Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa Sauté Dinners for Two.
The Iron Chef America meal kits are currently available across Canada and are "rising at an exponential rate in the US." They're licensed under Premier Meat Packers in the States. Each package serves four and is advertised to be ready in "as little as 12 minutes." Look below for the (admittedly epic) video that claims "there is an Iron Chef that lives in all of us," and the press release. >>>
]]> Video: Iron Chef America CuisineIron Chef America comes to your kitchen(MONTREAL, May XX) - Iron Chef America brand has launched À La Cuisine home meal kits, inspired by the Food Network's esteemed Iron Chef America (ICA) series. À La Cuisine home meal kits arrive in the US under license to Premier Meat Packers who acquired the North American License for all food categories.
À La Cuisine home meal kits are packed with premium meats, farm-picked veggies, gourmet sauces, and aromatic basmati rice. Fresh ingredients set for you to cook and feed four in as little as 12 minutes. The product line features an assortment of flavors such as Garam Masala Chicken, Beef Mongolian, Thai Green Curry Beef, and Spicy Szechuan Chicken among others.
Unlike most other leading meal kit brands famous for being par cooked, precooked, or single serve microwavable meals, the quick to prepare À La Cuisine home meal kits set a higher food quality standard by providing fresh ingredients that are low in sodium and preserve their nutritional value.
"ICA is the main source of inspiration. The chefs are impressive. Foodies like myself are hooked," says Anthony J. Elman, Premier Meat Packers - Senior VP of Sales & Marketing. "People love a bold and delicious dish. We felt the need to supply them with varied meal kit essentials, inspired by Iron Chefs. À La Cuisine caters to people's cravings. We also designed two introductory sweeter flavors. It's food they can conveniently and quickly cook up. This is a product people can identify with."
The ICA home meal kits brand has already claimed shelf space across Canada and is rising at an exponential rate in the US.
The company is also developing product extensions. Hors D'oeuvres are underway and expected to hit shelves shortly. Iron Chef America brand remains committed to providing consumers with the freshest ingredients and innovative food solutions that are synonymous with first-rate taste and quality.
· Iron Chef America À La Cuisine Meals [Iron Chef America]
· Food Network Gossip]
· All Iron Chef America Coverage on Eater [-E-]
Mokutanya, the Burlingame, CA izakaya that made national headlines last week for offering $70 lion-meat skewers, has pulled them off the menu. Apparently the public outcry was enough to merit the removal. The same thing happened at a Tampa restaurant recently. [Eater SF]]]>
Here's Franny's: Simple, Seasonal, Italian, out June 4 from Artisan (pre-order on Amazon). Now you're probably thinking that the world needs another simple, seasonal Italian cookbook like it needs another gourmet cupcake shop, and you're wrong about that. (At least in this case.) This book, written by owners Andrew Feinberg and Francine Stephens along with food writer Melissa Clark, collects the deceptively simple food stylings of this much-loved Brooklyn neighborhood restaurant.
The book teaches more a way of cooking rather than individual dishes, and the recipes are guidelines; seasonal variations abound. Projects range from simple salads to homemade sausage and ham, and Franny's pizza technique is laid out step-by-step for the pizza nerds in the audience. As for the photography, the book itself has simple layout, and the (far-too-few) color photographs are actually glossy enough that you can see what's going on. Below, a peek inside.
]]>
[Photos: Paula Forbes/Eater]
· All Franny's Coverage on Eater [-E-]
· All Cookbook Coverage on Eater [-E-]
Following the tornado that devastated Moore, Oklahoma yesterday, restaurants around the country have responded by creating fundraisers and offering donations to benefit victims of the disaster. From Texas to New York, restaurants are rallying to support those in need in Oklahoma. Our thoughts are with all who were affected by yesterday's events.
Tomorrow (Wednesday, May 22), all Sprinkles Cupcakes locations will donate 100% of proceeds from sales of its "Red Cross" red velvet cupcake to the Red Cross. Founder Charles Nelson is originally from Oklahoma City.
]]>
[Photo: Ludivine / Facebook]
Oklahoma City restaurant Ludivine announced on Facebook that they will be donating 15% of all sales this week to the Oklahoma Red Cross. On Twitter, the restaurant also said it's planning a fundraising dinner with The Coach House's chef Kurt Fleischfresser and with support from Oklahoma Cooks, an arm of the Francis Tuttle School of Culinary Arts in Oklahoma City. A date has not yet been announced for the dinner.
Tulsa World reports that the boutique/coffee bar Joebot's Coffee Bar will donate all proceeds from sales of its Bigfoot Lattes to the Red Cross' tornado relief efforts. Both the Tulsa and Oklahoma City locations are participating through Sunday.
The Norman Arts Council, based in Norman, OK, reports that they are partnering with a local Chipotle location tomorrow (Wednesday, May 22). 50% of all sales tomorrow will go to the Red Cross. They also note that local chain S&B's Burger Joint will be donating "a portion" of all their proceeds from all locations through Sunday to the Red Cross.
[Photo: Eater Dallas / Cane Rosso]
Eater Dallas reports that pizzeria Cane Rosso will donate 100 percent of sales tonight (Tuesday, May 21) from its Deep Ellum location to the Red Cross.
Tomorrow (Wednesday, May 22) from 4pm - 8pm, Houston-area Luby's and Fuddruckers locations will be donating 15% of all sales to the Red Cross.
[Photo: Meng D. / Yelp]
According to OzarksFirst.com, the Springfield, MO franchise of Buffalo Wild Wings will be donating 15% of all sales tomorrow (Wednesday, May 22). The restaurant is also accepting donations of food and clothing.
[Photo: Rich and Jamie's Place / Facebook]
NBC 4 reports that Lancaster, OH restaurant Rich and Jamie's Place is collecting donations. Customers are encouraged to bring paper goods and canned foods.
[Photo: Mile End / Facebook]
Eater NY reports baker Allison Robicelli is organizing fundraising efforts to support the disaster relief organization Team Rubicon. Joining Robicelli's efforts to raise $15,000 are restaurants like Mile End Deli, Thirty Acres, and Liddabit Sweets are already on board.
The Journal Times reports that Yardarm Bar & Grill in Racine, WI will be donating 10% of sales on Thursday, May 23rd to the Red Cross.
If you know any other restaurants participating in fundraising efforts, let us know.
· All Oklahoma Coverage on Eater [-E-]
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FEMA is using the "Waffle House index" to take stock of the tornado disaster in Oklahoma. Reports the Guardian: "There is only one Waffle House in Moore, the suburb worst hit by the tornadoes," and it is closed. Said the head of FEMA: "But the Moore tornado was classed as a yellow on the Waffle House index because managers were hoping to get it up and running soon." [Guardian]]]>
Here's chef Jamie Oliver as he gets revenge on the bacon-loving Epic Meal Time team for kidnapping him earlier this year. Oliver calls his payback segment "Epic Veg Time" — revealing that he currently has Epic Meal Time host Harley Morenstien bound and trapped in his basement — and then proceeds to construct a monstrous 25-vegetable cabbage wrap. Oliver and his team, which includes the vegan version of Epic Meal Time's Muscles and DJ BBQ, create a massive "cabbage-patch quilt of cabbage leaves" that they sew together with blanched leeks. The video ends before Morenstein gets a chance to escape, even after threatening to "wipe his ass with all [their] cookbooks."
]]> Video: Jamie Oliver's Epic Veg Time· Jamie Oliver's Epic Veg Time [YouTube]
· All Epic Meal Time Coverage on Eater [-E-]
· All Jamie Oliver Coverage on Eater [-E-]
Bad PR just keeps rolling in for the second annual Great GoogaMooga, Brooklyn's massive pork-and-beer-fueled food festival. After rain shut down the event on Sunday, most were able to donate a good portion of their unsold food. But vendors like NYC's Brindle Room are out well over $10,000, despite being told it was a "rain or shine" event. [Eater NY]]]>
The second annual Mesamérica Festival kicked off yesterday in Mexico City, where chef and organizer Enrique Olvera (whose restaurant Pujol climbed to number 17 on the World's 50 Best Restaurants list this year) welcomed internationally renowned chefs and industry types to gather and talk about Mexican cuisine and the future of gastronomy. Beyond the announcement from New York City restaurateurs Frank Castronovo and Frank Falcinelli about their new chef artist residency in Brooklyn, there were impassioned speeches about the power of gastronomy, expressions of artistry on the plate and of the plate itself, plus explorations of cacao and maize. Here's a look inside day one:
]]> Carlo Petrini, founder and president of Slow Food, started things off with a passionate speech about how gastronomy can be so much more than food itself and how it can be a force when it comes to the political economy. As he said and has made the rounds on Twitter, "Gastronomy isn't just techniques or recipes. It's agriculture, history and politics." Petrini also discussed the importance of Mexican products and got big applause when he took up the slogan of the Mexican national campaign "Sin maíz, no hay país," which seeks to re-assert the country's food sovereignty.Before they introduced their Brooklyn chef residency RES, Castronovo and Falcinelli talked about how they got started in the industry and their first restaurant Frankies Spuntino. Castronovo noted that they didn't want to have a restaurant that "felt ironic" and then Falcinelli outlined the hallmarks of a true neighborhood restaurant: accessibility, sense of kindness, hospitality, value, quality, and authenticity.
Chicago designer Martin Kastner's presentation on how food and design inform one another was naturally accompanied by a slideshow of the many whimsical plates and vessels he has created for Grant Achatz at Alinea and The Aviary. These ranged from methods for serving spherified ice or dishes that are hot and cold to the short-term cocktail infusion vessel/Kickstarter-fueled miracle that is the Porthole. Kastner noted how his creations have not only created conversations at the table but also promoted human interaction with servers and guests. Also apparently people have no shame and are totally willing to bust through the many compartments of his "honeycomb" design at parties when they know there's food inside.
Gastón Acurio's presentation was the first after lunch and the crowd was still trickling in, but the Peruvian chef talked about how designing a dish is like telling a story. He also proselytized the importance of creating and keeping tight the bonds of a chefs' community for the future of gastronomy, saying that chefs can no longer shut themselves in their kitchens and hide their recipes but they must share.
Mexican pastry chef and chocolatier Luis Robledo brought some of his bonbons from Tout Chocolate and walked the crowd through how he makes them. But Robledo also began his presentation talking about the need to reinvent chocolate and professionalize it as a commodity the way that has been done with coffee and wine as "it's exquisite like wine." He also brought up Mexico's diabetes problem (with 650,000 diabetics in Mexico City alone) and acknowledged that those who produce sweet things need to be aware of their effects and think about how to introduce rational consumption.
Spanish food writer Pau Arenós — who coined the Ferran Adrià-embraced term "techno-emotional" cuisine — brought his book La Cocina de los Valientes to the stage to discuss the rise of elBulli, the cooks of the future, and the false friction between tradition and innovation. "Without tradition, there is no modernity," he said. In Mexico, Arenós said, there are the conditions for a great modern movement in food with Enrique Olvera in the lead.
Venezuelan chef Carlos García demo'd dishes such as a cocoa tongue dessert from his Caracas restaurant Alto while talking about the various projects he and his team have undertaken in homage of Venezuelan cuisine. First there was a project compiling essential Venezuelan recipes and now he's working on connecting chefs and political leaders so that the latter can see local food from the bottom up. As he explains, "Our country is fractured and needs our help."
Amado Ramírez, owner of the Oaxacan corn-celebrating restaurant Itanoni, spoke about the importance of remembering the past and how corn is "not just produce but a symbol of life in rural communities." Trying to understand it was like trying to understand himself, he said, and urged the need to confess what has been done wrong with the essential ingredient and begin to repair the damage.
Sergi Vicente Puig of Barcelona's 41 Degrees spoke next about the importance of service in restaurants and how it is part of the experience. 41 Degrees aims to stimulate the senses from its 50 dishes down to the "frosted rain" decor and the way servers present each dish. He also screened a great video of the 41 Degrees experience with all of its edible and potable creations.
Finally, Massimo Bottura of Italy's renowned Osteria Francescana brought it all home with a crowd-pleaser of a presentation that explained his philosophy on using culinary traditions to move gastronomy forward. Bottura explains that "the artist breaks the past in pieces" in order to bring everything back to the beginning. "Our kitchen is always looking backwards," he said, "but not through the nostalgic lens." As he demo'd a few dishes — including a Picasso-inspired dish that looks like an Italian landscape — Bottura gave credit to his hard-working front and back of the house team. Bottura also has the secret to happiness, in case you were wondering: resist the temptation of being trapped in reality, obsession and obligation, and don't forget who you are or where you came from.
Stay tuned for more from Mexico City as Mesamérica Day Two gets underway.
· All Mesamérica Coverage on Eater [-E-]
Media writer Jim Romenesko has the list of winners from last night's 28th Annual National City and Regional Magazine Awards competition. Notable wins include: MPLS. St. Paul magazine's Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl (Food or Dining Writing); Los Angeles magazine (Food or Dining Feature Package); Pittsburgh magazine's Brazen Kitchen (Blog Column); and D Magazine's SideDish (E-Newsletter). [Romenesko]]]>
Grub Street is shutting down all of its local sites with the exception of the New York City branch. According to former Grub Street writer Jenny Miller, Grub Street will be "shutting down non-NYC editions," and Chicago editor Michael Gebert also tweeted, "OK, yes it is true. Grub Street Chicago is no more. I am a free agent."
This is in line with rumors coming over the tipline that a major downsizing is in the works over at the New York Media-owned restaurant site, and multiple knowledgeable sources have confirmed to Eater that these rumors are true. Grub Street currently has city branches in New York, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and San Francisco. More details:
Update: Grub Street runs a post announcing the closures: "It's with regret that Grub Street announces the closure of our local blogs outside of New York, in Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Philadelphia, and Boston... Later this evening, those blogs will redirect to Grubstreet.com... This doesn't mean that Grub Street won't be covering these cities anymore: We'll continue to write about openings and other news from there and, indeed, the rest of the country."
]]> Update #2: Here's a statement from New York Media's Director of Public Relations:Grub Street is being refocused as a national food website with its home base in New York, but will continue to cover big stories wherever they originate on the map.For background, the multi-city strategy was an outgrowth of New York Media's acquisition of MenuPages in 2008, and a way to enhance the MenuPages offering in its cities outside New York. (MenuPages operated blogs in Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, and San Francisco, which were relaunched as Grub Street blogs in July 2009, along with Grub Street Los Angeles.) Since the 2011 sale of MenuPages to Seamless, New York Media has been evaluating the best way to grow Grub Street and decided to shift resources away from the non-NY blogs.
· @JennyHighLife [Twitter]
· A Grub Street Announcement [GSNY]
· All Food Media Coverage on Eater [-E-]
A restaurant in Terrassa, Spain allows customers a free meal in exchange for an hour or two of work, turning the stereotypical consequence of not paying a restaurant bill on its head. New York Daily News reports that La Trobada offers this option as a way to help local residents, "many of whom are jobless and living below the poverty line." Chores range from cleaning dishes to mopping floors to serving guests. According to the Associated Press, the restaurant serves about 70 meals a day of which half are sold to "time customers." The restaurant is located in a social club, and is part of a community service project by the city council and 30 charities.
· Spanish restaurant lets cash-strapped customers eat for free [NYDN]
· Spain: Restaurant Letting People Work to Pay for a Meal [AP]
· All Charity Coverage on Eater [-E-]
Head to Eater Chicago to watch the trailer for the upcoming film Trubadeaux: A Restaurant Movie. Produced by Second City improv vets with a combined 35 years of restaurant experience, the film tells the story of two brothers trying to keep their Chicago bistro afloat. Go, watch. [Eater Chicago]]]>
Revlon's latest offering into the BB cream category—Revlon PhotoReady BB Cream™ Skin Perfector—will have you confident that skin looks flawless and radiant, in any light. It hydrates like a moisturizer, smoothes skin like a primer, covers like a foundation, and blurs flaws like a concealer, all while protecting skin with Broad Spectrum SPF 30. In celebration of beauty's greatest modern marvel, we've put together a guide to some of the best places to have brunch and go shopping with the ladies in NYC. Hit them two at a time, or all at once, but be sure to factor in some quality BB time wherever you are.
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Parade magazine is apologizing for a recent design layout that used the silhouette of a ship that strongly resembles World War II Bismarck-class Nazi battleship. The image was part of Sarah DiGregorio's feature "How Do You Feed an Army?" that spotlighted Senior Chief Culinary Specialist chef Derrick Davenport, winner of the March 38th Annual Military Culinary Arts Competition in Fort Lee, Virginia.
Parade's editorial director Maggie Murphy was apologetic, saying to USNI News, "I regret we didn't dig deeper into the exact descriptions of the graphics we used for our story on Derrick Davenport this past Sunday," explaining that the silhouettes used were pulled from a collection of "naval images that didn't distinguish between U.S. and foreign ships." Murray hopes that readers won't get stuck on the similarities of the two images and that chef Davenport's story will stay the main focus.
· How Do You Feed an Army? [Parade]
· Parade Mag Apologizes for Nazi Ship Image [USNI News]
· All Food Media Coverage on Eater [-E-]
Amy's Baking Company — now infamous for its Facebook freakout following a terrible showing on Kitchen Nightmares — has cancelled a press conference on threat of legal action from Fox. Radar Online reports that Fox's lawyers sent a letter to restaurant owners Amy and Samy Bouzaglo last Friday reminding them of their agreement to not "spea[k] publicly about Kitchen Nightmares, other than to acknowledge 'the mere fact of your participation in the Series in personal publicity relating to yourself.'" The press conference was supposed to precede tonight's "Grand Re-opening." A source tells Radar Online that the conference may have also been cancelled to protect Amy and Samy from the death threats they've received.
]]> Amy and Samy acknowledged their NDA-type arrangement last week in an interview with CBS 5 Arizona. Despite the fact that both Amy and Samy seem to understand that they are not allowed to speak with reporters about Kitchen Nightmares, the couple just participated in a radio interview in which they discuss their negative portrayal on the show. The letter from Fox, posted online here via CBS 5 Arizona, states that if the couple breaches their contracted agreement, they might owe damages of $100,000.Shortly after receiving the cease and desist from Fox, Amy's Baking Company was dropped by their new PR firm, Rose+Moser+Allyn Public & Online Relations. After working with the Bouzaglos for a mere five days, publicist Jason Rose tells the Phoenix Business Journal that he had and the couple had "differences" in the way they worked and that "there were differences on public relations strategies." Maybe he just pulled a Gordon Ramsay and decided the couple was too delusional to help? Today will be the firm's final day with Amy's Baking Company.
· 'Kitchen Nightmares' Lawyers Threaten Restaurant Owners: Shut Up — Or You Owe Us $100K [Radar Online]
· Amy's Baking Company dumped by new PR firm, press conference canceled over threats [Phoenix Business Journal]
· Amy's Baking cancels presser; Cites legal threats [CBS 5 AZ]
· Kitchen Nightmares Restaurant Freaks Out on Facebook [-E-]
· Kitchen Nightmares Restaurant Will Relaunch Next Week [-E-]
· All Kitchen Nightmares Coverage on Eater [-E-]
TMZ reports that the family of the late, great pro wrestler "Macho Man" Randy Savage celebrated the second anniversary of his passing at a Tampa, FL Olive Garden. Apparently Olive Garden was "the go-to spot for family functions" and a place where the family "shared so many happy memories." [TMZ]]]>
Grease-slinging butter queen and self-proclaimed doughnut burger inventor Paula Deen might soon get a museum dedicated to her life and accomplishments in Albany, Georgia. Local businesswoman B.J. Fletcher has been working with Deen and her ex-husband Jimmy on the project for the past two years. Deen tells the Albany Herald that this is all very flattering: "I'm just trying to wrap my head around this incredible honor. I would want something like this to be a symbol of hope for people looking to make their lives better."
Aside from attracting Deen fans to the city, the museum will also serve to set the record straight regarding whether Savannah or Albany is actually her hometown: "While her adopted home of Savannah, executives of The Food Network, talk show hosts..., and all those foodies across the globe have staked their claim to Deen ... she remains an Albany girl, through and through. Some of her most ardent hometown supporters want to make sure the world makes that connection." It should also be an excellent place to store all that shell art.
· Group working to bring Paula Deen museum [Albany Herald via HuffPo]
· All Paula Deen Coverage on Eater [-E-]
Here's Telegraph critic Matthew Norman's review of Keith McNally's Balthazar London. He likes the space, calling it "gorgeous" and "enchanting," but no surprise, Norman piles it on like every other critic. Using words like "let-down" and "underwhelming," he calls the food "sloppily executed" and "no bleedin' good." [Telegraph]]]>
Owners Amy and Samy Bouzaglo of Amy's Baking Company — the Arizona restaurant that's now infamous for its Facebook freakout following a terrible showing on Kitchen Nightmares — just keep bringing the crazy in this interview with My103.9 in Phoenix. Fellow reality TV survivor Monti Carlo (MasterChef season three) leads the interview in which Amy and Samy rant their way through such sensitive topics as the hacking of their social media profiles, the ethics of keeping servers' tips, and why the Kitchen Nightmares filming was such a shitshow. Their reasoning is nothing short of bizarre.
On the subject of Yelpers, the couple continues to be completely defensive and paranoid. Amy says Yelpers were the cause of the meltdown during filming:
I saw how things were going, and how out of control it was getting, I told my husband, I grabbed the producers in the middle of filming, I said, "They are Yelpers. I know two of them for sure" ... My husband and I started to feel that we were surrounded by Yelpers, completely set up ... the people that my husband is screaming those obscenities at, they are not our customers. They are Yelpers ... All of those people, they went there with harmful, malicious intent. My husband and I said, "Wait a minute, we are not comfortable, you are endangering our lives...
Though many things on Kitchen Nightmares seem to be fake, it seems unlikely that the show conspired with evil Yelpers to create an unsafe situation for Amy and Samy.
]]> Amy also speaks to the degree of bullying she and her husband have been subjected to online. She says following the episode, Yelpers and other online haters were sending terrifying threats on the couple, and also "threatening to kill our cats." The recent wave of online venom directed towards Amy's Baking Co. follows their Facebook explosion, which the couple claims was due to hackers. "I didn't even know what Reddit was until I saw the post," Amy explains of the insults hurled from the Amy's Facebook account. "I told my husband, what is Reddit, oh my gosh, I freaked out. I went online, here's the thing, I took pictures, of my computer screen, showing I couldn't delete those posts." And it just keeps getting weirder.According to Amy, those Yelpers are what landed the restaurant on the show in the first place. She says that the producers asked the Yelp community who in Phoenix needed the show's help, and that Amy's Baking Co. was selected in that way. According to Amy, when the producers first reached out she and her husband "told them, as much as we would encourage the publicity, we didn't feel they had anything to come to us for." But come they did, and shouty chef Gordon Ramsay walked out on a restaurant for the first time in series history. They end the interview with an invitation to people who aren't "haters" to join them at tonight's "grand re-opening." Samy things the opening will go "the same" as previous services. Awesome.
Below are the seven segments of the interview, along with choice excerpts. Go, watch:
Video: Monti with Amy's Baking Company in Scottsdale, AZ - Part 1 of 7
Amy: I'm not proud of my behavior on that show, and I'm very sad that the whole world had to see me have a meltdown against people that had been bullying me for three years. I'm not proud of that. This is no way to behave.
Video: Monti with Amy's Baking Company in Scottsdale, AZ - Part 2 of 7
Amy, on being called "Crazy Amy": I think that it's unfortunate to be labeled crazy, because I stood up to online bullies who were trying to slander our business that we've had for six years..."
Video: Monti with Amy's Baking Company in Scottsdale, AZ - Part 3 of 7
Amy, on how they got involved with Kitchen Nightmares: Kitchen Nightmares put something on Yelp, asking the Yelp community, who in Phoenix needs our help the most. It was overwhelming that we needed their help. So they contacted us and asked us if we would be part of the show. We responded by telling them we were huge fans of the show, we loved the concept of the show, and we told them, as much as we would encourage the publicity, we didn't feel they had anything to come to us for. We, my husband and I, we are very humble people. We work 18 hours a day in our restaurant, we don't think we're better than anybody else.We told them the kitchen is extremely clean and the food is delicious we believe, we don't know what you would come here for. The only problem we've ever had negative, was with these online bullies, and with these people from Yelp. And there's no controlling it. And they told us they were coming to help. And we believed them. That's why we invited them into our kitchen. We had nothing to hide. We have nothing to hide.
It was very difficult to have Arizonans turn against us. I'm sorry because... we have not been able to get our story out there.
Video: Monti with Amy's Baking Company in Scottsdale, AZ - Part 4 of 7
Amy: The Yelpers, that I knew about that, these people that consistently for three years had been badgering us and threatening to kill us, and saying the most horrific things, those people I knew they were going to come to the restaurant, because they were talking about it, and I was reading about everything they were talking about on Yelp talk. The whole time. And I knew they were gonna come just to set us up to make us look like we didn't know what we were doing on national television. And I started to notice a few people come in the restaurant that looked familiar to me. And as I saw how things were going, and how out of control it was getting, I told my husband, I grabbed the producers in the middle of filming, I said, "They are Yelpers. I know two of them for sure. I have their names and their profiles right here. And that's exactly what happened. My husband and I started to feel that we were surrounded by Yelpers, completely set up, we didn't feel we were going to have a true authentic way to show our product, and we were right. The people that were there, the people that we are screaming at, when I am screaming "call the police, call the police." And the people that my husband is screaming those obscenities at, they are not our customers. They are Yelpers. I can prove it. They even went on Yelp and talked about it after. And I printed it. All of those people, they went there with harmful, malicious intent. My husband and I said, "Wait a minute, we are not comfortable, you are endangering our lives..."
Video: Monti with Amy's Baking Company in Scottsdale, AZ - Part 5 of 7
Amy, on what she did on camera: This is the most important thing I can say: We love our customers, we love the people that work for us. And when they put me on film, saying that the workers were dirty and lazy, I think that's one of the most hurtful things from everything that I've seen from my behavior on the show, that I'm so ashamed of, because I don't think I'm better than anybody, and I just want very high quality, qualified people who are clean and care about the food that they are serving to work in my kitchen. This is all I meant.
Video: Monti with Amy's Baking Company in Scottsdale, AZ - Part 6 of 7
Amy, on the public's response to the tips: This is very important. They did numerous interviews with my husband explaining the tip situation, and there's a part in the filming where my husband gets into it with Gordon, at the register where they're bantering back and forth, and this is why my husband got so pissed of at him, he was saying, you need to really not make people think that we're capable to steal the tips. That was really detrimental to us. We received death threats, from people online because of this ... They called us last night at 12 o'clock, at 1 o'clock in the morning, threatening to kill us. All of the local authorities have been amazing, we are blessed to have them watch after us, we're so grateful for them...
Video: Monti with Amy's Baking Company in Scottsdale, AZ - Part 7 of 7
Amy, on getting hacked: I would like to say that I own everything I've ever done. I'm not perfect, and I've made a tremendous amount of mistakes in my life, and I try to learn from those mistakes. Those things I didn't say, I was shocked, I was. I turned my phone on, and I started to get messages from myself, and tweets to myself, and mentions, and then I started reading it, I didn't even know what Reddit was until I saw the post. I told my husband, what is Reddit, oh my gosh, I freaked out. I went online, here's the thing, I took pictures, of my computer screen, showing I couldn't delete those posts. I contacted Facebook, hysterically, saying, 'My account has been hacked.' They did a lot of stuff there that was really terrible, our Yelp account is still completely hacked, they put pictures of people defecating.. it's disgusting, you know it shows the mentatlity of some of the people, and we don't want to go there with those people, but if I said those things, I would own it. I didn't say those things, I'm asking people to believe me. And I'm trusting the proper authorities to take care of this, I've filed all the appropriate paperwork. And all of this hate that was directed towards us, for our behavior on the show, what makes the people that are saying these horrific things, threatening to kill us, threatening to kill our cats, what makes them any better than the way that they perceived that we behaved on the show? If they hate us for our behavior, they're doing the same thing. We are real live people, you know, they hide, they know where to find us, they're hiding, they're hiding.
· Monti with Amy's Baking Company in Scottsdale, AZ [YouTube]
· Kitchen Nightmares Restaurant Freaks Out on Facebook [-E-]
· Kitchen Nightmares Restaurant Will Relaunch Next Week [-E-]
· All Kitchen Nightmares Coverage on Eater [-E-]
"To avoid the IRS targeting me as a conservative, I file all my taxes under the name Chef Boyardee." — Comedian Stephen Colbert is getting questionable tax advice. [Twitter]]]>
Ready for the "new" barbecue? Writer Josh Ozersky really is. His thoughts on the updated style of 'cue found at NYC's Mighty Quinn and chef Tim Byres' Smoke in Dallas: "It was only a matter of time before [chefs] took on the sacred cow of barbecue." [WSJ]
· Richard Vines: London's Best Dishes [Bloomberg]
· Recognizing Restaurant Regulars [Tribune]
· Top-Grade Caviar Contained Cheaper Variety [Telegraph]
· Where Have All the French Restaurants Gone in SF? [ISSF]
· Subway Worker, Mathematician Bridges Prime Gap [Simons via Kottke]
· A Look at Cherry Bombe Magazine [FWF]
· Legendary LA Rock Club Honoring Doors Death [TMZ]
· Restaurants Hit Back at 'Stupid' EU Olive Oil Law [BH]
Here's a video of Chicago-born expat chef Daniel Rose talking to interviewer Charlie Rose on his eponymous PBS show about opening Spring in Paris, France. He starts off discussing how he got to Paris in the first place—he originally arrived to finish university, only deciding to attend cooking school as a way to stay in the city. "I stayed in France because there was this opportunity to be nourished by all these new things I was learning. Whether it was language, or culture."
The Roses discuss the beauty and "certain clarity" of a great dining experience, "...it opens up the rest of the evening for other things: for falling in love, for having a conversation, for enjoying a restaurant, and for feeling alive" and learning French from scratch: "When I landed in Paris [for the first time] I spoke no French, and every moment that I tried to speak was frought with intense anxiety."
]]> On the the difficulties behind opening the first Spring:In 2006, ... no one had opened up a tiny little restaurant ... with no service and sometimes no heat. In the winter it was impossible, people were freezing. I moved restaurants because one day someone said, 'I'd like a coffee.' And I was busy answering the telephone and cooking at the same time, and they realized that it just wasn't going to to possible for me to just stop what I'm doing to make a coffee. I said, what kind of a dumb restaurant is this, where a guy wants a coffee and he can't have one? It's not like he asked me to make a banana split; he just wanted a coffee, which is a normal part of a restaurant experience.Video: Daniel Rose on Charlie Rose
· American Chef Daniel Rose discusses his Paris restaurant Spring [Charlie Rose]
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· All Daniel Rose Coverage on Eater [-E-]
· All Charlie Rose Coverage on Eater [-E-]
Ever visit Facebook and realize that there's not nearly enough Eater going on? Click on over to the Eater National Facebook page or the "Follow Us" section on the right, and then like magic, Eater's top stories will start showing up in your Facebook feed. It's like friends with benefits! But we understand if you want to take it slow at first, so how about we just follow each other on Twitter or Google+ first? [Facebook]]]>
PORTLAND, OREGON — Tickets for Feast Portland went on sale today, but better hurry: some events are already (close to) sold out. [Official Site]
NEW YORK CITY — The New York Public Library is hosting "David Chang and Friends" on May 22 for a panel discussion upon the release of the book Cook It Raw. Panelists include chefs Massimo Bottura and Daniel Patterson, Cook It Raw founder Alessandro Porcelli, and it will be moderated by writer Lisa Abend. [NYPL]
LAS VEGAS — Reality star Coco Austin is not happy about the super "super menu 4 VIP ballers" at Hakkasan, which boasts bottles up to $500,000. "U won't believe me when u see these prices 4 drinks.Thats why I had 2 take a pic," she tweeted, and indeed, you can find said "pic" over at Eater Vegas. [-EV-]
BROOKLYN — A Brooklyn gospel singer is suing McDonald's after she says a piece of glass in her chicken sandwich ruined her singing voice. "Now when I sing, I have a hoarse, rattly voice," she told the New York Post. "I still sing alto, but I can't sing soprano like I used to." [NYP]
[Photo: Feast Portland]
On the latest episode of Andrew Zimmern's podcast "Go Fork Yourself," he interviews Yelp's Director of Public Affairs Luther Lowe. Lowe answers a lot of questions by sort of not really answering them, so fun. [Andrew Zimmern]]]>
· Snapshots From the Good Day of GoogaMooga '13 [Eater NY]
· Tadich Grill Expanding to D.C. [Eater SF]
· How Do You Feed an Army? [Parade]
· Charlotte Remembers 1963 Desegregation 'Eat-In' [AP]
· 'Cadmium Rice' Is China's Latest Food Scandal [IHT]
· Seattle's Best to Open 10 Drive-Thru-Only Units in Dallas in One Day [NRN]
· Seamless Made Fun of My Dead Cat and it's Merging w/ GrubHub [Gawker]
· Graffiti Artist First to Review New KFC Concept [Eater Louisville]
· Sno Boat: Like a Food Truck, but Snow Cones, on a Boat [Eater Austin]
Yesterday at UCLA's campus, chefs Christina Tosi (Momofuku Milk Bar, NYC) and Zoe Nathan (Rustic Canyon and Huckleberry, LA) talked about their personal history with desserts, baking, and pie-making, a subject that concluded a quarter-long course on Science and Food, and a series of public lectures sponsored by the school's Life Sciences program. In general the talks were less about science and more about how these two well-known bakers took their divergent methods to create successful dessert and bake shops.
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There was a brief introduction by program director Amy Rowat about the science of pie. Rowat on what makes a great pie: "A pie has two main parts: crust and filling. Both need to be delicious. Because fruit in the filling contains a large amount of water, you need to use thickening agents such as the starches found in corn and wheat to cause the liquid to flow more slowly. Fat is critical for the texture of the crust, so solid, pea-sized globules are best."
Next, after a warm welcome, Tosi discussed her approach to making desserts the Momofuku Milk Bar way: "We wanted to make delicious food that had a point of view. It's not different just to be different. We take inspiration from classic desserts. We go through the process with an idea (like the scientific method), asking a question, dissecting it and then figure out if we've made something delicious and innovative. It has to strike a chord in order to be a successful dessert."
On what makes a delicious dessert: "For something to be delicious, it has to be really memorable. It has to strike a chord. You have to develop some sort of relationship, like that moment or smell that draws a sensory experience. It could be anything, it doesn't have to be fancy."
[Photo: Matthew Kang/Eater]
On why she won't compete with grandma's apple pie: "There was no way I was going to make a chocolate chip cookie or apple pie that was going to taste better than the one you grew up eating. My grandmother and mother loved to bake and that shaped my palate. What we did instead was take the inspiration of these things we grew up eating, like the apple pie, and then made it into a cake. We made a perfectly gooey pie filling, and then took the buttery richness of crust where the pie meets the apple. That's how we made the apple pie cake at Milk Bar. We took what makes an apple pie so good and layered it into a cake so you're not comparing the exact flavor."
On cereal milk: "We use cornflakes and toast it slow and low. It's the flavor that traverses so many flavors of cereal - frosted flakes, granola milk, Special K. It's the basis of how we take the inspiration of classic desserts and develop them into something simple that provides that emotional grab."
On crack pie's distinctive crust: "Crack pie is our approach to pie. We don't use a traditional American pie crust. This pie crust is an opportunity to surprise and wow beyond your traditional pie crust. I needed a bakery where pie crust would be its own voice."
On how the compost cookie came into being: "It's a little cheeky, because you're forced to take something you see every day and look at it with a fresh set of eyes. This is our take on a chocolate chip cookie. When you use the most basic ingredients, that's when you get something really innovative and successful."
[Photo: Matthew Kang/Eater]
On the creative process: "You have to question every single thing in the creative process. You don't need tool or ingredients, you just need a wandering spirit and the courage to ask why. You need momentum and patience, be willing to fail, and be excited in success."
Next Zoe Nathan came up to give her approach to baking. On the difference between a pastry chef and a baker: "I bake from intuition, from the heart. I screwed up so many things but I also learned a lot that way. I'm a baker, not a pastry chef. There's a big difference. I'm old school, I just use a few ingredients and know how to use them simply, with respect. I only care about process for the most part. A baker has to make something that you crave every day while a pastry chef only has to make something that someone tastes once a month, or once a year."
Nathan on the simplicity of baking: "It's must harder to make something simple. If all you have for dessert is a piece of pie or a tart, it better be good. It's like walking in naked, it's all you got. "
On what makes the perfect apple pie: "It should be simple, using as few ingredients as possible. It should be comforting. It's something you want to eat when you're cold. You want something gushy, a mess-ass pie, not something you see on the front of a magazine."
On the subject of crust: "Crust should always be butter, flour, sugar, maybe some leavening, and water. You want to use really good European-style butter. You want walnut-sized pieces. I always use all-purpose flour - pastry flour is annoying. The awesome thing about being in charge is that I don't have to do things that are annoying. And don't ever use shortening - it just tastes bad."
On the most important thing (or ingredient) in life: "No good pastry chef does not have salt. You need it. Salt salt salt. Please tattoo it to your body. Use salt in your crust please. It's overlooked and disrespected, it's so sad. Salt isn't generally a flavor, it's an enhancer. It will make the crust pop. Salt is the most underutilized ingredient in baking."
On the subject of filling: "Filling in the pie is always fruit. Never use frozen fruit, it's watery and gross. Making a pie should be expensive. You should spend an afternoon making it. Get the best fruit around. Go to your farmer's market, give your farmers a latte, and ask for seconds. They're the bruised, ugly fruit that they can't put on the table, but they're the best."
Nathan on baking as an ingredient: "After salt, my second biggest pet peeve is how people bake. They forget that it's an ingredient. Color is flavor, without it you don't have flavor. You should bake until the "oh shit" moment, when you realize, "Oh shit I forgot the pie." Ah, it's just awesome, that deep, dark brown. If you don't feel slightly nervous when you take it out, you didn't do it right. Nothing's worse than a pie with a blond bottom."
On baking as a meditation: "I hope that bakers would bake with more balls. I wish that everyone would throw away their timers. Engage your senses. Baking makes you be in the present, that's why we do it. It's a meditation. I bake because I'm the most impatient, scatterbrained person.
·All Christina Tosi Coverage on Eater [-E-]
·All Science and Food Coverage on Eater [-E-]
New York Observer critic Joshua David Stein fires off a rebuttal to Josh Ozersky's recent column about food writers and critics having agendas. Writes Stein: "Who do critics serve? Do they serve their editor? Do they serve chefs? Do they serve themselves? My answer is the critic above all serves the reader. Just as the chef's duty is to serve the best food he can to the reader, it is the critic's to serve the best criticism he can to the reader." [JDS]]]>
On the first day of the second annual Mésamerica Festival in Mexico City, New York City restaurateurs Frank Castronovo and Frank Falcinelli unveiled the details of their mysterious new project, RES. While rumors and liquor license applications had previously revealed that this was some sort of a chef collaborative project destined for Red Hook, Brooklyn, the guys behind Frankies Spuntino explained today that what they are setting up is "an artist residency for chefs" to visit from all over the world.
]]> A slideshow of the Franks with internationally renowned chefs such as René Redzepi played in the background as Falcinelli explained that the two were inspired by the community created at chef gatherings such as Mésamerica and MAD camp. The idea with RES, he said, is to create a stress-free space for chefs visiting New York from elsewhere in the US and abroad to showcase their talents: "At the space, we can host collaborative dinners, one-off events, and installations, and the chefs can stay at the facility while they present their work, free of charge. It's a place where a chef can present their work exactly how they want it to be, while exploring the city, meeting colleagues, and working on their repertoire."The new facility has a hot kitchen, a cold kitchen, and an "outdoor fire kitchen," while the dining area is set in a garden with a large lodging tent. Castronovo says that RES should open "in a few short weeks," but expect it to evolve through the years. And look, RES already has a website with an excerpt from this speech. Here it is:
Res is an artist residency for chefs, a non-commercial environment where chefs from around the world can present their work — their very best work — to the audience of New York without being rushed or stressed. RES is located on the the historic Brooklyn waterfront, basically looking the statue of liberty right in the eye and right across the river from Manhattan. All too often, chefs who travel for collaborative dinners and other events are rushed, short on money, or unable to fully showcase their talents. At Res, we hope to change that.There, we can host collaborative dinners, one-off events, or installations, and the chefs can stay at Res while they present their work, free of charge. It's a place where a chef can present their work exactly how they want it to be, while exploring the city, meeting colleagues, and working on their repertoire. At Res we have a cold kitchen, hot kitchen, and an outdoor fire kitchen. The dining area is a big beautiful garden with a large Canadian lodging tent.RES is meant to be a creative space without the constraints of a running restaurants day to day operations to interfere with the quality and integrity of the Resident Chefs best work.
RES is set to open in a few short weeks, but it's designed as a work-in-progress that will change as the months and years go by. We know one thing though: we want to contribute to our community of chefs, to our peers, and continue to make the world a bit smaller for those who love this profession.
· All Frankies Spuntino Coverage on Eater [-E-]
· All Mésamerica Coverage on Eater [-E-]
"8 yrs ago @davidchang set up my berry. 6 yrs ago pushed me to put dessert @momofuku 5 yrs ago @momomilkbar. 2 days ago this acct." — Please welcome Momofuku Milkbar head honcho Christina Tosi (finally) to Twitter. [Twitter]]]>
Taco purveyor Taco Bell has been sending b-list models jewelry and handwritten love notes. "We like you. So we wanted to give you this custom Taco Bell ring," reads the note. "Only a handful of special ladies like yourself are getting these custom rings, so treasure it." Eater sister site Racked National has photos. [Racked]]]>
Well, here it is: the Libya episode of Parts Unknown. The one host Anthony Bourdain has been saying he wanted to make ever since he left the Travel Channel for CNN. While it is much more intense that your average Bourdain show — save maybe the Haiti episode — there was a lot of joy in it as well. And food; this is Bourdain after all. Over the course of the episode, he tried tried local Mediterranean fish, fried breakfast breads, the local barbecue, and something called "Uncle Kentucky Fried Chicken." Now on to the Quotable Bourdain — fill free to add your picks in the comments below.
1: On Libya: "It's amazing arriving here after all you see on TV these days that Libya is in fact functioning at all. But it is."
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2: On how Libya celebrates: "Every kid over the age of five seems to have been issued a lighter and a fistful of fireworks."
3: On what Tripoli's like: "This is Tripoli after 42 years of nightmare. How to build a whole society overnight and make it work in one of the most contentious and difficult areas of the word is what people are trying to figure out."
4: On Muammar Gaddafi: "There aren't a lot of conflicts in the world where there is a bad guy. Clearly there was a bad guy here."
5: On Uncle Kentucky Fried Chicken: "The Colonel and his buddies the king and the clown have not quite made it here given the uncertainty of the situation. So in the meantime, places like this have been popping up."
6: On what chain restaurants mean to Libyans: "A few pieces of greasy fried chicken eaten in a brightly colored fast food setting means something more than a calorie bomb."
7: Gaddafi's former stronghold: "Outside Tripoli's center, there's this: one time axis of all power and untold evil, a huge complex of sinister offices, barracks, residences on top of a rabbit warren of secret tunnels and underground facilities. The Bab al-Azizia."
8: On the use of Twitter in the Libyan revolution: "How does that feel, knowing you can call in a Tomahawk missile?"
9: On fashion: "Should I be wearing one of those cool journalist safari jackets at this point?"
10: On Misrata: "Looking around at the price this city paid for freedom, you can see why they don't want to lose what they fought so hard for."
11: On the war museum: "Now if you had any doubt about the terrible odds these young revolutionaries were facing during the early days of the fighting, especially in the months before NATO came in with their support, check out Misrata's war museum."
12: On one homemade weapon: "You took it off a helicopter and you put it on a car?"
13: On another homemade weapon: "So it's basically a crossbow that fires molotov cocktails."
14: On his Libya chin scruff: "I don't know if you noticed, but I'm going full-Blitzer on this shoot."
15: On who likes barbecue: "Like barbecue? Who does not like barbecue? They sure like 'em here."
16: On Libya's alcohol policy: "I've been about a week without any alcohol. I'm enjoying my new clean living lifestyle."
17: On the power of barbecue: "I've said it before and I'll say it again: barbecue may not be the road to world peace, but it's a start."
18: On Italy's influence on Libya: "So the Italians left you one good thing. A few nice buildings and pasta."
19: Eating a gas station liver sandwich: "When they were talking about a high risk environment, I think they were talking about this.... it's good!"
20: On the figurines chiseled into some ruins: "Someone chipped off all the dicks. Not that I was looking."
21: On Libya: "It's Libya. They were supposed to be the bad guys, a bad country filled with bad people, right? I don't think so."
· All Parts Unknown Coverage on Eater [-E-]
· All Anthony Bourdain Coverage on Eater [-E-]
Portland-based Voodoo Doughnut is opening in Denver. This will be the 24-hour doughnut shop/tourist attraction/pink box purveyor's first location outside Oregon. Ironically, the storefront will be next to a dentist's office: "Hopefully we can do something together. 'No cavities, here's a coupon for a free doughnut.'" [OregonLive via Eater PDX]]]>
Chef and smurf voice actor Wolfgang Puck's catering company was slapped with a class action lawsuit, claiming that he owed his employees "hundreds of thousands in unpaid gratuity" going back to 2008. According to the New York Post, the suit, which was filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, says the company charged venues including Irving Plaza and the Gramercy Theatre with a 22 percent service fee but didn't pass along the tips to servers and bartenders. Not entirely legal, according to state and federal law.
This year has been tough for the Austrian-born chef's legal team. Just three months ago a woman sued Puck after a waitress at his DC restaurant The Source allegedly hit her with a water pitcher.
· Wolfgang Puck catering firm slammed for skimming tips: suit [NYP]
· All Wolfgang Puck Coverage on Eater [-E-]
[Photo: Helga Esteb / Shutterstock.com]
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