Robbed

Axed too soon. 

 I had such high hopes for Jennifer Carroll. 

Here's her exit interview...The rest of this season will be sad. 

Top Chef All Stars!!!

My favorite guilty pleasure! 10 minutes in and everyone (especially Spike) seems to be hamming it up.  

I'm calling it...Antonia is the first one out....She's had too much airtime and we aren't even past the Quickfire Challenge...

I could be wrong, but I don't remember her being a standout.

Chicago-chef Rick Bayless Tapped to Prepare Next State Dinner for President of Mexico

I'm really never in the Windy City, but  I know Rick Bayless from my mild fascination with chef life and unhealthy addiction to Bravo reality shows--more specifically Top Chef and Top Chef Masters.  Apparently, he runs a stellar Mexican place in Chicago that the Obama's favor and is quite the culinary star. So, it makes sense that he has been selected to prepare the state dinner for President Felipe Calderon of Mexico. On the show(s), he has the most cheerful disposition and seems like he knows his stuff...

According to the New York Times, 
"Officials said no to Mr. Bayless’s request that he be allowed to make two or three long-simmering, complex sauces ahead of time and ship them frozen to the White House where they could be tested. So Mr. Bayless and crew will be coming to Washington two days earlier than planned to begin preparing a 28-ingredient Oaxacan black mole."



Neato!

If you read the article, it mentions something about "pyramid plating style". I have absolutely no idea what that means. Anybody out there know? Google didn't seem to know either

 

Via: NYTimes.com

Top Chef: Buh-bye Robin

Justice is at long last restored. Robin was sent packing. All is right in the world now... The End.

**But, at least she had a good hair day on her final appearance. As far as female faux-hawks go, it was working for her! Watch "The Morning After" video for her take on Tom's height and  Padma's jokey nature. Somewhat interesting.

Via: Bravo.com

Restaurant Wars

...is only the best part of every season of Top Chef. The fiery power plays, the execution disasters, to serve dessert or not serve dessert--the culinary intrigue is practically excruciating.  Kudos to "Revolt"-- the V-bros, chubby Eli, and, yes, even annoying Robin deserve the victory.  However, seeing Mission lose was disappointing.  Admittedly, the way Jennifer pronounces "salad" irks me to no end, but there is no contesting that the Le Bernardin alum is an incredibly accomplished chef. My heart sank when she started to choke under pressure. Her sauce broke!!! Her dish was beige!!! She cooked the shellfish to order!!!  Technically, she should have gone home, but so relieved when the ax fell on Laurine, who, let's face it, has sucked for weeks.   

If you watch Top Chef, then you have to start watching "The Morning After" videos.  Love.

Goodbye Ashley

I'm late here, but I had to post about the recent elimination. Ashley had to go folks.  As the judges say in some form or another, this is Top Chef, not Top Saint... Ashley demonstrated character and seemed to know food, but didn't really show her culinary stuff till much later in the competition. Once Robin Leventhal is axed--which I predict will be this week--the game/kitchen will really start heating up.

See ya, Ash! Work on those flavor profiles.




Via: Bravo.com

Fabio's Foibles

Fabio's resto (in LA) is dunzo.  His grammar needs work too...

Via: Eater.com 

Vittles for the Week: Poodle Show, Top Chef Burger Boy, and Happy Coffee Cup

Caffeine Contentment

Wakey-wakey!: First-place winner of Buzzfeed's contest "Cutest Thing That's a Thing Contest"

Via: Buzzfeed

Byproduct of Bi-polar Disorder: Man overcomes mental disorder through art. 

Via: Juxtapoz

 Fine Dining Between Two Buns:  An article about former Top Chef contestant, Richard Blaise and his burger joint based in Atlanta.  Next time I'm down South, I will have to stop by his place. The fries sound amazing.

Via: QSR Magazine

Peeps Lip Balm? 

Via: Seriouseats.com

Avocado Fries:  Gotta try this. 

Via: The Village Voice

Poodle Culinary Wiz: Cooking with Dog, a Japanese cooking show on Youtube!

Enjoy!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

Top O' the mornin' to ya...

Enjoy your plate of  Green Eggs and Ham.

Wylie Dusfresne loved this dish! 

Via: Bravotv.com

Comment Card: Allen and Delancey

My friends visiting from Italy accorded me carte blanche to set the agenda for their last night in New York. The pressure was on to select a reputable American restaurant that had some buzz around it, surpassing the caliber of food that they had encountered so far, and representative of the best of Manhattan's restaurant culture. Yikes.

Allen and Delancey seemed to be the right choice--favorable write-ups, farm-to-table approach to food, and zippy LES location. A new head chef, Kyle Bailey (formerly of Stone Barns and Cru), was running the kitchen and had created a new menu. I was eager to sample the menu and see what all the hullaballoo was all about surrounding Allen and Delancey. Apparently, so was PADMA LAKSHMI, the extraordinarily tall and beautiful hostess of Top Chef. I really do hate being such a Top Chef star fucker, because my friends never seem to share the same enthusiasm at the actual sighting.

Me: OH MY GOD, There's PADMA! She JUST walked past our table.

Friend: Uh, who?

Me: You know PADMA from TOP CHEF!! She's the hostess of the show, Indian, tall, enormous scar on her arm, wrote Tangy, Tart, Hot and Sweet...(Me droning on some more...)

Friend: Oh, yeah.

Me: You know, reality TV, cooking competition! They must air the show in Italy...

Friend: Yes, I think I've seen a few episodes.

Me: THERE SHE IS!!

Friend: Oh, yeah. I see her. Ho hum.

I've spotted Padma twice now (New Museum), Sam (Concert in Brooklyn), Mark (Season 4, Public), Ilan ( Casa Mono). But I digress, back to Allen and Delancey...

The restaurant space has a rustic charm, designed in the manner of an old Vermont barn house, festooned with antique relics, fresh cabbage roses, and oil portrait paintings. The mood was warm and inviting.

My friends, Federica and Daniele, ordered the polenta and foie gras for starters, and the Arctic char and veal for mains, respectively. The char is supposed to be one of the highlights of the menu, based on reviews I've read, however, Federica thought the fish was too dry.

This is what I ordered:

Hamachi Crudo, Grapefruit Beads, Pickled Fennel, Mint

Prosciutto Wrapped Veal Loin, Sweet Breads, Brussels Sprouts, Gratín

Sweet Cream French Toast, Maple Ice Cream, Bacon Caramel, Caramelized Banana

First, the bread is very good. One of the rolls had a savory, smokiness that was heavenly!

The Hamachi starter was luscious and well seasoned. The high oil content of the Hamachi (yellowtail) gave it a wonderfully, buttery texture, and the the acid and flavors of the grapefruit, fennel, and mint complimented the fattiness of the fish.

The veal was tender and cooked perfectly. There was a pumpkin or butternut squash puree and sauteed leaves of brussel sprouts that surrounded the plate, the sweetness of the puree and the saltiness of the brussel sprouts (not sure how they were prepared) brought out the flavors of the veal. Really delightful. The sweetbreads were also quite good, creamy and delicate.

I ordered the dessert because the bacon caramel caught my eye. Eaten alone, without garnish, the french toast was a bit hard. However, once fully soaked with the caramel sauce, or eaten with the ice cream and banana, the french toast softens to become a playful dessert that is really tasty and fun.

Wrap Up...

Food: Delish

Service: Pretty good

Ambiance: Rustic charm

Price: Beau coup bucks ($100/person) Includes 20% tip and a bottle of wine

Allen & Delancey

115 Allen Street New York, NY 10002
212-253-5400

Via Time Out

Via Gothamist

Top Chef News

Some Top Chef nonsense ... (<----Click hyperlink...)

Vittles for the Week: Lambrusco, Top Chef, Hamburger Fun!

Drink: Lambrusco is back in, less cloyingly sweet with a drier finish. Wonderful treat, if you aren't in the mood for something heavy. I've seen Lambrusco pop up on menus such at Per Bacco, Gusto, and Roberta's (Bushwick). Via Tasting Table

Diversion: More Top Chef Nonsense, a preview of Season 6's chef-testants. Via Eater

Impulse Shopping: Aren't hamburgers the cutest? Especially when they vacuum up table crumbs! Via Gizmodo

Local Shopping: A list of the Greenmarkets and Farmer's Markets in New York State
Via New York State of Agriculture


Off-the Menu Fast Food: Off- the menu hamburgers that aren't so cute--The McGang-Bang.
Via Eat Me Daily

Co-op Cooking: I like the time-saving aspects and potential variety of meals over the course of a week, but sitting and eating together seems like a drag on agoraphobic days. Zip-locking should be an option. Via Bitten Blog; Also See Ethicurean

Recession Deals: Cheap eats! Looking for deals in New York?
Via Gothamist