FOOD FLICKS: Tom Colicchio's Craftsteak at MGM

By JULIETTE ROSSANT If you haven't poked your head into Tom Colicchio's restaurant Craftsteak at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas (discussed on pp. 198-200 in Super Chef). Tom Colicchio's Craftsteak at the MGM Grand Run time: 0 minutes 45 seconds Previous articles: Wolfgang Puck Grand Cafe at MGM Tom Colicchio's Craftsteak NY [FOOD FLICKS - complete] Technorati Tags: superchefblog, Juliette Rossant, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, blogging, food blogging --> back to superchefblog

Cat Cora FHM: MiniMart Chef?

By JULIETTE ROSSANT How is a girl to keep up with the competition? Take Cat Cora. She's got to keep up with her Food Network pal Rachael Ray. If Rachael starts her own magazine, Every Day with Rachael Ray, Cat has to at least become executive chef for Bon Appetit magazine. If Rachael starts endorsing products, Cat has to endorse something, even if it's a garbage disposer. If Rachael gets her picture in FHM, Cat has to get her photo into -- Forbes? But when Rachael launches a new TV talk show, The Rachael Ray Show, complete with blessings from backer Oprah Winfrey, what's a girl to do? Bust out the mini-skirt and hit the mini-market, that's what! So, earlier this month, that's just what Cat did: fall in line right behind Rachael and pose for FHM. The operative word here is "fell," because Cat simply falls out of her top as she reaches down in her mini-skirt to pick up a food item in a mini-market. OK, the story is tongue-in-cheek, too: Cat sets out to cook a Fine Dining meal with ingredients from a Circle K. But, fun aside, where does the lowering to "common" food stop, and when do we find a little Food elevation? The Food Network has already shoved aside stalwarts like Sara Moulton: will they force the one women professional chef they are promoting to scrape and bow for ratings and celebrity, rather than focus on the "food" in the network's name.......? Or is this more a case of (forgive us) "cat out of the bag"? Whatever the case, these photos hardly match up with the grand gesture of Chefs for Humanity. Previous articles: Rossant on Rachael Ray's Competition Cat Cora Joins Bon Appetit St. Patrick's: Cat Takes Hat Cat Cora Talks Money to Forbes Cat Cora: Chefs for Humanity Results: White House Woman Chef Cat Cora, Anita Lo: Sexing Up Iron Chef America Profile: Cat Cora for White House Chef Cat Cora Wins on Iron Chef America Cat Cora: Iron Chef America's First Lady World AIDS Day II: Iron Chef Cat Cora [Chefs & Branding - complete] [Food Television - complete] Technorati Tags: superchefblog, Juliette Rossant, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, blogging, food blogging --> back to superchefblog

Christmas Remembered: Tomie dePaola

By JULIETTE ROSSANT These days, it's never too early to write about Christmas, and what better way to start seasonal thoughts than with Tomie dePaola? If you have ever read to a small child, or if you are in touch with your inner child, chances are you've read one of Tomie's 200 or so children's books. Many of them often feature food. His wonderful tale of an Italian witch, Strega Nona, is all about the trouble her assistant, Big Anthony, gets into when he uses her magic pasta pot without permission. Another, Pascual and the Kitchen Angels, narrates an angel takeover of a kitchen to bail out the young, inexperienced San Pascual, who is supposed to be cooking meal for monks. Guess Who is Coming to Santa's for Dinner?, is based on a Christmas party that Tomie had for his own family: I decided when I moved to this house over a decade ago that I would have my sister and her kids over along with friends for a huge Christmas dinner. It was a disaster, of course. The plum pudding that had too much liquor exploded, and I had flames on my arm! Sure enough, in the book Santa decides to invite his whole dysfunctional family over for dinner, and the dessert explodes. (Duff Goldman: somewhere in your youth or childhood, did you ever read Tomie dePaola?) From what Tomie told Superchefblog, his early childhood memories of food resemble those many chefs: I have an Irish grandma, and for birthdays for the Irish, you could do whatever you wanted. I wanted to cook my own dinner. I was five. They put a chair backwards against the stove, and my parents stood on either side of me. I don't know if my father had a fire extinguisher… I had a six-inch frying pan, I made a pop eye – you fry an egg with fried bread that you've cut a hole out of, and then put the bread hole on top of the egg poking through [sometimes called a "bunny in the hole"]. I still have that frying pan. His newest book, Christmas Remembered (G. P. Putnam 2006) is a treasury of stories about Christmases in his life, illustrated with collages. This is a gift for families – there are no sad stories, no dysfunctional family members, but there are marvelous, tender personal stories of why Christmas is a joyous time no matter where you are or who you are with. One of his favorite stories in the book is about spending a Christmas in New York City that ended with a meal at the Plaza Hotel: Finally a brigade of servers arrived with trays filled with fancy desserts. The waiter himself took the little girl's special dessert, placed it in front of her and stepped back. It was a pink and white fruit-ice Santa Claus standing amongst globes of strawberry and vanilla ice cream. She started at it. Everyone looked lovingly at her. The older woman said, "Isn't that lovely, dear? A Santa Popsicle!" The Little Girl picked up the Santa and promptly bit off his head. The rest of the table froze in absolute silence. "Oh, well," I said to Bob. "This is the Plaza, after all. 'Eloise' is alive and well." (p. 75) One chapter is about Tomie's part time job in high-school at the local candy shop, and how he helped make mint candy canes, including one over five feet long. ("A Candy Cane Christmas" pp. 19-25) Another Christmas in San Francisco, Tomie decided to have an after-Christmas party and filled his small apartment with over 80 small Christmas trees that he bargained for from some paesani who had trees left over after Christmas. (The model for Strega Nona, Tomie confided to Superchefblog, is none other than his own Italian grandmother, Nana Fall-River, named after the town where she lived. You can see his handsome portrait of a contented grandmother, wine glass raised, toasting the riches of Christmas. -- Just wait for Cucina Strega Nona!) Book details: Publisher Amazon.com Barnes & Noble Previous articles: [Cookbook Reviews - complete] Technorati Tags: superchefblog, Juliette Rossant, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, blogging, food blogging, cookbooks, cookbook reviews --> back to superchefblog

Emeril's Military-Only Contest

By JULIETTE ROSSANT Is Emeril Lagasse the new face of the USO, that nonprofit led by the likes of Bob Hope and Brooke Shields, which entertains and boost morale among our troops around the world? Take for instance Emeril's newest contest: if you are a military chef, this one is for you (click here to enter). Only military chefs on active duty can submit their recipes by October 9th, 2006. The best ones, judged by Emeril according to originality and taste, will be choosen for a special episode. The Food Network website has this important advice: And when you give us your recipe title, it is helpful to know what type of food category applies. For example, "Chicken Soup" might be better as "Tony's Smokin' Chicken Soup" or "Tomato Sauce" might be better as "My Sunday Best Red Sauce." Superchefblog humbly suggests more appropriately military words like "chow" and "grub" and or even MREs. For chicken soup, how about "Chicken Slurp" or for a powdered soup "Chicken WOW" (Chicken With Out Water)? We welcome your suggested names for standard or exotic fare. Related articles: ARNEWS Soldiers Online Armytimes.com Biloxi Sun Herald Air Force Times Army Times Marine Corps Times Navy Times Previous articles: Sodexho Signs Suvir Saran American Gulag: Bad Goulash? RIP Marla Ruzicka Tsunami Update 5: Chefs Counter Paul Prudhomme Seasons Troops in Gitmo Technorati Tags: superchefblog, Juliette Rossant, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, blogging, food blogging --> back to superchefblog

Exclusive Interview: Paula's Party

By JULIETTE ROSSANT Are you craving more Paula Deen? That Southern matron-cum-cook who owns The Lady and Sons in Savanah, GA? Who hosts Paula's Home Cooking on the Food Network and stars in her own episode of Chefography? Who hawks kitchen products and magazine (Cooking with Paula Deen, from Hoffman Media)? Who has set up her sons, Bobbie and Jamie Deen, on their own Food Network show, Road Tasted. If you ever wanted to party with her, then her new show, Paula's Party, premiering on the Food Network at 10:00 p.m. EDT on September 29, 2006 (Friday), is the show for you. It is more of Paula, but more for adults: sassier, friskier, and a little more "romantical" (that's how Paula says it: what is "romantical" anyway, instead of romantic?). Paula's Party is partly aimed at Baby Boomers of a certain age, but there are plenty of younger people in the studio audience soaking up her homespun advice, that is part Dr. Phil and part Mother Knows Best. Paula told Superchefblog in a wide-ranging interview: We can't pin it down, My fans are 2 to 92. It's about love in the room that is the heart of the home. My audience is filled with young people, 20s, 40s, 50s, 60s. who have a zest for life. Paula's Party, which is introduced by a dancing Paula under a disco ball, is about spending time cooking food that is meant to enhance romance. The usual aphrodisacs and a few more unusual ones aboud. She and her husband, tugboat captain,Michael Groover, aka Mikey, cooking oxtails and very stuck-together rice. Then she makes grilled oysters swimming in butter and parmesan with her brother, Uncle Bubba Hiers, almost setting their restaurant, Uncle Bubba's Oyster House on fire. She even gets cozy in bed with a couple in her studio, fixing baked praline French toast for a romantic brunch in bed, as if they needed help under the blankets. That's Paula's favorite scene. Then she does a copy of a food competition a la Iron Chef, making a wedding cake batter in three minutes, with the help of the audience. It is not clear why anyone would want to make a wedding cake in three minutes, but that really isn't the point of the fun. At times the show is hysterical, embarrassing, and hokey in a Love Boat sort of way. Paula teases out appropriate come ons from the audience, some of which are sweet stories about how they met their mates. She seems to enjoy herself enormously flirting with everyone as she toss chocolate kiss cookies out to the audience. She shares anectdotes about Mikey romancing her, and does some cooking inbetween. What you learn about cooking you could slip through the eye of a needle. It's more about having fun. Spending time together in the kitchen. We have a lost generation, lost to fast food. I want to educate them about the importance of a family meal. A sentiment echoed by many serious chefs like Michael Schlow whose book, It's About Time is all about making time to cook and eat. Paula plans a children's cookbook and children products as she spends more time with her new one-month old grandson Jack. Southern baby food anyone? Paula wouldn't elaborate on her plans for another show that would take her away from cooking. She is aware of Rachel Ray's progress from cooking shows to interview show: We have certainly discussed that, and I don't want to do anything like her shows. I do have something in mind, but whether it come to be… it won't be a cooking show. I don't want to jinx it. The best part of Paula's Party, she says, is the studio audience. If anyone has Emeril Lagasse's magic with an audience, it's Paula Deen. What is her favorite Food Network Show? Her two son's Road Tasted, of course. But she also enjoys Throw Down with Bobby Flay . I don't watch Iron Chef America. Such pressure! It makes me sick to my stomach. I did that in my restaurant; that is way too stressful for me to enjoy. Paula said she is extremely excited about her upcoming memoir being published: I am excited, nervous, I have a lot of emotions about that. I tried to be honest, to walk down memory lane. I had a Jewish, Yankee writer, for this - Sherry Cohen. Life just runs through her. We got along great. She flies down to Savannah, we crawl on my bed, turn on tape recorder, and talked for hours. She's done a fabulous job. It sounds like me. Paula mentioned a forthcoming Christmas cookbook for next year, and she said that she had at least three more in mind. She is not, however, planning to expand with more restaurants. You know, I am kind of like Bobby, the restaurant business is excruciatingly hard. One is enough. Uncle Bubba's is a place to visit. There are so many other things I want to do. I don't have the time to devote to it. You need to be on site or things can be interpreted poorly. One thing she would jump at is another chance to be in the movies, following her performance as Aunt Dora in Cameron Crowe's film Elizabethtown last year. Her idea of the perfect part? An animated movie in which she plays the voice of a Southern lobster. Video: Paula's Party: Sneak Peek (WMV) Paula Deen interview (WMV) Previous articles: Rossant on Rachael Ray's Competition Jamie and Bobby Deen: Road Tasted Paula Deen & Friends [Food Television - complete] [Chefs & Branding - complete] Technorati Tags: superchefblog, Juliette Rossant, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, blogging, food blogging, Paula Deen --> back to superchefblog

FOOD FLICKS: Wolfgang Puck Grand Cafe at MGM

By JULIETTE ROSSANT Today, you know it as the Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, from a concept developed by Barbara Lazaroff and business partner (also then-husband) Wolfgang Puck (discussed on pp. 31-34 and p. 45 in Super Chef). Once upon a time, not very long ago at all, however, the restaurant was known as the Wolfgang Puck Grand Cafe, and here is a little movie about it as a trip down (recent) memory lane. Wolfgang Puck Grand Cafe at the MGM Grand Run time: 0 minutes 45 seconds Previous articles: FOOD FLICKS Technorati Tags: superchefblog, Juliette Rossant, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, blogging, food blogging --> back to superchefblog

International Culinary Center - Spain's 10: Cocina de Vanguardia

By JULIETTE ROSSANT It may well be impossible to get a reservation at El Bulli for next month, but you can still catch Ferran Adria at work. The French Culinary Institute and the Italian Culinary Academy are joining together to form a new International Culinary Center. As part of the festivities for the opening of the new school, a international symposium is being held called Spain’s 10: Cocina de Vanguardia. Following gala dinner and auction at the James Beard Foundation on Thursday, October 12, and a ribbon cutting ceremony and summit on Friday, October 13, the public will have the opportunity to attend a day of culinary demonstrations from Spain’s masters, as well as a tapas lunch and tastings on Saturday, October 14. Washington's Jose Andres, along with wine consultant Gerry Dawes, and journalist Anya von Bremzen, host the following 10 chefs: Ferran Adrià Juan Mari Arzak Martín Berasategui Alberto Chicote Paco Roncero Quique Dacosta Daniel García Enrique Martínez Joan Roca Paco Torreblanca Tickets for Saturday's event are $300, with proceeds going to student scholarships. That's probably cheaper than a meal at El Bulli, and it supports a great culinary institution. Previous articles: Common Threads' World Festival Sustainable Seafood Day Cooking For Life: Vikas Khanna No Natural Ingredient: Nelson Mandela, Live8 1st Summer Gourmet Food & Wine Tasting Smithsonian Folklife Festival: Food Culture USA Alice Waters: Green Screen Film Festival Slow Food Thanksgiving, by Alice Waters and Prince Charles New York Welcomes "Cool Comedy - Hot Cuisine" Inside Scoop on Dinner in the Control Room [Chefs & Charity - complete] Technorati Tags: superchefblog, Juliette Rossant, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, blogging, food blogging --> back to superchefblog