Chef Josef Morphis in the house for tonight’s Mastro’s steak dinner. Amazing. #eatplusdrink #eatplusdrinksupperclub #mastros #chefjosefmorphis #steak #foodwizard
Brazilliant!!! I LOVE Marilyn!!
Marilyn Hagerty Reviews a Cronut: “It’s Very Chewy”
Viral Grand Forks Herald restaurant critic Marilyn Hagerty tasted one of chef Dominique Ansel’s mania-inducing Cronuts on Today this morning. In the segment, Today had “trendy New York items” like Ramen Burgers and Bantam bagel holes on hand, though Hagerty only had time to review the Cronut. It wasn’t clear whether she knew the backstory of the pastry when she gave her assessment: “Well, it’s very chewy, it’s very good. I think that I would like it with a cup of coffee, maybe in the afternoon … in the afternoon you can eat more.” Unfortunately for Hagerty, afternoon Cronut eating isn’t a possibility since the pastries sell out quickly to the people waiting in the epic line at Ansel’s SoHo bakery every morning.
Um…EVERYTHING tastes better with ricotta!!!
Sugar Snap Pea Salad with Pine Nut-Kasha Granola & Ricotta
New Use for Granola: “Everyone adds nuts to salad, but I wanted to do something different,” says Justin Smillie. He tops crisp snap peas with a savory granola that includes pine nuts and kasha. Ricotta adds another layer of texture.
I SWEAR this phenomenon is also happening here in Los Angeles. It’s driving me insane because I keep thinking I’m turning into an old curmudgeon (I’m not, I swear!). I hope Eater LA does a similar test here in LA. Here are my top picks for noise: Bestia and Salt Air.
Decibel Levels in New York’s Hottest Restaurants
Critics, bloggers, and Eater readers frequently complain about noise levels in New York restaurants these days. Adam Platt wrote about the “Great Noise Boom” last month, and before that Robert Sietsema offered his own take on the noise problem. With this issue in mind, Eater set out to collect hard data on some of the worst offenders. Here, now, are peak decibel levels recorded at 19 of the city’s hottest restaurants in order of loud to loudest:
I love that a Beastie Boy is REALLY into wine!
Beastie Boys’ Mike D on His Wine Conversion and the Bottles That Got Away
“There’s something that fires when your taste buds are dazzled in a certain way with wine that is almost beyond words,” says Mike D. “It’s the same thing that happens when you listen to Miles Davis’s On the Corner in the right setting, at the right time.” In this exclusive preview of the September issue, the hip-hop icon tells F&W about his wine obsessions.
Did touring the world with the Beastie Boys get you into wine?
As a traveling musician, you have the opportunity to explore great food and wine regions. But unfortunately, I wasn’t interested then. I often look back wistfully and think to myself, If only I was super-into wine when I was in France in 1987, I could have bought tons of 1982 Bordeaux for, like, under $20 a bottle. Today, all of those wines are probably $1,000-plus. But the wine game is not necessarily something you get into when you’re that young.
I’m not sure how I ended up on this mailing list (it happens) but how damn cute is this cookbook and the people who made it - Tina and Lilian. I don’t really cook (that’s Tere’s job) but I’m guessing some of you home cooks with kids would be down for grabbing this cookbook!
PICCOLO CHEF’S FIRST COLLECTION OF RECIPES IS NOW AVAILABLE!
Hello from Tina Fanelli Moraccini and Lilian Palmieri at Piccolo Chef, the leading cooking school for children and teens in L.A.
We hear from you, busy parents, that you want to spend more time with your kids, but that you also need to feed them, and it takes time. Our new book, The Piccolo Chef Cookbook: Healthy Cooking With Your Kids,allows you to do just that: to combine cooking healthy food with spending quality time with your children.
You will not find ‘kiddie’ food in The Piccolo Chef Cookbook, only recipes for dishes that deserve to be presented at the table of adults.
The spirit of Piccolo Chef is that sharing responsibility for cooking teaches children so much more than just the recipe you are working on. It helps foster creativity, confidence, patience, teamwork, and more. Spending time with children cooking will provide them with important skills and lifelong awareness and appreciation of cooking and good eating.
The Piccolo Chef Cookbook: Healthy Cooking With Your Kids includes a foreword by celebrity chef Fabio Viviani.
You can order the Piccolo Chef cookbook from our website, or from Amazon or Barnes & Noble.
This is by far my favorite cronuts post ever. Clearly not all fake cronuts are made alike.
The Ultimate Food Emporium Fake Cronut Taste Test
Following the news that Food Emporium had jumped on the Cronut bandwagon, Eater headed out to try to obtain some of the so-called “creme filled croissant donuts.” The Hell’s Kitchen Food Emporium apparently sold out of their supply yesterday, but at 12:30 p.m. the Union Square Food Emporium had a counter full of fake Cronuts in four different flavors and absolutely no line. Maria, the friendly woman behind the pastry counter, reported that the knockoffs were a hit, and that just today they’d already sold around 100. So how do these croissant donuts hold up to the real deal?
I’m in love with this whole Cronuts-craze that is sweeping New York and maybe Los Angeles. To the point that last week, we went out and bought a number of fake Cronuts here in Santa Monica and checked them all out. Well now the creator of the Cronut, Dominique Ansel, has landed a book deal. Of course!
Cronut Creator Dominique Ansel Lands a Cookbook Deal
New York City pastry chef Dominique Ansel has landed a cookbook deal with Simon & Schuster. Ansel is widely known as the inventor of the Cronut, the mania-inducing croissant-doughnut hybrid that has inspired countless imitators (including the grocery chain Food Emporium). His cookbook has a working title of DOMINIQUE ANSEL: The Secret Recipes, and according to the press release it will “showcase Ansel’s artistry and versatility in a unique format: stories and commentary will guide readers through Ansel’s recipes, sources of inspiration, and favorite moments of surprise.” The books aims to be accessible to both beginners and experienced pastry chefs, and is Ansel’s first cookbook. DOMINIQUE ANSEL: The Secret Recipes will be available in October 2014.
Will you be tuning in?
Watch a Preview of The Mind of a Chef, Premiering Sept. 7
Zero Point Zero, Anthony Bourdain, and WGBH have announced that the second season of their James Beard Award-winning PBS television series The Mind of a Chef will premiere on Saturday, September 7th. The second season will focus on chefs Sean Brock and April Bloomfield.
According to the announcement below, the first five episodes of the series will focus on Brock with a visit to Brock’s R&D lab, cooking with chef John Currence and the Lee Brothers, plus a trip to Louisiana with writer and Southern Foodways Alliance head John T. Edge.
Up at Griffith Observatory - what a view! (at Griffith Observatory)
Last night’s FIRST Los Angeles Diner en Blanc was a HIT! Yay! I wasn’t there but it looked like a GREAT time was had by all!
Shameless plug….I like these guys. They sell you the hard stuff. You drink it.
Apparently everyone starts a restaurant in September because this is the third LA spot to through an anniversary dinner/party this week. If you haven’t made it to Lucques yet, go. You must. I beg you.
This is their Sunday Supper this week:
sunday supper
september 15, 2013
cherry tomatoes, olives and burrata
***
pan-roasted market fish with rösti potato pancake,
green onion, romesco and fried egg
or
braised beef cheeks with cornbread pudding,
mustard greens and marinated piquillo peppers
***
crème fraîche cake with figs,
pine nuts and fig ice cream
45 dollars per person
call 323.655.6277 or reserve online now
A few seats just opened up and it’s only a week away…just sayin’.
Don’t miss another Eat+Drink Supper Club event!
Only 4 seats available for September 21st with
Chef Josef Morphis from Mastro’s!
Only 4 seats available for September 21st with
Chef Josef Morphis from Mastro’s!
The Eat+Drink Supper Club
A Curated Dining Experience with Chef Josef Morphis
Chef Josef Morphis is the Executive Sous Chef at Mastro’s and his menu is not for the faint of heart. Josef’s career started at Le Bistro at the Sonoma Hotel and from there to John Ash and Co., The Culinary Institute of America, Travina and Napa Valley Grille with the last two years at Mastro’s Steakhouse in Beverly Hills. Josef grew up in Sonoma County and has always had a strong passion for great food. Living and working in the heart of the wine country really focused his expertise in “Wine Country Cuisine”. Josef feels there’s nothing better than creating a well-balanced meal using the finest local ingredients. His focus on balance is key to planning his menus.
Saturday, September 21st
7:00p Cocktails & 8:00p Dinner: $100
I’m realizing that 28 is just not the number of people you want at these events so I have 40 seats available for this September 21st dinner. (Am I officially giving in to this group?) $100 per person includes EVERYTHING (all beverages are complimentary), all you have to do is bring your hungry, thirsty self. 
Saturday, October 5th
Chef Judy Adler’s Spanish Dinner
7:00p Cocktails & 8:00p Dinner: $100
Chef Judy Adler’s Spanish Dinner
7:00p Cocktails & 8:00p Dinner: $100
Chef Judy Adler has been a personal chef for over a decade, working in some of the finest homes in the country. Her Spanish infused menu is to die for. Do not miss this event!
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Oh you missed a NIGHT on August 10th with Chef David Feau’s amazing French dinner. Everyone looked delish in all white!
If you haven’t yet been to Blackberry Farm in Tennessee, you must find a reason to go soon. And here’s that reason. Run, don’t walk.
Mark your calendar to join us for our 10th annual Taste of the South event on January 9-12, 2014, benefiting the Fellowship of Southern Farmers, Artisans and Chefs and the Southern Foodways Alliance!
Get ready to make your reservation for Taste of the South on September 17, as we open up the phone lines for the first time for this exclusive, sellout event!
Don’t miss this weekend as we celebrate the Southern table with dinners, cooking demonstrations, tastings and teachings from the likes of Chefs Michelle Bernstein, Rodney Scott, Rob Newtown and featuring Vintner Andy Peay, mixologist Alba Huerta and special guest speaker Francis Lam!
Reservations open on September 17th at 9am. Call 800-557-8864 to book your stay before the event sells out!
Wow, now that’s a bit of a mess….yikes!
From Eater: Cronut Burger Vendor Shut Down in Food Poisoning Incident in Canada
Twelve people were treated and five were hospitalized for gastrointestinal distress while attending the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto last night, and some are blaming the cronut burger. Newstalk 1010 spoke with hospital staff who suspect the the cronut burger might be involved. According to their report: “The one thing that they all seem to have in common, was that they had eaten the cronut burger.”
The cronut burger has been making headlines for combining a burger patty with maple bacon jam and processed cheese on a cronut bun. It’s a collaboration from Toronto’s Le Dolci and Epic Burgers and Waffles, and is not affiliated with Cronut inventor Dominique Ansel.
Eat+Drink: Salt Air
There’s something about Abbott Kinney. All the restaurants are crowded. They’re exceptionally loud. For the most part, they’re pretty dark inside. And they pride themselves on killer food. Salt Air is no exception. The latest offering from the folks who brought the East Side
Tasting Table posted a review of Salt Air on Abbot Kinney in Venice the other day. Here’s there review and look out for our review that I will post immediately after!
Air Apparent - Salt Air sets new trends for stylish Abbot Kinney
The sense of fashion is palpable at Venice’s new “beach bistro” Salt Air.
There’s the sharply dressed, elbow-to-elbow clientele, the stark white brick dining room and the dainty, homespun small plates from chef Greg Daniels, who left New York’s Perry St for the sunny shores of California.
On almost every table you’ll find the restaurant’s best accessory: a bowl of crunchy fish-skin chips ($6). Daniels’ seafaring riff on chicharon is served with creamy smoked onion dip and zesty harissa paste.
The vibrant green freshness of the pea toast ($11) turns heads; Daniels dresses a thick slice of pain de mie with caramelized onions, ricotta and a tangle of crushed English peas and their tendrils.
Some of these look like so much fun to stop and eat while shopping!!
Best In-Store Restaurants
Many of the world’s greatest shops now have the perfect accessory: a fantastic restaurant that rivals the cutting-edge fashions and terrific home design items found within.—Chadner Navarro
This is a smidge old but oh-so-cool!
Mystery Tipper Gives Servers Enormous Tips in Utah
Although big tips pop up from time to time, it is very rare to find a serial big tipper. But that’s exactly what the town of Ogden, Utah has on its hands: someone is going around town, racking up bar tabs, and tipping thousands on them. First, the mysterious tipper left a $5,000 tip on a $214.75 bar tab at Brewski’s. Notes the Standard-Examiner, “Proprietors of Brewski’s have declined comment on the tipping incident there; word on the street is that the windfall may have caused hard feelings among some members of the bar’s staff.”