Behind the Apron

'Chopped All-Stars': Our Interview

by Sarah De Heer, Posted Mar 11th 2011 @ 5:00PM

"Chopped," Food Network's reality series that pits four chefs against each other in a battle for supremacy, has always had a great gimmick: Each contestant has to create dishes using all of the ingredients provided in a "mystery basket." Squid, gummy bears, Nutella -- you name it, these chefs have seen it. But now the series has a new trick up its sleeve: Chopped All-Stars. For a limited five-episode run starting Sunday, March 13th, at 7 p.m. EST, the series will feature Food Network personalities competing head-to-head for a $50,000 cash prize for charity. Our own Sarah DeHeer caught up with host Ted Allen and judge Alex Guarnaschelli at the Food Network kitchens in Manhattan to find out more.

Filed under: Television/Film, Behind the Apron

Eric Ripert Can't Cook A Starfish

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by Allen Salkin, Posted Jan 21st 2011 @ 1:00PM

Eric Ripert Photo: Cayman Islands Department of Tourism

Grilling barefoot, turquoise waters lapping at his ankles as he flipped tuna steaks, Eric Ripert tipped his straw hat back and said he wouldn't mind if Top Chef decided to shoot a few episodes down in the Cayman Islands.

The Le Bernardin chef and TV star was serving local tuna with a truffled herb salad at a picnic on a sandbar called Starfish Point last weekend. Working next to him was Jennifer Carroll, the former Top Chef contestant and an employee.

"What do you think, Jenny?" he asked. "Shooting a Top Chef here?"

Jenny was recently told to take her knives and go from Top Chef All-Stars.

"Can I be a judge instead of competing?" she asked.

Ripert just laughed.

Filed under: Chefs, Behind the Apron

Anthony Bourdain As "Paula Deen's Pedicurist"

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by Allen Salkin, Posted Jan 19th 2011 @ 11:00AM

Tony Bourdain Photo: Alexander Tamargo / Getty Images

Anthony Bourdain was in fine form this weekend in the Cayman Islands, skewering sacred culinary cows with beer-fueled gusto during an hour-long "Chat with Tony." After being introduced by Gail Simmons, of Top Chef, as part of a the third annual Cayman Cookout on this Caribbean island, Bourdain revealed a behind-the-scenes secret about the show on which he also appears as a judge: "Who do you think really spends the most time in hair and makeup?" he asked an audience of 100 barefoot fans gathered on the island's famous Seven Mile Beach. "It's not Padma. It's Tom!"

Why Tom Colicchio, the show's folically challenged head judge [no pun intended] should require so much time in the grooming room makes no sense, Bourdain continued. "What does it take? A quick shine and go!"

Filed under: Business, Television/Film, Celebrities, Chefs, Behind the Apron

Who's Partying at Jacques Torres' Chocolate Factory? -- Slashfood's Spicy Dish

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by Karen Danick, Posted Dec 21st 2010 @ 5:00PM

Jacques Torres chocolatier Photo: Cynthia Grabau

Happy Anniversary, Mr. Chocolate! Jacques Torres, former pastry chef of Le Cirque, last night showcased dazzling desserts at an anniversary bash to celebrate the launch of his chocolate factories in Brooklyn, and then in Manhattan, more than a decade ago.

But the dazzle at Torres's Hudson Street factory wasn't limited to the macaroons, chocolates, and bombolinis with vanilla custard that party people were eating faster than chocolate reaches the boiling point. Some of the stars of the culinary scene were also there to wish Chef Torres well. They even brought their families. Good Morning America's Sara Moulton came with her daughter, and Top Chef's Gail Simmons brought her parents, just in from their home base of Toronto. (Just Desserts judge Dannielle Kyrillos was also there with her husband, J.P. Kyrillos, publisher of Travel +Leisure.)

Jeffrey Steingarten, Vogue food writer and judge on Iron Chef America and The Next Iron Chef, and his wife, did a drive-by on their way to Lotus of Siam, one of the hardest Manhattan tables to snag.

Drew Nieporent (Nobu), who had recently returned from the 12th Annual Gastronomika conference in San Sebastian, Spain, where he ate around with the likes of Ferran Adrià and Daniel Boulud, was asking everyone (in between flashing BlackBerry pics of his trip) if they'd been to his new restaurant, Corton, located in the former Montrachet space. Yes, they had.

And where is the food crowd going for New Year's Eve? Vegas, of course. All the talk was about the Jay-Z and Coldplay shows at the new Cosmopolitan Hotel, where chef José Andrés just opened his China Poblano.

Filed under: Chefs, Behind the Apron

Jamie Oliver Warns L.A. He's On His Way

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by Allen Salkin, Posted Nov 23rd 2010 @ 1:00PM

Photo: Slashfood

Watch out, Los Angeles school officials! You may become next season's prime-time TV villains.

Jamie Oliver, the English chef who won an Emmy for his show "Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution" (which portrayed some school-lunch bureaucrats in West Virginia as ensuring that children are given meals sure to make them obese and short-lived), is bringing the show to L.A. for season 2.

When producers wrote to officials at the Los Angeles Unified School District, asking for permission to film in the schools, it was denied.

"Our feeling was that his time would be better spent or invested in other communities," an L.A. school official told the Los Angeles Times.

In part two of Oliver's exclusive three-part interview with Slashfood, he lays down a warning to the district.

Filed under: Television/Film, Interviews, Behind the Apron

Clams and a $20 Burger: The Boston Globe in 60 Seconds

COMMENTS 1

by Naomi Shulman, Posted Oct 18th 2010 @ 11:15AM

Clam chowder Photo: Mike Saechang, Flickr

When it comes to chowder, you need the right clams. And for the right clams, Bostonians depend on this guy.
If you fork over $20 for a burger, exactly what are you getting? This had better be more than just a prime cut.
Don't call this classic white, flaky fish, "trash." Hake is good eating, and the best seafood bargain now.
Want local eggs? How about really, really local eggs? We're talking your backyard and a Rent-a-Coop.

Filed under: Newspapers, In 60 Seconds, Behind the Apron

Ferran Adria Will Make a Big Announcement in March [VIDEO]

COMMENTS 1

by Allen Salkin, Posted Oct 15th 2010 @ 11:00AM

Chef Ferran Adria Photo: Mark Von Holden / Getty Images for The International Culinary Center

Spanish Chef Ferran Adrià told Slashfood that he will be showing plans, photos and details of the much-anticipated "reinvention" of his legendary restaurant El Bulli at a press conference in New York City in March 2011.

Adrià said he has signed a deal with the multinational telecommunications company Telefónica to become a brand ambassador, and that he is working on details of the New York announcement with the company.

During an interview October 13 at the Hotel Eventi's Bar Basque after a screening of the documentary "A Day at El Bulli," he did share a few details about the major changes coming El Bulli, the restaurant in Roses, Spain which receives two million reservation requests a year for just a few thousand places.

The new El Bulli will be more like an educational foundation than a restaurant. "There will be no reservations," Adrià said through his friend and interprereter Chef José Andrés. "And everything will change every month."

What it won't be is limited to the cuisine that made it famous, Adrià's mind-bending innovations with molecular gastronomy. "It is going to be a bigger place, but a completely new philosophy. The main mission of the foundation will be to create, and where everything they create, they will be able to share through [the] internet everyday, with everyone around the world," Andrés explained.

Filed under: Behind the Apron

Iron Chef Karaoke Contest -- Behind the Apron

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by Allen Salkin, Posted Oct 12th 2010 @ 6:00PM

Photo: Allen Salkin

Over at Manhattan's Harvard Club this weekend, it was Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto vs. Ming Tsai vs. Anne Burrell in a bizarre but hilarious late-night battle for karaoke supremacy as part of the New York City Wine & Food Festival. Morimoto was first up at the mic, belting out a Japanese tune with conviction -- but not a whole lot of tunefulness.

After his uneven performance, a sober Morimoto offered an excuse: "With no drink, it's the first time."

Next up at the "Rock & Roll with Morimoto and Friends" event was Ming Tsai.

Filed under: Chefs, Behind the Apron

Martha Poised to Assume Power -- Behind the Apron

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by Allen Salkin, Posted Aug 3rd 2010 @ 11:00AM

Martha Stewart has been out of jail and thriving since 2005, following her insider trading criminal case. But as part of a 2006 settlement of the related civil case brought against her by the U.S. Securities and Exchange commission, she agreed to a five year bar from serving as a director of a public company, and a prohibition from participating in financial reporting, financial disclosure, and other activities.

Slashfood caught up with Martha backstage at the James Beard Foundation's "Chefs and Champagne" event in Sagaponack, New York, and she talked to us about food matters – how impressed she was with the array of chefs at the event, her new TV cooking show "Martha Bakes," and her dogs' blog – and she did answer a question about whether she will assume a directorship at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia once the five year ban expires next year.

According to Yahoo! Finance, she controls about 50% of MSLO's stock and about 90% of voting stock. Before being convicted of four counts of obstructing justice and lying to investigators about a stock sale, Martha was CEO and Chairwoman of MSLO. A return to those roles would write a triumphant end to a dark chapter of her life.

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Batali's Humble Dream - Behind the Apron

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by Allen Salkin, Posted Jul 29th 2010 @ 12:00PM

In this frank interview with Slashfood, Mario Batali discusses his forthcoming vegetarian restaurant (yes, this from the man known for his love of lardo and other meat products), admits that his Italian food megacomplex in New York, Eataly, is delayed yet again, and reveals details about a new TV show he's pitching.

Batali also answered questions about his future with Iron Chef America and the "carnival" his life has become -- "dancing with Katy Perry on a Jetta was fun." Perhaps most surprising of all, the chef who has become a pop-culture celebrity as well as a celebrity chef said he dreams of one day letting others run his American restaurants while he moves to an out-of-the-way Roman neighborhood and runs a little eatery with 35 seats open only three days a week.

Sounds nice – when can we make a reservation?

"Behind The Apron," is a video series featuring news-breaking conversations between the journalist Allen Salkin and the biggest names in the culinary world. The series goes beyond the plate and into the lives of those in the food world who have become mainstream cultural icons. In a turnaround from his TV role as head judge on Top Chef, Tom Colicchio talks about his struggle to rise to the expectations of judges at the James Beard Foundation; Jose Andres gets political; and Jacques Pepin laughs about the social ascendance of chefs over the past two decades from blue collar workers into "geniuses." Much more is to come in this groundbreaking series.

Filed under: Behind the Apron