Slashfood

Chatting with the Latest 'Top Chef All-Stars' Exile

Nichol Nelson — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 12:00:00 EST

Photo: David Giesbrecht / Bravo

Here's this week's installment of Slashfood's exclusive exit interviews with the latest "Top Chef All-Stars" contestant to get the boot. In an effort to prevent spoilers, we've included the text after the jump.

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America's Best Hot Dog is Crowned

Slashfood Editor — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 10:30:00 EST

Filed under: Restaurants, Tastings

Photo: supafly, Flickr

It's hard to beat the Windy City when it comes to hot dogs, and Chicago proved its sausage supremacy again yesterday when Every Day with Rachael Ray magazine and SeriousEats.com named local favorite Gene & Jude's "Depression-style" dog the best in America. After narrowing the search down to 64 finalists, judges from both publications used a "March Madness"-style bracket to determine that Gene & Jude's dog -- topped with mustard, onion, relish, sport peppers and (here's the kicker) french fries -- deserved the crown.

Read more about the search for America's Best Hot Dog at Every Day with Rachael Ray.

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Edible Gifts: Holiday Gift Guide 2010

Slashfood Editor — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: New Products, Tastings, Frozen Food

For as many people who love to cook, there are probably five times as many people who don't -- but they do love eating. Edible gifts are therefore almost always appreciated -- especially if you know your recipient's favorite treats. But who said fruit baskets, popcorn and chocolate-covered-everything are the only gifts worth giving? We've compiled some of the best giftable foods we could get our hands on (and sink our teeth into) -- nary a stale mail-order item in sight. Flip through our gallery of gifts to whet your appetite.

Want gifts that don't come with an expiration date? Check out our gift guide for foodies and cooks. Also, check out all of our Christmas menus, recipes and entertaining tips. If you're all about cookies (who isn't?), we've got 25 days of Christmas cookies. If you want other sorts of sweets, check out Gail Simmons' Christmas desserts.

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#WineWednesday =Tweet-ups for Wine Lovers

Kristine Hansen — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: Drinks, Events, Tastings

Photo: Cesar Rubio, Four Seasons

If you've got a Twitter handle, love to drink wine, and own an iPhone or Blackberry, chances are you might already be tweeting your tasting notes.

Why not take that energy and passion to a virtual tasting? Several hotels around the country are hosting a tweet-up tonight, in fact. #WineWednesday is the hashtag, borrowed from TweSommelier, a Twitter feed run by a guy named Eric in New England who describes himself as a "wine and food enthusiast."

And because it's no fun to drink alone, several hotels around the country are providing the venue to sip wines.

At Four Seasons hotels and resorts in Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Dallas (Las Colinas), Houston, Miami, New York, Palm Beach, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Toronto and Washignton D.C., all you have to do is show up with a thirst for trying new wines. Kick-off -- er, the pours -- start at 7 p.m. EST and last until 8 p.m. EST. Three sommeliers within Four Seasons will host the tasting from their virtual spots. Use the hash tag #FSWine

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November Food Festivals

Jose Ralat Maldonado — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Events, Tastings

Photo: tlboyd05, Flickr

There's still plenty of time before turkey and stuffing is upon us. These are the days of food fests, from mac-and-cheese (above) to pork cracklins, of the venerable chili cook-off in Terlingua, Texas, and the over-the-top gingerbread house DIY face-off in North Carolina. Here are seven festivals you won't want to miss.

Denver International Wine Festival, Denver, Colo., Nov. 3-7: Colorado is much more than beer. Its about pinot and Burgundy as well. Denver Wine Week, the Mile High City's annual event, now in its sixth year, offers up more than 400 wines. The festival kicks off with an Iron Chef-style bout in which local chefs will go toque to toque pairing food and wine. The Grand Tasting of International Wines and Food on Friday will showcase wines from more than 100 wineries selected by the editors of Wine Country International magazine. The festival isn't exclusive to oenophiles, though. Craft beer and artisan spirits are also on the tasting menu.

Original Terlingua International Chili Championship Cook-Off, Terlingua, Tex., Nov. 4-6: In addition to one whopper of a 44th annual chili cook-off, there will also be contests for the best ribs, black-eyed peas, margarita, as well as the ugliest hat. In a party as big as Texas, you can also dance to live music, and cruise the arts and craft show.

Romanian Food Festival, Colleyville, Tex, Nov. 5-7: If you just happen to be in Texas for the Terlingua Chili Cook-off, head to the Dallas-Forth Worth area for what may be the delicious opposite of chili -- Romanian food. The fifth annual celebration is organized by the parishioners of St. Mary's Romanian Orthodox Church, and will feature traditional fare like ciorba (hearty soups), sarmale (cabbage rolls), and mamaliga (a cheesy polenta dish), as well as folk dancing, a show by Romanian singer George Rotaru and boxing. Let's hope the boxers leave the cabbage rolls alone before the match. As they say in Romania, "Pofta Buna!" Bon Appetit!

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Tom Colicchio's Riverpark Hosts Starbucks Unveiling of New VIA Coffees

Jennifer Lawinski — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: New Products, Tastings, Chain Stores / Restaurants

Photo: Jennifer Lawinski

A cup of instant coffee served with a high-end lunch and a spritz of perfume on the side? How many ways can we say this combination-event seemed off-the-beam? But this, in fact, was on the menu for the debut of the new Starbucks line of flavored VIA coffees.

The ubiquitous coffee company invited Slashfood to sample a tasting menu created by chef Sisha Ortúzar at Tom Colicchio's new Riverpark restaurant, in Manhattan, to highlight its four new flavors of Starbucks VIA instant coffees: Mocha, Caramel, Cinnamon and Vanilla.

The event was hosted by Starbucks and by New York Times Scent Critic Chandler Burr, who paired each coffee with a perfume that highlighted its flavor.

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Love Beer? Have We Got a Job For You...

Nichol Nelson — Fri, 21 May 2010 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Food News, Tastings

Photo: Bala, Flickr

For one lucky person in London, the 9 to 5 grind is about to be a thing of the past. Spitalfields Market, a collection of covered shops and dining venues just outside of London, has resurrected an age-old job, and they're taking applicants. The position? Beer taster.

Reps for the market call it simply, "the best job in the world." The employee would essentially stop at venues throughout the market and taste test the beers for quality. It's a role that's been around almost as long as the market itself -- almost 400 years. (King Charles I of England first gave permission for fish, poultry and produce to be sold on the site in 1638.)

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Chocolate & Wine: The Perfect Coupling

Kristine Hansen — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: Holidays, Drinks, Tastings

Photo: kamoda, Flickr

Unless you're hiding under a rock, you've noticed that, in the days leading up to Valentine's Day, chocolate varieties flood the market. Make your Valentine's more romantic and indulgent with these gourmet chocolate-and-wine varietal pairings.

Green & Black's Organic Chocolate Peanut Bar ($3.50, 3.5 oz)
This smooth-tasting bar is a mix of milk chocolate (37 percent, to be exact), caramelized organic peanuts and sea salt. An Aussie Shiraz - for its fruit-forward, jammy notes - would stack up well with this bar. Or, if you're a fan of whites, consider Gewürztraminer; its sweet notes will contrast nicely with the sea salt.

Harry & David Bing Cherry Chocolates ($22.95, for a 16-oz box)
Embedded inside each of these double-dipped chocolate balls is a dried (but juicy!) bing cherry. Yet when paired with a festive, sparkling Rosé - such as Cupcake Vineyards Brut Rosé, $16, which has a nose of wild strawberries - the chocolate reveals a softer finish.

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Le Fooding D'Amour Paris-New York Recap

Lisa Schweitzer — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 17:30:00 EST

Filed under: Chefs & Restaurants, Restaurants, Tastings

Diners at Le Fooding. Photo: Pabo76/Flickr

What happens when the best French and American chefs of the moment converge on New York City for a weekend of casual culinary madness, all in the name of charity?

It's called Le Fooding D'Amour Paris-New York. The two-day event took place in Long Island City, N.Y. at the P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center and included tasting stations by David Chang (Momofuku), Wylie Dufresne (WD~50), Yves Camdeborde (Le Comptoir du Relais), Sean Rembold (Diner), William LeDeuil (Ze Kitchen Galerie), Christophe Pelé (Bigarrade) and more.

Slashfood attempted to try as many of the dishes on offer as possible, considering the long, snaking lines and lack of lighting at the outdoor venue.

Check out our photos after the jump.

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Are Austin Tacos the Nation's Best?

Jose Ralat Maldonado — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Food Politics, Ingredients, Tastings

Chorizo tacos at Austin's Arandas #3. Photo: Jessica S. Ralat

A whopping 69 percent of poll respondents told this recent Brooklyn-to-Austin transplant that the Lone Star State's tacos were the best in the nation and relayed some excellent suggestions. We were able to sample some 40 tacos around Austin, setting them against the closest Sunset Park, Brooklyn, counterparts we could find. Here's one taster's subjective opinion. (Austin is growing on him.)

6. Austin's Arandinas (suggested by Slashfoodies Lacey and LP) pork taco vs. Brooklyn's Matamoros cabeza taco:
Arandinas' juicy, eminently scarfable pork taco went head-to-head with Matamoros', uh, cow head -- and triumphed.
Winner: Arandinas, Austin.

5. Austin's Mi Madre's Restaurant (suggested by Jodi and others) Pork Adobado vs. Brooklyn's Matamoros Enchilada taco:
Anticipating a chili steam engine from this red-sauced breakfast taco, we instead found spiceless goop in a flour shell ill-matched to its flurry of onions and avocado slices. The slightly spicy red enchilada taco at Matamoros is still the one we hold dear.
Winner: Matamoros, Brooklyn

Four more, including the winner, after the jump.

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Cupping with the CoffeeMeister

Erin Meister — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Drink Recipes, How To, Tastings

Erin Meister trains baristas for North Carolina-based Counter Culture Coffee and sporadically maintains the blog Meet the Press Pot from her home in New York City. This is the sixth in a series of tips for the caffeine-addicted.

Early in our relationship, whenever I told my husband I was headed to a cupping, he (a coffee lover but not a fanatic like me) would imagine something, er, otherwise-related. Now that he knows cupping as a coffee-tasting ritual he might be disappointed -- or relieved -- but at least he understands why I'm a bit jittery when I come home from one.

The cupping process traces back to the 19th century, when beans were graded basically on a "yes" or "no" scale: Too many defects (like disease or mold) earned an ix-nay, while just about everything else was considered acceptable.

Today, cupping serves several different purposes: At the coffee's point of origin it allows farmers, importers, brokers and roasters to test the quality of a crop; after roasting, the roasters themselves will cup coffees for consistency, flavor profile and to detect the effects of aging; and at the consumer level, coffee cuppings are the rough (and fun!) equivalent of wine tastings, and are becoming widely available to the public.

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Brooklyn Beer Experiment Showcases Homebrewing

Mike Pomranz — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 17:30:00 EST

Filed under: Drink Recipes, Tastings

Kyle Spencer, 23, and Xiao Yu, 24, are barely of drinking age and have been brewing beer for less than a year, but nonetheless wear their ambition, literally, on their sleeves.

"Brewing for a living is something we both wanted to do," says Spencer, promoting his nascent brand by wearing a gray, short-sleeved Beta Beer T-shirt alongside partner Xiao Yu. Despite his expert presentation, Spencer is nervous: For the first time his product will be tasted by "actual people who have beer backgrounds."

This kind of fledgling enthusiasm was par for the course at the Brooklyn Beer Experiment, a new cook-off in a city obsessed with cook-offs, part of the groundswell of our nation's craft-brewmania and a first from competitors turned co-organizers Theo Peck and Nick Suarez. "We were cook-off rivals," says Suarez, "and decided we could do this as well as anyone else could." Sunday afternoon at Brooklyn's the Bell House -- a space primarily used as a music venue -- more than 25 chefs infused their eats with beer, and local homebrewers like Spencer and Yu hawked their wares.

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Do Homebrewers Do It Better?

Mike Pomranz — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Trends, Drink Recipes, Tastings

Last week, we discussed the possible financial benefits of homebrewing. After last night's Extreme Beer Homebrew Challenge at Jose Pistolas for Philly Beer Week, I was reminded of one of the other major advantages of homebrewing: The ability to experiment.

The event brought out some of Beer Week's finest: Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head was anointed the "Uber Joe Pro" and happily dropped by to help serve up his Palo Santo Marron and Red & White. Though not offering up brews of their own, Lost Abbey's Tomme Arthur and Avery Brewing's Adam Avery were also a few of the notable names who showed their support.

But clearly, the night belonged to the dozen plus homebrewers who proved that though they might not be "rock stars of craft brewing" like their previously mentioned contemporaries, they are certainly on the frontlines when it comes to making small batch experimental brews that only a homebrewer would have the balls to try. And though these guys might be lawyers and IT professionals during the day, many of them have superhero-like secret identities as certified beer judges and casual creative consultants to their big-name counterparts.

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Talking Green Flash Brews with Chuck Silva at Philly Beer Week

Mike Pomranz — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 17:04:00 EST

Filed under: Drink Recipes, Tastings

"I have a quote for you," said Green Flash Brewing Co.'s Brewmaster, Chuck Silva. And when the man who hand-crafted one of your favorite beers in the world tells you he has a quote, you listen. "The harder you work, the luckier you are," said Chuck in response to my query of how Green Flash has managed to have such great success in such a short amount of time. "It's not that we've been lucky, it's just that we work hard and we've had good fortune."

Chuck Silva has been Brewmaster with Green Flash for approximately four and a half years now. In that time, Green Flash has grown from a small San Diego brewery to one of national prominence and availability. It's hard to believe, but Mr. Silva wasn't even Green Flash's first Brewmaster (they existed for two years without him), which just shows how instrumental he has been to their success. I was lucky enough to be able to accost Chuck during a Philly Beer Week event at the P.O.P.E. (fully known as the Pub on Passyunk East, which, as a bar, is post worthy in it's own right, but I'm going to stay on task for the time being), and he was polite enough to answer a number of questions regarding his brews.

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Come Join Me For Philly Beer Week - March 6 - 15

Mike Pomranz — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Drink Recipes, Tastings

Being a beer writer isn't as fun and easy as it looks. Most weeks I spend more time staring down a computer than a pint. I do say "most weeks," however. This coming week will not be one of those weeks.

From Friday, March 6th through Sunday, March 15th, Philadelphia will be host to Philly Beer Week 2009 -- a 10 day extravaganza featuring over 650 events from well over 100 participants, including dozens of different breweries and brewers crashing the city limits and some points beyond.

They've tagged the event "America's Best Beer-Drinking City," and though that title can certainly be debated, the official Philly Beer Week website lays out some compelling evidence to back their claim. A quick look at the event map makes you wonder if there's anywhere in Philadelphia not involved in Beer Week and the list of events is nothing short of overwhelming.

I'll be in town tomorrow (Friday) until Wednesday, March 11th, blogging about events along the way. My first stop will be the Opening Tap if you want to come follow me around. But better yet, check out phillybeerweek.org and see what strikes your fancy. As a former Philly resident, so many of these amazing bars have a special place in my heart, I wouldn't even know how to start playing favorites. You'll probably see me everywhere, because almost anywhere you can get to is worth the stop.

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Open That Bottle Night

Gretchen Roberts — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: Drink Recipes, Tastings

This year is the 10th anniversary of Open That Bottle Night, an evening invented by Wall Street Journal wine writers Dorothy Gaiter and John Brecher, and they invite you to participate.

What exactly is Open That Bottle Night? It's an excuse to open a bottle you've been hoarding and saving for a special occasion (that never seems to roll around). It's a night where you can savor an incredible wine all by yourself, with someone special, or with a big group of foodie friends. It's a night where you have a reason to Open That Bottle.

As a confirmed wine hoarder, I love the idea. I tend to save special bottles and then never open them because it's never the right time, or I don't think the occasion warrants it. OTBN is about letting go of those packrat tendencies. I've gone through my wine and can't decide what to drink. I'm leaning toward the 2005 Fort Walla Walla Cellars Treaty, a gift from my parents and a truly amazing wine, but then again, it's supposed to be good for another decade or longer, so maybe I should hold off. I've got some unique wines like Norton from Missouri, and a bunch of South African Cabernet.

The important thing is to open something. And this year, you can Twitter about it. What will you be drinking on Saturday for OTBN 10?

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SF Beer Week Starts Tomorrow

Mike Pomranz — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Drink Recipes, Tastings

So, I know I can be a little East Coast centric with my beer posts. That's what living on the East Coast for the past 7 years or so has done to me. But this only makes me all the more excited to be able to promote SF Beer Week which begins in the San Francisco Bay Area tomorrow.

Running from February 6th through to Sunday, February 15th, more than 100 San Francisco breweries and pubs are participating in around 150 events intended to celebrate the early roots of the modern Renaissance in artisan beers.

With the relatively recent explosion of craft beers and microbreweries across the entire country, it's easy to forget that San Francisco was one of the major forefathers of the brewing revival. Legendary beer writer Michael Jackson went so far as to state in his seminal book The World Guide to Beer, "The rediscovery of American beer began in the West...not in trend-addicted Los Angeles...but in and around San Francisco." He often spoke affectionately of the Anchor Brewery and references Fritz Maytag's involvement with the company as a major turning point in American brewing.

When Maytag became involved with Anchor in 1965, no more than a couple hundred active breweries existed in the U.S. -- maybe less. Today, the country boasts over 1,400 craft breweris, and as SF Beer Week reminds us, "Northern California alone has more breweries than most states and enjoys an unrivaled reputation for the quality and diversity of its craft beer."

Additional info and event listings can be found on the SF Beer Week website at www.sfbeerweek.org.

[Photo Credit: SFBEERWEEK.org]

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Carmenere - Wine of the Week

Gretchen Roberts — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: Wine of the Week, Ingredients, Drink Recipes, Drinks, Tastings

April may be the cruelest month, but January is surely the coldest. It's the perfect time to break out big, robust red wines that warm your body and soul. And what better to eat with a big red wine than a big steaming bowl of chili?

This weekend we had about a dozen people over for a blind tasting of six Carmeneres, all from Chile (the country--don't get Chile and chili confused!). Carmenere is Chile's signature grape, brought over from Bordeaux in the late 19th century. The wine is deeply dark and full-bodied, and in Chile can have a somewhat vegetal flavor, though it can also be quite fruity and spicy.

The six we tried ranged in price from $10 to $47. Chile is known around the world for its value wine, and it definitely delivered in our tasting. When the bags were pulled off, it turned out that several of us put the $10 wine in our top favorites. Surprisingly, everyone from the least- to the most-experienced tasters felt that all of the wines were good, and comparable in their quality, even though the prices were not.

More tasting notes and my "Chili for a Crowd" recipe after the jump.

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A Hedonist in the Cellar - Book Review

Eric Diesel — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 10:07:00 EST

Filed under: Raves & Reviews, Happy Hour, Liquor Cabinet, Drink Recipes, Books, Drinks, Tastings

A few years ago - which, if memory serves me, corresponds to "the Paleolithic era" when you're young - jaws dropped all around the oenophilic community when Jay McInerney was named wine columnist for House and Garden magazine.

McInerney has been considered something of a voice of a generation (read: mine), but I always thought he was unfairly freighted with mis-perceptions and even some guttersniping: a talented writer who writes about the social milieu can be misunderstood as having an attitude, and even if they do, it is the writing that should, and ultimately does, speak for itself.

It seems that many among the cigars-and-snifters crowd dismissed McInerney's wine writing as disdainfully as they would a box of Franzia, while many among the hipster-wine-bar set dismissed McInerney's wine writing as cloyingly as they would embrace the "irony" of that selfsame box of wine. But anyone so dismissing often so dismissed for no better reason than the fashion of scorning the 1980s, a critical posture that the decade itself certainly bears some responsibility for. I've actually read one reference to this best-selling - and, to my mind both as reader and writer, very talented - author as a "wine brat."

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Win Tickets to the 18th Annual ZAP Festival Here!

Gretchen Roberts — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: Drink Recipes, Tastings

Zinfandel. It's so good, it has its own festival. Want to go? The public tasting, where you can taste Zins from 275 winereries, is Saturday, Jan. 31 from 2-5 p.m. at the Fort Mason Center in San Francisco. I've got four tickets to give away, which I'll give away in twos. Post in the comments below and two people will win.

Since the timeframe is so short, please post by 8 p.m. Eastern tonight in order to enter, and I'll get tickets out first thing tomorrow.

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