"Jonathan Waxman" news and stories

When chef Jonathan Waxman throws open the glass garage doors at his restaurant Barbuto (in Manhattan's West Village) on a warm spring afternoon on the far side of lunch hour, and you've just eaten a forkful of pillowy gnocchi with spinach and almonds, you'd be inhuman if you didn't turn to your mates and say, "Ah, life is good." Waxman's wood-fired oven is throwing flames, and the silver-haired chef (and former "Top Chef Masters" contestant) might himself be delivering one of his signature roast chickens with salsa verde to another bunch of customers, all of whom seem to be smiling. Barbuto just does that to you.

Jonathan Waxman has always done things his way at Barbuto -- simple, delicious, playful, and very Italian. That he isn't Italian doesn't mean a thing. He cooks like a Roman grandmother, says his business partner Fabrizio Ferri. And in his new cookbook, Italian, My Way, he shows us how to play with the classic dishes he loves (such as linguine with wild mushrooms or pizza with pancetta, tomatoes, burrata, and scallions), and amp up others, spun from a good forage or a good day at the fish market (warm dandelion greens with scrambled eggs and chives; strozzapreti with octopus, red wine, and onions).

• Had a veggie burger recently? The newest specimens are downright meaty.
• Spring means chocolate bunnies, matzo-ball soup, and...gogola. Time to celebrate Phagwah!
• Jonathan Waxman may not have an Italian name, but his new cookbook tells a different story.
• Midtown's La Petite Maison: bad French, good posture, and terrific food.

Readers: you might notice a couple changes to the Top Chef Masters exit interview post this week -- the title and the photo. Our goal in presenting these exclusive interviews is to satisfy our readers who are huge Top Chef fans in a timely, lively fashion. Some of you who hadn't yet watched the show were upset that the title and leading photo spoiled the show's outcome in past weeks. We will continue to do these exit interviews, but will mask the "loser" by not featuring their profile photo or name in the title.

Read on for our exit interview with the latest Top Chef Master to get the boot.

To be totally honest, we had trouble tuning in to Top Chef Masters last night. Not that we aren't in awe of the "four dudes left," to quote our favorite comfort-food teddy bear, Jonathan Waxman.

It's just that they're, well, all dudes -- our favorite non-dude, Susan Feniger, was banished last week, back to the confines of her delightful L.A. eatery Street. What would the kitchen be like without her cackle!? Where would the competition be without her somewhat goofy and laser-sharp stare?

Add to that the fact that the inimitable Gael Greene was sitting out the judging this time, and the episode was certainly lacking in double-chromosome jubilation. "Burnt sienna, depression, avocado" wasn't just an improvised name of a dish; it could've been the theme of the evening.

Of all the pleasures of this season of Top Chef Masters, there's one we've taken for granted: The tension. When the show debuted last year, it had about as much devious, cutthroat competitive spirit as a church bake sale. It was all about some of the food world's most established stars sharing tips, learning techniques and helping each other out -- you know, all those things you don't tune in to the catty, petty, normal-grade Top Chef to see. Where was the risk? What was at stake?

This year, the Bravo gods answered our prayers. First there was the labyrinthine early elimination rounds -- so fast, so confusing, no one got a chance to, you know, bond. (True bonding is the enemy of reality TV!) And then there were the personalities of the finalists: Susur Lee's cocky perfectionism. Marcus Samuelsson's hubris and ego. Rick Moonen's unchecked mania.

Sure, some of the antagonism has been very nudge-nudge, wink-wink. But underneath it all, you get the feeling that these chefs really, really want a victory.