"RockefellerCenter" news and stories

For many foodies, becoming a professional chef is a little bit like running away to join the circus. It seems impossible, the kind of bold, crazy move that is compelling simply because it is so unlikely. On the other hand, after hearing dinner guests repeatedly praise your cooking and loudly declaring that you should open a restaurant, it is easy to get lost in daydreams of culinary glory, imagining yourself joyfully preparing outstanding food, day after day, for a dining room full of excited, appreciative customers.

To get a better feel for the realities of the cooking trade, I talked to David Herr, a former engineer who followed the ultimate foodie dream and became a professional chef. For him, the path to culinary contentment began with a job that was, increasingly, becoming unenjoyable. After 20 years in the structural engineering field, he found that "Work was drying up, I was burning out, and I wanted something new. Since cooking was an innate part of my life, I decided that that was what I wanted to do next." After a great deal of research, David determined that his best route would be to enter a chef training program at either the Culinary Institute of America or New York City's French Culinary Institute. After a great deal of consideration, he decided to go with The French Culinary Institute, as its six-month program was shorter and cost less than CIA's 2-year course of study.

If you live in New York and have walked by Rockefeller Center today, you were probably taken aback. Oh no wait, if you're a New Yorker, you're never taken aback.

You think you've seen everything? Well, Ocean Spray, for the third year, has constructed a sizable pit at Rockefeller Center and filled it with a cranberry bog. They call it "The Big Apple Bog." The bog will be moving next to L.A.'s Kodak theater, and then to Boston. The purpose? Education, and the celebration of the cranberry harvest!

The people wading around in there are real cranberry farmers, and are there to answer questions. There's also cranberry farm equipment placed around the square. Have a look in the gallery!

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Seems like I always miss the fun stuff whenever I'm out of town. Case in point: the gigantic cranberry bog that Ocean Spray brought to New York City's Rockefeller Center from November 1 to November 3. The 1,500-square-foot cranberry sea was constructed as part of the company's Bogs Across America campaign. I imagine the campaign is an effort to remind people not to forget to serve cranberries at Thanksgiving.

Celebrity chef Ming Tsai was on hand at Rock Center for a cooking demo that included sweet-and-sour cranberry chutney. No word yet as to whether any rowdy Gothamites decided to jump into what Ocean Spray dubbed its Big Apple Bog.

The cranberry campaign touched down in Chicago today with the Windy City Bog, which will remain at the Chicago Tribune Tower until November 9. And if you happen to live in Los Angeles, you too can view a ridiculous amount of cranberries. The Red Carpet Bog will be at the city's Hollywood & Highland Center from November 14 to November 16. [via: Grub Street]

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