"celebritychefs" news and stories

Jennifer Aniston. Photo: Lord Henry, Flickr

The secret ingredient to Jennifer Aniston's success might be in her kitchen.

In the September issue of "O, The Oprah Magazine," Aniston says that her friends, celebrity and non-celebrity alike, love the food served in her Los Angeles home.

"It's the best restaurant in town," claims Aniston.

The actress can be seen in culinary action most nights of the week alongside her personal chefs, sisters Jewels and Jill Elmore.

"She makes a place where people want to come and hang out," jewelry designer Jennifer Meyer told People magazine about Aniston's dinner parties.

Taking the rave reviews to heart, the sitcom-turned-movie star is now considering opening up the reservation book to everyone.

According to Grub Street Los Angeles, the 40-year-old starlet is reportedly chewing on the idea of opening up her very own eatery.

So, Slashfood wants to know if you'd give Chef Aniston a shot.

Couldn't swing a trip to Food & Wine Magazine's Classic in Aspen this year? S'okay -- we've got you covered. Kick back with a glass of bubbly and some schmancy nibbles, bookmark this post and keep on checking back for real-time Twitter coverage from the event. Keep up with pictures from the red carpet and around the festival here.

On-scene Tweeters include:

Food & Wine editors and staffers Dana Cowin @fwscout, Christina Grdovic @grdovic, Kate Krader @kkrader, Gail Simmons @gailsimmons, Ray Isle @islewine, Jee Park @JeeWPark, Lori LeFevre @llefevre and their main feed @fandw

Top Chef alumni Richard Blais @RichardBlais, Stephanie Izard @stephanieizard and Ilan Hall @ilanhall

After the jump, see the live feed from the Food & Wine Classic.

Apologies to anyone dining in a marquee New York restaurant on Wednesday night -- we were hogging all your chefs and a restaurateur or 10 over at the Roseland Ballroom. And no, we won't apologize; it was all for a great cause.

Since 1988, the Share Our Strength organization has drawn together chefs, mixologists, volunteers and food fans in cities around the United States for Taste of the Nation events benefiting local food assistance organizations via funds generated by ticket sales, sponsorships and silent auctions. New York City's 2009 installment featured small-plate fare from more than 50 eateries and chefs, including newly minted James Beard Award winner Dan Barber's Blue Hill, Danny Meyer's entire armada of restaurants and the revitalized Oak Room as well as generously poured tipples from the likes of Audrey Saunders, Tony Abou-Ganim, Jim Meehan and many (many ... so, so, many ... ) more.

After the jump, read more about celeb spotting, volunteer opportunities and the best bite we had all night.

Just this week, Bravo announced the host and judges for the new series that's a Top Chef spin-off - Top Chef Masters. The host will be food journalist Kelly Choi and the judges will include restaurant critic Gael Greene (pictured on the right), culinary expert James Oseland, and food critic Jay Rayner. Unlike Top Chef, the show will feature 24 chefs that have already made it big.

These world-renowned chefs will compete against each other in a series of weekly challenges, and only one chef will win a prize for the charity of their choice. Their food will not only be tasted and evaluated by the judges, but also by a wide range of tasters for whom the challenge is aimed. This can include patrons at a five-star restaurant or a room full of hungry kids.

As exciting as it is to see Gael Greene, NYC food critic institution, star as one of the judges, I'm dying to know which chefs will be competing on the show. Entertainment Weekly predicts that the series will probably cast chefs, like Anthony Bourdain, who have guest-judged on Top Chef in the past. Who are some chefs that you'd like to see compete?

Several things I did not know about Bobby Flay before our brief, but amusing phone chat last week:

1. He has a trademark* on the term "crunchify" -- which means to add potato or tortilla chips to a sandwich or burger for the express purpose of introducing a textural element.

2. He's Churchill Downs' official Kentucky Derby Party Host. Though actually that puts to rest the nagging questions I'd had as to why a born and bred New Yorker would put a Hot Brown sandwich (it's a Bluegrass State thing) on his menu at Bar Americain.

3. Chips, dips and burgers for the Superbowl celebration chez Flay? Nope -- he's a paella man for big parties.

4. Holy heck, is he an entertaining radio host.

Bobby Flay Radio is a limited run series wherein the titular host waxes authoritative on subjects ranging from football, personal style, dating, and oh yeah -- food. While an audio-only cooking show might seems a tad spare, Flay manages to demo a Sandwich of the Week, conduct on-air taste tests (consisting largely of potato chip bags being opened loudly in front of open microphones) and dispense hardcore cooking advice to callers in a manner appealing enough to make one want to ratchet up the caliber of one's lunch plans once the show wraps at noon.

Bonus -- occasionally his wife, actress Stephanie March, shares mike duties and misses not a single chance to rebut his claims or bust his chops. A Burns & Allen in the making? Dunno -- how 'bout giving 'em more than five weeks to find out, Sirius?


Bobby Flay Radio airs on Sirius / XM Channel 108 from 10-12 on Thursdays (replaying Saturday and Sunday from 3-5) through February 5th. Don't subscribe? Sign up for a free online trial.

Bobby Flay Radio on Sirius


*Thank you to eagle-eyed poster Matt who pointed out that it's a trademark rather than a copyright, as I'd previously written.