"culinary" news and stories

I just have to tell all you Slashfoodies about the new Astor Center in New York City. Some of you may have heard me mention one of my favorite shops, Astor Wine & Spirits before; like when I reviewed St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur. When I lived in NY I stopped by there on a weekly basis, now it's more like 6 times a year, which is pretty good when you consider it's over 400 miles from my new home in Mid-Coast Maine.

For the past three years I have been hearing rumors about the Astor Center being developed by Astor Wines & Spirits and they finally opened just last month. The Astor Center is a state or the art culinary education and events center where they have panels, workshops, symposia, seminars, courses on every aspect of the food and beverage world. They have three beautiful spaces for their events, courses, and seminars. The Study- a seminar hall with stadium seating looking down to a teaching kitchen and podium from comfortable seats set at counters set up for professional tastings; with a light box, running water, and a sink for every seat. No spitting in nasty slop buckets here. The Kitchen- A huge, top of the line teaching kitchen with every gadget you can imagine. The Gallery- a multi-use space for wine pairing dinners, food festivals, lectures, and other events.

Their presenter list is nothing short of amazing with top experts in all areas of the culinary world joining together to explore both the cutting edge and historical aspects of food and beverages. There is a strong focus on wines, spirits, and cocktails; something you would expect from the Astor Wines folks. F Paul Pacult, Jim Meehan, Maximilian Riedel (of Riedel Crystal), Kara Newman, Brian Van Flandern, Timothy Sullivan, Henry Sidel, and more experts on various libations are on hand to delve into the glorious world of all that is wet and tasty; for beginners and experts, consumers and those in the trade.

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Even though there is always a lot of information out there in cyberspace, I am constantly looking for new resources. This website, Masterchef, has recently come to my attention and I am very interested. It looks like a great culinary networking site with all kinds of community building options. I haven't had a chance to do more than browse, but I am definitely signing up.

The site offers educational video, IM between members, start clubs, post classified ads, etc. You can use the site to post your own blog and upload videos. It's basically a social networking site aimed specifically at those in or interested in the culinary world. It looks like a great way to meet other culinarians.

The only problem is Masterchef seems to be pretty new. There isn't much content. However, what content there is looks interesting and informative. And the site looks clean and pretty easy to navigate. Now Masterchef needs a few more members and it'll be a great online food community.

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When you plan your holidays, do you ever factor in the local cuisine when deciding where to go? The number of travelers seeking culinary adventures has definitely risen over the past few years, in fact, according to the Travel Industry Association of America, more than 58% of American leisure travelers take culinary or wine-related activities at their destination into account before booking.

Travelocity has prepared a list of some of the best places to visit if food is what you are looking for. A few are obvious, while others come as a bit of a surprise. The list includes Barcelona, Spain; Boulder, Colorado; Charleston, South Carolina; Las Vegas, Nevada; London, United Kingdom; Montreal, Quebec; New Orleans, Louisiana; New York, New York; Rome, Italy; and San Francisco, California.

Regarding Vegas, as an example, they state "If you want your foie gras topped with shaved truffles and dusted with gold, it's a sure bet it can be found here." If you've visited Las Vegas any time recently, you know that is all too true. Gone are the days of $1.99 steak sandwiches - fine dining has taken over the town.

Have you been somewhere that you feel should have made the list instead of those places, or do you agree with their picks?

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This week the competition on Top Chef got even more intense as the  contestants faced one of their most difficult challenges yet. Not only did the chefs have to cook, but they had to come up with a concept and start a restaurant from scratch. The needed a name, decor, tableware and, most importantly, time, which they didn't have. As an unusual twist in this episode, the incentive of immunity was eliminated from the quickfire challenge and instead, a prize was offered to the winner. There was no guest judge, either. Chef Tom Colicchio stepped up to offer the challenge and the prize.

Tom is opening a branch of his restaurant, 'wichcraft, the fast food variation of his craft restaurant, in San Francisco and asked the chefs to prepare the perfect sandwich, a food that 'wichcraft specializes in. The winner would get his or her sandwich on the menu when the West Coast 'wichcraft opened. Fast, portable and delicious would win in the sandwich competition. All the chefs did well, but Miguel's Falafel sandwich was the flavor winner. Unfortunately, Miguel made his a "deconstructed" sandwich, which meant that it had to be eaten with a knife and fork. A sandwich without bread is not a sandwich, and instead of Miguel, Tom gave top billing to Harold's sandwich of mortadella with grapes, roasted peppers and sunchoke mayonnaise on sourdough. The recipes for Stephen and Dave's sandwiches, both of which looked delicious, are on the Bravo site.

Want to experience the glory of running a four star kitchen - without wasting all that time at culinary school and all those hours on the line? Chris Connolly did just that, signing up for the "Expedite Tonight" package at the Rancho Bernardo Inn. For $698, Chris was able to button into a white chefs jacket and call out the orders to the cooks behind the scenes at the El Bizcocho restaurant, dine with the staff afterward at the staff meal and, the next night, eat in the main dining room of the restaurant he just "worked" in.

Unlike the semi-controlled chaos, ruined dishes and expletives that many would expect to see in a professional kitchen, Chris was impressed with the smooth flow and seemingly relaxed pace of the evening. The skill of the cooks, combined with their practiced familiarity with tasks like searing foie gras, made the evening very controlled. The cooks joked around and admired each others' handiwork, while plating tasting menus and generally cooking everything to perfection.

Was Chris ready to toss in his pen and pick up an apron? No, but after an evening of watching, sampling and spoon stealing, which the article has a full account of, Chris has a greater appreciation of the workings of a real kitchen - and knows that it is more difficult and more interesting than previously imagined.

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