"ducasse" news and stories

At Alain Ducasse's restaurant in New York, like so many other very high end eateries, they are offering a menu that features white truffles. The tasting menu heavily features the expensive delicacy and costs $320 per person. This is unless, of course, you are able to score a free meal at the restaurant for you and a friend in the VIP room. Here's how to do it:

• Start a food blog. Make it well-written and humorous. Become popular.
• Get a book deal and lots of press.
• Get an e-mail from Ducasse's publicist and have the chutzpah to ask for a free dinner.
• Get lucky when the publicist gives you the "ok" and show up at the appointed time.
• If you want to have a hope of getting the same sort of deal again, go home and post about the whole experience (comic book format optional)

Simple, no? This is exactly what Adam, the Amateur Gourmet, did and he was rewarded with a night of truffle decadence at the Essex House - free.

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Caviar is growing in popularity, and to try to meet the demand, more farmers are turning to farmed caviar. Some predict that its production will double - from 64 tons to 125 tons - in the next 4 years. Of course, the Caspian Sea produced 125 tons last year, before a firm limit was placed on wild caviar to protect the existence of the sturgeons. Want to get in on what may be a new caviar trend? Here are some caviar tasting notes and where to get farmed caviar.

Mr Paul Newman, of "Newman's Own" products, has a restaurant called the Dressing Room: A Homegrown Restaurant. They serve more than just salads

Alex Witchell's drink of choice seems to be bourbon and soda and she discovers that sometimes bartenders underpour, and sometimes male bartenders at even fancy restaurants make weaker drinks for women than for men.

It sounds like spinach and other produce may be subjected to a new set of standards, both for production and packaging, as a result of the fact that the recent E-Coli outbreak has drawn attention to some issues in the industry.

Ducasse is closing Essex House in January in favor of a partnership with St Regis Hotels and Resorts.

A brief lesson on tasting chilis, how to do it and how to appreciate their diverse flavors.

Frank Bruni dines at Da Silvano and gives it one star.

Mark Bittman, the minimalist, makes cornbread.

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In Sunday's New York Times Magazine, there was an interesting article by Mark Bittman about the franchising of great chefs. The article covers how world renowned chefs, including Alain Ducasse, Joël Robuchon and Daniel Boulud, are expanding into restaurateurism, trading on their name and the cooking that is represented by that name.

It is not that there is anything wrong with the branding that the chefs are doing because it is financially a good move for them and, in some cases, good for diners who have world-class cuisine more readily accessible. For the chefs, opportunities like these are outstanding.

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Alain Ducasse, one of the most successful restaurateurs in the world and holder of 9 Michelin stars, has begun to prepare meals that will go where no haute cuisine - or even anything worthy of being called a cuisine - has gone before: outer space. The chef is working with the European Space Agency (ESA) and the French National Center for Space Studies to create gourmet foods that can be packaged for consumption on space flights, giving astronauts a taste of something better than the garden variety rations then get now.

Currently, astronauts have an extremely limited array of food to choose from when on a flight, the vast majority of it being freeze-dried or vacuum-sealed. They have very limited cooking supplies and no fresh vegetables, leading them to crave foods like salads and hot coffee when they land back on Earth. Ducasse's line, which is called Space Food, will still have to be packaged specially, but will include favorites like rice pudding (in soy milk) and chicken with Thai veggies.

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