"todd english" news and stories

Star chefs were making the scene at the second night of the 2010 Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival, from the Perrier Jouet BubbleQ to Wine Spectator's Best of the Best. Over the years, both events have consistently been foodie favorites, however, they differ in their approach and vibe.

At the more casual Bubble Q, the combination of grilling and champagne made for a memorable evening. Hosted by telegenic chef Emeril Lagasse, there were smoked meats, flowing bubbly and a lively band. Lagasse presided over an impressive roll call of toques including Michelle Bernstein, John Besh, Todd English, Tim Love, Tony Neely, Norman Van Aken and Susan Spicer.

While we didn't hear Emeril utter his "Bam" catchphrase, he did make a major announcement at the BubbleQ concerning his new line of steaks with presenting sponsor Allen Brothers. Called Emeril's Red Marble Steaks, these high-quality cuts of beef (bone-in rib eye, filet, rib roast and hangar) will be available to consumers in the spring. Moreover, as the host of the event, Emeril's booth was the biggest and most impressive. He served a Creole pulled pork sandwich with spicy coleslaw, kicked-up bbq sauce and homemade pickles. For this signature dish, he went through 475 pounds of pork butt.

Be sure to follow Slashfood's SOBE coverage on Twitter.

by Catherine Donaldson-Evans

From the adorable, boy-next-door "Naked Chef" to the ruggedly handsome Bobby Flay and charming Aussie Curtis Stone, Slashfood rounds up the 10 most sizzling men in the food business. Warning: It's going to get hot in here.

Homemade candy corn. Photo: NoshWithMe, Flickr.

A few of the best stories spied elsewhere on the Web this week:

Why buy bags of Brach's when you can make your own gorgeous Halloween candy?

A chain of Spanish-American restaurants in Brooklyn and Queens offers seafood-loaded and tequila-spiked "Viagra" soup.

A recent study published in the Journal of Neuroscience is the first to show that eating and drinking act as painkillers by way of distraction.

The new "Hell's Kitchen" Nintendo game requires players to chop food and drop it into pots, but surprisingly does not involve swearing and smoking.

Move over Starbucks, Wolfgang Puck is introducing bottled Culinary Iced Coffees made with organic ingredients.

In the latest Todd English news, his former fiancée, Erica Wang, turned herself in to the police today, after he filed assault charges against her.

Todd English and Erica Wang. Photo: David X Prutting, PatrickMcMullan.com

Todd English is speaking out for the first time since calling off his wedding to Erica Wang.

"I couldn't go through with it," the 49-year-old chef of Olives told People. "I thought I'd met my partner, but as things progressed [it] went down hill."

English has appeared on "Iron Chef America" and PBS's "Cooking Under Fire."

In the People interview, English accused his jilted fiancee of "physical and verbal abuse" and allegedly hitting him in the eye in September. The New York Post reports Thursday that English visited a New York City police precinct to report the allegations.

But she denied the abuse allegations to the New York Post earlier this week, telling the paper that English has left her without a job (she was his personal assistant) and an apartment, and forced her to pay $12,000 for wedding expenses.

"An animal wouldn't treat another animal the way he has treated me," Wang told the Post. "He is forgetting I am human. I don't deserve this. He has caused me, my friends and family so much pain."

Slashfood reported on Oct. 5 that Wang had thrown a party despite the nuptials being called off.

[Via People, New York Post]

Todd English and Erica Wang. Photo: David X Prutting, PatrickMcMullan.com

What do you do when you and your celebrity chef husband-to-be call it quits just days before your extravagant wedding at an upscale New York City hotel?

If you're Erica Wang, the recently ex-ed fiancee of Todd English, you put on a chic black dress and party it up with your family and friends, the New York Post reports. English is the previously married 48-year-old owner of the Olives restaurants and star of season three of the reality-TV show "Top Chef."

Wang and English called off the wedding days before it was to take place at the St. Regis Hotel, and since several guests had already made the trip to New York for the event -- which gossip blog Gawker reports English had already paid for -- the would-be bride and "about 150 of Wang's closest friends and family packed into the posh party space 20 stories above Fifth Avenue," the Post reported.

"Everybody is having a fantastic time," a source told the Post. "People are dancing their butts off."