"zagat" news and stories

Food Network Iron chef Cat Cora is going to chat on Zagat.com live at 2pm today. You can submit questions here (and as of right now there aren't many questions so there's a good chance yours will be answered, so head on over).

Cora is the Iron Chef I don't know much about. The only place I've seen her is Iron Chef America, and I didn't know her background or that she was mentored by Julia Child (!), so I'll be checking in on the chat today.

• Instead of lettuce, try some hearty, leafy vegetables.
• These contractors not only remodel your kitchen, they'll cook you a meal.
• Right now, people running in tomorrow's Boston Marathon are probably eating a lot of carbs.
• The 2007/08 Zagat Guide to Boston restaurants has a new look.
• It's cookie time for Boston Red Sox fans.
• This week's recipes: Fresh Fruit Tart, Pan-Broiled Salmon, String Cheese and Avocado Salad, Lemony Oven-Roasted Potatoes, and Chicken Sausage, Mushroom, and Raisin Risotto.

The concept of a restaurant guidebook is becoming increasingly outdated. The books are rarely up to date and, although they can be carried around by travelers easily, just can't offer the user the same kind of immediate response - and an interactive one, at that - as online, user-driven restaurant guides. Chowhound, Yelp and Citysearch are some of the leaders of this genre, along with similar user-review driven online forums. Zagat, which was unique in the restaurant guide book field in that it based its "reviews" on user commentary, recently decided that it needed to move to a similar online format, where users could offer real-time opinions, in order to remain competitive.

Or, at least, to attempt to remain competitive.

Is there any more room left in the restaurant discussion board field for a newcomer? Given that people have expressed dissatisfaction with the way that Chowhound is run (and they way that the site looks), there just might be.

[via eater la ]

Source

I was noodling around in my files and food magazines and ran across some info that I thought would make a good food trivia quiz.

Food Trivia Quiz

1. When and where did McDonald's open its first drive thru?
2. Who turned the world on to Blackened red fish?
3. Who are Tim and Nina and what are they known for?
4. In 1982 what became ET's favorite candy?
5. When was the Slurpee introduced?
6. What is Alice Waters known for?
7. Who was the first Ronald McDonald?
8. What cities recently banned the sale or use of certain food products.
9. What storm caused the devastation of one of the top food destinations in the world?
10. Where was the original home of Subway?
11. Who wrote "On Food and Cooking" the book that was the catalyst for the combining of the culinary arts and science?
12. When did the Blooming Onion first appear on a chain restaurant menu?
13. When did the Food network first start broadcasting?
14. When and where did the first Starbucks open?
15. The first dishwasher was introduced to the public in 1893. What decade did it finally catch on?
16. What was the first diet soda?
17. What was the "Space Age drink" and when was it introduced?
18. Waring invented the blender in 1937. What year was the one millionth blender sold?
19. What was the cereal Mikey likes?
20. Who wrote "Mastering the Art of French Cooking"?

Don't peek at the answers! They're after the jump.

The Zagat Survey recently released some stats from its new 2007 edition of America's Top Restaurants. According to Zagat, the citizens of Houston, Austin and Dallas/Ft. Worth dined out the most, all about four times per week. (Houston also frequently tops the Men's Fitness list of America's fattest cities.) The average meal is also a little cheaper in Houston ($27.04), compared with some of the more expensive dining cities on the survey, such as New York City ($39.43) and Palm Beach, FL ($38.56). Also, west coast diners apparently tip a percentage point or so less than East Coast diners, according to Zagat. Average tips out west hovered around 18 percent, while averages on the other side of the country were around 19 percent. There are still plenty of chowhounds out there too, apparently; 63 percent of those surveyed said they would drive 45 minutes each way for a good meal. Restaurant News Resource has the full Zagat press release with lots more info.