Back of the House -- Grub Street: New York Magazine's Food and Restaurant Blog

Archive of Back of the House

Back of the House

8/21/08

1:30 PM

‘Wine Spectator’ Forum a Hotbed of Non-Controversy [Updated]

As we related earlier, Wine Spectator yesterday attempted to explain away giving its “Award of Excellence” to an imaginary restaurant with notably bad wines on the list. And in response, readers posting to the magazine's online forums have been nothing but positive. You'll find post after post of suspiciously supportive statements affirming the uprightness of the award and the wickedness of scammer and author Robin Goldstein. It’s almost as if Wine Spectator controlled what was said there! Notably non-outraged statements from this echo chamber include:

“An applause of appreciation for your endeavors...” »

Back of the House

8/20/08

5:52 PM

Exclusive: True Tales of a ‘Top Chef’ Paparazzo; Six Cheftestants Left?

Padma Lakshmi glides by a FedEx truck. Photo: Vanita Salisbury

We sent intrepid New York intern Vanita Salisbury out to Le Bernardin this afternoon for the Top Chef shoot. Below, her first-person account of brushes with Padma Lakshmi and tracking Tom Colicchio at 50 paces.

Colicchio: still bald. »

More: Tags: le bernardin, padma lakshmi, tom colicchio, top chef

Back of the House

8/19/08

2:00 PM

A Hot-Dog Party, Natural Casings and All

This announcement from friendly Chelsea gay–bar XES was sent Grub Street's way earlier today, and it took us a few minutes to figure out its significance. You can go anyplace to eat hot dogs in summer! And Gray's Papaya doesn't have a deck! But then we saw that it was Gays Papaya and it all made sense. Sort of.

More: Tags: hot dogs, xes

Advertising

Back of the House

8/19/08

1:30 PM

‘Top Chef’ Shooting at Le Bernardin Tomorrow Night

Le Bernardin: where Top Chef secrets go to die.Photo courtesy Le Bernardin.

Top Chef promos haven’t even started yet, but the season will basically be ruined by Thursday morning, now that word has gotten out that an episode is shooting tomorrow night at Le Bernardin. (Eater, who reported the story, found out from patrons who received release forms with their reservations.) Since it's late in the shoot, expect only a handful of cheftestants to be present. A few loose words of description from a passing bystander should I.D. them easily to Top Chef audiences. If so, we’ll pass them along, with all appropriate warnings. We may have to have the season ruined, but that's no reason you should.

Top Chef Mega-Spoilage: Top Chef Filming Tomorrow Night at Le Bernardin [Eater]

More: Tags: le bernardin, top chef

Back of the House

8/ 4/08

11:30 AM

‘Top Chef’ Contestants Captured!

Next season's Top Chef cast, exposed.Photo: Restlus.com

Blog Restless has the first shot of the latest crop of Top Chef contestants. This group, photographed emerging from their barracks in Williamsburg, are a comely crew, marked by oomph and sex appeal. (If any Grub Street readers recognize them, let us know in the comments!) This crew of cheftestants will be, at any rate, easier on the eyes than the previous ones. And if you're looking for more Top Chef chatter to make your off-season more endurable, Amuse Biatch has news that the Foo Fighters are doing some kind of guest appearance for the Thanksgiving episode. We can see it now: "Your challenge is to make a dish that looks good in a fortysomething mosh pit."

Top Chef / KFC gets first paparazzo! [Restless, via Eater]
“Top Chef” Caught Foo(d) Fighting at Thanksgiving, Told to Grohl Up [Amuse Biatch]

More: Tags: top chef

Back of the House

8/ 1/08

2:22 PM

First ‘Top Chef’ Spoiler of the Year Comes Courtesy of the ‘Today’ Show

Tom Colicchio on Today.Photo courtesy NBC.com

Tom Colicchio went on the Today show this morning to offer an early Top Chef spoiler of the new season. Colicchio claimed the judges were deadlocked on dishes prepared by thirteen cheftestants, so he asked Today's Meredith Viera, Kathy Lee Gifford, Natalie Morales, and Hoda Kotb to help out. The challenge was, of course, to create something you could prepare on Today. The winner would have the chance to make his dish on the morning show. A tomato, watermelon, and Feta-cheese salad with basil oil and balsamic vinegar received top honors. Amuse Biatch, who alerted us to the clip, has a great minute-by-minute commentary.

Top Chef Taste Test [Today, via Amuse Biatch]

More: Tags: the today show, tom colicchio, top chef

Back of the House

7/14/08

3:30 PM

‘Time Out New York’ Tries, in Vain, to Show a Nicer Side of Lisa Fernandes

Lisa Fernandes: the good side of the Gorgon.Photo courtesy Bravo

Can Lisa Fernandes ever win New York over? In the latest stage of the Gorgon-rehabilitation project, Time Out New York writer Ashlea Halpern — who spent time with Fernandes on a recent cooking feature — found herself sorta liking the Top Chef villain. “Can a woman who delights in taking her girlfriend’s kid out to Asian buffets and explaining the myriad strange foods on offer really be ‘rotted to the core’?” Halpern mused. “Can a chef who oohs and ahhs over cutesy products like Kewpie mayo, or who can make a fishmonger at a Flushing supermarket chuckle despite the language barrier really be ‘the culinary Antichrist’?” These questions aren’t purely rhetorical ones. We’re still thinking about them.

In defense of Lisa (sort of) [TONY]

More: Tags: lisa fernandes, time out new york, top chef

Back of the House

7/10/08

9:00 AM

Cheftestant Lisa Strives for Our Affection

Many former Top Chef contestants do pretty well for themselves as B-list celebrity chefs. (Even season one's lachrymose Dave Martin, who never even made it to the final, is still milking his fame.) But what of the cheftestants people just don't like? In a Time Out feature this week, the mag asks, “Can the most hated contestant in Top Chef history redeem her rep by fixing our readers a gourmet five-course meal for under $20?” Fernandes aced the challenge, cooking simple Asian fare of the same kind she did on Top Chef, but watching the video, we find it hard to think that anyone will be warming up to her: She's still the same unsmiling Gorgon we all remember, albeit one who moves briskly and competently through her paces.

Cooking With Lisa Fernandes [TONY]

More: Tags: dave martin, lisa fernandes, time out new york, top chef

Back of the House

6/26/08

2:00 PM

Brad Thompson Plans a New Burger for Lever House

Brad Thompson, the new chef at Lever House, knows all about gourmet burgers. He was part of the team that created the DB Burger, and his L.A. tailgates are the stuff of legend. So now, as he prepares to create the city’s latest haute hamburger, for Lever House, what is he thinking about? We got the details.

"You need flavor, but also some substance." »

More: Tags: bradford thompson, burgers, lever house

Back of the House

6/19/08

9:00 AM

Scenes From San Domenico’s Last Supper

Tony and Marisa May, and chef Odette Fada:
one last night in midtown.Photo courtesy San Domenico

At its final night of dinner service before reopening downtown next spring, San Domenico had nary a dry eye nor an unstuffed inch of GI tract in the house. Alumni including Andrew Carmellini, Scott Conant, Theo Schoenegger, and Benny Bartolotta joined chef Odette Fada in preparing a menu of SD classics, but the highlights were after dinner.

A late-night pork-chop party. »

More: Tags: andrew carmellini, marisa may, odette fada, san domenico, scott conant, tony may