Celebrity Chefs

Taste Festival

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There’s a new festival to be held in Edinburgh this summer. It is called the Taste festival and will be at the Meadows from June 7 to June10. The event is jointly owned by Channel 4 and Brand events, a London based company.

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With a festival called Taste, you naturally have to have great tasting food and interesting guest presentors. Channel 4 has asked Gordon Ramsey and Hugh Fearnley-Whitingstall to go and promote their TV shows, the F-Word and River cottage respectively. The chefs are expected to hold a live cooking demo and have a question and answer section as well.

The 15 best restaurants from Edinburgh have been invited to be present and have their own pitches. It’s a great way to attract more people to their restaurants and to Edinburgh. As of this time, Skipper’s, Restaurant Martin Wishart, and Duck’s at Le Marche Noir have signed up to take part.

A set fee will be charged of anyone attending the festival. This is a day pass that will allow them to sample everything at the festival – as much as they like. The top chefs will be preparing everything in front of them, showing off their culinary skills.

After Edinburgh, similar festivals are scheduled to be held in Dublin, Bath, Birmingham and London. There has been no details on these festivals at this time.

Originally posted on February 20, 2007 @ 12:15 pm

Just Two Stars For The London

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Frank Bruni, the New York Times’ renowned food critic visited Gordon Ramsay’s first New York restaurant, The London. Sadly, the rating came to a mere two stars out of a possible four. In his critique, Bruni wrote that he found the place “unexciting” and the food “predictable and lacking in inspiration”.

The rating was a surprise. Gordon Ramsay’s other establishments have had much better ratings. The fiery chef’s food is normally able to command better reviews. To be fair though, Bruni did note that some dishes did earn his “compliments to the chef”.

Bruni also noted that the decor was unimaginative, with the exit sign the most eyecatching object. He wrote that he felt he was “in a space capsule floating through a supra-national limbo” while eating in The London. Not exactly the most appealing of settings.

While a two star rating from the New York Times may mean very good but it falls far short of expectations for a restaurant of Ramsay’s. Looks like some adjustments in the kitchen will be happening to add more “excitement” as Bruni suggested.

Originally posted on February 2, 2007 @ 11:28 pm

Food Trip With Todd English

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Here’s a new show for everyone to watch out for: Food Trip With Todd English. The Boston Chef has taken a camera crew out with him as he goes out and about discovering new dishes that he will now recreate in his restaurant’s kitchen at the Charlestown Olives, with a special twist uniquely his own.

Sounds like every other cooking show you’ve ever seen? Give it a chance. You might find that though the format is similar to other shows, the content and of course the recipes are unique and definitely worth watching.

Already there are four shows lined up. Each episode is full of information that are really useful and practical. He begins with the episode he calls “Japan: The Freshest Of Fish”. Here he explores Tokyo and suchi. Viewers get to see the Itamae or Sushi chefs at work.

The next episode is “Nantucket: On the Waterfront,” followed by another visit to Japan, this time for “The World’s Best Beef”. The last of the set is set in the Big Apple to bring viewers a peek into what he calls “New York: The Surprise Inside”.
The show is set to air on January 13 at 2pm on WGBH.

[tags] chef,Todd English,cooking,TV Show,sushi,Japan, Nantucket, New York [/tags]

Originally posted on January 4, 2007 @ 6:17 pm

Anthony Bourdain In Ohio

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Anthony Bourdain has accepted a challenge from food writer, Michael Ruhlman of Cleveland Heights. He’s gone off to Ohio to find proof of life beyond the world’s largest rubber stamp and cow tipping (if you have no idea what cow tipping is, watch the movie Cars. They call it tractor tipping in the film).

Michael Ruhlman and Anthony Bourdain are actually friends. Ruhlman challenged Bourdain on his blog to come to his hometown, preferably during one of the colder months. The weather may be grim but that hasn’t stopped the celebrity chef or the “Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations: crew from getting there.

What has the celebrity chef been doing? He’s been winter skiing on Lake Erie, visiting the Lake View Cemetery which is where John D. Rockefeller lies buried and taking a tour of the Rock and Roll Hall of fame – the last in the company of Marky Ramone, drummer of the Chef’s favorite band, the Ramones. There’s even a mock drag race set between Bourdain and Ruhlman.

Of course no trip would be complete without food which is why he’s visiting Sokolowski’s University Inn to have some pierogi, checking out the exotic dishes at the West Side Market and trying the kielbasa at the Sausage Shoppe. He’ll also do some cooking with Michael Symon, Lola chef and Owner.

No date has been set yet for when this episode will be aired. Definitely though it brings good publicity to Ohio.

Originally posted on January 20, 2007 @ 9:35 pm

Gordon Ramsey Prepares Christmas Dinner In Afghanistan

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Gordon Ramsey has taken time out from his busy schedule and prepared Christmas dinner for 800 British soldiers stationed at Helmand province, Afghanistan. This truly was hell’s kitchen and by far one of the toughest challenges that this famous restaurateur has ever had to face.
The event was organized by the Daily Mirror. In his interview, Chef Ramsey said,

“It was well worth it to see the look on the guys’ faces when they came into the dining tent. It was absolutely brilliant. I’m only sorry I couldn’t do this for more of the men and women from the armed forces who are out here.”

Truly it made for a great christmas meal. If you can’t have your mother’s turkey at least you get a fantastic turkey feast courtesy of a world famous chef. Not bad at all for a christmas present. It makes being away from home at least a bit more palatable, even if only for one night.

[tags] Gordon Ramsey, Hell’s Kitchen,dinner,Christmas, turkey, soldiers, Afghanistan [/tags]

Originally posted on December 26, 2006 @ 8:57 pm