Category Archives: Restaurants

Duck, Duck, Chefs

Posted on by 19 comments

The Fifth Annual Duckathlon

Over the years as a food writer, I’ve had the pleasure of judging many a food competition.

I’ve critiqued a gingerbread house contest, untold cookie exchanges, an apple pie baking battle (twice), a nursing home food cook-off, the short-lived TV series “Food Fight,” and even the $1 million Pillsbury Bake-Off.

But nothing quite prepared me for the Duckathlon.

Say what??!

My thoughts exactly.

Like me, you probably haven’t heard of it because it’s super secret. Indeed, this only-in-New York rencounter is by invitation-only. As a food writer in town for the James Beard awards gala, I was invited to be a part of it. I was told I couldn’t tell anyone ahead of time that I was involved with it. I was just supposed to report to HQ (“headquarters” to you non-James Bond-ians) at mid-day May 3. It was all so hush-hush.

HQ turned out to be Chelsea Market. And if you haven’t guessed by now, the Duckathlon is a culinary competition — if Monty Python or Ben Stiller came up with it.

Team Le Cercle Rouge, last year's grand champions get into the spirit.

This rather bawdy, zany, tongue-in-cheek event was created by Ariane Daguine of D’Artagnan, the foie gras and specialty meat purveyor. Teams of chefs from some of New York’s most celebrated restaurants don wacky costumes to pit their culinary skills against one another in all manner of crazy contests staged throughout the Meatpacking District. Trust me, you’ve never seen the likes of this.

Le Cirque team member participating in "flock around the clock'' obstacle course while balancing plastic duck on a spoon.

This was the fifth year of the Duckathlon. The first one was held on a lark in 2005 as a way to celebrate the company’s 20th anniversary, and to foster relationships with restaurants. It proved such a hit with chefs that it’s been held ever since. Because after all, chefs are the ultimate competitors. They are warriors in whites. They are a force to be reckoned with. And if beer is at all involved, you can count on them being there.

So did these teams prepare for hours and hours in the kitchen beforehand?

Not exactly.

“I didn’t train at all,” says Chris “The Wedge” Lim, chef de cuisine of BLT Steak. “We’re all still drunk from the night before.”

“I did push-ups and sit-ups,” says Lauren Hirschberg, chef de cuisine of Craft Bar. “And 30 minutes of cardio.”

“I was speaking to ducks a lot,” quipped (or quacked) Thea Williamson, head of work in education for Team Gracie.

Don't try this at home.

One of the most memorable challenges was “So Long, Saucisson.” Above, Celso Moreira, operations manager, of China Grill, wears a bra and hoop skirt, while trying to dunk a sausage suspended from a string into a metal can below that he can’t see. He was a natural at it.

Read more

Bravo to Bardessono

Posted on by 18 comments

Roasted striped bass with swiss chard, grapefruit, and balsamic.

Bardessono may be the newest hotel to open its doors in bucolic Yountville.

But it’s quite unlike any other.

This luxurious eco-resort, which opened in February, sits on five acres of gardens and vineyards. The 62-room hotel features a “green spa” that is heated and cooled by an underground geothermal system. Doors, tables, and other furnishings are made of sustainable, hand-milled and reclaimed woods. The hotel hopes to garner a LEED platinum-rating for environmental responsibility.

Granted, not everyone will be able to afford to check into one of the posh suites that start at about $500 a night that feature outdoor rain showers, and bathrooms as large as the main bedroom areas. More folks, however, might be able to splurge on dinner at the resort’s restaurant, overseen by Executive Chef  Sean O’Toole, formerly group operations chef for Michael Mina’s 14 restaurants.

A perfect Tomales Bay oyster on the half shell.

Yours truly was invited recently to try the serene restaurant, done up in soft earth tones, and towering windows that slide open to the main courtyard. On a Sunday night, there were only a handful of diners at the 93-seat restaurant. And that’s a shame because O’Toole’s food was just flawless.

In keeping with the resort’s philosophy, ingredients are sourced locally. There’s even a garden on site, where O’Toole can have his pick from a bevy of herbs, produce, and fruit trees.

Lobster-like spot prawn in a sea of green almond gazpacho.

The chef’s tasting menu, five courses with a couple of amuse bouches to start, is $85 per person. There’s a lightness to O’Toole’s cooking, which marries well with the setting.

Flavors pop and linger on the palate. The skin on the striped bass was crisp as a potato chip, and the flesh meltingly tender. The spot prawn floating in the gazpacho was tender, and meaty like lobster. Its accompanying tiny green almonds (immature nuts that have yet to develop a hard shell) looked like translucent pumpkin seeds, and had a delicate flavor and an almost soft, grape-like texture inside. And the gnocchi, which O’Toole makes in small batches with potatoes put through a ricer, were the most ethereal I’d ever had.

Gnocchi so light it does nearly melt in your mouth.

O’Toole’s wife, Cynthia, the assistant food and beverage director, pairs her husband’s dishes with spot-on wines.

Here’s what I enjoyed:

Read more

Love the Restaurant and Yoga Studio? Then You’re Sure to Love the New Store

Posted on by 17 comments

Love Chef Jeremy Fox's cauliflower dish? Soon, you'll be able to buy the cute little pot. (Photo courtesy of Ubuntu)

Obviously, I can only be talking about Ubuntu in Napa, the vegetable-based restaurant (they don’t like to call it vegetarian) attached to a yoga studio that has become the darling of every critic around.

Chef Jeremy Fox’s creative, masterful way with veggies has left diners utterly swooning, even devoted carnivores.

In June, you can bring a little taste of Ubuntu home when Ubuntu Annex opens next door to the restaurant and studio in the historical Main Street Building.

Chef Jeremy Fox (Photo courtesy of Ubuntu)

Shop for the same Steelite and Le Creuset dishware used in the restaurant, as well as specialty items, including the darling cast-iron cocottes used for serving Fox’s famous “Cauliflower in Cast Iron Pot.”  Also for sale will be a selection of spices, garden seeds, Rancho Gordo beans, Ridgecut Gristmills grits, and Fox’s signature “Lavender Almonds.”

Read more

Thomas Keller to Wed

Posted on by 22 comments

Laura Cunningham and Thomas Keller. (Photo by NewYorkSocialDiary.com)

Yes, a knowledgeable source has confirmed that four-star Chef Thomas Keller of the French Laundry in Yountville is indeed engaged to long-time girlfriend, Laura Cunningham.

Cunningham is the former general manager of the French Laundry and former director of operations for all of Keller’s restaurants. It was she who was largely responsible for shaping the flawless, unobtrusive, elegant service the French Laundry is known for. She left the fold in 2006 to start her own consulting business. Around the same time, she and Keller also split, after having been together as a couple for a decade.

They met when Keller bought the French Laundry building in 1994. Cunningham, who grew up in St. Helena and had worked for Chef Jeremiah Tower, came knocking with her resume. Keller said there were no jobs, but took the resume anyway, before he quickly shut the door.

A few days later, he came to his senses and called her back to give her a job.

Read more

« Older Entries Recent Entries »