Proof chef Haidar Karoum's lamb with spinach and coconut curry bested Watershed toque Todd Gray's potato latke with diced apple and ... well, something involving lamb. Honestly, it was pretty darn loud at last night's Capital Food Fight. I couldn't hear what Gray did with the lamb—and I was standing at the foot of the [...]
Openings, closings, events, charities, compiled from press releases, compressed into haiku Roman-kind ah-peetz/Floating mozzarella trough/Blue crab, vegan pies; Fiorella Pizzeria, opening May 26, 152 National Plaza, National Harbor, Md., (301) 839-1811 Local chefs compete/Chili cook-off charity/Hot-dog eating match; from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., May 30, Café Saint-Ex, 1847 14th St. NW, (202) 265-7839 Eating, [...]
Cupcake Craze Hits New High: Frederick High School in Maryland is banning shared snacks after a 16-year-old student got sick from a friend's cupcake that authorities suspect was laced with something, possibly marijuana. (WAMU via DCist) Bad Apple Martini: How ChurchKey became a revered beer mecca by doing things the opposite way that they were [...]
Planned Expansions: New York's Rosa Mexicano, which has a D.C. outpost adjacent to the Verizon Center, is planning to open a new location in Friendship Heights. [WBJ] Welcome to the Neighborhood! The multi-city food blog network Eater has finally set up shop in the nation's capital. [Eater D.C.] New Positions: Carla Hall has joined the [...]
It's official. As predicted by the National Enquirer of food journalism, next season's Top Chef will be a reunion show of contestants not good enough to win previous seasons, including three locally based cooks. Bravo producers are bravely calling this alumni gathering an "All Star" season. The cable channel announced the full list of returning [...]
The current season of Top Chef isn't even over yet — and it can't come fast enough after last night's incredibly inane episode (NASA? Really? How, like, 1969!) — and the rumors are already flying about season eight. Both Eater and Grub Street are reporting (OK, rumor-mongering, which Y&H is happy to pass along) that [...]
Cooking for babies: So Tom and Padma both have infants. Tom and Padma are both judges on Top Chef. Tom and Padma are busy, flying here and there to run restaurants or write cookbooks or get pregnant. Tom and Padma don't have time for babies. Tom and Padma don't want to be turned into Child [...]
The scene inside the Reagan Building Blue Ridge's Barton Seaver was gunning for the title for the third straight year at the 2009 Capital Food Fight, held last night inside the Reagan Building. His competition included not only last year's finalist, Peter Smith from PS 7's, but also two Top Chef contestants (Mike Isabella from [...]
At Sunday night's RAMMY awards, I had the pleasure of sitting at the same table as Carla Hall, who may be the nicest person on earth, and Ariane Duarte, who was introduced to me as yet another former Top Chef contestant making the rounds. That's when my embarrassment meter went into the red zone. I [...]
The good folks at Eater.com are all over the Top Chef beat, and the latest rumor they're circulating concerns Mike Isabella, head chef at Zaytinya in Penn Quarter. They hear Isabella's got the right stuff for the show. And what are Isabella's qualifications, according to an anonymous Eater tipster? Tats and a "faux hawk." [Insert [...]
