Michael Voltaggio’s surprising departure from the Bazaar by José Andrés — at least surprising to me — left a rather large hole to fill, given that the Top Chef contestant helped the Beverly Hills restaurant earn four stars from the Los Angeles Times.

So who did Andrés and THINKfoodGROUP tap to fill those oversize shoes (holes and shoes…sorry about the mixed metaphors)?

They turned to a former Cafe Atlantico and Zaytinya sous chef who served as chef de cuisine under Barton Seaver at both Bar Pilar and Hook. Now, if you can’t tell, that’s a whole lot of José Andrés influence right there in that last sentence. Not only are Cafe Atlantico and Zaytinya THINKfoodGROUP properties, but Seaver worked at Jaleo right before accepting the job as executive chef at Cafe Saint-Ex and its sister operation, Bar Pilar.

So who is this mystery chef with the suddenly plum job?

Read More “Former Hook Chef de Cuisine Tapped as The Bazaar’s New Chef” »

The “liquid olives” at the Minibar

Them’s the fighting words of Ben Leventhal.

Leventhal is the Eater.com co-founder who has become a darling of the New York foodie blogosphere by opening the flood gates of information to (and I quote from the Eater site) “rumors, conjecture and opinions, as well as accurately reported factual information. The site may contain errors or inaccuracies. We do not guarantee, and no reliance should be placed upon, the correctness or reliability of Eater’s content…”

So maybe I should take Leventhal’s latest piece for New York magazine’s Grub Street blog with a large grain of Himalayan pink salt. Today, Leventhal published a piece about the five toughest reservations in America, a list that didn’t ring many alarm bells for me until Leventhal included a number of honorable mentions. Among them is José Andrés‘ Minibar, of which Leventhal writes:

José Andrés’s tiny restaurant-within-a-restaurant has just six seats and two seatings a night. Seats open up 30 days in advance, at 10 a.m. If it were located in a more food-focused city, it would easily be the hardest reservation in the country.

Read More “Minibar Would Be the Toughest Reservation in America, if D.C. Were a Foodie Town” »

Bryan Voltaggio is so gonna bury bro Michael

The first thing I wanted to know from Bryan Voltaggio is why. Why did the former executive chef at Charlie Palmer Steak and the current chef/owner of his own restaurant, VOLT, in Frederick feel the need to appear on Season 6 of Top Chef? He, of all people, doesn’t seem to need the career bump that comes from allowing Bravo to manipulate the crap out of a chef’s public image. I mean, he’s not Carla Hall.

It seems Voltaggio has his motivations, and it concerns a certain younger brother, Michael Voltaggio, the chef de cuisine at the Bazaar by José Andrés.

“There’s always been a bit of sibling rivalry between us,” Bryan Voltaggio tells Y&H. “We wanted to prove who’s the best.”

Read More “The New Spin for Next Season’s ‘Top Chef’: Sibling Rivalry!” »