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Top Chef's Tour Bus Hits the Road Again!

YumSugar — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 15:00:49 -0700

If you've got a hankering for a serving of Top Chef before Top Chef: Masters begins, you're in luck. Top Chef: The Tour 2 - the show's second national tour - will kick off its 22-city tour this Friday at the Flatiron Pedestrian Plaza in New York. Each stop, including a special visit to Churchill Downs on Kentucky Derby weekend, will feature two cheftestants hosting four interactive live shows with cooking demos and food tastings.

I'm really disappointed to see that they're hitting 22 cities, but San Francisco will not be one of them. Is the tour hitting your town? Find out when you read more.

New York, NY - March 27-28
Hollywood, FL - April 5
Delray Beach, FL - April 6
Jacksonville, FL - April 9
New Orleans, LA - April 14
Houston, TX - April 17
Dallas, TX - April 19
Little Rock, AR - April 21
Nashville, TN - April 24
Hopkinsville, KY - April 27
Louisville, KY - May 1-2
Atlanta, GA - May 4
Raleigh, NC - May 6
Washington, DC - May 9
Westchester, NY - May 13
Boston, MA - May 15
Pittsburgh, PA - May 20
Columbus, OH - May 23-24
St. Louis, MO - May 27
Chicago, IL - May 30-31
Des Moines, IA - June 6
Los Angeles, CA - June 12, 13

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Top Chef Coming to a City Near You

partysugar — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 12:15:21 -0700

Missing Top Chef already? Don't worry: Starting June 21 the show is coming to a town near you with Top Chef: The Tour. This morning Bravo announced the 20 dates and cities of the tour. In each city, four cheftestants will lead cooking demonstrations, host food tastings, and reveal secrets from the show. Fans can participate in the programs and will have the chance to meet and greet their favorite TC alum. Although Bravo has yet to publicize which chefs will take part in the tour, I'm positive the event will be fun, interesting, and informative. I plan to go when they come to San Francisco!

To check out the complete list of stops on the TC tour, read more.

June 21, Jericho, NY
July 1, Boston
July 4, Philadelphia
July 9, Pittsburgh
July 12, Columbus, OH
July 16, St. Louis
July 19, Denver
July 26, Phoenix
July 30, San Diego
Aug. 2 and 3, San Francisco
Aug. 8, Los Angeles
Aug. 16, Des Moines, Iowa
Aug. 23, Detroit
Aug. 27, Madison, WI
Sept. 3 and 4, Chicago
Sept. 13, Raleigh, NC
Sept, 20, Tampa
Sept. 24, Orlando
Sept. 27, Atlanta
TBD, New York

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Link Time!

BuzzSugar — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:00:06 -0700

Mia Michaels is leaving So You Think You Can Dance - Mia's Twitter
Lady Gaga reveals her upcoming tour dates - Billboard
Ridley Scott goes Red Riding for Sony - Hit Fix
Season four of Big Love will premiere on Jan. 10 - TV Squad
William H. Macy will star in an adaptation of the British drama Shameless for Showtime - The Futon Critic
Josh Duhamel will star in a new Disney flick called What's He Got? - Coming Soon
Taylor Swift is going to host SNL - should she address Kanye's comments? - PopSugar
Ever wonder what Carlisle Cullen looked like in the olden days? - MTV Movies Blog
Brad Pitt's Tree of Life won't be released until next year - Vulture
Take Yum's Top Chef quiz on last night's episode - YumSugar

Top Chef, the Magazine?

partysugar — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 07:50:10 -0700

First there was Top Chef. Then there was the cookbook, the tour, t-shirts, and other products. Next came spinoffs Top Chef Masters and Top Chef Juniors. The latest to be added to the Top Chef franchise? A magazine.

At a panel discussion hosted by Mediabistro, Ellen Stone, the senior vice president of marketing at Bravo, discussed the partnership between the show and Food & Wine magazine. The connection between the companies is judge Gail Simmons, who appears on the show and works for the magazine. Apparently the two brands are "working together to create a Top Chef magazine."

There are no specific details on the content of the magazine, but I'm thinking it may follow in the format of Food Network's new glossy (which is currently one of the top 100 best-selling magazines in America) and feature recipes from and stories about past Top Chef contestants and judges. Considering I read just about every cooking magazine known to mankind, I'm excited to see how this news develops. Are you interested in Top Chef, the magazine?

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What's Yummy This Week - YumSugar Weekly Recap

partysugar — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 09:30:24 -0700

Take a culinary tour through the streets of Oahu.
Give shrimp cocktail a tropical makeover with a fiery spice rub.
Do you love or hate cupcakes inspired by designer fashions?
If you enjoy spicy sauces, consider making your own harissa.
Top Chef Masters premiered: did you watch?
Jamaican curried tempeh tacos are a filling, flavor-packed vegan meal.
At your next cocktail party, add parmesan fricos to the menu.
What are your wedding pet peeves?

Noteworthy Nibbles - May 26-June 2, 2009

YumSugar — Tue, 26 May 2009 14:30:35 -0700

If you didn't get your fill of celebrations and libations over Memorial Day weekend, there's plenty more going on, from craft beer tastings to Champagne parties. What will you be attending this week? Feel free to share any other events you're looking forward to below!

The Woodlands, TX: Wine & Food Week - May 26-31
Houston, TX: Tour de Champagne - May 28
Augusta, NJ: Crawfish Fest - May 29-31
Vashon Island, WA: Slow Food Seattle Spring With Seabreeze Farm - May 30
Washington DC: Savor Craft Beer - May 30
Miami, FL: Slow Food Miami Picnic & Pie Contest - May 30
Toms River, NJ: New Jersey State Chili & Salsa Cookoff - May 30
Franklin, AL: Franklin Food & Spirits Festival - May 30-31

To see the rest, read more.

Richmond, VA: Beer, Bourbon, & BBQ Festival - May 30
York, PA: Taste of Pennsylvania - May 30-31
San Francisco, CA: Top Chef Dinner at Scala's Bistro - May 31
Santa Barbara, CA: Taste of Santa Barbara - May 31
Temecula, CA: Field to the Fork - May 31
Cape Cod, MA: Cape Cod Life Food & Wine Festival - May 31-June 6
Palm Springs, CA: Palm Springs Restaurant Week - May 31-June 9
New Orleans, LA: The Global Cocktail Bar Phenomenon - June 1
New York, NY: Wine & Spirits Magazine's Top of the List - June 2

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Noteworthy Nibbles - Apr. 14-21, 2009

YumSugar — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 14:00:15 -0700

Food festival season appears to be in full swing! The weekend's chock full of fancy food productions, from Scottsdale to Pebble Beach to Blue Ridge food and wine festivals. A number of your favorite celebrity chefs, like Top Chef's Fabio and Carla, Paula Deen, and Thomas Keller, will be making appearances across the nation. And what Southerner could miss out on crawfish and grits? If you think of anything we've left off, please feel free to add in below. What events will you be hitting up?

Scottsdale, AZ: Scottsdale Culinary Festival - Apr. 14-19
Charlotte, NC: Taste of the Nation Charlotte - Apr. 15
San Antonio, TX: Paso Robles Grand Tasting Tour - Apr. 15
Atlanta, GA: World Barista Championship - Apr. 15-19
Atlanta, GA: Toast of the Town Atlanta - Apr. 16
Austin, TX: Texas Hill Country Wine & Food Festival - Apr. 16-19
Pebble Beach, CA: Pebble Beach Food & Wine Festival - Apr. 16-19
Blowing Rock, NC: Blue Ridge Wine Festival - Apr. 16-19
Biloxi, MS: MS Coast Coliseum Crawfish Festival - Apr. 16-19
Springfield, MO: Rock 'n Ribs BBQ Festival - Apr. 17-18

To see the rest, read more.

York, PA: Pennsylvania Herb Festival - Apr. 17-18
St. George, SC: World Grits Festival - Apr. 17-19
Salisbury, MD: Pork in the Park - Apr. 17-19
New York, NY: Coffee & Tea Festival NY - Apr. 18-19
Moulton, AL: Alabama Chicken & Egg Festival - Apr. 18-19
Atlanta, GA: Metropolitan Cooking & Entertaining Show - Apr. 18-19
Norfolk, VA: Virginia Culinary Expo - Apr. 19
Princeton, NJ: Taste of the Nation Princeton - Apr. 20

Bravo Announces Top Chef: Masters Series

partysugar — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 03:00:48 -0700

From teens to tours, Bravo's been busy announcing Top Chef spin offs. Yesterday at the TCA press tour in Los Angeles, they publicized another: Top Chef: Masters. 2009 will bring us a culinary competition that unites some of the brightest stars of the food world. Award winning, widely known chefs, some who have been guest judges on TC, will compete against each other in weekly challenges.

Although it sounds a bit like Food Network's Next Iron Chef, I'm excited to find out which chefs will be involved. How about you? Will you watch Top Chef: Masters?

Next Up For Top Chef's Fabio: TV Show, Frozen Pizza Line

YumSugar — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 11:30:09 -0800

Well, Fabio wasn't lying when he told us, "unfortunately, you're going to see my face a lot." When we last spoke to the charismatic Top Chef contestant, he mentioned that he had an offer for a TV show and a line of food coming out. Now the star himself has confirmed to at least one source that he will be starring in his own TV show. Although he stayed mum on the concept, Fabio promised that more details would be public by April.

Additionally, Dr. Oetker, one of Europe's top frozen pizza brands, is launching its Ristorante line in America, and has called on the reality TV personality to be the spokesperson for the thin-crust pizza. "We feel Fabio is the perfect voice for the brand," Dr. Oetker USA said in a statement. "He has an incredible personality and a real passion for cooking."

The Florence-born chef, who will tour with the pizza line this Summer, also recalls the frozen pizza from his childhood. "Growing up in Italy, my mom often had Dr. Oetker's products in the home," Fabio said in the same statement. "I'm excited to help introduce Ristorante frozen pizzas to American households."

I'm curious to know if you think Fabio could be a lasting food figure. Do you plan to try the frozen pizzas he's hawking, and will you watch his new TV show?

Source

Eric Dela Cruz: My Life As a Google Chef

partysugar — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 10:03:31 -0700

Here in the San Francisco Bay Area, it's a known fact that the employees at Google live a charmed life. Besides massages and Internet-wired shuttles, Googlers are invited to free breakfast, lunch, and dinner each and every day. The Google campus has 17 gourmet cafés, complete with 700 culinary staffers and 20 chefs. Last Friday I was lucky enough to check out some of the cafés - more on that later! - and speak with Eric Dela Cruz, a chef at Cafe 7. To see what his life as a Google chef is like read more.

Eric studied culinary arts at the City College of San Francisco. Before Google, Eric worked at Draeger's cooking school and as a chef for Bon Appétit magazine. After sampling some of his fresh, California cuisine, Eric and I sat down to chat. Here is what he had to say:

PartySugar: Why did you decide to work at Google?
Eric Dela Cruz: Well, I work Monday through Friday. I get weekends and holidays off. I live the chef's dream. Not too many chefs have a schedule that allows them nights and weekends off. One of my old bosses called to tell me Google was hiring and I immediately knew it was right for me. I get to cook whatever I want with the best quality food around. It's really great because we purchase everything top quality and everything we buy has a positive effect on the environment. We buy 100-percent sustainable, local ingredients. There is no pressure to make money on each plate, I don't have to cook what sells. Food is art and Google is my playground.

PS: What is your day-to-day schedule like?
EDC: I get into the kitchen at 5:45 every morning and start to prep the day's meals. I write a lot of the menus, so I work on those. I answer emails, oversee the arrival of our ingredients. By 6 a.m., I make sure the cooks are prepping the food. The cooks are very important, they are everything. I make sure they know the menus and have decent knife skills. Service starts at 11:30, so we have a couple of hours to make everything. Each day we serve several amuse-bouches, salad and soup bars, a noodle station, two entrées, a veggie station, two pizzas, a sandwich station, and a pastry dessert station. After lunch, we prep for dinner service. I make sure that gets underway with the night cooks and leave around 4 in the afternoon. But we are always preparing, cooking, and serving. In the morning we set out a continental breakfast, lunch service is from 11:30-1:30. At 3 we set out a healthy snack like crudité platters and cheese plates. We have sushi on Thursdays and a full happy hour on Fridays.

PS: Is each café responsible for obtaining their own ingredients or does everyone get the food from some giant Google refrigerator?
EDC: Each cafe functions individually like its own restaurant. We all get our food from the same providers, but since the menus vary, what we order is an individual thing. In my café, there is a person - the receiver - whose job it is, each morning between 6 and 10, to make sure we receive all of our ingredients. There isn't really much competition between the cafés. Naturally you want yours to be the best café, but really what is special is the variety. You know we have 17 different cafés that make totally distinct types of food. You could eat at a new one for 17 days in a row, that's almost half the month tasting new foods.

PS: How do you feel about the chef who left Google to work for Facebook?
EDC: God bless the guy. Congratulations and good luck! You know when opportunity comes knocking, you have to answer the door.

PS: What did you eat for lunch today?
EDC: Nothing. I don't really sit down and have full meals while I am at work. I'm tasting things all day that by the end of the day I am full.

Be sure to check back tomorrow when I take you on a photo tour of the Google cafés!