The news comes on the heels of Adrià 's announcement last month that he would close his famed El Bulli restaurant in Roses, Spain. In 2014, the restaurant will become a foundation that gives culinary scholarships to avant-garde chefs. Read the full article here.
The news comes on the heels of Adrià 's announcement last month that he would close his famed El Bulli restaurant in Roses, Spain. In 2014, the restaurant will become a foundation that gives culinary scholarships to avant-garde chefs. Read the full article here.
Chefs Katsuya Fukushima, Brian Voltaggio and R.J. Cooper with kids from BrainfoodBrainfood, a nonprofit organization that promotes active learning and healthy living in kids through culinary activities, was the recipient of NPB's Energizing for Great Causes award. D.C.-area chefs R.J. Cooper, Brian Voltaggio and Katsuya Fukushima created globally inspired canapés and dishes for the luncheon featuring U.S.-grown peanuts, peanut butter, peanut oil and peanut flour. And more than 100 different retail peanut products were showcased for attendees.
Firehouse Subs co-founder Robin Sorensen visits with kids in Port-au-Prince
(from l to r) Firehouse Subs co-founder Robin Sorensen, Captain Rob Sorensen, CFO Stephen Joost (back) and Eric SorensenHope for Haiti, which shipped and distributed the food on behalf of Firehouse Subs, has been working in Haiti since 1990 to provide emergency disaster relief and work to improve education, nutrition and healthcare for the poorest country in the western hemisphere. For more information, visit www.hopeforhaiti.com.
The James Beard Foundation has announced the final nominees for the 2010 James Beard Foundation Awards, the national recognition program honoring professionals in the food and beverage industries taking place May 2 and 3 in New York City.Nominees in 55 categories were announced in the foundation's various awards programs: Restaurant and Chef, Restaurant Design and Graphics, Books, Broadcast Media and Journalism. In addition, honorees in a number of special achievement awards categories were announced, including Who's Who of Food & Beverage in America, America's Classics, Lifetime Achievement and Humanitarian of the Year. To see the complete list, visit www.JBFAwards.com.
NSF International, a not-for-profit public health and safety organization, is co-hosting the 2010 Food Safety Education Conference with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) March 24 to 26 in Atlanta.The sold-out conference, titled, "Advancements in Food Safety Education: Trends, Tools and Technologies," will include food safety experts from NSF International and the USDA, as well as other regulatory organizations including the FDA and the World Health Organization. The experts will discuss topics such as causes of foodborne illness, the global food supply, food allergy trends, food safety in classrooms and social media for food safety education and awareness. For more information, visit www.nsf.org.
Women Chefs & Restaurateurs (WCR) has announced its 2010 Scholarship and Internship Program. New opportunities in'WCR’s 2010 program include: an internship at a five-star bed and breakfast in Fife, Scotland; an internship at a 26-room inn in southern Maine and learning to run a sustainable family farm in Latrobe, Pa. Returning opportunities include scholarships at culinary arts programs nationwide and cooking, baking, cheese- and winemaking, management and marketing internships in the United States, China, France, Ireland and Italy.Applicants must be active members of WCR in any category. The deadline for online applications is 5 p.m., April 9, 2010. Mailed applications must be postmarked no later than April 9. For more information, visit www.womenchefs.org.
The imminent return of warmer weather brings the promise of the end of the Lenten fast, the coming of tender spring produce and the lighter, unadulterated flavors of spring and summer. Restaurants and cafés across the country are using creative promotions to entice diners to hang up their winter coats and celebrate the new season.
On April 4, Big Jones in Chicago's Andersonville neighborhood is celebrating Easter all day with an enhanced brunch menu and a family-style dinner to end the evening. The brunch menu will include such items such as soft-shell crawfish, Carolina golden eggs, chicken 'n' biscuits and Big Jones' take on Easter ham. Dinner, which is priced at $40 per person, includes a progression of family-style appetizers, individual entrées and family-style desserts. Guests will taste Southern coastal favorites such as pimiento cheese, deviled eggs, pickled okra, salt-baked halibut and calas, a deep-fried rice cake confection hailing from Louisiana.
The dining room at Big Jones
Through the end of March, 1789 Restaurant, Washington, D.C., will offer a three-course, prix-fixe menu highlighting ingredients from the Slow Food Presidia program in conjunction with the Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity. Slow Food Presidia works to improve the infrastructure of artisan food production in the United States. Executive chef Daniel Giusti's $40 menu will feature products such as artisanal American raw milk cheeses, Anishinaabeg Manoomin wild Rice and pistachio di Bronte, which will be incorporated into the appetizer, entrée and dessert courses. Additionally, 1789's monthly cooking classes in March will focus on traditional Easter brunch favorites to inspire guests for the coming holiday. Guests will learn to prepare fresh ham, leg of lamb and a selection of egg dishes. Pastry chef Travis Olson will also be on hand to demonstrate techniques for making hot cross buns and homemade biscuits.
This spring, Greek Easter will fall on the same day as Western Easter, which only occurs every four years. At Molyvos in New York City, chef Jim Botsacos (pictured, right) has created a traditional five-course menu that will be available April 3 and 4 for $65 in honor of Easter, the most sacred Greek holiday. From glykadakia (sautéed sweetbreads) and magiritsa (Easter lamb soup) to arnaki sto fourno (roasted baby lamb and fava beans) and tsoureki (Greek Easter dessert bread), guests will sample the most celebratory flavors of Greece with a few modern touches from Botsacos.
FireLake Restaurant, Minneapolis, is welcoming spring with a nod to a locally raised favorite: pork. All month, chef Paul Lynch (pictured, left) will be creating dishes featuring Minnesota-raised heirloom Duroc pork from Compart Farms--prepared smoked, cured, candied, confited and everything in between--and paired with St. Paul-based Summit Brewing Co. beers, all of which are $1 off. The 3rd Annual Summit Beer Dinner takes place March 31, with chef Lynch and Summit founder Mark Stutrud collaborating on a five-course dinner paired with Summit beer for $55. And in April, FireLake will offer an Easter Dinner starring spring lamb. In addition, all month Fire Lake will offer a special April Showers bring Happy Hours promotion, in which the restaurant will offer half off wine and beer on days that it rains before 4 p.m.At pastry shop Pix Pâtisserie in Portland, Ore., pastry chef/owner Cheryl Wakerhauser is hosting a formal--yet fun--Easter Tea service on April 4. The $28 all-inclusive menu includes a pot of tea from Townshend's Alberta Tea House and a selection of 16 sweet and savory bite-size treats, including French macarons, soft-boiled quail eggs wrapped in prosciutto and chocolat chaud. That same day, Pix will offer an Easter egg hunt for all ages at both of its locations with 50 hidden eggs, each filled with a Pix golden ticket worth up to $50 in Pix delights.
The Pix pastry chefs outside Pix PatisserieIs your restaurant or café offering an interesting springtime promotion that you'd like to share? Tell us about it in the comments section!
"We are so grateful to [chef] Anthony [Goncalves] and everyone at 42 for making Blythedale the beneficiary of this exciting promotion," said Betsy Bowman, chief development officer for Blythedale Children's Hospital, in a press statement. "Thanks to these donations, hospital stays at Blythedale--which average 50 days--will be more comfortable for our patients and their families."
Enter the Grade Me Recipe Contest for foodservice professionals, sponsored by Bush Brothers! Contestants have until May 14 to submit to www.grademerecipecontest.com an original side dish that incorporates at least one Bush's Best product. Anyone who visits the Grade Me Recipe Contest Web site can vote on the entries using an A to F scale. Contestants will have the chance to win $5,000 or an XL Big Green Egg grill in addition to being showcased as a Bush Brothers featured chef. Voting ends May 31, and the winners will be notified by June 11. For more information, visit www.grademerecipecontest.com.