03/24/08

The Beardies

Okay—so they’re not called “the Beardies,” but we’re feeling lazy and the James Beard Foundation Awards is kind of a mouthful. Anyway, it’s finally been confirmed by the James Beard Foundation that our own Chef Peter Kelly -- who must be the hardest working man in the restaurant business-- is shortlisted for the nomination of that foundation’s Best Chef in the Northeast Award If he wins it, the award would be for Xaviars, his swank Rockland County spot. As we mentioned in our March 3rd post,

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03/24/08

Beardies Update

The names of this year’s Beard Award finalists have just been released at 12 noon today and, apparently, Chef Peter Kelly didn’t make the final cut -- which will surely be of no concern to Chef Kelly, since he wasn’t even aware of his semi-finalist status. We’re a bit bummed out, though.

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03/17/08

Cannibalism and Dining Out

One of the more admirable things about the restaurant world is that it’s an industry that eats it’s young. We mean, of course, that when a restaurant fails (and most will fail--only one in five restaurants remain open after five years), the fallen venture’s space, plates, banquettes, its very pots and pans, will be bought up by a new restaurateur to be pressed into action under a new name. This starry-eyed hopeful will slap up a colorful new awning and institute a new “concept”-- but behind the scenes, the restaurant remains exactly the same. The failed restaurant’s pots, pans, ranges and hoods are still in use– sometimes even from a few restaurants back. We find this bizarrely comforting. While restaurants come and go, the line is...

03/10/08

The Straight Dope on Authenticity: Irish Food

American food writers love to bandy about the word “authentic” when describing ethnic restaurants. (And we’ll have to admit right here that we're no exception, so just stop composing your hypocrite-nailing, "caught-ya" letter.) We all should cease using the word "authentic" when referring to American versions of international dishes. In reality, there’s no such thing as recreating an authentic regional flavor outside of that geographical region. Try as you might, no American restaurateur can capture the flavor of a wood-grilled taco al pastor, eaten on a balmy summer night, on a Mexico City square. Why? Because Mexican pork is different from American, the corn tortillas are different and, who knows, the...

03/03/08

Swimming and Eating

To be honest, it’s a little chagrining to be a food writer working and living in Westchester. Since Manhattan is the epicenter of the foodie universe, Westchester feels a bit up and to the left of the swim. Oh, we’re certainly splashed by the swim, but we’re not exactly in the swim. Or so it sometimes feels.

Sure, there’s always Chef Dan Barber of Blue Hill at Stone Barns, who has been lovingly featured in every foodie mag, dining out section, and gourmet leaflet ever cranked out of a backyard ditto machine. I must admit that as much as I love Blue Hill at Stone Barns and its mission, I’m always slightly bugged by media darlings. I mean, go ahead,...