Literary Fare | October 2010

I promise blog posts are in the making (three big ones should be finished in the next couple days)! Marcus even said to me the other day, "You are eating faster than you can write." Unfortunately (and luckily), morsel marauding yields such harrowing hardships. In the mean time, I'd like to note that big things are happening in the Literary Foodie world this week!

- The MICHELIN Guide New York 2011 recommended restaurants and hotels in NYC were announced today (though, the 2011 classic red guide will officially be available for sale tomorrow). While the three-star recommendations remained unchanged from 2009, among new additions to the two-star category are Michael White's Marea (blog post about my recent visit to follow), César Ramirez's Chef's Table at Brooklyn Fare, Masato Nishihara's Kajitsu, and Sotohiro Kosugi's Soto. I'm picking up my first copy of the MICHELIN Guide tomorrow, so big week for me, too!

- The New York Times Magazine's annual "Food Issue" (themed to be focused on community) will be out this Sunday, 10.10.10! Coinciding with the "Food Issue" is Food Network's Third Annual New York City Wine & Food Festival this coming Columbus Day weekend, hosted by and benefitting to two hunger relief organizations: the Food Bank For New York City and Share Our Strength. The Festival's aim is "to bring together legendary icons from around the globe and America's most beloved television chefs", which include extravagant tastings of both food and wine, culinary demonstrations, lectures, seminars, and the like.

A bunch of the Festival lectures/talks are hosted by the NYT at The Times Center as a series of "TimesTalks", held this coming Friday and Saturday. Among these talks are:

1. "New York's Star-Studded Chefs" featuring Daniel Boulud (Daniel, DB), Jean-Georges Vongerichten (Jean Georges, Perry St.), and Michael White (Convivo, Alto, Marea) interviewed by former NYT restaurant critic, Frank Bruni [10/8, 6-7:15pm];
2. "Rene Redzepi: NOMA" featuring René Redzepi of Noma fame (see below) interviewed by Frank Bruni [10/8, 8-9:15];
3. "Iron Chef America: Behind the Scenes" featuring Bobby Flay, Jose Garces, and Masaharu Morimoto interviewed by NYT food writer, Kim Severson [10/9, 12-1:15pm];
4. "Paula Deen: Butter Baby!" featuring Food Network star chef Paula Deen interviewed by Kim Severson [10/9, 2-3:15];
5. "Alton Brown: Mixing It Up" featuring Food Network host Alton Brown interviewed by NYT food writer, Julia Moskin [10/9, 4-5:15pm];
6. "Restaurant Buzz" featuring Donatella Arpaia (Anthos), Ken Friedman (Spotted Pig, Breslin), and Danny Meyer (Maialino, Gramercy Tavern) interviewed by Frank Bruni [10/9, 6-7:15pm];
7. "Heston Blumenthal: The Fat Duck" featuring Heston Blumenthal of The Fat Duck fame in London inteviewed by NYT Dining editor, Pete Wells [10/9, 8-9:15pm].

I'm sad I will be missing this event this year, as I'll be in Chicago for the weekend. I would've loved to see Michael White, Jean Georges, Daniel Boulud, Danny Meyer, Heston Blumenthal, and René Redzepi! However, not all is lost--I'll be dining at Chef Grant Achatz's Alinea this coming Saturday night, and I'll be picking up my copy of NYT Magazine on Sunday in the next time zone. But this Festival is definitely on my to-go list for 2011!

- René Redzepi, the chef at Noma in Copenhagen (incidentally named by S. Pellegrino as the No. 1 restaurant in the world), released his cookbook, Noma: Time and Place in Nordic Cuisine, this past Monday. I have the pleasure of attending his book signing tomorrow at the Williams-Sonoma store at Columbus Circle, so expect a post about that shortly! He is also participating in a lecture (thankfully, as I would've missed his TimesTalk!) with David Chang of Momofuku fame, lead by Ruth Reichl, former editor of Gourmet magazine, at the New York Public Library, which will be attended by yours truly tonight, as well!

- Lastly, writer and co-founder of Saveur magazine, Colman Andrews, also releases his biography on chef Ferran Adrià of elBulli in Spain, entitled, Ferran: The Inside Story of El Bulli and the Man Who Reinvented Food, tomorrow. Though the NYT gave the biography as less than stellar review (which, I'm not going to lie, slightly disappoints me), I'd still like to check it out for myself!

An exciting week, it most certainly is!