FoodieBuddha.com

I’ve been waiting months for this evening.  The Food Network should be the “it” place for all foodies.  In what is sure to be lots of fun, Iron Chef America’s season premier is tonight.  The episode, tagged as the Super Chef Battle, will feature Mario Batali & Emeril Lagasse on one side, and Bobby Flay & Cristeta Comerford on the other.  Comerford, in case you are wondering, spends her days as the executive chef for our first family.  Michelle Obama will also make an appearance.  Keep reading for all the goods!

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Though I’m a much bigger fan of the Japanese original (that’s a wiki link), Iron Chef America isn’t half bad.  Hosted by Atlanta’s own Alton Brown on the Food Network, the competition show features a number of great cooks (remember the Richard Blais episode?).

Now, a couple of Iron Chef’s (Mario Batali & Bobby Flay), will join Emeril Lagasse in a Super Chef Battle at the White House.  I must admit, it saddened me to hear that Atlanta’s White House Restaurant was not the hosting location.  Instead, the trio will take a trip to our nation’s capital to challenge White House executive chef Cristeta Comerford and first lady Michelle Obama.

The episode, a two-hour special, will premier Sunday January 3rd, 2010 at 8pm.  The challenge at hand?  Create a meal for America using the White House Kitchen’s local produce as the secret ingredient.  Talk about taking Farm to Table to the next level?  I’ll be watching!

[via prince of petworth]

Chef Daniel Boulud’s DBGB Kitchen and Bar just received a noteworthy 2-star review [very good] in the NY Times.  The review marks Sam Sifton’s debut as the food critic for the NY mega-paper, a post previously occupied by the well-known and somewhat controversial Frank Bruni.  Sifton has a distinctly different style than Bruni, who kicked off his last stint with a discussion of Mario Batali’s Babbo.  I know there’s a good chance ya’ll won’t care about what’s what in NYC … but I thought it was still worth a mention here.

Get your DVRs ready for Saturday afternoon.  Long before he graced our screen as the darling of Top Chef, Atlanta’s own Richard Blais showed up TV sets across the states on an episode of the Food Network’s Iron Chef America.  The challenge, which took place back in ‘06, featured chickpeas as the ingredient du jour and a battle of fisticuffs between Blais and the well-regarded Mario Batali.

Keen eyes will notice the One Midtown Kitchen logo across Blais’ breastplate.  At the time of filming, he was the executive chef at 1MK.  Appropriately, Blais brought his sous chef at the time, one Eli Kirshtein, along for the ride.

For those unfamiliar with the show, a challenger will enter a 1-hr cook-off against one of a stable of cook masters, appropriately named “Iron Chefs.”  The trick is that a single ingredient is used as the basis for the meal.  Though I much prefer the Japanese version, complete with kitschy voice dubbings, the US version comes with Alton Brown’s quick witted commentary.  I won’t spoil it for those of you who haven’t seen it yet.

And speaking of Blais, you’ll be able to get your fill of him on Saturday.  In what is probably a coincidence, Richard and his funktastic hairdo will be on the main stage of Taste of Atlanta 2009 from 12pm-12:45pm.  So head out in the early afternoon to see him live, then check him out on the tube just before dinner time.

Battle Chickpeas: Batali vs. Blais

Re-airs on the Food Network on Saturday October 10th, 2009.

5pm-6pm, 11pm-12am, 2am-3am (on Sunday)
Comcast channel 57 or 857 for HD

Who knew… but apparently all you need to keep a clean house is one of these kick ass little 4”x3” burger vacuums.  I’m not exactly sure what the white stuff is… perhaps an onion…maybe an egg!  Does it work?  Who cares!  This is almost sure to join Little Mario on my toy shelf.

Damn Cool!  This will most definitely find it’s way onto my toy shelf (warning: crappy phone pic).  You can buy it on robotoys.com.

[Via NA]

People who know me are aware of my love for good Italian food.  Mario Batali is one of the more well known executers of that fine cuisine.  In addition, he helped craft the talents of Bruce Logue.  Yesterday, I wrote extensively on Bruce’s La Pietra Cucina (here).

Well, I thought I’d supplement that post by drawing your attention to a great resource for those of you who want inspiration in the kitchen.  Babbo NYC provides an extensive list of recipes on their website.  Be sure to check out the ingredient of the month, as the restaurant takes the time to give you a good understanding of some important components of Italian food.

Overall:

Over the past year and change, Atlanta has lost a number of its’ most well respected chefs.  Joël Antunes left for the bright lights of New York, Guenter Seeger ran off into oblivion, and Michael Tuohy went to Sacramento (that’s not a misprint ladies and germs…SACRAMENTO!). [Quick aside – Tuohy is doing very well: LINKY]

At the same time, we have welcomed Jean-Georges, Tom Colicchio, Laurent Tourondel, and others.  While their restaurants thrive, despite mixed reviews in some instances, these culinary giants have grabbed a great deal of attention.  Deservedly so, I might add.  Toss in the emergence of our beloved and adopted Richard Blais [he’s actually a New Yorker … and dare I say..a Gators fan!!!], and there isn’t much room on the front page for anyone else.  While somewhat lost amongst them, chef Bruce Logue has garnered some well deserved attention from the local foodies (myself included).

Logue’s return, as he is a native Atlantan, is inspiring to say the least.  Though his skills as a restauranteur are not as polished as those mentioned previously, he has proven to be a very capable chef.  Read the rest of this after the jump.

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