Posted by foodiebuddha
on August 25, 2010
As we collectively suffer through one of the worst seasons of Top Chef, I find myself about a week behind on “What Was That Ingredient?” While you might be expecting a recap of tonight’s show, I’m actually going to write that in a bit … so check back tomorrow.
Truth be told, my writing time over the past week and change has gone towards some cooking. So while I’ve been able to jump out to lots of restaurants, I haven’t had time to fill y’all in. But all that is really just filler for this post.
You see, I just don’t have that much to say. The contestants are kind of lame and the show is starting to go duller than one of my kitchen knives. Still, there were a few “ingredients” of note, so let’s not waste any more time. One potentially superfluous note: I kind of spaced during the episode, so I might have missed an ingredient or two.
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Posted by foodiebuddha
on August 12, 2010
“Restaurant Wars” is almost always the most popular episode during any given season of Top Chef. Though the bar has been set remarkably low throughout Top Chef DC, I’m pretty sure that last night’s episode scored the highest ratings to date. Honestly, it’s been a crapfest of a season … but I watch anyway. I guess no Top Chef is worse than crappy Top Chef.
So yeah, Restaurant Wars was last night. Former NYT food critic Frank Bruni added some teeth to the judges panel, but he didn’t bark as much as I had hoped. The creativity was in the pits and as such, my list for “What Was That Ingredient?” is particularly short and unimpressive. However, my mom taught me to persevere, so here I am!
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Posted by foodiebuddha
on August 05, 2010
Last night’s Top Chef: DC episode was filled up from the floor up with ingredients of mystery. Entitled “Foreign Affairs,” it started with Ethiopian food and resolved itself around several different types of cuisine. Though the guest judges included Marcus Samulsson and José Andrés, I’m not so sure the participants are worth the duo’s attention. I guess now is as good a time as any to remind you that we have a plethora of Ethiopian restaurants here in Atlanta. The leader of the pack? One Desta Ethiopian Kitchen … check it out!
Hopefully, this post will supplement the cursory explanation Samulsson gave of some Ethiopian dishes. Okay dookie, sit back and enjoy this spoiler free recap.
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Posted by foodiebuddha
on August 04, 2010
If my foodie gauge is correct, Super Pan, a Latin sandwich shop from Hector Santiago, is about to be the latest restaurant to permeate Atlanta’s food chatter. How long this Pura Vida spin-off manages to last in that conversation will depend entirely on their ability to deliver good, consistent food. Of course, Santiago’s notability due to his time on Top Chef will help with the buzz.
As you might remember from Monday’s post, I first visited the subterranean sandwich purveyor last week during their first few days of business. However, I grubbed sans camera, so a return trip was necessary before I dropped this post on y’all. Three sandwiches in, I’d say there is some real potential.
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Posted by foodiebuddha
on July 29, 2010
In case you missed it, I started a little series on here to try and cover all the strange and funky terms that seem to surface during Top Chef episodes. Last night’s episode of Top Chef: DC was pretty straightforward. Entitled “Power Lunch,” it focused on dishes one might find during a business lunch. It was hosted by the Palm Restaurant in DC … so yeah, whatever.
As very few of the people given face time had any clue whatsoever about food, terms like “good” and “salt” were in abundance. But yeah, we don’t want to get into the spoiler game … so let’s just leave it like that. Meanwhile, let’s chat about the ingredients … shall we?
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Posted by foodiebuddha
on July 22, 2010
Every week, I get the feeling that somewhere, someone is watching Top Chef and asking themselves: “What the hell is ___?” Heck, sometimes I even find myself right there with those people. No matter how much I’d like to think I know … there always seems to be something that makes me go “huh?” So I thought it’d be a good idea to do a little "glossary of terms.” In this case, it’ll focus on those mysterious food terms that pop into our lexicon after showing up in an episode of Top Chef. Like my Poppy always used to say: “You learn something new everyday.” So consider this my civic duty for the week! 
Oh yeah, for those of you who have a habit of DVRing the episodes, I’ll do my best not to put in any significant spoilers. Feel free to read ahead!
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Posted by foodiebuddha
on June 07, 2010
Nestled amongst Atlanta’s stretch of tasseled "thingies” and institutional eateries is one of the best examples of contemporary American cuisine this side of the Mason-Dixon. Chef Kevin Gillespie, still shy of 30-years-old, has taken Woodfire Grill from the brink of EXtinction to the point of DIStinction. If Atlanta’s hopes of international culinary fame are to ever come to fruition, Woodfire Grill will be one of the handful of establishments dragging our restaurant scene into that arena.
Some two-years ago, the highly regarded Michael Tuohy departed the helm of Woodfire. When that happened, Gillespie took over the Cheshire Bridge hideaway and continued Woodfire’s thematic direction. In the 20 plus months since, the restaurant has exploded and our favorite Yukon Cornelius impersonator has made the place distinctly his own. With that in mind, and motivated by a truly inspirational family event, four of us set out this past Friday looking for a little peace in the midst of our chaos.
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Posted by foodiebuddha
on April 23, 2010
On the last season of Bravo TV’s Top Chef, Atlanta made some real headway. We were fortunate enough to have three local chefs make it on to the hit reality TV show. Since then, the city hasn’t stopped buzzing. Many moons ago, Kevin Gillespie, pork tats and all, was kind enough to make an appearance on our weekly series, Inside The Chef’s Kitchen. Now, thanks to Hector Santiago of Pura Vida, we welcome the second of those three chefs.
Stupidly exiled from Top Chef after a French themed challenge (in which the one French chef on the show represented suck-tastic), Hector is back in our city and doing his thing. Puerto Rican through and through, you can find him slinging pans most any night at his tapas restaurant in Virginia Highlands. Appropriately located just off Ponce De Leon Ave (Ponce de León himself played an important role in Puerto Rico’s history … he brought them rum amongst other things), Pura Vida is one of the long standing Latin restaurants in the city.
What better way to end this beautiful week with a mojito and some light reading. And with that, welcome to ITCK!
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Posted by foodiebuddha
on April 06, 2010
Zaza Pachulia, Atlanta’s most athletic foodie (or at least the one paid the best), made at least a few heads turn last year when he acquired Midtown’s Eno restaurant. The Atlanta Hawks center promptly renamed it Eno By Zaza (fancy huh?) and has since replaced head chef Eli Kirshtein (of Top Chef fame) with Justin Cox. Today, the USA Today ran a little tidbit on Zaza and his newest venture. My favorite piece of info – Jamal Crawford is the biggest fan amongst the Hawks. Check it out for yourself on 20-second timeout with Zaza Pachulia.
Posted by foodiebuddha
on March 15, 2010
Kevin Gillespie is easily one of the most talked about culinarians in Atlanta. His showing on Top Chef is a big reason why droves of people now lineup at Woodfire Grill to sample his cuisine. Meanwhile, his delicious grub keeps people coming back for more. He’s so popular that I get a near daily report of a Kevin-sighting (the latest being at my beloved Gato Bizco – thanks Lilly!).
Yes, it’s true … people can’t get enough of Kevin. In fact, exactly one-month prior to this posting, Jennifer Brett interviewed KG on her AJC blog. In that postification of insights, innuendos, and implications, Kevin confirmed what many in the foodie circles had already heard: he’s hell bent on opening a barbecue inspired restaurant. As these things tend to go, information has oozed out like jelly from your favorite doughnut.
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