CHOPPED
Things seem to be going well for Miami’s own, Chef Giorgio Rapicavoli. After having beaten his opponents on an episode of Food Network’s Chopped, he introduced Miami to the concept of the pop up restaurant, which quickly garnered him accolades from the foodie world for his innovative approach to cuisine. His youthful playfulness has brought us such dishes as heirloom tomatoes with nuoc cham, crushed peanuts and liquid nitrogen-frozen coconut milk that, while simple, show a complexity and balance of flavors and textures. And now that his pop up restaurant, Eating House, has become a permanent fixture, Chef Rapicavoli is in the running for being chosen Hottest Chef of 2013 by www.eater.com.
Yesterday, award winning chef Seamus Mullen of Tertulia released his first cookbook, Hero Food: How Cooking with Delicious Things Can Make Us Feel Better. The book demonstrates how to turn key ingredients into delicious dishes.
Seamus was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis a few years ago and has since discovered that basing his cooking on 18 key ingredient has vastly improved his quality of life. In his cookbook, he demonstrates how to prepare over 80 recipes featuring his 18 hero ingredients. What are these mysterious ingredients? Olive oil, dried beans, almonds, grains, anchovies, good eggs, good birds, sweet peas, parsley, berries, carrots, corn, stone fruit, good fish, squash, mushrooms, greens, and good meat.
Of course, there are small things that we can all do each day to combat childhood obesity, especially if we have our own children. Because the issue has become so large (again, no pun intended), many organizations are either being founded or changing their focus to bring about more awareness and help combat this preventable epidemic that is plaguing our nation’s children. One such local organization is the Florida Heart Research Institute (FHRI), which will be hosting a healthy food festival at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden on Sunday, April 29th called Heart of a Chef. Presented by Florida Blue and Whole Foods Market, this family friendly festival will showcase healthy cooking demos, seminars, and tastings that prove that families can eat tasty, gourmet food and still live a heart healthy lifestyle.
Besides enjoying the natural wonders of the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden with its collection of rare tropical plants and beautifully manicured displays of diverse ecosystems, families will be able to witness as two acclaimed local chefs go head to head in a culinary battle utilizing a basket of surprise ingredients. Chef Giorgio Rapicavoli, a winner from the Food Network’s Chopped with a hot new pop-up restaurant called Eating House in Coral Gables, will challenge Chef Joshua Wahler, a “survivor” from Hell’s Kitchen and executive chef at CRAVE Restaurant. The younger gourmands will also be entertained with a special cooking demonstration by Short Chef, who has spent the last ten years closely working with South Florida children to develop healthy eating habits.
Overall, Heart of a Chef promises to be an unforgettable event for the whole family and a great way to introduce the little ones to good eating and foods that don’t include chicken nuggets and instant mac n’ cheese.
Heart of a Chef
Sunday, April 29th, 2012
4:00 PM - 7:00 PM
at Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden
10901 Old Cutler Road, Coral Gables 33158
Tickets are $30 per adult and include two complimentary children’s admissions
For more information, please visit www.heartofachef.org
This afternoon, the intersection of Broadway and 5th Avenue at 23rd Street held a cooking competition based off the creators of Chopped and BBC America’s, new travel-adventure-cooking series, No Kitchen Required. The chef’s and stars of the show, Michelin-starred New York restaurateur Michael Psilakis, first-ever Chopped Grand Champion Madison Cowan and elite personal chef from New Zealand, Kayne Raymond competed in preparing dishes using New York City ingredients. Similar to the show, the three chefs used these native ingredients—squirrel, pigeon, hare, and crow—to create dishes that were then judged by New York natives. The judges for the competition were David Diehl, two-time Super Bowl champion and offensive lineman for the New York Giants, co-founder of the most popular food app “Foodspotting,” Soraya Darabi, and In Style Magazine’s Hal Rubenstein who had no idea what these “unique” ingredients would be.
We’re all pretty familiar by now of the concept of the pop-up store: a business that opens with the knowledge that it will close after possibly a few months...and the owners are totally okay with it. In Miami, we have seen this concept brought to life with fashion and interior design, but have yet to see it applied to the culinary arts until now. Chef Giorgio Rapacavoli, who was a winning contestant on Food Network’s Chopped, has used his winnings to make his dream of opening a pop-up concept restaurant into a reality this February. Cafe Ponce, a breakfast and lunch spot in Coral Gables will be hosting Chef Rapacavoli’s Eating House from Tuesday to Sunday after the last patron finishes with lunch. Cafe Ponce’s diner-like vibe will be transformed at night into an edgy, urban eatery featuring portable graffiti art and soundtracks from Chef Rapacavoli’s own collection.
The vibe is set to be no-frills and will feature daily-changing menus that highlight whatever is available that day at the market. Chef Rapacavoli plans to include only twenty dishes per evening, including desserts. To compliment the cuisine, Fontainebleau veteran, Eddie Fuentes, will be offering creative cocktails featuring unique sodas, craft beers, sherries, ports, and sakes. True to his word, Chef Rapacavoli will only plan to stay in business from February until August of this year, so foodies be sure to make a note in your busy dining schedules and check out Eating House before it’s too late.
Eating House
@ Cafe Ponce
Tuesday-Sunday, 6pm-1am
804 Ponce de Leon Boulevard, Coral Gables
No reservations; first come, first serve www.eatinghousemiami.com
Many know the Beehive with its Bohemian bistro cuisine, libations, artwork, and live music nightly. This is where Chef Rebecca Newell serves rustic comfort foods infused with American, European, Mediterranean, and Middle Eastern influences seven days a week from 5:30pm -1:00 a.m.
Now see Boston’s hometown girl, Rebecca Newell, fight it out with three other talented women Chefs all setting out to be the The Food Network’s Chopped Champion. When asked to tell what it was like to film the episode Rebecca, who admitted to being a little nervous, said, “The whole thing made me itchy.” She did find the experience “great” and “intense.”
Tune into The Food Network on Tuesday, August 10th, 2010 at 10 p.m. for “Chopped” and cheer on Rebecca.
Last night, 1834 Bar & Burger held their grand opening on 62 Pearl Street in the Financial District, the former home of the French bar and restaurant Perle. Boasting four TV screens in the upstairs dining area and 15 monitors in the downstairs lounge, it is absolutely possible to get a glimpse of MLB Spring Training highlights, catch a hockey game, stay updated on March Madness games and brackets, keep tabs on the NBA, and get a little rowdy watching some futbol all at the same time (Isn't March a great month for sports lovers?). While there, choose from a tasty array of burgers on the menu, prepared by celebrity chef Diane Dimeo, a winner of the Food Network's weekly food competition Chopped. Also be sure to take advantage of 1834's truly outrageous March Madness deal of a burger and a beer for only $5 after 5 p.m. until April 1.
SoHo’s trendy eatery, Delicatessen, faces scrutiny as Executive Chef Michael Ferraro moves towards the final round of the Food Network's Chopped -- well barely. Judges Amanda Freitag, Marc Murphy, and Scott Conant gave Ferraro the most brutal condemnation on the last episode because of his improper handling of food.
New York Magazine reported Conant accused Chef Ferraro of not knowing how to use calamari and scolded, “You have a responsibility to serve edible product to the people you’re cooking for.”
As the fifth season of Top Chef continues to roll on, there is some news about some former contestants and judges of the popular show. According to Time Out, season five contestant and Centro Vinoteca sous chef Leah Cohen has received a promotion to chef de cuisine. Unfortunately this news serves as a bit of a spoiler for the rest of this season and it also makes her NYC Halloween costume look a little more prophetic.
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