My Dear Antonia

I’m onboard with most people in that I really like Richard and Stephanie from Top Chef. But this interview made me love Antonia just a little bit more. It’s something about her—the way she talks and acts—it’s her food that I want to eat most.

UPDATE: To add more fuel to the I-Hate-Lisa fire, check out this quote from the Daily News: “Oh, no, I don’t read the blogs — you couldn’t pay me to read the blogs. I don’t want to know what people who can’t even afford to eat in my restaurant, let alone know how to cook, have to say about me.” - Lisa

Best Sandwich Ever

I was looking at YumSugar’s ‘Wich of the Week today, and it reminded me of something I used to make for dinner all the time in college—the Spanglish Sandwich. Yes, I watched (and still own) the movie Spanglish—I actually saw it in the movie theater and cried my eyes out… though, it doesn’t take much to make me teary. Then, on the DVD, there’s a special feature where you can learn how to make the late-night sandwich that Adam Sandler (playing a prominent chef) makes at the end of a long day at his restaurant. The recipe was actually created by celeb chef Thomas Keller of Per Se fame, and it really is the perfect, satisfying meal for tired, late-night cravings. For the recipe,

Dream Come True

NBC is combining 2 of my favorite things tonight: The Biggest Loser and Rocco DiSpirito. They’re having a cook-off! You know where I’ll be at 8pm.

Lunching for a Cause

“Food Porn.” Love it! Check out this lunchbox that was designed by Top Chef judge Tom Colicchio for the 2007 Lunchbox Auction. You can get it for a measly $110… but that’s just the starting bid. Good news is that it’s actually for a really great cause. The money will go to two hunger-relief organizations: Food Bank for New York and The Lunchbox Fund of South Africa. Mr. Colicchio’s rather talented, dontcha think?

Iron Chef Holiday Special

I have a bit of a shameful confession: I think I fell in love with Paula Deen. Normally, I find her high-pitch squeals annoying, her southern accent unbearable, and the food she makes disgusting, but she stole my heart on the All-Star Holiday Dessert Battle. I watched that entire episode thinking… man, she’s kinda funny. I even forced J to watch a little bit of it last night on DVR.

If you missed it, the show pitted Food Network stars Cat Cora and Paula Deen against Tyler Florence and Robert Irvine. And the special ingredient was SUGAR! Cora and Deen took a really whimsical approach to their dishes, putting cookies in a faux-mailbox for Santa and making a Candy Cane cocktail. Only when it comes to Christmas does this sugary-sweet approach to food really get to me, I swear! Florence sort of dropped the ball in an unsuccessful attempt at making a Buche de Noel in under 60 minutes. But, there was an amazingly awesome moment when Paula chomped down on Robert’s index finger and wouldn’t let go. When she finally did, she yelled, “Watch out! I’m a snapping turtle.” And I died of laughter. And I’m mildly ashamed at the cheesiness of it all. But YumSugar did a poll, and most people agreed that the episode was fantastic! So at least I’m not alone.

And oh yeah—Tiny Fey was a judge, so at least that increases the cool factor.

The Ultimate Kitchen Nightmare

I watched Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares last night, and I could barely keep my food down. Rat traps, cockroaches everywhere, green meat, and rotten veggies… blech. I seriously thought I was going to throw up. But it got me thinking: How does a restaurant in midtown Manhattan get away with this? I know that NY’s a big place and there are too many restaurants to keep tabs on, but this was an egregious mistake on the part of the NY Health Department. And I think more than anyone, they should be embarrassed and ashamed. I’ve actually considered calling the Health Dept lately—there’s a teeny, tiny restaurant at the end of my block that is disgusting. They are infested with rats. I can’t walk by without seeing at least 6 of them scatter across my path. And they basically throw their garbage down into the cellar for the rats to feast on—no bags, no cleaning, no nothing. So, should I do it? I’m morally conflicted. I don’t want to be a tattle-tale, but it’s food and it could seriously make someone sick. What’s the right call?

PS—there’s some talk over on the YumSugar boards about the hottie, Vikas Khanna, that Ramsay brought in to turn the Purnima Restaurant around. They’ve also put up a poll about whether you’d consider eating at Purnima now. Tough question. It’d be hard to turn down Vikas’ food, but even harder to get the image of those cockroaches out of my head.

What’s Worse Than Christmas With Your Cranky Relatives?

Answer: Christmas with Anthony Bourdain. According to Serious Eats, there’s going to be a holiday episode of No Reservations with special guests Queens of the Stone Age. While Bourdain slaves away in the kitchen preparing a traditional holiday feast at his Connecticut home, QOTSA rock out in the basement rec room. Huh? No idea what these two have in common, but… I can’t wait! Here’s Bourdain’s quote about the episode:

It’s a traditional Thanksgiving/Christmas meal with turkey, all the trimmings, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie … some Christmas carols … and a vicious brother-on-brother knife fight. We spent a fair amount of time spraying stage blood onto my niece and nephew’s face. What’s a holiday special without violent mayhem? I think it’s an honest reflection of the holiday season.

I always knew that sourpuss had some serious violent tendancies. Bourdain, I hope you get some payback for killing-off the beloved CJ.

Gordon Ramsay Had a Kitchen Nightmare

Jo just alerted me to the news that Gordon Ramsay was hospitalized for a little kitchen mishap… one that resulted in a singed right testicle. Yikes. Looks like one very angry British chef got a little too close to the oven, and he wasn’t wearing any knickers! Quote of the day: “Then suddenly I felt this searing heat - my b***s were burning.” Bring the pain, Gordon. Bring the pain.