It started innocently enough, as all great rivalries do. Chef Ludovic Lefebvre popped into Eric Greenspan’s Melrose Ave. bistro, The Foundry, with a craving for fried chicken one Friday night. Greenspan wasn’t around, and Lefebvre joked via Twitter that he might invade the kitchen. In a flurry of tweets over the next few hours, Greenspan, Lefebvre and Lefebvre’s wife Krissy…
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Don’t Call Me a Foodie
foodie: (pronunciation: \füd-ee\) Etymology: from Middle English fode 1: one who appreciates food (archaic) 2: food snob 3: dilettante who knows little about food but insists on imposing their opinions on others I love food. Eating it, cooking it, learning about it. Sometimes, I even get paid to write about it. By most definitions that would make me a “foodie.”…
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A Chef’s Diary: Why I stopped serving “The Man” and started serving mankind
For the past 32 years, I have been connected by umbilical cord to Princeton University. Not as a student, mind you, but as a feeder of the minds (and stomachs) of students. Recently I quit, and found the job of my dreams at The Eden Institute. Going from a university chef to starting a culinary program for autistic students was…
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Talking to Michael Mina
We contacted Chef Mina because we knew he’d have something to say in honor of Toque’s launch. You no doubt have heard about Michael the chef, but do you know Michael the man? He’s usually way too busy between 17 restaurants and his family to reveal much about himself personally, but here he weighs in on what it takes to…
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Cuckoo for Loco Moco
In an unremarkable strip mall in downtown L.A., Aloha Café dishes out quintessential Hawaiian cuisine – Japanese teriyaki, Chinese char-siu, Portuguese sausage, Korean “Kal-B Beef” and Hawaiian staples like pork lau lau (pork steamed in taro leaves) and shaved ice sweetened with coconut juice. The menu is a gluttonous ethnic smorgasbord. And no dish embodies Hawaii’s culinary syncretism better than…
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Food and Clothing, Nashville Style
A fancy restaurant event is not news. Neither is a fashion show, really. But put the two together, add some celebs like James and Suzy Cameron, and you’ve got yourself something.