Clinton and Ray Team Up for Fund-raiser; What Lidia Served the PopeThe former president and America’s first lady of home cooking are putting on a fund-raiser together, Pinkberry isn’t as “all natural” as you’d like it to be, and a recipe for a season-appropriate dish served to Pope Benedict XVI last week.
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Meehan Talks ‘Times’; Benoit OpensBenoit opened yesterday, Peter Meehan discusses who should replace him at the ‘Times,’ and beer shortages loom.
Fernando Navas Brings El Bulli’s ‘Cheese Air’ to SushiSambaAbout a year ago, Argentine-born Fernando Navas, then a sous-chef at Nobu Miami, got the news that he was one of the 50 applicants out of 6,000 chosen for a four-month stage at Spain’s El Bulli, the stomping grounds of hallowed molecular gastronomist Ferran Adrià and pretty much the most famous restaurant in the world. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays in January, Navas will present an Adrià-influenced $110 tasting menu at his current restaurant, SushiSamba. We’re not saying it’ll be as hard as scoring a table at El Bulli, but only twelve people will be accommodated per night. We asked Navas what it was like to fulfill every young chef’s dream.
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Win a Date With Thomas Keller; Year-end Lists AboundMix up your holiday charitable giving by entering a raffle for a coffee date with Per Se’s Thomas Keller or Ferran Adrià of Spain’s El Bulli. [NYT]
Related: Ferran Adrià, Molecular Gastronomist—Who, Me? [NYM]
On his No Reservations holiday special, Anthony Bourdain spoke with a veterinarian who explained that foie gras production is not the demonic act it has been portrayed as by animal-rights groups, so eat up! [Eat for Victory/VV]
If Amy Sacco didn’t convince you of the growing synergy between restaurants and real estate, consider that Centovini has just struck a deal with luxe condo Soho Mews that offers not only delivery to the building but also the option to have executive chef Patti Jackson provide in-home cooking. [NYP]
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McNally Loves Balthazar and Maria Bello; Imus Types Prank Chinese RestaurantKeith McNally talks about Balthazar, where the breakfast service is “absurdly busy” and his last meal would be “on the navel of the actress Maria Bello.” [Mouthing Off/Food & Wine]
More radio morons in hot water: CBS suspends Elvis and JV for pranking a Chinese restaurant, asking for “shrimp flied lice,” making dumb egg-roll jokes, and other old-time, racist vulgarities. [CBS News]
Spain’s El Bulli named top restaurant in the world again. No. 2? The Fat Duck in London. It’s a proud day for molecular gastronomy. [CNN]
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Gastronomical Gifts, Lovable LatkesTo add to Rob and Robin’s picks for chocoholics and pork fiends, more gifts like wild-boar soppressata and the $350 El Bulli cookbook. [TONY]
A former sandwich of the week from Philly Slim’s snubbed for 99 Miles to Philly in roundup of best sandwiches. [Gridskipper]
A list for latke lovers, including the $1.50 special at G&M. [amNY]
How to steer clear of Cuban-food “poseurs” like Azucar. [Epoch Times]
User’s Guide
The Ham That Drives Men MadNew York Magazine has gone Spain-crazy this week. Adam Platt sates his bottomless hunger at Boqueria, and Rob Patronite and Robin Raisfeld interview Spain’s most illustrious chef, Ferran Adrià of El Bulli. Let Grub Street pile on, then, with talk of the secret society of Spanish pork.
This society may be unofficial, but we belong to it. It is made of men and women who have tasted the meat of the celebrated pata negra, or black-foot pig, and will do anything for more. “Once you taste ibérico, you can’t compare it to anything else,” Bar Jamón chef Andy Nusser has said. The society’s holy grail, though, remains tantalizingly out of reach for Americans — even ones with a deep affinity for Spain.
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Greatest Chef Ever to Make Best Meal Ever, Give or TakeThe most admired chef in the world doesn’t have a restaurant in New York, Paris, or Las Vegas. He doesn’t appear on TV. His name is little known among the general public, but chefs speak it with awe, in low whispers. He is Ferran Adrià, and he is coming to New York on Saturday.
We kid you not: Adrià, who heads up the kitchen at Spain’s El Bulli, probably rates as the most influential cook in the world. As Rob and Robin explain, New Yorkers will finally have a chance to see him at work when he and nine other leading Spanish cooks demonstrate their “molecular gastronomy” techniques for Spain’s 10: Cocina de Vanguardia, at Guastivino’s, in the magazine. At $300 per person, the event, which includes food and wine samplings throughout the day and a tapas lunch, ain’t cheap. But neither is a Manhattan tablecloth meal. Nor round-trip airfare to Spain.
Buy tickets here.
Spain’s Ten: The Summit
