PLCB Ratchets Up Its War on Four Loko; Giant Food Will Absorb TwoPlus Bobby Flay’s horse won a high-stakes race at the Breeder’s Cup, and USDA simultaneously pushes high fat cheese to consumers while issuing warnings on obesity, all in our morning news roundup.
‘Next Iron Chef’ Conspiracy; Keller Snubbed by MichelinJudges Andrew Knowlton and Donatella Arpaia think John Besh obliterated Michael Symon in the Next Iron Chef finale and that he deserved the title; the latter even accused Ruhlman of casting his “swing” vote for Symon because the chef is his Cleveland comrade. [Ruhlman]
Thomas Keller’s Bouchon has been snubbed by the new Las Vegas Michelin Guide with a whopping zero stars, while Robuchon scored three. [Bloomberg]
Related: Michelin’s Madness Drives Ed Levine (and Us) Up a Wall
The owners of the twenty-year-old Italian joint restaurant Baraonda were told they lost their lease, so they took over a new space only to find out they could keep the old one. What to do? Plan a second restaurant. [NYP]
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Another Look at Bar BouludDavid Bouley is expanding his Tribeca empire with “an upscale Japanese-themed restaurant called Brushstrokes” which will take over the soon-to-be-former Delphi space. [NYS]
Gael Greene was on hand for last night’s first taste of Bar Boulud even though the opening has been pushed back a month or so. [Food Writer’s Diary/Nation’s Restaurant News]
Related: Exclusive: Feast Your Eyes on Bar Boulud, Coming in November
The next Next Iron Chef challenge is “cooking gourmet airline food with all the constraints of airline galleys. Holy smokes. It’s the exact same challenge as Top Chef.” [Serious Eats]
Back of the House
Who Will Be Cut Next on ‘The Next Iron Chef’?
Nothing can replace Top Chef in our reality-TV affections, but we have to say, The Next Iron Chef is pretty good. We only started watching this past week, being understandably resistant to another show built on the identical format of Top Chef. The premise Next Iron Chef is that, rather than just having the next Iron Chef selected by Food Network suits, the nation’s most celebrated chefs should compete, with the winner given the dubious honor of cooking in weekly battles in Kitchen Stadium. (You would think chefs would be fighting to avoid such a fate, but such is the pull of fame.)
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Madman Runs Amok With BBQ Knives; Traci Des Jardins Overboard on ‘NextA madman grabbed knives from the Texas Smokehouse Barbecue and started slashing people in Murray Hill until he was gunned down. [NYP]
Traci Des Jardins is the first one overboard at The Next Iron Chef. [Serious Eats]
A lot of good restaurants have failed health inspections, leading to: “You’ll pay $90 for a prix-fixe meal complete with foie gras and lobster at celebrity chef David Bouley’s namesake restaurant — just watch out for eight-legged appetizers.” [NYP]