Feed Us Back: Comments of the Week

Charles Thompson seconds our outrage about Barack Obama’s burger order: I’ve been eating rare to medium rare burgers for years and have never gotten sick. I just don’t understand anyone who eats meat cooked in the ‘well’ category. It’s not really meat by that point!

Although the aptly named Michael Cook begs to differ: I’m all for having a steak medium rare, but never for a burger. Most harmful bacteria lives on the outer surface of meat, which for ground meat becomes the inside as well…

But good ol’ Sean Hannity had our favorite response to the eater-in-chief’s burger run: How dare he order socialist mustard!

– Meanwhile, mariah carey is not impressed with Tom Colichhio’s sandwich chain:

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Meeting Tom Colicchio

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A few weeks back I was on vacation in Santa Monica and coincidentally so was Tom Colicchio. Well, he wasn’t on vaca but he was there to publicize his new book, ‘wichcraft. I got off the plane (Virgin America, which I think deserves its own discussion regarding their food) and immediately made my way to the Williams-Sonoma. And I was very excited.

Unfortunately this wasn’t a Q&A nor was he taking photos. The rather overly guarded store security only permitted for photos to be taken of him while signing. Boo!

But I have to say, this guy is a legend. He was very nice and answered my questions and he even asked me some. But he was most certainly intimidating, even sitting down.

‘Wichcraft is a collection of Tom’s and co-author Sizar Ortuza‘s favorite recipes from the restaurant of the same name, located in L.A., NYC and San Francisco. When I got back from my trip I decided to throw a couple of the sandwiches together for a boys brunch. They were indeed a hit, not that there was any doubt. Read about them after the jump…

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Cheflebrity Smörgåsbord: Barry Says “Burn It!”

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While my colleagues here at Endless Simmer are focusing on the President’s restaurant choices, I’ve become a bit preoccupied by another food-related Obama item.  In the heady, post-inauguration days of January, I was somewhat bothered by the fact that his first ride on Air Force One included a medium-well hamburger.  But I was prepared to chalk it up to a severe hangover that ruled out a nice piece of bloody red meat. So it was with great sadness that I listened to the radio this morning and heard about the little POTUS/VPOTUS burger run that transpired yesterday at Ray’s Hell Burger in Arlington (which  espressodog shouted out to us earlier, and again, none of you guessed!) So what did the ‘bam eat this time? Medium-well.  Again.

They say that three times makes a trend, but I’m going to go ahead and put my foot down after two…Mr. President, you’re absolutely killing me.  Don’t you know that people are looking up to you?  In these difficult times, we must all be living our lives in a manner that reflects positively on our country and our values.  By perpetuating the unfortunate and offensive notion that medium-well is an acceptable burger choice, you are hurting the children of America.  Mr. President, please think long and hard about your choice before you order your next burger. And don’t be afraid of a little blood.

On to the smörg, which will always order its burger medium-rare — at most!

– Is that Guy Fieri at a Kansas City Royals game.  Ha, actually it isn’t. And your first clue should have been that this television host can’t seem to string together an entire sentence.

– Here’s one from the “condecending to women” file:  Boulud and Keller weigh in with their favorite female chefs.  But I’m happy because both include TVFF’s favorite kitchen goddess, Lidia Bastianich.

After the jump…a Hollywood story from the Chicago food scene, a list of award winners that doesn’t include me and Bobby Flay plays the ponies.

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Obama Eats Out Contest – No Winner Yet!

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It took two and a half months, but Michelle and Barack Obama finally fit in another DC date night. And the winning restaurant was…

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Toby Young: Jealous of Padma’s Scar?

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Do you know what makes for a really disappointing meal?  Concrete.

That’s what our buddy Toby Young discovered when he was part of a car/bicycle collision.  I’ll let you guess which vehicle Toby was occupying in this little get-together. At least they didn’t have to shave his head to put in the stitches.  Get well, brother, and start wearing a helmet…we wouldn’t want you to injure the part of your brain that comes up with snappy put-downs.

Toby’s full Twitterfied run-down of the event after the jump.

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Cheflebrity Smörgåsbord: Special Communicable Disease Edition

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I hope you’re all doing well today.  I’ve been a bit under the weather lately, so I’m not going to try to be particularly funny today.  I know what you’re thinking — “Why start now?”  Good one!  I bet you’ll feel bad when I’m rushed to the hospital.

Yep, I’m fairly certain that I’m sporting a strain of the Swine Flu, which I undoubtedly acquired as cosmic retribution for recently purchasing pre-diced prosciutto for use in risotto this past weekend.  Let that be a lesson to you:  Try to cut corners and run the risk of a serious infection.

Our favorite corner-cutter…Ruth Reichl goes for “funny ha-ha” in a video…and the unholy marriage of fast food, entertainment & marketing — plus a whole lot more smörg after the jump.

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Feed Us Back: Comments of the Week

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Boyd Logan was pretty close with his guess of Bone Crusher, but miked. knew right away the mystery eater in question was Questlove, drummer for the Roots and new sidekick to Jimmy Fallon. Good guessing, miked! You’ve won an ES prize pack.

PS – have you seen a famous/almost famous person chowing down? You better let us know!

In other ES news this week..

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