GAYOT's Blog

by Jeff Hoyt

Do you know what “carbon footprint” means? When it comes to food and beverage items, any idea what “fair trade” is? What do producers mean when they label their products “sustainable?” Even though many consumers don’t know what these phrases mean, the demand for sustainable food and beverage items continues to increase, according to a recent study.

In an online survey of 2,000 adults conducted by the Chicago-based Mintel, a whopping 84% of respondents said they regularly buy green or sustainable food and drink. However, many of them were unaware of what makes a product sustainable.

Continue reading “Carbon Footprint? 8-1/2, EEE” »

by Jeff Hoyt

While you’re still working your way through Thanksgiving leftovers, we’re hard at work making the next set of holidays easier for you. Shopping? Check out our Top 10 Holiday Gifts, including a new book for foodies: Avec Eric: A Culinary Journey with Eric Ripert. Need a break from shopping? Unwind with one of our Top 10 Holiday Movies: some will steal your heart, while others depict stealing groundhogs. Going to a holiday party? Pick up one of our Top 10 Holiday Wines, which covers white, red, dessert, and sparkling. But for the best in sparkling wines, consult our Top 10 Prestige Cuvées, our selections of the top Champagnes available.

All of these lists and more can be found in our latest The Food Paper newsletter, published today. It’s easy to subscribe to our free newsletters, including our recently published Hotel Issue and our Annual Restaurant Issue coming out in January. Keep coming back to GAYOT.com for reviews of the newest restaurants and hotels.

by Meryl Pearlstein

Do you know how long it takes to safely defrost a twenty-pound turkey? Don’t try to stuff it in your microwave. Instead, make a reservation at one of our top Thanksgiving restaurants near you. And don’t forget to pick up one of our recommended Thanksgiving wines.
For our friends in New York, we offer a top 10 Thanksgiving restaurant list and more of the best places to chow down tomorrow. Here are even more details of some of our picks. Enjoy your holiday. We hope you have lots to be thankful for.

Wall & Water: At the new Andaz Wall Street hotel, Chef Maximo Lopez May prepares a farm-to-table Thanksgiving culinary adventure between 1pm and 7pm. The menu will be offered for $65 per person or $32 for children 5-12. Start with “The Larder” (raw bar) with handpicked Fishers Island oysters, smoked salmon and trout, poached shrimp, red and white anchovy salad, and Hudson Valley cheese and charcuteries. Next, move to “The Family Table” where you will create your own salad before heading to “The Kitchen,” where you will be presented with oven roasted turkey, grilled swordfish, braised veal leg, vegetable soup, roasted root vegetables, creamy parmesan grits, mashed new potatoes, and steamed green vegetables. Finish your meal at “The Chef’s Table” with home style apple pie, berry crumble, chocolate cake, pumpkin pie, or make your own sundae.

Continue reading “Last-Minute Turkey” »

by Meryl Pearlstein

 

Did that last-minute Thanksgiving invitation you were expecting not come through? Does the thought of making your own turkey and all of the trimmings scare you?

 

Fear not. There is still plenty of time to make a reservation at a restaurant that will take care of your Thanksgiving needs. For New York, as well as other major metropolitan areas, we even offer a Top 10 Thanksgiving restaurant list. Here are more details of what some of these top NYC Thanksgiving restaurants have to offer, and you won’t even have to clean up afterwards!

Continue reading “Talking Turkey” »

by Jeff Hoyt

This blog reported when Michael Voltaggio was leaving The Dining Room at The Langham in Pasadena, so we’re happy to announce his latest plans. The Top Chef season 6 winner will be opening a new restaurant called “Ink.” in Los Angeles in mid 2011. It reportedly will occupy the Melrose Avenue space that formerly housed Hamasaku. There’s no word yet whether molecular gastronomy will be on the menu.

Sadly, his restaurant won’t be open in time for Thanksgiving, but many other restaurants are offering a top holiday meal. If you can’t wait to taste Michael’s creations, you can prepare your Thanksgiving bird under his direction. Michael gives instructions on how to cook turkey sous vide style on his website and also has a recipe for turkey brine. Either way, pair it with one of our Thanksgiving wines and enjoy your holiday.

Keep coming back to GAYOT.com for the latest in Los Angeles restaurant news, Culinary Events, Restaurant Reviews and Los Angeles Wine Dinners.

by: Sophie Gayot

There are two ways to talk about Maison Richard, culinarily speaking. It’s a restaurant open 7 days a week (except Sunday night) with non-stop service from breakfast to dinner, but it is probably more famous for its pastries, based on über chef Michel Richard‘s recipes. Let’s not forget the croissants, brioches and apple-turnovers (chaussons aux pommes in French).

Continue reading “Home Sweets Home” »

by Jennifer Olvera

It wouldn’t really be Thanksgiving without the bird. However, there’s no need to settle for a staid approach — or do any of the heavy lifting yourself. This year, some Chicago restaurants are dishing up unique feasts, ones that require no fuss on your part but offer plenty of full-flavor surprises.

Big Jones, for example, will serve a festive, southern-style feast, complete with pimento cheese, okra and pickled green tomato starter; cornbread muffins and Sally Lunn bread with house-churned butter alongside house Concord grape and hot pepper jellies; a choice of appetizers, including butternut squash gnocchi with fried sage, roasted pears and mushroom jus; Vidalia onion and goat cheese pie with herb purée; a Waldorf salad with Redcort apples; and deep-fried Gunthorp Farms turkey with onion-thyme dressing. Needless to say, you can expect other comfort-driven, updated sides ($46 adults, $20 children under 12).

Continue reading “Bird is the Word: Thanksgiving, Chicago-Style” »

by Nick Winfrey

With Thanksgiving only a week away and Christmas just around the corner, our 2010 Hotel Issue has arrived just in time to help you with your holiday travel plans!

Start off by checking out the latest hot spots around the country with our list of the Top 10 New Hotels in the U.S. Looking for something a bit more modest? Take a gander at our picks for the Top 10 Value Hotels in America and around the world to find great deals at excellent properties.

Continue reading “The Hotel Issue is Here!” »

by Jeff Hoyt

 
The weather gods smiled on the 24th Annual Great Chefs of Los Angeles “Go Green, Go Organic” event, where threatening skies turned into warm afternoon sunshine. The event featuring food, wine, beer and fun benefitted the National Kidney Foundation. Since its inception in 1987, it has raised more than $4.5 million.

Featured Great Chefs included Adam Horton from Saddle Peak Lodge, named one of our Rising Chefs, who prepared braised wild boar with leek soubise; Matt Carpenter of Momed, who wowed the crowd with his duck shwarma; and Onil Chibás & Alberto Morales of Elements Kitchen who cleverly crossed cultures with their satisfying marinated flank steak kimchi tacos. The most memorable food product of the day: Sushi Poppers!
Continue reading “Green & Great Chefs” »

 

While the leaders of the twenty richest nations — the G 20 — gathered in Seoul, South Korea, to discipline the ministers of finances, bankers and traders of the world, the Koreans had their own, more direct, worries.

 

Because of bad weather, there was a dearth of cabbage on the markets. “A national tragedy,” proclaimed the press, supporting angry citizens. Cabbages and their derivatives being an essential part of the Korean diet, President Lee Myung-Bak decided that cabbages would be imported from China. Mais voilà, Koreans don’t like Chinese cabbage. What made the shortage even worse was the timing. This is the season when all Korean families practice a ritual: the preparation of Kimchi.

  Continue reading “A Korean Weapon of Mass Nutrition” »

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