EPIC hotel in Miami, Florida

By Becky Sauer

The much-anticipated opening of ZUMA Miami in the EPIC hotel has been scheduled for May. This modern Japanese sake and tapas bar from chef Rainer Becker has proved to be a big success overseas—reservations at the original Zuma in London are still in demand eight years after its grand opening. Expect casually elegant contemporary Japanese pub grub, sushi and sashimi, and a selection of 40 different sakes.

For more on the Miami/South Florida dining scene, check out our Miami Restaurant News, Restaurant Reviews, South Florida Culinary Events and Wine Dinners.

The Publican is among more than two-dozen participating restaurants. (Photo courtesy of Bob Briskey Photography)

by Jennifer Olvera

The second annual Chicago Chef Week is on the horizon—make note to clear your schedule for March 22-28—bringing with it an endless array of affordable prix fixe menus at top tables all over town.

More than two-dozen restaurants will be dishing up special menus. Among them is The Publican, which will usher in a $30 three-course meal of Little Gem salad with crispy pig ears, followed by grilled country ribs. As for dessert, look for a tweaked version of its famed waffle.

Admittedly, though, you may be lured to the ’burbs for Paul Virant’s menu at Vie, which happens to be one of our Top 40 Restaurants in the U.S. He’ll kick things off with a salad of La Quercia prosciutto, scarlet turnips, caramel apple jam, Werp Farms arugula and Spanish olive oil. Next up, it’s Milanese-style Gunthorp Farms chicken with organic polenta, fried Tuscan kale and garlic-herb vinaigrette and warm, gooey butter cake with Tahitian vanilla ice cream, brittled peanuts and chocolate sauce.

During lunch, many restaurants—such as Big Jones, aja, Eve and Lockwood—also will offer $20 lunches. For a list of those participating and to make reservations, visit www.chicagochefweek.com.

Keep coming back to GAYOT.com for more Chicago Restaurant News, Restaurant Reviews, Culinary Events and Chicago Wine Dinners.

Marea restaurant in New York

by Meryl Pearlstein

 
I loved my meal at Marea, Chef Michael White’s stellar vision of Italian seafood on Central Park South in the old San Domenico space now sleekly done with clubby touches and a crudo bar. No misses here — from the ricci starter of sea urchin spread with lardo to the pastas, lobster with burrata, Hawaiian swordfish with fruit and the sublime affogato dessert drink.

Can’t wait to go back to try Marea’s Le Collezione menu at the Crudo Bar, offering six crudi, five small portions of pasta, and dessert for $125. No wonder it was named to Gayot’s list of Top 10 New Restaurants in the U.S.

Keep coming back to GAYOT.com for more New York Restaurant News, Restaurant Reviews, Culinary Events and New York Wine Dinners.

Goose Island Clybourn will kick off spring with maple-bacon-infused beer.

by Jennifer Olvera

The highly anticipated Craft Brewers Conference & BrewExpo America—geared toward brewpubs and breweries—will take place at the Sheraton Hotel & Towers in Chicago April 7-10. While the festivities are trade-oriented, there is a way for day beer lovers to partake.

The contestants and the judges from Raising the Bar #2 (from left to right): Judge Nicholas Liberato/Comme Ca, Shana Street/Church & State, Victoria Recano, Sophie Gayot, Tim Loden/Comme Ca, Judge Yassmin Sarmadi/Church & State, Hector Bury/Joe’s, Judge Joe Miller/Joe’s

by Sophie Gayot

Chef Susan Spicer of Bayona in New Orleans

by Becky Sauer

Chef Susan Spicer, known for her French Quarter restaurant, Bayona, is from Lakeview, a suburb of New Orleans devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. As the area continues to rebound from the calamity, Spicer is set to open Mondo in her hometown.

Look for pizzas from wood-burning ovens, local seafood, ethnic specialties and handmade desserts at what she describes as a “comfortable, casual, upbeat neighborhood restaurant and bar with an international menu full of things you want to eat.” Bayona is known for its fabulous desserts, so expect nothing less from Mondo.

Read more about the Big Easy dining scene with our New Orleans Restaurant News, Restaurant Reviews, Culinary Events and Wine Dinners.

Poire Belle-Hélène: poached pear, pistachio, ginger & chocolate sauce.

By Andre Gayot

Hey Laurent, isn’t there a better way to let us know that this is a fish-oriented restaurant — and an excellent one for that matter — than this esoteric acronym of L20? L is for Laurent, we understand, and replaces the H which is half of the chemical symbol of water, H20.

But Laurent, you have nothing to do with chemistry except maybe when, with a funny allusion, you mock the molecular cuisine concealing your succulent foie gras under a cloud of sugar candy. Moreover, you make it difficult for the search engines to find this elegant and worthy eatery hidden in the chic Lincoln Park West area of Chicago in the databases of good restaurants, a pity for the uninformed who will miss a memorable dinner in this serene, almost spa-like space filled with Makassar ebony columns, plush couches and white leather chairs. The single onyx two-top has “it table” status written all over it.

The discreet Laurent Gras, a disciple of Alain Ducasse, perfected his skills at New York City’s Peacock Alley and San Francisco’s Fifth Floor. He blends touches of Japanese, French and even a glimpse of molecular gastronomy, with plenty of made-in-house treats, including bread, butter, and yogurt. Dining options include a four-course menu for $110 (choose one each from the dishes sorted out in the following categories: raw, warm, main and dessert) and an elaborate tasting menu. There’s also a ten-course menu for a hefty $245. Really, there’s nary a miss served here.

In the so called “raw” part of the menu, the Peekytoe crab with avocado and kaffir lime is a standout, along with the sashimi platter with fluke, kampachi, kinmedai, and shima aji. We cannot encounter a scallop on any menu without raving in retrospect about Laurent’s diver scallop in a sauce of vanilla, passion fruit and Sauvignon Blanc that literally melts in your mouth. It is difficult to choose from the foie gras with grapes, asparagus, bee pollen and crystallized butter or from the exceptionally tender octopus graced by coconut and olive oil.

For “main,” a take on shabu-shabu isn’t out of the question either, unless, sticking to fish, you prefer the very commendable cold smoked black cod, with Dijon mustard.

The remarkable selection of cheese includes rare finds such as the outstanding Brie de Nangis. For dessert, there are classic soufflés as well as more modern choices as strawberry treated with aloe vera and black sesame or caramel Manjari in espresso snow.

The extensive wine list, under the guidance of Chantelle Pabros, caters to both high rollers and (surprisingly) those with limited budgets. However you cut it, though, this is a special occasion experience—and you’ll be amply rewarded for taking the plunge.

Laurent Gras is a perfectionist. He looks after the smallest detail of the service and tries to make it as complete as possible. But he bluffed us when, after the last dish was sent out, he started to scrub the ovens and other equipment meticulously along with his team. It’s only justice to spot the sunlight on such an unassuming but very accomplished character.

You can click on each photo to enlarge.

Entrance to the 52nd Annual Governor’s Ball

by Alexandra Rowinski

24 hours before all of the designer-clad and diamond-studded celebrities posed for flashing cameras on the red carpet, I threw on an old cocktail dress, pinned back my hair and happily danced my way up the steps of the Kodak theatre to attend the preview of the 52nd Annual Governor’s Ball. Despite the rain, the crowd of curious onlookers was rather large! No one wanted to miss the sneak peek to one of the biggest parties in Hollywood, the traditional and lavish follow-up to the annual Academy Awards ceremony.

Needless to say the Champagne was flowing and little did I know that when I tipped back my glass of Moët & Chandon offered to me at the entrance, that “Hurt Locker” director Katherine Bigelow would be proudly posing with two Oscars in hand on that very spot 24 hours later.

The grand ballroom was draped in sumptuous silk and taffeta fabrics—lavish purples, silvers, coffees, plums, and golds illuminated every corner. As a tribute to a 1930’s “supper club,” the décor embodied a “streamline moderne” style, even complementing the theme with elegant jazz and classical music—the kind of songs you would expect to be played on a record player and imagine Fred Astaire or Ginger Rogers dancing to.

Extravagant flower arrangements of orchids, purple peonies, roses, and lilies decorated each neatly assembled table and their sweet fragrances were hard to ignore. Despite standing a tall 5’9”-plus in heels, the massive flower-filled vases still managed to tower over my head, resembling elongated tree branches more than bouquets of Clearwater roses.

The exterior terrace opened up to a generous sushi bar that offered yellowtail, tuna, salmon and sweet shrimp sashimi, as well as California rolls and fried shrimp heads. Waiters and waitresses decked out in tuxedos and gold cocktail dresses perpetuated the 1930’s style in their classic garb, and while I half expected them to shout out, “Cigars! Cigarettes” every time they passed by, they interweaved the crowds with trays of appetizers instead, churning out decadent food made by none other than our Restaurateur of the Year, Wolfgang Puck. Basil and tomato aricinis, spicy tuna cones, steak tartare, mini kobe beef hot dogs and burgers, “Spago-style” pizza, crème brûlée pastries and chocolate mousse cups were just some of the delicious dishes that the celebrity chef cooked up for the evening.

And while I have never been one to gawk over celebrities or get excited about their lives (perhaps a result of being a native Angelino all my life), a little part of me couldn’t help but be thrilled to have an inside look into such an extravagant A-list event. And who knows, Oprah Winfrey may very well have sat in the chair I draped my coat over or maybe Jeff Bridges stepped right over that red stain I left on the carpet after clumsily dropping a slice of Wolfgang’s pizza. What a waste of delicious food!

The first part of the competition is over; hats up!

By Sophie Gayot

Part one of the S.Pellegrino® Almost Famous Chef® Competition, held for the eighth time this year, is The Mystery Basket competition. The rules are very strict (there is a full page of them), but the basics are that the eleven contestants have 2 hours to create a dish with the featured ingredients and prepare 10 identical plates to be served to the judges. This year’s mystery ingredients were organic chicken, mushrooms and eggs. The contestants—all chefs in training— had a long list of other produce they were allowed to use, including flavors from the “Asian pantry,” the “Mediterranean pantry” and the “Latin pantry.”

While the kitchen of The Culinary Institute of America, Greystone, was in full swing, chef Fabio Viviani from Firenze Osteria (and who loves to be on camera) interviewed the contestants and the judges. The coverage was streamed live for the first time in the event’s history.

Then came my part: the judging. Over the course of four hours, chef Michel Richard of Citronelle (one of GAYOT’s Top 40 U.S. Restaurants), chef Rick Moonen of rm Seafood (Las Vegas), chef Wade Wiestling of The Oceanaire Seafood Room (12 locations in the US), chef Ralph Pagano of Kitchensynx.com, chef Andrew Ellerby of ONE Restaurant (Toronto, Canada), chef Massimo Bottura of Osteria Francescana (Modena, Italy), Food & Wine magazine’s editor in chief Dana Cowin, Bon Appétit Magazine’s restaurant editor Andrew Knowlton, Toronton National Post’s columnist Bonnie Stern, last’s year winner David Awad and I discovered the plates one by one, as they were presented and explained by the students. The good thing: though the dishes were based on similar ingredients, each of them was very different in creativity, execution, presentation and taste.

See the pictures below for all the details.

You can click on each photo to enlarge.

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S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna ice sculptures

by Sophie Gayot

I am reporting from Yountville, California, in the beautiful Napa Valley, where I am working as one of the judges for the 8^th annual S.Pellegrino® Almost Famous Chef® Competition. The eleven finalists, winners of regional competitions that included for the first time Italy, Mexico and Puerto Rico, were presented to the judges at tonight’s opening reception. We were able to get a first glimpse at their personalities as we all sipped local wines and enjoyed food from Bardessono, one of our 2010 choices for Top 10 New Restaurants in the country.

Tomorrow the real judging begins, as we’ll get to try their cooking. Good luck to the young culinary school students who will express their talent during the weekend of competition. Come back tomorrow for more…