Good News & Bad News - always the good new first
OTM is delighted to hear that Fabio Trabocchi is back in the Kitchen, taking over the helm at The Four Seasons Restaurant. We're sure he'll be a magnet for discriminating diners. Our favorite Trabocchi dish is "Father's Pork Chops" from his cookbook, but we'll be by the Four Seasons soon to find out what treats he's offering there. We also hear the The Lever House restaurant reopened. We saw the name of the Chef somewhere, but can't find it just now; we also heard where Brad Thompson moved after the Lever House closing, but that info's in the same place - missing. Best wishes to Karen & David Waltuck of beloved Chanterelle, may it RIP in the hearts of all those who loved it, including OTM. Also RIP to Tribute in Chicagoland, which announced its closing ahead of the bad news about the 2016 Olympic Games site selection. We believe these two sad events are connected only by their geographical proximity.
The Allison, Newberg OR, an OTM
OTM always likes to discover and bring you new developments in food, wine and travel, and we found an unexpected treat during our current trip to Portland. The Allison, Oregon Wine Country’s first ever full service resort, opened officially last Friday, and OTM was there yesterday. It's much more than a luxurious place to spend the night while touring the area. Chef Nathan Lockwood's local, sustainable ingredient-based cuisine is a delight for both the eye and the palate, and the 15,000 sq. ft. Spa is as large and luxurious as the guest room area of 85 rooms and suites. Decades of planning have culminated in the creation of a fabulous destination, with perfection in every detail. We can't wait to return and enjoy staying for a few days. Just a 35 minute drive from Portland (with Peter at wheel on an unfamiliar route), The Allison is ideally situated for a visit to the delightful Oregon wine country. In a couple of words - GO HERE! You'll be able to hear OTM's interviews with General Manager Pierre Zreik and Chef Lockwood in an upcoming program.
Ingredients, the Film - a timely Documentary about "Local Food"
OTM just talked to Portland star chef Greg Higgins about this film that he helped create, and which premiered yesterday in the "Rose City" of Portland OR, where OTM is right now doing a fine dining tour. The web site http://www.ingredientsfilm.com/ says "American food is in a state of crisis. Health, food costs and our environment are all in jeopardy. A movement to put good food back on the table is emerging. What began 30 years ago with chefs demanding better flavor, has inspired consumers to seek relationships with nearby farmers. This is local food." Watch for Ingredients on your local PBS station, and in the menatime find out more on the web site. You'll be able to hear OTM's interview with Greg in an upcoming program, together with our interviews with Portland's other top Chefs.
More info. for G-20 visitors to Pittsburgh
Due to space constraints some information Ann prepared was not included in todays' Tribune Review article. OTM is pleased to provide this below. Welcome to Pittsburgh, we're sure you'll enjoy your visit.
Green Dreams
Chefs everywhere buzz the words: fresh, local,
sustainable, organic, all-natural. But
The Pines
Tavern, in Gibsonia, held “dinners in the fields” before national media
grabbed at the phenomenon. big Burrito Corporate Chef Bill Fuller recalls that,
early in 1997, he addressed PASA to facilitate Penn’s Corner Farm Alliance, a
cooperative of farmers in
Of course
Day-Parts
Breakfast is a keen sport here. For those who like funky and Formica,
there are diner-esque places like DeLuca’s, Jo Jo’s and Ritter’s. On the campaign trail,
President Obama enjoyed Pamela’s so
much he invited owner Pamela Cohen to cook her pancakes for a Memorial Day event
at the White House.
Recommendations for Sunday Brunch always point visitors to the grand buffet in the Grand Concourse, a restored gilded age P&LE Railroad Station. While the setting is magnificent—marble, stained glass ceiling, palms—if you’d prefer to avoid steam table cuisine, check out Casbah instead. Sunnyledge, in a former Shadyside mansion, sets a classy historical backdrop.
Expect restaurants to be crowded at 7-8 pm, when everyone wants to eat, and don’t expect massive options in late night dining. Count these on one hand. Restaurants in the Cultural District may offer pre-show and post-theater menus—but only when shows or concerts are running. Best to check.
Other Quirks
On the other hand,
Let's hear it for OTM's good friend Mike Novak
Congratulations to Mike Novak and his team at The Pines Tavern, in Gibsonia, PA, on being named a 2009 Santé Restaurant Award Winner for Sustainable Restaurant. Santé, the Magazine for Restaurant Professionals, created the Santé Awards as a way of recognizing excellence in restaurant food, wine, spirits, and service hospitality. The Santé Awards program is the only peer-judged restaurant and hospitality competition in North America. The Culinary Hospitality Award for Sustainable Restaurant honors restaurants and professionals that exhibit outstanding achievement in sustainable culinary service and hospitality. The Pines Tavern got additional accolades for their sustainable agricultural achievements. So do check out The Pines' great wine list and dishes based on produce from their lovely garden . For further details visit www.santemagazine.com and www.thepinestavern.com.
Check out 2 recent photos of Co-Host Ann, more pics to come soon
We appreciate Joanne Stultz-Dauer of the Tuscan Inn, Pittsburgh and Greg Silva of Manresa, Los Gatos CA for sharing these recent photographs. We're going to start rebuilding OTM in Pictures very soon.
Nate Appleman - San Francisco's loss is NYC's Gain
It seems like only yesterday that OTM sat down with Nate Appleman at SPQR in San Francisco, sampled the lusty Italian fare that established SPQR and A16 as Bat Area favorites, and talked about future plans like an A16 namesake in Japan. So it was quite a surprise to read that Nate has moved to NYC, where he's signed up as Chef-Partner with Keith MacNally at Puliono's Bar & Pizzeria, ste to open in December on The Bowery. Chef Nate is reported to still be working on Pulino's menu, but initial indications include "whole animal" butchery and the signature hearty, down to earth dishes so popular at A16. OTM is glad Nate will be closer, and the Bowery & Houston location seems like a great choice - right in the same neighborhood as Brad Farmerie's Double Crown and Daniel Boulud's DBGB.
Wild about Game Festival, with Chef Chris Cosentino, Mt. Hood OR, September 27
San Francisco based Chef Chris Cosentino, Incanto is his Noe Valley food haven, loves Offal, but he also loves Game. So if you're into Game, or just "Game for a good time", check out the Wild About Game Cook-off coming up at The Resort at the Mountain near Oregon's Mount Hood just outside Portland, September 27th. Chris heads a of judges including Seatle restaurateur Tom Douglas who'll assess the Game cooking skills of some of the NorthWest's "Top Toques". OTM is still trying to figure out how to fit this into our schedule, it sounds like so much fun. For more information go to www.nickyusa.com
We love Daniel Boulud - Check out his Culinary Empire at The James Beard House & you will too
Perhaps Daniel is no stranger to you too. Regardless, if you can find time to be in NYC on September 14, the James Beard House has arranged an evening you won't want to miss. And if you've never experienced the range of dining delights Daniel has created, all the more reason. A very special group of Chefs from several DB restaurants will be presenting a very special menu, in celebration of their very special mentor! Daniel himself notes "It is a rare privilege to have so many of my finest chefs cooking under one roof". He compares it to culinnary equivalent of a family reunion. For further information and tickets call the Beard House, 212-627-2308 or go to http://jamesbeard.tix.com/event.asp?event=210940. For more information about Chef Daniel and his restaurant family, www.danielnyc.com.
The Stately Homes of England......... You can enjoy them as OTM has done
These are the first words of a ditty by Noel Coward or somebody like that. What fun to experience for yourself the comfort and elegance of yesteryear, but with every modern luxury and modern cuisine to match. It's one of OTM's favorite things, and we just returned from a tour we'd like you to know about. We started out at Cliveden (pronounced Cliffden for the siting on high ground above the River Thames. History at Cliveden begins with George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, something of a lady's man in the 1660s - movie versions of The Three Musketeers have Villiers connected with the Queen of France. Today's structure dates from the 1850s, and its elegance today a tribute to the Astor family and Von Essen Hotels. Amidst all this history Executive Chef Chris Horridge, formerly of The Bath Priory, is inventing and serving modern food with an emphasis on local & organic that brings the hedgerow to your plate. Cliveden is only 15 minutes by car from Heathrow, 45 minutes from Gatwick, and they'll send a Bentley to pick you up or drop you off - a great fitst/last night stopover. www.cliveden.co.uk.
Move directors looking for a beautiful English Village backdrop have selected Castle Combe in the Southern Cotswolds several times, and when you visit you'll know why. Better still The Manor House offers a combination of traditional historical accomodation, ultra modern plumbing and fine food that's hard to beat, even if it rains all day, as it did when OTM stopped by. It's less than 2 hours west of London by car or trainwww.manorhouse.co.uk. Or as nine paries did on the same day you can drop in by helicopter.
Speaking of helicopters, how about using this as a way to drop in for lunch? A mysterious but obviously wealthy Russian did just this while we were staying at Gidleigh Park and he brought his children along. Snuggled as it is on the edge of Devon's Dartmoor National Park, reaching Gidleigh along the narrow lane from the village of Chagford is a challenge for nerves and steering! Recently renovated with new rooms added to the faux Tudor half-timber mansion, Gidleigh offers the ultimate country experience for the energetic who seek to commune with nature on foot, or the indolent, like OTM, who just enjoy the view. Super-chef Michael Caines, MBE, just celebrated the 10th anniversary of his 2nd Michelin star. We've tried it before, and can report that it just keeps getting better! www.gidleigh.com.
If you have a really good GPS (our Garmin came up trumps) you'll find Percy's Country House & Restaurant in West Devon even though the most direct country road is closed to traffic. Here Tina & Tony Bricknell-Webb serve delicious meals based on crops and animals grown on their estate, and you stay in ultra-modern rooms built in what was once a ruined barn. Increbibly energetic Tina somehow managed to find time to write a cookbbok, to be published in September, and Tony will not only serve you, he'll offer you the opportunity to invest in one of his racehorses. And he'll make sure that seafood lovers get the best by making an early morning drive to the fishing village of Looe. Hope for fine weather so that you can tour their estate and admire their agriculture and animal husbandry first hand. www.percys.co.uk. And enjoy!!!!
250 Year Old Guinness - now that's well aged beer!
Brewers of the iconic Stout (very dark beer!) don't rush into things, befitting a business that started brewing in Dublin, Ireland in 1759. Draft Guiness back in 1967 was their only previous "innovation", unless you count Harp Lager (which Guinness fans certainly don't).But celebrating a quarter century of it's signature Stout, Guinness is launching a 250th Anniversary version. Peter will admit to not having tried it yet, but his confidence is high that this will become another favorite. Ann is less excited since her Guinness habit was always to mix it with Champagne as "Black Velvet". Funny thing, when Peter received his BA at Cambridge, Dermot Guinness (a descendant of the founding family) was standing right next to him, being a classmate at St. Catharine's College and "alphabetically adjacent" as we're sure you can figure out. And a piece of advice for travelers to Ireland - if you've tried and enjoyed a mixture of Guinness Stout & a lager or ale, don't order it in Dublin as a "Black & Tan", call it a "Mother-in-Law" (stout & bitter, you get it?) If you want to know about Black & Tan, do a web search, or just drop us an email or tweet.
Join OTM at Savor Pittsburgh, South Side Works, September 2
A collection of Pittsburgh’s finest chefs gather on Wednesday, September 2, 2009 to share their favorite recipes in a culinary competition for prestigious "Best Dish" honors.
Participating Restaurants Include (as of July 1, 2009): Bella Vista Ristorante Italiano (Mt. Washington), Bettis Grille 36 (North Shore), Bravo Cucina Italiana (Cranberry), Capital Grille (Downtown), Church Brew Works (Lawrenceville), McCormick and Schmick's Seafood Restaurants (Downtown at Piatt Place and SouthSide Works), Mitchell's Fish Market (Mt. Lebanon and Waterfront), Morton's The Steakhouse (Downtown), Nemacolin Woodlands (Farmington), Palate Bistro (Downtown), Pizzutti's (Shadyside), Red Room Cafe (East End), Salt of the Earth, Silk Elephant (Squirrel Hill), Scoglio's (Robinson), Sonoma Grille (Downtown), Tusca (SouthSide Works) and The Tuscan Inn (Allison Park).
Jim Lokay of KDKA will emcee this incredible event. Throughout the fesitivites, culinary creations will be judged by a panel of local food critics and other celebrity judges, including OTM Co-host & Fanfare Magazine columnist Ann: Victoria Bradley, WHIRL and Edible Allegheny; Christina French, TABLE Magazine; Rick Sebak, WQED-TV; Bruce May, Pittsburgh Magazine; Chef Ray Wesolowski and Chef Art Inzinga, Pennsylvania Culinary Institute; Margi Schrum, Nancy Anderson & Marlene Parrish, Pittsburgh Post Gazette.
The American Respiratory Alliance is the premier lung health organization in Western Pennsylvania since its establishment in 1904. The Alliance originated as a grass roots society to fight tuberculosis and has evolved to offer programs for adults with chronic lung diseases, children with asthma and their parents, adults and adolescents who would like to quit smoking, health professionals who require the most current information on tuberculosis, influenza, and other lung diseases, as well as anyone wishing to learn more about their lungs and how to keep them healthy. For more information, visit www.healthylungs.org.
In addition to McCormick & Schmick's Seafood Restaurant and SouthSide Works, Savor Pittsburgh is sponsored by IKEA, TRANE Clean Effects, Asthma Institute, C.S. McKee, Baxter Healthcare Corporation, Dollar Bank, Green Grocer, Capital Wine & Spirits, Frank B. Fuhrer, Ketel One Vodka, WHIRL Publishing, Edible Allegheny, Comcast and WWSW-FM.
Tickets & More Information: There's a VIP Champagne Reception inside of McCormick & Schmick's Seafood Restaurant from 5-6 p.m. which gives guests the opportunity to mingle with celebrity judges and hors d'oeuvres. Tickets for the VIP Champagne Reception and Savor Pittsburgh are $75 per person. For Savor Pittsburgh tickets are $50 per person, and the event begins at 6 p.m. For more information or tickets please call (724) 772-1750 or visit www.savorpgh.com. And well see you there..........
Attention Asian OTM Listeners - Fine Dining for a Worth Cause!
The Miele Guide is launching a very unique charity drive, The Miele Guide Restaurant Month, in August 2009 is planned to raise funds for the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) to combat hunger and poverty within the region. As the very first independent restaurant guide for Asia, The Miele Guide aims to provide recognition to well deserving chefs and restaurants in Asia. Through this month-long initiative, 57 restaurants in China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand & Vietnam, a majority of which are listed in the 2008/2009 edition of The Miele Guide, will be offering special set menus or promotions unique to Restaurant Month. Fifteen percent of revenue derived from these special menus will be donated to the WFP. These proceeds have been earmarked for WFP’s activities in Timor Leste, one of the poorest countries in Southeast Asia. According to WFP, it takes only US$50 to feed one child a year. We hope our target amount of US$200,000 raised will therefore be able to feed 4,000 children this year. We hope you'll consider supporting this worthy cause while enjoying some great dining! Formore information about The Miele Guide Restaurant Month, go to www.mieleguide.com/restaurant-month.
Can't Keep Those NOLA Chefs Down - Tory McPhail & John Besh in the News Again
America’s finest chefs showed their skills in seafood preparation at the 2009 Great American Seafood Cook-Off, held Saturday in New Orleans for the sixth straight year. The event, which has featured both up-and-coming and celebrity chefs over the years, underscored the importance of cooking with domestic seafood and encouraged the use of products from sustainable fisheries.
Tory McPhail, executive chef of Commander’s Palace in New Orleans, was crowned "King of American Seafood." New Jersey’s Peter Fischbach, executive chef for Gourmet Dining Services at New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark, captured second prize, while Alaska’s Patrick Hoogerhyde, executive chef of WildFin Seagrill in Anchorage took home third. Sig Hansen, the commercial fishing captain who stars in the popular documentary television show Deadliest Catch, and Chef John Folse, who is often recognized as Louisiana’s Culinary Ambassador to the World, co-hosted the event. The cook-off featured 15 teams, each preparing a domestic-seafood dish that reflected the cuisine of their home state. Judges representing the top echelon of the culinary arts crowned the King or Queen of American Seafood 2009. Last year, executive chef John Currence of City Grocery in Oxford, MS won with his Mississippi Redfish Courtboullion with Seafood Dirty Rice and was on-hand to pass the crown to this year’s winner.McPhail’s winning dish was a "Creole Seafood Mixed Grill," which combined Louisiana sheepshead, shrimp and crabmeat. Earning second place, New Jersey’s Fischbach prepared Pan-seared Viking Village day-boat sea scallops with creamy chili-herb grits, warm "pickled" root vegetables, smokey apple wood bacon, micro greens and corn volute. Hoogerhyde of Alaska captured third with Wild Alaska King Salmon with cranberry-infused birch syrup molasses and Susitna Valley hash of potatoes nested in Alaska summer greens.
Grape Expectation Staycations Besh Steak Highlights the Flavors of Napa
and Sonoma at Two Intimate Wine Dinner. The team at Besh Steak has arranged
"flights" to the vineyards of Northern California in the form of two midsummer
wine dinners - no plane tickets required. On Wednesday, July 22, sommelier Jeff
Gulotta will toast Napa with bottles from the acclaimed Bouchaine Winery. On
Wednesday, July 29, he'll take guests on a tour of the Sonoma countryside with
wines from Frei Brothers. Wine is an integral aspect of any meal at Besh Steak,
but each of these four-course prix fixe menus designed by chef de cuisine Jared
Tees will focus on the magic of a good pairing. Both dinners are $75. Seating is
limited to 35 guests; for reservations, call 504-533-6111.
Chef John Besh has
also unveiled a four-course tasting menu at Restaurant August for $40, a price
that invites guests to indulge in a meal of a lifetime. The special kicks off
with a menu that’s pure Besh, contemporary French with accents of southern
Louisiana: Warm Salad of Pied du Veau with crispy veal sweetbreads and
fresh hearts of palm; Silver Queen Corn "Riz en Boule" with pecan wood
bacon, cipollini and chanterelles; Hand Rolled Spaghettini with clams,
mussels, and blue crab with spicy tomato and fresh basil; and Napoleon of
Nougatine with Valhrona chocolate bavarois and salted toffee ice cream. The
tasting menu will change, as all do at August, according to the pick of seasonal
produce. It launches Friday, July 24 and continues through Wednesday, September
30, 2009.
Rebuilding the Website
Work continues - check out OTM in Print, OTM in Pictures, OTM Bookshelf (still a work in process, but growing daily). Let us know if there's anything special you'd like us to add.
Emily Luchetti Dessert Recipes Online-Yums!!
OTM's old friend, James Beard Award-winning pastry chef and best-selling author, Emily Luchetti has just announced the launch of her new website and blog, emilyluchetti.com. The new web site features free recipes, baking tips, cookware reviews, entertaining ideas and more. After publishing multiple cookbooks and developing thousands of recipes over
the years, Emily says she thought "it would be helpful for people to be able to find baking
tips and inspiration on-line and all in one place," She's launched www.emilyluchetti.com to help the dessert aficionados find useful information about the best new baking products, tips and tricks and seasonal dessert recipes. Among many features are a seasonal selection of delicious recipes, the latest baking trends, Emily's blog and ideas for the home pastry chef, both the beginner and the seasoned professional. The site will also
feature instructional video so visitors can learn how to make desserts the
Emily Luchetti way. At OTM we say "Go Em!!".
OTM Highlights are BACK, OTM in Print coming next
We've brought back some our favorite tracks for your instant enjoyment. Just click the OTM Highlights tab to find some of the world's most interesting Chefs, Winemakers and other interesting characters. Peter's now hard at work adding links to our Print Features. There's still more clean up to do, but we're delighted that OTM is BACK!! We hope you are too.
OTM Audio Archive restored back to 2005!
We're sure you'll appreciate the time and effort that its taken to get this done. 2004 programs will be added soon. Since manual entry of the Descriptions was required, the possibility of error does exist. If you find something you suspect is a problem please email us so we can investigate & correct .
"Hot off the Presses", OTM in NYC
OTM just returned home from the big Fancy Food Show in NYC earlier this week, and Ann is working on an article summarizing her thoughts. Next Sunday's program includes 3 interviews about interesting & different products that we found. And we dined at some great new places, the newly reopened, relocated Aureole, Bar Blanc Bistro & Daniel Boulud's newest, DBGB. Interviews at all 3 are in next Sundays' program. Be sure to check them out by listening, then heading there on your next NYC dining plans.
OTM Audio Archives recovered back to June 2007
We'll be recovering the complete Archive ASAP. We appreciate your patience while this work is under way. Please try the new SEARCH function by keywords like restaurant name, city, state, chef or celebrity name - just enter the word(s) that you're interested in, and away you go....... You'll get Google references and a click through for any applicable programs.
OTM is BACK!!!!
We're recovering from a devastating Technical Problem.� The News is Good!!!.� OTM Audio Archive is live for the last year's programs, and we'll be rebuilding the history back to January 2004 within the next few days.� We're adding a new Search capability that will enable you to explore OTM "in depth", Google-style.� OTM in Print, OTM Pictures and Bookshelf will follow, then the Favorites.� Until these are complete please use Email, Twitter or Facebook for recommendations on items of specific & immediate interest.� There are Buttons for�all of these on our Home Page.
