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I want to wish each and every one of you a Happy New Year. I welcomed 2012 by watching several episodes of a British TV sitcom Whites. I was not familiar with the show but was quickly hooked. It was a pity they only made six episodes.

The 2010 series stars Alan Davies (Jonathon Creek, Stephen Fry’s QI), Maggie Steed (The Young Ones, Noises Off, Pie in the Sky) and Darren Boyd (BBC4’s Holy Flying Circus) as the kitchen staff in a English Country hotel. Alan plays Roland White a once hot chef whose star burned out and is just getting by working at the hotel. He is trying to reignite his career but is his often own worst enemy. Every step forward seems to be two steps back. Wonderful dry English humour.

At one point in the first episode the sous chef Bib is asked to prepare an eggless omlet and he is flabergasted on how to make it. I couldn’t help but smile as I thought about the lovely spinach, sun-dried tomato and tofu scramble I prepared yesterday for my vegan wife. Surprisingly tasty. Eggless omlet. Yum.

Here is a taste of Whites courtesy of Hulu.com

Have a wonderful 2012!

Recently I spend a week in the great city of London, UK. Here is a short video of that experience.

The new Hotel Chocolat on St. Lucia is the first to be launched by two U.K.-based, chocolate-obsessed entrepreneurs, the founders of a London confectioner company also called Hotel Chocolat.

The boutique property is built on the grounds of the 18th century Rabot Estate chocolate plantation, where guests can take part in the cocoa harvest, learn about the production of chocolate, cook up chocolate concoctions in the hotel’s kitchens and, of course, taste the products.

Six Cocoa Cottages and the Club Boucan pool and bar are open; eight Cocoa Villas will open on July 1.

Still to come are the restaurant, a second bar and the CocoaJuvenate spa and wellness center. Chocolate massage treatments will be offered.

The hillside estate, 1,000 feet above sea level, offers 140 acres of trail walks, graded for different levels of fitness. The beach is a 15-minute ride by hotel shuttle. Concierge services will book island tours and other off-site activities.

Four of the six cottages have views of the Pitons, and two offer courtyard views of ancient Royal Poinciana trees.

Each cottage has a queen bed, chaise lounge, private bath, open-sky rainfall shower and a concierge cabinet with tea, coffee, Piton beer and chocolate treats.

Each of the eight villas will sleep up to four guests and features views of the Pitons and the Caribbean Sea.

Room-and-breakfast rates through June start at $280 per cottage, per night, single or double for a courtyard view, $320 for a Pitons view; from July through November, the starting rates are $395 and $450, respectively.

Villa rates start at $600 per night from October through November.

Dining packages are $70 for two meals a day, $95 for three.

This package includes all you need to totally immerse yourself in the world of our single estate cacao and fine chocolate.

TOTAL CACAO IMMERSION PACKAGE
Includes:
• Accommodation in Piton View Cocoa Cottage
• Full breakfast with Cocoa Tea, 2 course lunch dailyand full Cacao Cuisine Tasting Menu nightly
• A $50 per day beverage credit
• Round trip airport transfers to Hewannora airport
• The complete Tree to Bar chocolate experience for two,including cacao harvesting, fermenting, drying, roasting andmaking your own batch of chocolate and truffles
• The Full Cacao body massage for two
• Fresh Cacao Bellinis for two
• Access to Club Boucan, private pool clubhouse, reserved sun lounger

Extra nights – add $450 to $600 depending on season
Upgrade to a Cocoa Villa (from July 1st) - add $100 per night
Courtyard Garden View Cocoa Cottage (instead of Piton View) – deduct $50 per night

Total prices for two, excludes flights & 8% govt tax.
We do not add a service charge to your bill and tipping is not expected.
For details, visit www.thehotelchocolat.com

Last week I had the pleasure to sail on board the Celebrity Solstice for an Eastern Caribbean Cruise visiting San Jaun, St Thomas and St Maarten. As part of Celbrity’s “Savor Your Destination” program the cruise featured guest Chef Simon Stojanovic, the Executive Chef of AltaMare in Miami.

Chef Simon

During Celebrity’s Savor Your Destination cruises, guests had several opportunities to engage their taste buds and their minds. There were several cooking demonstations, special food and wine pairing meals, kitchen tours and to end the week an Iron Chef-like competition between the guest chef and a member of the ship’s culinary staff. It was a great week of food and relaxation.

Below is a slideshow about the cruise. We wil be organizing a similar cruise for next Februrary to coincide with the South Beach Food Festival. Details to come!

New Orlean's Coolinary Event

 The annual summer restaurant promotion COOLinary New Orleans will kick off August 1! Enjoy mouthwatering three-course menus priced at $20 or less for lunch and $34 or less for dinner. We love these types of events as it offers a wonderful and affordable way to sample many new restaurants and destination.

A sample of some of the restaurants that have already announced their participation include: Antoine’s Restaurant, Bombay Club, Bourbon House Seafood (Yum), Mulate’s Cajun Restaurant (decent food better live music nightly), Royal Palm Restaurant, The Pelican Club and Tujaque’s Restaurant. Last year there were over 30 locations participating in the event.

More establishments are signing on daily. Special pricing runs August 1st through September 30th.  For more info visit: http://welivetoeatnola.com/

Yes, I’ve let life get in the way and have neglected my duties as the chief foodie guy. I promise to do better and get back on top of the culinary happenings.  As a peace offering I give you a little entertainment to kick start this blog. Enjoy!

 This little number is courtesy of the Pizza Express Acrobats at the London Restaurant Festival last fall.  Of course every time I hear this Survivor song I am reminded of the Weird Al version, “Theme from Rocky XIII.” So without further ado…

 Our upcoming trips for 2010 will be out later this week and we have some great trips planned. Talk to you soon!

Rain. New York City has been deluged by rain since I arrived yesterday. But that is okay because this weekend is focused on Italian food and culture. This weekend boast the San Gennero Festival, the largest oldest religious festival in the country with an expected 2 million attendees over the two weeks of the festival. In addition we will be eating our way through Manhattan and exploring the Bronx Ferragosto Festival.

Yesterday we braved the element to travel to Mulberry Street and Little Italy for the San Gennero Festival. The street was fairly empty due to the downpour but some vendors were open.

San Gennero Festival Little ItalyRaining day at festival

 

 After walking around for awhile I decided it was time for dinner. The restaurants along the festival route had employees cajoling passersby to stop in as they offered the best Italian food in the city. Really – they all cant be the best. So I picked one at random and boy am I glad I did.

 

 

Da Gennero Restaurant (corner of Mulberry and Hester)

 

I had dinner at a Da Gennero Restaurant (corner of Mulberry and Hester). I ordered penne alla cacciatore (penne pasta with chicken breast, mushrooms, onions and peppers). Very good but the standout was the bread and oil the came with the meal. The olive oil was high quality OOVO with garlic, basil, pepper and a Romano cheese. I admit that I ate half a loaf of bread with it. Some before and after photos.

 

Penne Alla Cacciatora

 

 

After the feast

 

Following dinner I continued my stroll through Little Italy before heading back to my Times Square Hotel. Great start to our weekend in New York City.

Culinary Oregon Contest

Ever dreamt of being a vintner, a chef, a chocolatier or other culinary genius? Travel Oregon is calling all food and drink enthusiasts to fulfill their dreams by applying for a cuisine internship, or “Cuisinternship” (pronounced: quiz-een-turn-ship).

Seven winners will be selected to win all-expenses paid trips (airfare, lodging and $1,000 meal stipend) to spend one week shadowing an Oregon expert in his or her field of culinary crafts. The contest opens today as part of Travel Oregon’s largest statewide tourism promotion, Oregon Bounty, celebrating the state’s culinary products and the artisans who make them.

Oregon Bounty Cuisinternships are offered in the following categories:

• Artisan Food Producer: Become a culinary artisan in Southern Oregon with chocolatier Jeff Shepherd of Lillie Belle Farms and cheese maker David Gremmels of Rogue Creamery
• Brew Master: Turn hops and grains into craft beer with brew master Jamie Emmerson of Hood River’s Full Sail Brewery
• Chef: Immerse yourself in Portland’s dynamic food scene working alongside chef Gabe Rucker–one of Portland’s culinary provocateurs–learning how to turn out inventive, gourmet meals that delight diners at the award-winning Le Pigeon restaurant
• Rancher: Saddle up and herd cattle while learning sustainable ranching on two of Eastern Oregon’s Country Natural Beef ranches with the Pickard and Boyer families, who have been in the business for generations
• Fisherman: Head out to sea with charter boat skipper Lars Robison of Dockside Charters and learn the fine art of catching the Oregon Coast’s prized wild salmon and rockfish
• Winemaker: Walk the Willamette Valley vineyards of Penner-Ash Wine Cellars with renowned vintner Lynn Penner-Ash, learning the hands-on techniques involved in vineyard designate winemaking
• Distiller: Get an advanced degree in mixology and learn about Oregon’s booming craft spirits industry with distiller Jim Bendis of Central Oregon’s Bendistillery.

“Oregon has a rich and varied culinary landscape,” said Travel Oregon’s Director of Brand Strategy Holly Macfee. “It’s a down-to-earth-place where visitors can meet the people who craft the wine and beer, grow the produce, cultivate the cheese and create the chocolate confections,” she explains. “We’re inviting foodies to enjoy Oregon’s culinary abundance, whether through a Cuisinternship or a self-guided tour with family or friends. Our online culinary trip planner is now available to help travelers research, plan and organize the details of their next visit.”

To enter the Oregon Bounty Cuisinternship Contest, applicants must submit a short video, along with a statement containing no more than 140 characters, describing why they are the best candidate at www.TravelOregon.com/Bounty. Seven winners will receive an all-expense-paid trip to Oregon to shadow their mentor for one week. Entries must be submitted between Aug. 24 and Sept. 18. A panel of judges, including the Cuisinternship mentors, will select winners which will be announced beginning Sept. 28.

To give entrants an idea of what they can anticipate on their trip, Travel Oregon produced video vignettes of each culinary mentor and the experience their Cuisinternship offers (view them here: www.TravelOregon.com/Bounty). A longer video will also be available, which follows Chef Gabe Rucker as he visits the seven cuisine-related locations and mentors with the goal of making the perfect Oregon meal. The video culminates with all participants gathering together for an Oregon feast at Rucker’s restaurant, Le Pigeon in Portland, where the culinary masters discuss why they consider Oregon to be the ultimate foodie destination.

For a complete list of contest rules, and to enter, visit www.TravelOregon.com/Bounty.

Before Food Network, before Anthony Bourdain, before Emeril, before … well anyone cooking  on TV there was Julia Child. She is the godmother of the celebrity chef’s that have so taken over popular culture.  Like many of my generation I grew up watching her program on PBS (along with the Raging Cajun chef Justin Wilson).

This past weekend I went to an afternoon matinee of the new move Julie & Julia about a struggling writer’s need to channel Julia Child to have meaning in her life.  The film is based on two books, Julie Power’s “Julie & Julia” and Julia Child’s memoir “My Life In France” about her time in post WWII Paris and Marseilles when she was working on her classic tome on French cooking. 

Julie (Amy Adams) decides that spending exactly one year cooking all 524 recipes in Child’s “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” and writing a blog about the adventure will provide her the focus she needs to jumpstart her life/career. The Julia (Meryl Steep) portion of the film deals with her efforts to break into the old boys cooking club at Le Cordon Blue and her struggles to write a French cook book that is accessible to Americans.

 Honestly the reason to see the film is because of Streep’s portrayal of Julia Child. She is simply amazing to watch and the film lights up whenever she is on screen. Amy Adams does a fine job as the modern day writer, but the film seems diminished whenever the focus shifts off Child.

To be fair Streep has the more compelling storyline. Her Julia battles chauvinism, a publishing industry that doesn’t understand what she is trying to accomplish with her book and a larger than life personality that outshines those around her. Steep completly inhabits the spirit of Julia Child. And thumbs up to Stanley Tucci as her understanding and patient husband Paul. He is one of the best actors around - you must watch his performance as Primo in “Big Night” if you are any type of foodie at all. (As an aside the companion cookbook for the film “Cucina & Famiglia : Two Italian Families Share Their Stories, Recipes, And Traditions” is excellent and has the recipe for the film’s famous big feast centerpiece Timpano.)

Below is an interview Streep does with Harry Smith of Good Morning America: