et alors

I'm going to be in Minneapolis in April, and I'd like a very serious dinner one night. You know the drill, pris fix, pairings, insightful fresh food by a genius. Most important, epic delicious. How is Spoon and Stable looking? Any other ideas?

Hertog Jan is one of the 50 best in the world http://www.theworlds50best.com/globalselection/Hertog-Jan.html Ate there last night and they deserve it. Here is my meal https://www.flickr.com/search/?tags=hertog&sort=relevance&user_id=35237098292%40N01 red beet/ raspberry/goose liver by Box and Arrow, on Flickr

I should have known better than posting on an ipad! Typos! Another night, another tower, this time of house cured meat at Edmunds Oast. They have been open four months now, and have scaled back their menu a lot. I was hoping for something more like the NYT article, but having made the journey there, I stayed. It was delicious. We followed with corn pudding, yellowtail crudo, picked shrimp toast, grouper, a perfect steak and a lovely chicken porridge that is way tastier than it sounds.

Been here a few days. I started with this http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/08/travel/a-taste-of-charleston-old-school-and-new.html?action=click&contentCollection=Opinion&module=MostEmailed&version=Full®ion=Marginalia&src=me&pgtype=article&_r=0 We dined at The Ordinary and it was extraordinary. The seafood tower is stunning, lobster cooked perfectly, oysters sweet (and shucked well) crab Louis and razor clam salad delicious... Sigh. Virginias has become a go-to for breakfast and lunch. Their she crab soup and fried pickles are outstanding. We also dined at Hominy grill which has a great shrimp and grits. We cpgrabbed a snack at Boone's and the Pim cup and crap cake on crispy chicken skins were yummy. Tonight: Edmunds Oast

I'm not seeing any posts more recently than three years old, I apologize if I've missed something... Heading to Charleston for a few days and looking for one impressive magical multi-course meal for a goodly sized group (we tend to run 6-10) and several smaller venues for tasty but not as bank-busting. Also, BBQ. Because BBQ. Any advice? Anything gone down hill? Any hot new kid doing magic in the kitchen? Thanks!

I'll be in town for a conference, but have one lovely Saturday night at least to escape hotel food and dine very seriously (and maybe a few lunches with luck). What should I eat? Ideally for diner it would be a multicourse show me what ya got meal, and lunches would be local specialties.... thanks!

My daughter was good at chopsticks, but she's been lazy lately and her skills have deteriorated. I'll bring a fork in case. good reminder! Thank you for your help. Her manners are very good, and she can do many many courses (though gets full) but you are right about waits... she can't stand in line for very long. If we are so jet lagged we are up at 4, I'll try for sushi dai, but otherwise I'll skip. Do you have any place near by you like, or a street you think would have places? We've done trois gros in france, and I've done roblchon in tokyo, so I think I'll focus on japanese food since it's such a short visit. I have shared multicourse meals with her other places, would that be frowned upon? I haven't had many bad meals in Tokyo, so I think you are right, I wont' worry and we'll have fun.

thank you both, especially the heads up on Studio Ghibli... Amelie has been trained by her fanatically french father to hate mcdonalds, so I don't want to be the one to breaks that 7 year run. I'm wondering if I'll be able to get tickets, I leave tomorrow http://www.jtbgmt.com/eng/ghibli/TicketSystem.html#Regions no way to buy in Japan? I'm not afraid to drop some money here and there. I did want to take her to sushi dai in the fish market, do you think that'll be okay? I've never seen a child there (not sure she'll put up with the line anyhow, but we'll see what an ipad can do) I was eyeing these guys http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/827056 and thinking about Sankame, Ginza Toyoda, Kondo and especially Ginza Okuda. I think Amelie should have at least one tempura experience and I know a great little eel place near our hotel, so unagi is taken care of. and slurping ramen, of course! thank you so much!

My daughter and I are stopping in Tokyo, staying in Ginza, for three days on our way to Bangkok. This girl can eat. her father is French, and she was at Michelin restaurants since she was tiny. So manners and weirdness aren't obstacles. I'm worried some people will see a tiny blond person and not be so into her. In any case.. We both LOVE food, and plan to eat well while there. Any recommendations of places that are tasty, and close to headquarters in ginza, or major tourist areas (i.e. the Studio Ghibli museum,Harajuku, Senso-ji Temple, etc?) I don't speak any Japanese so advice is so welcome. I've done Tokyo twice before, love roblechon and molecular tapas bars, as well as many awesome tiny places and the fish market... not fussy, just looking for awesome and able to get into at such short notice. (work overwhelmed me and I didn't have much time to plan.) thanks!

Heading down to Asilomar for the weekend as I often do with the fam, and wondering what good food can be found. My daughter has an unreasonable love for Fishwife, which is not particularly good but it's close. I really like 1833, but was thinking I'd like to try something different for our "nice" meal out. I've enjoyed fifi's in Pacific Grove, and post-aquarium the restaurant C is our favorite post aquarium lunch spot. Cuisine is less a determinant than deliciousness. Thanks!

Wow, thanks! About ot get on a plane and I am psyched! Will share any findings.....

Did anyone see the Iron Chef America pilot with William Shatner as chairman in full regalia? I recall a complete train wreck, yet I recall it fondly.

Old thread I know, but I was just moping over how boring most of the winners of Next Iron Chef. The irons chefs I'd kill to watch are Faulkner, Mehta, Costenino... , people who surprise and delight. I find Garces. Fiorgeone and Zakarian boring to watch. Their food may taste the best in the end run, but I'd like to see daring do replacements for Morimoto and Batali. If you dont' have the backbone to make sardine ice cream, get off my stage. I hope Alex will provide a bit of that courage, but I'm not too hopeful.

The last top chef masters finale is worth watching. It was a battle of ideas in food. * Highly recommend.*

Any new-hot or classic-getting-better-all-the-time recos for this 2013 SXSW season?

ten years later, you should be a master... if you've got it. It'd be the classic age and treachery against youth and skill*. I'd be particularly interested in michael voltaggio, hung, kristen and blais going toe to toe.My bet would be on a voltaggio/kristen showdown at the end. *old saying, don't take it too seriously.

I hope I got the right forum; was hard to tell. I'll be in Baltimore in April for a conference, and I am seeking awesome eating opportunities. Conference is at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront but I'm willing to taxi it for eat well...

Wow, what a story. It's nearly weekly world news worthy. I haven't had it, but someone needs to alert Chris Costentino

LOL! It *was* remarkably similar.... Kristen crushing Jose was another fine moment in more recent memory.

So, looking at that table of past winners: is it time yet for a season of all TC winners?

anytime Hung picked up a knife. And his smurf village. Elia's roast chicken. "This isn't Top Chef Scallops." and Consentino wining with raw beef heart, if I can throw in a master's moment. I loved that finale. I was looking at the past winner's table on teh finale in season ten and thinking: is it time for a top chef all-winner show? They are NOT created equal. and they have about enough, esp if they fill in with a couple runners up.

Loved the Kristen/Brooke final battle. It redeemed last chance kitchen in my eyes. Last season it seemed like LCK was there just to prove the right person was kicked off. This season two people showed they had more in them. HATED the new format. I always love the finale where they can just cook their hearts out with great product. I'd like to return to that. One, just one, show without gimmicks and the importance of conceiving of a meal as a story. I did notice that every single chef seemed to know Kristen was the one to beat, and who would probably beat them. When is she getting her own show. Model looks and mad chops.... can't imagine anyone is letting that one slide by.

I *like* cooking competition shows, and some I've even learned from. From over-doing it on Chopped, my six-year old can now tell you how to make a meal from anything (me "Quick: pheasant, chard, faro, and blueberries" Her "I'd saute the pheasant, make a sauce from the blueberries and mama, what's faro?") There are patterns of techniques and ingredients and the refrigerator holds little challenge for me. But recently, deprived of pleasures of Top Chef, I have indulged in some stinkers. Not unwatchable, since apparently no cooking competition is unwatchable for me (Hi, my name is Christina and I have a problem...) but pretty flawed 1) No Kitchen Required, BBC. I love the first couple episodes of this show, but quickly it became tiresome and then painful. Each show they travel to a exotic local and meet with some tribe, where they have a native challenge (spearing stuff! digging up roots!) "feast" with them to learn the local cuisine, then have to hunt a protein and cook outdoors. They have visited many "tribes" including assorted islanders, Chaing Mai hill people, Apaches (who use crossbows with sights and wear a lot of camaflauge), Creoles in Louisiana, Hawaii... i.e. many people who have left of their tribe mostly a set of recipes, and some that are still living off bats and iguana. This is interesting. however... The three chefs are always the same. No matter how many times Michael Psilakis loses, he soldiers on, repeating "I'm completely out of my element. I'm a New York boy" but always trying to "do my food" despite the fact that's not the challenge. Madison Cowan's tic "Know what I mean" incites murderous thoughts, and Kayne Raymond, younger, healthier and frequently mentioning his Maori pals wins 99% of the challenges and most of the cooking. A competition where you know the outcome is not much of one. 2) Around the World in 80 Plates, Bravo. Top Chef meets No Kitchen required meets Survivor. Chefs travel from city to city, learn local cuisines, vote each other off. It's a bit like the above, except we are talking Barcelona and Bangkok and no one cooks bats. I'll admit I watched to the end, held on by the tension of wondering if the winner would be someone who was clearly a mediocre cook but a great poker player. But the show was repetitive and frequently dull or unsatisfying. I can see a second season working through some of the kinks (you really get tired of watching them run around cites) and turning out a fun challenge show. We shall see. Right now, it's pretty stinky. 3) Food Network Star! Food Network. This year is the year (for me) it moved from dreadful to hilarious, and I'm not sure why. It's dreadful, but it's camp. I'm really enjoying the blatant admission that cooking stars need to be more stars than chefs, and all the gross backstage insights into how the sausage that is FN is made. The addition of the three very different "coaches" Alton, Bobby and Italian chick with huge teeth has made it even more fun, as they demand authenticity which apparently translates to "admit on national TV you grew up dumpster diving for dinner." Hmm, that woudl make a great title for a competition show, wouldn't it?

Me too-- in the end cooking won, but it was frustrating week after week seeing people who didn't make the worst dish-- or sometimes made the best-- go. But Nookie gave anyone who watch (including potentially top chef competitors in the future) an idea of how to play a game as a game. I also enjoyed seeing the locations, learning about the cuisines, and it wasn't as tiresomely predictable and repetitive as No Kitchen required, which I've had to give up despite being genuinely interested in the cultures they cover like chaing mai hill people and mayans. I'll admit, I'm a competitive TV show junkie.

Has anyone tried working in Vibrams, Lemmings, or other barefoot-style shoes? I had back surgery a few years back, changed my shoes to vibrams (or truely being barefoot) plus stretches, exercise and have had no pain since. Now that's hard to pin down to any one solution but I'm pretty sure form all the research I've done shoes are a key culprit. I know they offer zero protection against spills and falling cutlery, but they also provide outstanding slip-avoidance. I took cooking classes in Thailand barefoot (as was everyone else including the instructor. You wash your feet at the door.) and found myself swift, cautious and appreciative of a clean, less careless cooking approach everyone took. I'm starting culinary school, and worried all the good work I've done for myself will be undone by long hours with traditional shoes.