Latest news with #TournamentofChampions'
San Francisco Chronicle
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
Bobby Flay brings the heat and his new romance to BottleRock Napa Valley
Food Network star Bobby Flay made his debut at BottleRock Napa Valley on the final day of the festival, bringing the heat and his new girlfriend onstage. The 'Beat Bobby Flay' star and fellow celebrity chef Brooke Williamson confirmed their relationship just a month ago and weren't shy about their romance when Flay showed off his skills during a rib eye steak cooking demonstration on the Williams Sonoma Culinary Stage on Sunday, May 25, with guest sous chef and MLB legend Ken Griffey Jr. The crowd went wild when Flay asked, 'Can I bring my girlfriend onstage?' for a quick tasting of each of the hot sauces he and Griffey made with Fresno chilies. But things got really spicy when emcee Liam Mayclem asked Williamson about her favorite meal Flay cooks for her at home. 'Breakfast,' quipped Griffey, drawing the biggest laughs of the set. Mayclem then had Williamson, a 'Triple Threat' co-star of Flay's and fellow BottleRock veteran Michael Voltaggio, try each slab of dry rub steak. 'Tell us whose meat you like more,' he said, again setting off a wave of laughter. Things got extra spicy on the culinary stage today @BottleRockNapa 🔥 What a power couple @bflay @ChefBrookeW 💕 — Mariecar Mendoza (@SFMarMendoza) May 26, 2025 All jokes aside, Flay and Wiliamson make quite the celebrity chef power couple. With Williamson a 'Top Chef' runner-up and the inaugural 'Tournament of Champions' victor, and Flay the first American 'Iron Chef,' the two may be the most winningest culinary TV contest chefs. What's next for the two fierce competitors? Flay teased that the pair are scheduled to appear on a forthcoming episode of 'Celebrity Family Feud' via Instagram Stories on Thursday, May 22, with his daughter, Sophie.
Los Angeles Times
18-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
‘Top Chef's' Mei Lin returns to fine dining at 88 Club
At 88 Club, planks of artful shrimp toast, piles of chewy mung bean jelly noodles and clay pots of mapo tofu spin on well-lighted marble lazy Susans. This is Mei Lin's take on Chinese banquet dining, and it marks a big return for the 'Top Chef' and 'Tournament of Champions' winner. After closing their lauded contemporary Chinese restaurant Nightshade, and focusing on Sichuan-spiced fried chicken sandwich shop Daybird, Lin and business partner Francis Miranda are returning with a more formal, full-service restaurant for the first time in five years. 'Having Daybird and doing the fast-casual thing was fun, but being in a kitchen and creating food for [88 Club's] type of setting is even more fun, and it gives me a lot of creative juices to do a little bit more,' Lin said. At 88 Club, Lin is serving the kind of food she grew up eating and cooking but preparing and plating it with a bit more refinement — and in a sleek, low-lighted, marble-adorned setting in Beverly Hills. In comparison to the fine-dining cuisine of Nightshade, where mapo tofu took the form of lasagna and tom yum spice dusted her take on the bloomin' onion, Lin said her approach to 88 Club is more broadly familiar and more straightforward. 'It's very unapologetic and it's straight to the point, and that's the whole approach to the entire menu,' she said, adding, 'It's a lot of the flavors that you know, just turned on [their] head a little bit. It's nothing that you haven't seen before, but it's done to perfection.' Lin and her culinary team, which includes chef de cuisine and La Dolce Vita vet Nick Russo, cook glossy cha siu made from Iberico pork, rotating through cuts and serving it with a dollop of hot mustard. There's fried whole sweet and sour fish, its sauce poured tableside. Plump wontons practically burst with prawns and bamboo shoots, all swimming in a fragrant chicken stock. For dessert, Lin whips up almond tofu with seasonal farmers-market produce; jasmine milk tea custard buns; a creamy mango coconut sago with tart pops of pomelo; and a light ginger ice cream topped with a chewy almond cookie. The bar area, which includes five seats and lounge tables, offers a pared-down menu of the dining room's full offerings. (Maybe, Miranda hints, Daybird could pop up in the space one day to bring the Westside a taste of Lin's numbing-spice fried chicken.) In the background of running Daybird, Lin and Miranda began planning the restaurant over the last two years. Leading up to the launch, they scoured flea markets for Chinese antiques, art and plateware. 'We kind of always have the idea in the back of our heads of doing some classic Chinese flavors,' said Miranda, who is also an owner of Trophies Burger Club and Lock & Key. Diana curated the wine program, which includes rieslings to pair with the aromatic Chinese food, while Kevin headed up cocktails and nonalcoholic concoctions that re-create classics with a Chinese tinge: The Long Island iced tea riffs on a Hong Kong-style lemon iced tea, and the dirty martini uses house-fermented mustard greens and their brine. 88 Club is open Tuesday to Thursday from 5:30 to 10:30 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 5:30 to 11 p.m. 9737 S. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills, (310) 968-9955, A string of new restaurants recently opened inside the Original Farmers Market, adding to the color and variety of the historic 91-year-old destination. For Kamila Zymanczyk, who immigrated from Poland five years ago, it was love at first sight. She and her family knew they wanted to open Stara Pierogi & Sausage there. 'We were looking for some Polish Eastern European cuisine [in L.A.], and we couldn't find many,' she said. 'We thought there should be something else, another place, and we went to the [Original] Farmers Market. We fell in love with this place.' Zymanczyk grew up cooking at home with her great-grandmother, her grandmother and her mother; most of the dishes served at her casual food stall are made with their traditional recipes. She and her children handmake pierogi stuffed with a range of fillings; fresh paczki, or doughnuts; nalesniki, or crepes; schnitzel; and griddled imported kielbasa sausages with onions. Nearby, the full-service Savta — which originated in New York City — serves California cuisine with a European bent. Founder Vincent Benoliel offers wood-fired pizzas; crispy artichokes with panko and lemon cream; linguine vongole with bottarga; steak frites with green peppercorn sauce; chicken with honey and hummus; clams au gratin and more. Upstairs, Benoliel's new hand-roll concept, Sora Temaki Bar, serves classic sushi hand rolls and sashimi in addition to specialty temaki that include panko-fried oysters with ginger tartar sauce; toro with caviar and Santa Barbara-caught uni; plus seared Japanese Wagyu with garlic chips and tare. On April 25, Mediterranean restaurant Theía — previously located farther west, in Beverly Grove — will reopen in the Original Farmers Market under new ownership. The latest iteration will feature dishes such as grilled lamb skewers, lobster cavatelli and chocolate mousse baklava, along with live entertainment including DJ sets, belly dancers and acrobats. Stara Pierogi & Sausage is open daily from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m; Savta is open Sunday to Thursday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Sora Temaki Bar is open Sunday to Thursday from noon to 9 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from noon to 10 p.m. 6333 W. 3rd St., Los Angeles, After bringing his vibrant Sri Lankan cuisine to Van Nuys and Tarzana, and then closing both locations, Kurrypinch chef-owner Shaheen Ghazaly is giving Hollywood a taste. Longtime fan and business partner Dr. Nimesh Rajakumar teamed up with Ghazaly to reopen Kurrypinch, this time in a larger and more central location. The Sri Lankan-raised, Pakistan-born Ghazaly meticulously grinds his own chile pastes each morning and painstakingly makes his own roti, all in the name of spreading the allure and awareness of Sri Lankan cuisine. He and his team serve kiribath-inspired coconut milk risotto with mahi mahi, Ghazaly's signature ghee mashed potatoes, avocado juice, weekend-only biryani and more. The East Hollywood restaurant features a six-seat chef's table overlooking the grill, plus roughly 50 seats in the dining room. Kurrypinch is open Tuesday to Friday from 5 to 10 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m., then 5 to 10 p.m. 5051 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles, (323) 407-6176, After more than a decade of waiting, the team behind Chinatown staple the Little Jewel of New Orleans opened its adjacent cocktail bar for mint juleps, grasshoppers, hurricane cocktails and more. Since Little Jewel's launch in 2014, owners and husband-and-wife team Marcus Christiana-Beniger and Eunah Kang-Beniger focused primarily on the operations of their New Orleans-ode restaurant, which is famed for its po'boys, debris fries, gator sausages and other specialties. But all the while they dreamed of opening the Evangeline Swamp Room next door, waiting to begin construction. Now, after years of readying the space and replicating the scene of a French Quarter watering hole, Christiana-Beniger and Kang-Beniger — along with business partner Evan Mack — serve classics and regional specialties such as the Ramos gin fizz, the vieux carré and the sazerac, alongside frosty, strong libations and a pared-down food menu from the restaurant next door. Look for charbroiled oysters, po'boys, skillet crawfish mac and cheese, fried frogs legs and fried okra, plus special events, including live music and crawfish boils. The Evangeline Swamp Room is open Sunday, Wednesday and Thursday from 5 p.m. to midnight, and Friday and Saturday from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. 701 N. Spring St., Los Angeles, (213) 620-0461, After seven years of street vending and pop-ups, some of the best tacos in Los Angeles now have a permanent storefront. Angel's Tijuana Tacos operates more than a dozen stalls spread across Los Angeles, Orange County and the Inland Empire, filling freshly hand-pressed corn tortillas with trompo-singed al pastor and other specialties dolloped with generous scoops of guacamole. Its first bricks-and-mortar location, in Anaheim, features indoor seating and hand-painted murals, and offers all of the signatures found at the street stands, such as tacos, quesadillas, vampiros, burritos and meat-piled baked potatoes. There are also a few notable additions: Micheladas can be found only at the bricks-and-mortar, along with French fries that come loaded with cheese, guacamole and your choice of meat — an occasional special at limited stalls. Angel's Tijuana Tacos restaurant is open in Anaheim Sunday to Thursday from 10 a.m. to midnight, and Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 a.m. 3436 W. Lincoln Ave., Anaheim, Last year, one of L.A.'s most popular smashburger operations expanded from Santa Monica to Studio City, its bright orange-and-red building a beacon for short rib smash burgers, dipped soft-serve cones and tallow fries. Now it's launched a third outpost, and this time it's even farther east. Heavy Handed's signatures can now be found in Silver Lake, taking over the former All Day Baby space with new retail items from owners Max Miller and Danny Gordon as well. In Silver Lake, the wine list skews more natural, funky and experimental, tailored to the neighborhood; the location also features multiple TVs broadcasting a range of live sports, and seats roughly 55. The late-March opening marked the debut of Heavy Handed's take-home buckets of bread-and-butter pickles and squeeze bottles of 'heavy' sauce, which can also be found in Santa Monica and Studio City. Heavy Handed is open daily in Silver Lake from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. 3200 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles,
Miami Herald
19-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Miami Herald
Here are some South Beach Wine & Food Festival events that still have tickets available
So you still want to attend this year's South Beach Wine & Food Festival but haven't gotten it together to buy tickets. It happens to the best (and hungriest) of us. There's good news, however, if you still want to go. Many events are sold out, especially the smaller dinners, but you can still get tickets to some of the larger events at the festival, which runs Feb. 20-23 and features more than 100 culinary events around Miami-Dade County. Net proceeds benefit the Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management at Florida International University. Here are some of the events you can still attend. All tickets are available at Thursday Alex vs. Miami Alex Guarnaschelli of 'Alex vs. America' and Eric Adjepong of 'Wildcard Kitchen' host this late-night walk-around event that features locally and nationally famous chefs competing to create the best dish. Local chefs include Adrianne Calvo of Chef Adrianne's Vineyard Restaurant & Bar in Kendall; Karim Bryant of Lil Greenhouse Grill in Miami; and Mercedes Kozlowksi of Prime 112 on Miami Beach. 10 p.m.; Loews Miami Beach Hotel, 1601 Collins Ave., Miami Beach; $155 Friday 'Tournament of Champions' The first live competition of the popular Food Network series premieres on Miami Beach with host Guy Fieri under the big white tent near the Ritz-Carlton. At this walk around event, you get to be the judge: Four six-person chef teams of former Tournament winners and local and national rising stars will battle for the People's Choice Award, which you get to bestow. 7:30 p.m.; AmericanAirlines North Venue, off Lincoln Road and Collins Avenue, Miami Beach; $215 Steak and Whiskey If you are the sort of carnivore who likes his meat paired with whiskey, this event with Food Network star Michael Symon is for you. Expect grillers from far and wide and a variety of whiskey cocktails (wine is also available). 8 p.m.; Jungle Plaza in the Design District, 3801 NE First Ave., Miami; $250 Saturday FoodieCon Meet your favorite digital content creators as they participate in cooking demos, panels, signings and photo opportunities. Noon; Mondrian South Beach, 1100 West Ave., Miami Beach; $100 Drag Brunch It's not the SOBEWFF without a drag brunch, and this year's extravaganza will be hosted by Antoni Porowski, Ana Navarro and ChaCha, with Athena Dion as mistress of ceremonies. You can attend the show with beverages only or opt for the show/beverage/food package. Noon; Miami Beach Bandshell, 7275 Collins Ave., Miami Beach; $95 for show only; $185 for food and show Sip & Swirl Just because it's a food festival doesn't mean you have to forget about a wine-filled happy hour. This one takes place at the luxurious Casadonna and will feature more than 10 wine stations. 4 p.m.; Casadonna, 1737 N Bayshore Dr., first floor, Miami; $139 Sunset Feast You'll get a lot of bang for your buck at this Coconut Grove event, hosted by Belkys Nerey and Dan Le Batard, which will highlight dishes from chefs like Jeremy Ford, Jose Mendin, Brad Kilgore, Cindy Hutson and Alex Meyer and Luciana Giangrandi. 6 p.m.; The Hangar at Regatta Harbor, 3385 Pan American Dr., Miami; $139 Tacos & Tequila It's one big taco party on the beach at this lively gathering hosted by Aaron Sanchez, which features everything from veggie tacos to birria. There's also plenty of tequila drinks in the house — er, tent. 7:30 p.m.; AmericanAirlines North Venue, off Lincoln Road and Collins Avenue, Miami Beach; $219 Chicken Coupe Forget peanut butter and jelly. The real match made in heaven is fried chicken and champagne, which you can try for yourself at this Design District event hosted by Kardea Brown. 8 p.m.; Jungle Plaza in the Design District, 3801 NE First Ave., Miami; $259 Noche Cubana Michelle Bernstein and David Martinez of Sra Martinez and Cafe La Trova join Gio Gutierrez of @ChatChowTV to create a night of Cuban food, rum and music. We are in favor of all three of these things. 10 p.m.; Kimpton Surfcomber Hotel, 1717 Collins Ave., Miami Beach; $155 Sunday Farmers Market Brunch Chef Michael Schwartz of Michael's Genuine and Amara at Paraiso curates this family-friendly event that pays tribute to local farmers (and feeds you, too). Jungle Plaza in the Design District, 3801 NE First Ave., Miami; $149 adult, $59 under 21 Grand Tasting Village Saturday's event is sold out, but you can still attend the last day of the festival under the big tents. Noon; Grand Tasting Village, 14th Street and Ocean Dr., Miami Beach; $279 Heritage Fire Grilling is king at this Coconut Grove gathering, where grillmasters will vie for the title of 'Heritage Fire Hero.' 5 p.m.; The Hangar at Regatta Harbor, 3385 Pan American Dr., Miami; $155 Asian Night Market Enjoy a wide variety of Asian bites and a musical performance by rapper Rev Run. 6 p.m.; AmericanAirlines North Venue, off Lincoln Road and Collins Avenue, Miami Beach; $165
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'Tournament of Champions' celebrates female chefs
Through its first five seasons, show "Tournament of Champions' as it is known, is the only cooking competition series that includes people of all genders where no man has ever won, let alone made it as a top-two finalist. (Feb. 14)
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Tournament of Champions' has elevated women chefs. Here's what winners say is a key ingredient
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Maneet Chauhan delicately sprinkled saffron onto her gushtaba goat meatballs as the live audience began the final countdown. She and competitor Antonia Lofaso scrambled to finish their dishes on the Season 5 finale of Food Network's 'Tournament of Champions.' As the timer buzzed, Chauhan tossed a mixing bowl onto the cluttered counter, throwing her hands up in surrender to the clock. She and Lofaso embraced, neither breaking a sweat. History was on the line for Chauhan, a highly decorated Indian American chef famous for her mastery of spices, who was hoping to become the first two-time 'Tournament of Champions' winner. See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories. By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. The show had already made history. Through its first five seasons, 'ToC' as it is known, is the only cooking competition series that includes people of all genders where no man has ever won, let alone made it as a top-two finalist. As the show readies to air its qualifying episodes for its sixth season starting Sunday, it remains to be seen whether women chefs continue to dominate 'ToC.' But as viewers and chefs have noticed the trend, the show's unique format is seen as both a reason for the results and proof of what woman chefs have been saying for years. The brainchild of Guy Fieri 'ToC' first aired in March 2020 at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Food Network star Guy Fieri had been pitching the idea for years. 'This is the UFC of culinary. That's what I was trying to create,' Fieri said from his sunny home in Santa Rosa, California. 'I'm a fan of giving people a platform. There are other culinary competitions out there, but they're a little more drama-oriented. I want to cut the (BS) and just see the best of the best going through the most.' Fieri, host of 'Guy's Grocery Games' and 'Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives,' saw an opening for a no-frills, professional Food Network cooking competition that 'Iron Chef America' had occupied from 2005 to 2018. Though specialized competitions like 'Beat Bobby Flay' and 'Alex vs. America' existed, Fieri felt there was still no show that matched the 'Iron Chef America' format. 'ToC' would fill this space, but with unpredictable twists and turns. How 'Tournament of Champions' works The show breaks contestants into geographic divisions, having chefs from all corners of the country compete one-on-one until only two finalists are left. In every match, the chefs are at the mercy of a creation Fieri calls 'the Randomizer,' a spinning, five-category board inspired by the 'Wheel of Fortune' wheel. The categories include a required protein, produce ingredient, specialized equipment, cooking style and time limit. Contestants must work with the combination of single options 'the Randomizer' lands on for each match. Requirements have ranged from cooking grasshoppers in paella style to combining mussels and cabbage. Dishes are blind-judged in the kitchen where the food was cooked after the contestants have left the studio. How 'ToC' contestants are chosen Fieri and his team seek out high-caliber, award-winning contestants from every part of the industry. Many players chosen to compete are relatively unknown outside the culinary world, which makes for high-stakes battles when they're pitted against household names and big television personalities. This held true for 'ToC' season one winner Brooke Williamson. 'I've done my best over the years to go in with a game plan and some familiarity with what I will be facing,' said Williamson, winner of Bravo's season 14 of 'Top Chef.' 'Generally, that goes out the window the moment that clock starts or the moment the ingredients are revealed.' Williamson, known for her produce-forward Southern California-style cuisine, has long been a force in the restaurant world. She started her career at age 18 in the kitchen of the Argyle Hotel in West Hollywood, which had a Michelin star at the time. She went on to prove her might at many iconic restaurants, eventually co-opening multiple eateries of her own. When the opportunity to compete on 'ToC' arose, she saw it as a chance to expand her audience. 'I went into it with very few expectations, and I think that probably helped me in a lot of ways,' she said. 'And having everyone else have low expectations of me as well made it so that I was the only one putting pressure on myself.' A show where the underdog wins In a remarkable series of events, Williamson, the self-proclaimed underdog, swept through her competitors, beating well-known Food Network stars Jet Tila and Lofaso. In the finale, she pulled off a huge upset, defeating renowned Food Network personality Amanda Freitag by one point. 'I didn't know her. Holy (expletive). She just knocked it out,' Fieri said of his initial reaction to Williamson's victory. At that moment, he knew 'ToC' was different. And the surprises didn't end there. Season after season, lesser-known talents gave titans of Food Network and Iron Chefs a run for their money. And above all, one fact remained clear: only women were making it to the finale. A key change that may help women dominate 'ToC' 'ToC' is the only televised food competition show that practices totally blind judging. According to Fieri, who pushed for this method, the judges cannot, under any circumstances, know who is cooking in the competition at any point. Judges are sequestered in private trailers far from the kitchen and competitors until it's time for them to taste. Contestants are not allowed to post any clues about their location on social media to ensure the judges have no idea who is competing. Each contestant is shadowed by a culinary expert during the match, who ultimately reports back to the judges on what they're eating and how it was prepared, without revealing who made the dish. The judges are always a panel of veteran culinary masters, both women and men. Tiffani Faison, a James Beard Award-winning restaurateur who won 'ToC' season three, feels blind judging plays a clear role in the outcome of 'ToC.' 'It completely removes implicit bias,' said Faison. 'There's no one in front of you that looks a certain way, that speaks a certain way, that wants to tell you about what this dish means to them or where it's from. It (is) just the food.' Professional cooking a male-dominated profession In the U.S., only 23.3% of chefs and head cooks in 2023 were women, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Only 6% of Michelin-starred restaurants worldwide are run by women, as reported by Chef's Pencil. These gender trends seem to extend to popular televised food competitions. Iron Chef America originally featured only one woman chef, Cat Cora, among three men. In the first 21 seasons of 'Top Chef,' 71% of the winners have been men. Of the 58 seasons of Food Network's fan-favorite show 'Chopped,' nearly 60% of the victors have been men, with women comprising a minority of contestants in the earlier seasons. 'Could be a fluke, could be just a run. But maybe we're learning something,' said Fieri, who couldn't ignore the undeniable pattern. 'For the longest time, as women chefs, we've been trying to say, 'Judge us on our food, not on who we are.' And that's exactly what's happening on this show,' said Chauhan, who beat out 40 male chefs for the executive chef position at Vermilion in Chicago at age 23. Chauhan, like many other women chefs, was no stranger to having to prove her skills in kitchens dominated by men. She was the only woman among 70 male students at her hotel management school in Manipal, India, and she graduated at the top of her class. She said women weren't encouraged to pursue professional culinary careers. Her parents supported her unconventional goals while acknowledging the obstacles she could face. 'Do whatever you want, just be the best at it, because that's the only way you'll succeed,' Chauhan said they told her. 'And that's exactly what I did.' Other factors why women may dominate 'ToC' 'I think that part of the reason why women do so well on 'ToC' is because we are a little bit more focused,' said 'ToC' season four winner Mei Lin, who grew up in family-owned restaurants and felt pressure to prove herself in kitchens run by men. 'We're a lot more organized in the kitchen. We just put our heads down and work, and that's really all it is.' Chauhan said 'the Randomizer' forces contestants to multitask, a skill she believes women are raised to excel in. 'We as women are conditioned to do this on a daily basis. You are doing 20 things at a given moment,' said Chauhan, reflecting on her role as a mother. 'To win a competition like 'ToC,' you need to be multitasking. You just can't concentrate on one thing and say that this is it. Each and every ingredient needs that much attention.' Williamson added that women competitors may be working off past experience in the industry. 'I think women are very thoughtful about how they enter a situation like 'ToC,' especially having been put in a position to have to prove themselves throughout their career,' she said. When Fieri announced Chauhan as the fifth season 'ToC' winner and first two-time champion, she fell to the floor as the audience erupted in cheers. She looked to her friend and competitor, Lofaso, who immediately embraced her. The two mouthed 'I love you' to each other as Lofaso left the kitchen, tears welling in Chauhan's eyes. 'What really makes a big difference is when there are young girls who look like me, who reach out to me and say, 'You can do it. I'm going to push myself, and I'll do it too,'' Chahaun said. Who's won Food Network's 'Tournament of Champions' Season 1: Brooke Williamson Season 2: Maneet Chauhan Season 3: Tiffani Faison Season 4: Mei Lin Season 5: Chauhan
