Tag Archives: Celebrity Chef

February 16: Marcus Samuelsson, Dean McDermott, Chick Marshall, Nyesha Arrington, Greg Daniels, Brian Howard

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Podcasts

Segment One: Dean McDermott, Actor, “The Gourmet Dad, and contestant on Season 2 of Food Network’s “Rachael vs. Guy Celebrity Cook-off”
Segment Two: Chick Marshall of Mr. Stox Restaurant, Anaheim
Segment Three: Marcus Samuelsson of Red Rooster and Ginny’s Supper Club in Harlem. Author of Yes, Chef, his biography
Segment Four: Nyesha Arrrington the Executive Chef of The Wilshire in Santa Monica
Segment Five: Greg Daniels – Executive Chef & Partner of Haven Gastropub in Orange and Old Pasadena
Segment Six: Brian Howard, Executive Chef of Comme Ca by David Myers in the Cosmopolitan Las Vegas

We’re honored to have one of the food world’s most prominent celebrity chefs with us to talk about an upcoming visit to Los Angeles. We’ll also be catching up with the results of a Food Network competition series and talking with an important Orange County chef as well as a Los Angeles celebrity chef with new ventures. Another feature is saying good-bye to an OC fine dining institution.

Dean McDermottWhen we left him six weeks ago, actor, reality TV star, and “Gourmet Dad,” Dean McDermott, was competing for “Team Guy” on Food Network’s “Rachael vs. Guy (Fieri) – Celebrity Cook-Off.”

The finale of “Rachael vs. Guy” on February 10th pitted singer and TV host Carnie Wilson of Team Rachael against Dean McDermott of Team Guy. The winner is to be awarded $50,000 for their charity of choice.

Dean joins us to share the results of the finale and what’s next for him.

Chick Marshall of Mr. Stox in AnaheimChick Marshall is one of the long-time, co-owners of the highly regarded OC fine dining institution, Mr. Stox, located near Angel Stadium. His partners are his brother, Ron, and Ron’s wife, Debbie. One of their trademarks is an extensive wine cellar of some 15,000 bottles, one of the largest in Orange County.

Mr. Stox launched in 1968 and the Marshall’s acquired the restaurant in 1977. Many of their loyal employees have been with them more than 20 years.

The Marshalls have decided to retire and March 15, 2013 will be the last dinner service for Mr. Stox. It’s a bittersweet transition for the regulars. Fortunately the Marshalls own their land which has been sold for residential and commercial development (combined with adjacent parcels.)

Marcus SamuelssonMarcus Samuelsson has cooked around the world but has settled into Harlem, New York as his home base. He owns the hugely successful Red Rooster and Ginny’s Supper Club there. Marcus has prepared State Dinners for President Obama as well as is the recipient of many prestigious culinary awards. Last year his very revealing autobiography, Yes, Chef, was published which should be required reading for every aspiring culinarian.

Marcus proudly serves on the National Board of the Careers through Culinary Arts Program (C-CAP) which provides foodservice training and career opportunities for underserved youth. Every year hundreds of thousands of dollars in culinary scholarships are awarded to deserving high school graduates in key cities across the USA to pursue careers in the culinary arts.

On Tuesday evening, February 26th Marcus Samuelsson will be joining forces with Chef Govind Armstrong to present “A Taste of Harlem” at Govind’s restaurant, Post & Beam, located in Baldwin Hills. The menu is reimagined soul classics. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to C-CAP Los Angeles.

Tickets are $140 per guest and the evening is very close to capacity.

For reservations : atasteofharlem.brownpapertickets.com

Nyesha Arrington of WilshireIn 2011 Nyesha Arrington (mentored by Melisse’s Josiah Citrin) became the executive chef of the (already established) The Wilshire in Santa Monica. Unusually, she won the coveted position in an intense cook-off on the first season of Food Network’s “Chef Hunter”.

She was also a popular cheftestant on Bravo’s “Top Chef: Texas.”

The food has never been better at The Wilshire and Chef Arrington is a big supporter of the nearby Santa Monica Farmers Market.

Greg Daniels of Haven GastropubGreg Daniels is the well respected executive chef for the busy Haven Gastropubs in Orange and Old Pasadena. It’s innovative pub-grub fare that’s elevated. They feature a great beer list and now brew their own proprietary line of seasonal craft beers.

An Orange County craft brewer of note established & operated a well-stocked gourmet specialty food shop directly across the street from the original Haven Gastropub in Orange. They recently decided they just didn’t have the time available to properly maintain (the brewery is expanding) it so it was going to close. Haven Gastropub came to the rescue and their revamped food emporium, Provisions, will now be supervised by Chef Daniels. Happy ending for all…

Comme Ca is well-known, highly successful French bistro in West Hollywood so it was no surprise when owner/chef David Myers opened a branch in the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas.

What is very surprising is that instead of bringing in a chef de cuisine to simply execute David’s established recipes he recruited a young executive chef with imagination who has expanded the concept with his own creations for Las Vegas. He has an unusual amount of creative freedom in the kitchen.

Brian Howard of Comme Ca in Las VegasExecutive Chef Brian Howard will join us to talk about the freedom he has been given and why this has made the spot the most highly regarded French bistro in Las Vegas.

Great specialty cocktails, too.

Podcasts

Segment One: Dean McDermott, Actor, “The Gourmet Dad, and contestant on Season 2 of Food Network’s “Rachael vs. Guy Celebrity Cook-off”
Segment Two: Chick Marshall of Mr. Stox Restaurant, Anaheim
Segment Three: Marcus Samuelsson of Red Rooster and Ginny’s Supper Club in Harlem. Author of Yes, Chef, his biography
Segment Four: Nyesha Arrrington the Executive Chef of The Wilshire in Santa Monica
Segment Five: Greg Daniels – Executive Chef & Partner of Haven Gastropub in Orange and Old Pasadena
Segment Six: Brian Howard, Executive Chef of Comme Ca by David Myers in the Cosmopolitan Las Vegas

Show 16, February 9, 2013: Sara O’Donnell of YouTube’s “Average Betty” (continued…)

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Average Betty Sara O'DonnellAverage Betty’s mantra is to cook great, whole foods at home.

Average Betty is also well-known for her totally offbeat celebrity chef interviews. She will ask a celebrity chef to comment on something wild. Nothing mean-spirited here, just totally unexpected. The responses are eminently watchable…In her library are answers from Thomas Keller, Anthony Bourdain, Giada De Laurentis, and Michael Chiarello among many others.

Sara is building the Average Betty brand beyond YouTube. She blogs, represents food products, and is exploring merchandising.

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Show 16, February 9, 2013: Jet Tila and Average Betty

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Jet shared his extensive adventures of the week.

On Monday and Tuesday he was in-person at the legendary commissary on the lot of Paramount Studios in Hollywood. He presented his menu for Chinese New Year there. The menus continued to be served for the balance of the week.

Jet Tila at Oregon State UniversityOn Thursday he was the celebrity guest chef on campus at Oregon State University in Corvallis. Jet performed cooking demos, taught classes, and represented his menu on campus for Chinese New Year. Jet’s visit generated so much local interest that the TV station in Eugene sent a reporter and photographer there to cover it!

Saturday morning, before the radio show, Jet was at NBC 4 in Burbank for a cooking segment on Chinese New Year for “Today in L.A. Weekend” which aired around 7:45 a.m.

Average Betty shared a Valentine’s Day tip. She loves to dine out but she suggests Valentine’s Day is a good occasion to cook a wonderful meal at home for that special someone. Restaurants are really stressed with preparing special menus on Valentine’s Day anyway.

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February 2: Andrew Zimmern, Leah DiBernardo, Ti Adelaide Martin, Tony DiSalvo, Jason Kessler

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Podcasts

Segment One: Andrew Zimmern of Travel Channel’s “Bizarre Foods America”
Segment Two: Leah DiBernardo, Executive Chef & Co-Owner of E.A.T. (Extraordinary Artisan Table) in Temecula and head (as a volunteer) of the Slow Food Temecula Valley convivium
Segment Three: Ti Adelaide Martin, New Orleans restaurateur, co-owner of Commander’s Palace, Café Adelaide and the Swizzle Stick Bar, and SoBou
Segment Four: Tony DiSalvo, Executive Chef of Whist and the Viceroy Santa Monica
Segment Five: Jason Kessler, food writer, Food Republic and Bon Appetit Part One
Segment Six: Jason Kessler, food writer, Food Republic and Bon Appetit Part Part Two

Travel Channel’s biggest star and celebrity chef is with us live to kick off the show.

From there it’s genuine farm-to-table dining supplied by artisan purveyors in Temecula.

Super Bowl mania is residing in New Orleans this weekend and we’ll be chatting with a veteran New Orleans restaurateur (actually NOLA restaurant royalty) who will give us the real insider’s view of the goings-on in the City.

Then it’s on to the Noodle Bowl Festival in Santa Monica.

There is an ultra-premium dining experience available to a few select diners each evening at The Bazaar by Jose Andres and we’ll hear all about it.

Finally some intell on new restaurants (and a few veteran ones) making waves on the Los Angeles dining scene.

Andrew Zimmern (2 time James Beard Award-winner) has taken Travel Channel, and the country, by storm with his engaging and highly entertaining food travels. Andrew is with us live (from New Orleans) to talk about the new season of “Bizarre Foods America” (debuting February 11th) which begins in Washington, D.C.

Restaurateur & Chef Leah DiBernardo of E.A.T. (Extraordinary Artisan Table)Temecula is a large, fast-growing bedroom community adjacent to a rural agricultural area in Riverside County. It’s well known for wine grapes but a number of dedicated family farmers grow fruits (lots of citrus) and vegetables there for restaurants.

Restaurateur & Chef Leah DiBernardo of E.A.T. (Extraordinary Artisan Table) is the head of Slow Food Temecula Valley and an articulate champion of the local artisan food movement. Leah joins us to talk about the inspiring mission of Slow Food Temecula Valley and the year anniversary of her gourmet take-out shop, E.A.T. which also caters.

Ti Adelaide MartinIt’s Super Bowl madness in New Orleans. Also Mardi Gras time there leading up to Fat Tuesday.

If there is restaurant royalty in New Orleans it’s embodied by the legendary Brennan Family.

Ti Adelaide Martin (a 2nd generation member of the Brennan Restaurant Family) joins us to talk about the food aspects of Super Bowl. Ti co-owns Commander’s Palace, Café Adelaide and the Swizzle Stick Bar, and the newest, SoBou in the French Quarter.

Tony DiSalvo of Whist at the Viceroy Santa MonicaTony DiSalvo is executive chef at Whist at The Viceroy Santa Monica.

Chef Tony is hosting the Noodle Bowl Festival at The Viceroy on Sunday, February 10th from 4 to 7 p.m. to celebrate the Lunar New Year. Chef DiSalvo is serving kimchi sujebi, a traditional Korean noodle soup made with from-scratch dough.

Last Monday Chef DiSalvo was part of a group of celebrity chefs presenting a 6-course meal at the Abigaile in Hermosa Beach.

Food writer Jason Kessler (Food Republic and Bon Appetit Magazine) is back with us to profile some new dining adventures in Los Angeles.

First is a chronicle of dining at Saam at The Bazaar by Jose Andres. This is a very expensive, 22-couse tasting menu experience that is served in an exclusive private club setting.

From there Jason takes us on a verbal dine-around of some new (or revamped) area hot spots worthy of your attention.

Podcasts

Segment One: Andrew Zimmern of Travel Channel’s “Bizarre Foods America”
Segment Two: Leah DiBernardo, Executive Chef & Co-Owner of E.A.T. (Extraordinary Artisan Table) in Temecula and head (as a volunteer) of the Slow Food Temecula Valley convivium
Segment Three: Ti Adelaide Martin, New Orleans restaurateur, co-owner of Commander’s Palace, Café Adelaide and the Swizzle Stick Bar, and SoBou
Segment Four: Tony DiSalvo, Executive Chef of Whist and the Viceroy Santa Monica
Segment Five: Jason Kessler, food writer, Food Republic and Bon Appetit Part One
Segment Six: Jason Kessler, food writer, Food Republic and Bon Appetit Part Part Two

Show 13, January 19, 2013: Brock Radke, Food & Web Editor, Las Vegas Weekly

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Brock Radke of Las Vegas WeeklySome big deal new restaurants opened in Las Vegas (both on and off The Strip) toward the end of last year. And our own Brock Radke from Las Vegas Weekly has the scoop.

Alex Stratta, a well-recognized fixture at Wynn Las Vegas for many years, has decamped Sin City for Beverly Hills. He’s now executive chef at Scarpetta at Montage Beverly Hills for Scott Conant.

Chef Kim Canteenwalla opened Society Café at Encore at Wynn Las Vegas. His wife is respected restaurant consultant and concept developer Elizabeth Blau. Together they opened a neighborhood casual spot, Honey Salt, in Rampart Commons across the street from Boca Park. It’s a locals’ place that’s also family friendly.

Amazingly, celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay opened two new spots the same week. The larger concept is Gordon Ramsay Pub & Grill at Caesars Palace. It’s already doing good business but there are consistency problems due to the mobs of guests being served.

Every Strip Hotel has a gourmet burger spot these days so Gordon Ramsay is in on that action, too, with Gordon Ramsay BurGR at Planet Hollywood. Brock recommends their burgers and thinks it’s a fun lunch experience for the Family that won’t break the bank.

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December 8: Thomas Keller, Wild Things Seafood, Scott Conant, Chef Race Champion

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Podcasts

Segment One: Jet Tila on Fresh Seafood
Segment Two: Thomas Keller of the Thomas Keller Restaurant Group
Segment Three: Jeff Moore – President of International Pacific Seafoods (parent of Wild Things Seafood.)
Segment Four: Gisele Perez
Segment Five: Chef Scott Conant
Segment Six: Stan Frazier

Wild Things Seafood in FullertonWe’re broadcasting live this morning from the Wild Things Seafood plant in Fullerton. (Easy to get to via the Freeways.) It’s there BIG annual Holiday sale. The highest quality seafood and steaks are available at very special prices. If you’re there during our broadcast between 10:30 a.m. and Noon you’ll get an extra $10 off your order!

The festivities include informative cooking demos, tastings, AM 830 KLAA giveaways, and great recipes.

(866) 360-FISH (3474) for directions.

Chef Jet has an extensive background in seafood and is an accomplished amateur angler. He’ll be talking Seafood 411 basics to get the conversation going.

Chef Thomas Keller of Bouchon, per se and French LaundryWe’re thrilled to welcome Thomas Keller to the show. He’s probably the most talked about chef in the country. His restaurants, The French Laundry, per se, and Bouchon (the original in Yountville, the Napa Valley,) have earned an impressive 7 Michelin Stars!

Chef Keller is just completing an extensive book tour in support of The Bouchon Bakery Cookbook.

On Monday evening, December 10th he’s signing books at Williams-Sonoma in Beverly Hills. On the evening of December 11th he’s encoring in Orange County at the Williams-Sonoma in South Coast Plaza.

Jeff Moore is the President of International Pacific Seafoods (the corporate parent of Wild Things Seafood.) He’s a recognized authority on all things seafood including responsible and sustainable practices. He’s much in demand nationally as a highly articulate speaker representing the Industry. He also teaches food service suppliers how to merchandise seafood to their own customers.

Jeff will be joining us to tell you what you need to know about the recent headline stories regarding the mislabeling of seafood products at the retail level.

Oysters Rockefeller is a classic celebratory Holiday dish which originated at the legendary Antoine’s in New Orleans which opened in 1840. New Orleans native Gisele Perez who writes for OKRA, the official magazine of the Southern Food and Beverage Museum, revisited the classic Oysters Rockefeller at Antoine’s last spring and will share her thoughts.

New Orleans food writer Tom Fitzmorris (Hungry Town, A Culinary History of New Orleans) has developed a well-researched replica recipe for Antoine’s Oysters Rockefeller because Antoine’s keeps the original under wraps as a carefully protected Family secret. Gisele reports it took him 50 tries to match the flavor of the Antoine’s recipe. An Antoine’s insider regards the Fitzmorris recipe as “embarrassingly close” to the genuine menu item as served at Antoine’s!

“The Feast of the Seven Fishes” is a classic Italian and Italian-American tradition for Christmas Eve dinner.

Scott Conant of Scarpetta and Food NetworkCelebrity chef Scott Conant of Food Network’s “Chopped” and “24 Hour Restaurant Battle” joins us from Las Vegas to discuss this delightful tradition.

Conant’s flagship restaurant in Manhattan is Scarpetta but way out West we know him for the Scarpetta at The Montage Beverly Hills and a Scarpetta in the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas as well as D.O.C.G. Enoteca, a wine bar.

We’ve been following “Chef Race: U.K. vs. U.S.” since it’s debut on BBC America on Oct. 2nd. 16 chefs (half Brits & half Americans) competed in difficult challenges along the way as they raced across the country from Santa Monica to New York. At the end one chef was left standing and was awarded a cool $100,000 for the effort. Jamie Oliver, “The Naked Chef,” himself executive produced the series.

That winning chef was Newport Beach’s own, Stan Frazier, who is a drummer in the rock band Sugar Ray. He also has an ownership interest in A Restaurant on Pacific Coast Highway in Newport Beach. He was clearly the wild card contestant. Stan will be our guest. Go USA!

Podcasts

Segment One: Jet Tila on Fresh Seafood
Segment Two: Thomas Keller of the Thomas Keller Restaurant Group
Segment Three: Jeff Moore – President of International Pacific Seafoods (parent of Wild Things Seafood.)
Segment Four: Gisele Perez
Segment Five: Chef Scott Conant
Segment Six: Stan Frazier

Show 8: December 1, 2012: Jason Kessler of Food Republic and Bon Appetit Part One

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Jason spent his Thanksgiving at the inaugural Margaret River Gourmet Escape in Western Australia. Some of the biggest names in international celebrity chefdom were there including Rene Redzepi of Noma in Copenhagen consistently rated as the number one restaurant in the World and David Chang of the New York-based Momofuku restaurant empire who now has a restaurant in Sydney.

The VIP Opening Night Party was held on the sand at Smith Beach with a backdrop of rolling waves.

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Show 8: December 1, 2012: Jason Kessler of Food Republic and Bon Appetit Part Two

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The formal dinner at the Margaret River Gourmet Escape was to honor Heston Blumenthal. The meal was prepared by Sydney’s most distinguished chefs including Tetsuya Wakada (Tetsuya’s,) Neil Perry (Rockpool,) and Peter Gilmore (Quay.)
Jason couldn’t resist asking the renown celebrity chefs how they would cook kangaroo.  “Redzepoi suggested he’d rub a braising cut of roo with Vegemite and braise it in Foster’s beer.”

Jason also has some thoughts on what exactly Australian cuisine is after interviewing the Aussie celebrity chefs.

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Show 2: October 13, 2012: Susan Feniger Street Food

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Celebrity Chef and culinary personality Susan Feniger, the co-owner owner of the Border Grill empire (Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Las Vegas & The Border Grill Food Truck) with Mary Sue Milliken, was a major star in the early days of Food Network with the “Too Hot Tamales” series. In 2010 she reinvented herself with the solo venture, Street, in Hollywood. It’s her tribute to the best in International street food with the assistance of co-chef Kajsa Alger. Street’s latest inspiration is Susan Feniger’s Street Food: Irresistibly Crispy, Creamy, Crunchy, Spicy, Sticky, Sweet Recipes combines 83 street food recipes and 100 color photos from around the world. It’s a great gift idea for the Holidays and if you take it to Street, Susan will even sign it for you!

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