Tag Archives: James Beard Award

Show 523, April 29, 2023: Steve Dolinsky, Founder, Pizza City Fest L.A.

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Steve Dolinsky and Andreew Gruel

“The inaugural, first of its kind Pizza City Fest Los Angeles takes place April 29-30, 2023 at L.A. LIVE – Downtown Los Angeles’ Sports and Entertainment District – offering fans the unique opportunity to sample pizzas from Southern California’s best pizza makers all in one location over two days. Steve Dolinsky – a 13-time James Beard Award-winning food reporter and “The Food Guy” at NBC 5 Chicago – has turned his love of pizza into an all-encompassing endeavor. Now he has brought that same carefully curated experience to Los Angeles (as he did last year in Chicago) and showcase the diversity – in both geography and styles – that the region exemplifies.”

VIP for both days is already sold out. Limited tickets are available for Saturday with better availability for Sunday.

“I’ve seen the L.A. pizza scene explode recently, having visited about 60 places while researching over the past year,” said Dolinsky. “But with so much great pizza spread out from Santa Barbara to San Diego, there needed to be a way to highlight these artisans all in one place. Not only will we do that, but we’ll also bring together some of the most talented local pizza pros to share their knowledge and expertise with home cooks.”

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Show 417, March 20, 2021: Restaurateur & Chef Dave Beran, Pasjoli, Santa Monica

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Chef Dave Beran

“The international dining scene is a vast, ever-shifting landscape, and Today’s Special – 20 Leading Chefs Choose 100 Emerging Chefs (Phaidon) is perfectly positioned to help readers navigate it. Twenty of the globe’s leading chef-curators — 10 men and 10 women — have each selected five emerging chefs from around the world, showcasing a variety of styles of food, restaurants, and personalities. Each of the 100 selected chefs is profiled, with recipes, photographs, and menus, plus original commissioned essays that shed light on what makes a standout star in today’s culinary realm.”

An L.A. area featured “Emerging Chef” in Today’s Special is Dave Beran of Pasjoli in Santa Monica and the now departed, Dialogue (up to a 20-course, seasonally changing nightly Tasting Menu) which was highly praised. He was nominated for Today’s Special by New York-based Chef Daniel Boulud (Daniel.)

“Pasjoli is an elevated French bistro from award-winning chef Dave Beran. The restaurant pays homage to French cuisine utilizing the bounty of produce available in Southern California. Rooted in classic French cuisine and inspired by Parisian markets, Pasjoli reflects Beran’s thoughtful cooking style, showcasing his creative touches on bistro fare.”

Prior to moving to California, Beran was the chef de cuisine at Alinea and executive chef at Next in Chicago where he received a James Beard Award for Best Chef Great Lakes and was named one of Food & Wine magazine’s Best New Chefs in 2014.

We’ll meet Chef Dave Beran of Santa Monica’s Pasjoli and the Founder of Dialogue (which introduced Chef Dave to the tastes of Santa Monica diners.)

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Show 286, August 18, 2018: Barbecue Hall of Fame’s Steven Raichlen, PROJECT FIRE: Cutting-Edge Techniques and Sizzling Recipes

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Steven RaichlenSteven Raichlen is synonymous with barbecue. The James Beard Award-winning author of an impressive array of New York Times bestselling cookbooks, a Barbecue Hall of Famer and international PBS star has shaped America’s obsession with live-fire cooking for decades. Following the success of Project Smoke, Raichlen returns to the subject that earned him his reputation as a pioneer of the grill with PROJECT FIRE: Cutting-Edge Techniques and Sizzling Recipes from the Caveman Porterhouse to Salt Slab Brownie S’mores.

After thirty books, seven TV series – including a new one out this May, Project Fire on PBS – two decades of Barbecue University classes, 60 countries and 6 continents traveled, one might wonder what else Raichlen could possibly say about grilling. Turns out, it’s a lot. Never before have American home cooks used a wider range of grilling techniques, nor had access to a more diverse array of flavors and ingredients.

Delivering both a complete step-by-step handbook to mastering the latest techniques and equipment alongside a collection of over 100 innovative recipes for grilling every kind of food, Project Fire is the modern grilling treatise. A stunning collection of recipes and techniques, Project Fire provides a wealth of information for how we want to grill today.

Steven Raichlen is the author of the New York Times bestselling Barbecue! Bible® cookbook series, which includes the new Project Fire; Barbecue Sauces, Rubs, and Marinades; Project Smoke, The Barbecue Bible, and How to Grill. Winner of 5 James Beard awards and 3 IACP awards, his books have been translated into 17 languages. In 2016, he was inducted into the Barbecue Hall of Fame.

We’re firing up the grill with Steven Raichlen.

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Show 243, October 7, 2017: Carolynn Carreño, Bowls of Plenty

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Carolyn CarrenoBowls of Plenty – Recipes for Healthy and Delicious Whole-Grain Meals is a fresh and flexible approach to grain bowls–thoughtfully structured one-dish meals that marry health and flavor–from James Beard Award-winning journalist and acclaimed cookbook coauthor Carolynn Carreno. The Foreword is by Nancy Silverton. We’ll meet Carolynn.

Gorgeous, layered, satisfying bowls have become the next wave of healthy eating. From food blogs to Instagram, farm-to-table bistros to chain restaurants, “the bowl” has become part of our culinary vocabulary. And whole grains are not just for hippies and health nuts anymore! Hearty grains like quinoa, farro, millet, and spelt are replacing flour or corn tortillas, bread, pasta, white rice, and mashed potatoes as the base or vehicle for other, richer, more complex ingredients. What’s more, grain bowls are easy-to-make, and family-friendly, and convenient for busy home cooks and weekend chefs alike.

Carolynn joins us.

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Show 198, November 19, 2016: Baker Dorie Greenspan, Dorie’s Cookies Continues…

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Dorie Greenspan and her cookbook Dories CookiesOver the course of her incredible baking career, Dorie Greenspan (a 3-time James Beard Award-winner) has created more than 300 cookie recipes. Yet she has never written a book about them—until now. Just in time for the Holidays is Dorie’s Cookies. It’s her 12th cookbook.

Baking phobic…? Dorie gently prods you to get into the kitchen and give it a go. Her suggested starter cookie is Almond Crackle Cookies. The three ingredients are sugar, and egg and sliced almonds.

“This is such an exciting book for me. It’s got a whole new look and a cover that’s my favorite color: Purple! Oh, and it’s got recipes, of course. Lots of them. There are cookies of every kind imaginable and some that you might not have imagined. You’ll be surprised at how many of our favorite sweets can be cookie-ized.” – Dorie Greenspan

“There are everyday cookies and cookies for weekends (recipes that take a bit more time), holidays (you’ll be everyone’s fav at this year’s cookie swaps) and celebrations. There are bars and brownies and biscotti and the kinds of cookies that make big batches for parties. And there are all the recipes for the cookies that I created for Beurre & Sel, the cookie adventure that Joshua, my son, and I launched a few years ago. In the front of this beautiful (chubby) book there’s a Cookie-Making Handbook that guarantees that every cookie you make will be perfect, even if you’re new to the craft.” – Dorie Greenspan

Inducted into the James Beard Foundation’s Who’s Who of Food and Beverage in America, Dorie Greenspan is also the author of Around My French Table, a New York Times bestseller that was named Cookbook of the Year by the IACP; Baking Chez Moi; and Baking: From My Home to Yours, a James Beard Award winner. She lives in Westbrook, Connecticut, and Paris.

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Show 186, August 27, 2016: Chefs Curtis Stone (Maude and Gwen) and Dominique Crenn (Altier Crenn and Petit Crenn)

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Curtis StoneChef Curtis Stone’s Maude in Beverly Hills features monthly changing prix fixe menus with the courses designed around a key ingredient. For instance, the featured ingredient for August is the Plum.

One very special night San Francisco’s Dominique Crenn (Atelier Crenn and Petit Crenn) is cooking a spectacular Plum-themed benefit menu at the Maude with Chef Curtis for 24 lucky guests. Curtis Stone and Dominique Crenn join us fresh from a provisions expedition at the Santa Monica Farmers Market with the tantalizing details.

The charity beneficiary for this $375 a guest sold-out, sumptuous repast is Young Farmers.

It’s been quite a year for Chef Dominique Crenn. She was named the World’s Best Female Chef by San Pellegrino’s World’s 50 Best Restaurants list. She was also nominated for a James Beard Award for Best Chef: West.

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Show 148, November 28, 2015: Madhur Jaffrey and Vegetarian India

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Madhur JaffreyNo one knows Indian food like our guest, Madhur Jaffrey. For more than forty years, the “godmother of Indian cooking” (The Independent on Sunday) has introduced Western home cooks to the vibrant cuisines of her homeland. Now, in Vegetarian India: A Journey Through the Best of Indian Home Cooking, the seven-time James Beard Award–winning author shares the delectable, healthful, vegetable- and grain-based foods enjoyed around the Indian subcontinent.

Vegetarian cooking is a way of life for more than 300 million Indians. Jaffrey travels from north to south, and from the Arabian Sea to the Bay of Bengal, collecting recipes for the very tastiest dishes along the way. She visits the homes and businesses of shopkeepers, writers, designers, farmers, doctors, weavers, and more, gathering their stories and uncovering the secrets of their most delicious family specialties.

From a sweet, sour, hot, salty Kodava Mushroom Curry with Coconut originating in the forested regions of South Karnataka to simple, crisp Okra Fries dusted with chili powder, turmeric, and chickpea flour; and from Stir-Fried Spinach, Andhra Style (with ginger, coriander, and cumin) to the mung bean pancakes she snacks on at a roadside stand, here Jaffrey brings together the very best of vegetable-centric Indian cuisine and explains how home cooks can easily replicate these dishes—and many more for beans, grains, and breads—in their own kitchens.

With more than two hundred recipes, beautifully illustrated throughout, and including personal photographs from Jaffrey’s own travels, Vegetarian India is a kitchen essential for vegetable enthusiasts and home cooks everywhere.

Madhur Jaffrey is the author of many previous cookbooks—six of which have won the James Beard Award—and was previously named to the Who’s Who of Food and Beverage in America by the James Beard Foundation. She is also an award-winning actress with numerous major motion pictures to her credit. She lives in New York City.

If you’d like to see Madhur in–person and get your Vegetarian India cookbook signed she will be in Santa Monica, CA on Thursday, December 10th at 8:00 p.m. at Live Talks L.A.! at the William Turner Gallery at Bergamot Station Arts Center. This is a ticketed event.

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Show 140, October 3, 2015: Chef Tim Hollingsworth of Otium at The Broad museum continues…

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Timothy HollingsworthJames Beard Award-winner Chef Tim Hollingsworth of the soon to debut Otium in Downtown Los Angeles located across the plaza from The Broad continues…

Chef Tim is one of the high profile local chefs of distinction cooking at The Taste Los Angeles Dining Event, “A Night of Culinary Stars,” benefiting the James Beard Foundation on Friday evening, November 6th at The Ebell of Los Angeles.

The Taste America evening (“Local Flavor from Coast-to-Coast”) will begin with a reception filled with cocktails and hors d’oeuvre from local chefs and restaurateurs, including Ray Garcia (Broken Spanish), James Beard Award winner Timothy Hollingsworth (Barrel & Ashes and Otium), Michael Hung (ex-Faith & Flower), Jessica Koslow (Sqirl), Zach Pollack (Alimento), and host chef Louis Pechan (The Ebell of Los Angeles).

Guests will then be seated for an extraordinary dinner prepared by James Beard Award–winning chef and Taste America All-Star Hugh Acheson (Empire State South; Atlanta, GA), in collaboration with two Local Star chefs, James Beard Award nominees Vinny Dotolo and Jon Shook (Jon & Vinny’s, Animal, and Son of a Gun; Los Angeles), who will come together to create an unforgettable one-night-only menu. Tickets are available on jbftasteamerica.org.

On Saturday, November 7, free in-store consumer events will take place at Sur La Table® located at the Original Farmers Market, 6333 W 3rd St. #10, Los Angeles, CA 90036. Activities of the day will include a cooking demo by All-Star Hugh Acheson, book signings, tastings from local producers and artisans, as well as product demos and tastings from Taste America’s national sponsors.

Reservations for the free cooking demos will begin two weeks prior to the event (October 24th.) at jbftasteamerica.org. Visit Los Angeles’s event page for the full schedule and more details.

The James Beard Foundation will be donating a portion of the evening’s proceeds to The Taste America Scholarship Fund. Local culinary students in California are invited to apply for this culinary scholarship between April 1 and May 15, 2016, through www.jamesbeard.org.

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Show 140, October 3, 2015: “Top Chef’s” Chef Tiffany Derry and Celebrity Cruises “Top Chef at Sea.”

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Tiffany DerryCelebrity Cruises and Bravo Media have extended the popular “Top Chef at Sea” program through 2016, and will offer “Top Chef” fans and food lovers the opportunity to vacation with a new lineup of cheftestants on the exclusive “Top Chef Signature Sailing” in 2015. Setting sail November 14 onboard Celebrity Reflection, the one-of-a-kind Eastern Caribbean cruise vacation will give guests an up-close-and-personal culinary experience with six former “Top Chef” competitors, including our guest Chef Tiffany Derry of TD Concepts in Dallas from Bravo’s “Top Chef D.C.” and “Top Chef All-Stars.” (This is her 3rd sailing on “Top Chef at Sea” and she brings her Family along to join in the fun.)

New during this year’s Top Chef Signature Sailing, vacationers can choose from an array of local destination experiences hosted by a featured cheftestant, making these excursions a unique way to explore the Caribbean.

The signature sailing also will feature new duel-style cooking demonstrations onboard where cheftestants will battle each other while answering fans’ questions, with the winning dish chosen by the audience. Also onboard and back by popular demand, passionate foodies can enjoy exclusive and intimate experiences with the chefs by booking private cooking classes and private dinners to hone their skills and get advice on preparing sumptuous dishes at home.

In addition to the Top Chef Signature Sailing with alums, Celebrity will continue to offer interactive Quickfire Challenges and “Top Chef”-inspired menu evenings on its modern luxury vacations onboard nine ships, for all sailings departing through June 2016. Quickfire Challenges will put guests in the spotlight to get a taste of the pressure the cheftestants experience on the show. Plus, guests can indulge in a selection of the dishes the judges raved about on the series at “Top Chef Night” in the main restaurant.

Celebrity originally partnered with “Top Chef” in November 2014 to launch the exclusive Top Chef at Sea experience. The extension of Top Chef at Sea allows for guests to continually sail with Celebrity on a modern luxury vacation with endless culinary possibilities. For more details about Top Chef at Sea, visit celebritycruises.com/topchef

Bravo’s Emmy® and James Beard Award-winning “Top Chef” will return for season 13 this fall.

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Show 138, September 12, 2015: Barbara Lynch’s Sportello, Boston

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David CavillaChef Barbara Lynch (No 9 Park), a James Beard Award-winner, is a celebrated chef in Boston. Her Barbara Lynch Gruppo enterprise owns multiple highly-regarded restaurant properties there. One of the newest is Sportello (Italian for “counter service”), a modern interpretation of the classic diner. It’s trattoria –inspired Italian dishes for lunch and dinner.

Sportello’s casual, lively, Italian spirit is captured in the sleek, minimalist design of the cuisine – fresh pastas, creamy polenta, and simple soups – and in the supremely approachable, artisanal wine list created by Wine Director Cat Silirie. (also a James Beard-Award recipient.)

The Strozzapreti is a widely-featured house favorite with braised rabbit, picholine olives and rosemary. The Tagliatelle Bolognese is also popular.

Chef de Cuisine David Cavilla has spent his culinary career as a member of Barbara Lynch Gruppo having cooked at B&G oysters, The Butcher Shop, Stir, and now Sportello. Chef David is “excited about the opportunity to dive into a new setting along with a restaurant with a new identity.”

Chef de Cuisine David Cavilla is our guest.

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