Articles for February 23rd, 2010

Foodie News Games: What is Wrong With This Press Release

posted by Nancy Nichols | February 23rd, 2010 1:56pm | filed under Diets are stupid, Events, Food Crime, PR People, Procrastination is part of the creative process | 2 Comments »

I® love press releases. I® get bazillions of them everyday. I® read them all. This one caught my eye and I® thought about doing a funny bit on Oscar-watching parties. Here is the full release:

February 22, 2010
MEDIA ALERT…MEDIA ALERT
OSCAR’S PARTY KIT
Throw Your Own Oscar® Viewing Party

http://www.oscars.org/partykit

Provide your readers, viewers and listeners with insider tips on how to throw an award-winning Oscar viewing party at home!
Download Oscar® ballots, party play-along games, recipes, cocktails ideas and much more – invite your family and friends.
Event producer Cheryl Cecchetto shows you the “10 Must Haves” for throwing an awarding-winning party.
Master Chef Wolfgang Puck cooks and provides you with delicious and easy-to-make-at-home recipes.
Executive Pastry Chef Sherry Yard shows you how to bake a yummy dessert.
Moët & Chandon, the exclusive champagne of the 82nd Academy Awards®, provides a special cocktail that will wow your guests.

http://www.oscars.org/partykit

The cooking/planning demonstrations are available in broadcast quality formats upon request.

I® am sure Sherry Yard’s desserts are yummy but there is one detail missing from this notice, and without it, nobody can throw a proper Oscar-watching party. Go Dishers, give ‘em hell.

2 Comments »

Dan Koller Goes Guerrilla: Marc”Park” Cassel’s Meal at 48 Hours @ Sylvan Thirty

posted by Nancy Nichols | February 23rd, 2010 12:32pm | filed under AgriBusiness, Celebrity Chefs, Celebrity Diners, Foodie People, Openings/Closings, Restaurant News | 18 Comments »

Marc Cassel cooks for charity.

Dan Koller, the managing editor of People “Who Need People” Newspapers, took his lovely and talented wife, Jessica, to dine at the first supper at 48 Nights @ Slyvan Thirty, the guerrilla restaurant on Sylvan  operated by the Smoke/Bolsa dudes, Chris Jeffers, Chris Zielke, and Tim Byres. The restaurateurs have teamed up with the Mass Care Task Force (American Red Cross Dallas Area Chapter, North Texas Food Bank, The Salvation Army DFW Metroplex Area Command, and Volunteer Center of North Texas). Chefs participating in the project will rotate and all of the proceeds for these dinners will go to these charities.

Anywhoo, Dan is writing a full report on the OC phenom for Friday’s edition of Oak Cliff People, but today he has a brief recap of his experience here. First chef up was/is Marc Cassel from Park. (There is a second Cassel dinner tonight.)  I  looked over the menu and I have three (dumb) questions. One of the items is braised Kobe beef cheeks, stroganoff risotto & Tom’s microgreens.

I am assume “Kobe” cows have two cheeks. Are they big cheeks that are divided into smaller servings? I would assume Kobe beef cheeks are very expensive. Were these cheeks donated to the cause? If everyone at the dinner (30) got two cheeks, does this mean it took 30 Kobe cows to fill the order for last night’s dinner? Or were the cheeks cut up and tossed in the stroganoff? I am curious. I love cheeks—veal and haddock are my favs. Just curious. Anyone?

18 Comments »

Wasted Calories: California Pizza Kitchen

posted by Nancy Nichols | February 23rd, 2010 9:21am | filed under Awards, Bacon, Baking, Celebrity Diners, Diets are stupid, pizza, Procrastination is part of the creative process | 38 Comments »
On March 27, 1985, attorneys Rick Rosenfield and Larry Flax traded in the courtroom for the dining room. They opened CPK and decided to dress alike.

Yesterday, a spirited conversation about pizza broke in our company kitchen. One of our IT guys, Jeff Nelson, was reheating a pizza in the oven and I asked him where it originated. “We made it at home,” he said. Hmm, the only “pizza” I have made at home involved a Boboli pizza crust, bottled barbecue sauce, roasted chicken, red onions, and fresh cilantro. Sooo 1980s.

Of course, I ripped off the idea from the original location of California Pizza Kitchen in the Beverly Center in Los Angeles. When they opened in 1985, this place was the bomb. Until then, no restaurant that I knew of (and I lived in Los Angeles!) had ever substituted barbecue sauce for marinara. There was Spago up on the hill on Sunset , but  you had to be a celebrity to secure a table at Wolfie’s spot. Then you had to pay a bazillion dollars for a boutique pie just so you could sit so close to Michael Bolton you could count the split ends of  his frizzy mullet (hint: bazillions). CPK was the gourmet pizza outlet for the masses.

Yes, this is a long lede into my rendezvous with CPK last night. I was  jonsing for pizza when I left work so I decided to call CPK. (BTW, their number was not in Directory Assistance—add $1.75 for the cell call.) I will say this—at 6:40 p.m., they were doing a bristling take out business and the staff was efficient and over-the-top nice.

Too bad the pizza crust tasted like the like the cardboard box that held the pizza until I got home (five minutes). Too bad the barbecue sauce was almost non-existent. Too bad the chicken was stringy. Too bad my friend Evan Grant is going here this week. Too bad I tasted a much better version of CPK’s barbecue chicken pizza at Puck’s fast casual spot  in the Denver airport last Thursday.

Pancakes are soo last week. Now, I’m binging on pizza. Best take out or delivery please! I want to gain 20 pounds before bikini season. I hate it when my hip bones do this.

38 Comments »