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A Cooking-Competition Cheat Sheet

BuzzEditor — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 20:24:00 GMT

With all the cooking shows out there focusing on a single chef's adventures (No Reservations, Avec Eric), not to mention the ones focusing on chefs traveling around the world challenging other chefs (Throwdown! with Bobby Flay, Chefs vs. City), it can be hard to keep track of the regular old cooking-competition shows. With The Next Iron Chef starting up on the Food Network on Sunday night (see video below), we thought we'd give you a leg up by breaking the shows down for you in one handy guide:

What's your favorite (and least favorite) TV cooking show?

Share your thoughts on the Zagat Discussion boards!

The show: Chopped (Food Network, Tuesdays 10 PM/9 Central)
The gimmick: In each episode, four chefs are given a random assortment of foods to combine into an appetizer, an entree and a dessert, with one chef being eliminated after each course.
Season: Currently ending its second season
Host: Ted Allen
Judges: Vary, but have included Scott Conant, Marc Murphy, Jody Williams and Geoffrey Zakarian
Chefs: Andre Marrero (L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon), Mina Newman (Christos Steakhouse) and more
Sample challenge: Make an appetizer of beef shoulder, fish sauce and canned pumpkin. Um, deelish?
Prize: $10,000
Not to be confused with: Iron Chef
In short: A surprisingly fresh take on the food competition genre with interesting results

The show: Hell's Kitchen (FOX, Tuesdays 8 PM/7 Central)
The gimmick: Chefs compete in a restaurant kitchen for the approval of Gordo.
Season: Currently in season six
Host: Gordon Ramsay
Judge: Not really judged so much as ruled by Ramsay
Chefs: No one you've heard of before the show airs
Sample challenge: Prepare a vegetarian meal for veggie-hating children
Prize: A chance to run one of Ramsay's kitchens
Not to be confused with: Considering Gordo's way with the insult, it's not likely you'll confuse it with anything.
In short: An enjoyable romp, but hard to take seriously because it's the drama rather than the cooking that takes center stage

The show: Iron Chef America (Food Network, Sundays 9 PM/8 Central)
The gimmick: Based on the Japanese original, the show features a celeb "Iron Chef" battling a guest chef using a single ingredient for multiple dishes.
Season: Currently in season seven
Hosts: Alton Brown, Kevin Brauch, "Chairman" Mark Dacascos
Judges: Vary, though Ted Allen, Karine Bakhoum and Jeffrey Steingarten appear regularly
Chefs: Mario Batali, Cat Cora, Bobby Flay, Masaharu Morimoto and Michael Symon are the current Iron Chefs.
Sample challenge: Prepare five dishes featuring elk in one hour
Prize: The honor of the competition
Not to be confused with: Chopped, Throwdown!
In short: Though lacking the magic (and camp allure) of its Japanese inspiration, it's still one of the more exciting food shows on TV.

The show: The Next Food Network Star (Food Network)
The gimmick: People of various persuasions (chefs, consultants, housewives, etc.) compete to have a show aired on the Food Network.
Season: Five
Hosted by: Bobby Flay
Judges: Bobby Flay, Bob Tuschman, Susie Fogelson
Previous winners: Dan Smith and Steve McDonagh, Guy Fieri, Amy Finley, Aaron McCargo, Jr., Melissa d'Arabian
Sample challenge: Inspired by Julie & Julia, cook a three-course meal for 20 of the culinary world's elite.
Prize: A six-episode television show on the Food Network
Not to be confused with: Next Iron Chef, Top Chef
In short: The title aptly describes this Food Network ratings powerhouse.

The show: Next Iron Chef (Food Network, Sundays 9 PM/8 Central starting October 4; Watch a sneak peek of the new season above)
The gimmick: Professional chefs are narrowed down in a series of challenges designed to test their readiness in areas deemed necessary to be an Iron Chef (i.e. artistry, resourcefulness).
Season: About to start season two
Hosted by: Alton Brown, "Chairman" Mark Dacascos
Recurring judges: Anya Fernald, Donatella Arpaia, Jeffery Steingarten
Previous winners: Michael Symon
Sample challenge: Create an amuse-bouche that best sums up a chef's style in 30 minutes
Prize: The title of Iron Chef and a recurring role on that program
Not to be confused with: Top Chef Masters, Next Food Network Star
In short: A departure from the Iron Chef mold, it still manages to have more bite to it than Top Chef Masters.

The show: Top Chef (Bravo, Wednesdays 10 PM/9 Central)
The gimmick: Over the course of a season chefs are narrowed down through "quick fire" and "elimination" challenges judged by regular judges and celebrity guests.
Season: Currently in season six
Hosted by: Padma Lakshmi
Recurring judges: Tom Colicchio, Gail Simmons
Guest judges: Everyone from Anthony Bourdain to Tim Zagat
Previous winners: Harold Dieterle, Ilan Hall, Hung Huynh, Stephanie Izzard, Hosea Rosenberg
Sample challenge: Make a dish using only food from a vending machine
Prize: Cash and a whole lot of Glad-family products
Not to be confused with: Next Food Network Star, Next Iron Chef
In short: Arguably the most respected of the cooking competition shows, as even its runners-up appear to get a boost from competing.

The show: Top Chef Masters (Bravo)
The gimmick: 24 professional chefs are narrowed down in a bracket competition based on "quick fire" challenges from the original Top Chef and new "elimination" challenges.
Seasons: One (2009)
Hosted by: Kelly Choi
Recurring judges: Gael Greene, James Oseland, Jay Rayner
Guest judges: Girl Scouts, Neil Patrick Harris, Top Chef winners
Previous winners: Rick Bayless
Sample challenge: Create offal-based street food to serve at Universal Studios
Prize: Cash donations for the chef's charities of choice, acclaim
Not to be confused with: Top Chef
In short: Similar to the original Top Chef, but without the desperation, backstabbing and Padma.

A Critical Talk With Frank Bruni

BuzzEditor — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 15:48:00 GMT

Frank Bruni

Photo: Soo-Jeong Kang

In the foodie circles of New York City, Frank Bruni needs no introduction: up until last week, he was The New York Times’ restaurant critic. Upon the occasion of the release of his memoir, Born Round: The Secret History of a Full-Time Eater, in which he confronts his dysfunctional relationship with food, he chatted with the Buzz about what it was like being the most powerful critical voice in the New York restaurant scene.

Zagat Buzz: You were the first Times critic to have a blog. How has that helped or hindered the job?

Frank Bruni: A lot of resources and staffing of a lot of news organizations have decreased, so I think the blog represents a new heightened pressure on a restaurant critic to provide content. But it was nice to have another outlet for single visits to restaurants and thoughts or observations that don’t fit neatly within the parameters of a review.

ZB: Because of the Internet there has been a rise in the forum for public opinion, which has prompted debate on how powerful the role of the Times critic remains. What’s your take on that?

FB: I think the Times critic’s voice is muffled slightly by the profusion of voices out there, but that voice is still plenty loud. With the Times critics you know what the person’s method of survey was and you know the person is an independent voice. With criticism on the Internet, it’s not clear whether it’s coming from an invested or un-invested party. It’s completely unclear whether the person rendering an opinion has had anything other than one entree on one night long ago at the restaurant. The Times is one of the only places to go for an opinion that is informed by multiple visits to a restaurant for an opinion that is not indebted to anyone, that is truly independent in an economic and ideological sense.

ZB: How did you feel about the star system?

FB: The star system is very imperfect because there are so many restaurants that hover between two ratings. But consumers want handy measures, whether it be a number on the Zagat rating or a number of stars, and I think stars are consumer-friendly and they are such a part of New York Times and New York restaurant-scene lore.

ZB: What was the biggest surprise for you about the NY dining scene over the last five years?

FB: I was surprised at how every year Italian food took another leap forward in terms of it becoming fine-dining food in New York. I’ve been surprised to see just how cult-popular a lot of foods that seem to have fallen out of nutritional favor 10 years ago have become. I lived through years of the pork belly explosion, the bacon explosion, the hamburger, fried chicken... these sorts of foods have really been embraced in an enthusiastic and really expansive way.

ZB: What has been the biggest disappointment?

FB: I still feel there are certain wonderful cuisines that aren’t amply represented among the top tiers of New York restaurants. I wish we had a first-rate three- or four-star-level Chinese restaurant. I would say the same thing about Middle Eastern.

ZB: Which food trends over the last five years do you hope will stay?

FB: The one we just talked about, in terms of caloric comfort food, and a worship of meat. I’m very happy with those sticking around. I think the city’s wine lists have improved remarkably during my tenure. It’s not so much that the wine lists of great restaurants have improved, but the attention that restaurants at a one- or two-star level will pay to their wine list and entire beverage program [has improved]. The array and quality of beverages in a restaurant has grown much more intense and sophisticated over the last five years. I don’t think it will go away.

ZB: Which trends do you hope will go away?

FB: I think we are overly invested in small plates. I think we are overly invested in menu segmentation where you’ve got snacks and sides and this and that. There are too many restaurants that feel to me, as a consumer and a critic, not like freedom of choice but the tyranny of bill gouging – and you can tell which ones they are when you look at the menu. There are a few too many $8 and $9 sides on menus around town. But they may be going away now that we are in recessed economic times.

ZB: What was the most profound thing that you learned about yourself through the job?

FB: I think this job requires an incredible amount of stamina and a pretty thick skin. I suspected I had the stamina, but I wasn’t sure I had the skin. And I’m relieved that my skin turned out to be a little thicker than I feared that it was.

It was such an exciting challenge, and if you want to challenge yourself, you need to expose yourself. I would remind myself constantly, ‘You are the biggest spoiled brat and baby if you accept all of the privileges of a position like this and then let yourself get upset about the scrutiny and the cat calls.’ You can’t wring your hands and engage in a personal sob story over the fact that sometimes people are mean to you because you have been given an incredible privilege. There should be a price for the privilege.

ZB: In terms of people being ‘mean to you,’ in the book you share some of the fiery reactions to negative reviews from people like Jeffrey Chodorow and Keith McNally. Did you get equally passionate responses for good reviews?

FB: Absolutely. One example: I got an e-mail from Maria Hines, the proprietor and chef of Tilth in Seattle, which I rated 9 on a list of recommended places in the nation, and she said, ‘I have needed another bathroom since we opened, but I didn’t have the money. Within a couple of months of that write-up our revenues went up so much that I had the money to put in another bathroom, and I want you to know that I am going to casually refer to it as the Bruni Memorial Bathroom.’ That is just the biggest thrill in the world to know that you have the opportunity, when someone is doing really good, earnest work, to be part of the reward.

ZB: When you gave Minetta Tavern a good review, did Keith McNally apologize for calling you a sexist because of your review of Morandi?

FB: No. I think that what Keith McNally said was ridiculous, and I wouldn’t even want an apology for it.

ZB: I thought it was interesting that you picked such a modest spot, The Redhead, for your final review. Can you explain that choice?

FB: I didn’t think I should make a big deal of my final review because the Times has a grand tradition of restaurant criticism and restaurant critics, and I was just a link in a chain. I thought making a big deal of my last review would just be the wrong thing. It would send a self-important message that would be inconsistent with the way I saw my role.

ZB: At what point did you decide to leave and why?

FB: I always thought I’d do this three or four years tops. I’d never done a beat or a job in journalism more than three years. I figured this book’s release would come at a time that I was ready on an emotional level to leave the job.

– Kathleen Squires

Greg Hall: Born to Brew

BuzzEditor — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 15:35:00 GMT

Goose Island brewmaster Greg Hall

Photo: courtesy of the brewery

Before he became Goose Island Beer Company’s award-winning brewmaster, Greg Hall toured breweries around the world to hone his beer knowledge. We chatted with Hall about the ascendance of U.S. brewers, as well as his role in New York’s Craft Beer Week, for which he's organizing a beer dinner at Tabla (September 14, $90 for six courses paired with Goose Island beer; reserve at 212-889-0667).

Zagat Buzz: In which areas of beer brewing do you feel that the U.S. is excelling?

Greg Hall: In just about every one. Our ales are as good as the British. Our Belgian ales are becoming as complex as the Belgians'. The lagers are great too. If you look at the results at the World Beer Cup, where we have to compete against European brewers and brewers from all over the world, American brewers generally do really well.

ZB: What do you think has caused this renaissance of brewing?

GH: I think it’s part of the American spirit to try new things and not really be boxed in. Just as you can get any style of cuisine in America as good as it is anywhere else, you can get beer just as good as anywhere else. Most of the ingredients of beer are very portable. The one that’s not, water, is pretty easy to modify. So we’re operating with the same set of tools.

ZB: Is there still a big divide between American craft brewing and old-world European methods? Or are they coming closer together?

GH: I don’t think there's any divide at all. What’s really pushing everything is brewpubs. Because in a brewpub situation, if you’re making a new beer, all you have to do is brew the beer and write it on the chalkboard, which gives an enormous amount of creative flexibility to the brewer. In a packaging brewery, you really have to put a marketing plan together, get your distributors to buy in and get your sales reps trained for a new style of beer – so it’s a lot more complex to launch a new beer. I see both sides of it since we do both, but it’s much less of an investment to experiment at our brewpubs.

ZB: What are the hard and fast rules of pairing beer with food?

GH: When I try to match up beer and food, the first, and really only, rule is to match flavor intensity. There’s no 'ales with meat,' 'lagers with fish' or silly rules like that. A well-seasoned dish deserves a flavorful beer and a more delicate dish really works better with a more mild-flavored beer. The difference between beer and wine – and I’d like to clarify that I’m not an anti-wine guy – is that wine is for little flavors that sometimes you have to hunt for. Beer is full of big, aggressive flavors, and because of that I think that beer works especially well with cuisines that have really assertive flavors. You always think of spicy cuisines, like Mexican, Southeast Asian and Indian, as being beer food, and they absolutely are. Beer has a little bit more residual sugar that really absorbs the heat and allows the flavor of the spice to come through instead of just the heat of the spice.

ZB: Tell me more about what diners can look forward to at your Tabla dinner pairing.

GH: I am thrilled about that dinner. Chef Floyd Cardoz has got such a wide range of subcontinent flavors, and they really call for big, rich beers that would absorb all those spices. Diners can look forward to having our Matilda, which is a Belgian-style pale ale, and a new brew called Sofie, a Belgian-style farmhouse ale named after my daughter. We age 20% of it in French oak with orange peel, so it has a real nice citrusy nose. It’s clean on the palate, and then you pick up that oak and a little bit of vanilla and creaminess in the finish. We have a new Bourbon County Stout – it’s a barrel-aged imperial stout that we will probably serve with a dessert like Floyd’s signature panna cotta.

ZB: If I am a home chef planning a beer pairing dinner, how would you suggest I go about it?

GH: Maybe try cooking three courses with a cheese and a dessert at the end. And then keep moving the flavor intensity dish by dish. So start with a wheat beer with a salad; you get the nice greenness and citrus aspect with that. Then maybe do a shellfish course with a pale Belgian-style ale with a little bit more malt that will bring out the richness of the shellfish. Then maybe pork with a bigger beer, like a hoppy beer. Then finish it off with another Belgian with a nice washed-rind cheese and maybe an imperial stout with chocolate.

– Kathleen Squires

The Unsung Heroine of Julie & Julia

BuzzEditor — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 14:33:00 GMT

By Nina and Tim Zagat

Tim and Nina Zagat share their thoughts on the film.

So just how good is Meryl Streep as Julia Child in Julie & Julia, the Nora Ephron film that's had the food world salivating for months? Last Thursday we attended the movie's premiere in New York and we're happy to confirm that she's fantastic. We knew Julia over the years and Streep captured her in every nuance – so much so that from now on, people are likely to remember Streep playing Julia as the real Julia. Ephron's masterly touch with actors no doubt deserves some of the credit as well.

We had no particular expectations for Amy Adams, whose role was to re-create a person neither of us had ever met. But she was excellent as the 30-year-old Julie Powell, who cooked every recipe in Mastering the Art of French Cooking in one year and detailed her experiences in a blog. Seeing Julie and her husband was like a flashback to ourselves at the same age, becoming more and more interested in food. As a break from studying law, we found the same satisfaction in cooking and eating Julia's recipes, though we certainly got through far fewer of them than the determined Powell did.

In terms of production values, Julie & Julia is about as good as it gets. The scenes from Julia's life in the late '40s and thereafter – particularly in Paris, as she discovered French food and learned to cook at Le Cordon Bleu – were so well done that we felt transported back to those days. Having lived in Paris a few decades later and eaten more than our fair share of restaurant meals there – not to mention Nina's time spent at Le Cordon Bleu (more on that in a minute) – the movie evoked many wonderful memories. The scenes with Julie in her Queens apartment were also realistic but, needless to say, nowhere near as romantic.

Meryl Streep in Julie & Julia

Photo: copyright Columbia Pictures

When it comes to storyline, however, the film falls a bit flat. Perhaps moviegoers who aren't already familiar with Julia Child's life will get a kick out of seeing it on screen. But as for Julie's life, watching somebody cook 500-plus recipes in a single year just isn't that dramatic. Yes, it's interesting to see how a love of food and cooking transformed the lives of both protagonists – something we can very much identify with, since it transformed ours as well – but it isn't compelling enough to hold the film together.

But back to Le Cordon Bleu, where Nina took many classes during our two years working in Paris. We were particularly struck by the film's portrayal of Madame Brassart, the school's longtime owner and director. Basically, the film portrayed her through Julia's eyes, and Julia clearly disliked Brassart – not surprising, since she flunked Julia on her first exam.

Having known both women, we can safely say that it's hard to imagine two less compatible people. Julia was tall and assertive with a loud, braying voice in English – one can only imagine what she sounded like in French. Madame Brassart, in contrast, was petite, elegant and aristocratic, and spoke impeccable French and English, as well as several other languages. She also was an important figure in culinary education, having successfully led Le Cordon Bleu from the late '40s through 1985. As her niece, the distinguished ceramicist Martine Vermeulen, of Feu-Follet Pottery, reminded us just last night, she had the clearest skin and the most piercing blue eyes – "You could never put anything over on her, not with those eyes."

From our point of view, Madame Brassart was much more sympathetic than portrayed in the film – she had a great sense of humor and could be very funny in an understated way ("Laughter was de rigueur with her," her niece said) – and her achievements as a culinary educator, much like Julia's, are indisputable. Maybe the French equivalent of Nora Ephron, if you can imagine such a thing, will make a movie about her. Nobody can match Meryl Streep, of course. But in an ideal world, we'd cast Leslie Caron.

This article also appears on The Atlantic's website.

Dish from the Julie & Julia Premiere

BuzzEditor — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 17:26:00 GMT

Meryl Streep in Julie & Julia

Photo: copyright Columbia Pictures

The stars were out last week for New York City's red-carpet premiere of Julie & Julia, opening this Friday, August 7. Zagat Buzz was also there, and we scored some tasty quips from the likes of chef Anthony Bourdain, restaurateur Drew Nieporent (Corton, Nobu), our own Tim and Nina Zagat, and writer Julie Powell, the real-life “Julie” of the film. To see photos from the event, click on the names.

Anthony Bourdain

Zagat Buzz: What do you think TV chefs today could learn from watching reruns of The French Chef?

Anthony Bourdain: Cooking skills. They could actually learn how to cook. And humility. A desire to communicate by raising people up and making them better, rather than just making them feel better about themselves. Julia made everyone want to be better and cook better, and she would convince them that they could. We need more of that.

ZB: How did she influence you as a chef?

AB: As a human being I think she influenced people who never knew her name, never saw her show and never read her books. We all eat better today because of her. The entire industry as we know it, and the celebrity chef industry...all of that is due to her. I was influenced by Mastering the Art of French Cooking. It was on my mom’s refrigerator when I was a little kid. It influenced the way I grew up and my entire value system.

ZB: Who do you think should play James Beard in his biopic?

AB: I don’t want to see that biopic. I think they should turn the Beard House into a methadone clinic. You know, something useful.

Drew Nieporent

ZB: How has Julia Child affected your career as a restaurateur?

Drew Nieporent: I used to come home from grade school and watch [in his best falsetto] Julia Child and The Galloping Gourmet, so she was part of the reason I got into the business in the first place.

ZB: Did Julia Child eat in any of your restaurants?

DN: She used to come into Montrachet and she came to Nobu. I was having lunch with her once at Nobu, and she reached over with her chopsticks for the sushi and she just froze. She was frozen for like 60 seconds, and I thought, oh my God, she’s going to die here at Nobu, but luckily she was alive, it was sleep apnea or something...True story.

Julie Powell

ZB: Which dish was the most challenging for you in Mastering the Art of French Cooking?

Julie Powell: There were different kinds of challenges. There were technical challenges like they show in the movie, where I bone a whole duck and stuff it with pâté and sew it back up – that was technically challenging and really exhilarating. The real challenges were slogging through stuff that you just know is not going to be good, like doing 10 aspic recipes and knowing they are all going to stink. It would take this enormous effort of will just to get up and do the next steps...I mean that was the part where I was like, “Why am I doing this again?”

ZB: What dishes did you feel like you really mastered?

JP: I’m pretty damn good at omelets. My beef bourguignon comes out very reliably now. I loved the baked cucumbers; I do that all the time.

ZB: What’s your favorite NYC restaurant at the moment?

JP: At the moment it’s Prune. I think it’s just good honest food. You can just tell that there’s no B.S. about Gabrielle Hamilton. Her attitude is, “I’m going to put food that interests me on the table, and you’re going to eat it.” And I love that because it’s anti-trendy and anti-mediocrity.

ZB: Where are you going to dine to celebrate the film release?

JP: My family and I are going to Sammy’s Roumanian, and pour lots of schmaltz.

Tim and Nina Zagat

ZB: I understand you have some great Julia Child memories.

Tim Zagat: We knew her for a long time.

ZB: Did she contribute to the early surveys?

TZ: She liked what we were doing, and of course we loved hearing that from her.

Nina Zagat: She also gave us a lot of ideas on places to include.

TZ: She traveled a lot, and she always found places that we had never heard of.

ZB: What do you think is the most inspiring thing about her life story?

TZ: I think she took fear out of the American cook. People felt that if she could cook, they could. She would do something like drop an entire leg of lamb on the floor, brush it off and say things like, ‘The germs will be killed by the stove.’ That made people feel relaxed.

NZ: The point about cooking is to be relaxed and for it to be fun.

ZB: Who would you like to see play James Beard in his biopic?

NZ: [Laughs] Someone very big!

–Kathleen Squires

Gluten-Free Menus on the Rise

BuzzEditor — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 20:44:00 GMT

More and more restaurants are offering gluten-free dishes.

When Tom Kaplan, owner of Hugo’s in Los Angeles, had a customer get sick after eating his white fish piccata, the seafood wasn’t to blame. It was the gluten in the bread-crumb coating that set off a week-long bout of intestinal distress in the customer, who suffers from a genetically inherited, autoimmune disorder known as celiac disease.

Gluten is a protein found in wheat, rye and barley. It’s what gives bread its elasticity and structure. When people with celiac ingest gluten, it sets off an immune system response, which damages the villi of the small intestine. Once thought to be extremely rare, celiac is now believed to affect almost 3 million Americans, although up to 97% are undiagnosed. Eventually, it can lead to nutritional deficiencies, osteoporosis or gastrointestinal cancers. The disorder has no cure or treatment other than the elimination of gluten from the diet.

Gluten is ubiquitous in American cuisine – wheat flour is used as a thickener in sauces, a coating on meats and as an additive in soy sauce, salad dressings and even ketchup – and few restaurateurs have worked to offer alternatives on their menus.

But Kaplan is one of the happy exceptions: “The time seemed right to make a commitment to getting rid of all hidden glutens in our restaurant,” he recalls about his decision to develop an extensive, exclusively gluten-free menu at Hugo’s that includes french fries cooked in an uncontaminated fryer, and a variety of pancakes and desserts.

Vanessa Matlin, Director of Programming for the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness believes chefs shouldn’t view gluten-free cooking as a great challenge. “There are hundreds of ingredients that chefs can use in their dishes,” says Matlin. Her group provides training programs to help restaurants implement gluten-free practices in their kitchens, such as encouraging chefs to “store gluten-free ingredients above regular ingredients, use separate cutting boards and keep food prep areas clean.”

While restaurants that offer gluten-free options are usually conscious about avoiding contamination, in a hectic kitchen, things can happen. Someone who knows a thing or two about the risks this creates is Betty Alper, chef-owner of The Balanced Kitchen in Chicago, an entirely gluten-free, all-vegan restaurant (it’s currently doing catering and events only until it reopens in the eco-friendly business center Green Exchange this fall). A celiac herself, Alper says, “I’m really sensitive and always get sick when I eat out, so I don’t do it anymore."

A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY, Ms. Alper experiments with different flours and oils to find combinations that approximate the taste and consistency of conventional baked goods. Her greatest successes have come from using brown rice flour, tapioca starch and various nut flours: “I made graham crackers the other day using teff, and I also made funnel cakes.”

Restaurants that serve only gluten-free fare are paradise for celiacs. However, many eateries find it more practical to offer both a gluten-free and a wheat-intensive menu, to suit both celiac customers and their gluten-loving companions.

At the regional Italian restaurant Rialto in Cambridge, chef-owner Jody Adams says, “We plan the menu, so that all of the dishes will be adaptable in some way.” This includes ensuring that a dish contains no hidden glutens, and that any obvious ones (such as pasta or bread) can be easily omitted.

Meanwhile Opus in New York offers celiac diners a dozen pasta dishes made with corn-based penne or spaghetti, but non-celiacs can still order traditional, homemade pasta. Brothers Enzo and Guiseppe Lentini also serve an array of main plates, beers and desserts, half of which are gluten-free. “We do this for people who say they haven’t had a good pasta dish or a good cheesecake in years,” says Enzo.

– Liz Curry

The following Philadelphia restaurants either offer gluten-free menus (or celiac-friendly substitutes): Bliss, Cochon, JB Dawson’s, Memphis Taproom and Meritage.

American Dining's Service Deficit

BuzzEditor — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 21:28:00 GMT

By Nina and Tim Zagat

Building a better front of the house.

Tim and Nina Zagat share their thoughts on service deficiencies and how to remedy them.

Over the years that we've spent surveying hundreds of thousands of diners, one fact becomes clear: Service is *the* weak link in the restaurant industry. How do we know? Roughly 70% of all complaints we receive relate to service. Collectively, complaints about food prices, noise, crowding, smoking and even parking make up only 30%. Moreover, the average rating for food on our 30-point scale is usually two points higher than the average rating for service. Given the fact that identical people are voting, and that there are hundreds of thousands of them, this deficit is dramatic.

It's easy to complain, but how should the industry correct the problem? To start, it's necessary to understand that there are two elements of good service. The first is hospitality. If you're warmly received by a restaurant, starting with the reservationist, you'll automatically feel better. The most successful restaurants understand this, and make sure to fill their staffs with likeable people (I'm thinking of NYC's Danny Meyer, Chicago's Rich Melman, and the New Orleans Brennan family). One famous restaurateur we know says that he never hires anyone unless he thinks his wife would like them. The second element is professionalism, e.g. where to put the utensils, which side to serve from, and being able to explain what you're serving.

How to rectify this? It's helpful to look at the recent history of restaurants in the United States. 25 or 30 years ago there were very few middle-class Americans who wanted to become chefs, and there were hardly any professional culinary schools. Today there are over 100 culinary schools across the country producing thousands of bright young chefs each year. The public now perceives chefs as respected professionals–celebrities, even. Besides having a 24-hour TV channel devoted to cooking, there are food shows focusing on chefs on the major networks and myriad cable stations. No wonder chefs are seen as stars. But when was the last time you saw a show that focused on waiters or maitre d's, and how many schools pride themselves on teaching service skills?

Our suggestion is that we create front-of-the-house divisions at every culinary school in the country. These schools would elevate the professionalism and the respectability of service in the hospitality industry. They would save restaurants the enormous cost of training wait staff from scratch and reduce the high turnover most restaurants face. In addition, the schools should adopt many of the restaurant management courses that are already in the curriculum for chefs.

In light of the Obama administration's focus on creating jobs and providing necessary education for those careers, I can't think of a more useful program to support. It wouldn't just help the restaurant business. It could help many other "service" industries–retail alone is a big, and struggling, sector. (Just think of the prices you might be willing to pay if your gas-station attendant were polite and actually serviced your car.)

Bear in mind the number of restaurant jobs is vast–well into the millions–and there is a restaurant around almost every corner that needs well-trained help. The only thing they need to remember is that likeability should be a preliminary requirement for the job; after all, we're talking about hospitality.

This article also appears on The Atlantic's website.

Chewing the Fat With Stanley Lobel

BuzzEditor — Thu, 21 May 2009 14:28:00 GMT

Stanley Lobel

Photo: courtesy of Lobel's Prime Meats

Renowned butcher Stanley Lobel, whose family has been in the industry for five generations, knows meat. As co-owner and operator of the New York institution Lobel's Prime Meats, and co-author of the recently published Lobel’s Meat Bible, he is one of the most trusted authorities on the subject, with his store attracting a loyal following among celebrities, politicians and devoted foodies alike. Having already illustrated that steak is still prime, we spoke to Lobel about why it deserves to be, and asked him to share some trade secrets and opinions on current trends.

Zagat Buzz: What makes for a good steak?

Stanley Lobel: A really great steak is not very soft. A really great steak has a combination of softness and flavor – flavor is critical. Cook it with a little kosher salt, olive oil and that’s it.

ZB: So when you want steak, where do you go?

SL: To my house. Although I do have one restaurant that allows me to bring my own, the only catch is that I’ve got to bring one for the owner!

ZB: How are your clients dealing with the recession?

SL: I thank god I’ve felt nothing in terms of the recession. We’re very fortunate. I guess maybe our clients are just well-heeled, and I think a lot of them would rather have a good steak rather than a good stock...I know the way I feel – when I want something, and I figure how much money I’ve lost, I’ve got to be crazy not to have what I want. If I wait, I may not be here, or I may not want it anymore!

ZB: Many restaurants seem to be hosting whole animal roasts. What's your opinion of this trend?

SL: The whole purpose of cooking that way is because of economics. It’s much more reasonable to cook larger sides of beef with slow cooking, which enables the meat to become soft and tender...I think once the average person gets that taste, whole roasts are here to stay.

ZB: Is there a cut of meat from the past you’d like to see more of on modern menus?

SL: The old-fashioned pot roast is a cut of meat that comes from the first cut chuck. It has enormous flavor, and is not being used in restaurants at all. The average cut they use now is bottom round, eye round, top round and brisket – those are the normal cuts and are flavorless. But when you take this specific cut that I’m talking about and pot it, it’s not good – it’s magnificent.

ZB: And there’s no place where can you order such a thing?

SL: Nope. One of the biggest problems I find with the food industry today is that you can take any piece of meat and mask it, and make it look good and make it taste good. But when you start with the right piece of meat, it doesn’t just taste good, it tastes incredibly good, like something you’ve never eaten before.

ZB: What cuts of meat would you recommend to convert a vegetarian to meat?

SL: I’d have them over to my house, and I’d barbecue. Grilled steak is by far the best. It’d be either a rib steak, which is extremely flavorful, or a hanger steak, which is also incredibly flavorful and extremely juicy.

ZB: Conversely, what would you suggest for a person who feels they’ve had it all?

SL: Rabbi, priest? [Laughs.] For the person who wants to be a connoisseur, I’d have to go with a filet, a prime grilled filet. Filet is soft, normally speaking, and doesn’t have the flavor that a real steak has, but when you use a prime filet, it has the combination of the flavor and the softness, and makes an incredible steak. But it must be prime.

ZB: How do you feel about the public being more involved in finding out where they get their meat?

SL: I think it’s incredibly important. With what we do, everything comes from a special farm that produces for us. But unfortunately not everyone has the ability to get that kind of product. There’s a lot to be done in that area.

ZB: What’s one thing that we can improve on when purchasing meat for home preparation? Any widespread mistakes?

SL: If I go into a supermarket, or go into a Costco, Sam’s Club or a BJ’s, I have a tendency to watch what people do and how they buy. And what they look for is bright red meat, and it just surprises me how they don’t understand that meat needs graining – those little flecks of fat in the meat to make it soft, which is not the fat culprit. The fat culprit is fat that’s on the outside, not the fat that’s in the inside. So the most [common] mistake that people make is not knowing what they’re buying. But then again, that’s why we just came out with our new book, Lobel’s Meat Bible.

ZB: For your money, what’s a good cut of meat to get?

SL: If I was a consumer and needed to cut back, the way I’d cut back would be in quantity, not quality. I’d rather have one steak once a week, and have the best, than a lot of steak during the week that’s just food going down your stomach. That would be my preference, no two ways about it!

– Jacqueline Wasilczyk

Steak Still Prime

BuzzEditor — Fri, 08 May 2009 15:43:00 GMT

By Beth Landman

In a struggling economy, steak continues to be a safe bet.

It’s a Thursday evening at Midtown Manhattan’s Benjamin Steak House not long ago, but it almost feels like early last year, before the economic crisis hit with full force. Tables are full and waiters are hustling to deliver mammoth grilled chops and oversized lobsters. “We are doing better than last year,” maintains owner Ben Prelvukaj. “Our customers are 75% regulars.”

Blocks away at Sparks there’s a wait for tables, and at Del Frisco’s, it’s a struggle to get close to the bar. You’d think that in these iffy financial times, meals at costly meat meccas would be among the first luxuries to be cut. But while many steakhouses are no doubt hurting, plenty of diners – and restaurateurs – remain bullish on the genre.

“Steakhouses are the gold of the restaurant business – a safe place to park your money,” says food and restaurant consultant Clark Wolf. “In this economy, people want to know that they are getting something real and restaurateurs want security.”

“You don’t want to open a molecular cuisine place now, but I would open a steakhouse again in another city, even in this climate,” says chef Alfred Portale of NYC’s Gotham Bar & Grill, who opened his first steer palace, Gotham Steak, at the Fontainebleau in Miami late last year. “It’s a much simpler concept than what I do in New York, and you can’t mess with it too much,” he observes.

Indeed, the steakhouse formula is something of a sacred cow, and it can be risky to toy with it – as Jean-Georges Vongerichten learned when he opened V in NYC’s Time Warner Center back in 2004. Its deconstructed dishes and playful variations on the classics failed to wow and Vongerichten closed it after a brief run. “I live and learn,” says the über-chef, who notes that “two things you can’t retouch are steakhouses and Chinese food” (he closed 66, his modern take on Chinese, in 2007).

Jean-Georges Vongerichten

But the V experience hardly soured Vongerichten on steakhouses. His classic-style Prime in Las Vegas has fared much better; business there, he says, has declined only 1% this year. He also recently launched J&G, a new line of traditional steakhouses. The first opened in Scottsdale’s The Phoenician Hotel last year; another is slated for Washington, DC, this summer, with more to follow. “Nobody wants to test somebody’s genius at this point. We are trying to survive, and steakhouses are the way to go.”

The formula has several advantages for restaurateurs. The menu is sure to be a crowd-pleaser and labor costs are low. “There is no pressure to find a name chef, and if the chef leaves, customers aren’t concerned,” says Stephen Starr, who owns Barclay Prime in Philadelphia and added Butcher & Singer last year.

“We were already far along with Butcher & Singer when the bottom fell out, so we had no choice but to open, and luckily, right now it’s the hottest thing in Philly,” he boasts. Though Barclay Prime has dropped off a bit, Starr says he would open another steakhouse now, in New York, Miami or Washington, DC. “Everyone is hurting, but you aren’t taking much of a risk putting a New York strip into the broiler.”

Nor are customers taking much of a risk that they’ll look out of touch with the economy – or at least that’s how restaurateur Myles Chefetz sees it. “If you were dining on foie gras and caviar, it might be considered bad taste right now, but emotionally, steakhouses don’t feel like excess, even though you might be spending $60 to $80 on one piece of meat,” says Chefetz, whose Prime One Twelve in Miami did $19 million in sales last year.

Still, while volume at some chophouses may be steady, “are customers spending the same? No,” observes Tony Fortuna, an owner of trendy Manhattan steak spot T-Bar. And Fortuna, like others, is finding ways to adapt.

“We used to serve an 8-oz. burger only at the bar; now we’ve added it to the regular menu and broadened the concept to include lamb and turkey burgers,” he says. “There is a lot more sharing, and we are featuring 15 wines by the glass.”

In March, the Morton’s steakhouse chain introduced “power hours” (4:30–6:30 and 9 PM on) at most locations, featuring $6 plates including mini prime cheeseburgers. William Jack Degel, owner of three Uncle Jack's steakhouses in NYC (with two more in the works for Roslyn, Long Island, and Atlantic City), is offering enticements such as wine tastings and prix fixe deals. “Now you can’t wait for customers to walk in; you really have to drive the business,” he explains.

Slashing wine prices is another tactic. “People still want the great cuts of meat, but they are trying to scale down the size of their checks, so we reduced our high-end wines tremendously, which has resulted in a real uptick,” says Stephen Hanson, whose B.R. Guest Restaurants owns Primehouse in Manhattan.

Diners are also going for smaller steaks, like the half-cut options on the menu at Miami hot spot Meat Market, which opened last fall. “It’s not just about devouring massive pieces of meat,” says chef Sean Brasel. “In fact there are some nights we sell more fish.”

And other restaurants have simply reduced the size of their standard portions. “In some places the classic 16-oz. cut of beef has shrunk to 12-oz.; they just serve it on a smaller plate,” says Andrew Silverman, whose Flatiron Restaurant Group owns Steak Frites and the recently opened Union Prime in NYC. But, he adds, “the key is the wine and the sides. Diners may be ordering less expensive wines, but they are still ordering them, and they love all those side dishes. Steakhouses will never go out of style.”

Check out the list of Philly's Top Steakhouses.

The Zagats' Atlantic Adventure

BuzzEditor — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 15:28:00 GMT

Tim and Nina Zagat

The Atlantic launched its impressive Food Channel last week, and today senior editor Corby Kummer posted a gracious welcome to two of its contributors, our very own Tim and Nina Zagat. You can read their first article – about how the industry will weather the recession – right here.

Vintage Wraps: Le Bernardin

BuzzEditor — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 21:23:00 GMT

Eric Ripert

Photo: Nigel Parry

Last week, Le Bernardin hosted its candlelit Vintage Dinner in New York for a packed house eager to enjoy classic dishes and cabaret. The Buzz caught up with chef Eric Ripert in DC to talk about the dinner, the economy and the Légion d'honneur he was recently awarded by the French government.

Zagat Buzz: Congratulations on receiving France’s Légion d'honneur. Do you see a difference between the recognition that the French give their chefs and the celebrity status that some achieve in the U.S.?

Eric Ripert: Not really, in that both countries show a respect for chefs. But in the U.S. there is a different approach. In France, even today, chefs remain in the kitchen. Here, they are running multiple operations. There are only two chefs in France that would be considered “celebrity chefs” [in the American sense] – Alain Ducasse and Joël Robuchon.

ZB: Speaking of chefs having diverse roles, can you give us a preview of your upcoming PBS television show, Avec Eric, that will be shown next fall? We understand that you filmed in Italy, Northern California and New York.

ER: We visited interesting people in Italy and California – farmers, wine makers, chefs who are really connected to the source of the foods they serve by growing food in their own garden. Every show has three segments. Each episode starts behind the scenes at Le Bernardin. Then we travel for inspiration. And finally, I return to my kitchen to cook something stimulated by the tour.

ZB: You are also an author – tell us about your recent book.

ER: This is different from other cookbooks. It is geared to encourage people to cook at home, simply, with delicious products.

ZB: Far from such simple cooking, you recently hosted a Vintage Dinner at Le Bernardin featuring an elegant 19th-century menu. Did you have a good time?

ER: It was phenomenal. The men were dressed up in black tie; the women inspired by haute couture. Dinner was served by candlelight only. What really made the evening special was the re-created Victorian cabaret that followed the meal.

ZB: Nineteenth-century banquet food has a reputation for being rich and heavy – not like Le Bernardin’s usual cooking – did you lighten the recipes?

ER: We selected dishes that would provide a mix of light and rich courses. For example, we did a whole striped bass poached with a champagne sauce, followed by a wild hare à la royale – a very traditional but heavy preparation.

ZB: What other eras would you like to try?

ER: Perhaps a Renaissance dinner. It would be interesting to go back to 500 years ago and see what delicious food they were eating. Indeed, it might be interesting to do a different dinner for each century – and even project into the future.

ZB: How are your restaurants responding to the economy? Your Westend Bistro [in DC] now serves a family-style Sunday Supper – a starter and entree for $28 per person.

ER: We thought the Sunday Supper would encourage people to go out that night, and that it would be different and fun. But our restaurants won’t compromise on the quality of the product so they will keep prices where they are. People still want to eat well and to celebrate with good food and service. I am thrilled that Westend Bistro is busy.

ZB: Recently Citronelle’s sommelier Mark Slater left to help [Ray’s the Steaks] develop a wine list featuring high-quality wines at accessible prices – with possible carafe, as well as by-the-glass, service. This move highlighted consumers' concerns about the cost of wine at high-end and even middle-level restaurants. What are your restaurants doing to make good wine more accessible to diners?

ER: Of course it is possible to drink good wine for little money – but you need knowledge or good advice to help you choose. Wines by the glass can be good value if you want to drink a single serving – it's a way to taste an exceptional wine. And, really, when you consider the effort that it takes to make a good wine – so much work and passion – they are great values. And exceptional [wines] that cost lots of money are still being sold. Clients are more discreet than in the past, but they still want to enjoy them.

– Olga Boikess

Chef Chat With Carla

BuzzEditor — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 15:24:00 GMT

Carla Hall whips up some love on Top Chef.

Photo: courtesy of Bravo

Top Chef's Carla Hall surprised many viewers by coming from behind to land a spot in the show's finale, which airs tomorrow night on Bravo. Recently, she chatted with the Buzz about her secret weapon – love – and her plans for the future.

Zagat Buzz: Let’s talk about “love” in the kitchen. Does it really matter?

Carla Hall: Absolutely. Attitude makes a huge difference. When you put your heart into something, it’s that little special thing that makes a huge difference. Between cooking that is all technique and no heart, cooking with heart will win hands down. Catering is hard work – you’re standing for 18-hour days – so you have to want to make people happy. That passion shows through in the food. Love translates to beautiful food.

ZB: As a cooking teacher you talk about layering flavors. Was that a technique you used on the show?

CH: [For the oyster and potato stew in the Mardi Gras episode] I started with a base and then started layering. I put in a bay leaf and then took it out, then added some lemon zest for acidity. It’s important to balance all those flavors. That’s what I am thinking about when I cook. What will give me some acid? Some sweetness? When I’m teaching a class, I try to empower people to learn for themselves how to balance a dish to suit their own taste buds.

ZB: Let’s talk about the DC restaurant scene.

CH: It’s exciting and it’s growing. There are all these new places on 14th Street NW. Diners are growing more sophisticated and willing to try new things. There is so much cooking talent in DC, and they are finding support for second and third ventures like Jamie Leeds’ CommonWealth and Robert Wiedmaier’s Brabo.

ZB: Do you want to have your own restaurant?

CH: No, I don’t want to start a restaurant. But, I’d like a kitchen of my own, with a chef’s table (to cook for people) and a place to hold cooking classes. And I’d like to retail the sweet and savory cookies that we make for catering customers.

ZB: Do you see yourself as a late-bloomer?

CH: I didn’t want to be 40 and say, ‘I wish I had.’ Still, I haven’t tried being a race-car driver...yet. I want to do things that make me want to get up in the morning. Success for me is loving what I do, and having people enjoy that thing.

– Olga Boikess

Know Your Bubbly

BuzzEditor — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 17:48:00 GMT

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, it's a good time to talk about champagne, an essential accompaniment for any festive meal. James Hayes, associate beverage director for the Thomas Keller Restaurant Group (and former head sommelier at New York City's Per Se), chatted with the Buzz about the basics of bubbly.

Zagat Buzz: How did the tradition of drinking champagne to celebrate special occasions get started?

James Hayes: Champagne has always been associated with both royalty and luxury, and for good reason. Reims, in the heart of Champagne, houses a famous cathedral where the kings of France throughout history were crowned. Quite obviously they served the wines of the region at the coronation celebrations, giving a start to champagne’s reputation as a wine of kings around the world.

ZB: What temperature do you recommend people serve champagne at?

JH: Temperature is a very important consideration for all wines and champagnes that is often overlooked. Frequently, I find that some restaurants serve whites too cold and reds too warm – it can really do a disservice to a great bottle. For me champagne is, in most cases, best served cold – about 43–45 degrees. There are certainly exceptions to that approach: some top Tête de Cuvée champagnes and older vintage champagnes will show their best closer to about 52 degrees. At the end of the day, your personal preference is really the only thing that matters.

ZB: Does the type of stemware used actually make a difference?

JH: The type of stemware does make a difference. The safe play is always a traditional flute, but some champagnes benefit from a larger glass. Jacques Selosse is a champagne producer whose wines are so rich they taste much better in a Chardonnay-style glass. The bigger bowl gives them a chance to breathe and open up – they become much more complex. One consideration to remember is the bubbles. If you like your champagne very bubbly, then stick with a flute – the bigger the glass you use, the faster the carbonation will disappear.

ZB: What champagnes do you recommend for celebrating a special occasion?

JH: Unfortunately, good champagne is always going to be fairly expensive. For the best values, look to the “multi-vintage” or “non-vintage” blends – these are champagnes that contain wines from a few different years, and typically are produced to showcase a producer’s “house-style.” One of the best values out there is a small producer named Aubry – their multi-vintage brut can typically be had off a restaurant wine list for under $100, which for a top-quality bottle is a good deal.

James Hayes

Photo: courtesy of Per Se

In the midrange, you can step up to vintage-dated champagnes – wines that come from a single year. One of my favorites year in and year out is Pol Roger – they make very pretty, clean and pure champagnes that are great at the start of a meal.

If you are looking for a super-special bottle of champagne, there is certainly no shortage of choices. Practically every producer has a Tête de Cuvée or top bottling of champagne in their lineup. For Moët & Chandon, it is Dom Perignon, for Louis Roederer it is Cristal. All the most famous and luxurious champagnes out there fit into this category and they are always very expensive. Everyone has a favorite – mine is Krug’s Clos du Mesnil, a single-vineyard champagne produced from 100% Chardonnay. For me there is no champagne more delicious and more elegant.

ZB: With prosecco becoming more popular, do you feel people are becoming less selective about drinking “pure” champagne?

JH: Nothing will ever replace true champagne – the soil and climate in [the Champagne] region is simply more perfect than anywhere else for producing great sparkling wine. Other interpretations from around the globe offer a fun, and less expensive, alternative, but most simply do not come close to matching the elegance and complexity found in a great bottle of champagne.

ZB: How long can you hold onto an average bottle of champagne before it turns?

JH: It depends on the wine and how you store it – some top champagnes can last for 50 years or longer if cellared perfectly. Most multi-vintage champagnes are ready to drink when you get them. I wouldn’t recommend keeping a bottle of one of those around for more than a couple years.

ZB: What desserts do you recommend pairing with champagne?

JH: Look for similar flavors in your wine and on your plate – for young white champagnes, apple or stone fruit tarts and pastries work great. For rosé champagnes, lighter berry desserts are perfect. For older champagnes, nut- and caramel-based desserts are a nice match. One big no-no is any kind of chocolate – I have found it to be a dreadful pairing with white champagnes especially.

ZB: Any tips for popping the cork without breaking a lightbulb?

JH: Practice, practice, practice – opening a bottle of champagne perfectly is easier said than done. Try your best to ease the cork out slowly, trying for a “hiss” instead of a “pop.”

Shindler's Dish: Aye Cuy-rumba!

BuzzEditor — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 21:21:00 GMT

Cuy, otherwise known as your childhood pet.

photo: Merri Howard

In Lima, Peru, local foodies ecstatically describe the wonders of the Nouvelle Andean cuisine of local culinary powerhouse Gastón Acurio (who recently opened a restaurant in San Francisco), the Italian cooking of Ugo and Sandra Plevasani, and the wonders of the Central Market, where on any given day a sizable portion of the estimated 3,000 species of local fish can be found for sale.

By contrast, in Cusco – an hour away by plane, and 12,000 feet higher – what the local eaters speak of, with near-religious fervor, is cuy (pronounced "coo-wee"), otherwise known as the guinea pig. Peruvians eat an estimated 65 million of the rodents a year, and it's a good guess that the majority is eaten in the countryside outside of Lima.

Should anyone have doubts about the obsession Peruvians have for guinea pig, spend a moment studying the mural depicting the Last Supper in Cusco's Plaza de Armas – look carefully, and you'll discover that Jesus and his disciples are dining on platters of guinea pig. (I've checked through my New Testament, and feel fairly sure that no mention is made of guinea pig being served as the main course. Or as a side course.)

On a recent trip to Peru, I had eaten my fill of ceviche in Lima – it was clearly time to give guinea pig a try in Cusco. At a small, second-story cafe called A Mi Manera, hidden in the back of a shopping complex, while my wife and 10-year-old daughter chewed on alpaca steak and pasta, I went for the cuy. Which arrived in a state of…"cuy-ness" that left us all a bit breathless. And not just because we were two miles up.

Unfortunately, my Spanish isn't quite good enough for me to have noticed that the guinea pig was served "qua" – roasted, and served whole, with the head on one end, the tail bud on the other and, in between, the four legs sticking up in the air. It looked like a cartoon rodent that's been bopped on the head – all that was missing were Xs for eyes. There was no denying the guinea pig-ness of the guinea pig, no mistaking it for, say, chicken or even rabbit.

I looked at it for a while, unsure how to dive in. And my server, noticing my confusion, offered to take it to the kitchen to prepare it further. Which sounded like a great idea, until it came back dismembered – the head and feet were separated from the corpus, which itself had been cut into six parts. This did not make it look any better. Nor did it help when my waiter pointed out that the best part was the head – the brains, he told me, were particularly succulent. Oh.

So, how was it? Well, I'm not going to say it tasted like chicken. Nor am I going to say it was a cross between gerbil and hamster, with a hint of ferret. Instead, it was a boney thing, with a crispy skin that was decently porkish, and a smattering of meat within that was notable for its greasiness. I passed on the head, though I did annoy my wife by pretending that the head was speaking ("Eat me! Eat me!"). It gave me bragging rights as well – probably for the rest of my life. But unlike much of what I experienced in Peru, I don't dream of my next cuy. As the old pun goes, "One egg is an oeuf."

– Merrill Shindler, Zagat Editor, LA

Best of the Buzz, 2008 Edition

BuzzEditor — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 15:45:00 GMT

The Buzz is on break until the new year.

Chicago deep-dish pizza

photo: Emily Capo

From the historic U.S. election to the roller-coaster world economy, calorie counts to baconnaise, 2008 has been a tumultuous year. Here’s a look at some of the things we were Buzzing about over the last 12 months:

how to survive next year's inauguration
the best of Chicago's deep-dish pizza
12 must-see Manhattan murals
a trip to el Bulli
budget-friendly foodie staycations
behind the scenes at Top Chef
chatting with Joël Robuchon
the world of sustainable seafood
secrets of New York's sushi chefs
the ins and outs of shochu and sake
New York restaurants that weren't and never will be
how a restaurant menu is designed
Zagat turned 30

And that's just a sip of the soup! Here's hoping that 2009 will be just as exciting.