French Food and Cooking

Back Forty West Hosts a Cassoulet Festival Tonight, and More Great Events

Monday, February 25 Cassoulet Festival at Back Forty West Peter Hoffman will hold the annual Cassoulet Festival at Soho's Back Forty West starting at 6:30 p.m. Alex Raij of Txikito, Mike Laarhoven of Back Forty, Shanna Pacifico of Back Forty West, Nick Anderer or Maialino, and Tom Mylan of the Meat ... More >>

Noho's Le Philosophe Flourishes in Ambiguity

Sartre eats

5 Don't-Miss Dishes From Le Philosophe

Le Philosophe's take on steak frites This week, Counter Culture crawls into Le Philosophe, a new French bistro on Bond Street not far from the Village Voice offices on Cooper Square. The menu combines bistro commonplaces, rarely so well executed, along with adapted versions of more ambitious Frenc ... More >>

Q&A: Master Chef Contestant Suzy Singh on Being An Asian-American Female Chef, Part 1

Suzy Singh has an unlikely culinary background. The Punjabi-Sikh chef was a neural engineer before she traded her lab coat for a chef's apron and enrolled in Le Cordon Bleu, Chicago. Before she completed her studies, Fox TV's Master Chef picked her up for its second season. Shortly after the nation ... More >>

What's Happening This Week: Le Taste of France, East River Moon Festival

Thursday, September 27 Trader Joe's Protest. Demanding "meat without drugs," Consumers Union and other advocacy groups will hold a press conference/action outside of Trader Joe's Union Square store on Thursday, September 27 from 11 am to noon. They will deliver over half a million petition signature ... More >>

YOU & JULIA

A tasty 100th birthday party

It's French Country–Bistro Fare at Calliope

L'East Village rustic

Dan Aykroyd's Side-Splitting Send-Up of Julia Child on SNL (Caution: Gore)

On December 9, 1978, 17 years after Mastering the Art of French Cooking was published, and after Julia Child had become a beloved household name, Dan Aykroyd donned a wig and did a parody of her hit show, The French Chef. Now, in anticipation of the Julia Child centenary next month, and the publicat ... More >>

Jacques Pépin Reveals His Thanksgiving Turkey Secrets: Interview Part 2

Photo courtesy Jacques PépinJacques Pépin steams his Thanksgiving turkey, meaning you should, too​Yesterday we chatted with Jacques Pepin about his new book, Essential Pepin, an impressive collection of more than 700 of his favorite recipes. Today, he explains why chefs must master technique ... More >>

Jacques Pépin on Writing Essential Pepin and What Advice He Gives to Aspiring Chefs

Photo courtesy Jacques PépinJacques Pépin's motto: Cook because you love it.​Simply put, Jacques Pépin is a culinary living legend. Having begun his career at age 13, he worked in such esteemed restaurants as the Plaza-Athénée in Paris and Le Pavillion in New York before heading up resear ... More >>

Julia Child Now Available on iPad; Hunger Costs the U.S. Billions Annually

The e-book version of Julia Child's seminal Mastering the Art of French Cooking was released for the iPad this week. [NY Times] The cost of hunger in the U.S. was $167.5 billion last year, due in large part to the recession and slow recovery. [BusinessWeek] Cheese geeks still love talking about af ... More >>

Our 10 Best Hotel Restaurants

Robert SietsemaHead to the Trilby for a calm brunch and nosh on these poached eggs and corned beef hash​In recent years, hotel restaurants have gone from being spots for humdrum steak dinners to some of the most exciting dining destinations around, enticing locals as well as guests to pull up ... More >>

Alex Alejandro of El Parador Café Explains the Parallels Between Using Ramps and Having a Good Sex Life

Paul Bocuse Named 'Chef of the Century'

Paul Bocuse​The Culinary Institute of American has named Paul Bocuse, a/k/a the father of nouvelle cuisine, the "chef of the century."

Goat Town Frenches Us in the East Village

Inspired by its time in Brooklyn, the bistro returns to Manhattan

Out With the Old and In With the New: Nicolas Cantrel Dishes on Why Bagatelle Shuttered and is Now Beaumarchais

Photo courtesy Nicolas Cantrel ​For some people, Sunday afternoon in the Meatpacking district means one thing: a raucously boozy brunch (complete with dancing on the banquettes) at Bagatelle (if you've never been, here's a recap). So it might come as a surprise that the restaurant quietly shu ... More >>

L'Ecole to Create a Bar Menu, Free Drinks for FitR Readers

hellonewyorkcity.com​L'Ecole, the restaurant of the French Culinary Institute, is launching a bar menu starting today, serving up French-inspired classics like a Gruyère bacon burger with bone marrow béarnaise, a charcuterie plate, and cavatelli with rock shrimp. But better yet ... More >>

Savoy Will Start Serving a Ton of Cassoulet Next Week

​On the heels of last weekend's Cassoulet Cook-Off comes the welcome news that more is on the way, courtesy of Savoy.

Our 10 Best NYC Restaurants of the Last Two Centuries

Delmonico's as it looks today. The columns on either side of the door are said to come from Pompeii.​The modern restaurant as we know it was invented in 1831 south of Wall Street at Delmonico's, based on Swiss and French models. The previous sort of establishment was usually a hotel dining roo ... More >>

Dorie Greenspan Discusses Around My French Table and Why She Got Fired From Her Early Jobs

Alan RichardsonBe like Dorie Greenspan and fear not if you fuss with frosting.​ Dorie Greenspan is the ultimate baking guru, having written classics like Baking: From My Home to Yours and Paris Sweets. And now she shows readers her savory side with her new cookbook, Around My French Table. S ... More >>

The French Culinary Institute Expands to California - and May Go International

​Looks like the Le Fooding organizers weren't the only ones with bi-coastal domination on their minds: the International Culinary Center - better known in these parts as the French Culinary Institute - is expanding to California.

What's Happening This Week: Beery Dinners, Bouillabaisse Banter

As you may know, our weekly dining and drinking newsletter features all the coolest epicurean events in the city. Sign up for it here! Victory Beer Dinner Colicchio & Sons Tuesday, September 28t at 7:30 p.m. In honor of NYC Craft Beer Week, Colicchio & Sons will host a beery pairing dinner with Dow ... More >>

Where Should I Go for an Old-Fashioned French Meal That's Not Too Expensive?

Robert Tréboux, owner of Le Veau D'or​ Welcome to this week's installment of Ask the Critics. Rob wrote in to ask: Where can I get an old-fashioned French meal without it costing me an arm and a leg? Preferably in Manhattan, but I'm willing to travel.

The Culinary Historians of New York Show the Big Apple What It's Biting

Eighteenth-century fish, as portrayed by Luis Melendez.​Gourmands looking to bone up on their food history should check out the Culinary Historians of New York, a nonprofit organization founded in 1985 with the aim of furthering people's knowledge about the historical and sociological signific ... More >>

Colicchio, Boulud, White, Humm Big Winners in Last Night's Beard Awards

​Pomp, circumstance, product placement, and varying levels of inebriation all converged at Avery Fisher Hall last night for the 2010 James Beard Foundation Awards. Many white men were awarded large gold pendants that dangled from green sashes. It was a particularly good night for New York, wit ... More >>

The Rent Parties of 2010

Now on the Upper West Side and featuring French cuisine, but the jazz-loving intimacy remains

There's Going to be Another Julia Child Book

Time to stir up more publishing profits!​Julie Child is set to get some more love on the printed page: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has just announced it will publish As Always, Julia: The Letters of Julia Child and Avis DeVoto on Dec. 1. As the Times reports, the book will comprise more than a d ... More >>

French It Up This Weekend: Champagne and Cassoulet to Warm and Uplift You

Get chaud with cassoulet.​Savoy will host its second Annual Cassoulet Feast this Saturday. Chefs from six different restaurants -- Ryan Tate and Peter Hoffman of Savoy, Marc Meyer of Cookshop, Galen Zamarra of Mas (Farmhouse), Michael Anthony of Gramercy Tavern, Cyril Renaud of Bar Breton, and ... More >>

Kraft Makes Hostile Bid for Cadbury; DNA Barcode Finds Bait & Switch in Fish Restaurants

​Restaurateur Nello Balan is being accused of stealing staffers' tips, more than $100,000's worth a year. Ex-employees claim their tips went to Balan's daughter, his driver, and managers. Balan responded saying it was "totally false." [NY Post] Kraft Foods has started making its hostile bid t ... More >>

Readers' Picks for Best Cookbooks

Last Friday, we brought you our picks for the 10 best cookbooks of all time. Commenters were unusually mum on pointing out mistakes, but several of you wrote in or e-mailed us to add these contenders to the list: The Way To Cook by Julia Child (Knopf, 1989) Simple French Food, The French Menu Cook ... More >>

Judith Jones on Cooking for One

Christopher Hirsheimer​The summary of Judith Jones' life's work so far is enough to make your head spin. She is currently senior editor and vice president at Alfred A. Knopf, which she joined in 1957. Before that, she had worked for Doubleday in New York and Paris, where she accomplished littl ... More >>

The French Not So Keen on Julia Child

Associated Press, 1978​ In France, Julie and Julia was released yesterday. But it turns out that most French people have never heard of Julia Child--The Art of French Cooking was never translated into French--and those who have are decidedly lukewarm on the subject. Julie Andrieu, a cookbook ... More >>

Chatting with Mathieu Palombino on the New Motorino, Pizza Fetishes, and Classic French Food

Mathieu Palombino​Belgian-born chef Mathieu Palombino's culinary roots are in classic French cuisine. He was the chef de cuisine at BLT Fish when the restaurant was awarded a Michelin star, and three stars in the New York Times. But he harbored a secret passion for Neapolitan pizza, and left f ... More >>

'Top Chef': When the Merde Hits the Fan

Bravo TV​Oh, those French and their talent for deadpan drama. What we Americans express with operatic levels of emotion, the Gauls communicate with a sniff, a raised eyebrow, an indifferent shrug. That may be why the decision to have a panel of intractably French chefs judge last night's gusta ... More >>

The Blogroll Gazette: Instant Starbucks, Shitshows & a Swedish Meatball Truck

This week in food blogs... Eat Me Daily posted Sandra Lee's response to Anthony Bourdain's calling her "pure evil": "He needs to have a cocktail and lighten up." Serious Eats pitted Starbucks' new line of instant coffee packets against Nescafe. The result? Instant Starbucks "really isn't bad." Mi ... More >>

Food Corps Fear Nationwide Sugar Shortage; French Cooking Not Quite Over

​Could the U.S. run out of sugar? Yes, say major food corps, if the government doesn't ease import tariffs. Kraft, General Mills, Krispy Kreme, Hershey, and Mars have together written a letter to the Agriculture Department demanding more tariff-free sugar be allowed. [Wall Street Journal] How ... More >>

On Bookshelves, Both On and Offline, A Good Dose of Julia

mellemusic/flickr​ At least one good thing has come out of the ridiculous media frenzy surrounding the release of the film Julie & Julia: a renewed interest in Julia Child's brilliant written works. Eat Me Daily noticed that Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume 1 is currently t ... More >>

In Praise of the Julia Half of Julie & Julia

Our 10 Best: Food-Themed Television Shows

​A few afternoons ago I had the pleasure of hearing Jacques Pepin discourse on his friendship with Julia Child, whom he met in 1960. He recalled their opportunity to work together on a show called Julia & Jacques Cooking at Home, created in 1999 in Boston and featuring both of them in the kitc ... More >>

Deadlier Than the Male

Taste Test -- Claude's Patisserie

High on the Hog at No. 7

Chef with a Vongerichten résumé is atop the C train in Fort Greene

'Disaffected' Snail Hunters Cause Shortage

Old-School French Restaurants Somehow Still Survive in Midtown

Against All Odds, French Bistros Alive and Kicking

Peasants are we

Change of Course

The Pastry King spins off a Mediterranean Rim bistro on Mott

Goodbye, Columbus

Takayama tweaks it on the 4th floor of Time Warner Center

The Main Course

Food studies is fast becoming a serious pursuit

La Vraie Bouillabaisse

Crazy on Williamsburg's North Side

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