TopChef

James Beard Award Winners 2010: Marea, Daniel, Craft and French Laundry

It's no surprise that New York and Napa Valley restaurants dominated the top spots at Monday night's James Beard Awards held at Lincoln Center. Foodies of every stripe -- from Food Network stars to French Laundry chefs -- were in attendance at the black-tie event. A red carpet was even set up in the new courtyard outside Avery Fisher Hall so the truly food-obsessed could catch a glimpse of chefs like Wolfgang Puck, Lidia Bastianich and Alton Brown, the evenings co-hosts. (Pictured above is Brown, JBF president Susan Ungaro, Bastianich and Ted Allen arriving on the red carpet.)

The big awards of the evening went to New York's Marea for Best New Restaurant; Tom Colicchio of the Craft restaurants (and a regular "Top Chef" judge) won the Outstanding Chef Award; Daniel Boulud won the Outstanding Restaurant Award for Daniel, another New York restaurant; the Outstanding Pastry Chef award went to Nichole Plue of Redd in Napa Valley; and Timothy Hollingsworth of Napa's famous The French Laundry, won the Rising Star Chef of the Year Award.

Backstage, talk turned to to food trends -- something fine-dining chefs don't look kindly on -- and the seemingly omnipresent locavore movement. And we even found out where these top chefs are excited to eat.

Tags: ad hoc at home, AdHocAtHome, best new chef new york, best restaurant in the world, best restaurants, BestNewChefNewYork, BestRestaurantInTheWorld, BestRestaurants, CA, chopped, daniel boulud, daniel humm, DanielBoulud, DanielHumm, eleven madison park, ElevenMadisonPark, james beard award winner, james beard awards, james beard awards 2010, james beard foundation, JamesBeardAwards2010, JamesBeardAwardWinner, marea, noma copenhagen, NomaCopenhagen, per se, PerSe, s. pelligrino awards, S.PelligrinoAwards, ted allen, TedAllen, The French Laundry, TheFrenchLaundry, thomas keller, ThomasKeller, top chef, TopChef, Yountville

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Padma Lakshmi's Seedy New Jewelry Line

by Annie Scott (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Jewelry, Celebrity Design

Padma Lakshmi models her own jewelry designs

Padma Lakshmi has the career of seven women. She's a model, author, a TV host (most notably Top Chef) and now, the new mom has a jewelry line.

PADMA launched in May 2009 and consists of 40+ earrings, necklaces, bracelets and rings inspired by Lakshmi's eclectic past. She was born in India, raised in both India and the US, and has lived in France, Spain and Italy. "I love the rich heritage and beauty of traditional Indian jewelry, but I wanted something more modern and delicate. I also wanted to create something that women would love to wear everyday; pieces that work with jeans and cocktail dresses, jewelry that highlights the myriad sides of a woman's personality without upstaging her."

The collection features an India-inspired hand piece, a "back to front" necklace which "adorns a woman's back as much as her décolleté, cascading down the neck on both sides" and a micro-collection called "the Nav," which is based around traditional Hindu beliefs, incorporating stones which represent the nine planets and harnessing their energy.

Even her foodie experience has influenced her designs. "In hunting for the most precious spices, I found the shapes of seeds and pods exquisite, a purity of proportion and form that had an inherent sensuality to them." We find the designs subtle and thoughtful with a distinct womanliness. The collection's seed and pod themes are exceptionally well-suited to make gifts for pregnant women -- how apt that Padma just gave birth to a baby girl, Krishna.

We interviewed Padma via email about her new jewelry collection, her career and her life.

Luxist: How has your multi-faceted career led you to jewelry?

Padma Lakshmi: Even before my fifteen years in fashion, as a child I was always attracted to my mother's jewel box. Over the years I've been lucky enough to gather some beautiful pieces through my travels along the way. But at a certain point, I wasn't finding exactly what I was looking for in the accessories marketplace and it turned out that others weren't either. I started reproducing the bespoke custom pieces that I had created for myself; that's pretty much the organic process of how the company came about.

Gallery: PADMA by Padma Lakshmi

Tags: celebrity, designer interview, DesignerInterview, jewelry, Padma Lakshmi, PadmaLakshmi, pregnancy, Top Chef, TopChef

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Top Chef Host And Others To Cook For High Line Dinner

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining, Events, Charity

Want Tom Colicchio of Top Chef fame to cook for you? How about Masaharu Morimoto of Morimoto and April Bloomfield of The John Dory too? On October 4, these chefs and other will present a special tasting dinner to benefit the new High Line park. The event is the latest in a series of dinners to benefit the park which recently opened in New York City. Mario Batali will also offer a special auction item for supporters for the first time. Leadership packages, which include 8 – 12 tickets, are $5,000, $10,000, and $25,000. Individual tickets are $1,000 and $2,500. A limited allotment of $500 tickets is also available via the High Line website.

[via The Examiner]

Source

Tags: food, high line park, HighLinePark, tasting menu, TastingMenu, tom colicchio, TomColicchio, top chef, TopChef

Swimsuit Model Makes the Scene at Hamptons Rallye

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos, Events, Charity

On July 26 Mercedes-Benz hosted the 2nd Annual Hamptons Pursuit "Road Rallye", a 60-mile scavenger hunt from Bridgehampton to Montauk. Car enthusiasts including local East End VIPs drove vintage, classic, or just plain cool cool cars including several amazing Mercedes looking for clues and answering trivia questions at checkpoints, all while raising money for The Retreat, a non-profit program that supports victims of domestic violence throughout Long Island. Stunning Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue model Julie Henderson (above) and Top Chef's Sam Talbot attended a barbecue following the auto-scavenger hunt at Kalbacher's Auto in East Hampton where road stories were shared with good food and drink during an auction of classic cars.

Tags: Bridgehampton, classic cars, ClassicCars, Hamptons, Julie Henderson, JulieHenderson, Long Island, LongIsland, Mercedes-Benz, model, Montauk, Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, SportsIllustratedSwimsuitIssue, Top Chef, TopChef

Bryant Park's New Southwest Porch

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining, Luxury Travel & Hotels, Services, Spirits, Wings

Southwest Airlines is celebrating its new service into and out of New York's LaGuardia Airport with the opening of the Southwest Porch, a plush al fresco lounge in Bryant Park, the stylish oasis in Midtown Manhattan. The space is furnished with porch swings, rocking chairs and Adirondack chairs and features a small bites menu in collaboration with 'wichcraft, the popular eatery founded by Tom Colicchio, owner of the Craft family of restaurants and head judge on Bravo's Top Chef. Menu highlights are inspired by the new routes from LaGuardia to key cities and feature a Southwestern Pork Sandwich and Baltimore Crab Sandwich. On tap are local beers such as a specially brewed Southwest Summer Ale from Long Island's Blue Point Brewery and a selection of summer cocktails. The Porch is now open to all New Yorkers and visitors who simply want to relax, read, converse or have a snack and a drink.

Tags: Bryant Park, BryantPark, lounge, New York, NewYork, Southwest Airlines, SouthwestAirlines, Tom Colicchio, TomColicchio, Top Chef, TopChef

Top Chef Star To Launch Jewelry Line

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Jewelry, Celebrity Design

She's modeled, she's written cookbooks and hosts the popular cooking competition "Top Chef." Now the lovely Padma Lakshmi will have her own jewelry line. The new collection, titled simply Padma is inspired by the kitchen and by Padma's Indian heritage. The collection in 10K and 14K gold and will feature pieces that take a bit of their design from seeds and pods like cardamom, lentils and cloves. The collection of necklaces, rings and cuff bracelets has a price range of $375 to $6,600 and will be available at Bergdorf Goodman starting in May.

Gallery: Celebrity Jewelry Lines