tom colicchio

Tom Colicchio Closing Atlanta Restaurants

Filed under: Dining

"Top Chef" judge and restaurateur Tom Colicchio has announced that he is closing is two restaurants in Atlanta, Georgia. The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that Colicchio will close Craft Atlanta and the more casual Craftbar, in early 2011 (the tentative closing date is Valentine's Day 2011, February 14). Both restaurants are located in the same freestanding structure that faces the Mansion on Peachtree hotel in Buckhead, and has been a part of the hotel complex since the hotel opened under different ownership. As we saw last February, Mansion on Peachtree, was sold in a foreclosure auction for $66.1 million to an affiliate of the lead lender, iStar Financial.

The 42-story hotel/condo project is home to luxury condos and a five-star hotel operated by Rosewood Hotels & Resorts. It's a loss for the city, the restaurant holds a four-star rating from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and is considered to be one of the better restaurants in town.

Tags: atlanta, atlanta restaurants, Craft restaurant, craftbar, Tom Colicchio

Top Chef Judge Tom Colicchio Among Those Promoting Louisiana Seafood

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

"Top Chef" judge and restaurateur Tom Colicchio was just one of a team of famous chefs from around the country who traveled to Grand Isle, Louisiana to tour the local waters. On Monday morning Colicchio pledged that he would continue to use Gulf seafood in his restaurants.

The New Orleans Times-Picayune reports that the Louisiana Seafood Promotion & Marketing Board and John Folse a local chef and expert on Cajun cuisine put the event together to show some of the key influencers in the food world that that Louisiana seafood is still wholesome and safe to be consumed. The Louisiana fishing industry is at stake but many diners who have seen the images of oil spotted waters are reluctant to trust anything from the entire area. The local waters are being tested and patrolled to make sure that the seafood is safe to consume. Fishing has been shut down in some areas but most of the vast Gulf remains open and the seafood is untainted.

Still, many the impact has been huge in Louisiana where 1 in 70 jobs is tied to the state's seafood industry. Dallas-based chef Dean Fearing who attended the event said that he will donate proceeds raised at the third anniversary celebration for his restaurant, Fearing's, to Friends of the Fishermen Fund, a new charity for those fishers impacted by the oil spill.

Tags: BP oil disaster, bp oil spill, dean fearing, louisiana, louisiana fishing, Louisiana oil spill, oil spill, oil spill louisiana, Tom Colicchio, top chef

Celebrity Chefs To Convene In Aspen For The Food & Wine Classic

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining, Events

If David Kiley's comprehensive look at pig dinners got your mouth watering, you need to book tickets for the 28th annual FOOD & WINE Classic in Aspen on June 18-20, 2010. The event will feature demonstrations and seminars with chefs such as Jacques Pepin, David Chang, Giada DeLaurentiis, Michael Symon, and Thomas Keller. Top Chef judges Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons will cook delicious meals, as well as hosting a Classic Quickfire with Top Chef season 6 winner Michael Voltaggio competing against Top Chef Masters season 1 winner Rick Bayless.

New to the festival are chefs Tim Love and Art Smith and wine expert Paul Greico. The American Express Trade program will host trade-only power lunches with David Chang, Morimoto, among other greats. And for pig lovers there is The Grand Cochon event, featuring ten chefs who will create their best pork dishes at the Hotel Jerome. Tickets for the FOOD & WINE Classic in Aspen are $1,185. FOOD & WINE will donate 2% of the proceeds from every Classic ticket to Grow for Good ,FOOD & WINE's national initiative dedicated to supporting local farms and encouraging sustainable agriculture.

To do even more for Grow for Good you can opt for a Grow for Good pass at $3,100 per pass. Along with all the regular pass benefits, each Grow for Good Pass will include a $1,000 donation to the Grow for Good Campaign out of each pass price, an invitation to the Classic Welcome Reception held Thursday, June 17th, a ticket to FOOD & WINE's Best New Chefs dinner held Saturday, June 19th, a one-time pass to the Classic Green Room, the VIP Gifting Suite, having your name listed on the Green donors page in Tasting Notes, the Classic event program and VIP access to seminars and Grand Tastings.

Tags: david chang, food and wine, GiadaDeLaurentiis, jacques pepin, mario batali, michael symon, rick bayless, thomas keller, Tom Colicchio

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]

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

Tao Las Vegas Tops Restaurant Earnings List

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

Restaurants everywhere are struggling, Las Vegas tourism is down and still somehow Tao Restaurant and Nightclub in Las Vegas owns the top spot on the list of the 100 highest grossing independent restaurants in the U.S.according to the latest data from Restaurants and Institutions. This was Tao's third time at number one in a year where sales in the top 100 pretty much stayed the same as last year's numbers ($1.52 billion in 2008, compared to $1.53 billion in 2007).

Tao Las Vegas brought in $68.4 million in food and beverage revenue in 2008 which is a three percent gain over 2007. The rest of the top five, Tavern on the Green in New York City, Joe's Stone Crab in Miami Beach, Smith & Wollensky in New York City and Tao Asian Bistro in New York City were all also in the top five last year.

The list includes a few celebrity restaurants. Danny DeVito's DeVito South Beach is in the 19th slot, Michael Jordan's steakhouse at the Mohegan Sun is number 62 and Mike Ditka's Chicago restaurant is in the 94th position. Celebrity chefs also appear on the list. Wolfgang Puck owns a few slots, Mario Batali and Lydia Bastianich's Del Posto in New York is at number 45. "Top Chef" host Tom Colicchio is on the list for Craftsteak in Las Vegas and Daniel Boulud hits the list twice.

Most of the restaurants are located in major cities or in vacation destinations but there are a few surprises. The Harris Ranch restaurant is located in the small cow town of Coalinga, California and Zehnder's is in the Bavarian-themed town of Frankenmuth, Michigan.

[via Bloomberg]

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Tags: danny devito, DannyDevito, michael jordan, MichaelJordan, restaurants, tao las vegas, TaoLasVegas, tom colicchio, TomColicchio, wolfgang puck, WolfgangPuck

Tom Colicchio's Tuesday Dinners

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

New Yorkers and those visiting the city might want to leave their Tuesdays free for a unique dining opportunity. "Top Chef" star and celebrity chef Tom Colicchio is opening a new small restaurant inside the private dining room of his Craft restaurant at 47 E. 19th St. His TOM: Tuesday Dinner will open on October 14 and will seat just 32 and be open only every other Tuesday. The important part is that Colicchio himself will do the cooking in the open kitchen. He has said that he is doing this for fun and to get himself back in the kitchen. Like many other celebrity chefs he has found himself busy overseeing his chain of restaurants, putting out books and doing a variety of personal appearances. He has cleared his schedule for a year to make sure he will be there to cook. The tasting menu will start at $150 and go as high as $250 per person for a seven to eight course meal. You can call for reservations at 212-400-6495.

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Tags: craft, new york, NewYork, restaurant, tom colicchio, TomColicchio