Ladies and gentlemen, Chef Tom Colicchio is coming back to the kitchen. Starting two weeks from tomorrow, Colicchio will cook at Tom: Tuesday Dinner in the 32-seat private dining room space at Craft, offering a seasonally-driven, seven to eight course tasting menu for a limited number of guests every other Tuesday. (Set-price starting at $150.) Though Colicchio insists he's never really left the kitchen—despite the vastness of the Craft empire and his Top Chef judging......

Despite the rain, the crowds poured in at Citymeals-on-Wheels Chef's Tribute fundraiser in Rockefeller Center last night. This year's theme -- Crème de la Crème, a tribute to the great French masters, many of whom were in attendance. As one might expect, honoring the world's best French chefs includes a large quantity of foie gras, caviar, duck, and truffles, and America's top chefs certainly put them all to good use. Each chef prepared two dishes:......

We recently received a press release in the Gothamist feedbag announcing the arrival of “Top Chef: The Cookbook.” Being a major Top Chef junkie, we were pretty excited about this one. The official scoop is that the book, the "official companion cookbook" the #1 food show on cable will arrive in March and have: More than 100 Quick Fire Challenge and Elimination Round recipes from the first three seasons of the series; "In-depth discussions" with......

The entrée is so over, the top chefs tell us. Yesterday Times reporter Kim Severson sunk her teeth into the long decline of the entrée and the increasing dominance of side dishes and tapas at many fine restaurants. As former Gramercy Tavern chef Tom Colicchio tells her, “Eating an entrée is too many bites of one thing, and it’s boring.” Amid all the evidence of diminishing entrée options at restaurants nationwide (at Gemma, entrées are......

It's Michelin madness! While we gave you the overall rundown yesterday, we wanted to follow up a bit. We noted the loss of a star at Tom Colicchio's Craft. Bruni ponders this change: "Craft’s demotion is more attention-getting. Has it really gone downhill? I hear mixed reports from regulars, and while my most recent meal there, perhaps a year ago, wasn’t as memorable as a meal I had eaten there about two years before that,......

The Michelin Guide announced selections today for its third New York Edition, which officially goes on sale Wednesday. The new edition features 565 restaurants (and 54 Manhattan hotels.) Of the eateries, 42 were awarded stars ranging from one to three; a mere 3 restaurants merited the highest 3-star rating (Jean Georges, Le Bernardin and Per Se), while 6 others made the 2-star cut. But star-gazing aside, the guide comes in handy for diners on a......

What’s worth watching on food-relatedTV this week? Tonight on No Reservations--in another repeat--(10pm on the Travel Channel), Bourdain goes to Brazil. ">Martha Stewart has Chef Tom Colicchio on Tuesday making Cornish game hens. The show airs Tuesday through Friday this week at 1pm (NBC). Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares is on Wednesday at 9pm (Fox). This week, Ramsay makes over Seascape in Islip, NY. The LA Times calls the show “noisy and dissident.” All the TV......

The Top Chef Miami finale is upon us and we're going to weigh in with some thoughts. There will be spoilers, but they'll be after the jump. Top Chef has entered The Survivor zone - Padma Lakshmi is in Chicago, locale of the next Top Chef season, for the live finale. Does that mean Dale has a hometown advantage? We'll see! The three finalists, Dale (of the last mohawk standing), Hung (hyper and arrogant)......

Last night Top Chef began with a Quickfire Challenge consisting of everyone cooking Padma breakfast...we swear she thinks of the challenges when she's stoned (see: the onion cutting relay. C'mon!). After the "food awakening" they were in for a rude awakening. Sent to New York City, the contestants seemed genuinely happy when they saw the Manhattan skyline...but their dreams were dashed when they were held in New Jersey for a day at Newark Airport. Cooking......

Sen. Chuck Schumer appeared in Red Hook yesterday to support the plight of the vendors that serve the people who come to watch and play sports at the Red Hook ballfields. The vendors have been cooking up ethnic food that appeals to their mostly Hispanic clientele for several years under a series of temporary permits from the city. The Parks Dept. wants to put an official vending permit up for bidding, and the current vendors......

As we mentioned earlier this week, the vendors who set up shop at the Red Hook ballfields may be at risk for losing their permit. According to the New York Times, the vendors have operated for years under a series of temporary use permits, but now they will have to place a formal bid with the city in order to remain in the space. But the vendors are not guaranteed to win this bid, so......

This week in the Times, ">Bruni goes to Gramercy Tavern, awards the restaurant--now helmed by chef Michael Anthony--three stars. It was last reviewed by William Grimes, when Tom Colicchio was cooking and when it also received three stars. Bruni says the restaurant delivers what diners want: “a kind of unstrained graciousness and unlabored sophistication.” Nearly everything he tasted was “exquisitely cooked,” and while the desserts aren’t the best ever, “there are some fine choices.” In......

This week in the Times, ">Bruni revisits Tom Colicchio's Craftsteak, upgrades the restaurant from one star to two. He says, "The improvement in the steaks has made it easier to appreciate the restaurant's other virtues… the unassailable quality of its raw bar selections; its gigantic, crunchy onion rings, some of the best in the city; its fried bone marrow appetizer, a decadence-squared dream." He still thinks the menu is overcrowded, though, and doesn't like the......

Damon Wise, formerly the chef de cuisine of Tom Colicchio's Craftsteak, is the now executive chef of all the Craft restaurants. Shane McBride, most recently of the now defunct 7Square is now working for him. [Restaurant Girl; NYMag] Billy Barlow is now the head chef at Zak Pelaccio's 5 Ninth [Eater] Eric Lind, the chef who opened Flatbush Farm, has left to pursue some consulting gigs. [NY Mag] Joël Robuchon will be behind the counter......

Just ask Jean Georges, Mario Batali or Tom Colicchio and they’ll tell you there is no need to re-invent the cheese-wheel, so to speak. They’ve built multi-million dollar culinary empires on a single concept, with a few tweaks here or there for freshness. But we’re sure they would warn, as they’ve learned in varying degrees, that the key is not to spread yourself too thin. They’d say to maintain high standards and consistency because your......

How much would you pay for a one-of-a-kind home dinner for ten with Chef superstars Mario Batali and Tom Colicchio? What if it was for charity? At the 12th Annual Bid Against Hunger sponsored by City Harvest, New York City’s only food rescue program, the highest bidder paid $24,000 for a meal by the culinary duo. The October 24th evening brought 50 fabulous chefs together to cook signature tastings for charity. With tickets priced......

The indicators that the economy is doing well are on Wall Street, but there's another indicator: How much high-end restaurants are willing to charge diners for entrees. The NY Times takes up the $40 entree and what it has wrought and why:-There are rising rents, costs of interior design, costs of getting the very finest ingredients. - The $40 entree can also encourage people to order entrees in the mid-$30's. - It's easier to print......

Bruni goes to midtown’s Turkish cafe Sip Sak, gives it one-star. All his favorite dishes are the “secret” ones that don’t appear on the menu. He calls Sip Sak “a kooky artist’s warped--and wonderful--canvas.” The kooky artist would be Orhan Yegan, the cafe’s principal chef and owner. Eater (a bit off, having put the money on two-stars) invites readers to compare a NY Mag review--albeit a brief one--to a Bruni review, as Sip Sak just......

Bruni two-stars Le Cirque, experiences it’s "famously split personality, half dismissive and half pampering, depending on who you are,” first brought to light by Ruth Reichl at the start of her reign as Times critic. Finds the restaurant itself full of old people, not so exciting. And Eater calls the BruniBetting right this week. Steve Cuozzo explores the ridiculous food markups rampant throughout the city -- up to 557% of the cost of the ingredients......

- The UK Guardian weighs in with its picks for food blogs from around the world. - The march towards informing shoppers about the options and benefits of buying local fruits and vegetables, as well as carefully raised meats, continues apace. The perils of success also become apparent as big agribusiness pushes in behind the trailblazers -Here are some cookbook options for Dad this Sunday. + Cooking by Hand – sausage making and other manly......

- Looks like Greenwich Village residents are in luck yet again. In addition to Unique Pastry bringing bing to the neighborhood, 'wichcraft is coming to 8th Street between Broadway and Mercer. Also turns out there's one coming to midtown at 555 Fifth Avenue at 46th St. Thank you, Tom Colicchio! - According to the Villager, Giuseppe Cipriani, head of Cipriani, has backed out of the $250 million Leonardo at Pier 57 redevelopment project. Anyone......

Savory New York, created by husband and wife team Christopher and Jennifer McBride takes the classic online restaurant guide one step further. In addition to basic facts and information about atmosphere, noise level, signature dishes, and links to other reviews, Savory New York brings us video profiles of restaurants. From the comfort of your own computer, you can watch Tom Colicchio (Craft), Daniel Boulud (Daniel), David Chang (Momofuku Noodle Bar), Jody Williams (Gusto), Wylie Dufresne......

All the foodies are in a tizzy today as the coveted James Beard Award nominees were announced last night. The actual awards ceremony and reception will be held on May 8, at an event celebrating "the culinary legacy of New Orleans." Reservations for the May 8th event can be made by calling 212-367-9490 or toll free at 1-866-362-6442. Admission is $375 ($325 for James Beard Foundation members/$120 for students - find your old ID cards......

So remember the discussion about the overly commercial nature of the Bryant Park? Well the story is about to get more interesting now that Community Board 5 has nixed a plan to sell booze out of two kiosks in the park. The idea was pretty simple: 'Wichcraft LLC, run by "Tom Colicchio and Jeffery Zurofsky of Craft and Craftbar fame," already runs two kiosks in the park and simply wanted to add wine and......

Craft's Poached Morels
...

The New York restaurant scene is flush with nominations from the James Beard Foundation, the top award in the food world. Mario Batali (Babbo, pictured left), Tom Colicchio (Gramercy Tavern), and Alfred Portale (Gotham Bar & Grill) were all nominated for Outstanding Chef (a national award); Nobu Matsuhisa (Matsuhisa, LA) and Judy Rodgers (Zuni Cafe, San Francisco) are the other two. Chanterelle, Felidia, and La Caravelle were nominated for Outstanding Restaurant (national). New York made......

Thanksgiving is a little more than a week away, and Gothamist is gearing up for the best holiday of the year. (Why is it the best holiday? Because there's no gift-giving, people usually come together, and it involves ridiculous amounts of yummy comfort foods.) Our stomach growled a little louder this morning as we read the 12 Thanksgiving side dish recipes from different chefs in the Times today. Here they are: Sausage Stuffing With......