PS7's executive sous chef Andrew Markert will compete on the Food Network cooking competition Chopped next Tuesday, January 18 at 10 p.m. The show challenges four chefs to cook a three-course meal with an assigned basket of ingredients; after each course, one chef is eliminated from the competition. This episode will feature marrow bones as one of the central ingredients -- for those of you who like offal, it should be an mouth-watering piece of television. A viewing party will be held in the lounge at PS7's that evening as they cheer on their sous. more ›

Two local eateries found their way on to the Food Network's primetime lineup Monday night. The Devil-Ish Eggs at Founding Farmers were singled out on The Best Thing I Ever Ate, while Diners, Drive-ins and Dives stumbled upon pork pupusas and chicken tamales at Tortilla Café adjacent to Eastern Market. more ›

Chef Bobby Flay will be returning to the D.C. area to challenge Chef Gillian Clark's fried chicken -- the show will air January 19 at 8:30 p.m. on the Food Network. This isn't the first foray into television for Clark, though: her fried chicken, served at the General Store and Post Office Tavern in Silver Spring, has also been featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. We doubt Clark'll have any problems taking Flay down -- ten bucks says he decides to coat his chicken with potato chips and Anaheim chili powder, and call it Crunchchicken. (Just be sure to trademark it before he does!) more ›

The food truck craze appears to be following the exact route of the cupcake craze. First, there was the influx of establishments, then came the TV show. That's right, food trucks are no longer just popping up at every corner in the District; they'll also now be appearing on the Food Network in The Great Food Truck Race. more ›

Teddy Folkman, D.C.’s latest representative on the reality food television circuit, was sent home from The Next Food Network Star in last night’s episode. It was the fourth episode of the season—he outlasted three of the ten fellow contestants, but didn’t make it to cook in Rachel Ray’s studio in episode 5. The ouster wasn’t a product of poor cooking, though we weren’t too thrilled with much of his offerings from his relaunched Capitol Lounge menu. In fact, his haute DLT sandwich (duck, lettuce, and tomato) won praises from the show’s judges in last night’s elimination challenge. more ›

Not that it'll be that hard. Jumbo Slice-bashing aside, former Top Chef contestant Spike Mendelsohn is planning to branch out from his signature Good Stuff Eatery's burgers into another facet of the upscale fast food trend: pizza. He's been eating his way through New York's pizza in order to "research" the new establishment, which will open in the next three to four months, according to a journal he kept last week for New York Magazine. more ›

With D.C.'s record standing at 2–2 in Kitchen Stadium – a win and a loss against Bobby Flay and Masaharu Morimoto each - Sunday night’s Thanksgiving-themed episode of Iron Chef America pitted Agraria’s head chef Ricky Moore against the Chairman’s newest Iron Chef, Michael Symon. From the beginning, the odds seemed stacked against Iron Chef Symon, who felt the pressure to earn his first victory after having won the Next Iron Chef competition. Add to... more ›

Allez Cuisine! From Jack Abramoff's Signatures to his own restaurant, Farrah Olivia, Morou Ouattara plans to step into a new venue. His eye is on Kitchen Stadium as he competes for the title of the Next Iron Chef. The first episode airs Sunday, 9 p.m. on the Food Network. Eight chefs with the help of Lufthansa Airlines (yay product placement!) will be traveling through Europe and competing against each other to join Mario Batali, Cat... more ›

, proves an affable host for the evening. Taking on the persona of a Paula-Deen-heavy amalgam of Food Network personality types, she introduces us to the wonders of the butter bacon burger, the importance of creating a mood with "roombiance," and the assets of Taylor the Latte Boy, who services her at Starbucks. more ›

Sure, we told you about this last week, but we're telling you again because we are persistent and like helping local kids. We happen to think you should, too. Get your taste buds ready for the first annual Brainfood Grill-Off. This Iron Chef-like event will have teams, consisting of local chefs and Brainfood students, competing for the “Brainfood Skillet Award.” Marc Silverstein, of The Food Network’s The Best Of series, will be hosting the event... more ›

>> Giada De Laurentiis of Food Network's Everyday Italian was in town this weekend filming a bit for her new show, Weekend Getaways. One Flickr photog caught her picking out plump tomatoes at the Dupont farmer's market; did anyone else get a glimpse of the "Cooking With Cleavage" star? >> Oh, Clinton Portis, really? The Redskins player decided to come out in favor of dog fighting to defend embattled Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick. This... more ›

This week we'd like to congratulate the -ist network's Mother Hen, Gothamist's Jen Chung, who found herself a recipient of Wired Magazine's Wired Rave Award. If that doesn't sound terribly exciting, keep in mind another recipient was J.K. Rowling. Yep, that's right, the -ist network and Harry Potter now have something in common. Go us. Austinist has a chat with the ever-fashionable Golden Girl Rue McClanahan, and managed to catch some local fashionistas making... more ›

This post from new DCist contributor, Matt Cordell How do D.C. chefs stack up? Last night, representatives were put to the test when José Andrés (owner of Zatinya, Café Atlantico, Jaleo, Oyamel, and minibar by josé andrés) and his sous chefs, Katsuya Fukushima and Ruben Garcia, stepped into Kitchen Stadium to do battle on Food Network's Iron Chef America. Despite being advertised in advance here, here, and here (looking like the Spanish Terminator), José "chose"... more ›

Twas the week before Christmas, and all through the city, not a lot of authors are stirring. Give them a break! They have family and friends to see at this time of year, too! more ›

Good morning, Washington. Got Halloween plans? Personally, I'm still trying to come up with a decent last-minute costume idea. My party deadline isn't until tomorrow, fortunately. For those who've got costume parties lined up for tonight, I hope you didn't make any part of your outfit from papier mache — it looks like it's going to be a soggy evening. Jemal Acquitted Of Most Charges: The verdict is in, and prominent District developer Douglas Jemal... more ›

Cakelove creator Warren Brown, who has been giving Washingtonians a Sugar Rush for the last four years with his love-'em-or-hate-'em cupcakes and generating controversy with his temperature-sensitive buttercream frosting, is about to embark on a more wholesome enterprise. Warren Brown's next trick is making energy bars. more ›

Travel Might Suck Today: A word to the wise -- Amtrak and Greyhound might seem like mighty good options in the coming days. As you've no doubt heard, British officials report that they have broken up a plot to blow up airplanes flying from London to the U.S., sending both countries into a security frenzy, writes NBC 4. Things are so bad that passengers are now forbidden from carrying any liquids or gels onto airplanes, and security lines are expected to be much longer and scrutiny much more intense. more ›

Food incites emotion. Ask a guy to recall his mother’s most delicious dessert or his favorite meal on his last trip to Italy, and he’ll likely have plenty to say. Perhaps because they're food-related, shows on the Food Network conjure similar passions—just read any blog comment on perky Rachael Ray, sultry Giada DeLaurentiis or exuberant Emeril Lagasse. It seems that even when we’re not eating their meals, we often respond to the processes and presentations as if we’re a part of them. more ›

Washington chefs fell to 1-2 in Iron Chef America competitions, as Bobby Flay defeated the uni-monikered Morou in Battle Frozen Peas last night on the Food Network show -- two months after Galileo's Roberto Donna avenged his own loss to Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto. Morou -- the former Signatures chef who had earned the right to take on an Iron Chef when he topped former 1789 chef Ris Lacoste and Tosca's Cesare Lanfranconi in the... more ›

Prunes, and their fiber-rich reputation, are usually synonymous with Aunt Esther’s Secret Weapon for Regulation. But in Ocean City—yes, the less cool O.C.—they became affiliated with a legendary fried dough chain, The Fractured Prune. Beachgoers and locals are all about their made-fresh-to-order donuts, which can be dipped in one of sixteen glazes, eight toppings and three sugars. Their mascot, a shades-clad injured prune man (think geriatric cousin of the California Raisins ilk), has announced to Dupont Circle’s P Street that his establishment is “Coming Soon.” more ›

Redskins-Cowboys. Ali-Frazier. Potter-Voldemort. Morimoto-Donna? more ›

The AP reports that D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams travels today to New York to serve on the three-judge tasting panel at tonight's taping of an episode of the Food Network's Iron Chef America. Back in October, Williams was a member of the local tasting panel that picked former Signatures chef Morou to compete in the nationally televised cooking competition over Washington food luminary Ris Lacoste (formerly of 1789) and Ristorante Tosca’s Cesare Lanfranconi. Tonight, the... more ›

If you're a DCist regular, you know that we've posted once or twice or thrice or more times about Warren Brown and CakeLove. We find ourselves here yet again, with Warren stepping up to washingtonpost.com's chatters to discuss the local furor that is his refrigerated cake. We thought about live-blogging the chat, but decided that was too meta for us; we're opting for the post-incident run down instead. more ›

Hate to say it, but last night's Food Network premiere of Sugar Rush, featuring Cakelove’s Warren Brown, gets mixed reviews from us. On one hand, Brown is great to look at and has fun with his interviewees. But on the other hand, he’s like a smiling deer in headlights when it’s just him and the camera. Next time, do a few head rolls and shake out those lanky limbs, Warren. more ›

Everyone knows that one of the great advantages of living in a large city is the food scene. While we enjoy sushi, perfectly cooked meats with pan sauces, and culinary influences from around the world, we pity our friends far outside the Beltway who, save for a few hidden gems, only have a Lone Star Steakhouse and Chi Chi’s to choose from. Not only can we choose from hundreds of establishments, with character, charisma, and plenty of foodie flare, but we also can select which cultural influence we want for our dining experience. There are those who think Chinese and Mexican are the only foreign foods, but we know differently and are treated to Thai, Ethiopian, Indian, Afghan, Pakistani, Caribbean, Russian, Irish, English... and the list goes on. more ›

-obsessed young ones? Ready your little girls. more ›

Today's Post reports that Warren Brown, owner and founder of U St. bakery Cakelove, will be the first D.C. area chef to have his own show on the Food Network. The show will be entitled "Sugar Rush" and is slated to take the 9:30 p.m. slot on Wednesdays starting in October. more ›

The 2005 RAMMYs aren't the only culinary awards on the horizon. The nominees for the 2005 James Beard Foundation awards were announced yesterday (.pdf). The awards are separated into three general segments, cookbooks, journalism, and restaurants and chefs. In the journalism segment, Todd Kliman of the City Paper (who most recently "reviewed" Perdu) was nominated for Best Newspaper Column for his weekly "Young and Hungry" feature. Tom Sietsema of the Post has been nominated for Best Newspaper Feature about Restaurants a number of times, but this is the first nomination for Kliman, who has been writing for the City Paper since late 2003. more ›

Clicking on our television, we channel surfed our way over to the Food Network, where local chef Roberto Donna, proprietor of D.C. high-end Italian restaurant Galileo, would be taking up the Iron Chef America challenge against Masaharu Morimoto. Though we would have been psyched for an Iron Chef Mario Batali-Donna-all-Italian throwdown, we settled in for an evening of what we assumed would be a well-matched competition. Galileo is, after all, apparently one of the top... more ›

The newest version of the Japanese hit show Iron Chef has received some mixed reviews, but local fans of the show's American incarnation have special reason to tune in to the Food Network this Sunday at 9 p.m.: D.C.'s own Roberto Donna will take on Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto in a cross-cultural battle that pits the authentic Italian cuisine of Donna against the Japanese fusion of Morimoto in a culinary fight to the finish. more ›