Food and Wine has released their list of best new chefs for 2007, and Komi's chef Johnny Monis has made the cut. Focusing on "modest, low-key restaurants" and chefs who are "obsessed with ingredients," Food and Wine selected ten chefs from across the country who are steadily climbing the vertical food tower of greatness. Well, ten chefs other than Rachael Ray and Sandra Lee, who they somehow managed not to name five times each. more ›

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A couple weeks ago, Palena's $10 burger caused some debate as to whether a $10 burger was worth it. With that in mind, a couple DCists dropped in to Palena's café a few weeks ago to try their roast organic chicken and see how it compared to the roast chicken we prepare at home. And we were blown away. The skin was perfectly crispy, while miraculously adhering to the flesh of the bird. The meat it self was a study in smoky succulence, every bite as good as the last. Say what you will about the thought of a $10 cheeseburger; the $10 roasted chicken at Palena is worth the 45 minutes you have to wait. 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 ›