So where does Anthony Bourdain – chef, writer, traveler – spend his night after bumping elbows with six of D.C.’s top chefs? Unsurprisingly, at Ben’s Chili bowl. Keeping true to his inclinations for “adventurous” eating, Anthony Bourdain visited famed Ben’s Chili Bowl Tuesday night after having MC’ed D.C.’s annual Capital Food Fight. “I loved it, it’s the kind of food I like,” responded Bourdain to a question during the Q&A session of his sold-out talk…

Food and Wine Names Komi’s Monis Best New Chef 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…

Happy Holidays! Chances are, you’re reading this the day after Christmas, back at your day job after all-too-short a holiday, and the last thing you want from us is stuff about the holidays. But that’s just too bad. Because, see, here in the Ist-A-Verse, we do things ahead of time. It might be December 26 for you, but that’s what you get for not checking your Favorite Local Blog on Christmas Eve. Austinist is…

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! But if you have a mind to celebrate letters on the local level, head on out to the Warehouse tonight for a special Christmas edition of the F.W. Thomas Performances. Tonight’s edition features comic collagist Clarke Bedford, writer Molly Woods, songwriter…

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…

FRIDAY: >> Please Hammer, don’t hurt ’em. Landmark R&B radio station WPGC celebrates 19 years of playing 18 jams in a row with a concert at the Verizon Center that features LL Cool J, MC Hammer, Chuck Brown, EU, Naughty By Nature, Bow Wow, MC Hammer and Lisa Lisa. Apparently Cult Jam had previous commitments. $45 – $70, 7 p.m. (Kyle Gustafson) >> You may have missed La Didone last weekend, but if you…

Watching food personality Rachael Ray on television makes us want to buy exactly $40 worth of “EVOO,” break the glass bottles the EVOO came in, and use the oily shards to cut the word “yummo” into our skin just to feel again. Watching chef Bobby Flay on television makes us want to toss ourselves on a smoking-hot grill, smear ancho-chili sauce and mango chutney on the marks in our flesh, and jump on a cutting…

So, why shouldn’t we jump on the Bangkok 54 bandwagon? The Arlington Thai restaurant is one of the rare few places where a very satisfying two-person dining experience will come in at less than $70. And for you skeptics, no, we didn’t leave a Rachael Ray-esque $2.32 tip or refuse to pay sales tax on our several cocktails. Even though it’s received more than its fair share of press in recent weeks, we had to…

Christmas and Hanukkah both drop on 12/25 this year, and as we get closer to that date, retailers of fine books begin to put their energy behind that last big sales push of the year. This means a dearth of author events until we clear Epiphany. All the same, we got the hook-up with what’s out there. MONDAY There are those that say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. Yet most of the people…