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realm for many years, the Emmy Award–winning celebrity chef opened
her first restaurant, Giada, inside The Cromwell hotel in 2014.
As Seen on TV: Giada at Home, Everyday Italian, Food Network Star,
Iron Chef America
Must Try: Giada features Italian cuisine with California influences,
bringing a lighter touch to classic dishes by incorporating vegetables or
healthy ingredients (plenty of greens, herbs, and citrus). De Laurentiis’
classics, such as her chicken cacciatore and rigatoni with vegeta-
ble Bolognese, are on the menu. One of the most popular plates is
lemon spaghetti with shrimp and basil. The sauce is made by whisking
together olive oil, Parmesan cheese, and lemon zest and juice. The dish
is garnished with fried capers.
GORDON RAMSAY: HELL’S KITCHEN
TV’s favorite explosive, foul-mouthed chef opened
his newest restaurant Hell’s Kitchen, the first-
of-its-kind, at Caesars Palace this past winter.
Inspired by Ramsay’s high-stakes cooking com-
petition show, the interior is designed in blue and
red team sections, with the two busy kitchens as
the centerpiece. Guests are smack in the middle
of the action, as if participating on the show, and get to try the chef’s
recipes from the TV series, as well as some of Ramsay’s specialties,
such as crispy skin salmon and beef Wellington.
As Seen on TV: Hell’s Kitchen, MasterChef, MasterChef Junior,
Kitchen Nightmares
Must Try: Steak lovers have to order the beef Wellington, a tradi-
tional British dish made with seared filet mignon covered with Parma
ham and duxelles (a mushroom paste), and baked inside a puff pas-
try. It’s served sliced in half and accompanied with a red wine demi-
glace. For something sweet, Ramsay’s sticky toffee pudding with ice
cream is legendary.
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK
ALEX GUARNASCHELLI: BUTTER
You could say cooking was this Iron Chef’s destiny:
The daughter of a cookbook author, Guarnaschelli
grew up kneading bread and tasting soufflés in her
home kitchen. The classically trained chef worked
in prestigious restaurants in New York and Paris
before becoming the executive chef at Butter,
located in midtown Manhattan. The upscale eat-
ery features seasonal dishes, inspired by ingredients Guarnaschelli
finds at Union Square Greenmarket.
As Seen on TV: Iron Chef America, The Next Iron Chef, Chopped,
Alex’s Day Off
Must Try: Butter serves a varied menu, from roasted Mexican street
corn and avocado toast burrata to poached shrimp and steak tartare.
One of the restaurant’s signature desserts is raspberry beignets with a
vanilla bean dipping sauce.
ANNE BURRELL: PHIL & ANNE’S GOOD TIME LOUNGE
The feisty, spiky-haired chef worked in restaurants in New York
and Italy before her breakout Food Network appearance cook-
ing as a sous-chef on Iron Chef America. Since then, she’s been a
network staple, hosting several hit shows and using her years of
industry experience to inspire home cooks to become kitchen rock
stars. And now, she’s putting her food out there, with the opening
of her own establishment in Brooklyn. The Mediterranean-Italian
style restaurant and bar is a joint
venture between Burrell and New
York bar owner Phil Casaceli. The
funky neighborhood hotspot, with
metallic orange wallpaper and
bright-green tufted banquettes,
serves cocktails crafted by Casaceli
and appetizer-sized dishes devel-
oped by Burrell.
B[U]Y THE BOOK
Make your own gourmet
meal at home with easy-to-
follow recipes penned by your
favorite celebrity chefs, who
reveal tips, tricks, and time-
saving techniques. Here are a few noteworthy titles
you’ll want to keep on your kitchen counter:
Tapas: A Taste of Spain in America
José Andrés talks tapas, Spain’s gift to the culinary world.
Using simple Mediterranean ingredients, these little dishes are
easy to make at home and fun to eat with friends and family.
Cook Like a Rock Star
Anne Burrell shares recipes and techniques to help home
cooks gain confidence and ability in their own kitchens.
The Scarpetta Cookbook
Scott Conant walks you through more than 100 of his
restaurant’s signature dishes, from ingredient shopping and
proper cooking methods to tips on entertaining guests at
home.
Gordon Ramsay’s Ultimate Cookery Course
Ramsay distills his expertise into this guide for home cooks,
taking aspiring chefs all the way back to the basics (like how
to properly chop an onion).
Old-School Comfort Food: The Way I Learned to Cook
Alex Guarnaschelli tells stories of her personal culinary
journey, and shares recipes and some of her secrets to great
home cooking.
As Seen on TV: Iron Chef America, Worst Cooks in America, Secrets
of a Restaurant Chef
Must Try: The menu at Phil & Anne’s Good Time Lounge is divided
into light, medium, and heavy plates, and features recipes from
Burrell’s Cook Like a Rock Star cookbook, including dry-rubbed rib eye
with potato bacon fontina cake, and braised chicken with mushrooms
and almond puree.
NAPA, CALIFORNIA
MASAHARU MORIMOTO: MORIMOTO NAPA
The Iron Chef of Iron Chefs, Morimoto was one of the
kitchen stadium’s original resident chefs when Iron
Chef America, a spinoff of a Japanese TV show, was
launched. Off-screen, Morimoto worked at some of
Manhattan’s prestigious restaurants, including as head
chef at Nobu, before opening his own eponymous eat-
eries. His Napa outpost introduced the chef’s signature
high-end sushi and Japanese-fusion dishes (tuna pizza, anyone?) to
the West Coast in 2010. The restaurant has an outdoor dining terrace
overlooking the Napa River, and the area’s only sake and Japanese
whisky bar.
As Seen on TV: Iron Chef, Iron Chef America, The Next Iron Chef
Must Try: The contemporary Japanese menu includes just about
everything, from pork, duck, and beef to fresh seafood and sushi. Try
one of the more unique selections at Morimoto Napa, like sea urchin
carbonara or duck meatball soup, or stick to one of the most popular
offerings: toro (tuna belly) tartare, served on a washboard with a little
rake and pads of wasabi, nori paste, sour cream, and sturgeon caviar.
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
RICK BAYLESS: FRONTERA GRILL AND TOPOLOBAMPO
The Oklahoma native began to specialize in authen-
tic Mexican cuisine after living in Mexico with his
wife while researching their first cookbook in the
1980s. When they returned to the U.S., the cou-
ple wanted to open a restaurant reminiscent of
their travels. And so, in 1987, they founded the
casual Frontera Grill, with colorful Mexican folk art
hanging on the walls and mariachi music resonating in the dining
room. Shortly after, Bayless and his wife opened the more upscale
Topolobampo right next door, in the River North neighborhood. The
side-by-side eateries share an entrance, but Topolobampo’s menu is
more inventive and refined than its sister establishment.
As Seen on TV: Mexico: One Plate at a Time, Iron Chef America, Top
Chef Masters
On the Menu: Frontera Grill highlights authentic dishes and flavors —
from ceviche and enchiladas to moles and tacos — made with fresh
ingredients from local farms (they even list their sources on the menu).
At Topolobampo, guests can choose between three tasting options
(two five-course and one seven-course). The items — such as rabbit
with a sauce made from the fermented Mexican beverage pulque,
as well as a creamy avocado sorbet with cherry-tomatillo salsa — mix
tastes, textures, and sauces.
ART SMITH: BLUE DOOR KITCHEN & GARDEN
Art Smith spent much of his career cooking as the personal chef
to Oprah Winfrey and two Florida governors before starting his
own Southern-themed restaurants.
His appearances on TV shows and
numerous food festivals around the
world also launched him into super-
stardom. Although his fried chicken
made him famous, Smith decided to
shift the focus from Southern com-
fort food to a farm-to-table concept
at his Gold Coast restaurant, which
reflects Smith’s own lifestyle changes
to improve his health over the past
few years.
As Seen on TV: Iron Chef America,
Top Chef, Top Chef Masters,
Chopped
Must Try: Seasonal ingredients dic-
tate the menu at Blue Door Kitchen
& Garden, and popular options include the Brussels sprouts and
kale salad, with toasted almonds, Parmesan cheese, bacon, and
maple tahini vinaigrette; and the organic salmon served with ruta-
baga latkes, Brussels sprouts, creme fraiche, and apples. Two of
Smith’s specialty dishes are a nod to his old favorites: buttermilk fried
chicken with garlic mashed potatoes, and shrimp and grits with
andouille sausage and tomato stew. n
Splash News/Alamy Stock Photo; Morimoto Napa; Blue Door Kitchen
INTERVAL WORLD ■ Issue 1, 2018 35 34 INTERVAL WORLD ■ Issue 1, 2018
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