Archive for June, 2009
Celebrated Chefs is a fabulous program uniting Seattle’s top restaurants in an effort to raise money for a variety of non-profit organizations. When members of the Celebrated Chefs program dine at any of Seattle’s 43 participating restaurants, 5% of their bill is donated to a non-profit of their choice. Celebrated Chef member donations are helping to raise thousands of dollars for these organizations, many of which are struggling to obtain funding in this tough economy.
We learned about the program while dining at Voila! Bistrot last night, and all became members right then! The Celebrated Chefs program is a win-win situation: eat great food and support a great cause!
To become a member of the program, simply purchase a Celebrated Chefs cookbook and associated membership, which you can do online for the combined fee of $25 here, and then dine at any one of the restaurants listed here. Also, when you sign up, $5 of your $25 membership fee goes straight to your designated non-profit.
This Sunday’s Seattle Times included a very interesting article discussing the evolving relationship between organic food and fine dining. Today many fine dining restaurants feature menus consisting of entirely organic or otherwise sustainable foods. In the past, however, organic food and fine dining belonged to two different and very distinct demographics. As the article’s author, Greg Atkinson, a chef instructor at the Seattle Culinary Academy, phrased it, “fine dining belonged to the establishment, and ‘organic food’ was a product of the counterculture.”
The article explains the former categorical separation of fine dining and organic food as the result of a food supply-chain with an emphasis on the ”consistency and efficiency” of ingredients as opposed to the quality. According to Atkinson, more chefs are beginning to cook with organic foods for both aesthetic and ethical reasons.
The article also includes comments by Maria Hines, James Beard Award winner and owner of Seattle’s first all-organic restaurant, Tilth, discussing what inspired her to open an entirely organic restaurant and her thoughts on the relationship between organic food and fine dining.
To read the full article, click here: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/pacificnw/2009388637_pacificptaste28.html
Photo via The New York Times
Tilth Restaurant
1411 North 45th St
Seattle, Washington 98103
206-633-0801
Heck yes! We are very honored and excited to announce that Seattle Business magazine ranked Chef’n #25 on its list of the 54 best mid-sized companies to work for in Washington.
We know how much we enjoy working here and it feels great to be recognized for being, well, us at our best!
The “Washington’s Best 100 Companies to Work For” list is split up into four categories: large, mid-sized, small and non-profit. Tonight, the winners from all four categories will gather at the Bell Harbor International Promenade to socialize and celebrate. Should be a good time! We’ll be sure to fill you in on all the party details in a future post.
Here at Chef’n two of our favorite things are food and fun. As a result, we really like food festivals. They are the perfect combination of food and fun — Good eats, great people and entertaining events (pie-eating contest anyone?). Some of the best festivals and fairs are those dedicated to one specific food. Just this month, towns all over the country sponsored events celebrating foods such as grilled cheese, pork, strawberries, scallops, cranberries and many others. With July just around the corner, you might want to reserve a weekend to check out one of the following food fairs. Just remember to show up hungry!
National Cherry Festival
Traverse City, Michigan
July 4-11
Sandwich Fest Street Fair
Sandwich, Massachusetts
July 11, 2009
46th Annual Louisiana Watermelon Festival
Farmerville, Louisiana
July 23-25
Gourmet Chili Pepper and Salsa Festival
Fredericksburg, Texas
July 24-26
47th Annual Hot Dog Night
Luverne, Minnesota
July 16, 2009
Zin and BBQ in the Park
Seattle, WA
July 26, 2009
The Switchit collection made a radiant appearance in the July 2009 issue of House Beautiful. The feature titled “The Best! For the Kitchen,” showed all four styles of Switchit (All-Purpose, Spoon, Spreader and Slim) as well as all seven of our vibrant color options. We love that they described our color line as “seven wake-up-your-kitchen colors.” Very flattering!
A new study shows that nearly three-quarters of U.S. families buy organic products.
Do you shop organic?
Why or why not?
Read the full Gourmet Retailer article detailing the study mentioned above, click here.
Today during lunch we took a stroll through Seattle’s Pike Place Market to stretch our legs, get a little fresh air and browse the many vendor stations piled high with local goods. Produce, meats, seafood, trinkets, restaurants, flowers, street performers – the market has it all.
That’s right, Chef’n has a Facebook page! Come join our community of fans and see what we’re up to when we’re not busy inventing all your favorite kitchen gadgets and tools.
To become a fan, type “Chef’n” into your Facebook seach bar and click to enter our page. Then click the link below our logo (top left corner) that says “Become a Fan.”
Can’t wait to see you there!
We never realized the VeggiSteam’s potential as a beautician until we received this photo from a fan in the United Kingdom. Too funny! Sun bathing anyone?
Wine + Ladies Night = silly, “alternative” use for the Chef’n VeggiSteam!
VeggiSteam Freckles
My, however did you get such large, uniform freckles?
Thanks to our Twitter follower, PugglyUK, for sending us this funny photo!
Congratulations to Allison, the winner of our VeggiChop giveaway contest! Allison is now the proud new owner of the uber-handy, super fun to use Chef’n VeggiChop. Her recipe for Pesto Olive Tapenade was too good to resist! We’ve included the recipe below so you can make it at home yourself.
Pesto Olive Tapenade
Ingredients:
Kalamata olives
Fresh basil
Sundried tomatoes
Garlic cloves
Salt and pepper to taste
**Amount of ingredients will vary depending on how much tapenade you want to make
Directions:
Place all ingredients into your VeggiChop and start pulling until the mixture reaches your desired consistency. We like it a little on the chunky side, but still spreadable.
This tapenade is delicious on crackers, bagels, veggies, etc
Also, a big thanks to all of our other participants! We loved all your recipes — it was a very difficult choice! Stay tuned for more giveaway contests — you never when one may pop up!
