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Category Archives: Chef News

COOK Restaurant Sneak Peek: coZara

Last week, COOK was thrilled to host a sneak peek of Hiroyuki “Zama” Tanaka’s soon-to-open University City restaurant, coZara (meaning “small plates” in Japanese).

Zama has come far in his three-plus years on 19th Street on Rittenhouse Square, and his Zama is one of the city’s go-to spots for sushi. Now,  Zama is on the move with a second restaurant. This December, he is set to open a 140-seat, two-story Japanese restaurant whose menu will include yakitori, noodles and dumplings.

The lucky 16 guests at Zama’s class last week got a special, early taste of the menu which was not only beautiful but delicious as well. Below are the menu as well as photos by Yoni Nimrod for COOK.

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Open Stove XIV: Winner’s Circle

COOK’s Open Stove prides itself on being a stage for Philly’s as-yet-untested kitchen talent, but once in awhile the crew likes to throw some proven winners into the mix to see what the heck’s going to happen. They’ve achieved this in the past by pitting executive chefs against each other in an unpredictable battle usually reserved for sous chefs and line cooks. For the 14th installment in the series, however, COOK tapped two reigning Open Stove champions — Zahav‘s Yehuda Sichel (above, left) and Sola BYOB‘s Steve Stryjewski — to see who’d get the better of their fellow victor.

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Roof To Table: An Edible Oasis Atop The Four Seasons Hotel

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to revisit the rooftop garden of the Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia. I went about 3 years ago when the “edible landscape” was first installed by my old friend Grace Wicks of Graceful Gardens.

Over the past 3 years, Executive Chef Rafael Gonzalez (who took me up there yesterday) has worked with a new gardening pro to double the garden’s size and capacity. And while we are still weeks out from really seeing major growth up there, there were plenty of signs of a fruitful season to come.

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New Chefs Coming to COOK This June

Next month at COOK, there are a number of first timers coming to lead their own classes. Below are a couple of the newbies not to be missed in June (seats can be purchased online by clicking on the class titles):

Sun 6/9, 6pm: A Good For You Drive Thru with Ryan Sulikowski of Farmers Road Drive Thru
Chef Ryan Sulikowski began his culinary career as a high school freshman in a neighbor’s Mediterranean-style restaurant. From there he attended Drexel University with a major in Biology and then went to pursue a formal culinary education at Le Cordon Bleu at the Atlantic Culinary Academy in Dover, New Hampshire.

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Open Stove XI: A Bacos Bonanza!

Didja miss us?!

Open Stove, COOK’s recurring culinary battle, took a brief break in frigid February, but it was back and stranger than ever in the month of March. The 11th installment of the series brought in two new game victims competitors ready to take on absolutely anything: Carmen Cappello (left), COOK vet and sous chef/charcuterie expert aboard The Moshulu; and Jamie Wolf, who kills it in the kitchen of the nearby Alma de Cuba. Would Cappello capitalize on his familiarity with the battlefield and come out with his glove raised? Or would Wolf continue in the tradition of first-ever female victor Hilary Hamilton and earn the W? Read on to find out!

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Open Stove X: Hip to Be Square

COOK’s primo Center City location puts it in super-close proximity to some of Philly’s best restaurants. Two of those near neighbors — Lacroix and Rittenhouse Tavern — provided the whisk-wielding warriors for the 10th installment of the always-a-blast Open Stove battle. In addition to being the first COOK-off of 2013, OSX (catchy!) also marked the first-ever participation of a female competitor. Hilary Hamilton (second from right), sous for Tavern chef/COOK regular Nick Elmi, toted her knife roll across the park to Rittenhouse Square-off against Doug Allen, one of the many talents to be found in chef Jon Cichon‘s next-level Lacroix kitchen.

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Open Stove IX: Battle of the “Bars”

I’ve had an inappropriate amount of fun covering COOK’s Open Stove series for The COOKbook in 2012. From clashes European and North American to battles between bartender bros and actual brothers, the monthly competition ranged wildly in theme and personnel, but a sense of jovialty and culinary fellowship (often in the form of dude-hugs) pervaded each installment. OS9 was no exception, bringing together two chefs from two very different kinds of bars for a competition characterized as much by goofs as good food.

Kevin Yanaga (left) mans the sushi bar at Rittenhouse’s Zama, and is well-known at COOK for his fishy stylings and expertise in knife sharpening. Mark Regan (right), too, has appeared at COOK frequently, but this Open Stove was the first opportunity for the chef de cuisine of Newbold beer bar South Philly Tap Room to lead the charge.

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Open Stove VIII: The King in the North!

There is perhaps no stronger international relationship than the diplomatic bond between the United States and Canada, but beneath all that warm-and-fuzzy chumminess lies a rivalry spanning generations. Yanks are fond of clowning our neighbors to the north for everything from their unflappable manners and melodramatic high schools to the scientifically proven fact that they’re all scared of the dark. Many Canucks, meanwhile, consider us to be arrogant dummies with wack healthcare, a penchant for passing the buck (passing the loonie?) and nothing but boorish disdain for anyone residing outside our 50 awesome states. (OK so maybe Canada’s not alone in all that.) With such close borders, it has to be this way. We’ll always be allies — but we’ll always have a bit of a score to settle. The eighth installment of COOK’s Open Stove competition series addressed this age-old struggle for cultural supremacy in the most dangerous death arena of them all: the kitchen.

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A very COOK Halloween, starring a.kitchen

You’re probably still hung over from your gravy-soaked Thanksgiving weekend, so we figured it’s as good a time as any to take a quick look back on one of the wackiest (turkey-free!) events of the past few months: a raucous costumed dinner on Halloween night, starring COOK’s friends from the nearby a.kitchen. Sous chef Val Stryjewski is a COOK regular, but for this all-offal affair, he took on the persona of zombie Georges Perrier, complete with a legit blood-spattered Le Bec Fin coat he saved from his days working for the legendary Frenchman.

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Miss Rachel does (vegan!) Jewish comfort food

Some people think vegetables are those green things that make steak look nice on a plate. Proving that they can stand on their own — and leave you the kind of full that a Jewish grandmother would approve of — is chef Rachel Klein of Miss Rachel’s Pantry.
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