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Tags: Class News, Local, Masters Program

11 June 2013

COOK MASTERS PROGRAM: Butchery with Chef Andrew Wood of Russet

This little piggy went to COOK… and so did a bunch of his chicken friends.

Yesterday, Andrew Wood, Chef-Owner of Center City’s Russet, brought his butchery A-game to COOK for a Masters Program tutorial in butchery.

Tags: Local, Michelle's World, Recipes

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22 May 2013

Farm Fresh with Anne Coll of Meritage

Last night COOK had the pleasure of hosting Meritage chef Anne Coll for a truly delicious dinner celebrating local produce. For her “Farm Fresh” class, she brought along a bunch of just-harvested veggies to create a simple yet original meal that showcased the best quality area produce. Anne lives just outside Lancaster on a farm — she has a pet pig named Jenny! — and all of us were able to take advantage of her green thumb, as she even brought in some stuff she grew herself!

Check after the jump for photos and recipes from this amazing evening!

Tags: General, Local, Yoni's World

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28 November 2012

Warning: Smoking Is Addictive

This year I was given the mission and responsibility of providing Thanksgiving dinner with its main attraction – the turkey. It was a great honor indeed that my friends believed in my cooking skills enough to trust me with such a task. But then I realized that I’ve cooked many birds in my life of many shapes and sizes, but I have never handled anything like a turkey before, and I have no idea how to cook something of its proportion in my oven…? What to do, what to do? How do I make sure I don’t screw it up? What happens if it comes out dry or, God forbid, undercooked? Thanksgiving will be ruined!

Tags: Local, Yoni's World

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18 October 2012

Bed Breakfast & Beyond!

Every few weeks I get the feeling that I have to get out of the city and its urban goings-on. You know what I’m talking about right? That feeling where you have to experience nature right now! I just have to have my dose of fresh air and green scenery at least once a month or I go a little “Center City crazy”. Especially now when winter is just around the corner, it is important to take advantage of this fall weather when you still have some sun, to go out of town and enjoy it! So on that note, I called up my buddy Ryan Harrison who runs a little farm out in Cinnaminson, NJ right next to the Delaware river called “Jersey Gina’s Gems Farm”, and if that name rings a bell it’s because you probably got a chance to experience the amazing Gina’s Jersey Gems pickles which we sale at COOK. They are, by far, the best pickles I have ever had! Ryan, who is also a chef, has been a part of a number of classes here at COOK, including classes with The Smoke Truck, Ela,and he even competed in one of our “Open Stove” battles.

Tags: Chef News, Local, Yoni's World

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28 September 2012

10 YEARS, 10 CHEFS, 1 LACROIX

I would like to start with congratulating Lacroix at the Rittenhouse for an amazing 10 years. To commemorate their tenth anniversary, Lacroix hosted an elaborate celebration dinner, benefiting the Lacroix scholarship through the James Beard Foundation and honoring Jean-Marie Lacroix for his contribution to Philadelphia’s (and the nation’s) culinary scene.

Tags: Audrey's World, Chef News, Local

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14 September 2012

The 2012 Audi FEASTIVAL in pictures

The COOK crew is still catching its collective breath a full 48 hours after the curtain dropped on this year’s Audi FEASTIVAL. The crown jewel of the city’s culinary event calendar, FEASTIVAL, now in its third year, raised a tremendous amount of support for the city’s Live Arts and Philly Fringe, a mission represented by the multiple arts patrons in the crowd of 950-plus and the talented performers who transformed Delaware Avenue’s Pier 9 into an absolute funhouse. Audrey Claire Taichman, who curates the event with Stephen Starr and Michael Solomonov, recently revealed that 2010’s inaugural FEASTIVAL was the inspiration for COOK itself. It’s not difficult to see why, considering the support, respect and camaraderie displayed by this year’s attendees.

Tags: Chef News, Local

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17 August 2012

Lacroix at the Rittenhouse Celebrates a Decade with the Ultimate Collaboration Dinner

Lacroix at the Rittenhouse, COOK’s dear friend and very near neighbor, has always been a trend-setting force in Philadelphia dining, as well as a proving ground for some of our brightest chefs. That’s why we’re geeked to hear what one of our most evolutionary kitchens has planned for its 10-year anniversary.

On September 24 — big heads up for this one — Lacroix Executive Chef Jon Cichon (above, at his tuna butchering class) and Executive Pastry Chef Fred Ortega will fold eight former colleagues back into the fray for a one-night-only tasting. Here are the alums who will join the current brigade, plus chef Jean-Marie Lacroix himself, for this singular occasion (quite a few friends of COOK on this list, too):

Tags: Chef News, Local

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13 August 2012

August 15: Le Bec Fin honors Julia Child

It wasn’t too long ago that The COOKbook took you on a photographic tour of Le Bec Fin, reinvigorated under the watch of new owner Nicolas Fanucci (left) and chef Walter Abrams (right), French Laundry alums who have injected The House That Perrier Built with new energy and purpose. Now that they’ve had a few months to settle in, earning a rave review from Philly Mag in the process, the team has started organizing special events. This Wednesday, August 15, the restaurant will participate in Julia Child Restaurant Week, a nationwide celebration honoring the great American-born ambassador of French cuisine, with a special menu served offered in LBF’s more casual Chez Georges.

Tags: Local, Openings

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18 July 2012

Opa opens Drury Beer Garden

When normal people redesign parking lots, they plant nondescript trees, designate “Employee of the Month” spots and tweak the angle of space lines by imperceptible degrees. When food-industry people redesign parking lots, they roll in repurposed power cable spool tables, fill beach bins full of iced-down craft cans and agonize over the placement of cornhole boards and ping-pong tables. So went the ramp-up to Drury Beer Garden, which Opa owners George and Vasiliki Tsiouris unveiled late last week in the formerly vacant space behind their mod-Greek bar and restaurant (1311 Sansom St.).

Tags: Local, Products

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16 July 2012

Meet Meat the gentlemen of Side Project Jerky

Growing up in Utah, Marcos Espinoza just wanted to be normal. When he was in fifth grade, his New Mexican family opened Navajo Hogan, a Native American eatery in South Salt Lake, translating to long work hours for mom and dad — and full-blown “little restaurant rat” status for their son, who washed dishes and lent hands during catering gigs while the 9-to-5 parents of schoolmates enjoyed a more conventional day-to-day. “I wanted so bad to be normal, because all my friends were quote-unquote normal,” he says. “But now, that’s the last thing I want to be.”

Business-wise, at least. Espinoza, a married father of two, is now a 9-to-5er himself — he works as a cost estimator for a local construction company. “I really like my job,” he says. “But I also wanted to do something other than that, something involved with food.” He turned this desire into an impeccably branded reality earlier this year with Side Project Jerky (SPJ), a handmade snack that appeals to the polished, meat-masticating gentleman inside us all.

Category Archives: Local

COOK MASTERS PROGRAM: Butchery with Chef Andrew Wood of Russet

Farm Fresh with Anne Coll of Meritage

Warning: Smoking Is Addictive

Bed Breakfast & Beyond!

10 YEARS, 10 CHEFS, 1 LACROIX

The 2012 Audi FEASTIVAL in pictures

Lacroix at the Rittenhouse Celebrates a Decade with the Ultimate Collaboration Dinner

August 15: Le Bec Fin honors Julia Child

Opa opens Drury Beer Garden

Meet Meat the gentlemen of Side Project Jerky

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