Yesterday, the Feed took a break from pounding the Meatpacking cobblestones to relax in the plush screening room of the Soho House. We came to hear chefs, including Anita Lo, Scott Conant and Anne Burrell, sound off at New York Cooks: Up Close and Personal. The panel—which also included Porter House New York’s Michael Lomonaco and Little Owl partners Mikey Price and Joey Campanaro— was a plug for the just-released book with an almost identical name. Some of our favorite tidbits (like Anita Lo’s FBI file and Conant’s move to Canada), after the jump. Read more »

With last night’s episode, the journey to the Top Chef Masters finale reached the halfway point. If last week’s preview was any indication, we’re in for a dazzling display of that good ol’ reality-TV drama. But more on that later. The five remaining chefs—Hubert Keller, Anita Lo (above), Michael Chiarello, Rick Bayless and Art Smith—started off the episode with a Quickfire Challenge from season three: make a gourmet burger. The judges were Morgan Spurlock of Super Size Me, Sang Yoon of Father’s Office in Santa Monica and former Top Chef competitor Spike Mendelsohn of Good Stuff Eatery in D.C.

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Anita Lo is the only chef representing New York in tomorrow’s finale of Top Chef Masters. And really, who better than Lo—student of David Bouley, Guy Savoy and David Waltuck, culinary mastermind of Rickshaw Dumpling Bar, and owner of the iconic and recently incinerated Annisa—to carry the crown home for the Big Apple? The chef took a break from rebuilding her baby from scratch to talk to the Feed about her experiences on Masters and the fate of Annisa. Read more »

Anita Lo, hometown hero

Last night kicked off the four-part finale of Top Chef Masters, with chefs Art Smith, Rick Bayless, Hubert Keller, Suzanne Tracht, Michael Chiarello and NYC’s own Anita Lo (come on, we got only one in there?!?) competing for $100,000 for the charity of their choice.

The quickfire had the chefs competing in the always fun to watch mise en place relay race, split into teams of three, Team Salt (Lo/Keller/Bayless) vs. Team Pepper (Chiarello/Smith/Tracht). Colicchio made a special appearance to introduce the challenge, noting that it would be especially tough for these chefs since prep work is usually done by sous chefs. The teams were pretty much neck and neck until Bayless, who used to teach pastry, murdered Smith in the final leg—separating and then beating egg whites so they held upside down for five seconds. As a result, Team Salt received five points.

For elimination, the masters had the difficult task of re-creating each other’s signature dishes: Keller’s lobster and truffle cappuccino with corn madeleine; Smith’s seared grouper, which he made sure to mention that President Obama just loved; Lo’s seared scallops with sea urchin, potato puree and bacon; Bayless’s rack of lamb with pasilla chilies; Chiarello’s fennel pollen and balsamic quail, and Tracht’s chopped sirloin with fried egg.

Joining the judges were former contestants Rick Moonen, Ludo Lefebvre, Elizabeth Falkner, Chris Lee, Mark Peel and Michael Cimarusti. Lo received an almost perfect score (24 out of 25 stars!) for her dish of corn chawanmushi, champagne gelée and a lobster-knuckle biscuit sandwich, making her the front-runner going into next week’s challenge. Bayless (23 stars) and Keller (21 stars) also received top honors, while Chiarello (18 1/2 stars) was knocked for lack of seasoning and undercooked lamb, and Smith (15 stars) took a hit for the overcooked egg inside his undercooked ground lamb. With 14 1/2 stars, Tracht—for serving cold fish due to plating way ahead of time—got the boot.—Zachary Feldman

Next week: The remaining five masters cook for—why the hell not—Zooey Deschanel!

Pork-happy chefs at the Beard House.

Some little piggies go to market, but earlier this week, this little piggy went to the James Beard House for the first Porkapalooza, an homage to the pig and a celebration of several city chefs who have made their mark with pork. For instance, the long lost, but certainly not forgotten, tête de cochon sandwich that Ryan Skeen perfected while at Resto was resurrected for the evening of porcine pleasures. The night also doubled as a last hurrah for the chef, who leaves his post at Irving Mill this Sunday. Read on for full details on the feast. Read more »

Chef Ryan Skeen (Photo courtesy of the James Beard Foundation)

The rumors of Ryan Skeen’s imminent departure from Irving Mill have turned out to be true. The Feed got the exclusive news from the chef himself, who transformed Irving Mill into a newly interesting (and porktastic) destination when he came on board last year. His final day of service will be June 7. As a last hurrah, Skeen, along with other pig-loving chefs—Porchetta’s Sara Jenkins, Anita Lo (Annisa), and the General Greene’s Nick Morgenstern—will be cooking a Porkapalooza dinner at the restaurant on June 2, hosted by the James Beard Foundation. See more details on the meal and Skeen’s next move after the jump. Read more »