The news, events and noteworthy people of the week, as reported by Seattle's neighborhood blogs. more ›

Fall may bring tricks and treats, but ask any foodie what really thrills me in Autumn, and they'll let you know that this season is clearly for cookbooks. Yes, the leaves aren't the only thing dropping at a fever pitch. And the Pacific Northwest - Seattle in particular - has been scoring big when it comes to attracting food authors to town for readings and signings. more ›

You may recall our recommendation to take a road trip to the Gig Harbor Wine and Food Festival recently, and maybe you even had a chance to enjoy the Celebrity Chef Cook-Off. But if life kept you closer to home, here's what went down. more ›

Yesterday, we suggested you head to Kitsap County to get a breath of fresh air (and a taste of fresh wine). Today, we're recommending another tasty out-of-town option: Gig Harbor. more ›

Yesterday we were immersed in the flurry of James Beard-related news. Today we pay homage to the accolades of other hometown food celebrities. more ›

If you spend all your free time following chefs and food writers on Twitter (which, um, we totally don't do, by the way) you may have noticed an awful lot of big food names in Seattle last weekend. more ›

Do you have a delightfully foul mouth, a full sleeve of pork-inspired tattoos, and a fondness for pea puree? Maybe you're wildly arrogant, or just slightly unhinged? Then mark your calendar for Bravo's just-announced and Top Chef: Just Desserts casting call in Seattle next month. Applicants can strut their stuff for season nine on March 9 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Hotel 1000. more ›

A look into the two day event with over 200 local wineries and restaurants. Plenty of wine, lots of food, and plenty more wine! more ›

Wednesday marked the second episode from this season of Top Chef. There's still too many cooks, not enough personalities, but we're busy keeping our eyes peeled for any reality tv drama related to local cheftestants Ashley Merriman (of Branzino) and Robin Leventhal (chef-owner of Crave). more ›

The fifth season of Top Chef kicked off on Bravo last night, and we're excited to see what the two cheftestants from Seattle can do in Las Vegas over the next few months. As always, the first episode (and the next few thereafter) have far too many characters to keep track of, but we were watching for local ladies Ashley Merriman (of Branzino) and Robin Leventhal (chef-owner of our dearly departed Crave). more ›

Our good friends at the Bottleneck sent out an email this morning to let everybody know that they'll be closed this Sunday and Monday for renovation: "The lounge is expanding and we need a couple of days to take down a wall and regroup. We will re-open at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, August 18th. Can we build it? Yes we can!!" The remodel is just in time for the bar's viewing party for the first episode of the new season of Top Chef, featuring two Seattle competitors, Robin Leventhal (formerly of Crave) and Ashley Merriman of Branzino. more ›

Back in February, the Bravo TV show Top Chef was in town casting contestants for season six. On the side, we've always had our own predictions on who should or would make it, and as we found out today, one of our picks Robin Leventhal, the former chef/owner of now-defunct Crave made it onto the show. And she won't be the only one representing Seattle, as Ashley Merriman, chef of Branzino, will also fill out the Pacific Northwest cast quota. This season will take place in Vegas, and has already been rumored to be one of the tastiest competitions yet. Guess we will just have to wait and see our local ladies hold their own. Top Chef: Las Vegas will premiere on Bravo Wednesday, August 26 at 9 p.m. ET/PT. more ›

The Hunt Club, just off the comfortable lobby of the jewel-box Hotel Sorrento: a restaurant of understated elegance, paneled booths, dark leather banquettes. And a kitchen in search of an executive chef. So sound the bugles, it's going to be a real-life Top Chef competition! Life imitates the art of TV reality shows! "We thought it was a great opportunity to make the entire hiring process a little more interesting," says Sorrento GM Jeff Jobe. Wanna try out? Submit your resume and bio to the Hunt Club by Friday, April 3rd. And be prepared to cook your ass off. more ›

If so, food on TV has assumed the role of court jester. The political jesters (Billo, Rush, Greta) have lost their luster, and Obama is playing footsie with the GOP, rather than holding their banker-bankrollers' feet to the fire. So we have to content ourselves with pictures of mac & cheese on cable. Tomorrow's Travel Channel lineup includes a dude named Adam Richman, who visited Seattle last year to film an episode of Man v Food, wherein he goes up against Red Mill Burgers, Crab Pot, and Beth's 12-egg omelet (preview video here). We assume the fat guy wins. Meanwhile, candidates for next season's Top Chef will line up at Canlis tomorrow for auditions, desperately seeking a balance between cooking expertise and "charisma." more ›

It's Wednesday, which means we'll have to sit down for American Idol results tonight (after getting home from the Ani DiFranco show) without any local hottie to be nervous for. It's probably for the best. It's Andrew Lloyd Webber week, after all, and Kristy Lee Cook was supposedly planning on doing "Don't Cry For Me Argentina." That would probably not have gone very well, if the other Cook's creepy performance of "Music of the Night" was any indication. more ›

For those of you that are info Top Chef, you can check out the full review of last night's episode on Chicagoist. We were excited to see that beer had the spotlight for part of the show, but it was sad to see it was done in such a sell-out, corporate fashion. Check out the embedded clip for the ten-minute Quickfire Challenge (you can forward to the 3:45 mark). more ›

It was recently brought to our attention that Top Chef Zoi—one half of this season's lesbian couple, both of whom made it on the show—is the daughter of one of our former roommate's friends. We don't know her, but we recall her mom as being super cool. more ›

might be the Best Best of the -ists ever. We're exhausted just thinking about it. more ›

In a not-always-successful attempt to keep our TV watching to a minimum, we have a no-reality-TV rule at home. But we do have one exception: Top Chef. New episodes broadcast on Bravo TV at 10pm on Wednesdays, but the Bravo people must be even more into the series than we are because you can watch practically the entire season every day, and we think that next Wednesday you can, in fact, watch the ENTIRE season, beginning to end. And we think it would be a surprisingly good use of your time. more ›

There's a whole wide world out there, and here's the proof: more ›