Latest news with #Chef
Forbes
16 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Leonetta Adds Mediterranean Cuisine To Manhattan's 'Curry Hill'
Mezes and flatbreads are an array of first courses at Leonetta. Among food lovers, Manhattan's Murray Hill neighborhood, on the east side in the thirties, is affectionately known as Curry Hill owing to its large number of Indian restaurants. Leonetta, opened last autumn, adds a welcome departure with a menu from the Eastern Mediterranean. It's a very handsome restaurant––what the British would call smart posh––with a glittering bar and roomy central booths, bentwood chairs, wood floors, fringed jellyfish hanging lamps, and good lighting throughout, with plenty of greenery and a window wall on the street, with an adjacent smaller room and a more intimate downstairs space called Leo's Famous. Handsome and well-lighted, Leonetta draws a largely female crowd. For whatever reason, the clientele is, each night, composed of seventy percent women, including at the long bar, and they dress up and keep the atmosphere vivacious. Sadly they must shout to be heard over thundering music speakers with thudding bass lines layered over indefinable canned music. For the millionth time, nobody goes to a good restaurant to hear loud music, and it baffles me that restaurateurs think it provides an appealing 'vibe.' Chef Cotton's ;are menu is suffused with spices from all over the Mediterranean. Chef Ed Cotton, a Massachusetts native, worked in Boston with Todd English and followed with stints with Daniel Boulud, Laurent Tourondel and David Burke, whose influence for fired, gutsy textures and flavors is clear at Leonetta. The menu ranges from mezes to pizzas and pitas, salads, seafood and meats, all from the food cultures of the Mediterranean, beginning with a lush baba ghanoush of nicely charred eggplant with an intense confit of tomato and pickled onions. Black garlic hummus picks up flavors from toasted spices and tender marinated chickpeas. A delicious choice to be shared is the chopped tuna puttanesca with entwined flavors and textures of tomato, olive, capers anchovy, and sesame grissini. Shawarma is a hefty pork shank with crisp skin to be stuffed into pita bread. The pita breads at Leonetta are terrific––puffy, warm and yeasty, with a toasty sear on the outside, which can be had with Greek spanakopita filling, while the rosemary focaccia bread comes with olives, whipped ricotta and za'atar. There are five pastas that are lusty indeed, like the frilly black truffle mafaldine with wild mushrooms, mascarpone and Parmigiano. Even better is the rick shrimp Israeli cous cous scented with saffron and studded with zucchini, tomato and lemon. The most interesting of the seafood dishes is the swordfish steak with chermoula,gingered cauliflower pilaf, eggplant yogurt and charred lemon. The lamb mixed grill, at $55, is a bargain, since you get a generous platter of loin, Merguez sausage tomato and spinach orzo, kalamata olives and chickpeas. A fudge chocolate dessert with ice cream. The not-to-be-missed dish, to share, is the pork shawarma, consisting of a massive bone-in shank cooked till tender so that the bone slides right out. With its crispy skin and well-seasoned meat, it is meant to be stuffed into those fine pitas, with tangy turmeric pickles and dressed with a white and red sauce. Among the side dishes, the aromatic basmati rice involves sweet Medjool dates and black mission figs, and you should definitely order a plate of the fat, za'atar-laced steak fries with bits of feta and hot harissa ketchup. For dessert there's a commendable tiramisù; rich chocolate pudding with an orange-saffron marmalade and Chantilly cream; and a pleasing semolina cake flavored with olive oil and served with fior di latte gelato and a pine nut-rosemary crumble. There is, of course, an array of signature cocktails and a pretty good wine list with reasonably priced wines well under $100 and several wines by the glass. Our waiter, whose name was Joel, was exceptionally affable and helpful throughout service, and as the room started to empty around nine o'clock, that throbbing vibe did too. I do wish they'd change the outmoded policy of only seating a party when all members have arrived, which, depending on New York traffic, could be a long wait at the hostess station or the bar. Leonetta seems wholly fitting within its neighborhood, for its food shares the same focus on spices and seasonings, charring and cooling yogurt as do its Indian neighbors. It's already caught on with the young professionals and the many nearby hospital staffers from NYU Langone, Lenox Hill and Mount Sinai who can come for a meal of small bites, pizzas, pastas or a full-scale dinner in a splendid surroundings. LEONETTA 181 Lexington Avenue 646-448-4288 Open for lunch Mon.-Fri.; brunch Sat. & Sun.; dinner nightly.
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Iconic Italian restaurant shutters after 45 years
Published: Updated: An iconic Italian restaurant in Michigan has closed after 45 years, leaving locals heartbroken. Moro's Dining, a beloved Italian institution in Allen Park, shut its doors for the final time earlier this month. The restaurant drew diners from all over the Detroit district hungry for its shrimp scampi and veal, Minestrone soup and flambéed desserts. 'We are closed but would like to thank you for all your prayers and well wishes,' disappointed customers were told via the restaurant's answering machine. 'Chef Thomas Moro is doing fine,' the voicemail added reassuringly. Thomas Moro, owner and chef at Moro's Dining, put the restaurant up for sale back in 2022. 'I am over 70 years old,' Moro told the Detroit Free Press at the time. 'It's about time to throw the towel in.' One regular wrote on Facebook that she confirmed the restaurant was permanently shut after seeing a 'closed' sign on its front door. 'So sad to see Moro's in Allen Park has closed down,' she wrote. 'The owner retired. Someone buy this place!!!' Ginger Miles Lickorai wrote. 'Moro's has been our "family night out" restaurant for decades now,' another longstanding customer wrote in tribute on Reddit. Moro began his cooking career washing dishes at Mario's in Detroit's Midtown back in the 1960s. He soon worked his way up into the kitchen, working first as a line chef doing prep work and butchering. In the 1970s he joined the Navy as a chef and conducted two tours of Italy where he learned authentic Italian cooking. After returning from the Navy, he worked at a variety of top Michigan restaurants and set up his own catering company. Finally in 1980, Moro had saved enough money to open his own restaurant in Allen Park. It comes as another iconic family restaurant also closed its doors earlier this month. Oscar's Taco House shut up shop after 63 years of serving authentic Mexican cuisine in San Antonio, Texas. Earlier this year another institution, MacLeod's Restaurant in Bucksport, Maine also closed, ending a 45-year run. Family-run restaurants and larger chains have been closing in their droves in the last several years as they face a rising cost of doing business. Several big-name restaurants — including Hooters , Red Lobster, and TGI Fridays — have all shuttered hundreds of restaurants and declared bankruptcy. Food prices have skyrocketed, leaving the companies with higher costs to run their locations. Meanwhile, middle-class shoppers, the core audience for the chains, have cut back on discretionary spending as they pay higher prices at the grocery store.
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Iconic Italian restaurant shutters after 45 years, leaving regulars heartbroken
An iconic Michigan restaurant has closed after 45 years, leaving locals heartbroken. Moro's Dining, a beloved Italian institution in Allen Park, shut its doors for the final time earlier this month. The restaurant drew diners from all over the Detroit district hungry for its shrimp scampi and veal, Minestrone soup and flambéed desserts. 'We are closed but would like to thank you for all your prayers and well wishes,' disappointed customers were told via the restaurant's answering machine. 'Chef Thomas Moro is doing fine,' the voicemail added reassuringly. Thomas Moro, owner and chef at Moro's Dining, put the restaurant up for sale back in 2022. 'I am over 70 years old,' Moro told the Detroit Free Press at the time. 'It's about time to throw the towel in.' One regular wrote on Facebook that she confirmed the restaurant was permanently shut after seeing a 'closed' sign on its front door. 'So sad to see Moro's in Allen Park has closed down,' she wrote. 'The owner retired. Someone buy this place!!!' Ginger Miles Lickorai wrote. 'Moro's has been our "family night out" restaurant for decades now,' another longstanding customer wrote in tribute on Reddit. 'When I was little they had a singing waiter and the table side flaming desserts delighted everyone I ever took there,' the customer recalled. 'We hate to see it go, but I hope the Moros enjoy their retirement, and that their dedicated and hard working staff all find somewhere to land.' Moro began his cooking career washing dishes at Mario's in Detroit's Midtown back in the 1960s. He soon worked his way up into the kitchen, working first as a line chef doing prep work and butchering. In the 1970s he joined the Navy as a chef and conducted two tours of Italy where he learned authentic Italian cooking. The Allen Park institution drew diners from all over the Detroit district The restaurant was famous for its flambéed desserts After returning from the Navy, he worked at a variety of top Michigan restaurants and set up his own catering company. Finally in 1980, Moro had saved enough money to open his own restaurant in Allen Park. It comes as another iconic family restaurant also closed its doors earlier this month. Oscar's Taco House shut up shop after 63 years of serving authentic Mexican cuisine in San Antonio, Texas. Earlier this year another institution, MacLeod's Restaurant in Bucksport, Maine also closed, ending a 45-year run. Family-run restaurants and larger chains have been closing in their droves in the last several years as they face a rising cost of doing business. Several big-name restaurants — including Hooters, Red Lobster, and TGI Fridays — have all shuttered hundreds of restaurants and declared bankruptcy. Food prices have skyrocketed, leaving the companies with higher costs to run their locations. Meanwhile, middle-class shoppers, the core audience for the chains, have cut back on discretionary spending as they pay higher prices at the grocery store. Combining lower revenues with higher costs to stay alive has given several brands a poison pill. Meanwhile, other restaurant staples, like Denny's, Outback Steakhouse, and Cracker Barrel have all reported shrinking sales and cut back their year-long forecasts.
Washington Post
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
Homemade teriyaki sauce makes this chicken and green bean stir-fry sing
Chef Roy Choi made up his mind to change his way of eating a few years back when, he writes in new cookbook, 'The Choi of Cooking,' 'I was tipping the scales at 200-plus pounds, feeling unhealthy, hiding in my junk food abyss …' Instead of latching onto some extreme diet, he began to add healthy tweaks to the foods he already loved and craved.
Associated Press
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Associated Press
Anne Burrell, TV chef who coached the 'Worst Cooks in America,' dies at 55
NEW YORK (AP) — TV chef Anne Burrell, who coached culinary fumblers through hundreds of episodes of 'Worst Cooks in America,' died Tuesday at her New York home. She was 55. The Food Network, where Burrell began her two-decade television career on 'Iron Chef America' and went on to other shows, confirmed her death. The cause was not immediately clear, and medical examiners were set to conduct an autopsy. Police were called to her address before 8 a.m. Tuesday and found an unresponsive woman who was soon pronounced dead. The police department did not release the woman's name, but records show it was Burell's address. Burrell was on TV screens as recently as April, making chicken Milanese cutlets topped with escarole salad in one of her many appearances on NBC's 'Today' show. She faced off against other top chefs on the Food Network's 'House of Knives' earlier in the spring. 'Anne was a remarkable person and culinary talent — teaching, competing and always sharing the importance of food in her life and the joy that a delicious meal can bring,' the network said in a statement. Known for her bold and flavorful but not overly fancy dishes, and for her spiky platinum-blonde hairdo, Burrell and various co-hosts on 'Worst Cooks in America' led teams of kitchen-challenged people through a crash course in savory self-improvement. On the first show in 2010, contestants presented such unlikely personal specialties as cayenne pepper and peanut butter on cod, and penne pasta with sauce, cheese, olives and pineapple. The accomplished chefs had to taste the dishes to evaluate them, and it was torturous, Burrell confessed in an interview with The Tampa Tribune at the time. Still, Burrell persisted through 27 seasons, making her last appearance in 2024. 'If people want to learn, I absolutely love to teach them,' she said on ABC's 'Good Morning America' in 2020. 'It's just them breaking bad habits and getting out of their own way.' Burrell was born Sept. 21, 1969, in the central New York town of Cazenovia, where her parents ran a flower store. She earned an English and communications degree from Canisius University and went on to a job as a headhunter but hated it, she said in a 2008 interview with The Post-Standard of Syracuse. Having always loved cooking, she soon enrolled in the Culinary Institute of America, for which she later taught. She graduated in 1996, spent a year at an Italian culinary school and then worked in upscale New York City restaurants for a time. 'Anytime Anne Burrell gets near hot oil, I want to be around,' Frank Bruni, then-food critic at the New York Times, enthused in a 2007 review. By the next year, Burrell was hosting her own Food Network show, 'Secrets of a Restaurant Chef,' and her TV work became a focus. Over the years she also wrote two cookbooks, 'Cook Like a Rock Star' and 'Own Your Kitchen: Recipes to Inspire and Empower,' and was involved with food pantries, juvenile diabetes awareness campaigns and other charities. Burrell's own tastes, she said, ran simple. She told The Post-Standard her favorite food was bacon and her favorite meal was her mother's tuna fish sandwich. 'Cooking is fun,' she said. 'It doesn't have to be scary. It's creating something nurturing.' Survivors include her husband, Stuart Claxton, whom she married in 2021, and his son, her mother and her two siblings. 'Anne's light radiated far beyond those she knew, touching millions across the world,' the family said in a statement released by the Food Network.
