Festivals, James Beard Awards, Steak Aging: 10 Hot Topics On Food Republic

We were very chef-focused this week at Food Republic. We spoke with Dale Talde about a signature dish at his new Italian restaurant in NYC, Massoni, in our latest episode of Plate Deconstruction. We paid a visit to Olmsted in Brooklyn to see how Greg Baxtrom makes his rutabaga pasta — that'd be strips of rutabaga made to resemble tagliatelle. Big news: The James Beard Award semifinalists were announced this week. (Congrats to all those on the list!) We also featured a recipe that Ina Garten swears by. All that and more on this week's Hot Topics.

  • Chef Greg Baxtrom of Brooklyn's Olmsted made tagliatelle pasta out of rutabaga.
  • We tried the SteakAger on a very expensive cut of steak. Was it worth it?
  • This year's James Beard Award semifinalists were announced this week.
  • Restaurants around the U.S. were affected by the "Day Without Immigrants" strike.
  • Dale Talde showed us how to marry Cantonese techniques with Italian flavors.
  • Ina Garten's skillet-roasted chicken is as easy as, well, skillet-roasted chicken.
  • Plan your year's travel around these 12 cool food festivals around the world.
  • One of the most important factors of a bowl of pho is the garnish.
  • What is vanilla powder? Your new baking secret weapon.
  • Here are 10 restaurants you shouldn't miss on your next visit to Seattle.