Chefs

The dinner party is over. The season of the celebrity chef is coming to an end. It was a phenomenon of the '80s. Wolfgang Puck--along with Alice Waters and Paul Prudhomme--changed the way we ate. In return we gave them not only fortune, but more fame than any chef in America had ever dreamed of. Those who've already got it can keep their fame, but the next generation of chefs will have to settle for fortune. The era of adulation is over.

TALKING to chefs about farmers is like talking to baseball fans about right fielders. The list of the great ones just goes on and on, and nobody can agree on just one or two. Every chef that we interviewed said they bought from 15 to 20 different farmers every week. "We like to stimulate the economy for everyone," jokes Josiah Citrin. When we asked them to narrow their choices to just the four or five best, there were still nearly 20 farmers named.

Until Friday, Monroe High School student Tenisha Hall had never tasted guinea hen. But that didn't stop her from whipping up some poached hen in chives sauce over zucchini and carrots to go with a dessert of crepes with chocolate and strawberry in Los Angeles Trade Technical College's downtown kitchen. Hall and five other San Fernando Valley students took part in the finals of the Careers Through Culinary Arts Program's cooking competition.

When John Patrick Doherty first read about the plans for this week's meeting between President Reagan and Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev, his thoughts quickly shifted to one major issue--what were they doing for lunch? "I was wondering if they planned to meet at the Waldorf," confessed Doherty, the head chef at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel and creator of the meal the two world leaders will share today. "Last Wednesday, they asked me if I would be interested.

Some of them were born too late. Some of them were born in the wrong place. And some were simply born with the wrong attitude. These are the chefs who should have been stars--and the reasons why they aren't. Michel Richard: By all rights Michel Richard should be a star. His Citrus is certainly the most interesting new restaurant to open in Los Angeles in the past few years; last year, in fact, Citrus was voted best new restaurant in America by a jury of his peers (Who's Who of American Cooking).

Get a taste of the Maya Empire  - flavored by a touch of California cuisine - at an international chef series underway in Tulum, Mexico .    In May the series, sponsored by Zamas Hotel and Que Fresco ! restaurant, will feature Chef Alicia Jenish of the Grand Café in San Francisco . Her May 4-8 sessions will focus on the café's brasserie style of cooking and incorporate touches of Mexican and Caribbean cuisine. Other chefs and mixologists will lead sessions throughout the rest of the year and into 2014.  "We're excited to have a talented roster of chefs and bartenders visiting us," said Susan Bholken, a co-owner of the hotel.

An animal-rights group has sent letters threatening legal action against two Orange County chefs who continue to serve foie gras. The chefs serve fattened duck liver at Arc in Costa Mesa and Broadway by Amar Santana in Laguna Beach, drawing the ire of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. California banned the sale and purchase of fattened duck liver on July 1, but chefs Noah Blom of Arc and Santana found what they believe are legal ways to continue serving the French delicacy.

On Wednesday night's "Top Chef," a new, local front-runner emerged in the competition. Brooke Williamson, chef and owner of Hudson House in Redondo Beach, was like a silent sleeper ninja awakening with her knives sharpened. After being in the bottom last week, she surprised everyone, including herself, by winning both the quickfire and elimination challenges. For the quickfire, the chefs were asked to cook sweet and savory dishes inspired by their family holidays for guest judge Marilyn Hagerty.

Thomas Keller, Jacques Pepin, Roy Choi and more than 70 other chefs will share cooking techniques, schmooze and even play golf at the fifth Pebble Beach Food & Wine festival in Pebble Beach, Calif. Tickets are expected to sell out for the four-day April event, which has an impressive roster of meals, cooking sessions, wine-tastings and after-hour parties. Organizers offer these tips on navigating what's one of the more exclusive food-and-wine festivals in the state. First-timers might want to watch chef Todd English at an hourlong cooking demonstration to pick up some new techniques and/or enjoy a wine-and-cheese pairing event with cheese expert Laura Werlin ($100 each, unless you buy a pass)

Culinary magazine StarChefs.com announced its 2010 Los Angeles-San Diego Rising Stars winners in Santa Monica. StarChefs announces Rising Stars in four cities each year; former Los Angeles winners include David LeFevre of the Water Grill, mixologist Vincenzo Marianella and pastry chef Elizabeth Belkind. This year's winning chefs: Kuniko Yagi of Sona; Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo, Animal; Ken Takayama, Melisse; Walter Manzke, Church & State; Rory Herrmann, Bouchon; Diana Stavaridis, BLD; Stephan Samson and Zachary Pollack, Pizzeria Ortica; and Michael Voltaggio, the Dining Room at the Langham.