By Iron Chef Leftovers

If you have a ton of money, time and a great desire to head to the desert this weekend, you should be in Vegas for All Star Cochon 555 (tickets start at $150).

What is it? Well, 10 chefs, 4 butchers, 14 pigs, all sorts of porky goodness – basically the premier porcine event of the year. The event includes the past 2 winners of the Grand Cochon 555 as well as a number of regional winners. The chefs I would love to see:

John Sundstrom of Lark in Seattle
Andy Ricker of Pok Pok in Portland (I have a big man-crush on this guy)
Devin Knell of French Laundry in Napa (any surprise that he won a cooking competition?)
David Varley of Michael Mina in SF
Stephanie Izard of Girl and the Goat in Chicago (and Top Chef Fame)

Some day, I will get myself to this and enjoy it and then probably die of a heart attack.

By Iron Chef Leftovers

Anthony Bourdain is invading the Pacific Northwest. He will be appearing at the Paramount Theater in Seattle with Eric Ripert on February 12th, 2012. No word yet on when tickets will go on-sale.

For those who cannot wait that long, Bourdain will be showing up in Vancouver BC on October 29th at the Centre for the Performing Arts. Tickets start at around 60$ CAD (150$ if you opt for the VIP package) and go on-sale this Friday. If you want to save 10%, you can use the code BLUE until 11:59 PM Thursday to pre-order.

By Iron Chef Leftovers

If you have a couple hundred dollars and a few hours this Thursday, you can head to the Sushi Chef Dream Team Event at the Bell Harbor Center. All of the proceeds go to the Japanese Earthquake victims. It is an impressive lineup, highlighted by the return of the almost completely retired Zen sushi master Shiro Kashiba, long of Shiro’s Sushi fame. The man rarely, if ever cuts sushi in his namesake restaurant anymore and this is probably one of your last chances to have sushi prepared by possibly the greatest sushi chef in Seattle history. This makes the price of admission worth it.

Nancy Leson asked today, “Who would be your sushi dream team?” For me, it would be Shiro, Hiroki Hajime from Mashiko’s in West Seattle and Ryu Nakano from Kisaku in Wallingford.

By Iron Chef Leftovers

Not my favorite restaurant in Seattle, but I so totally want to do this.

Anyone want to kick in $60 per person?

By Iron Chef Leftovers

Local chocolate maker (and favorite of Mrs. Iron Chef), Theo Chocolate, have been engaged in a project over the last couple of months where they brought in some heavy hitter, West Coast chefs to design their own Theo confection for a good cause – Food Lifeline. The result is the Theo Chocolate Chef Session Box which is described as:

The seven piece Theo Chocolate Chef Session box is the result of many hours of “what ifs” and possibilities brought about by these incredibly talented individuals. We are both excited and humbled that we are able to offer something so special, and it is important to us at the same time to share that abundance.

Here is the lineup. It reads like a who’s who of West Coast power chefs (and the confections sound amazing):

Theo Chocolate 2010 Chef Session Confection Collection:

CHRIS COSENTINO (Incanto & Boccalone Salumeria in San Francisco, CA)
Agro Dolce Brittle

MARIA HINES (Tilth in Seattle, WA)
Tamarind Lime Caramel

NAOMI POMEROY (Beast in Portland, OR)
Armagnac Prune Ganache & Green Peppercorn Caramel

GABRIEL RUCKER (Le Pigeon in Portland, OR)
Carrot Caramel

HOLLY SMITH (Cafe Juanita in Kirkland, WA)
Beet Pâte du Fruit & Almond Praline

JOHNATHAN SUNDSTROM (Lark & Licorous in Seattle, WA)
Pine Resin Ganache

JERRY TRAUNFELD (Poppy in Seattle, WA)
Huckleberry Pâte du Fruit & Cinnamon Basil White Ganache

Theo is having a kickoff at their Fremont Factory on Thursday, November 18th to celebrate the release – tickets are $45, which gets you a box of the confections and includes a $15 donation to Food Lifeline.

By Iron Chef Leftovers

A few noteworthy events around Seattle in November for all you foodies out there:

November 8th @ Elliot Bay Book Co. – Mark Kurlansky, author of such memorable works as Salt and Cod (which combine nicely into one dish), reading from his new book Edible Stories. On a related note, I had not realized that his last book was actually about the impact of baseball in San Pedro de Macarois, so I may need to pick that one up.

November 20th @ Third Place Books, Lake Forest Park – Harold McGee, author of On Food and Cooking. You can be sure if the Iron Chef has no other plans, he will be there to see the man who wrote the seminal work on food and eating. There probably hasn’t been a food book written in the last 20 years that does not cite something from On Food. Yes I have read all 800+ pages cover to cover – it took me a year.

All Month – Dine Around Seattle. What more can you want – 30 restaurants, 3 courses, $30. Oh wait, Seattle Restaurant Week is better.

Don’t forget – November 14th is National Pickle Day.

By Iron Chef Leftovers

I love the idea of Mobile Chowdown – putting a bunch of food trucks in one place and letting people go to town. They do it daily in Portland, SF and LA, but not in Seattle (stupid Flanders…I mean city council and health department) To get around this, we have one off events called Mobile Chowdowns – usually in some parking lot somewhere. This time around it is at Qwest Field:

Mobile Chowdown is coming to Qwest Field north parking lot on Friday, October 1st. Gates open at 5 p.m.!

This works out nicely for me (and Annie S.) – there is also a Mariners game that night. Guess I will be hitting the Chowdown before the game. Tickets are $7 in advance (without the usual Ticketmaster rape fee) or $10 at the door.

By Iron Chef Leftovers

For all you fans of Mark Bittman, he will be in Seattle at the University of Washington Bookstore in October. The details:

Thursday • October 28 • 7:00pm
Mark Bittman
The Food Matters Cookbook: Lose Weight and Heal the Planet with More Than 500 Recipes (SIMON & SCHUSTER)
Reading & Book Signing

While I am not a big fan of Bittman, I will probably check this one out. I also would not be surprised if this gets moved to a bigger venue like Town Hall. If it doesn’t, I would recommend getting there early – the food author events tend to be popular and the area they do the reading at is fairly small (seats about 100 or so).

Also of note – Seattle Chef Ethan Stowell will be at Elliot Bay Books on Capitol Hill on September 30th and Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park on October 4th signing his new book.

There is  apparently an International Bacon Day – it is the Saturday before Labor day, so that makes it September 4th of this year. I want to know why I didn’t hear about this before? I mean, I eat way too much bacon and I love all things pork, so I would have assumed that I knew about this when it started. Go figure. On a side note, I never knew this web site existed either

I heard about this through an email I received from The Swinery in Seattle. They are having an event on Saturday to celebrate Bacon Day. I am unable to link it since their website appears to be down at the moment, but here are the details from their email sent to their mailing list.

International Bacon Day Party at The Swinery
International Bacon Day is held the Saturday before Labor Day. We invite all pork-lovers (and even vegetarians!) to celebrate the goodness the swine has given us.

When:
Saturday, September 4, 2010

10am-3pm

What:
International Bacon Day Party
free bacon chocolate chip cookies
$2.50 bacon dog
$5 bacon burger
Various bacon-filled brunch items
+
Meet The Swinery team
Music at The Courtyard

Why:
We love bacon!

Where:
The Swinery
3207 California Avenue SW
Seattle, Washington 98116

I am not sure that I can make it, but it sounds like it will be fun. Oh, and in other Swinery news, Chef Gabe Claycamp has left the Swinery and has been replaced by Chef Joseba Jimenez de Jimenez, late of Harvest Vine fame. I only make note of this because, love him or hate him , Chef Claycamp’s bacon is easily the best out on the market. I will give their new bacon a try, but I may have to start looking for another source if it is not up to the same standards.

By Iron Chef Leftovers

Some upcoming events for foodies and non-foodies alike that may be of interest:

June 26th – Paella Cook Off at Treehouse Bar in Ballard. Never knew this event existed. For $25, you get to eat lots of paella and get 2 glasses of wine or beer. Sounds like fun.

July 10th – Mobile Chowdown 4 at the Seattle Center. Food Trucks, lots of them, enough said.

July 11th –Burning Beast 2010 at Smoke Farms in Arlington. It is sold out but how could you not love a full day of roasted meats prepared by 11 Seattle Area Chefs.

July 14th – Fare Start’s Guest Chef on the Waterfront – Bell Harbor Convention Center. Heck $75 for an all you can eat, all you can drink event featuring some of Seattle’s best chefs? I wish I didn’t already have plans. Did I mention that all proceeds are going to support Fare Start’s programs?

August 25-28 – Cheese-a-topia at various locations in Seattle. I will be honest, I had no idea that there was even a National Cheese Society, but I love the idea and I love cheese, so I may have to take Mrs. Iron Chef to some of the events.

Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays throughout the summer – 25th Anniversary Celebration at Le Gourmand in Ballard. They are offering a $45 pirx fixe menu to celebrate. A great way to get out to one of the best (and most expensive) restaurants in Seattle.