http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/15/soul-daddy-closes-two-locations_n_877355.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/15/dining/the-knife-rack-goes-high-end.html?_r=2
At today's digital kitchen table, today's hot topics include the growing demand for high-end specialty knives, the fast demise of the winner of this spring's "America's Next Great Restaurant," and a cool kitchen trick using plastic squeeze bottles.
More demand for high-end knives: When you walk into specialty cooking stores, you may find yourself lusting after the beautiful and expensive knives from Germany and Japan that have become a must-have item in recent years for serious home cooks. According to The New York Times, demand for premium kitchen knives has surged in the last year. The high-end cutlery can run between $200 and $350 for a 10-inch chef's knife. And they are poised to go for even higher prices: In the fall, Williams-Sonoma will have a stainless-steel knife that will sell for $599.95. Start saving your pennies now.
"America's Next Great Restaurant"? ... maybe not: Well, that was fast. Less than two months after winning the reality series "America's Next Great Restaurant," and after only a month in business, Soul Daddy has closed its New York and Los Angeles locations, leaving only its Minneapolis outpost open. The healthy soul-food concept, it was hoped, would evolve into a big-league chain, a la Chipotle. But early reviews weren't gentle.
A squirt-bottle trick: If you have a favorite homemade salad dressing recipe but can't seem to remember to proportions, Serious Eats has a dandy trick using one of those inexpensive clear squirt bottles you can find as kitchen stores and many groceries. Just add the ingredients one by one, and mark the portion line on the side of the bottle using a magic marker. No more need for a recipe.
-- Grant Butler
Follow @grantbutler
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