Upcoming: Sizzlin’ Chefs, Cheese Curators &…Haute Hair?

Seriously Accomplished Chefs Sizzling at Summer of Chefs Series at elements in Princeton

Scott Anderson has lined up a phalanx of accoladed chefs to create cutting-edge cuisine alongside him and his crew this spring and summer. The third installment in the dinner series is set for this Sunday, June 10, when Michael Cimarusti of the two-Michelin-starred Providence in L.A. comes home, so to speak. Cimarusti, who you may have seen on Top Chef, grew up in Pennington. Before establishing Providence he worked for, among others, Larry Forgione, Paul Bocuse, Roger Verge, and Wolfgang Puck.

Check out my story on The Summer of Chefs in the June 6 issue of US 1 for info on how to score reservations. In it, I interview Anderson about  what he and the each of  the guest chefs have in common, what spawned the idea for the series, what has transpired so far (one example: California abalone with foie gras and seaweeds), and what guests can expect both this Sunday and for the last dinner in the series on Friday, July 13. That final one has two guest chefs, one of whom is Shawn Gawle of Corton in NYC, named Food & Wine‘s Best New Pastry Chef of 2012.

Calling all Cheese Hounds

First Amanti Vino, the wine store in Montclair, announced that they have added a cheese case with a curated selection of 12 artisanal specimen from NYC’s respected Artisanal Premium Cheeses. Now they’ve add this related event:

Cheese School 101 (Photo credit: niallkennedy)

“Author and cheese expert Max McCalman (of Artisanal Cheese in NYC) will be at Amanti Vino for a master class on pairing cheese with wine (and maybe some beer, too). In this single session class, Max provides illuminating evidence in support of his claim that cheese is a “near-perfect” food, especially when it is paired appropriately with wine. We’ve all heard about the wonderful aspects of the “Mediterranean Diet” and the “French Paradox.” This class provides point by point explanations of how it all comes together, all while you enjoy a variety of these remarkable cheeses paired with fine wines. Class will run from 4-6pm on Saturday, June 16th.  Seats are $40 each.”  To book a seat, email sharon@amantivino.com.

Calling all Hair Hounds?

Gee…that doesn’t sound right, does it? What I mean to say is, there’s a great event that involves beautiful hair for a beautiful cause coming up this Sunday, June 10.  And there is a restaurant connection, too.

Care Couture is the non-profit behind the 2nd Annual Hair Art Runway Show. Leading salons like Joseph-Jeffreys in Newtown, PA and Godfrey Fitzgerald in Princeton showcase cutting-edge hair designs, with proceeds from the $25 ticket price going to a Capital Health Foundation program that funds free wigs for cancer patients in financial need. This year’s event starts at 6 pm at Rho Ristorante and Discoteca in Trenton. For info and tickets, click here.

The chef at Rho, a new Italian restaurant in the space that had been Katmandu, is Luis Martinez, who gained a lot of fans as the longtime chef at the perennially popular Teresa’s Caffe in Princeton. (He is also a heck of a nice guy.) I haven’t dined at Rho yet so here’s Trenton Times reviewer Susan Yeske’s report.