Top Chef's Tips for a 'Simple' Dinner Party

Gordon Ramsay rules the roost, in more ways than one

(NEWSER) - The phenomenon of the celebrity chef is well past the saturation point, but the restaurants, cookbooks, kitchen gadgets, and personal appearances keep coming. Presiding over the largest international empire is British pottymouth-cum-culinary genius Gordon Ramsay, according to a new list by New York's Grub Street blog. The Grub Street formula for sizing up empires somehow omits the omnipresent Rachael Ray—Lidia Bastianich is the only woman in the top 20—but includes other Food Network faves. The top five: More»

They admit their last indulgence to Esquire

(NEWSER) - Sure, fast food gets a bad rap. But even famous chefs cop to eating it, and Esquire has the details. You may notice a certain theme:

• Alton Brown: Chick-Fil-A, last week
• Tyler Florence: In-N-Out double-double burger, the other day

Fritos, Cheetos, and donuts, oh my!

(NEWSER) - Even a world-renowned chef sometimes needs a good old-fashioned cheeseburger. Daily Meal got a number of chefs as well as restaurateurs, food critics, and other VIPs in the food world, to admit to their secret food vices. A sampling:

• Mario Batali: "Three things: Really well-made ice cream; really well-made Mexican food—like chips and salsa; and raw shellfish. I could live for weeks on nothing but oysters."
• Bobby Flay: "A cheeseburger with two slices of American, potato chips, and chipotle ketchup." (Another chef even admitted to loving McDonald's cheeseburgers; a third said he likes burgers "if I'm drunk.")

Ferran Adria announces hiatus for El Bulli

(NEWSER) - Spanish chef Ferran Adria stunned the world of fine dining by announcing that his celebrated El Bulli restaurant will be closing for 2 years after the 2011 season. Adria—creator of dishes like squid ravioli, turtle dove with blackberry caviar, and freeze-dried foie gras—says working 15-hour days has been difficult, and "now we need more time with our families." He also needs time to work on an encyclopedia of the dishes he's served, the Independent reports. More»

Male food snobs are elbowing women out at the stove

(NEWSER) - Over the past 40 years, the amount of time men spend in the kitchen has tripled—and they have turned the once-womanly art of home cooking into a competitive playing field. On TV, “it’s hard to keep up with the itinerant rage-aholics cycling through the Food Network,” writes Hanna Rosin for DoubleX , “as the celebrity chef becomes synonymous with testosterone-fueled asshole.” And at home, there's the rise of the kitchen bitch—and let's just say they're not women. More»