Graffiti: Pastry Chef Jehangir Mehta, who has spent time at Aix, Jean Georges, Vong, and Union Pacific, takes a stab at the world of the savory. He has opened a restaurant and bakery in the East Village with a "global bistro comfort food" menu. Offering breakfast, lunch, dinner, Graffiti serves up baked goods, coffee and tea, and a dinner menu where the dishes range in size from "nibbles" to "all mine." For the kicker, the spray cans and markers are provided in the bathrooms, where graffiti is heartily encouraged. 224 East 10th Street, 212-677-0695. more ›

Maybe it was just the red carpet, but most of the people we spoke to seemed particularly excited about the new digs for the James Beard Foundation Awards, black-tie affair held last night at Avery Fisher Hall to honor some of the country's best chefs, restaurateurs, and culinary professionals. Susan Ungaro, the President of JBF, noted that originally, James Beard had moved to New York to become an opera singer, but had to earn a living until he hit the big time. He started a catering company and the rest, as they say, is history, but she noted that he would have been pretty excited to be up on that stage. more ›

Earlier this year when Gothamist visited executive chef Doug Psaltis at Geoffrey Zakarian’s Country, we learned that French Laundry vet Hsing Chen had just been named Executive Pastry Chef for the fine-dining restaurant upstairs, as well as for the downstairs, more casual Cafe. “My focus is more on light, fruit based desserts, with different textures and temperatures,” Chen told Gothamist. She also mentioned her desire to locate, soup up, and outfit a dessert cart from Country’s vast arsenal of fine dining service ware. Laden with sweets and confections, the cart would make after dinner stops at every table upstairs at Country; customers could pick and choose anything from lemon macaroons to miniature pots de crème, in addition to the regular dessert course. more ›

Yesterday morning, the nominees for the 2007 James Beard Foundation Awards were announced at the Beard House on West 12th Street. In additional to New York restaurant stalwarts David Waltuck of Chanterelle, Floyd Cardoz of Tabla, and Terrance Brennan of Picholine (which was rebooted in 2006 to impressive reviews, the nominees also include a bumper crop of young chefs including David Chang for Momofuku Ssam Bar, Daniel Humm for Eleven Madison Park (both for Rising Star Chef of the Year), and cut chemist Will Goldfarb of Room 4 Dessert (for Outstanding Pastry Chef). Three other nominees from San Francisco, Boston, and Chicago round out the Rising Star Chefs category; Goldfarb faces competition from four other nominees in the pastry category, including Michael Laskonis of Le Bernadin. more ›

February 11: Second New Indian Dinner - A Benefit for Kids with Cameras more ›

While it is best known as a dessert-only place, there is no molten corn syrup river running through Room 4 Dessert. The restaurant also lacks the Willy Wonka clichés and kit-built, old-world Vienna museum mumbo jumbo of certain chocolate chains. Room 4 Dessert eschews the garish Candyland factor in favor of minimalist offerings like its “nrj”- a mix of red grapefruit sorbet topped with segments of the fruit, smoked tea ‘air,’ and a base of litchi fruit. Will Goldfarb’s menu is also notable for two things: a minimum of sugar- the chef uses herbs, seeds, and spices to pique flavors- and the tiny superscript numbers that appear next to menu choices, like decimal versions attached to software releases. The numbers identify each dessert’s latest incarnation, and highlight Goldfarb’s restless experimentation. more ›

Join in the Italian tradition of the Feast of the Seven Fishes -- a seafood meal in observance of the La Viglia Di Natale, or the wait for the birth of Christ. more ›

November 3: Chocolate and Dessert Wine Seminar more ›

Sunday and Monday nights were the James Beard Awards annual gala events, and the results are now in. Sunday night focused on the journalists, highlighting books, broadcast media, and even websites (a new category), while Monday was all about the chefs and restaurants. The excitement was palpable in the food world, so much so that Ed Levine decided to liveblog Monday's Awards dinner, an extravagant black tie affair, for those of us not "in" enough to snag an invitation (thanks, Ed!). more ›

Liz Thorpe, Wholesale Manager of Murray’s Cheese, will give you the inside scoop on all things cheesy, including selection of the perfect cheese plate, how to display it, and picking the wines to match. 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., 254 Bleecker Street. $50/person. Call 212.243.3289, ext. 25 or register online. more ›

- Waterford Wedgwood Outstanding Restauranteur Award: Danny Meyer, Union Square Hospitality Group more ›

Gothamist once thought of becoming a pastry chef after stints decorating wedding cakes and interning at a restaurant out in California. But, despite the apricot-glazed glory, all the early mornings, red eyes, sugar in the bloodstream, and realization that becoming a professional chef could lead to reality TV (and subsequent demise of your career), we’ve opted to instead 1) take photographs of chefs and 2) enjoy the fruits of the city's best eateries. more ›

New York magazine talks up the opening of restaurant Amuse on West 18th between 6th and 7th Avenues, but give more play to chef Gerry Hayden's wife, Claudia Fleming. Claudia won our hearts as pastry chef at Gramercy Tavern, but now she's been at Pret a Manger for about a year. more ›