Earlier this week, StarChefs held its 2nd International Chef’s Congress on the top two floors of 7 World Trade Center. Open to industry professionals only, this annual event draws notable chefs from all over the world and provides the opportunity to honor its Rising Stars, an award the culinary organization gives to young professionals. A full list of this year’s winners, including Michael Anthony of Gramercy Tavern, Chris Lee of Gilt, and Daniel Eardley......

A look at some noteworthy televison this weel: Nature - The Best of Nature: 25 Years (Sunday, 7:00 p.m. WNET 13) Don't be fooled by the title, but this is a pledge drive clip show special. http://abcfamily.go.com/dukeboys">The Dukes of Hazzard: The Beginning (Sunday, 8:00 p.m. ABC Family) If you liked The Dukes of Hazzard, you will probably like this made for TV movie. The Winner (Sunday, 8:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. WNYW 5) The buzz......

Birch Shambaugh, NYC Marathon Entrant...

After all the comments on yesterday's post about books set in NYC, we got to thinking, has anyone bothered to come up with a list of all the movies set in the city? The answer, of course, is yes-- at Wikipedia, of course. What an amazing site-- it's like having a genie who's only job is to distract us with useless NYC trivia! They've probably missed a couple of movies here and there, but......

If you're feeling a bit unsatisfied with The Dukes of Hazzards or any other disappointing summer blockbuster, we strongly suggest heading to the Film Forum to catch Bertolucci's The Conformist. Set in 1938 Rome, the political/psychological thriller follows a disturbed young man with a scarred childhood whose obsession with "normalcy" leads him to extremes. From marrying a "petty bourgeoise" who's "all bed and kitchen" to combining his Paris honeymoon with a Fascist murder mission......

Since it's been about twenty years after the big "Wear a seat belt" campaign sunk it, so Gothamist was surprised people still aren't buckling up: A police officer stopped a car whose driver wasn't wearing a seat belt on 125th Street, and when the officer ran a vehicle check, it turned out the car was involved in a bank robbery. Newsday writes, "A few clues helped: The 2004 white Acura had bulletholes in it, and......