Top Chef Casting Call

Here ye here ye. Top Chef, the popular reality cooking competition on Bravo, is coming to Los Angeles for casting calls! Want to be on Season 5? You have one week to prepare your shtick. Bravo's website says they're looking for both "self-taught cooks and those who have trained at top culinary schools."

Also be sure to submit a video of yourself. Download the application. You might want to get started on that, like, today. There is a laundry list of things to include in the video.

But how cool would it be to make it to one of the biggest shows on television and cook your way to the top. As far as reality shows go, this is a real winner. The journey to the finish line is just as good as the prize. Along the way, you're meeting famous chefs and foodies and getting to use state-of-the-art kitchen equipment - or is that only my dream? And that prize...oooh la la. The prize for Season 4, which is already underway, is $100,000 in seed money to use toward opening your own restaurant. I couldn't say for sure if Season 5's prize is the same. My question is, does a bakery count as a "restaurant"? Cuz Marni Bakery would be the business I open. I've already started on the cake boxes...

Fast Facts
What: Top Chef Casting Call
When: Monday, May 26th, 2008 from 10am to 2pm
Where: Cicada Restaurant, 617 S. Olive Street in Downtown Los Angeles

This Week: Free and Almost-Free Ice Cream at Ben & Jerry's and Baskin-Robbins

What could be better than two days in a row of free to cheap ice cream? I mean, come on, look at that tub above of love (sorry, so corny - I'm a poet who didn't know it).

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Ben & Jerry's Free Cone Day
Tuesday, April 29th, 2008

It's that annual thing they do! Stop by one of the many participating Ben & Jerry's Scoop Shops for a free cone. It's Free Cone Day! Find the shop nearest you. Perfect timing for this hot weather we're having. I already have my flavor picked out: Heath Bar Crunch...

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Baskin-Robbins 31 Cent Scoop Night
Wednesday, April 30th, 2008

As if Ben & Jerry's wasn't enough, after your stomach is already appreciative, go to sleep on Tuesday night and wake up to another delicious opportunity. Baskin-Robbins is hosting 31 cent Scoop Night the very next day from 5pm to 10pm! While it's $0.31 more expensive than the Ben & Jerry's promotion (how unfair! NOT!), Baskin-Robbins will be donating $100,000 to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (how nice! REALLY!). It's also a lot easier to find a Baskin-Robbins near you than a Ben & Jerry's. I always get the same flavor at Baskin-Robbins and April 30th will be no different: Chocolate Peanut Butter...

The Grilled Cheese Invitational

One of the more interesting events ever invented, The Grilled Cheese Invitational is a fierce competition of amateur grilled cheese "grillers" using the beloved sandwiches (or "sammiches" as they endearingly call them) to make all sorts of gourmet versions or freakishly weird things. My friend will be in attendance at the Los Angeles event; she's preparing to build a grilled cheese wedding cake and I don't doubt it will be perfect and awe-inspiring. In fact, I'm sure she has a hundred grilled cheeses in her fridge right now (and nothing else), rarin' to go.

She blogged about her experience last year. Pretty funny stuff.

Her cake, first in three layers, then assembled and beautiful...





And here's a video from last year...



You'll get a kick out of the rules and regulations. You will find things like the Definition of Bread, Cheese, and Butter.

The definition for bread, for example, states:

Any leavened or unleavened, flour-based and baking thing that looks like bread, you idiot.

You will also find the competition categories, which I'll let you read on your own, but are titled:

• The Missionary Position
• Spoons
• The Kama Sutra
• The Honey Pot

Fast Facts
What: The Grilled Cheese Invitational
When: Saturday, April 19th (tomorrow!) from 5 to 9:30pm/Grilling starts at 5:30pm sharp (cheddar?)
Where: Top secret location (but I hear it's in Griffith Park)
Price: Supposedly sold out now. But see what you can do with your begging skills, make friends with a judge, whatever, just to get in and observe or participate! Befriend the security guard at the door. Or just wait anxiously for the photos post-event. They'll be amusing, I'm sure.

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And one final kinda gross concoction in last year's competition: A grilled cheese jello mold. Ew.

L.A. Cupcake Challenge

Violet's Cakes

Imagine bringing ten of the best cupcake bakeries under one roof, getting to taste mini-cupcakes from each, vote on your favorite, and crown a winner.

You don't have to imagine!

In just over a month, event company Drink:Eat:Play is putting on this awesome affair in Playa Vista Hollywood and they're aptly calling it the L.A. Cupcake Challenge.

They have a pretty good selection of cupcake bakeries in attendance, though a couple of important-in-my-book bakeries will be MIA. Of those coming, I have personal taste bud experience with Violet's Cakes, Yummy Cupcakes, Milk, and Hotcakes Bakes, all great. They'll also have Vanilla Bake Shop, My Little Cupcake, Essential Chocolate Desserts, BabyCakes, Lucky Devils, Famous Cupcakes, and Lark Silver Lake Cake Shop.


In addition to dining on mini-cupcakes, you can also sip from a dozen wines. Please don't drink and vote, though. We want a fair crowning of the Best Cupcake in Los Angeles and wine may impair your judgment!


Fast Facts
What: L.A. Cupcake Challenge
When: Sunday, May 18th at 1p.m.
Where: Playa Vista Center Point Club LOCATION CHANGE! Montmartre Lounge, 6757 Hollywood Blvd. in Hollywood
Price: $60 through Drink:Eat:Play or $40 through Goldstar


And for sheer amusement, can you find the hidden cupcake in this Highlights image?