Native New Yorker Melissa Murphy is the mellifluous force behind Sweet Melissa Patisserie, a beloved Brooklyn house of tempting treats that opened in Cobble Hill in 1998. A graduate of New York’s French Culinary Institute, Murphy has spent the past decade building a budding dessert empire, bolstered by a profile-raising appearance on the Food Network and a baking book to be published by Viking in March. Last year Murphy added a second Sweet Melissa location......

What’s worth watching on food-TV this week? Tonight on No Reservations (10pm on the Travel Channel), Anthony Bourdain goes to Tuscany. Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares (the US version of his BBC show) is on Wednesday at 9pm (Fox). This week, Ramsay makes over Dillon’s in NYC—this is the makeover over which Ramsay was sued (and charges were subsequently dismissed). Want your restaurant Ramsified? Go to the show’s website for a downloadable application form. On Top......

It's July 14, which means it's time to appreciate the je ne sais quoi of all things French as you celebrate Bastille Day. Eating frites is one way, but there are many other events and activities today and tomorrow. Today there's the Waiter's Race at Les Halles (and they have specials), there's music, can-can dancers and French food on sale at Chelsea Market, and tonight's Bastille Ball. Tomorrow has the big Bastille Day on 60th......

June 7 - June 11: Broadway Panhandler "Yard Sale" Just because they don't technically have a yard in their new location won't stop Broadway Panhandler from having its annual Yard Sale, where you can find discounts of up to 75 percent off on select cooking supplies. 65 East 8th Street, 212-966-3434. June 8: Beard on Film Join directors whose films will be featured at the upcoming NYC Food Film Festival (June 14–16, 21–23, September 6–8):......

April 14: Denise Landis at Broadway Panhandler Join Denise Landis, recipe tester for The New York Times, as she shares recipes and expertise from her newest cookbook, Dinner for Eight. Free tasting and book signing to follow the demonstration. Broadway Panhandler, 65 East 8th Street (between Broadway and University), 3 PM, free. April 16: A Menupoems Reading April is National Poetry Month and Alimentum is joining in the celebration with Menupoems. During the month, participating......

It's time go over this weekend's NY Times Weddings Announcements! Total Number of Weddings: 24 (including Vows column) Total Number of Same-Sex Weddings: 0 (but the Styles section had a feature about "Dinah Shore Weekend," aka "The L World") Youngest Bride: 22 Oldest Bride: 38 Youngest Groom: 23 Oldest Groom: 42 Biggest Age Difference: 11 years Number of Couples Where Bride and Groom Are the Same Age: 3 (25, 32, and 35) Number of Columbia......

People tend to go a little haywire over Peeps. We've given you a taste of the madness before, but there's even more sugar-infused insanity this year. Via the epi-log over at Epicurious: chef Francisco Migoya of The Culinary Institute of America has a video up on You Tube demonstrating how to make your own Peeps aptly titled "The Peep Show." More Peeps madness: - Peeps "celebrity survey" via Slashfood: apparently the Peeps Chick is cooler......

...back to the French Quarter, NOLA, that is: Next Monday the 12th from 6-8 pm at ACME Bar and Grill, join forces with the Culinary Corps, a group wielding a powerful combination of outreach, philanthropy, and culinary prowess -- something their website has dubbed “culanthropy.” In order to raise funds for their inaugural service-oriented trip to New Orleans taking place later this month, the group will host a light-duty fund-raiser at ACME; door prizes,......

December 14th: Barcade's Winter Beer Night If you want holiday brews, Barcade's got it. They've got well over a dozen seasonal beers on tap, including HeBrew Monumental Jewbelation 2006, Anchor Christmas 2003, and Pyramid Snow Cap. 6pm, 388 Union Avenue, Brooklyn, 718-388-4347. December 14: What to Drink with What You Eat at Pour Join Karen Page and Andrew Dornenberg, authors of What to Drink with What You Eat, as they discuss pairing cocktails, wine, and......

October 29: Europe in NYC Just in case you can't afford to zip across the Atlantic this weekend, Food & Wine and Travel + Leisure magazines present Europe in NYC, where you can at least close your eyes and pretend while you sample European wines, authentic regional cuisine and participate in food, wine and travel seminars. Events include a Culinary World Cup: "Iron Chef style" featuring Alain Sailhac (French Culinary Institute) representing France, Cornelius Gallagher......

Every now and then you have to leave the city. Yes, it can be difficult to know that where you going may not have a Whole Foods in a five mile radius, there may be no bodega selling beer at 5am and chances are the cheese selection may be limited to cheddar and swiss, however, as Gothamist discovered on our weekend wine tour of the Hudson Valley, there is a world of alcohol out......

The French Culinary Institute's Salute to Healthy Cooking by Alain Sailhac, Jacques Pepin, Andre Soltner, and Jacques Torres (Rodale, 1998) Gothamist knows all about the "French paradox" and that "French women don't get fat." But what we did not know was that New York City's French Culinary Institute has done a "healthy cooking" cookbook that takes traditional high-fat, calorically dense French fare and tweaked it to cut excess fat and calories (while supposedly leaving the......

NY1 had the most hilarious headline in its story about the financial irregularities at the James Beard Society, one of the city's most prestigious cooking societys: Probe Finds Dough Is Missing At Culinary Institute. Gothamist thought that NY1 was reporting that some specially made dough for an elaborate bread was stolen but in fact, NY1 was following up on the NY Times's article about how the James Beard Society makes millions of dollars a year,......

The New York Times reports that the James Beard Foundation, the non-profit organization founded by Julia Child and others after Beard's death nearly 20 years ago, appears to be in deep trouble. The Foundation, which owns the Beard House on West 12th Street, cannot account for hundreds of thousands of dollars it took in, and generally appears to be so poorly managed that they will be hard pressed to maintain their non-profit status once......

New York City's French dining landmark, Lutece, will close it doors on at the end of the week, making its last service, Valentine's Day dinners, bittersweet. With the opening of Lutece in 1961, founder and chef Andre Soltner (right) helped elevate dining in New York to new heights. He sold the four-star Lutece in 1994, and even though the cuisine remained strong (it was given three stars), many still associated it with Soltner. Eric Asimov......

Olive Garden Insanity
Chelsea Olive Garden has been open for a couple months, but Gothamist only made it there last night. The purpose: To understand how a chain restaurant like Olive Garden can fit into our urban lifestyles....