A Times article on the popularity of “fast-casual” restaurants continues to cause some major head scratching. In straightforward expansionist news, the article reported that the Five Guys burger chain plan on opening 29 new local outlets in the next 8 years, and Hale and Hearty is busy putting the finishing touches on its 20,000 square foot Williamsburg production facility. But the trend spotting that motivated the article remains dubious. Ostensibly about “fast-casual” restaurants – defined......

In 1993 Matthew Kenney debuted his first restaurant, Matthew’s, to enviable acclaim; before he knew it Food and Wine Magazine had declared him one of the ten best new chefs in America. A flurry of activity followed, as Kenney involved himself with a series of popular restaurants throughout Manhattan that emphasized regional Mediterranean cooking. In 2004 he switched gears, opening Pure Food and Wine, an organic raw food restaurant on Irving Place that continues to......

February 11: Raw Desserts at Organic Academics Somehow raw desserts makes us think, "here, just have a piece of fruit," but Chef Matthew Kenney and his team will show us how to make decadent and healthy creations like cheesecake, chocolate pudding, macadamia cookies and many more. 1-4 pm at The Plant (25 Jay Street in Dumbo, Brooklyn), $65. Call 718-722-7541 or email organicacademics@theplantindumbo.com for reservations. February 13: Bogart at Paradou Paradou kicks off their Movie......

Macaroni and Cheese: 52 Recipes, from Simple to Sublime by Joan Schwartz Gothamist knows it's been a rough couple weeks. Many of us have been drowning our sorrows in liquor and cupcakes. But, as Joe Klein foretold over a year ago, what we're really hungry for following is some macaroni and cheese. Not, however, as a metaphor, for Gephardt or otherwise (though we'd be happy with him as our president!), but actual, gooey, rich, salty,......

Matthew Kenney's Big City Cooking: Recipes for a Fast-Paced World by Matthew Kenney and Joan Schwartz (Chronicle, 2003). Man, it was hot last weekend. So Gothamist was pleased to find that Matthew Kenney's second cookbook is basically organized by how hot each recipe will make your kitchen (or, if you have a small apartment like Gothamist, your house). Rather than the traditional divisions, soup, salad, fish, meat, dessert, the cookbook starts out with raw or......