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Despite Coronavirus, Food Network Has Been Stuffing Its Viewers With New Programs

Jaime E. Love

In June, two perennial Food Network shows, Guy Fieri’s “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” and Robert Irvine’s “Restaurant: Impossible,” went back into production. It was the first time either show shot on location since the coronavirus pandemic brought all television and film production to a dramatic halt in mid-March. They were filmed under strict, new COVID-19 protocols with reduced, mask-wearing crews — all of whom, according to Food Network, tested negative for coronavirus after filming was completed.

Courtney White, the president of Food Network and Cooking Channel, says the network agreed to restart production after creating specific plans for each show. “It isn’t one-size-fits-all,” White tells Variety. “But we did start with: Where can we film with the smallest footprint, the smallest crew — where everybody is very comfortable, and everybody’s on board? Obviously in this scenario, everybody feels different about their own personal willingness to step

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What’s the Best White Wine for Cooking? Here Are the Top Bottles (and How to Choose Them, According to 3 Food Pros)

Jaime E. Love

You’re whipping up a classic chicken Marbella, and the Ina Garten recipe you’re following calls for “dry white wine.” You can’t exactly phone the Contessa herself, but come on, Ina: What the heck does that even mean? Pinot grigio is dry…but so is sauvignon blanc. What gives?

Cooking with wine can be totally confusing. While you might be tempted to grab whatever is hanging out in the back of your fridge, it actually does matter which bottle you choose—to an extent. We asked three food professionals (including a master sommelier, a chef and a nutrition director) to find out once and for all how to choose the best white wine for cooking.

1. Choose a white wine with high acidity and light fruit flavors

Celine Beitchman, director of nutrition at the Institute of Culinary Education, suggests a light- to medium-bodied white for cooking. “Unless you’re making a sweet

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These 4 words can help you avoid food poisoning this summer

Jaime E. Love

While summer brings us the welcome chance to socialize outside and even (carefully) dine together, the season brings risks when it comes to enjoying those al fresco meals. Just because we’re focused on a pandemic doesn’t mean other dangers just disappear. In fact, having an outbreak, like the Cyclospora one we’re seeing right now in bagged salads, on top of COVID “is really bad,” said Ben Chapman, Ph.D., a professor and food safety extension specialist at North Carolina State University who co-authors www.barfblog.com and co-hosts a food safety podcast.

“There’s only a finite amount of public health resources,” Chapman said. “We may not even be able to effectively investigate foodborne illness outbreaks because of the resources that are dedicated to a pandemic. The individuals that manage foodborne illness are the same individuals that are managing this other massive, all encompassing, overwhelming situation.”

Right now in particular, “It’s a concern

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The Biggest Misconceptions About Chinese American Food

Jaime E. Love
Left to right: Eric Sze and Lucas Sin (Photo: ILLUSTRATION: YENWEI LIU/HUFFPOST; PHOTOS: ALEX LAU)
Left to right: Eric Sze and Lucas Sin (Photo: ILLUSTRATION: YENWEI LIU/HUFFPOST; PHOTOS: ALEX LAU)

Chinese chefs Eric Sze and Lucas Sin both immigrated to the U.S. in 2011 for college — Sin studied cognitive science at Yale and Sze studied hospitality at NYU. Both were born in 1993. Neither has professional culinary training. Lucas was born and raised in Hong Kong, and Eric was born and raised in Taiwan. In 2015, Sin founded Junzi Kitchen and in 2018, Sze, along with partner Andy Chuang, opened Manhattan-based Taiwanese eatery 886, named after Taiwan’s international calling code. Before the pandemic, the friends hosted pop-up dinners as the Shy* Boyz Club.

Last month, Sin and Sze (and Moonlynn Tsai of Kopitiam) joined forces for a video project called “Always Keep Evolving,” which highlights their experiences with COVID-19 and xenophobia. Since the pandemic began in China, more Asian Americans have experienced racism-fueled

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