When Philadelphia deli meat powerhouse Dietz & Watson approached Nicholas Elmi about cooking for the kickoff event to a new nationwide promotion called “Choose the Table, ” the Top Chef winner and owner of acclaimed East Passyunk restaurants Laurel and ITV was somewhat skeptical.
“I asked them, on a range of one to ‘Laurel, ’ how creative did they really want me to be with their products?” Elmi recalled. But the answer that came back — “Around a six or a seven” — dispelled his reservations about participating. He is also a fan of the concept behind the campaign, which is designed to highlight the importance of gathering with loved ones for meals.
“I’m not at home for dinner every night, ” Elmi admitted, noting he has two restaurants to run, “but when I am, I’m a stickler about the whole family eating together. No phones.”
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An American College of Pediatricians study cited by Dietz & Watson found that teens who eat more frequently with their families are less likely to experience depression, more likely to get As and Bs in school and a lot less likely to use tobacco than kids who don’t dine with their parents. And because not all children are in situations where family dinners are possible, whether because of poverty or neglect or otherwise, D&W has partnered with No Kid Hungry as part of the Choose the Table campaign, pledging to provide the DC-based nonprofit with 1.5 million meals for kids in need.
Founded in Philly by Gottlieb Dietz in 1939, D&W is one of the few successful fourth-generation-run companies operating in the US. Last year, CEO Louis Eni (Dietz’s grandson) told the Philadelphia Inquirer his parents had instilled those values early, telling him and his siblings, “Don’t forget. The third generation is where most businesses go out of business.”
The encouragement worked; brother Chris Eni joins Louis at the top of the company structure as COO, along with their sister Cindy Yingling as CFO. Fourth-generation family member Lauren Eni (Louis’ daughter, 31) is now VP of brand strategy, and Christopher Yingling (Cindy’s son) is VP of finance. Ask any of them what happens when one of the immediate family decides not to join the business, and the answer is simple. “We don’t know, because it hasn’t happened yet.” Even if they explore other interests — Cindy’s younger sonTim Yinglingcurrently runs a video company, Giddyup Bronco Productions, but he was thereshooting footage at Power Plant Productions during Monday night’s Choose the Table kickoff event.
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The rest of the Dietz & Watson family was at the dinner too, thrilled with what Elmi had managed to create with their cold cuts. He turned bratwurst into a rich crumble served over grilled lettuce, and used chopped sopressata to flavor ethereal ricotta gnocchi. Rosemary ham was paired with Italian sottocenere cheese in a panini, and kielbasa added spice to a pork loin served with bacon-braised kale. Even dessert had a D&W ingredient: Horseradish sauce, which gave zip to yuzu curd with green apple espuma (foam). TheChoose the Table promotion will include a series of tastings like this across the country, each featuring a different high-end local chef.
The matriarch of the Philadelphia deli meat powerhouse, whose face and voice became known nationwide thanks to the Momma Dietz marketing campaign — “If it’s not good enough for my family, it’s not good enough for yours” — suffered a stroke last month.
Per Eni’s daughter Yingling, her mother is cogent, able and mobile. “She picks up her walker to go up stairs, ” Yingling said, shaking her head. Within two weeks of being hospitalized, Momma Dietz even got up to go to the bathroom herself because she didn’t want to bother the nurse at her assisted living facility in the middle of the night. “Then she fell, ” Yingling said. “She was fine, but she’s lucky she didn’t break a hip!”
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Even Momma Dietz’s doctor is amazed by the speed of her recovery so far. “He told me she was his hero, ” said Yingling. Her family is hopeful she’ll be back at her regular desk at Dietz & Watson’s Wissinoming headquarters — and back sharing dinner with her family — sometime very soon.
We love a good steak — but that only scratches the surface of what Philly has to offer. Our nonprofit newsroom looks for stories that push past clichés to find those that are underexplored. Want to keep us around?
Danya Henninger is director of Billy Penn at WHYY, where she oversees the team, all editorial decisions, and all revenue generation — including the... More by Danya HenningeThough you would think that these adults would be able to hold their tongues when it comes to their opinions of others who they may or may not actually know, but the opposite has actually been proven to be true. The culinary world is filled with drama, and these insane chef feuds prove just that.
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Disturbed many chefs, including Food Network's Alton Brown. Speaking to Screener in 2010, Brown called the food challenge show disgusting. He elaborated by saying, That show is about gluttony, and gluttony is wrong. It's wasteful. Think about people that are starving to death and think about that show. I think it's an embarrassment. Though he later became famous for a major meltdown of his own, Richman didn't take the bait. On Twitter, Richman defended the show for profiling mom and pop restaurants and called Brown one of his heroes.
Rubbed Andrew Zimmern the wrong way, and he wasn't shy about his feelings. According to Popsugar, Zimmern called Florence's TV appearance high comedy of the highest order. He elaborated, writing, Monday's episode featured the worlds least talented TV chef, Tyler Florence, once again churning out the questionable cooking advice and the leading the ladies through a menu of the Moms fave recipes. In return, Florence fired back, saying Zimmern did little more than eat dried camel c**k for a living.
Of course Anthony Bourdain has a problem with Guy Fieri's brand of shouting, eating cheeseburgers, and wearing flaming bowling shirts all across America. In 2012, after the opening of Fieri's Midtown Manhattan restaurant Guy's American Kitchen & Bar, Bourdain said the Food Network personality single-handedly turned the neighborhood into the Ed Hardy district. Bourdain continued to rip on Fieri for years, creating one of the most notorious food personality feuds out there. For his part, Fieri remained respectful. He told GQ
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I don't like him making fun of people, and I don't like him talking s**t. And he's never talked shit to my face. I know he's definitely gotta have issues, 'cos the average person doesn't behave that way. Bourdain settled his feud with Fieri last year, saying the outgoing Food Network star was low-hanging fruit.
To say Anthony Bourdain is not a fan of Paula Deen's would be an understatement. In 2011, he said she was a danger to America in an interview with TV Guide. The worst, most dangerous person to America is clearly Paula Deen. She revels in unholy connections with evil corporations and she's proud of the fact that her food is f***ing bad for you. Plus, her food sucks. After years of cooking up dishes loaded butter and mayonnaise, Deen revealed she had diabetes in 2012, and Bourdain was expectedly angry. He told Eater, When your signature dish is hamburger in between a doughnut, and you've been cheerfully selling this stuff knowing all along that you've got Type 2 Diabetes... It's in bad taste if nothing else.
We could write a lengthy article just on Bourdain's spats with other chefs. In addition to Guy Fieri and Paula Deen, Bourdain has called out Sandra Lee, Alice Waters, Alton Brown, Rachael Ray, Ina Garten, Adam Richman, Emeril Lagasse, Wolfgang Puck, and almost every other celebrity chef. In return, Brown famously called out Bourdain, telling People, When was the last time you saw Anthony Bourdain actually cook anything? I've spent 14 years cooking my own food on television and I've never seen him cook a meal.
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When Rachael Ray first joined the Food Network, one of the channel's original stars, Emeril Lagasse, was not a fan. [She] doesn't know anything about food. I would not put her on, he said. However, the two personalities seem to have buried the hatchet. Emeril now is an occasional co-host on
Two of Britain's most famous chefs, Gordon Ramsay and Jamie Oliver, have been sparring for years. The two have been in a battle over their massive empires' respective riches, cookbooks, and restaurants for what seems like forever. In 2014, Ramsay escalated the feud when the two opened restaurants in Hong Kong. Two British chefs, Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsay, rubbing shoulders together in Hong Kong. At least I'm here, I came to my opening, right? If you're going to open a restaurant in Hong Kong at least turn up, Ramsay chided. Oliver fired back, calling Ramsay deeply jealous of his success.
Like Anthony Bourdain, Gordon Ramsay knows how to get under people's skin. Everyone from Marcus Samuelsson and Mario Batali to Eric Ripert, Jacques Pepin, and
