Table 42

On this episode of Table 42, Paul Barron takes us to his hometown, Los Angeles. Amidst the hustle and the bustle of the city, you will find starving artists and celebrity actors– all looking for a little camera time. And there’s one place you can find it without an audition, you just need a reservation.

SUR, which stands for Sexy Unique Restaurant, is a high-end concept, known for its deliciously composed dishes and perfectly shaken drinks. The attractive waitstaff might look a bit familiar to you, too. That’s because SUR is also the set of the wildly popular reality Bravo TV show “Vanderpump Rules” and occasionally makes an appearance on “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.”

In this episode of Table 42, we meet Co-Founder of At Your Service Hospitality Group, Evan Rosenberg, and Executive Chef Brad Warner at their new restaurant Shay and Ivy in New York City.  We are exploring watermelon as it has become a year-round ingredient for many restaurants and their chefs. Executive Chef Warner is experienced with progressive American fare that pulls influences from all over the world to create truly approachable global flavor dishes at Shay and Ivy, and his culinary creations showcased in this episode are no different. Want to know more? Watch the full episode!

A tiny Beverly Hills eatery serving a creative menu to about two dozen guests is Chef Curtis Stone’s life-long dream. Its name, Maude, pays homage to his first culinary mentor — Curtis’ late paternal grandmother. Her influence can be seen throughout the restaurant fixtures and china used to serve food.

Since opening in 2014, Foodable Top 25 Restaurant Maude has been serving a 10-course seasonal tasting menu, focusing on one key rotating ingredient each month.

Foodable is back in the City of Brotherly Love and today we tell the story of High Street on Market. This restaurant ranks on our Philadelphia’s Top 25 Restaurants list, along with its sister concept, a.kitchen + a.bar. Together they are part of High Street Hospitality Group (HSHG) and our Table 42 host, Paul Barron, sat down with culinary director and semi-finalist for the James Beard Award for “Rising Star Chef” in 2015, Chef Jon Nodler.

High Street is unique and ambitious in the way they run their operations because it offers three different menus at breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

“When we started, we set out to offer three unique meal periods.... While it has its little challenges, it’s great because we are able to hit a much broader audience,” says Chef Nodler, who got his culinary start at a cafe in Madison, Wis., that specialized in coffee and crepes while placing high importance on ingredients.

In this "Table 42" episode, Chef Nodler shows off his skills while demonstrating how to prepare his Angry Crab spaghetti, as well as a guest favorite, the Kennett Square mushrooms dish, which has been part of the menu since High Street on Market first opened.

Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger, chefs and co-owners of Border Grill, were inspired by authentic Latin flavors they first discovered in the kitchen of a French restaurant. During staff meals, the pair enjoyed Oaxacan and the Yucatecan home cooking prepared by their fellow cooks from Mexico.

After falling for the cuisine, they traveled to Mexico to get a comprehensive understanding of the flavors. They then brought that knowledge back to California and put their own spin on it to create the Latin-fusion restaurant Border Grill.

This year, Table 42 brought us innovative dishes, awe-inspiring plating, and truly authentic cuisines from a lineup of first-rate chefs. However, a select few stood out from the rest. Here are Foodable's "Best of" moments for Table 42 in 2016.

Keep an eye out for all of this year's "Best of" episodes to learn more about which industry professionals changed the game in 2016!

Philadelphia’s burgeoning food scene has attracted talent from some of the top culinary hot spots in the country. You simply have to walk around Center City to see the growth and the richness in choice and experience that have become available to the Philly foodie.

“The current food scene in Philadelphia — the best way to describe it — is flourishing,” Chef George Sabatino of Aldine Restaurant said.

In this “Table 42” vignette, we follow Philly native Sabatino, who opened Aldine Restaurant just two years ago, but the business has already made huge strides for being so young. (For one, this restaurant is No. 1 on Foodable’s Philadelphia Top 25.) Aldine’s kitchen reflects the cuisine and style that is entirely Sabatino’s own. What is his greatest culinary motivation and inspiration? To bring a local, farm-to-table cuisine with a passion for aesthetic and, of course, flavor that is uniquely Philadelphia.  

As the food scene in Philly continues to boom, we decided to make our way to the City of Brotherly Love to visit one of Philadelphia’s Top 25 Restaurants. a.kitchen, located at AKA Rittenhouse Square, boasts an impressive wine program along with its Modern American cuisine.

Mike Fry, sous chef at the High Street Hospitality Group restaurant, talks to us about how a.kitchen makes the most out of its summer bounty.

In this Table 42 Vignette, Sous Chef Mike Fry demonstrated for us a.kitchen’s signature dish: a seared Long Island duck breast with mushroom ragu, baby summer squash, and a mushroom exodus sauce.

Dessert remains a favorite even for grownups. Roughly one-third of guests order dessert when dining out. So it’s safe to say that many consumers can’t resist a sweet after dinner treat, especially when it’s in a mini portioned dessert.

Like appetizers and entrees, desserts are (and have always been) often dependent on the seasons. More restaurants are determining their menu solely based on the ingredients in season. Fall favorites like pumpkin and apple have already started to appear all over menus.

A restaurant known for its cuisine that is “homemade, unpretentious, delectable, with an emphasis on great local ingredients” is Michael’s Genuine. This Miami gem is repeatedly on the Foodable Top 25 restaurants.

We decided to get in the kitchen with Maria Jose (MJ) Garcia, the executive pastry chef at Michael’s Genuine to find out what ingredients she enjoys to work with, fan-favorites at MG, and what advice she has for aspiring pastry chefs.  

District One Kitchen & Bar is not strictly a Vietnamese cuisine restaurant. Although the restaurant name refers to the district epicenter for entertainment and dining in Saigon (also known as Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s largest municipality), District One is known to be a melting pot of Asian flavors, including Vietnamese, Thailandese, Chinese, and Japanese.

“In the menu, we have everything from seafood to noodles to different variety of Southeast Asian-inspired dishes,” said Chef and owner Khai Vu. “A lot of it is Vietnamese-inspired because of our roots and where we’re from…”

However, District One’s founders wanted to create a menu that would not only reflect their heritage, but also showcase their experiences by combining flavors from Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and New York.

Chef Vu attributes his entrepreneurial spirit to his father, who taught him how to be a successful businessman, but for his early fascination with food, Chef Vu blames his grandmother.

“From growing up and going to the farmer’s market every weekend with my grandma... every weekend, she would stop everything and make a big family meal,” said Chef Vu.

In this Table 42 Vignette, Chef Vu demonstrated for us their signature dish: Live Whole Maine Lobster Pho. They get them alive and then they poach them, “...we take them all apart, and then deshell them and put it back together” in order to make it easier for the guest to eat.