Unbeknownst to Him, Mario Batali Finds Himself in the Clutches and the Cleavage of a Food Blogger

Miss XaXa with Molto Mario himself, at last night's book signing in the Chicago area.


From Mario's disquisition in Eater.com, "Why I Hate Food Bloggers":

I do not really HATE anything or anybody, it takes too much energy to hate, and I would rather dog someone/thing sotto voce to the large audience than spend a lot of time hating them/it. But blogs live by different rules. Many of the anonymous authors who vent on blogs rant their snarky vituperatives from behind the smoky curtain of the web.

Uh, er, uh, er....

The Importance of Not Being Earnest: A Farewell to Snark

Possums, we shall not look upon her like again. She has packed her knives and gone.

We could hardly believe our eyes when we read the
announcement: The Great Keckler, whose recaps and ceramic-knife wit were legendary, and who coined the term "cheftestant," will not be recapping the new season of Top Chef for Television Without Pity.

Mes enfants, the general has left the Top Chef field. We will soldier on, of course, but the battle simply won't be the same without General Keckler, and she will be sorely missed.

"You make it sound like she's dead," said Miss XaXa.

No, no, no. She's simply gone to a better place, that's all. Namely, Jericho, which she will continue to recap for TWOP. So get on over there to continue reading her work. And remember, though she unfortunately doesn't get royalties, every time someone uses the word "cheftestant," a sous-chef gets her toque.

Thanks for the memories, K.