FindEatDrink: Bravo Johnny

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Edition: 15 September, 2010


	Photo Credit: Travis Huggett

Tonight Bravo TV kicks off their latest incarnation of the Top Chef series called "Just Desserts." There will be pastry battles, tears shed, and enough sugar puns to send a diabetic into a hypoglycemic coma.

Chef Johnny Iuzzini is the show's head judge and the award-winning executive pastry chef at Restaurant Jean Georges. How harsh was he on the chef-testants? "I don't ever aim to make anyone cry. But just about everybody cried."

We asked Johnny where he likes to eat and drink in New York and to share a few tips. Here are his five F.E.D. recs:

FIND.

VALRHONA CHOCOLATE (www.valrhona-chocolate.com)

"I use a lot of Valrhona for most of what I do here. For my bon bon program, it's almost all Valrhona."

TCHO CHOCOLATE (www.tcho.com)

"Tcho is out of San Francisco and I think they're coming up. It's really delicious."

EAT.

PEASANT (194 Elizabeth Street, New York, NY 10012, T: 212.965.9511)

"Peasant is my favorite place in New York, hands down. It's just rustic Italian food and it is so damn delicious."

PHO 32 (2 West 32nd Street, New York NY 10001, T: 212.695.0888)

"It's so bare bones. I always get the number 6, raw beef pho. I'm not Vietnamese, but it kind of reminds me of mom's chicken soup!"

DRINK.

PEGU CLUB (77 West Houston Street, New York, NY 10012, T: 212.473.7348)

"Get the ‘Red Pepper, Red Pepper.' It's insane. They cut the red peppers to order, muddle them, and then make the cocktail from there."

Recipe...

Try your hand at Johnny's Citrus-Almond Sponge Cake with Margarita Semifreddo. It's the components of a margarita, taken apart and rearranged into a dessert.

Free Desserts...

In celebration of Top Chef: Just Desserts, get a free dessert at participating locations from 1pm - 3pm today.

Learn More...

Beyond desserts. Find out more about Johnny's passion for cocktails, and where he likes to eat and drink in New York and Spain in our Q & A.