Craig LaBan and Jose Garces has an interesting online chat today. Among the most intersting things to come out of it:

Next Iron Chef

• Garces actually prepared the cock’s combs two ways: in a pressure cooker and braised.
• His best weapon on the show is his 15 years of cooking.
• Garces is trying to source cock’s combs for the weekend at Amada.
• What Philadelphia chefs would Garces trust with cock’s combs, stinky tufu or sea cucumber.
  • Marc Vetri (Vetri, Osteria)
  • Michael Stollenwerk (Little Fish, fish)
  • Terence Feury (Fork)
  • Michael Solomonov (Zahav)

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Grub Street scores an interview with Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board CEO, Joe Conti regarding the PLCB’s wine boutique concept.

Also of note in the interview:

• A wine boutique partnership with DiBruno Bros fell through at the last moment.
• The second boutique would be part of a Center City office building that is not the Comcast Center (Liberty Place anyone?).
• A DiBruno Bros collaboration at 18th and Chestnut could still happen.

PLCB Chief Talks Wine Boutiques, Partnering with DiBruno Brothers [Grub Street]

We know we just posted a link to Philadelphia Magazine’s article about Jose Garces but now we’ve sat down and actually had a chance to read Lauren McCutcheon’s profile of the prolific chef.

Among the Fooboozian highlights:

• Rumor has it Garces missed the James Beard Awards perhaps becuase he’s working on a Food Network gig.
• July is still the targeted opening for Village Whiskey.
• Garces Trading Co. is the name for the food/wine commisary (PLCB partnership) coming this fall to the Western Union building on Locust.
• The Fontainebleau Las Vegas is getting a rooftop Amada, twice the size of the original.
• Dave Conn will be chef de cuisine at Village Whiskey.

Check it all out.

Who is Jose Garces? And Why are you so crazy about his restaurants? [Philadelphia Magazine]