Chef

It looks like Brian Bruso has left Gitan Bistro Cru. You can follow the drama on Bruso's Twitter account, which is connected to his former restaruant, Birches. 1) Please acccept our sincerest apologies for your favorite Gitan Menu items slowly disappearing. :( 1:11 AM - 22 Mar 12 2) Ownership / Management @Gitan has reduced our ability to provide the level of food & excellence you would expect from us personally. 1:12 AM - 22 Mar 12 3) Feel free to lodge any complaints or concerns with Gitan's GM Jessica Nadeau!

Looking for some new places for your eating-out repertoire? We caught up with some of chefs in town to find out where they go when they're not dishing out fare at their own spots. Note: All restaurants are in Baltimore unless otherwise indicated. Ted Stelzenmuller, Jack's Bistro Favorite ethnic spot: "Without a doubt, my favorite is Joung Kak. There is no better place to go with a group of like-minded chefs. Eating great Korean barbecue and washing it all down with soju.

A Washington D.C. restaurant is getting by with a little help from the chef's friends. When R.J. Cooper, the chef/owner of Rogue 24, underwent planned open-heart surgery at Johns Hopkins earlier this week, the Washington D.C. restaurant didn't temporarily close. Instead, 12 of Cooper's friends are stepping in -- each for a week -- to lend a hand while Cooper recovers. The restaurant is calling the series of collaborations the Rogue Sessions. Each evening features a 24-course dinner consisting of 12 of the visiting chef's dishes and 12 Rogue 24 favorites.

The sizzle echoed through the halls of the Center of Applied Technology North in Severn, emanating from the school's culinary arts baking and pastry lab, where it was joined by a tempting aroma. Normally, a restaurant kitchen would be responsible for such sounds and smells, but this day it was students and the Culinary Institute of America. Former staff from the Culinary Institute of America were instructing students as part of "Teaching with the CIA," a day of culinary education for Washington-area students interested in careers in the food service and hospitality industry.

The Wine Market has elevated sous chef Andrew Weinzirl to the position of executive chef, the restaurant's owner, Chris Spann, announced Oct. 14. Weinzirl takes over from Chris Becker, who left to join the Bagby Group. "I wanted to find a chef that understood my culinary philosophy but who also had his own approach to food," said Spann, who added that Weinzirl had been running the kitchen for a month before his promotion. After graduating from Baltimore International College, Weinzirl put in time at Linwoods , Dogwood and the Chameleon , with a sojourn in between at the James Beard Award-winning Highlands Grill in Birmingham, Ala. On Weinzirl's first menu: a house-made short rib hot dog with apple kimchi; a pine nut and pinot noir risotto with wild mushrooms and Parmesan sage broth; and a pan-roasted Creekstone Farms bistro steak with potato-kohlrabi gratin.

James Michael Crooks, a chef and former co-owner of the Country Kettle Cafe in western Howard County, died Friday of heart failure at his New Windsor home. He was 44. Mr. Crooks was born in Wheaton and was raised there and in London, where he attended London Central High School. After graduating from Wheaton High School in 1982, he went to work in the restaurant business. "We met when we both were working at the Olney Ale House in 1983. Back then, we were young and crazy," said his wife of 17 years, the former Amy Regina Lauer.

WHEN A CHEF GIVES a simple dish remarkable flavor, there are a few things I want to know. Namely, how did he do that, and can I do the same thing at home?Recently I found myself grilling two different chefs about two different dishes. First I ate some braised sea bass with dried tomatoes, whipped up by chef Roberto Donna at the Great Chefs' Dinner, a benefit for the Child Abuse Prevention Center of Maryland held at Linwood's restaurant. Donna, who owns Galileo restaurant in Washington, was joined in the kitchen by his friend, Francesco Ricchi, chef of Bice restaurant in Washington.

Samuel Joseph Roggio, 80, the chef who helped make the old Miller Bros. restaurant "the place to eat" in downtown Baltimore, died Wednesday of a heart attack at St. Joseph Hospital in Towson.Born and reared in Baltimore, Mr. Roggio cooked everything from chicken pot pie to black bear at the renowned seafood restaurant on Fayette Street. But his lobster and crab imperials were the dishes that made Miller Bros. a favorite spot for seafood aficionadoes, including some celebrities from Washington.

Services for Edwin A. Kuser, a retired Swiss chef who headed hotel and hospital kitchens, will be at 11 a.m. today at Ambrose Inc., 1328 Sulphur Spring Road in Arbutus.Mr. Kuser, a resident of Arbutus, died of heart failure Thursday at his home. He was 94.Mr. Kuser trained as a chef in his native Switzerland under a rigorous apprenticeship system, which required that he pay for the privilege of learning.After arriving in New York in 1920, he took a job as an ice carver at the old Waldorf Astoria Hotel, where he worked until he moved to Baltimore five years later.

CRAIG SHELTON is a highly regarded chef. He was the sous-chef of New York's celebrated chef David Bouley and was an apprentice to French chef Joel Robuchon. His Ryland Inn in Whitehouse, N.J., near Princeton, is one of only eight restaurants in America that has been designated as a Relais & Chateaux gourmand restaurant. Two years ago, the James Beard Foundation named him the top chef in the mid-Atlantic region. Yet, when he came to Baltimore recently, he talked at times like a farmer, singing the praises of his crops.

Timothy Dean may have finally found his niche - and it's at the mall. Last month, the chef, best known in Baltimore for his string of restaurants on Eastern Avenue (and his appearance on the seventh season of "Top Chef"), opened Timothy Dean Burger in the Boulevard at the Capital Centre. The vibe is fast food, but the food - burgers, fries and gourmet pizzas - is worthy of white tablecloths. Over the past few years, the celebrity chef has weathered a string of well-publicized setbacks.

The Chameleon Cafe on Harford Road has a new executive chef. It's Andrew Weinzirl, recently of the Wine Market in Locust Point. Weinzirl takes over from The Chameleon 's owner, Jeff Smith. Replacing Weinzirl as The Wine Market 's executive chef is Wilbur Cox, formerly sous chef at B&O Brasserie . Weinzirl's debut menu, which is up and running, signals a gentle change in programming at the popular restaurant. Think of it as glasnost. There are more small plates now, and diners are invited to make more casual drop-in visits.

Bill Sexton has been appointed the Executive Chef of Phillips Seafood Baltimore. Sexton, according to a news release, has served in several leadership positions with Phillips Foods and Seafood Restaurant. He started his career at Phillips Crab House in Ocean City and has been Phillips Director of research and development. "My Grandfather was a fisherman off Cobb Island, Maryland and I grew up loving the fresh seafood right from our Southern and Eastern Shores," Sexton said in the statement.

Season 5 "Top Chef" contestant Jill Snyder has a new gig. Snyder has left her chef de cuisine position at Woodberry Kitchen for Clementine . This is Snyder's first executive chef position since leaving Red Maple , shortly after her fleeting November 2008 appearance on "Top Chef. " Snyder's entrance into Clementine coincides with the promotion of sous chef Jeremy Price, who will be overseeing a new Clementine project at the Creative Alliance, a yet-to-be named cafe that will operate Thursday through Saturday evenings and Sunday brunch at the Highlandtown arts and cultural center.

"The Maryland Harvest," a new documentary exploring the partnership between Maryland farmers and chefs, debuts Tuesday night at 9 p.m. on Maryland Public Television. You can watch a teaser for the documentary here . Produced by Hoopla, Inc. and hosted by Al Spoler, "The Maryland Harvest" follows the seasons as it chronicles several chef-farmer partnerships. Among the chefs are Spike Gjerde (Woodberry Kitchen), Cindy Wolf (Charleston) and David McCallum (Tilghman Island Inn)

When someone mentions that they studied biomedical engineering at Johns Hopkins University, you wouldn't expect them to own a local burger bar. But Houston native Anisha Jagtap does just that, running Hampden hot spot Baltimore Burger Bar. "It all started with my love for food at a very young age, and when all my girlfriends saved money to shop, I saved money to go out and eat," said Jagtap, 27. But I was always in love with math and engineering, mainly...

There's more to Texas cuisine than barbecue, Tex-Mex and chili. Much more, and Stephan Pyles is doing his best to see that unenlightened Americans know about it.You could not have a much better teacher than Mr. Pyles. Voted outstanding American chef, Southwestern region, in 1991 by the James Beard Foundation, this soft-spoken Texan loves to talk about the range and complexity of his native state's cookery.There are, he notes, at least 25 different national and ethnic groups among the settlers of this largest of the lower 48 states.

Chef Brent Shellem reflects: Being from Annapolis and growing up on the Chesapeake, rockfish is what we know. Just the thought of rockfish reminds me of fishing on the bay, and what better way to fish than with a cold beverage in your hand? I decided on Carolina Iced Tea because the Carolinas have great fishing as well, but mainly because my wife loves it and it pairs well with the citrus and the light nature of the fish.  Pokomoke rockfish Ingredients: •    8 ounces rockfish •    1 ounce extra-virgin olive oil •    Juice of 2 fresh oranges •    2 ounces vodka (3 if you're thirsty)

B in Bolton Hill has a new executive chef. Chris Clune came on board March 1 but took over the kitchen for real on March 21. For now, Clune will be happily executing the menu put in place by departing executive chef Jamie Forsythe, who stayed around for the transition. But come May, when the spring bounty really arrives, diners will be start to see more of Clune's personality. Clune grew up in the business — his mother owned restaurants in Oxford and Barnegat Light, N.J. Asked to describe his cooking philosophy, he invokes the French chef Joel Robuchon.