Coming Soon: Top Chef All Stars

Set the DVR! Tomorrow night at 10:00pm on Bravo is the season premiere of Top Chef All Stars! For the first time in eight seasons, Top Chef will showcase a cast of returning competitors, battling it out for the grand prize. Not a single one of these contestants has won in a previous season.

Many of the sweet, crowd pleasing favorites are back: Italian charmer Fabio Viviani, stunningly beautiful Casey Thompson, hootie hoo Carla Hall and hyper focused Richard Blais.

As well as the show's most notorious villains: fiery red head Tiffani Faison, sommelier Stephen Asprinio, cocky Spike Mendelsohn, monkey boy Marcel Vigneron and ego maniac Angelo Sosa.

Need a refresher on who is who? Check out these "All Star Moments" videos on BravoTV.com.

Though of course I am ecstatic to watch these fierce competitors duke it out for culinary supremacy, I am equally excited that my favorite celebrity chef (and author and TV host) Anthony Bourdain has come on as a full time judge for this season! His "take no prisoners" attitude is always a blast to watch.

So Top Chef fans, who are you rooting for? Who deserves a second chance at the crown?

Dining Out: Post 390

Last night I had dinner with one of my absolute favorite people at Post 390 in Back Bay. Ever since the restaurant opened I have been wanting to try it and I have heard nothing but rave reviews from family and friends who have visited.

We had a 6:30pm reservation and the hostess walked us right upstairs to a table in the window overlooking Stuart Street. The restaurant is already decorated beautifully for the holidays and the whole space glows from the lights and the fireplaces.

We decided to start with a bottle of wine, Porto Fino Malbec. Not only did our waiter pour our first glass, but he continued to come over and top us off any time the glass started to near the bottom. Love that!

After placing our orders he brought us a warm baguette which came in a small brown bag (just like in France!). The baguette was delicious, lightly salted on the top and served with warm butter. Are you drooling?

To start my friend ordered the oxtail onion soup. It came smothered in melted cheese and had a wonderful aroma.

I began with the arugula and parmesan salad (my recent go-to) and it was a large portion size and had a fresh, zesty dressing. It was definitely enough for two people.

For dinner, my friend ordered the pork chop which came garnished with blue cheese, figs and prosciutto. It was a huge cut of meat and she was only able to finish half!

I decided on the grilled vegetable lasagna with sun dried tomato marinara and minted ricotta cheese. It, like the pork chop, was also a large portion. Lasagna was the perfect choice for a cold winter night!

Then we moved onto dessert. Post 390 has one of the best dessert menus I have ever seen including: seasonal pie, chocolate layer cake, a made-to-order brownie sundae, a trio of cupcakes and milkshakes! We decided on the seasonal pie (pecan!) and the "sliver of chocolate cake" which on the menu says next to it, "when just a taste is enough."

The pecan pie was delicious and served with homemade whipped cream.

The chocolate sliver was rich, dense and decadent. It came served with three mini, chocolate meringues and a mocha sauce on the plate. Yum!

The menu at Post 390 was so incredible that it almost made me want to abandon my vegetarianism. I was taunted by amazing sounding items like hot wing potstickers and buttermilk fried cornish game hen.

Post 390 is the perfect spot for a date, to celebrate a special occasion, or dine with a beautiful view of the city. I can't wait to return and work my way through that dessert menu!

Gossip Girl: Committed

This week on Gossip Girl Serena overdosed and each member of the Upper East Side gang tries to help piece together that fateful night and what to do next. Overall, a completely depressing episode.

Minimal plot development this week, however a few items to note:

1) Nate's dad is up for parole
2) Juliet is still being paid off by Lily and is using the money to skip town
3) Jenny came clean on her role in the Saints & Sinners party
4) Vanessa has become an incredible liar

Next week Blair and Dan team up to find Juliet and take her down. Finally, the scheming returns!

On a totally random note, is it just me of has Rufus lost his rocker, Brooklyn edge?

90210: Beach Club Bathroom

This week's episode of 90210 was fairly uneventful minus a few plot developments:

1) Aunt Becky leaves her horrible online date to get frisky with Mr. Matthews in the beach club bathroom. Nice.

2) Teddy turns down advances from Silver and finally kisses Ian! Do you think Teddy will really come out?

3) Liam gets pounded by Dax and his surfer boy friend. Major ouch. That was incredibly hard to watch.

Next week Adriana throws a holiday party for her upcoming album release. When are the West Bev gang going to burst her self-absorbed bubble?

Shop: Chocomize

Last night I had the most fun online shopping experience! A few weeks ago I received an email from one of my favorite websites, The Frisky, advertising a company that makes custom chocolate bars. Given that the women in my family have unparalleled sweet tooths, I knew this would make the perfect holiday gift!

So last night I logged onto Chocomize and started creating my custom bars! Normally I dread online shopping, but this was truly fun! First you select a type of chocolate for the base. You can choose from dark, milk or white chocolate.

Then you move onto the "add ons" which come in several different categories. I couldn't believe how many options there were! Nuts, fruits, spices, candy, and even special decorations!

I was particularly excited about the prospect of creating bars with ingredients like pretzels, teddy grahams, toffee, gummi bears and edible "Happy Hannukah" banners.

As you select "add ons" for your candy bar, they are displayed in your cart on the right hand side of the web page so that you can keep track of what you've already mixed in. It was quite helpful as I tried to come up with unique but tasty combinations.

When I was ready to check out I was thrilled to see how affordable the customized bars are! Its always nice to give a great gift without fainting from sticker shock. I was even more impressed when I saw that before you check out Chocomize asks if you'd like to donate to one of three charities that the company supports - Doctors without Borders, the Michael J. Fox Foundation and Action Against Hunger. In fact, you can read all about their charity work and how much they have raised for each organization here.

If you've got a family member, friend, significant other or coworker who has a chocolate addiction, Chocomize is the ultimate gift!

What would go in your dream candy bar?

Dining Out: S & S

It impossible for me to believe that I have never written about the S & S before because I practically grew up eating there. For nearly twenty years of my life my father worked on Hampshire Street in an office space above the S & S, a Jewish deli in the heart of Inman Square in Cambridge. Whenever I would visit him during the work week we would walk downstairs together and eat at the S & S, often accompanied by a visit to our table by the owner, Gary.

When I graduated from college I moved into an apartment a few streets away from the S & S and ate brunch there every weekend with my roommates or guests visiting from out of town. I became a regular. In the spring of 2008 when I moved to Brighton, S & S was one of the things I missed most about my old neighborhood.

Last night I returned to the S & S for dinner with a friend. Though brunch is absolutely my favorite meal there, you really can't go wrong with any meal of the day.

My dining companion started with the matza ball soup. S & S has all the Jewish deli staples - the soup, knishes, potato latkes, corn beef, pastrami and more.

For dinner she ordered the grilled cheese and tomato, which comes on your choice of bread.

I ordered the Havarti burger (as a veggie burger) which comes topped with Havarti cheese, caramelized onions and mushrooms. The burger comes with french fries, cole slaw and a half sour pickle.

In addition to serving three meals a day, seven days a week, S & S also provides take out and catering. I highly recommend visiting on a Saturday or Sunday morning for brunch. S & S has two free parking lots on Hampshire Street for their patrons. It doesn't get much better than that!

Have you been to S & S? What's your favorite menu item?

Shop: Kate Spade

Since today is Black Friday it seems most appropriate to share with you my latest shopping adventure! This post is a few days overdue, my apologies!

Last Saturday morning my fashionista friend and I woke up with the sun to head to H&M on Newbury Street in an attempt to get our hands on the Lanvin line that was designed specifically for H&M. You may recall I wrote about this a few weeks ago (read the post here). The catch is, they only create one shipment of the line. After it sells out, its gone for good.

We arrived at 8:30am to discover that people had been in line since 11:00pm the night before and that the Lanvin items were already completely sold out. They started letting people in at 8:00am (even though the store doesn't open until 10:00am) and every single item was snatched in the first 30 minutes. We didn't even have a chance to elbow our way to affordable couture. Sigh.

Rather than wilt with defeat, we decided to peruse the rest of the store. We nursed our wounds with a few purchases. I picked up two beautiful holiday party dresses, a cocktail ring and three pairs of sweater tights (my winter obsession).

Thankfully H&M was only the first of a two stop adventure. My friend also wanted to pop into Kate Spade to try on a dress she'd been eyeing. A long time Kate fan, I was happy to come along.

While my friend tried on her dress, I checked out all the fun holiday items in the store. Kate Spade is showing bows on many of her winter items and they are so adorable! Feminine and festive, they are absolutely perfect for holiday celebrations!

This is the dress my friend picked up, shown here in pink, but she chose green. I agreed that green was the perfect color for holiday hosting! I love the bow on the neckline.

I swooned when I saw this black, one shoulder number, accented with a bow on the one shoulder side. Ever since sporting a one shoulder bridesmaid dress in my cousin's wedding last month, I've been obsessed. I wouldn't have styled it with red tights; I would have gone with a candy colored shoe instead, but you can still get a sense for its chic-ness.

This black and white dress, accented with a bow at the waist, is delightfully Audrey Hepburn. Another for my "must" list.

Package yourself as a literal present with this simple, black skirt. Pair with a red, silver or gold top.

The bow theme continued with the winter accessories, including these delicious fuchsia, leather gloves.

I squealed with delight when I noticed these peppermint ear muffs! Seriously, how cute are these?

Then I moved onto the shoes. I first noticed these bendable black flats (perfect for stuffing into your purse) with a silver rose blossoming over the toes.

Further down the shelf were the most beautiful, fun, girly shoes I have ever laid eyes on. I will let them speak for themselves in this photo below.

Sadly, Kate Spade shoes only go up to size 10 and my tootsies are a size 11. Tear. You better believe I tried to squeeze into the 10, but no dice.

If your budget allows a splurge purchase this holiday season, take your cash and wrap yourself in Kate Spade. Bow included.

Movie Musings: The Social Network

Yesterday afternoon I went with a friend to see "The Social Network." I thought I was going to see the movie with my office opening week, so I waited to buy tickets. When the office outing fell through, I found myself weeks behind on the release.

I read the book "The Accidental Billionares" by Ben Mezrich, on which the script is based. I found myself scrutinizing the movie to see what remained the same from the book and what was altered.

First let me say, casting Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg was genius. If you have ever seen Mark on television, in photos or quoted in the press, he is painfully cerebral. Eisenberg portrays this personality perfectly. His awkwardness pushes the viewer to a place of physical discomfort.

Also brilliantly cast is Andrew Garfield as Eduardo Saverin, the co-founder and original investor in Facebook. Though the book goes into much further detail about Eduardo's role in the company, the movie does accurately portray how Eduardo's decision to remain in New York instead of come to Palo Alto cemented his eventual ousting from the executive team.

I also want to give majors kudos to Justin Timberlake who is positively magnetic as the impossibly entrepreneurial playboy, Sean Parker.

Armie Hammer, who plays the twins Cameron and Tyler Winkelvoss, is also superb. He beautifully walks the line between polished Harvard gentleman and furious, scorned frat boy.

What was most interesting is that in the book the stories are told in real-time. In the movie, the plot unfolds as a serious of flashbacks during two separate depositions for lawsuits against Zuckerberg.

Though the book isn't particularly flattering for Zuckerberg, the movie is even more deprecating. Zuckerberg is painted as a young man committed to one thing and one thing only - his growing social network. He breaks his promise to the Winkelvoss', he leaves his best friend in the dust, and he drops out of the best higher education institution on the planet.

If you're interested in learning about the origins of Facebook, "The Social Network" is a must see. If you are familiar with the Harvard campus and the surrounding streets, you'll love seeing all the spots you've walked by a million times.

If you're interested in the story of Facebook as a business, pick up David Kirkpatrick's book "The Facebook Effect." I read it a few months ago and was amazed to learn the strategy behind some of the company's biggest decisions.

Love him or hate him, its undeniable that Mark Zuckerberg launched a social experience that is transforming the way we communicate.

Dining Out: Mary Chung

Beneath an illuminated, white and green sign in English and Chinese, lives a tiny restaurant with a big reputation - Mary Chung. When I first moved to Inman Square in Cambridge in the spring of 2006 my mother insisted that I make my way to Mary Chung. She said, and this is a direct quote, "It is the absolute best Chinese food." Well, if that isn't definitive, I don't know what is.

Finally, four years later, I made my way to Mary Chung. When we opened the front door we couldn't even see inside because the line was so long it was out the door. The hostess gave us a number and told us to pay attention for it to be called. As people were seated, we made our way inside and all we could see was one gorgeous looking plate after another being delivered to each table.

Inside the restaurant has booths along both walls and tables down the center aisle. This is the definition of no frills decor.

We combed the menu for about 15 minutes while we sipped hot tea. I was also distracted and amused by the placemats with the Chinese signs of the zodiac. I don't know why, but I have always loved reading them.

We decided to start with the scallion pancake (my personal favorite) and the spicy beef dumplings. Though the scallion pancake was a smaller portion size than I've received in other Chinese restaurants, it was delicious. It had a very crispy outside and an almost undercooked center (in a good way). Almost like eating a chocolate chip cookie right when it comes out of the oven.

I'm told the spicy beef dumplings were excellent, but incredibly hot.

For dinner I ordered the tofu and broccoli. This is my standard Chinese favorite, but I am used to it having a bit more kick. The broccoli was fresh and just the right amount of tender and the tofu was silky and well seasoned. The best tofu and broccoli is at the Mandarin Gourmet in Chestnut Hill, but this was a worthy competitor.

My dinner date ordered the spicy chicken with pea pods, mushrooms and bamboo shoots. I tried one pea pod and my mouth was on fire. He said his mouth was already numb for the spicy beef dumplings, so he couldn't really feel if this was any spicier. Let me tell you, it was.

While we were eating we saw the dinner special go by - a whole fish. Though you might assume that sounds disgusting to a vegetarian, I must admit, it looked and smelled amazing. Every plate we watched go by looked fantastic. I completely understand why Mary Chung has such a loyal following.

If you love Chinese, this is absolutely worth a trip. As a warning, the restaurant is cash only.

You can find Mary Chung at 646 Massachusetts Ave in Central Square.