Superstar chef and Food Network star Aarón Sánchez (Chopped, Chefs Vs. City, Heat Seekers, Iron Chef America) took over the kitchen as the “culinary visionary” at the House of Blues Restaurant, renamed Crossroads at the House of Blues in late March. Go here for an interview with Chef Sanchez.

With his busy TV schedule, plus his duties as executive chef and co-owner of Centrico Restaurant and Mestizo By Aarón Sánchez, it is a special treat when he visits the House of Blues. He did just that last Friday, June 22, for a special media dinner to heat up the summer season at Crossroads.

A terrific meal at the restaurant highlighted his upscale pub grub menu with the expected influence of the Mexican cuisine he learned from his mother, acclaimed chef Zarela Martinez, as well as his own twists to comfort food.

Chile braised shortribs w/cornbread.

His meatball sliders are not made from ground beef but from short rib meat mashed together with just the right amount of spice. My dining companion praised his grilled flatbread, a Tex-Mex take on the Italian staple pizza. My favorite was the chile braised short ribs served on incredibly moist jalapeño cornbread. The sweetness comes through first, then just when you are saying, “where is the heat?” it hits your palate as a welcome afterglow.

Since I grew up in Ventnor, grits was not something I ever sampled, so I was surprised how much I enjoyed the crispy grit cakes that came with his Shrimp and Grits entrée. Naturally his Mexican heritage was in full blossom with his popular appetizer, street tacos made with marinated skirt steak and Cotija cheese and served with pico de gallo and tomatillo salsa.

The entrees and appetizer served were mostly from the regular Crossroads menu, and also includes pub favorites like buttermilk fried chicken, ribs and a build-your-own burger.

For the summer the restaurant is open daily from 12pm-7am, with a late night menu you can enjoy after a House of Blues concert in the Music Hall upstairs.

Rants and raves about burning topics that have caught my attention midweek, be it greedy corporate shenanigans, frustration or joy in regards to the Philly sports teams, a movie, show or DVD that has fired up my imagination, an intriguing personality, or what’s happening in the region. — Lori Hoffman, Associate Editor, Atlantic City Weekly.

If the summer season at the Jersey Shore is nearly as busy as my first few weeks in June have been, the DO AC campaign is working big time. I feel like I am in the middle of summer already and schools just let out this week.

For example my invite to see the new stars of Legends in Concert last week included the terrific show and a meal to match at The Reserve at Bally’s.

While our town is loaded with big name star chefs, for my money one of the best and most creative chefs in town is The Reserve’s Joseph Muldoon. He provided a special “Legends” dinner for the media to match the stars of the show.

His Justin Timberlake tribute was smoked tenderloin of beef with a delightful blackberry & pommery mustard BBQ sauce with corn dusted fried oysters.

This was followed by his quirky, inventive take on Elvis Presley’s passion for peanut butter and banana sandwiches. Muldoon presented mango chutney and crushed peanut studded lamp lollipops stacked with a bruleed banana risotto that was absolutely heavenly, just sweet enough to pair nicely with the lamb.

The “Marilyn Monroe” was a tribute to Joe DiMaggio’s mother’s stuffed braciola. Muldoon stuffed his with braised short ribs and herbs, a ribeye fillet, grilled trumpet mushrooms and a truffled creamy polenta. It was a battle in my mind over which was better, the risotto or the polenta — let’s call it a tie.

Dessert was inspired by Whitney Houston’s love of raspberry pop tarts with mini-tarts presented with white chocolate flan and a raspberry and white balsamic sauce.

While this was a special media event, Muldoon has been known to create nightly specials based on the Legends’ performers.

*******

Kenny Chesney

Later today I’ll be joining the insanity that will be the free, but ticketed (20,000 were given away), Kenny Chesney concert and beach party in Wildwood. Sponsored by American Express, the show is part of an “American Express Unstaged” series, and will be streamed globally at this link. The show will be directed by Jonathan Demme (Silence of the Lambs, Philadelphia, Rachel Getting Married and the Talking Heads documentary Stop Making Sense). The concert will also celebrate the release of Chesney’s latest album, Welcome to the Fishbowl.

********

Aaron Sanchez

Coming up Friday, June 22, is the media night to introduce the re-branding of the Showboat’s House of Blues Restaurant as Aaron Sanchez Crossroads, now in the hands of superstar chef Aaron Sanchez. Sanchez and has been featured on such Food Network hit series such as Chopped, Next Iron Chef and Best Thing I Ever Ate and has published numerous cookbooks. He will be on hand to discuss his newest culinary venture and dishes like citrus marinated steak tacos with Cotija cheese and roasted tomatillo salsa, and American classics such as lobster macaroni & cheese, slow cooked ribs and buttermilk fried chicken.

This is Sanchez’ second restaurant in town. When the Borgata first opened in 2003, Mixx was a restaurant featuring food by Sanchez and Edwyn Ferrari that morphed into a nightclub after 10pm. The idea didn’t last long as Mixx turned into a nightclub only venue.

Tom Colicchio

After announcing the dates, July 26-29, Caesars Entertainment Atlantic City has announced a few of the celebrity chef participants for the Atlantic City Food and Wine Festival, namely Anne Burrell, Tom Colicchio, Robert Irvine, Aaron Sanchez, Buddy Valastro and Andrew Zimmern, with further announcements to come.

The event, which sells-out annually and is the largest food and wine festival in the market, takes place across all four Caesars Entertainment Atlantic City casinos and resorts – Caesars, Harrah’s Resort, Showboat & Bally’s. The past three Atlantic City Food and Wine Festival’s have been a major success in the market. Here is the Web site.

This year Caesars Entertainment has partnered with local charity, The Community Food Bank of New Jersey, to be the official charity sponsor of The Atlantic City Food and Wine Festival.  The community Food Bank of New Jersey fights hunger and poverty by distributing food and groceries, providing education and training and developing new programs to help low income individuals meet their basic needs.