This Craigslist ad has the same contact numbers as the press release announcing "The Fifth Annual 'The Great Gathering of Chefs.'"

looking for former gourmet magazine staff (Midtown)

we are doing a food project and need former gourmet magazine staff.
It will be a huge event involving chefs from thoughout the nation.

So, if you're a newly unemployed former Gourmet staffers, show up at the Mandarin Oriental Sunday at 3 pm and "Emeril, Daniel, Eric Ripert, Michael Psilakis, John Delucie, Jean-Georges and George Mendes, just to mention a few" will personally hand you a golden fork! And hopefully some food, as well!

Ramsay, who can probably cook better than any other Tourette's syndrome sufferer, nevertheless seems to be having money problems, if you consider "not paying back loans on time" and "being forced to guarantee your company's loans out of your own pockets" to be money problems, which we do:

According to accounts filed yesterday, his main company, Gordon Ramsay Holdings, has breached its banking covenants - promises made to lenders to secure a loan. Ramsay and his chief executive Chris Hutcheson, who is also his father-in-law, have had to promise to help the company pay its debts if necessary.

Where are the expense account diners when you actually want them? It's safe to say Ramsay is just the leading edge of celebrity chefs with restaurant empires who will be forced to dramatically contract their businesses during this recession. Global networks of overpriced eateries coasting on name recognition just aren't a recession-era thing! We're looking at you, Bobby Flay. And if there are any financial experts who can explain the following in the comments, please do so, because it just sounds bad:

The holding company has also granted loans to Ramsay and his father-in-law, of £80,000 and £530,000 respectively. In a complex arrangement, the two men have also given personal guarantees of £1.6m and £500,000 to secure bank loans.

[Guardian UK]

2008 saw the publication of 336 food magazines, up by a third from only five years ago. That's probably way more than necessary! Bad move? Here's a market summary: Interest is up. News stand sales and web traffic are both up. But! Ad pages are down. Several big food magazines have already seen double-digit drops in ad pages. And outside industries like travel and home furnishings that advertise in some food magazines are also hurting, and buying fewer ads.

So what are publishers doing? Tying new magazines to celebrity chefs, or to the Food Network. Paula Deen! Sandra Lee! Rachael Ray! All big successes, or predicted to be! Other, more mundane cooking titles will surely fall by the wayside over the next year.

The future of American food publishing: "Rachael Ray Tells You How To Use Lard To Re-Fry Your McDonalds Burgers To Raise Your Family's Caloric Intake Above Minimal Survival Levels." Mmmm! [WSJ]

The "Save Spitzer!" campaign on Democrats.com is truly one for the conspiracy-addled record books:

Dear Governor Spitzer,

Don't let the Republicans and the rightwing media drive you out of office!

You made a lot of powerful enemies in your career because you took on the most powerful crooks on Wall Street. Now your enemies are trying to get even by destroying your career and your life. Don't let them!

The whole investigation by the Bush Administration stinks to high heaven. This isn't a case of "structuring" or "money laundering." The FBI never investigates johns - so why are they investigating you?

The answer is obvious. George Bush and Karl Rove turned the Justice Department into the political destruction arm of the Republican Party. They've prosecuted 5.6 Democrats for every Republican.

That's why former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman is rotting in jail, and that's what they want to do to you.

As Americans, we are outraged by Bush's endless abuses of justice. If anyone should be removed from office, it's George Bush!

Governor Spitzer, please stand and fight against this outrageous and naked partisan Republican assault. We support you!

The "Save Robert Irvine!" campaign lacks the insane flair of the Democrats' grassy knoll defense of Spitzer, but it makes up for it by deploying euphemisms for "lying" that succeed only in drawing further attention to the fact that the nerdy, muscular super chef is a big fat liar:

This website was created to be the official home of the Save Robert! campaign. The goal is to have the Food Network keep Robert Irvine as the host of Dinner:Impossible, even though he might have made some mistakes in his past...

On February 17, 2008 the St. Petersburg Times reported that Robert Irvine may have mis-informed people about his past, including some of the people or projects that he worked for.

Both of these guys are toast.

The paper found that Irvine lied about being a knight in England; lied about the nature of his college degree; was not really a full-fledged "White House chef;" has bragged about a "Five Star Diamond Award" that is basically available to any asshole with a credit card; and owes thousands of dollars to people who worked with him on his unopened restaurants. He also may have acted like a jerk while out in St. Petersburg restaurants, possibly the biggest sin of all for a food industry guy. They do acknowledge that he's a good cook, though.

This video repeats a lot of the assertions about his experience; might not get to hear those again. If the cooking thing doesn't work out for him, he'd make a good contestant on "American Gladiators."

Sam Mason has a girlfriend! However, he stays away from "straight sugar": "It's how I keep my girlish figure," he says.

Well he does have a sleeve tattoo which is hottt.

In the interests of due diligence, you should know that chef Benedetto Bartolotta of San Domenico did donate $1,320 to the Women's Campaign Fund, which is an attractive thing. Also, Johnny Iuzzini, the executive pastry chef at Jean Georges, has a website on which he wears few clothes. There is house music involved.

Vote for New York City's sexiest chef [NYDN]

Celebrity Chefs Face Visa Troubles [NYS]

But we felt that there was more yet to be told in this unseemly story of chefs, backroom emailing, and pork. Lots and lots of pork. So we contacted Neroni ourselves and asked him a few questions. You know, power to the people and all that! The real story, including some well-aimed potshots and some diplomatic Danny Meyer-placating, after the jump.

What's your side of the story? And how has it impacted business?

I got an email from a friend telling me about the Beard House's new voting procedures which allow internet voting, so, I called them to find out if it was ethical for me to vote for myself for Rising Star Chef. A rep from Beard House, who is also a friend, told me that not only was it ethical, but that I should call and email my friends and encourage them to do the same. I sent off a quick, personal email to some friends, and thought nothing more of it until a few days later when my picture and email appeared on Gawker, via Grub Street. I was definitely a little disappointed at Grub Street's choice to reprint my email without first calling me for comment, fact checking, or even substantiating the email's provenance (after all, according to Cutlets, it came from a totally anonymous source). They took a few pot shots that I thought were unfair (like calling me "desperate"), especially considering the fact that Josh used his position at NY Mag to come in to Porchetta for dinner and said everything was fantastic. I suppose now that I was a little na ve for trusting someone in the media (no offense). As for business at Porchetta, I have not noticed any impact and we are just as busy as before.

What kind of mentions do you expect in future issues of New York? Grub Street?

I don't really know what to expect from NY Mag or Grub Street in the future. Josh sent me an email the day my email showed up on Gawker to apologize and tell me that he understood if I thought he was an asshole (his words, not mine). I was understandably reluctant to talk to him. A few days later, he had his assistant call to get all the details on our monthly pork and beer dinner so Grub Street could put it on their calendar. We also had a photographer come in to take some pictures, I think for an end of year new restaurant roundup. In any event, I don't know if they will be inclined to give us positive or negative coverage, but I'll definitely be much more cautious in the future about what I say to them, you know, lest I come off looking "self-promoting."

Who's the one critic in New York City you'd be most afraid of pissing off?

Probably my fianc . She does some freelance food writing and I know that pissing her off would have much more dire consequences in my personal life than anything that I might do to Frank Bruni or Adam Platt. [Ed. note: Who's Neroni's fianc ?]

Who'd win in a fight, you or Josh "Cutlets" Ozersky?

I don't think it would ever come to that. I'm sure that my beating up a NY Mag food editor would make a much bigger splash than any email I sent and I would prefer the food get press not me. But I wouldn't rule out Iron Chef.

Danny Meyer famously "hosted" an event for a critic to win a favorable review for Blue Smoke. What would you to do get good mention for Porchetta?

I would hope that Porchetta would get a favorable review based on what we do on a regular basis, rather than anything special that we did for a reviewer. At heart, we are a neighborhood restaurant, and I want the guy who lives around the corner or the neighborhood couple out for date night to have the same experience as a reviewer would. I know that sounds a bit Pollyanna, and obviously, I am concerned with reviews and press, but I am not going to go out of my way to give preferential treatment to reviewers. It is nice to be recognized for what I do with a good review or an award, but what good does a glowing review do if it is based on a performance that I can't repeat with every diner? However, that does not mean that I am being critical of what Danny Meyer did for Blue Smoke. Danny Meyer is in a different league than we are at Porchetta, and I am sure he had his reasons for doing what he did.

Seriously, what's the deal with the pork vodka?

I've never actually tried pork vodka [Oops. —Ed.], so I can't really comment on that one. We serve a Maile Margerita, which is made with Anejo tequila and rimmed with slated pork cracklins. It's not too assertive, but you definitely get a little of the flavor of the pork - sweet, salty, smoky - on the back of your palate. I think it's a good compliment to the Anejo. You should come in and try one!

**

Maybe we will, Jason. Maybe ... we ... will.

Earlier: Piggy Self-Promoter: Jason Neroni?
Earlier: If Danny Meyer Does It, It's Not Illegal

credits Alice Waters and Dan Hill for teaching him about ingredients, Floyd Cardoz for teaching him about "multidimensionality," and Alain Ducasse for teaching him to "slow down, combine all the elements, and create a cuisine that I could, for the first time, truly consider to be mine."

Jason Neroni: I Love Wylie, But ... [Grub Street]

Earlier: If Danny Meyer Does It, It's Not Illegal

[Image via]

"hey everybody, I need your help!!!!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE vote for me for rising star chef [in the James Beard Foundation Awards]! I will trully be indebted to you all. And if you really wanted to, fwd to all your friends and have them do the same thing. Accually please fwd this, it will help. Danny Meyer does it all the time."