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Hi, this is Kathy, Lindsey's editor. Lindsey is taking a day off today, so I'm filling in for her a bit.

Just wanted to alert you to a story about Robert Cooper, a senior in Pulaski County High School's culinary arts program. He is one of six students statewide who has been chosen to work in the kitchen of Guy Fieri, who hosts three programs on the Food Network. Cooper will spend more than eight hours behind the scenes building on the lessons he's picked up in class. It'll be interesting to hear what he learns.

The story ran in today's New River Valley Current. Read it here.

Guy Fieri/www.foodnetwork.com

"Diners, Drive-ins and Dives" is my favorite show on the Food Network. Even if I've just consumed an entire turkey and a pie (which I've never done before, but I'm just saying), I would probably still have to go find a snack while watching D, D & D. It just makes me so hungry.

Every greasy spoon visited by host Guy Fieri has obviously been highly recommended by the locals, and always has at least one really good signature dish. Fieri spends time back in the kitchen while the chef or head cook shows him how they make those signature dishes. Usually, it's a lengthy, from-scratch process. I don't know that I've ever seen anyone start by throwing a frozen beef patty on the grill or hauling out cartons of ready-made stock, but then again, I don't watch every episode or I'd weigh 400 pounds by now.

Every time I do tune in, I wonder what greasy dive Guy Fieri would find worth visiting in Southwest Virginia. Would he love watching the guys at Texas Tavern making a batch of chili? Drool behind the scenes at Short Sugar's Bar-BQ in Danville? Moan with ecstasy while devouring a plate of biscuits with sausage gravy at The Roanoker? Do any of those places even qualify as diners, or drive-ins, or dives? What does?

I posted this question over Twitter and Facebook last week and got some interesting suggestions about where Guy should go in Southwest Virginia. Read on for the list so far. Please keep adding to it, and if we can come up with a solid suggestion or two, I will send them to Mr. Fieri.

Read more »

Bryan

All of you "Top Chef" fans out there have probably seen the season premiere already. If you have, you noticed something rather unusual: Two men are vying for the title this season who are brothers! Their names are Bryan and Michael Voltaggio

Bryan is Executive Chef/Partner at Volt, a restaurant in Frederick, MD.; Michael is Chef de Cuisine at The Dining Room, Langham Huntington Hotel & Spa in Los Angeles, CA. There's already a nice brotherly rivalry bubbling between them, so it ought to be interesting to see how that plays out. Read more about them on their biographies on the Bravo Web site.

Michael

Why should you care specifically about these guys? Because Bryan Voltaggio sources some of his ingredients from our neck of the woods. He buys lamb from Border Springs Farm in Patrick Springs, Va. Farmer Craig Rogers is pretty excited that one of his buyers is on the popular Bravo television show. Rogers says Bryan Voltaggio also buys from EcoFriendly Foods in Moneta, Va. That wouldn't surprise me since EcoFriendly supplies a lot of fancy, big city restaurants on the East Coast, particularly in New York. But Volt is not listed on their Web site.

A new episode of Top Chef airs tonight on Bravo at 10 p.m. If you're watching, let me know what you think of the V-boys and the rest of the contestants. Oh, sorry, "cheftestants."

Images from www.bravotv.com