Listening to Anthony Bourdain last night on Tom Ashbrook’s show, you would have thought that restaurant food had been in a steep decline until Top Chef, the Food Network, and of course, his road trip docudramas “No Reservations” came into being. All good, according to Bourdain, who seemed to have been defanged for the occasion. Isn’t nastiness his appeal? He sounded like he was chatting about new trends in Episcopalian religious services.

Now that regular folk have seen chefs vying to cook weird things in trumphed-up contests, everyone understands the finer points of cuisine, he seemed to believe.

This made me think of Patricia Yeo, chef of Ginger Park, telling me recently that she thinks food TV contests are ruining the work ethic of beginning chefs. They all think they do a short stint, get on TV, and make Bourdain’s bucks (he went on and on about the cushy, travel-filled life he leads). “Showing up for work,” Yeo says, isn’t on the agendas of this would-be stars.

Saturday evening I get an email from Gordon Hamersley. Would I like to blog about the Chefs Stand for Haiti dinner at Rialto the next night? This was not a difficult decision — the cause is so stellar, the chefs are so fantastic, the idea is so fun — no contest. So Sunday June 6, I drive through torrential rain to Rialto. There, the kitchen is full of some of the best and most celebrated chefs in Boston — Gordon, of course, and Jody Adams of Rialto, Frank McClelland of L’Espalier, Ken Oringer of Clio and Toro, Jamie Bissonette of Toro and Coppa, Barry Maiden of Hungry Mother, Steven Brand and Susan Regis of Upstairs on the Square, Tim and Nancy Cushman of O Ya, Dante deMagistris of Dante and Il Casale, Louis DiBicarra of Sel de la Terre, Joanne Chang of Flour and Myers & Chang, Andy Husbands of Tremont 647 and Sister Sorel, Rich Valente of Legal Sea Foods, Peter Davis   of Henrietta’s Table, Patricia Yeo of Ginger Park, and Ron Abel and Nookie Postal  of Fenway Park.

The mood is jovial, the banter quick, the connections those close and vital ones that bind chefs together no matter how short the time or strong the competition. Jody Adams explains it best: “We didn’t quite expect them all to say yes,” she says. She, Gordon and Andy were contacted in the winter after the devastating earthquake in Haiti by Billy Shore of Share Our Strength and by Partners in Health. “Could the chefs help.” Chefs and restaurants are known for their charitable work. But this query was unusual because of the urgency and the dedication of those involved. And the response was immediate. So a winter tragedy led to an early summer feast.

Susan Regis works

The kitchen was humming with chefs working quickly against a tight deadline to feed 91 guests who had paid $1,000 a plate. But the conversation flowed, showing the tight bonds that bind Boston’s chef community. And the appetizers were gorgeous. Regis and Brand worked to on boudin blanc with topped with rhubarb from a friend’s Marblehead garden and garlic crisps. Maiden prepared hoe cakes to go with lamb crepinettes with a pistou of basil and black walnuts. Yeo fried foie gras and short rib dumplings to be served with a spicy chili sauce. Davis finished house-smoked duck with a rhubarb chutney on pumpkin bread. DeMagistris patiently pressed 200 servings of veal tonnato paninis, an irresistible Italianate version of grilled cheese.

There was urban gardening: Bissonnette’s green pea and sheep’s milk ricotta with lardo was garnished with sweet cicely from his garden next to Toro in the South End. And rural farming: All the greens for the dinner to follow (by the Rialto team) was from McClelland’s Hamilton farm. And he also provided beautiful French breakfast radishes with sweet butter and salt.

French breakfast radishes

Hamersley passed out succulent lamb chops with an apriot jam. Cushman stirred a spicy Thai tomato and chanterelle soup, musing that at O Ya, he might have added lobster. Oringer composes a delicate oyster Royale (oyster cream with coconut milk, sake, and thyme) on shrimp toasts. Abell passes around lobster rolls, quickly snapped up by the chefs “Only the Red Sox could afford lobster,” one quips.

As the chefs worked, guests begin to filter in, eager to meet them. “This is so much fun in here,” says one as the stainless-steel restaurant kitchen began to resemble a house party.

In Rialto’s bar, Jim Ansara, formerly of Shawmut Construction who has been working in Haiti as well as raising money, talks proudly of a Partners in Health teaching hospital that’s about to begin in construction. “This would be challenging here,” he says. In devastated Haiti, “it’s really challenging.”

Hamersley's lamb chops

As the guests take their seats, and begin to look at the Rialto menu of a light summer vegetable antipasto and organic chicken, nibbling on breads brought out in huge wooden baskets, Adams introduces the chefs. Then she gives a benediction of sorts, the reason that chefs came together to help others in a time of ongoing need.

Quoting Gandhi, she says: “There are people so hungry that they cannot see God except in the form of bread.”

Breaking bread together to help those in need: It’s a beautiful thing.

NEXT: An auction followed the dinner. Find out about the dream venues and the chef matchups, plus how much money was raised!

Chefs laugh in Rialto kitchen

Is it because spring, early if fitful this year, has sprung? Or that the economy has stabilized a tiny bit? Or pent-up demand? Or cheap rents?  Whatever. There seem to be new restaurants bouncing up like pink tulips in my yard — just as freshly minted, just as hopeful.

Esti Parsons

Bergamot in Somerville, EVOO now in Cambridge plus ZA. Mumai Chopstix about to open on NewburyStreet. Chez Jacky late this month in Brighton. Towne Stove with Lydia Shire and Jasper White in Hynes Convention. A new restaurant, Sam’s Place,  in the new Louis in Seaport  area — reportedly with Esti Parsons in charge — we’ve missed her.

For an insufficiently-reformed restaurant junkie, it’s a little overwhelming: How to sample them all! I’ve just finally eaten at Coppa (great pork rillettes with a hit of Saba), sampled Mumbai Chopstix at friends and family (intriguing flavors and good hits of chilies and spices) and haven’t yet been to Barbara Lynch’s Menton. It should be a busy summer.

Remember when the experts advised real foodies to eat out only in the middle of the week, avoiding the dreaded suburbanites on weekends? Remember when being a Special Occasion restaurant could brand a place as cluelessly old-fashioned? Remember when the chef’s word ruled — no substitutions, no questions, no mercy? Remember when prices at even scruffy places were astronomical, and money was thrown around at will on $200 plus wines? Remember when?

I was struck by a comment by Mc Slim Jb, the Everyman’s King of Boston dining, tweaking Valentine’s dining as Amateur Night. I don’t think too many in the restaurant industry are  scorning Special Occasion dining this year. When chefs are bemoaning empty rooms and lost revenue, any packed house is welcome. Bring on the amateurs. Every night should be Valentine’s!

"Fully Committed" the play

Last week I made a restaurant reservation, and was bemused when the young woman told me that “We’re fully committed” that night. It was the second or third time I’d heard it in a few weeks. It seemed so late ’90s when the play of that name chronicled the hot-hot-hot years of New York and San Francisco dining. But everything that goes around, comes around, so Fully Committed is having a comeback.

Which brings up the issue of the phrases that stick in the restaurant industry, year after year, trend after trend. “Still working on that?” “Are you finished yet.” And the classic “Fries with that?”

What’s your evergreen restaurant phrase?

Last night we met friends at Il Casale in Belmont. Early, very early, because the di Magistris’ brothers new restaurant in an old firehouse down from where they grew up is packed all night, every night. No wonder. It’s warm, it’s welcoming, the vibe is lively from the baby crawling around at the next table to Mary Richardson of Chronicle on the other side to seemingly everybody from the near and western suburbs crowded into the long bar area and noisy dining room.

Midway through fantastic sfizi (small bites, great ones like chicken liver crostini and burrata with Sicilian oregano and pistachios) chef Dante diMagistris strode, just back from Italy, with truffles. And we were treated to tagliatelle with a soft-poached egg topped with freshly-shaved truffles. Dante did the shaving, remind me of the first time I wrote about him. In a review of blu, I talked about this young chef who’s enthusiasm for the truffles he shaved over pasta transformed the dining experience.

Il Casale is a hit for good reasons — oh, did I tell you that Daniele Baliani, one of the great talents in any kitchen, is cooking there. And did I say that Leon diMagistris, the father famed for his high-style salon in Belmont, chats with customers. Or that the prices are reasonable, the pasta comes in small or large portions, and the staff couldn’t have been more solicitous about a diner allergic to olive oil.

All this and truffles, too. No wonder it’s tough to get a table.

Art in a cup

After a long day-into-night of judging the first annual White Chrome Barista Throwdown put on by  Flat Black Coffee in Dorchester, here are a few things I remember:

–About 2/3 of the way through tasting espressos and lattes made by 11 contestants, Annie Copps, of Yankee Magazine and one of my fellow judges, counted that we must have consumed 24 shots. She started spitting, just like a wine tasting.

— Gerra Harrigan, the expert from New Harvest Coffee Roasters in Providence and the other judge, managed to keep her cool composure and sort through the contestants through about 5 hours of tasting.

— All 11 contestants were really good — and some could talk while making excellent espresso. Even if their hands shook when serving the coffee.

— Alison Novak, from Simon’s Coffee Shop in Cambridge, who won, made a signature dessert coffee that by now I can no longer describe, but I’d have every night if I could.

— The reason I can’t describe it, although my palate memory is excellent, is because even taking tiny sips of more than30 espressos and espresso-based drinks makes you a bit forgetful. Drunk, even. Not only that, I couldn’t spell.

Gerra judges barista and coffee contests all the time. Today, recovering from an event that was a lot of fun plus included dinner at Tavolo down the street, I’d have to think about it doing another very soon — at least until my ability to spell returns.

Jacky and Iris Robert

Last Sunday, I got to catch up a little with Jacky Robert of the growing Petit Robert Bistro empire — it was his birthday and he threw a house, well, actually a backyard, party at his own Maison Robert. His daughter, Iris, was in from New York. Right now, Iris is cooking at Jean-Georges in New York, part of a series of jobs she’s taking to round out her culinary education.  (Vongerichten is bringing his culinary brand here with a Market restaurant opening in the new W in the Theater District next month.)

Iris, who basically grew up in the kitchen, opened Petit Robert Bistro on Columbus for her father before moving to New York. She’s a talent, completely at home in the kitchen, and despite her youth, able to create wonderfully delicious and unfussy food. Her sights are next set on working in kitchens in France for awhile.

And then somewhere down the line, she’s thinking of a return to Boston. Perhaps there’s a new Maison Robert in Boston’s future?

Just as the mood in Boston restaurants is at its glummest, there’s a flurry of new places opening or in the works. Orinoco in Brookline – which is about to become taco central, as unlikely as that is. Abbey Park and 88 Wharf in Milton, another unlikely new restaurant hub.  Sonic on Route 1, which is mobbed — Sonic, a fast food creation that we in the Midwest thought was cheesy decades ago!!!And coming soon, the behemoth Post 390 on Clarendon Street, which threatens to suck up a lot of the dining oxygen at 300 seats with plenty of money behind it.

Add to that changeovers, BanQ will become Ginger Room, Excelsior will become something else, and more rumors are in the air.

Is this the end of the recession? Cheap rents? Panic? Time will tell, and hopefully diners will be able to sort out the new from the good, quality from the chaff, good value from the cheap bargains. Maybe the dining public is digesting this right now while waiting in line to order Sonic burgers and a malt.

The days of summer are getting away from me, and little time for blogging. Luckily, great food memories linger. Monday night at Gibbet Hill Grill in Groton is one of them.  Chef Richmond Edes went all out at the Farm-to-Fork dinner, creating fantastic food with vegetables from the new vegetable garden on the property and local meats, dairy and cheeses.

The striped bass with black trumpet mushrooms, honey-roasted heirloom tomatoes and sweet and hot pepper emulsion was great, and so was the duck with potato millefeuille, watermelon radishes, chard, and stewed Mayflower plums.

But my favorite was the assiette of summer vegetables — a gorgeous arrangement of raw and lightly pickled fennel, radishes, green and yellow beans, nasturiums and herbs with a little carpaccio of River Rock beef. Just what summer is made of!

Congratulations to Gibbet Hill, the Webber family, and their chef for an inspiring meal.