Ex-Cheftestant Resorts to Plagiarism

Published on Tuesday, May 15, 2007, by Christy Harrison / Edit Post

Remember that online exclusive that Wired ran a few weeks ago, featuring molecular gastronomy dishes from the secret labs of Top Chef finalist Marcel Vigneron? Turns out one of the recipes is a blatant ripoff of a creation by Wylie Dufresne, Marcel’s hero. As Grub Street reports, the erstwhile cheftestant’s Cyber Egg—a yolk of carrot-cardamom purée ringed by a white of hardened coconut milk, garnished with carrot and cauilflower foams—is not Marcel’s invention at all, but actually one of Dufresne’s best-known dishes (except for the foams, which were a Marcel touch).

Members of the staff at Dufresne’s restaurant, wd-50, tell Grub Street that Marcel has eaten the dish there “at least twice,” and they’re none too happy about the offense:

‘It’s one thing to be inspired by a dish and to change the flavors to make it your own,’ says line cook John Bignelli. ‘But to just steal everything? How can you do that?’

Perhaps Marcel thought that by adding the foams, he was changing the dish enough to render it an homage rather than a cheap knockoff—which is really what it looks like in Grub Street’s side-by-side photos. And of course his constant use of foam is another copycat move. Is the whole thing just a losing contestant’s bid to keep the reality-show drama alive in the postseason? Would Marcel actually pick a fight with his idol in the national media? For the moment at least, Dufresne is refusing to join the cast: He has no comment.

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  • It is interesting that this egg deal was such a big hullabaloo.....Let's face it - there are only so many basic food items from which to build. So Marcel built something with new flavors and textures and his own twist. Whatever. This does not make a rip-off anymore than someone coming up with a new sauce that goes over pasta.
    Marcel is a true innovator, trying all kinds of new things using tools...+READ

    It is interesting that this egg deal was such a big hullabaloo.....Let's face it - there are only so many basic food items from which to build. So Marcel built something with new flavors and textures and his own twist. Whatever. This does not make a rip-off anymore than someone coming up with a new sauce that goes over pasta.
    Marcel is a true innovator, trying all kinds of new things using tools of which he has become acquainted. Isn't this what all new talent does? You take the tools you have and you create something of your own. This is exactly what Marcel has done and will continue to do. He is driven and zealous and I admire his enthusiasm! He is confident and passionate. He is young and has an exciting life ahead of him.
    Sit back and watch where goes- it'll be something to see - guaranteed!-COLLAPSE

  • SiksElement

    It's nice to read comments from someone who has worked with Marcel. Please note that the last comment on this blog post was made in June, so I think pretty much everyone has laid off of attacking and insulting Marcel by now and moved on.

    I was impressed by Marcel's creativity and drive. He didn't allow himself to be derailed or shook up by the unprofessional and nasty behavior...+READ

    SiksElement

    It's nice to read comments from someone who has worked with Marcel. Please note that the last comment on this blog post was made in June, so I think pretty much everyone has laid off of attacking and insulting Marcel by now and moved on.

    I was impressed by Marcel's creativity and drive. He didn't allow himself to be derailed or shook up by the unprofessional and nasty behavior displayed by his fellow contestants during Season 2 and his mature reaction to the antipathy displayed toward him left a deep impression on me.

    He has shown that he has a true love of what he is doing and is meant to be in the kitchen. His passion will carry him far in life and I look forward to keeping up with his career and reading about his accomplishments.-COLLAPSE

  • i wish people would stop dogging on marcel. having worked with him for a brief period of time i can vouch he is a) not an a$$-whole as the show made him out to be, and b) he is very passionate about what he does. also, i made my version of the egg using mango and coconut before finding out wylie had done the egg already. leave him alone. he obviously cooke better than all but one top chef season...+READ

    i wish people would stop dogging on marcel. having worked with him for a brief period of time i can vouch he is a) not an a$$-whole as the show made him out to be, and b) he is very passionate about what he does. also, i made my version of the egg using mango and coconut before finding out wylie had done the egg already. leave him alone. he obviously cooke better than all but one top chef season 2 chef. give credit where credit is due...or join the cast for the next season and prove me wrong.-COLLAPSE

  • I could care less who created the dish. When I want to eat an egg, it will be a real one not something else made to look like an egg. What is the point of doing that any way?

    (((MUAH)))

  • Marcel has come forward and given a full explanation that discredits the charges that he stole Wylie Dufresne's/WD-50 cyber egg--different techniques, different ingredients, different timelines of inspiration. His response was published in Wired Magazine's Underwire blog on 5/29/07: http://blog.wired.com/underwire/2007/05/cyberegg_contro.html

    Please be sure to read the last paragraph of the...+READ

    Marcel has come forward and given a full explanation that discredits the charges that he stole Wylie Dufresne's/WD-50 cyber egg--different techniques, different ingredients, different timelines of inspiration. His response was published in Wired Magazine's Underwire blog on 5/29/07: http://blog.wired.com/underwire/2007/05/cyberegg_contro.html

    Please be sure to read the last paragraph of the piece, which lays bald the fact that Ilan, and particularly Sam, cheated by taking credit for recipes that were not their own.-COLLAPSE

  • ffrench--Thanks so much for posting the link to The Gluttonist's blog. I've passed it around to the other Top Chef blogs and message boards to get the message out.

    Seems to me like Grub St. has egg on its face now.

  • It seems the stupid egg idea came from Dufresne, which came from El Bulli's Ferran Adria. This post has the pictures: http://www.thegluttonist.com/welcome/2007/05/now_will_the_re.html (FYI you can find a treasure trove of information on technorati, my new guilty pleasure)

  • Oh, and I think you should change the title of this blog article to a question rather than a statement of fact or reword it altogether.

  • Thanks to the Gurgling Cod for pointing out the obvious in his blog article (linked above). You have to lay claim to creating a dish to be called a plagiarist. Mark McCluskey, the author of the original article about Marcel in Wired Magazine did a follow-up blog piece in response on May 15 to the New York Times article of the same date on this subject and stated that not once did Marcel claim the...+READ

    Thanks to the Gurgling Cod for pointing out the obvious in his blog article (linked above). You have to lay claim to creating a dish to be called a plagiarist. Mark McCluskey, the author of the original article about Marcel in Wired Magazine did a follow-up blog piece in response on May 15 to the New York Times article of the same date on this subject and stated that not once did Marcel claim the dish was his creation nor did the Wired article state that.

    You can read McCluskey's article here: http://blog.wired.com/underwire/2007/05/can_you_have_yo.html

    (This is quite a bit different than Sam Talbot standing in front of the Judges Table during the Top Chef 2 finale and saying that the sea bean dish was entirely Sam's creation (when it wasn't). )-COLLAPSE

  • Vigneron is not a plagiarist.
    http://thegurglingcod.typepad.com/thegurglingcod/2007/05/marcel_vigneron.html

  • wasnt wylie a judge for the finale??? lol no wonder he had no comment (or at least they never aired his any statements) about marcels dishes...i wonder what he was thinking as he ate...

  • Not to worry. Vigneron will end up declaring that he needs to check himself into rehab, come out with a clean bill of health and get a nice tidy sum to open up a restaurant where everyone will oooh and ahhh about how he turned his life around.

    Meanwhile, College Student Bob who plagiarized one single quote in a term paper will be expelled, never to be heard from again.

  • I watched Top Chef, but those people were so annoying, I just want them to all go away.