Phaedrus's Profile
Around the World in 80 Plates [Split from Top Chef thread]
True, but not as much fun to watch.
Around the World in 80 Plates [Split from Top Chef thread]
I am hoping to see baked camels a la No Reservations as a challenge.
Or having them all prepare fugu for each other in Japan.
Around the World in 80 Plates [Split from Top Chef thread]
Here is High Acheson's take.
http://www.bravotv.com/around-the-world-in-80-plates/season-1/blogs/hugh-acheson/its-in-his-lisp
Around the World in 80 Plates [Split from Top Chef thread]
To be fair, this is the first episode. Hopefully they will get their sea legs, so to speak. But given what they promised in their advertisement and what they'd delivered in the first show, htere has got to be more 'splaining to do.
Around the World in 80 Plates [Split from Top Chef thread]
Just found a reason to watch it, barely.
Hugh Acheson is kibbitzing on his blog.
http://www.bravotv.com/around-the-world-in-80-plates/season-1/blogs/hugh-acheson/piss-and-vinegar?page=0,0
"The actual contestants are an interesting and diverse group, who quickly become a whiny, bitchy lot, full of piss and vinegar. This is going to be fun. "
"The chefs have some issues. Their knowledge of Brit food is minimal and this becomes the sticking point very quickly. I won’t run an account of all the action (watch the show!) but let this one point be very clear: they need to pay attention to what they’re eating in “The Course” part of the show. If they don’t analyze and figure out the dishes then and there, without their beer goggles on, it’s going to be a short season for them.
Brief rundown though:
•Cheven is a going to be a magnet of controversy and reviled by most everyone in all countries.
•Cheven is also "up there on the culinary totem pole.” Self promotion not-withstanding this is just too open-ended to make fun of. "
Around the World in 80 Plates [Split from Top Chef thread]
I must lead a sheltered life. Thank goodness.
Around the World in 80 Plates [Split from Top Chef thread]
BTW, does anyone know if this Chevin guy is actually famous or does he just tell people he is famous?
Around the World in 80 Plates [Split from Top Chef thread]
Really glad you decided not to do the play by play on this one. Wouldn't want to waste your time and talents on this dog.
Around the World in 80 Plates [Split from Top Chef thread]
Didn't know if this is going to be broken up into its own thread but here are my impressions.
The whole Survivor vibe was kind of exciting but also pretty bad for actually learning about the country and its foods. I think Nigella Lawson said something along the lines of the steak and kidney pie that one of the teams made reinforces the bad stereotype of English cooking. BTW, Nigella, totally hot. Even one of the gay chefs was lusting after her.
I thought it was a huge mistake for the teams to go for the 3 yards challenge and ignore tasting the steak and kidney pie.
I rather liked that they had to cook in the restaurants that they did their tasting. Gives them a feel for cooking in the country.
The pacing of the show really brings out the ugly American behavior. When they had food, they just wolfed it down in hopes of beating the other team, same with the beverage. When the Red team decided to change the name of the pub that they were serving in just for the day, the owners of the two pubs that were good enough to participate stared daggers at the Red team front of the house and told him that it was bad luck to change the name of the pub. The guy nonchalantly said: Oh, it will only be a short time, instead of apologizing and changing on the fly. You are in their country, show some respect.
Celebration of Craig Claiborne.-NYT
A trio of articles celebrating Craig Claiborne in today's NYT and a new biography on the man.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/09/dining/craig-claiborne-set-the-standard-for-restaurant-reviews.html?ref=dining
Pete Wells, present NYT food critic.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/09/dining/craig-claiborne-a-force-in-the-food-revolution.html?ref=dining
Jacques Pepin
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/09/dining/bryan-miller-on-his-friendship-with-craig-claiborne.html?ref=dining
Bryan Miller
Paula Deen Sponsors the 0.5K walk for Diabetes-The Onion
http://www.theonion.com/articles/paula-deen-sponsors-05k-walk-for-diabetes-research,28103/
Heh heh heh.
The California Taco trail-NPR
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/04/23/150886690/the-california-taco-trail-how-mexican-food-conquered-america
hard to believe that Taco Bell came out of the California taco stands.
Music and Restaurant Kitchens-NYT
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/25/dining/when-the-music-moves-the-chef-and-the-menu.html?smid=tw-nytimes&seid=auto
Really very cool. I'd like to try out Achatz theory.
Flynn McGarry-New Yorker
I can't post the link because the article is for subscribers only. But I thought this pretty interesting. Flynn McGarry is a 13 year old who runs a popup restaurant named Eureka out of his mom's apartment once a month. He charges $50 a head for 17 people. His parents turned his bedroom into a kitchen and serves as his staff once a month. He supposedly worked his way through The French Laundry Cookbook at age ten and is now being home schooled and serving an internship in LA.
http://www.newyorker.com/talk/2012/04/23/120423ta_talk_noxon
Six Rules for Dining Out-The Atlantic
One major disagreement that I have with Indian vis a vis Pakistani is that Pakistani cuisine is much heavier on the meats whereas the Indian foods tend to be more vegetarian focused. I am an omnivore but many vegetarians would be quite upset if they took his advice to heart.
Six Rules for Dining Out-The Atlantic
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/05/six-rules-for-dining-out/8929/?single_page=true
I don't buy a lot of his observations. It seems to me that he is making the exception the rule. For example, his argument that the strip mall would have cheaper foods is sound, but that those cheap food emporiums would be adventurous and try to do more to distinguish themselves culinarily is dubious.
His generalization of Thai and Vietnamese as well as Pakistani versus Indian is also dubious. There are differentiations between cuisines and his assumptions that they are equivalent is ignorant at best and jingoistic at worst.
The Bacon sundae: brilliant or tragic?-NPR
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/04/12/150502365/the-bacon-sundae-brilliant-or-tragic?sc=fb&cc=fp
Story from NPR. As much as I am a bacon lover, this does not appeal to me.
Richard Blais in "Reinventing The Meal"
The best thing about this, well the two best things are the pace of the program and the relatively quiet approach he takes. Even though he covered a lot of material in a short hour, he managed to make what he was doing understandable without it feeling rushed. And I really liked that he respected the traditions and yet still tried to be himself.
Top Chef: where are they now (ongoing)
He is prolific in his twitter feed and he has a presence on the web, doing cooking videos and presenting recipes and generally promotes his website and restaurant. He hasn't been too outrageous in any of that. He is pretty ubiquitous on the web.
Wedding menu from Top Chefs
I remember the food too. Both good and bad.
My second cousin did his wedding up right. He had both a social hour buffet set up where the wedding party was off getting their pictures taken. He had carved roast beef, a seafood bar, various hot appetizers being served at their stations and a pasta station. THEN he had a sit down dinner for 100. THEN they had a dessert bar with hand dipped ice cream, cheesecakes, and THEN they had the wedding cake.
Then there was the wedding of a colleague where they had a couple of cheeseballs and a punchbowl, and that was it. The wedding cake was really good, it was a carrot cake recipe from the bride's grandmother. But I remember we all went to the KFC afterwards. It was my first Baptist wedding.
Wedding menu from Top Chefs
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/27/wedding-food-top-chef_n_1384013.html#s805705&title=Chef_Sam_Talbot
Definitely a fluff piece but the choices are pretty interesting.
Chefs' cookbook ghost writers
I am not naive enough to expect these chefs to test all the recipes themselves or churn out the prose in their tomes, especially after learning just how long it took Julia Child to put out her masterpiece. But the stories about how callous these celebrity chefs are about the book that will carry their name is very disconcerting. Just have this flavor profile? really? Look up chicken in Wikipedia? Total BS.
Gail Simmons Autobiography-Tallking with My Mouth Full
I caught the tail end of that interview myself and it too piqued my interest.
Gail Simmons Autobiography-Tallking with My Mouth Full
Has anyone read this yet? I saw the obligatory positive blurbs from the likes of Eric Ripert, David Chang (Really?), Giada, Jacques Pepin. But how is it really?
I'd be curious to see what Bourdain or Colicchio has to say about it.
Bobby's Ireland
I didn't realize he had a daughter that old. I really liked the production of the show. That farm/cooking school to open the show was amazing. You can definitely feel Flay's amazement. he seemed genuine about it too.
