Top Chef Spoilers
Apr 17, 2008 Television, general food
This season of Top Chef seems to be filled with more Real Worldesque drama than ever before. It’s annoying and it detracts from what made the previous seasons so enjoyable to watch even when the challenges were ridiculous like that airplane one.
And speaking of challenges we’ve had two now that were aimed at lower brow food the chefs would most likely never serve in their restaurants. I didn’t get the impression that the Sandra Lee crowd was the mainstay of Top Chef viewership but perhaps I’m wrong.
Really though this show should be called Top Cook and not Top Chef because they’re judging cooking more than any of these people’s ability to lead. How could they have time to lead with all the constant posturing? It’s like stags fighting it out for a mate.
Never-the-less, spoilers…
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Tags: avec, blackbird, Joshua Galliano, Koren Grieveson, rick bayless, Top Chef
Zagat on What Pros Want / Food Blogging Fairness
Jan 3, 2008 general food
Zagat published a list of “What the Pros Want in 2008.”
Restaurant industry insiders weigh in on what they’d like to see more of – and less of – in the New Year
My favorite We Need More(s):
…American charcuterie and cheeses on restaurant menus.”
- Michel Richard, chef-owner, DC’s Citronelle and Central
“To-go packaging made from recycled materials. Sustainable products and foods made and raised by artisanal, small farms. Foie gras!”
– Karen and David Waltuck, owners (David is chef), NYC’s Chanterelle
My favorite We Could Do With Less:
“The words ‘celebrity chef’ and my being misrepresented as one.”
– Paul Kahan, chef-owner, Chicago’s Blackbird
Because when I was a cook eating in Blackbird in ‘99 he’s the guy that signed my menu: “Cook what you love” and he embodies it.
The We Could Do With Less I take personally:
“Blogging by non-food professionals/experts: I’d rather see more accomplished food writers/critics who I respect reporting on food and dining. Let the professionals do their work. Blogging these days is often too influential in negative ways for chefs and restaurateurs.”
– Roland Passot, chef-owner, SF’s La Folie, among others
However low-tier I may be, I am now a legitimately published writer and have, however closely, dodged the crosshairs of this comment. Still, for several months I was just a guy with a blog; yet I feel I have been respectful about my comments on the St. Louis food scene, and food in general, by simply calling it like it is and always being sure to reference that it is my opinion.
Now admittedly, I have typed up a couple less than flattering posts that I decided to shelve, but there in lies the respect.
What do you think? Have I been fairly writing about food as an amateur?
And furthermore, if the less seasoned writers of the world never write about food, who then becomes the professional?
Tags: blackbird, food blogging, paul-kahan, zagat
