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Top Chef New York Season 5

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marigold:
An interesting article:

'Top Chef' preview: Toby Young says he's not trying to be Simon Cowell

Last week on "Top Chef," new judge Toby Young, who some might remember as the author of "How to Lose Friends & Alienate People," came off as one eager-to-offend Brit.

Not unlike "American Idol" meanie Simon Cowell, actually. But Young, a former food critic with a resume full of food TV show appearances, says one-upping his fellow East Ender was not his aim. British people are just "rude," he says with a laugh. He fills us in on joining the cast, eating earthworms and what he misses most about food writing.

Watched your first episode last week. First question: Are you trying to be Simon Cowell?
I swear, I didn’t really go in thinking, “I’ll be the Simon Cowell” of “Top Chef.” I was just used to being a judge on British food shows where people are much more outspoken and rather rude. That’s the culture over here. I may come across as being this showboating bitch on “Top Chef,” but that was not my intention.

Oh, come now. You were pretty prepared. And it made for some memorable moments.
I honestly haven’t even seen them! I swear!

You told the Guardian: “You don't need an encyclopedic knowledge of food to make a convincing judge, so much as the ability to describe just how awful something tastes in a wide variety of different ways.”
True. But I will say that the producers went to great lengths to try and find some talented people. I will say the quality of the food wasn’t as good on Episode 7 [his first] as it was on Episode 12. But you’d expect it to get better as the series goes along. Generally, I was very impressed with just how good all the chefs on the show were.

How did you get involved with “Top Chef”?
I got the Bat signal and I was on the next plane virtually. They show it here in the U.K., so I had seen it and I was a fan.

You’ve actually appeared on a lot of food TV in the U.K. How do the U.S. shows stack up?
It’s very different doing a food show in America and doing one in Britain. I did a 20-part series for the BBC series called “Eating With the Enemy.” The budget for all 20 episodes was probably the budget for a single episode of “Top Chef.” It’s the difference between making a home movie in your backyard and going to Hollywood. “Top Chef” is a very smooth-running machine. All the people working there are incredibly professional and absolutely at the top of their game.

Which insect tasted the best?
The earthworms were surprisingly tasty. He had infused them with this tomato flavor. They were nice! I can easily imagine them catching on as an aperitif. People will be serving them at cocktail parties before you know it.

Did you get along with the other judges?
You know Padma kept hassling me for dates. It was like, “I’m married. Get off my case!” We hung out a bit at the wrap party after the 12th episode at a bar in Brooklyn, but apart from that I didn’t really see any of the other judges socially during production.

Who’s more discerning, Tom or Padma?
I think Padma actually describes herself as the show’s host. She’s very self-deprecating about that. She described herself to me as the Vanna White of “Top Chef.” But she weighs in, and she knows an impressive amount about food. She actually knows a good deal more about food than I do. And I was impressed by how authoritative Tom was. He’s like a walking encyclopedia. He really delivers his verdict like he’s on the Supreme Court. He’s Thurgood Marshall. There’s no dissenting.

Padma and former judge Ted Allen have talked about how long judging sessions can get. What was your longest?
There were several that we deliberated long and hard about. By the time I got there, there wasn’t any one contestant who was obviously weak. They were all pretty strong. So it was really hard to send anyone home. It’s not something anyone takes lightly.

Favorite guest judge?
Eric Ripert was very impressive. . . .

Everyone says him!
Well, it was great to meet him because he’s such a legend. He was really funny. I also met some other great chefs, too, but the episode we shot with him was particularly fun. You’ll see what I mean when it airs.

Do you miss being a critic?
I miss being fawned over by restaurateurs and chefs. When I was writing my column, I would almost always be recognized when I was in a restaurant, even if I was reviewing it and had booked under a fake name, so free stuff would start coming out of the kitchen on a conveyer belt, fantastic wines would be opened at my table. Now I can’t even get a reservation on the pizza joint on the corner.

But now you’re on TV. Things should start to perk up, right?
Maybe? You know, all writers are lazy. Just the idea of being paid to talk as opposed to write is very appealing for a writer. TV is a lot of fun. It’s fun interacting with the other judges and the contestants. After a while, you just relax into it and it’s a hoot.

Link to the article: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2009/01/top-chef-previe.html

marigold:
An interesting article:

'Top Chef' Mixes It Up With New Judge

When I first heard that "Top Chef" judge Gail Simmons was leaving the cooking competition mid-season in order to plan and partake in her wedding, I got nervous. By no means am I her biggest fan. In fact, I think she adds very little spice to the judges' table, where she holds court alongside head judge Tom Colicchio and hostess with the mostess Padma Lakshmi. I just had this terrible feeling in the pit of my stomach that she'd be replaced with someone even less appealing, or worse… British.

Don't get me wrong. I love Brits. Kate Winslet, David Beckham, Ricky Gervais, even Madonna when she assumes her faux accent. However, when it comes to British reality show judges, enough is enough. "American Idol's" Simon Cowell is undoubtedly the leader of the pack. Far behind in second place, you'll find Sharon Osbourne ("Rock of Love: Charm School"), and bringing up the rear is Sharon's former "America's Got Talent" cohort Piers Morgan. Each one of them is sarcastic, surly, and anything but sweet.

So, do we really need another one mucking up a credible program like "Top Chef" with their stale smackdowns? No! And especially not another Brit with a reputation as infamous as Gail's replacement, Toby Young, the failed Vanity Fair contributor turned food critic.

I, too, was suspicious. Then, I interviewed Young following his Bravo debut, and my opinion changed. Dramatically. Not only did I find his remarks thoughtful and on point, I also found myself quickly forgetting about Gail.

Perhaps you'll do the same. Or, perhaps you should learn to live with it because Toby Young is here to stay… at least for the remainder of the Season 5.

So, without further ado, meet "Top Chef's" tasty new treat:

Matt: How did you become interested in food?

Toby: I was asked if I wanted to write a restaurant column for Evening Standard Magazine in 2002, and I did that for five years. Over here, I didn't have any formal qualifications for the job -- I don't know what qualifications you need to have to be a food critic in America -- but in Britain it generally is a job just given to a journalist who's been working away for a few years.

So, would you not have considered food a passion of yours going into the job, or did it just land on your plate, no pun intended?

When I first took the job, I only received one note from my editor which was to never write more than a paragraph about the food on the grounds that… it's boring. And quite often, I would write more than a paragraph about what I'd eaten and it would always be cut by my editor, and she would say, "Tell me more about who else was in the restaurant and how hard is it to get a table and what was the décor like?"

Would you consider the writing and the critiquing more of the passion as opposed to the food, or did you grow into appreciating the food?

Well, I think I was fairly keen on food before I started writing the column, but I guess I developed a deeper love in the course of educating my palate.

You're married and have four kids. Who does the cooking in your home?

I used to cook before I got married, but my wife's a very good cook, so regretfully, I've given up.

And, you don't have to critique any of her dishes?

No, but I can tell you that Nigella Lawson, who is a chef, came to dinner at our house and my wife was so anxious -- not least [of all] because we had almost every other celebrity chef's cookbook on our bookshelf apart from Nigella's -- that I ran fast to the local book shop to buy one of Nigella's books so it could be prominently displayed in our kitchen.

How did you become involved with "Top Chef" and Bravo?

Well, I think I received a call out of the blue by one of the executive producers last year to ask if I’d be interested in appearing on the show, and I think the reason she thought of me is because I've been a judge on a few reality shows. I think any food critic, if they were asked if they wanted to appear as a judge on "Top Chef," would say yes. So the question isn't why I said yes. It is why did they ask me?

So you had no relationship with head judge Tom Colicchio or host Padma Lakshmi before the show began?

That is absolutely correct. I did once try to interview Padma for a British society magazine called Tattler, but she point-blank refused to be interviewed by me. But when we wrapped one of the episodes, Padma and I went out for a drink and she explained to me that it was because she was married to Salman [Rushdie] at the time, and he had forbidden her to be interviewed by me.

Do you think that your accent helped you land a spot at the judges' table?

America obviously has a penchant for British judges. I imagine so. None of the producers ever said to me, "We've been looking for a Brit." I've gotten a lot of [flack] from various American food critics since my debut last week including [from] Adam Platt -- the food critic of New York magazine -- and I dare say that they're all very cross that they weren't asked to appear as judges on "Top Chef." But, I think the reason why they asked a Brit is because we're much more outspoken and rude than our American counterparts. I imagine someone like Adam Platt would be very fair-minded, very judicious, and would spend several minutes advertising just how much he knew about each dish that was placed before him. And, as my old editor knows, that's very boring for people who just have a general interest in a subject.

After your debut last week, Tom wrote in his Bravo.com blog that you might have thought when you initially joined the show that you were there to be witty and sarcastic and take shots at everybody, but that things changed as you started filming more episodes and that you actually became involved with the program and that you were enjoying it and the food -- not just tossing out one-liners. Is that true?

Yeah, I think that is probably true. Tom is so serious about the show, and I think because he's the head judge, some of his seriousness may have rubbed off on me in the course of filming the episodes.

Since you joined "Top Chef" in the middle of the season, were you able to review the previous episodes to learn more about the chefs before you just jumped into the middle of things?

When I joined, they hadn't finished editing even the first episode of the current season, so it wasn't like I was able to sit down and watch the episodes that had been made already.

So, they weren't like, "FYI, Jamie cooks scallops every week"?

No, I went in completely unbriefed. Tom explained to me at the very beginning that you have to judge each dish entirely on its merit and you can't take the history of their contributions to the show up until that point into account in judging that dish or in deciding whether or not to throw them off the show. It has to be entirely [based] on their performance within the challenge.

Then does the Quickfire Challenge actually play a factor, or does it really just come down to the Elimination Challenge?

When it comes to eliminating the remaining contestants, the Quickfire is irrelevant. I've never tasted any of the Quickfire dishes.

How long are your actual deliberations?

Certainly a good deal longer than they appear on screen. There have been days when we've been in the studio 'til 4am. Sometimes there's a real disagreement about who to keep and who to eliminate.

Is it really up to you, Tom, and Padma, or do the producers have any influence?

It is entirely up to me, Tom, Padma, and the guest judge. The producers are incredibly circumspect.

Is it difficult for you to tell an aspiring master chef to pack his or her knives and go?

Or is that just part of the game? Fortunately, that's Padma's job. As the show progresses, you begin to have a bit of sympathy for the contestants, and it becomes harder to eliminate them each time, but one of the things the producers do discourage is for the judges to form any kind of personal relationships with the contestants.

So, is there zero contact with the contestants outside of the kitchen?

Zero.

How are ties broken? Does it come down to Tom because he's the head judge?

No. I can recall a couple of occasions in which there was a deadlock, and there isn't a formal procedure whereby in the event of deadlock Tom has the casting vote. If you're deadlocked at 4am and you have to take your kid to school at 8am the following day, you know, you just want to go home. You can appeal to different things like how closely the contestants have stuck to the brief. There are no hard and fast rules about how the judging should proceed. Obviously, you're judging them entirely on the dish they've produced, but even that doesn't mean that you necessarily get a clear answer. You're taking into account their technical expertise, their willingness to take risks, and not just how successfully-executed the dish in question is.

The message boards have lit up! Obviously, you're a polarizing figure. Why do you think that is?

I'm used to provoking a strong reaction, and this is nothing new. Generally speaking, I've always thought that if people initially take an immediate dislike to you, but are then gradually and grudgingly won 'round, they end up with a much deeper attachment than if they like you from the get-go. Now, whether people will be won 'round in the course of this show remains to be seen, but I hope they will.

I have a feeling that your name is going to appear at the top of a reality TV villains list come the end of the year.

That would be the fulfillment of my life's dream.

I'm noting some sarcasm there. You don't mind playing the villain?

I think it may have been Harry Truman who said, "Britain has lost an empire and has not yet found a role." But, in fact, we have found a role -- and it is to play villains on reality shows.

Obviously, some people are automatically against you because they miss Gail, but at the same time, there are a ton of people who are actually defending you and saying, "Hey, he's a critic, he's more qualified than an actual chef or a model/actress/cookbook author to critique these plates." Do you feel that you might be more qualified than any of the other judges?

[Sighs] I wouldn't say I'm more or less qualified. I think the only qualification you need to critique food is an educated palate and the ability to express yourself fairly concisely.

Are your remarks rehearsed, or are you just being who you are?

I lived in America for five years and at dinner parties, whenever I came out with a bon mot, I would always be accused of having written it beforehand, rehearsed it, and then recited it at the dinner party, which was never true. Similarly, it's not true that on "Top Chef" I rehearsed any of my lines beforehand. I think the reason people think that I do is only because I tend to speak in grammatically-correct sentences and that's partly just a hallmark of having had a decent British education. I think it's something so unusual in America -- particularly in informal context like making a remark at judges table or coming out with a witticism at a dinner party -- that people naturally assume you must have written down and memorized the line in question because it's just inconceivable you could have come up with something grammatically-correct and which sounds quite polished on the spot. But, actually, British people can do that. [Laughs]

On the last episode, you compared (eliminated contestant) Melissa's dish to cat food. Have you ever tasted cat food?

Uh, no I haven't. 

You also noticed a chink in her armor when you said she lacked self-confidence. Is that something all top chefs should aspire to have?

I think so, yes. I think part of becoming a really successful professional chef is acquiring a kernel of self-confidence, and that's something that doesn't come easily.

Have you made any of the chefs cry?

Not that I'm aware of. So far, I've only seen two of the episodes I am in.

Do you think that any of this season's contestants have the potential to become a top chef?

They need to be bold enough to take risks and not just strive for formal perfection.

Are there any other traits you think top chefs should aspire to have?

I think they need to have some personality, too.

Link to the article: http://tv.yahoo.com/blog/top-chef-mixes-it-up-with-new-judge--79

TexasLady:
I just love this last article Marigold, thanks for finding it.  :tup: I was prepared not to like Toby Young, but I do. He brings a different perspective to the judging, I don't miss Gale.

marigold:

I agree TL I really like Toby Young for being brutally honest I now have a sense of what the dishes are actually like

I don’t believe the judges should be trying to spare the chefs feelings that’s being dishonest

If it smells foul tastes like cat food they need to know don’t ever prepare that again they really need to know because apparently they don’t have a clue

As for Gail I really like her and thinks she is a real gem she has a lot of expertise as apposed to the beauty of Padma who I think makes a great host but not a judge

She has the worst time trying to even describle in a few words what she thinks I don't know if it's poor grammar but I have found myself saying huh what did she just say it didn't make any sense

Anyways I have babbled on forever love Toby Young

marigold:

Toby Young's Blog:

A Cardinal Sin

As Tom says, it's all about the ingredients. Five years ago, I was the winning contestant in a British food reality show and the reason I won isn't because I'm a particularly accomplished chef - I'm not - but because I knew where to get the best ingredients. In a sense, it wasn't a level playing field. As the only food critic among the cheftestants I had an unfair advantage: I know just how important the ingredients are. The centrepiece of my winning dish was a beef fillet that I bought from Ludgates, probably the best butcher in London. It cost $120, which is a lot given that it only had to feed five people, but it was worth every cent. It had come from a cow that had been reared on Prince Charles' farm in Scotland. Our future king is famous for once having confessed that he liked talking to plants, and I joked at the time that the reason my cow tasted so good was because the grass it had eaten had been spoken to by Prince Charles himself.

In last night's episode of Top Chef, the contestants were lucky enough to work with some of the best ingredients in America - and, to be frank, the results should have been more spectacular. The best chefs, by a country mile, were Stefan, Jamie, and Carla, but they had a slight advantage in that they only had to cook chicken. Of course, chicken can be cooked a hundred different ways, but the way you cook it isn't dictated by the quality of the animal - at least, not primarily. I like my chicken on the bone with the skin on, but it's always going to taste better that way, irrespective of how it's reared.

Not so lamb and pork. Both teams decided to cut the fat off their protein and de-bone it, which would have been the right decision if the beasts in question had been of a lower quality. The point of preparing lamb in this way, for instance, and then tenderising it, marinating it and rolling it, is to try and pep it up a bit, not trusting in its natural flavour. But for these particular animals - lovingly reared in some of the nicest farmland in the country - it was a cardinal sin. It was the equivalent of taking a fillet of beef from Ludgates and then grinding it up and making a chili out of it.

In retrospect, I feel bad about saying Ariane can't cook, but I was angry about the sacrilegious treatment of the Stone Barns livestock. All of the chefs in Team Lamb and Team Pork screwed up, but she was the most culpable. By butchering, tenderising, and marinating

that lamb she turned what had been a very special ingredient into just another piece of meat.

In Ariane's defence, Padma pointed out that she can cook - she proved that earlier in the season. However, Tom made it clear to me from the get-go that when it comes to eliminations the judges have to base their decision entirely on the food that's been cooked in that round. We have to disregard everything they've done before, including the Quickfires in that episode. On that basis, I think we made the right call.

Link to the blog: http://www.bravotv.com/Top_Chef/season/5/blogs/index.php?blog=toby_young&article=2009/01/a_cardinal_sin#breadcrumbs

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