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Top Chef New York Season 5

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marigold:
An interview with Ariane:

Top Chef’s Ariane: ‘I Was Somebody to Reckon With’

Top Chef’s resident mom Ariane Duarte had her highs and lows—starting her Top Chef journey at the bottom, then going on to win several challenges along the way. When the 41-year-old chef was sent home Wednesday after the judges criticized her butchering skills, many – including her competitors—didn’t see the elimination coming. Calling from Verona, N.J., Duarte opened up about her newfound fame, what she proved to herself and her competitors and tackled our five burning questions.

You had both highs and lows on the show. Do you think the other chefs saw you as a fierce competitor?
Being on the bottom, nobody thought you could cook. Being able to come back and start [winning challenges] slowly with having the best turkey and winning the Today show [challenge], I think people realized I was somebody to reckon with. I think a lot of people were surprised that I left.

Were you? Did you know you were going home before the judges made their decision?
I really thought Radhika was going to go. I really don’t know what she did, but when you get that chance to speak up, she just didn’t. . . . [But when they] kept talking about the lamb, I was like, it was going to be me. At that point I knew it. Definitely I wasn’t ready to go, but I was okay with it. I came so far, and I did so well. I was proud.

Do you think your teammates should have stepped in more? Did one of them deserve to go home over you?
It wasn’t even a matter of stepping in. It was like they made the decisions and I had to follow them. I know how to break down lamb. I cook a lot of lamb and I eat whole lamb every Easter. Anything I said— like, “Let’s grill it! Let’s roast it!”—everything was “No, no, no!”

You talked about your family on the show. How are they reacting to your performance—and your newfound celebrity?
I have teenagers—a 13-year-old and an 11-year-old. Mom being away was hard, but they were so excited. They’re very popular in school [now]. I don’t know if they’re getting any special treatment—but they’re getting a lot of questions. It’s fun for them. They’re enjoying it.

Talk about how you’ve grown professionally. Are you more confident now?
For me to hold my head up [and] not start crying [after my elimination], that was when I knew it was good. Look at how far I’ve come. [Since Top Chef] I’ve used some ingredients I’ve never used before. After being in the business for 20 years and raising a family, it’s hard to travel or just get into that creative mode all the time for me. You just get stagnant. Being there really refreshed me—made me want to cook a lot more.

Our Top Chef 5 Burning Questions:

Describe your Top Chef experience in one word.
Intense

What is in your refrigerator right now?
A lot of berries. A lot of milk. Some Chinese fried rice.

Name one food you cannot stand.
I don’t know if I have one.

Pick your favorite fast-food restaurant.
White Castle.

Gail or Toby?
Gail - one hundred percent! That Toby had it out for me.

Link to the article: http://tvwatch.people.com/2009/01/16/top-chefs-ariane-i-was-somebody-to-reckon-with/

marigold:
Colicchio has a blog up:

A Whetstone from Good Meat

"A clever cook, can make....good meat of a whetstone."

-Desiderius Erasmus, Dutch priest and scholar (1466?-1536)

And if they try to be too clever, they can make a whetstone from good meat.

This was an interesting episode, insofar as the Quickfire Challenge required cooking with the worst of ingredients while, in contrast, the Elimination Challenge provided the opportunity to work with the very best available anywhere. As Jamie said in dismay upon learning of the Quickfire Challenge, without great ingredients it's hard for chefs to do good work. This could not be more true.

It was my time in France over 20 years ago, working in the kitchen of Michel Bras, that taught me this lesson; what I began at Mondrian and continued at Gramercy Tavern really culminated in my conceiving of and opening Craft, which was created to focus on the ingredients and create meals that honor them. And, in doing so, it also honored the farmer. I work closely with farmers of small, local farms, and I make it a point to visit the farmer's market as often as possible, always striving to get the food from the ground to the table as quickly as possible. Being at the forefront of the Farm-to-Table movement, I have been so glad to see chefs like Dan Barber pick up the mantle, so I was excited that this week's Elimination Challenge would bring the cheftestants to his exceptional farm to cook. He and the farmers of Stone Farms, as well as we Top Chef judges, were really looking forward to seeing what the chefs would do with all of the amazing produce and lovingly raised animals. We were all let down.

The ethos at Craft is to take the finest ingredients available and prepare them as simply as possible, so that the flavors and textures of the ingredients themselves will shine. "Cooking simple" is like walking a tightrope without a net -- simplicity isn't as simple as it seems, because there's nothing to cover up mistakes; there are no heavy sauces to hide behind. It requires forethought about how best to help the ingredients sing. It requires skill and precision, and, of course, an abiding reverence for the elements themselves.

When animals are raised as they are at Stone Hill and are fed the right ingredients, you don't need to do a whole lot to them. You don't want to remove the flavor -- and moisture-rich fat from the pork -- that made no sense to anyone. And even worse, you don't want to take a beautiful leg of lamb, which was as tender as such meat could be, and do what Ariane did to that lamb. It was completely hacked up and then rolled. A chef would usually roll lesser ingredients, but here there were these muscles you'd want to keep intact. Ariane's treatment of the lamb showed no respect whatsoever for the animal that died to feed everyone. It was more than disappointing, it was upsetting, most of all to the farmers who had worked so hard to raise the produce and animals. It felt to them like their work just wasn't honored. The irony of Ariane's losing the Elimination Challenge with the very protein that had won her prior challenges is not lost on us. But the work of each chef is judged anew in each successive challenge, and while I certainly overstated in the first sentence of this blog, Ariane's performance this week made her the clear choice for elimination from the competition. I'm not thrilled that Leah and Hosea kicked back and did nothing while that meat was both literally and figuratively butchered right in front of them, but at the end of the day, she is the one who did the actual damage.

I will make one more point that did not come across in the episode, about Jeff's choice to make fried green tomatoes. I appreciate when a chef uses something that would otherwise go to waste and manages to create a fine dish. But this episode was shot at the height of tomato season. There is a narrow window of time in which to get a remarkable tomato. This was that time, and the vine-ripened tomatoes at Jeff's fingertips were among the finest to be found anywhere. Dishes with green tomatoes are usually made at the very start of tomato season before they've ripened or at the tail of the season with those that never did. So while I commend the impulse to create with ingredients that might otherwise be overlooked, I question the judgment of doing so under these circumstances.

Link to the blog: http://www.bravotv.com/Top_Chef/season/5/blogs/index.php?blog=tom_colicchio&article=2009/01/gone_fishin_6#breadcrumbs

marigold:
An interview with Ariane:

Top Chef Exit Interview: Ariane Gets Chopped, Maybe She'll Write A Cookbook

Wednesday’s Top Chef elimination was the ultimate shocker when Ariane and her knives were sent packing. The same chef who rose above a rocky start to win challenge after challenge was sent home for a butchering blunder proving you’re only as good as your last dish. Which, sadly for Ariane, wasn’t good enough. In a press phone call this morning, Ariane opened up about what went wrong in the kitchen, and clears the air on cooking lovebirds Hosea and Leah, and the Euro we all love to hate, Stefan.

You seemed pretty passionate that you shouldn’t have gone home. Do you still feel that way?
Of course! You know, I worked hard, I rose to the challenge, and I relied on my teammates. I was a team player and I just felt that maybe Leah should have went.

Leah? Not Hosea?
You know why I’m saying that now probably? Because I saw the show. I just felt like I went in there telling them what I knew and I think when it came to lamb I wanted to do it a certain way which would have been fine, just grilling it or roasting it. And I just kept getting “NOs” from them, instead wanting to braise it and take it off the bone, which I do know. It was the tying that I’m not good at and you only have so much time and when Leah said, ‘I can help you, I can help you,’ you believe it. You believe your teammate. So when she didn’t do a great job – I think the time just catches up with you in the moment and the pressure between the two of them, and me, the third wheel; it’s difficult.

Do you think that she didn’t help on purpose?
Watching the show you definitely get that intention, absolutely. I think when it was happening didn’t think so. I don’t know why, I would think we would want to win as team, why wouldn’t she want to help me? And maybe she thought she was doing a good job; I don’t know.

Everyone seemed really shocked when you were kicked off. Do you think they all thought Leah was going too?
I don’t think at that point anyone knew who was going to go. It was definitely up in the air. I think Hosea and Leah both thought that they didn’t do enough. I felt pretty confident; I worked hard and I always had that in my head. I did it, it tasted good, and everyone who tasted it really liked the lamb! So I just didn’t think I was going to be the one! So I think everybody was a little shocked. And plus I had such a good run and was on such a high; I had all those wins. I probably had some of the most wins.

How distracting was it working with such a tight couple? Was that a big factor in how it all turned out?
Absolutely. That was tough. When there are three people and two people already have a relationship, being that third wheel is not easy. Unless you’ve all been friends for 20 years. But it was hard because one would say yes, the other would say yes, and I would say something and it was always no. So it definitely played into it.

Do you still think that Hosea is a wimp?
No! I think I apologized to him already too or I need to!
At the judges table, Toby Young made a comment that you can’t cook and Padma kind of jumped to your defense – how did that make you feel?
Toby - I was a little surprised at that. He’s a little angry Englishman, I don’t know. But Padma - it was great; it was such a wonderful feeling hearing what Padma had said, which was great. What Toby said is forgotten in my mind already. Hearing Padma was really, really great.

Do you think the decision would have been different if Gail was still on the panel?
You know, I don’t know. And you know what, I hadn’t even thought of it. I don’t know, because she’s tough too! She’s just not as verbal as Toby. It could have gone either way but I don’t know and I can’t even think about it.

What did you think of the judging process? Do you think it was fair they based their decision on that one challenge instead of your work as a whole?
Yeah, I’m kind of disappointed that I pretty much got blamed for the lamb when every single one of us touched that lamb. But, you know, they’ve got to eliminate someone and they chose me, which looking back, maybe, I was doing the lamb the most. But it definitely was a team challenge and I think I took the biggest risk of doing that and I was definitely disappointed they called me out on it.

Now that you’ve watched it was it hard to experience all again?
It was a tough watch absolutely. I think first two episodes I couldn’t sleep knowing those were coming. This, I knew it was coming, and it was definitely hard to watch. It was more sad than difficult. I wasn’t ready to leave; I wish I was still in it. But I had the love and the support of my family and friends surrounding me and they know who I am.

Was it very difficult watching it with friends and family, not being able to say what’s about to happen?
When it happened I definitely surrounded myself with a lot of family and friends. I knew I had to watch it and I would just say “watch what happens!” But knowing that the episodes were going be great put me at ease. I knew I just had to get through those first two.

You mentioned the first two episodes were really tough to watch. But then you went from the bottom to the top and looking back, what happened in the end?
I definitely know what happened. I panicked. You get caught up and it’s almost like your mind plays tricks on you. It’s like an out of body experience, the time flies, and for me, all your ideas are gone and I don’t know where they went! But I know what I would do now and what I wouldn’t do. When I volunteered to do the desert, I said ‘who is that?!’ I don’t do deserts! I was having an out of body experience – who is that girl holding up her hand? That wasn’t me! So yeah, I would definitely do things in those first two episodes a little bit different.

Are you happy with Bravo’s portrayal of you?
Absolutely. That’s me. And the people who know me know that that was me. I really stayed true to myself and what you saw is who I am, so yes.

Have your perceptions of anyone changed, positively or negatively, after watching the show?
No, you know, I’m so not like that. I’ve really met some wonderful people and for me we’ll always be friends I’ll always know that if I need one of them, I can call them and it’s a competition, what happened in the past for me is over. Like I said, Hosea’s not a wimp. So I have no ill feelings for anyone.

We never saw you feeling as annoyed by Stefan as others. Did you find him abrasive or did you find him kind of amusing?
You know, he’s definitely amusing. And Stefan always had my back. He always stood by me and gave me words of confidence and for that, I never found him annoying. Was he annoying? Yeah. But stuff like that, I can roll off back, and I just knew he always had good words for me and positive words for me, and in the beginning, even when we were competing against each other, he’d still say “you’ll be fine, you’ll be fine.” And hearing that when you’re on the bottom is nice. I enjoy Stefan; he’s a good person.

So who are you rooting for to win?
I’m rooting for Jamie and I’m rooting for Carla. Those are my girls!

What’s next for you?
My husband and I own a restaurant (CulinAriane) and are extremely busy; we’re looking to expand, and get a little bit bigger, so that’s our project right now. And you know, maybe I’ll write a cookbook; I’m toying around with the idea. But I have two girls, one is 13 and one is 11 and they keep us pretty busy too. We have our hands full right now. But you can find me, I’m in Jersey, I’m in Montclair; we’ll be here for a while.

Link to the article: http://thebiz.fancast.com/2009/01/top_chef_exit_interview_ariane.html

marigold:
From tvguide:

Did Top Chef's Ariane Deserve to Go?

She started out at the bottom, but Top Chef's Ariane Duarte quickly rose to the top, impressing the judges week after week. Unfortunately for this cheftestant, string became the enemy and ultimately the reason for her elimination. The New Jersey restaurant owner explains how the cliquiness in her team was a huge roadblock and shares who she thought should have gone home after the farm challenge.

TVGuide.com: Why did you end up working on the lamb dish if you weren't familiar with tying roasts?
Ariane Duarte: I've cooked lots of lamb, but I don't tie. I've done a whole leg of lamb, whole baby lamb — my grandmother's from Italy so that's what we eat every Easter! Hosea and Leah were supposed to help me. When we decided, I said, "Alright guys, that's what I'll do, but this is what I need from you." It was something they knew and we discussed. And there never was an issue. I think we all thought everything was great, tasted great and looked great. But you get to the table and different stories come out.

TVGuide.com: Who do you think should have went home?
Duarte: The first thing I thought was Radhika should have left because when we were [at Judges' Table], having to stick up and fight for ourselves, she had nothing to say. Basically, she didn't do that much, and that's why she had nothing to say. And I think I said Leah [should go] because I was mad. I thought there would have been a little more team player talk [with the judges], but it got to the point where [Leah] just didn't care. It was like, "Yeah I tied it, but didn't do a really good job." Alright, so then you wonder — did you purposely do that? You say you can do it, then you don't.

TVGuide.com: Hosea and Leah seemed pretty cliquey. Did that affect your performance?
Duarte: Definitely. She'd say something, he'd agree. He'd say something, she'd agree. It definitely played against me. I feel when you're in a team, you've got to listen to your teammates. You've got to have faith in them, trust in them. But when two of your teammates just keep saying 'no,' 'that won't work,' 'we don't want to do that,' you get to the point where you can only say and do so much. They already had a connection that I wasn't apart of.

TVGuide.com: What was your most memorable moment of your experience?
Duarte: Getting through the Today show challenge and winning. That's something I've fought with all my career. I don't like to get in front of people and do demos. I get nervous and flustered. So to do that two-and-a-half minute presentation, I was just so proud of myself. It was like a stepping stone for me. One of the main reasons I did the show was to get over the fear of speaking in front of people and presenting cooking in front of people. For me it was definitely growth experience.

TVGuide.com: What's next for you?
Duarte: My husband [who's also a chef] and I own a restaurant in Montclair, NJ called CulinAriane — and we've quickly outgrown it! Since the show, we're full from the minute we open to the minute we close. It's been awesome. We're looking to expand, and I'm toying with the idea of doing a cookbook. I'd love to do some consulting too. But right now, we're dedicated to the restaurant, and I have two girls, 13 and 11, so that takes up a lot of time. [Laughs]

Link to the article: http://www.tvguide.com/News/Chefs-Ariane-Interview-1001728.aspx

marigold:
An interview with Ariane:

Top Chef Exit Interview: Episode Eight

This week on Top Chef, the dwindling cheftestants took a field trip to Blue Hill at Stone Barns to worship at the sustainable altar of Dan Barber. Working in teams of three, the chefs prepared meals around proteins of chicken, lamb, or pork. Team Chicken kept it simple, stupid, and won with a chicken cutlet. The pork team foolishly stripped the meat of its delicious fat, but their fried green tomatoes allowed for a slight edge over Team Lamb's poorly tied roast. Montclair chef Ariane Duarte, who in a previous episode proved adept at lamb, packed her knives and went through the tunnel. She spoke to us today.

What did you think of the challenge? Were you on Top Chef or Top Butcher? Trying to collaborate as a team when you have two people who have already established a relationship and kind of being that third wheel, it was kind of difficult.

It seems like you didn’t get to do any of the cooking.
I cooked the lamb. I made the sauce. [Hosea] did potatoes and something else, and [Leah] did the salad. There wasn’t really that much to do. Maybe we just didn’t do enough.

Did you expect to be eliminated?
I took a chance. I did something that maybe I wasn’t so familiar with. I never gave up, I never stopped communicating with my teammates. When it came to judges’ table, it all just fell on me and everyone just stood there. I definitely thought it was going to be Radhika. And then when her team won for the green tomatoes, I knew we were in trouble. You learn how the judges speak — all they talked about was the lamb, and that was me.

But you certainly had a good run on the show. Many people thought you’d be eliminated in the first two weeks. Were you proud of your time there?
One of the reasons I tried out for the show was to grow as a person in front of a camera and to prove to myself that I could cook under pressure and take on all these challenges. When you’ve been in the restaurant business for as long as I have, you get a little stagnant. I definitely grew as a person. I’m definitely proud of myself. I had some really great wins.

This week’s winning dish was a chicken cutlet, reinforcing the notion that Top Chef rewards simplicity. Is your cooking straightforward?
Absolutely. Sometimes, less is more. If you get crazy, you can really make a mess of it.

Who was your favorite judge?
I felt Tom had it out for me. I love Padma. When I left, she really stood up for me.

Are you looking to open a restaurant here in New York?
I’ve been approached by several people, but I think I’m staying in Jersey right now. This is home. We love where we’re at and we have some wonderful customers. Montclair has been great to us.

What advice do you have for future contestants?
Sometimes, to be simple isn’t bad.

Link to the article: http://nymag.com/daily/food/2009/01/top_chef_exit_interview_episod_3.html

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