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Top Chef New York Season 5

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TexasLady:

--- Quote from: apskip on February 07, 2009, 11:46:22 PM ---Top Chef 5 episode 11
 
...It was obvious that Hosea was going to stay and the battle was between Leah and Jaime. I was expecting Leah to be eliminated, but the decision was against Jaime. I suspect that the producers got into the act on this one because the "love story" between Leah and Hosea is good for show ratings. I don't think so. I find it obnoxious that they would behave like they did in the episode 10.
 

--- End quote ---

Thank you Apskip for another wonderful recap!  :tup:

I hate the whole "relationship" diversion and it is a diversion for me, but I also think it says a lot about professionalism as well.

About the elimination, I thought it would be Leah out not Jamie.

Concerning Stefan's sauce, the judges thought it was too thick, but Ripert said they use a blender to make it, so my question is for the foodies here, wouldn't it add difficulty to hand whip the sauce and have it end up to be quite close to the original? I would have thought hand blending it would be a plus.

marigold:

Top Chef, Jamie Lauren's favorite places to shop in SF


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrfvqnN4Djw

marigold:
An interesting article:

Eric Ripert’s Pick to Win Top Chef — Stefan!

After judging the cheftestants at his restaurant Le Bernardin on last week’s episode of Top Chef, Eric Ripert has a good sense of who he thinks might come out on top this season. Calling from his restaurant in New York in between work on his upcoming PBS show Avec Eric (which premieres in September), the good-natured master chef told us why Jamie deserved to go home, weighed in the American vs. European chef rivalries and picked his Top Chef winner.

Tell us about your new show.
It’s [about] traveling for inspiration — visiting people who are doing interesting things. Sometimes it’s farmers. Sometimes it’s restaurants. We shot in Italy and California. We’re shooting in New York. Then, the last segment of the show will be cooking.

Speaking of shows, you judged last week’s Top Chef. Which contestants do you think have what it takes to win?
I thought Stefan was by far the strongest. He’s the one who really makes a difference, and he won the challenge easily. He has the technique; he has the sensitivity; he has a good palate and a good knowledge and good professional experience. To me, it makes a very big difference.

Is he your pick to win?
I wouldn’t be surprised all. To me it would be logical if he wins. I don’t
think any of the others [are at] the same level.

What were your impressions of Jamie, who lost last week?
I’m not surprised [she lost]. She was not at ease at all with even basics like filleting fish. It took her a very, very long time to fillet her black bass. I don’t know her from the previous episodes. But I thought she was weak.

At first, there was a rivalry between the European and American contestants on the show. What are your thoughts on that?
Look, at the end of the day, good food is good food — it doesn’t matter if you’re French or German or American. Knowledge is knowledge. If you don’t have it, the citizenship doesn’t give you it.

Link: http://tvwatch.people.com/2009/02/11/eric-riperts-pick-to-win-top-chef-stefan/

marigold:
Q&A with Eric Ripert:

Bravotv.com: First the Quickfire, what is the most difficult fish to filet correctly?
They all have their own challenge. Since the sardines are so tiny and fragile, it’s definitely not an easy task to fillet them. It is a very fatty fish and the more you keep them out of refrigeration the more they become inconsistent, almost like a piece of soft butter. The arctic char is very similar to salmon and they both have a very delicate flesh, and an ultra-thin spine, and fish bones that are not easy to locate and follow. The eel is certainly the most challenging. Even after they are dead they move a lot, they are very bloody, and their skin is very difficult to remove. It’s also a fish that you don’t see very often and therefore few people have experience filleting it.

Bravotv.com: How do you think the chefs did filleting their fish?
Stefan definitely did very well on that challenge. The arctic char was his weakness but it was very acceptable. Carla really sabotaged the sardines. Hosea in particular did an excellent job on the arctic char. The group overall reflects what I see all the time with young chefs and line cooks — they are uncomfortable and lack confidence in filleting fish. It’s one of the basics of learning how to cook, therefore I always encourage our team (or anyone) to spend time with the fish butcher to learn better techniques.

Bravotv.com: When Leah gave up on the arctic char, what were you thinking?
Gone baby gone …

Bravotv.com: Onto the Elimination: Which dishes do you think were the hardest to replicate?
At Le Bernardin we focus mostly on flavors and harmony between all the components of the dish keeping in mind that the fish is the star of the plate. Since fish is so delicate we believe in not overcomplicating and overwhelming a dish. Presentation is never the priority at first. All our focus is in the technique and the precision used to build flavors. Looking at one of our dishes, it can be deceiving and appear extra simple, but that is our intention and challenge. However, as soon as you taste it you enjoy a subtle complexity of textures and refined flavors. For example, the black bass, the dish that Jaime had to reproduce, represents our style and philosophy the most and therefore was the most difficult to replicate.

Bravotv.com: What were the keys to being successful to replicating Le Bernardin’s dishes?
The key word is focus: focus on the overall look of the plate, in the taste profile of the dish, identifying the techniques we used to elevate the fish.

Bravotv.com: Which dishes stood out the most to you (for better or for worse)?
As an overall I was very impressed with the capabilities of the contestants to replicate the dish that was assigned to them. In presentation it was at least 90% identical. In terms of flavors, the lobster dish was 99%. And really, I was impressed with Stefan since he had never seen that dish before that day of the challenge. The black bass recipe was inedible. The celery was an embarrassment and the sauce was burned and way oversalted.

Bravotv.com: What put the winner’s dish above the others at the top?
The execution, the closeness to our dish, again it’s all about flavors and it was great. In fact, the lobster dish Stefan had to make was not that simple. The lobster was perfectly cooked and seasoned, so were the asparagus and his sauce was very well-balanced, harmonious in between richness, acidity, even its consistency. The herb flavor in the sauce developed very well.

Bravotv.com: The eliminated chef was seemingly sent home for oversalting celery — was this the worst culinary crime that day?
By far, yes. Unfortunately we just couldn’t eat it.

Bravotv.com: What is your overlying philosophy on creating a great seafood dish?
Our mantra is that the fish is the star of the plate and all our efforts and creative vision support the mantra.

Bravotv.com: Overall, how did this experience compare to your other guest judging experiences?
I have always loved being a guest judge on Top Chef. This time was very different since I was hosting it at Le Bernardin. I felt very responsible for making sure that we provide everything possible for the contestants to shine. I always feel that the most important thing for me as a judge is to be fair, focusing solely on the quality of the food, not personalities.  I was certainly more involved and certainly felt more pressure to be an inspiration in this episode.

I was certainly more involved and certainly felt more pressure to be an inspiration in this episode.

Bravotv.com: Anything you want to catch your fans up with that you’ve been doing lately?
First and foremost we are taking care of Le Bernardin and our other restaurants: 10 Arts in Philadelphia, Westend Bistro in Washington, D.C. and Blue in Grand Cayman Islands. All located in The Ritz Carlton hotels. I am also very involved with a food rescue organization called City Harvest in New York City. Their mission is to save unused food from restaurants, corporations, grocers, farmers, etc. and deliver the fresh food to agencies around the city who are serving those in need of a meal. Actually we just decided to give City Harvest $1 for every client who dines with us this year — and we anticipate a donation of upwards of $100,000 for the year. I’m also finishing shooting my own TV series called Avec Eric which will debut nationally this Fall on PBS. The show has been shot on location in HD in Italy, Northern California and New York.

Last but not least, I’m just about to conclude promotion of my new book called On The Line.

To keep updated on what is going on with me, please check out my Web site: www.aveceric.com

Link: http://www.bravotv.com/top-chef/blogs/breaking-bread-with/eric-ripert-0?page=0%2C0

marigold:

Q&A with Fabio:

Bravotv.com: First the Quickfire: What was the inspiration behind your dessert?
The inspiration behind my dessert was that this guy is one of the highest representatives of molecular gastronomy in USA, and what I've done is a perfect representation of some "eggs" concept in two different ways and one egg breakfast dish. Now i was the only one trying to go molecular in order to honor the master and I was on the bottom because he told me that I used the same tecnique, which by-the-way he was wrong because, yes, it was spherification but one was the classic recipe and in the eggs in the shell was the reverse one, so, yes, the result was similar but i got two completely different approaches, and also i've done the quail eggs like for Rocco. The next time i will poach again a bullsh-t eggs with some sauteed spinach and some Hollandaise sauce and I'll be again in the top 3, but i'm happy. I am a very happy person; it is very hard to put me out of mood.

Bravotv.com: Did you think you’d be penalized for not making breakfast? Or lauded for using molecular gastronomy?
The problem is that for the whole season the judges are keep asking us to amaze them with incredible food. They have been telling us that playing safe is not going to get us anywhere and they prized poached eggs and roasted chicken. Lately who is winning the challanges has been doing panna cotta, seared scallops, mousse, and grits. With all due respect for those people, how amazing is a panna cotta or a plate of grits. They have to decide where they arestanding because this year it seems like that the more safe you play the further you go. I'm happy I do simple food and this is what is good for me but I dont know how amazing the food is till the end of the competition; all the chefs are playing very safe, and I dont think that he will laugh at me. My tecnique is perfect — there is no room for mistakes in molecular.

Bravotv.com: Onto the Elimination: Would you have preferred to cook for anyone but Lidia?
Lidia is a wonderful woman with a great palate. It was a true plesure to cook for her. I coudn't have been happier ... too funny that I didnt have to cook the bull**** eggs for Dufresne at the end in the Elimination Challange.

Bravotv.com: What would your last meal be?
Steak and pasta, and a bottle of wine. If i have to die after dinner, I want to be a little drunk.

Bravotv.com: You really hurt yourself — what happened?
I took a corner and I did fall due to the wet floor and my pinky was dislocated, so it got very swollen and I coud not move my whole hand. The funny part is that I was about to start cooking and I am a professional chef and like I said this is Top Chef not Top Pussy, so I held strong and got the job done!

Bravotv.com: Had you ever hurt yourself that badly in the kitchen before?
I did burn myself really badly three years ago. I accidentally coated my whola hand with caramelized sugar and I had a third-degree burn. I almost lost my hand and after four days I was back to work. I was eating painkiller sfor breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It is what it is; you have to deal with it.

Bravotv.com: Did you have to do anything differently because of your finger just to get the work done?
I got very upset with the f*##*ng potatoes. I could not peel them and they kept falling off my hand, and also butchering the chicken was a mission almost impossible, but I didn't do anything differently. I kept my focus and moved on.

Bravotv.com: How do you think your dish turned out? What would you have done differently?
It was pretty good — a roasted chicken is a roasted chicken. It's been done before and I have to know how get it done but I was very happy with it, and the potatoes were killer. I challange anyone to reply the potatoes of my grandma.

Bravotv.com: What did you think of the other dishes?
I did not have much time to check the other dishes. I was behind with mine so I did not really pay attention to what was going on with the other contestants.

Bravotv.com: What was it like cooking for such culinary legends?
It was a true pleasure to see that such culinary legends are asking for down-to-heart food, no foo-foo, no complex things, no high-end presentation. Top Chef is about somebody that can be consistently good over the years and it is too bad that people are being judged over a single dish. And I don't care about what people think of how simple or safe is the food that I do. In the last 6 months of 2008 my restaurant did over a 38% more in profit respect to the last 6 months of 2007, and this means that with this bad economy, when all the other restaurants are losing money and closing down with their fancy food and fancy chefs, my restaurant is getting stronger than ever … how about that??? I am opening three more restaurants in 2009 while all the fancy restaurants that are doing fancy food are closing down. You have no idea how many "fancy" chefs from Los Angeles restaurants are applying for jobs at my restaurant. That is a good problem to have. Simple delicious food is what i do for a living and in my place I give you a fine experience for a fraction of the price. Now you can say anything you want about my food — it is too simple, boring, not refined — I dont care. You can keep your opinion and good luck with that!!!

Bravotv.com: Were you surprised about who went home? Do you think the right person went home?
I think that Leah was over the show. She is a very talented chef but she has no passion for being in TV or this kind of pressure/ She is a great chef and she belongs to a kitchen. She loves what she does and I will work with her anytime, anyday, but for what concerned the competition she was over. She just let things happen and that's it. I wish her the best. She is really talented and i love her.

Link: http://www.bravotv.com/top-chef/blogs/burning-questions/fabio-keep-it-simple?page=0%2C0

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