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Top Chef New York Season 5
marigold:
An interesting article on Tom Colicchio:
Top Chef's Top Meal
Tom Colicchio's new, intimate restaurant, Tom: Tuesday Dinner, opened quietly last night. His first offering to each of the 28 guests lucky enough to score a reservation was a duck heart wrapped in pancetta and wearing a fig.
The choice could not have been more apt for this earnest, heartfelt dining "experiment."
"I've been wanting to do a tiny place where you have your hand in everything ever since I was a young line cook," Colicchio said when he unveiled the unusual restaurant concept two weeks ago. The restaurant will be open only two Tuesdays a month because Colicchio himself insists on doing all the cooking, and that's all the wildly successful chef has time for.
And so, there he was last night, hard at work, stirring, plating, tasting, saucing. From 7 p.m. until about 10:30 p.m., he barely looked up, but when he did, he looked relaxed--and happy.
Not once did a bead of sweat surface on his signature bald head. Of course, the conditions were pretty ideal for a chef--there were only a smattering of tables, and everyone was eating the exact same nine-course menu. His wife was there for moral support, and he'd selected four of his favorite and longtime kitchen cohorts to assist. He'd picked out the plateware for each course personally, and The Band's Basement Tapes (his favorite) was playing all night long.
There were none of the rigors that contestants routinely face on Bravo's Top Chef, where Colicchio is the--often exacting--top judge.
Colicchio may despise the term "celebrity chef," but the fact is, he can't escape it. The maestro behind the "craft" of farm-to-table cuisine (and the ensuing restaurant empire) now turned TV star, Colicchio is so well-known that he can no longer "work" the dining rooms of his restaurants for fear of detracting from the hard work going on in the kitchen, he says.
But last night, no one was looking at the chef. For starters, the vibe in the dining room (located in the private dining room of his landmark Craft restaurant) felt so intimate (and so far away from New York) that ogling seemed out of place.
Prime Plates
But more important, the food was that good. In the last few years, fans have grown familiar with Colicchio's pared-down dishes where pristine ingredients, rather than elaborate technique, drive the bus. At Tom: Tuesday Dinner, Colicchio is clearly making room for artistry in his cooking again.
Consider his black risotto course with its grilled squid stuffed with a fragrant thatch of herbs and Italian kale sitting in a squid-ink risotto made with cocoa nibs. Or the flight of fancy "cheese course": bubble-light and delicate fried ricotta gnocchi served with Meyer lemon and grapefruit puree.
That was one of Jay Pascuale's favorite dishes. The doctor from Queens is a huge fan of Colicchio's cooking, and he said last night that he'd wasted no time making a reservation as soon as the number was made public.
"I knew I just had to get a table as soon as possible," said Pascuale, who dined alone. "I was surprised to get in on opening night."
Pascuale said he really appreciated the subtlety of Colicchio's cooking and that "the dishes seemed to really come from the heart."
Last night's hyper-seasonal prix-fixe menu was $150, but future menus may go as high as $250 depending on ingredients used.
When it was over, Colicchio, who confessed to some serious jitters beforehand--especially since none of the dishes had been given a dry run--went to the bar and collapsed against the wall.
"My back is killing me, " he said. "I'd forgotten how tiring it can be to stand on your feet for so long."
It didn't help that he'd taken a boxing class that morning. "That was a bad idea."
As for his brainchild?
"It was just what I wanted it to be," he said. "It was really fun."
Pascale Le Draoulec is the former restaurant critic for the New York Daily News.
Link: http://www.forbes.com/forbeslife/wine/2008/10/15/colicchio-top-chef-forbeslife-cx_pl_1015winefood.html?feed=rss_forbeslife_wine
marigold:
:hearts: love this article:
Stalking Season Five 'Top Chef'-testants
They may look like normal people (oh wait, they are normal people) but they're actually the next cast of Top Chef. Blogger Kurt Strahm waited outside the 20 Bayard building in Williamsburg, Brooklyn—the luxe home of this season's cast members—long enough to see the four females and six males leave. According to Eater LA, the bald one in the green tee could be Los Angeles chef-turned-caterer Stefan Richter. Recognize any others from former meals?
Link: http://www.seriouseats.com/2008/08/stalking-new-top-chef-cast-contestants-season-5-five-20-bayard.html
apskip:
Marigold, I am not sure I understand the point of the above photos. We already have a complete cast list , pictures of each one, and video segments of several of them. Who cares about seeing the Top Chef 5 chefs "in public" around New York City now that we know all that?
marigold:
--- Quote from: apskip on October 16, 2008, 08:59:01 AM ---Marigold, I am not sure I understand the point of the above photos. We already have a complete cast list , pictures of each one, and video segments of several of them. Who cares about seeing the Top Chef 5 chefs "in public" around New York City now that we know all that?
--- End quote ---
LMAO :funny: hehehe
Who cares? Obviously I do seeing that I posted it
Those who don’t care could have easily bypassed the posted article if it were of no interest to them kinda like the personal comments and blather I see but have never thought to write “who cares”
Congrat’s to Kurt for finding the cast and sharing his pic’s with us. I would have done the same thing
marigold:
An interesting article with Tom Colicchio:
Tom: Tuesday Dinner Scores ‘7.5 Out of 10’ During Repeat Performance
Earlier, we lamented that Pascale Le Draoulec didn't say much about the food when she described the opening night of Tom: Tuesday Dinner. One of our commenters, however, reports on an encore performance at the restaurant last night: "I thought the food was great, a solid 7.5 on a scale of 1–10. The duck heart amuse was incredible and smokey, and there are other similar home-style touches throughout. For me, the winner was a squab with licorice skin with honey-caramelized onions. That and the wine pairing were inspired. There was a heavy reliance on pork (pancetta, porchetta, everywhere). Lamb was the red meat, and there were two fish selections. Dessert was minimal, and they might benefit from more influence of a pastry chef here. Tom looked relaxed and in a good mood and it's simply a great room to dine in with an amazing kitchen to watch from. He must be really happy there. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed. Be prepared for around $250/person spend."
Link: http://nymag.com/daily/food/2008/10/tom_tuesday_dinner_scores_75_o.html
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