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Top Chef New York Season 5

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marigold:

Tom Colicchio's Blog:

Home Sweet City

Welcome back to Top Chef! Thank you for tuning in for Season Five. I'm excited about the chefs who have assembled to compete this season. And welcome, too, to my hometown, New York City. To say that I'm glad we're here this season is an understatement. Aside from the obvious - staying put, being in my own home with my wife and son, not living out of suitcases - I'm also pleased to have this season of Top Chef happen in the city that is arguably the restaurant capital not only of the country but of the world.

Growing up a half-hour outside of New York, the city always had a pull for me, because I knew that that's where the food world was. But I saw that the city had one of two effects on those who grew up in its shadow: either you'd never go because you were too intimidated, or you felt the pull that I did, in which case the question was simply (and not so simply, as it turns out) "when." I faced this important question twice. I had been working in restaurants for almost nine years before I came to New York to work for the first time. My first job in the big city was at the Quilted Giraffe, where, after a scant four months, they gave me a sous-chef position. What a great intro to New York! I was working in what was widely considered one of the three top restaurants in the New York and, perhaps, the country. Coming off of that experience, my next move, logically, would have been to take a chef's position. But I chose to do so not in New York City, but back in New Jersey - I knew a chef should have a decidedly unique style and I wanted to develop and hone mine out of the spotlight. I worked in New Jersey for a year, then worked with Alfred Portale, and then traveled and did a stage in France. It was only all of these that I came back to New York and worked as a chef at Mondrian. This city has been my home ever since, and after all these years it still inspires both awe and love.

I believe that all of our competing chefs this season were simultaneously excited and intimidated about coming to New York. If you're working in Miami or Boulder, you always wonder, "Can I compete in New York?" I find it interesting, for example, that Fabio had never come to New York; he went straight from Italy to California ... perhaps in anticipation of coming here eventually. The question we all face and must decide for ourselves is "Am I happy to be a big fish in a small pond somewhere else ... or do I want to take a shot at the top?" New York draws the best from everywhere, all coming here trying to make it. And even those who don't make it to the top and who are toiling somewhere in the middle here in NYC are still operating at a level of professionalism and creativity above that at the top of the heap in many other places. Using acting as a metaphor, New York is not like Hollywood, where you might luck into a break. Here, you must either do something so unique and different as to be noteworthy, like David Chang did with Momofuku, or you must rise to the top through sheer excellence, like Jean-Georges Vongerichten, for example. There are several routes by which one might make it in New York, but one way or another, this city brings out the absolute best - and the worst - in everybody who comes and tries. The best, for obvious reasons. The worst, because there's something about coming here and being so driven that you tend to put blinders on and forget everything else the city has to offer, and you don't go out and experience it all. I speak from personal experience: I am so hyper-focused on Manhattan, for example, that it was a long time before I discovered the joys and wonders of Brighton Beach, of Ozone Park. Some of the best Chinese food in the world, for example, is in Queens. Did you know that there is a neighborhood in Queens that is the single most diverse neighborhood in the entire world? In its grade school at one point in recent years there were students speaking fifty-seven different languages and dialects. Fifty-seven. I didn't make that up - it's true. And the neighborhood is a thriving and harmonious community. Full of great food, I might add.

That community highlights what's amazing about New York. You are allowed to be your fullest self here, to bring everything with you, your food, your culture. You are encouraged not to assimilate. Mayor John Lindsay once said of the city he governed that "not only is New York the nation's melting pot, it is also the casserole, the chafing dish and the charcoal grill". He would have liked our first Elimination Challenge, which proved him right.

I loved this challenge, which was to go to a randomly assigned neighborhood such as Little Italy, Chinatown, Astoria or Brighton Beach, shop there, and then return to the Top Chef kitchen to create a meal inspired by what that neighborhood had to offer. I thought it was the perfect challenge to kick off this season. It gave us a chance to see the real New York, not just the rarified high-end restaurants that get all of the press.

And it gave us an opportunity to meet our Season Five chefs and get to know their personalities and particular styles. As you saw on the show tonight, some of the chefs were jazzed and motivated by the challenge; others were intimidated.

A word about that, if I may: I think this issue of inspiration vs. intimidation spoke not only to the chefs' individual personalities, but to their levels of experience as chefs, as well. I would love nothing better than to find a culinary student with such outsized talent that it preempts the need for experience, but I believe that a chef needs both. Remember, I wrote above that I spent nine years working with food before I came to New York. Not only working, but traveling, eating, experiencing food. A chef with more experience of the world and its food would not be intimidated by the thought of cooking with foods from another region, whether she or he had ever done so before. Rather, she or he would say "I understand this - it's still just cooking."

The point of our challenge was for the chefs to be inspired by new ingredients and then decide how to make them their own. In fact, that's what American cooking is about.

Hosea's dish is a good example of what I'm talking about. Hosea was clearly working with his Russian theme, serving smoked fish, caviar and potato pancakes, or latkes. (Each latke, by the way, was flavored to correspond with the sauce with which it was paired.) And yet Hosea managed to give us a clear sense of his own plating style; though it contained traditional Russian elements, the plate looked very modern. He didn't make the top three, but the dish was beautifully executed.

Let's contrast this with Patrick, still a culinary student, who simply lacks experience. Some things can't be learned in school - one must travel. This is why, for example, it's so important to do a stage if you're studying French food. There, you learn why; here, you just learn how. Food in Alsace is different than in Brittany or the Loire Valley. Similarly, as Jean-Georges pointed out, you can't just put bok choy on a plate and call it "Chinese Food." And what, if anything, did Patrick do to make that piece of salmon reflect Chinatown? He could have marinated it in plum wine, sesame oil, ginger...anything. There was nothing about the salmon that "spoke Chinese." This is why I believe a student just isn't ready to contend in this competition. Experience traveling, gaining familiarity with food and coming to understand it would have enabled Patrick to look at the unique items in Chinatown, put them together and make them his own.

One way Patrick might have been more successful would have been to think of one Chinese dish he loved - orange-flavored beef, for example, think about what was in that dish - beef cut thin, dipped in corn starch and fried; sauce with sezhuan peppers and burnt orange peel, and then play with how to take those flavors and turn them into a dish he could call his own. Hmmm ... perhaps take a short rib, braise it in orange and the chilis and some of the spices. What else could be brought in? What else would work with this? Chinese long beans, great in garlic and soy. OK. Maybe take the short-rib, mince it, and turn it into a wonton? Etc. I encourage chefs to take the idea of a full dish and rework it, making it your own, as Hosea did so successfully.

Like Hosea, Eugene's experience as a chef yielded him success in this Elimination Challenge. He didn't know anything about Indian food. He didn't have to - he's a smart enough cook, who cooked his way past the problem. Knowing how to cook lamb and how to cook curry were enough to get him through this challenge. Although Padma said that he created an authentic Indian dish, it is not traditionally made with rack of lamb. Alex used the knowledge of his own culture's cuisine and was excited to adapt it. Jamie took the idea of Greek ingredients - olives, eggplant puree - and then did her own play on a Greek Salad. It wasn't a Greek dish per se. It didn't have to be. The challenge was not to make an authentic dish but, rather, to use the neighborhood and foods for inspiration. If I take a vacation in Spain and eat around, it's almost impossible for me not to bring the ideas back and play with them. I find ingredients in my travels and then work them into what I do back home. If you're in a creative field, everything you do out in the world will find its expression in your work. Paul Simon traveled to Africa, to Brazil, and created albums that were fusions. His inspirations found their way into both the music and the lyrics in ways that were seamless, not forced.

By the way, while Patrick had the technique but not the inspiration, Ariane had the inspiration but not the technique. Her undercooking of the fava beans was such a rudimentary mistake that we just could not give her a pass on it. She knew it, too. I could all but see her kicking herself. I must add that I was a bit taken aback by her defense of her lack of knowledge of Mediterranean cuisine despite living so close to New York. She commented, basically, that she didn't need to explore because at home she had books to refer to were she faced with a particular cooking challenge. I have always taken to heart the words of Jacques Pepin, who wrote in La Technique not to read the book as a book, but, rather, to treat it as an apprenticeship. Don't just read ... DO. Cook your way through. In other words, gain experience.

So here we are, with chefs from diverse backgrounds and even diverse countries, all converging in New York for these next several weeks. We started them off with little apples in their first Quickfire Challenge. Now we'll see what the Big Apple has in store for each of them...

Link: http://www.bravotv.com/Top_Chef/season/5/blogs/index.php?blog=tom_colicchio

marigold:
Gail Simmons' Blog:

True to its Roots

Any epicurean-minded traveler who visits New York cannot help but be overwhelmed and excited at the chance to explore this vibrant, multicultural city. New York has always been considered the ultimate culinary mecca, and not just for its temples of haute cuisine. The blending and borrowing among cultures and communities over the last 200 years, and the history of immigration from every corner of the globe to all five boroughs, makes New York's edible landscape one of the most diverse in the world. Where else can you eat Polish, Indian, Italian, Chinese and Jamaican food in one day, all on a single subway line!

So it's of course fitting that Top Chef: New York begins with an Elimination Challenge requiring our contestants to investigate local markets in eight of New York's most famous ethnic neighborhoods, then asking them to create dishes inspired by what they've discovered. Pitting sets of two contestants against each other to determine whose dish ranks at the bottom of the challenge and whose comes out on top made our inaugural day in the Top Chef: New York kitchen all the more interesting. So too did the fact that our first Guest Judge of the season was none other than world-renowned chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten, himself a first-generation American, born and raised in Alsace. After spending time in some of the most respected kitchens in France, Chef Jean-Georges trained extensively in Asia before settling in New York. He now owns and operates more than a dozen exquisite restaurants stretching from Central Park South to Hong Kong and Shanghai. Suffice it to say that JG knows a thing or two about fusing exotic flavors.

Before we delve into the results of this challenge, I wanted to mention how shocked I was to learn that Padma and Tom had eliminated a contestant during the very first Quickfire! How heartless to tell someone to pack their knives and go before they have even unpacked in the first place. Poor Lauren, whom I never really met, suffered a sorry fate when she failed at her attempt to cook a dish for Tom using the perfect brunoise, from 15 apples she had been forced to peel by hand in the opening sequence. If nothing else, her swift exit made it clear from start that this will be no ordinary season, just as New York is no ordinary town.

I won't belabor the details of what I can only remember as one of the hottest days all summer (we had to break in between tasting every set of courses to cool down off- camera, for fear of practically passing out!). But I will tell you that in tasting the dishes prepared for us by the remaining 16 chefs, we discovered a few new and exciting flavor combinations ourselves. On the whole, the food we were served was really quite delicious. From Jamie's Deconstructed Greek Salad and Seared Black Bass to Jill's Jamaican Scallop Fritters, Hosea's Russian Trio of Smoked Fish, and Eugene's slam-dunk Indian Lamb, we were all pleasantly surprised at how creative they were, especially since a number of the chefs made it clear that the ethnic ingredients they used were unfamiliar to them until now.

The only true disappointments in terms one specific cuisine were the dishes from our Chinatown team. Both Patrick and Danny presented watered-down, uninspired dishes that did not do justice to the breadth of extraordinary Chinese food found in this city. When we tasted Patrick's Seared Salmon, Bok Choy and Black Rice Noodles, it was clear that his cooking did not measure up to that of his fellow contestants.

In contrast, Stefan's Middle Eastern Lamb Chops with Tabouli Salad and Beef Onion Skewer proved you don't have to be fluent in a given cuisine to understand the combinations of ingredients and techniques that make it work. His dish was modern in presentation but authentic in flavor, refined yet true to its roots ... just like New York itself.

Link: http://www.bravotv.com/Top_Chef/season/5/blogs/index.php?blog=gail_simmons

marigold:

Next week on TOP CHEF

Episode 2

SHOW YOUR CRAFT

In the second episode of "Top Chef: New York," the chef'testants find themselves at Tom's flagship restaurant, Craft.

They are challenged to cook and serve lunch to real customers – who may be their biggest critics yet.

Successful restaurateur, food expert and entertainment authority Donatella Arpaia serves as guest judge.

marigold:
An interesting article in EW:

17 Sauciest TV Chefs

TOM COLICCHIO

TV Show: Top Chef



As Tom Colicchio and company get ready to filet more would-be tastemakers on the new season of ''Top Chef,'' we're serving up the best small-screen cooks in the biz.

Chef Colicchio is one tough cookie. The owner of Craft restaurants (and a former owner and executive chef at Gramercy Tavern) was already a celebrated figure in New York City; now he's catapulted to national fame thanks to Top Chef, the Bravo gem that began in 2006. As a judge, Colicchio cuts out all the fat, but unlike Padma or Gail, his sage advice to the quivering contestants never feels cushioned or overly acerbic for dramatic effect. Perhaps his intuition is, as Goldilocks once said, ''Just right.'' So what if we never really see him cook.

Link: http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20183500_5,00.html

apskip:
TOP CHEF 5, episode 1

Chefs arrive in New York City and take a private ferry to Governor's Island. The QuickFire challenge starts with cutting 15 apples with only a knife. Some are quick, with Stefan the quickest. He wins immunity for finishing first.  The top 9 are exempt from further tasks on the QuickFire. The 8 slowest then have to compete to brunoise the apples to produce 2 cups of small apple cubes.  That exempts the 4 fastest, leaving Leah, Patrick, Lauren and Radhika. They then enter the third round, which is 20 minutes to make these apple-based dishes:

Lauren is judged by Tom to have the least tasty dish and she is eliminated, the first time ever in Top Chef history that there will be two eliminations in one episode. The remaining 16 chefs draw knives and are assigned with two to each of 8 areas of New York City. Each pair will compete against each other for qualification for the judging of the Winner to the chosen one and qualification for the judging of the Eliminee for the loser. Those pairings and areas are:
 
Brighton Beach(Russian) - Hosea vs. Carla
Long Island City (Middle Eastern) - Stefan vs. Ariane
Ozone Park (Latin) - Jeff vs. Fabio
Jamaican - Radhika vs. Jill
Little Italy - Leah vs. Melissa
Little India - Alec vs. Eugen
Astoria(Greek) Richard vs. Jamie
Chinatown - Patrick vs. Jamie

There also were major displays of two chefs with prominent tattoos all over the bodies, Eugene and Jamie. I am really glad that the Top Chef white chef jackets are worn almost always in competitions because the sight of those tatoos disgusts me.

The next morning teams go to designated markets appropriate for each cuisine. they buy their produce and meat, fish and whatever else their budget can afford. They then start cooking. The judges are Tom, Padma, and Gail (no surprises there) and Jean-Georges Vongerichten, one of the master chefs in the U.S. He has a lot to say and the other judges listen carefully. Here are the menus:
 
Patrick - Seared Salmon, Black Rice Noodles, Bok Choy;  Patrick, a CIA student, was over his head. He had major problems with those unfamiliar noodles.
Daniel - Ginger Chicken Salad, Bok Choy, Shiitake Mushrooms, Fried wontons
Hosea - Seafood Trio (Salmon, Trout, Turbot) w/ caviar, crème fraiche, apple chutney
Carla - smoked trout, Salmon Cakes w/ Sour Cream and Caviar over Potato Latkes
Jamie - Eggplant Puree, Seared Bass, Wild Arugula Salad
Richard - Lamb Slider w/ Orzo Feta pasta Salad
Leah - Farro Risotto, Seared Red Snapper, Mushrooms
Melissa - Rib-Eye w/ Arugula Salad, Fried Mushrooms and tomato Sauce
Alex - Grilled Lamb Chops, Savory Ragout w/ Basmati Rice
Eugene - Masala rubbed Lamb, Tzatziki w/Tandoori Glaze, Basmati Sweet Rice
Fabio - Mango and Jalapeno Demi-Glace Pork, Roasted Mushroom Arugula Salad
Jeff - Coffee Seared pork loin, smoked plantain w/black beans and rice
Jill - Macadamia crusted Scallops, Plantain Fritters, 3 Sauces
Radhika - Jerk rubbed halibut w/ ginger beer cocktail
Stefan - Lamb Chops w/ tabouli salad, Beef Skewers w/ Onions
Ariane - Curried Rack of Lamb, Farro Risotto, Dates w/Chick Peas
 
A number of comments are made as each pair is judged. Among them were one-note (to Patrick), minimum flavor (to Daniel) lamb undercooked and dry (to Richard), Stefan (excellent use of cinnamon, unusual in that type of savory dish), risotto a failure (to Ariane) and perfect example of rice and curds a traditional Indian dish (to Eugene). The judging resulted in the winner's group of Stefan, Eugene, Daniel, Hosea, Jamie, Leah, Jeff and Jill. The losers group was the other 8.  Stefan beat Eugene for Best. Patrick and Ariane were the ones considered for the elimination. There were many negative comments about both. Patrick was eliminated and Ariane stays (but probably not for long).

Someone announced that Gail would be taking a leave of absence after the 7th episode to get married. Tobey Young will replace her at that time. Ted Allen is gone permanently beacuse of a conflict with his Food Channel contract.

This was a frenetic and interesting episode. It looks like it will be an exciting season.
 

 

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