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Top Chef Masters
TexasLady:
--- Quote from: apskip on July 02, 2009, 07:05:08 AM ---I was disappointed when I discovered last night that Top Chef Masters was only reruns last night, no new episode. To think that BRAVO did this so loungewear designs could be highlighted. A rare misstep for BRAVO!
--- End quote ---
I don't understand it, tonight is even worse for programming, unless you want to watch endless reruns of Grease. :groan: (:;)
apskip:
The fourth preliminary round of Top Chef Master competition had these master chefs:
Anita Low - chef/owner of Annisa in New York City
John Besh - remowned Cajun/French chef from new Orleans, owner of August, Luke and Domenica plus La Provence in the suburbs
Douglas Rodriquez - chef/owner of OLA in Miami and New York and initiator of Nuevo Latino cuisine
Mark Peel - chef/owner of Campanile in Los Angeles plus other restaurants, a Mediterranean cuisine expert
My prediction is that John Besh has the highest nationwide reputation and therefore I expect him to win.
The charities they are supporting are:
Anita - SHARE, women's breast cancer support
John - MAKE IT RIGHT Foundation of New Orleans for Hurricane Katrina victims
Douglas - Ayuda for the Arts, supporting hispanic arts through a scholarship fund
Mark - Doctors Without Borders
Kelly Choi introduces the Quickfire by stating that the series of reliving past extraodinary ones will redo one from season 3, cooking an egg to perfection with one hand tied behind their back. Chefs have 25 minutes to create something interesting for the judges panel of Gail Simmons, Terry Reish from an egg ranch and Monica May, restauranteur. A no-fingers mitt is put on the non-chosen hand to take it out of play.
Mark states that his father had only one arm, so he observed how to cook that way early in life. anita needs help from John to execute her slicing eggshell tops off maneuver.
Mark - will be making fresh duck egg pasta (quite difficult in kneading step with only one hand) with olive oil cream sauce
John - trying the very simple approach of a slow-cooked egg with a topping of asparagus
Anita - in the shell, soft boiled egg with the top sliced off with shiitake mushrooms, truffle oil and oyster sauce
Douglas - corn cake arepas, scrambled eggs and ham
John checks the oven about halfway through and discovers that 450 degrees wass not hot enough to cook the eggs in time. He had 4 servings planned, but now has to focus on only one, heating it on the top of the stove to cook it. He ends up with a complete failure of a dish.
The judges score the above dishes as follows:
John 0.5 (and he was happy to get above zero)
Mark 2.5
Douglas 3
Anita 5
So, Anita will be the chef to beat in the Elimination Challenge. It involves mystery night cooking for Neil Patrick Harris and some of his actor friends and will be at the Magic Castle, a Los Angeles prviate club that requires an invitaiton from a maigican. Max Maven, a famous magician and mentalist, comes to the Top Chef kitchen to ask the chefs to pick a card out of 52 by drawing from a deck containing 48 blank cards and 4 with one word each. Astonishingly, they only pick the one-word cards. Those words are:
John - Surpise
Mark - Mystery
Douglas - Spectacle
Anita - Illusion
Chefs go to Whole Foods and spend $250 to create a meal for about 9 people. They have 2 hours to prep, followed by 1 hour to setup and finish at the Magic Castle kitchen, much smaller and less elaborate than Top Chef's. Tom Colicchio makes a kitchen visit during prep time with no particular purpose other than obsevation. He distracts the chefs briefly. Why bother?
John knows that he needs to really impress the judges. He is down 4.5 points to start and has to get an average of above 1.1 points per judge above Anita from each judge plus the composite guest judge average. He goes all out and develops a complicated 3-part menu as follows:
Hoseradish creme fraiche Sorbet prepared tableside using liquid nitrogen with the help of Neil Patrick Harris, over Salmon Roe salad
Salmon Tartare with Cauliflower Blini
Tempura Fried Lobster wrapped in Smoked Salmon
Mark - Tai snapper in parchment, garlic mashed potatoes and leeks, with shrimp/lobster stock and lime, accompanied by scallion oil and Dassai sake
Douglas - going all out, particularly with flaming coconut shell for visual impact. His meal is Duck 4 Ways:
Oyster Ceviche with Duck broth (otherwise, it would summon up that famous phrase "Where's the Duck?)
Empanada with Figs and Foie Gras
Duck Breast with Butternut Squash
Duck Confit Soup with young coconut in flaming shell
Anita - Daikon with Kumba Caviar; steak tartare shaped like a Sea Scallop, "sand" made from Rice Kripies to create a visual seascape, shellfish broth
So Mark and Anita are trying for simple and John and Douglas are going over the top. Who succeeds?
The judges are Gael Greene, James Oseland, and Gail Simmons subbing for Jay Rayner. Kelly Choi says "it was a magical evening." A reference is made by Gail to John's dish being successful, but adds not the best. John indicated that his approach was to use techniques that he knows but is not know for(liquid nitrogen the perfect example). Douglas says that he used techniques that he was famliar with, but got asked how many times he had previously set coconut shells on fire. He responded "several."
The judges scores were (NPH for guest group, G for Gael Greene, J for James Osener and S for Gail Simmons):
John - NPH 2.5 J 3 G 3 S 3 Subtotal 11.5 Total 12
Mark - NPH 4 J 3.5 G 4.5 S 4 Subtotal 16 Total 18.5
Douglas NPH 3 J 2 G 2.5 S 2.5 Subtotal 10 Total 13
Anita NPH 4.5 J 4 G 4.5 S 4.5 Subtotal 17.5 Total 22.5
Anita wins the $10,000 check from Lexis for SHAPE. Her humility and lack of flamboyance are refreshing. She was steady-Eddy throughout and her skills were the right ones for the victory. She joins Hubert Keller, Suzanne Tracht and Rick Bayless in the group of 6 finalists, 2 yet to be determined.
apskip:
This is the 5th of the 6 preliminary rounds to determine the 6 winners who will compete in the Champions Round. The chefs in round 5 are:
Nils Noren - VP (he calls it head chef) at the French Culinary Institute. He is playing for Friends of the FCI (I expect that means French Culinary Institute)
Lauchlan Patterson - He is chef/co-owner of Fasca Food and Wine in boulder CO. He is playing for the Denver Children's Hospital, which provided exceptional support for the care of his 16 month old daughter.
Rick Moonen - chef/owner of Rick RM Seafood at the Las Vegas Mandalay Bay Resort. He is playing for the Cape Cod Commercial Hook Fisherman's Association.
Michael Chiarello - chef/owner of Bottega Restaurant in Napa Valley CA and owner of vineyards. He is playing for Clinic Ole, the same one Cindy Pawlclyn introduced us to in an earlier round.
Chiarello has by far the highest profile and is best known. I expect him to win. I want to note for the record that BRAVO is now going deeper with the "product placement" concept. We have been spared of this for most of Top Chef Masters but it evident last night. Two of the guest diners later are contestants in past BRAVO Project Runway competitions. Also the judges for the Quickfire about to happen are the star and crew of the BRAVO TV show "Flipped Out" which conveniently also had a regular ad.
The Quickfire is to select any one from about 20 items on a multi-tiered platform and use that as the main ingredient for a dish. They have 45 minutes to cook. They draw knives, Michael picks fishsticks first. Lauchlan picks a regular hot dog, Rick a corn dog and Nils fried shrimp.
Rick's food, a little on the elaborate side, could not finish cooking his seafood corndog and be plated with Asian slaw in the allotted time. His dish was slated to be a seafood hot dog with a slaw. In the real world the diners wait for Rick to finish but in Top Chef Masters non-production results in a 0 score and the potential to be starting the Elimination Challenge 5 points behind. Here are the rest of the dishes:
Lauchlan - Tomato Prosciutto soup with pork sausage (note: it had a slightly different name but this is what it was)
Nils - prawns, chorizo, lobster stock sauce
Michael - swordfish meatballs with fisherman's sauce
The judging occurs and Kelly reports that "Flipping Out" has awarded points as follows:
Rick - 0 (and great disappointment that they had passed up seconds of other dishes in anticipation of his)
Lauchlan - 3
Nils - 3
Michael 4.5
So Michael is clearly in the lead starting the Elimination challenge and Rick is probably in a "you can't get there from here" position.
ELIMINATION CHALLENGE
Kelly states that each chef has to prepare mini-portions of an appetizer, main course and dessert for 100 diners (Heavy Top Chef fans) without any help. They have $1000 and 60 minutes to shop, 3 hours to cook that evening and 1 hour to prep the next day before serving.
The menus developed are:
Rick -
Opakaka and Barramundi w/ Yuzu, Avocado and Grapefruit
Brandade of scallop and shrimp, fennel salad and truffle oil vinaigrette
Lemon Panna Cotta w/ ginger, macadamia, coconut and pineapple
Nils -
Scallop and Swordfish Potato Cream, w/ Apple infused with curry Oil and chives
Smoked Salmon and Scallops w/ Napa Cabbage, chorizo, broccoli puree, Madeira reduction
Chocolate Goat cheese Ganache w/ cara cara orange gel, Lapsang Sauce w/ smoked tea
Lauchlan -
Fritta Esotica (Pineapple fried in oil and wrapped in speck)
Grilled beef short ribs w/ anchovy parmesan vinaigrette and horseradish and a little lettucve leaf
Strawberry frangipani tart w/ yoghurt semifreddo
Michael -
Shave Brussels sprout salad w/ citrus vinaigrette, truffle oil and Marcaro almonds
Prawns w/ rice flour, chili, garlic oil
Basil gelato, balsamic marinated strawberries, chocolate creme fraiche
Michael reported that his gelato had not frozen 20 minutes before the end of the cooking period. All chefs used their servers to help plate this food, which was allowed under the rules. Nils had time left at the end and volunteered to help Rick scooping avocado.
The 100 diners and judges came, sampled, discussed and rated. The judges get a round of questions with each chef. There weren't s many comments as usual, perhaps due to the time spent putting the actual serving/tasting scenes on-screen. James stated that cooking oil and pineapple were a bad combination. ONe of the fans stated that Michael's main course was greasy. Then there is feedback from the judges after the scores are announced and before they decide their scores. Here is the outcome of this competition(D for diners, R for Jay Rayner, O for James Oseland and G for Gael Greene):
Nils D 3.5 R 3 O 4 G 3.5 Subtotal 14 Total 17
Lauchlan D 3.5 R 3 O 2.5 G 3.5 Subtotal 12.5 Total 15.5
Rick D 4 R 4.5 O 4 G 4.5 Subtotal 17 Total 17
Michael D 4 R 4 O 3.5 G 4.5 Subtotal 16 Total 19.5
So Rick had the best scores for the Elimination Challenge, but Michael was close enough to easily win the overall round. Clinic Ole will get the $10,000 check.
apskip:
Top Chef Masters telecast its final preliminary round (of 6) tonight. By the end of this episode the slate for the Champions Round starting next week will be complete. Who will join Hubert Keller, Suzanne Tracht, Rick Bayless, Anita Lo and Micahel Chiarello in that round? We'll know soon enough.
The competitors are:
Jonathan Waxman - eminence grise of American cooking and mentor of Bobby Flay at Jams in the 1980s; chef/owner of Barbuto in New York City. He is playing for City Meals on Wheels, which brings meals to the homebound.
Michael Cimarusti - chef/owner of Providence in Los Angeles. He is playing for Grameen Foundation, which fights international poverty.
Art Smith - best known as personal chef for Oprah Winfrey and proponent of southern cooking, he is chef/owner at Table 52 in Chicago and Heart and Soul in Washington DC. He is playing for Common Threads, which he co-founded and which teaches children about food and arts
Roy Yamaguchi - his flagship restaurqant is Roy's in Honolulu and there are a total fo 37 Roy's around the globe; he is known for his Hawaiian fusion cuisine. He is playing for Imua Family Services, which provides support for special needs children on Maui and Lanai.
This gets started with a bang on the Quickfire Challenge, which is to shop with $20 for ingredients from one aisle only at the Whole Foods closest to the Top Chef kitchen. The chefs draw knives to deteremine who gets which aisle:
Michael - baking
Roy - pasta and Italian
Jonathan - internaitonal foods
Art - beans and rice
I expect that the most experienced chefs (Waxman and Smith) will be vying for the crown at the end.
This gets started with a bang on the Quickfire Challenge, which is to shop with $20 for ingredients from one aisle only at the Whole Foods closest to the Top Chef kitchen. The chefs draw knives to deteremine who gets which aisle:
Michael - baking
Roy - pasta and olive oil
Jonathan - international foods
Art - beans and rice
Jonathan claims he will not use cans or jars and he brings $24.01 of other items to the register, having to delete one to reach $20. The judging will be by three Whole Foods employees, Peter, Becky and Pam. How lucky can they get? Also double product placement for Whole Foods. Cooking starts and Art and Jonathan, the two oldest of this group of chefs, both cannot fathom how the top to the pressure cooker goes on. It is very interesting to me that with time pressure, great chefs use pressure cookers. I bet they seldom do that in their own kitchens but they don't have the same type of time pressure there.
The dishes are:
Michael - whipped chocolate parfait with ginger syrup
Roy - pasta with a fried egg and Asian flavors
Jonathan - mint, lentil and roasted pepper salad
Art - multigrain risotto w/ crispy rice salad
The results are:
Michael 5
Roy 4
Jonathan 3.5
Art 4.5
The Elimination Challenge involves a mystery box. Each chef buys with $200 and places in the box (destined for one of the other chefs and they know who) 11 ingredients from which that other chef has to use at least 7 to create a meal. The spirit of camraderie here is exceptional. These chefs take the attitude they want their competitors to look almost as good as they can, so they choose interesting and easy to work with ingredients that facilitate fine ciusine. By the luck of the draw Michael get the box created by Jonathan and vice-versa. Roy gets Art and vice-versa. The only grousing I heard was that Michael was not given fish to complement the meat he did get.
The box Art receives contains cheddar cheese, corn, white sweet potato, green beans, tomato, mushrooms, chicken (for which he is thankful since his signature dish is fried chicken), mangoes.
The box Roy receives contains mahi mahi, short ribs, purple cauliflower.
The box Jonathan receives has pork chops, purple cauliflower (they must have been in season), regular cauliflower, 2 oranges, something like Swiss chard, onions, celery root, black truffle.
The box Michael receives contains lamb T-bone, onions, that ubiquitous purple cauliflower, kumquat, arborio rice, portobello mushrooms, greens, ginger, sunchoke, broccoli rabe
They have 2 hours to cook. The guest judges will be local culinary students. Their dishes are:
Michael-loin of lamb, sunchoke puree, purple cauliflower, broccoli rabe, orange sauce (not enough time for all plates to get it)
Jonathan- pork sausage and chop w/ cauliflower, celery root puree and black truffle
Roy- short rib kalbi and mahi-mahi
Art-fried chicken 2 ways (regular crispy, thigh smothered) w/ lemongrass and garlic, green beans, mango pie
Joanthan says tht he would never use more than 3 ingredients in his own kitchen. The permanent judges leave and the culinary students give their scores. The judges get the special Q&A period with the chefs. Roy claims he is not an improviser, which is needed for this type of competition. The judges ask Jonathan about the plates. He correctly tells them to focus on his flavors and not something that he had little control over.
The scores (C for culinary students, S for Gail Simmons, O for James Oseland, G for Gael Greene) were:
Jonathan C 4.5 S 4 O 4 G 4 Subtotal 16.5 Total 20
Roy C 3 S 3 O 2.5 G 2.5 Subtotal 11 Total 15
Michael C 2.5 S 3 O 3.5 G 3.5 Subtotal 12.5 Total 17.5
Art C 5 S 4.5 O 3 G 4.5 Subtotal 17 total 22
Art wins. His Commons Threads gets the $10,000 check. The others get nominal amounts for their charities.
So we are ready for the 4 or 5 weeks of Champions Round competitions. It should be interesting. The chef I know the least about, Suzanne Tracht, was very impressive in winning her round. However, I think a wily veteran like Hubert Keller will win this. The person I would like to see win is the one who I have learned the most from watching his Mexican cooking show, Rick Bayless. I see Anita Lo, Art Smith and Michael Chiarello all as fine chefs but I don't see any of them winning.
TexasLady:
I can't wait to see how they determine the Master Chef. I'm loving this show. Thanks as always apskip for your fine review! :-*
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