Hot Chef in Town

[eyoung45]

Re: Hot Chef in Town

andrew zimmerman is in town this month, in fact, i think he might be here already. has anyone seen him yet?

http://www.midweek.com/content/colum...eat_up_hawaii/

[Leo Lakio]

Re: Hot Chef in Town

Got to watching Bourdain last night - it was funnier, having already read this thread, especially Ryan's point-system (I read it to the AF after the show, and his assignment of points cracked her up). At least I can say I had been to two of those places, one of them being entirely due to the people of this board.

[Pomai]

Re: Hot Chef in Town

Star Bulletin's Jason Genegabus just blogged his Thoughts on ‘No Reservations: Hawaii’, basically calling it a strike-out.

Like many of us, he had his own list of places that "woulda', shoulda" been visited, such as for:

• Aloha Shirt wear: Reyn's, Mamo or Manuheali'i (vs. Bailey's Antiques)
• Hawaiian Food: Ono Seafood, Ruger Market or Yama's Fishmarket (vs. Ono Hawaiian Food)
• Pauhana Hour: Izakaya Nonbei, Uncle Bo's, Formaggio, Smith's Union Bar or The Hideaway (vs. Side Street Inn)

[cynsaligia]

Re: Hot Chef in Town

i'm digging this subject up again, having recently watched Chefography: Food Network (air times at this link; videos here) as well as having just read bourdain's breakdown of the food network "bobbleheads" and his frothingly rabid denouncement of food network's putting "cook's tour" back in the lineup.

on chefography, the food network execs said that they look for "generosity of spirit" in their on-air talent. i think guy fieri, alton brown, rachael ray all embody this. bourdain? definitely not. bourdain's constant complaint that FN dumbed itself down for the masses? well, the FN execs said that as the channel gained popularity, people requested for more shows catering to the home gourmand/cook who needed to get dinner on the table in a reasonable time - hence their signing of people like rachael ray.

(when they approached her, rachael ray was astounded & in disbelief, saying something along the lines of, "you guys are champagne...i'm beer!" how's that for charmingly honest humility?)

bourdain often wonders if an FN personality 's food tastes good--take ace of cake's dugg, for example. um, the guy went to CIA (the same school bourdain went to) and worked at french laundry (a restaurant with consistently higher accolades than les halles). should we now start wondering whether bourdain's food tastes good, then?

seems to me that the vassar-educated bourdain is just all sour grapes. and the more he rails against people like sandra lee (whom he dismisses as a "large-racked blond," completely ignoring the fact that she went to le cordon bleu, the best culinary school in the world), the more i see him as a bitter elistist, practically crapping on the likes of people (specifically women) like me. when he harps on whether a host on FN can cook, he's practically proclaiming that unless you went to le cordon bleu and spent years in the trenches of a commericial kitchen, your food tastes like crap. ( hear that, auntie lynn, lavagal, & pomai? by bourdain's standards, you guys can't cook!).

you know, i'm reminded of the time bourdain went to thomas keller's bouchon (thomas keller also owns the aforementioned french laundry, where duff worked. he is also, arguably, the best chef in the world, being a multiple michelin and james beard award winner). bourdain holds that his restaurant, les halles, makes the best french fries on earth. bourdain's reaction upon tasting keller's, which he admitted, were so good they "tasted like (bourdain's) childhood?" in a pique of jealousy, bourdain poured wine all over the fries and the table linen (at about 1 minute into the video i posted). classy!

oh, and keller's fries? they're frozen. looks like tony ate "semi-homemade" in a $300 restaurant and loved it! what an assjack!

[Pomai]

Re: Hot Chef in Town

seems to me that the vassar-educated bourdain is just all sour grapes. and the more he rails against people like sandra lee (whom he dismisses as a "large-racked blond," completely ignoring the fact that she went to le cordon bleu, the best culinary school in the world), the more i see him as a bitter elistist, practically crapping on the likes of people (specifically women) like me. when he harps on whether a host on FN can cook, he's practically proclaiming that unless you went to le cordon bleu and spent years in the trenches of a commericial kitchen, your food tastes like crap. ( hear that, auntie lynn, lavagal, & pomai? by bourdain's standards, you guys can't cook!).

Well, my girlfriend has a college degree in culinary arts, and even she'll tell you that I'm a better cook than she is. Cook that is, not "chef". As far as restaurant management skills, which is equally, if not more important than cooking skills, she'd run circles around me. Which is why she was promoted to general manager quickly in the ranks at her past job.

I think most of what Bourdain puts on the air is all show. But remember, the guy grew up in New Jersey, then New York, which speaks volumes on his overall attitude. Goes with the territory.

The question is, can Bourdain BAKE? I don't think so. Never seen him bake before. Emeril can.

Speaking of education and cooking skills, it looked like Le Cordon Bleu-educated Giada De Laurentiis was quite humiliated when mostly home-taught Rachael Ray beat her on Iron Chef.

I personally tasted Auntie Lynn's cooking (chicken adobo), and can tell you... awesome, awesome, awsome. Eat that, Bourdain!

[kani-lehua]

Re: Hot Chef in Town

personally, i don't care for rachel ray. i do like most of the other FN stars and have made some of their recipes.

ah, man, cyn: i watched that episode when tony went to vegas and didn't know that the fries were FROZEN! i was going to make reservations at bouchon when i go there in december. well, now i'll just forget about it! shoot!

speaking of vegas: two years ago we went to tom colicchio's (spelling) (of top chef fame) restaurant in vegas (can't remember the name or the casino). anyway, that food was so over priced!!!! rosemary potatoes--big deal! anyone could do that. and, the salmon i ate was way too salty.

was thinking of going to that restaurant at red rock. the one the girl won from hell's kitchen. what da ya think? or bobby flay's MESA restaurant?

hey, i make a tasty adobo recipe, pomai. thought i gave it to you? make that with the vegetarian chow fun and you got a winna!

[cynsaligia]

Re: Hot Chef in Town

ah, man, cyn: i watched that episode when tony went to vegas and didn't know that the fries were FROZEN! i was going to make reservations at bouchon when i go there in december. well, now i'll just forget about it! shoot!

no, no, no, no, no! by no means was my comment re keller's frozen fries meant to be a criticism or denigration of bouchon. bouchon fed us the best restaurant meal of its kind that eric and i have ever had. ever. the fact that the man can make sublime fries out of frozen is a testament to his god-given talent. you. must. go. there. in fact, the first time eric took me to vegas, we had to cancel bcs he got a stomach bug (we suspect from the buffet at golden nugget). the next time he took me to vegas, we made sure to call a month in advance for make-up reservations. they remembered that we canceled eight months before due to that stomach bug (okay, they didn't remember, technically--i'm sure they noted it in their computer. but still--that they even bothered, and were so gracious, bcs we cancelled our 7:30 p.m. reservations at 6:30 p.m., largely bcs we kept hoping he'd get better).

i wish i could tell you for sure what it was that we ate--we went there in 2005, before either of us started taking pics of food or kept track via posts on HT or on my myspace or anywhere else. we're pretty sure it was the lamb and the steak, as well as desserts & appetizers (i think we had a shellfish app). however, the impression the meal left was indelible. no matter how much we have enjoyed meals at cafe miro, 12th ave grill, town, alan wong's or roy's or anywhere else, none of them enter the stratosphere of artistry, execution, grace, and taste that bouchon did. i cannot tell you how sorry i am i misled you to think that you shouldn't go.

[kani-lehua]

Re: Hot Chef in Town

cyn: sent you a pm before i read the above post. sorry, about getting the wrong impression. you've made my day! so, i'll go ahead and make the reservations!!!! thanks for the clarification.

i'm not opposed to paying good money for good food. however, i was really disappointed with the beachhouse restaurant. one person had the filet mignon--over cooked and had to be sent back. my fish was so dry, but i ate it anyway because i was starving. the other person had the bone in rib eye which he said was just mediocre. and, the shellfish platter was very sparse. with appetizers and a couple of drinks, the tab was over $300. the only thing that was great was the company and the view.

[kani-lehua]

Re: Hot Chef in Town

well, i tried to make reservations at bouchon. well, it's a little too far in advance. lol. will have to do it in the coming months.