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Wow, thanks, what a great story. Would you mind if I posted this on chefwatch.com? It gets a little traffic, but if you give me links to your business, it might get a little traffic?

This is embarrassing. But I can only hope... I'm taking a food writing course. Our teacher only send out our assignment yesterday, and I was working too late to get it until now. It's due tonight (i.e. 17 hours from now)! Our assignment is an interview. I figured at least a few chefs might be getting off work about now too hopped up on adrenaline to be sleeping, and might see this. If you are awake, and do have time to fill out this interview questionnaire, I'd be so grateful. Who knows, it could end up being fun to see who's here, if you fill it out on the board. Or, if you want to email it to me, I'm cwodtke at gmail dotcom. Q: Who are you, and where do you cook? Q: Where are you originally from? Q: How did you get started cooking? Q: Who or what is your main culinary inspiration? Q: How does that translate into what you are doing now? Q: You must have dreamed about your restaurant before you opened it. How does the reality match up with the dream that you had? Q: What keeps you going day after day and keeps you fresh? Q: What is your favorite ingredient? Q: What is the most memorable meal you’ve ever created? Q: What is the most memorable meal you’ve ever eaten? Q: Who is your favorite chef or place to eat? Q: What was the most challenging time in your career? Q: If money, time and manpower were no object what menu would you create? Q: What one piece of advice would you give to cooks who are just starting out that you wish somebody had told you? Q: What piece of advice would you give to home cooks out there? Q: Any future plans that you would like to share with us? THANK YOU!!!!!

thanks! videos up. http://www.flickr.com/photos/eleganthack/2703582539/

can't stand rachel ray, paula dean and rocco's face unnerves me. love mario. floats like a butterfly....

My husband had some liquid nitrogen lying around, so I decided we should make sorbet. We used a variation of an epicurious recipe with about half teh sugar so it wouldn't be too sweet. it was intense, fast and incredibly smooth, as everyone said. However, since my husband was on good terms with the nitrogen, we didn't fuss with gloves and such, we just treated it like we do the deep fat fryer. The rolling smoke with strange, like floating ice crystals as it floated over my bare feet. Our two year old thought it was a blast. see more he got the LN4 at madco, a welding supply store.

A collection of thoughts: I suspect Lisa cooking her food her way did indeed make a meal that almost took Top Chef. No matter what she did through the contest, when finally doing her own thing she did it. And any cuisine can be great if done masterfully -- no reason Thai couldn't blow away a French or California meal in the right hands. I loved Chef Colliccio saying that a chef sometimes does need to have to have a little attitude to make it. I have found her deeply annoying and rude throughout the season, but in this episode though she was cocky she was fairly pleasant. She didn't even seem to mind losing to Stephanie. I think the hint to the win was in something Ted said "We liked it better, but how much better?" Just as one mistake can throw you under a train, one transcendent dish can overwrite the rest of a solid-to-good meal. Stephanie's adequate cake was lifted by her magical lamb, and that beat 4 good courses from someone else. When a boy from Atlanta blows pork belly, well, something ain't right. I do wish he'd brought all he has, but Richard just didn't have it that day. ARGH! I was so looking forward to work like I've seen in the magazines and youtube. poo. I really wish TC hadn't pulled their sous chefs the next day-- this is supposed to be the one meal where they stop messing with you. That was just wrong. I'm certain it handicapped Richard, who has elaborate food and suddenly had to recalibrate. Is the food less good because you have to plan it carefully and it takes more than one person to assemble? Is leading others make it easier or harder when you are trying to express yourself? I think they should have a system that takes into account the overall season performance in the last episode. Everyone has a bad day, and to truly be a top chef it should reflect all of what you've accomplished. Maybe give 30% to overall, and 70% to the last meal? But then, Lisa wouldn't have had a shot for the win, and the drama would have been reduced. The "advantage" given for the wins this time wasn't much: was there a bad choice among the three baskets and sous chefs? Also agree with those who said the finale felt rushed, and having head-to-head plates was a very bad idea. You can't orchestrate the progression; it's too hard for anyone to have a sense of the complete meal no matter how brilliant a diner you are. What might be a restful and desirable pause in a planned meal becomes a dull dish when compared to the plates next to it. Not to mention someone else's chili peppers will blow out the judges palette. I have no problem with a demanding a dessert though-- if you don't have a dessert or two up your sleeve, you haven't been watching top chef. Nor do you deserve to be a top chef-- dessert is an integral part of the meal, it's the last flavor note and it is as crucial as the first. Sorry for the long post: i was very excited.

I, for one, am so pleased Bobby got the boot. He has never show a moment of talent, and he's shown plenty of mediocrity. This is the part of the show where if you are adequate, GR gets around to cutting you. Personally I cannot stand Bobby. The bombast, the bullsh*t, and the constant duck and cover your *ss got to me. My prediction: Corey vs. Christina, with Corey for the win. Christina's come a long way, but can she stay consistent? GR has harped on her inexperience too. I'm not certain he'd feel comfortable with her, and it is his hire. (edited for clarity and spelling)

There are some awesome shots of him getting all alinea on youtube... but I agree that he has steadily gotta safer and more classic. The final, however, is supposed to be the place where you can really show your style. I'm hoping he shows us the kind of Keller-esque punning we've gotten glimpses of and some "nifty toys" that he's reputed to be packing. My money is on Stephanie. It's hard to get a feeling for her food from the presentation, but she wins so consistently it must taste amazing.

Well, if it's about the food, shall we discuss that? I really did not get the harping on "one plate". If I was at a stand-up party, I'd be grateful not to have to juggle plates. I suspect Lisa can good, but her palette is a bit wonky. she never make shocking mistakes, that I can recall, and when her oddball combos aren't too sweet or salty, they seem to wow. Maybe time with a good chef woudl refine her instincts. I hope Richard really brings the molecular in the finale... I'd hate to have TC watchers think it's the province of poseurs like Marcel. (not that I don't think Marcel can cook, but he also has a dandy's attitude and excessive style that isn't required when using an immersion cooker.)

I swore if Matt was kept on, I would stop watching. It would be proof it was a fake show. but I guess I'm stuck with it. BTW, I read GR completely remodeled his 3 star with his S1 take. It's like when Steve Martin does Father of the Bride to pay for Lapin Rouge....

I'm going to shock myself by defending spike: he dissed Tramanto, and then apologized and went to shake Rick's hand, and then berated himself for saying that. The utter stress and misery of being up there must make you do crazy, have-to-be edited out things. the producer were probably happy to get something they could leave in to make us feel good about his heading home instead of Lisa (who wisely bit her lip-- hard.) It must suck to slip up and have it on tape forever. At least he saw it the moment it left his mouth and owned it. I miss Dale too, but Lisa has made some standouts that make it clear she can cook a tasty bite. she's just not consistent enough to make it to the top. However, the fact Richard has blown a few has got me nervous. Being a gentleman does not make you a top chef. He can shine, but he looses it sometimes, and if Lisa has a good rest before Puerto Rico, and gets her sh*t together, well... we could have an all-girl show. If he gets it to the final two, I think he can take it. But there will be some dumb challenges like make eggs on a grill before that.... Finally the Bourdain/Harold thing is silly. Les Halles+eating everywhere on the planet and being articulate to express what you know and see is a perfect combo for head chef. There are better chefs, but as a judge you also have to know how to turn what you see into meaningful, useful criticism, especially when bringing it back to the table. I think he's got that one nailed. But I can imagine Harold would have rather seen one of the big guys like Bernardin doing it; a hero we never get to see at work. Could of been worse... could have been Rocco! (editing for a complete inability to type)

Hell's Kitchen is getting harder and harder to watch., There is not a single contestant who could run a Ramsey restaurant, except as a figurehead. Gordon must be depressed. After all it's not some Las Vegas casino... The only upside is I can't imagine a man winning this one (none can cook edible food consistently), so it'll have to be one of the women. But I don't see an eliza doolittle in the bunch.

... use a hand mixer in the south without first giving it several firm taps. I was in college in Kansas City and making a cake for my friend's birthday. I used the hand mixer two-three times a year back then, otherwise is sat stored in the back of a dark cupboard. I suddenly noticed a bunch of black flakes in the batter, and turned off the mixer to investigate. Baby roaches swarmed out of the vent on top. I thank the lord she wanted a white cake; i can think of several cakes where this might not have been caught. <shudder>

Here's an episode list. The episode which airs 5/21 is called Restaurant Wars. Relax. ← Yep, I recall them saying wedding wars INSTEAD of restaurant wars, so clearly they are yanking the contestant's chains (and ours.) The HK prize is always referred to as a salary of 200K, so roughly double winning TC assuming the winner can keep themselves from being fired. BUT with strings attached, obviously. It's the elimination winners I feel sorry for; one week a trip to Italy, the next some cookware, the next survival. Not exactly fair. But, as everyone has taken a turn at pointing out, Bravo are sponsor ho's, so if one week no one is ponying up I guess the elimination winner has to be satisfied with another shot at fame and fortune. BTW, I forgot to mention earlier that I have eaten at Public and eaten at CoCo500. I thought Public was excellent but uneven, but CoCo500 was really terrific with great flavor combinations, excellent execution and a sense of humor that didn't get in the way of the food. I'm sad Jennifer went down because I know her food and I think she could have made it to the final 4, maybe the final two.... Has anyone else eaten at other of the chef's joints, other than Richard's?

Am I the only one heartbroken about no restaurant wars? It's my second favorite challenge of the season (the first being the final hoedown.) I'm watching both Hell's Kitchen and Top Chef and it's day and night. HK is petty and people there can't seem to cook an egg-- I can't believe Gordon would give any of them a job as prep cook much less run of his restaurants. Meanwhile every season of Top Chef has better chefs... this season could be Next Iron Chef (yes, I am a junkie.) I really believe they like their fellow contestants, and they love cooking and they got the chops. I want to eat at all their places. My money is also Richard vs. Dale, though I think Stephanie or Lisa could pop in, which would make me happy as Girl vs Boy is always cheering. I'd love to someday see girl vs. girl, but with Richard being such a consistently strong contender, I won't put money on it this season.

Finished Candy Freak. Holy cow, it's a must-read. compelling, can't put it down, especially for Bourdain fans who like whole-personality writing.

good news on Kitchen Nightmares UK for the USA formattedhttp://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/B000VJ3E5I/002-9808137-1280024?SubscriptionId=10YVF75G6G1XD1C83E82 regarding Boiling Point, I think you are stuck with isohunt/mininova/piratebay for now. But if his popularity continues, that'll change also. but.. have you tried Youtube? You would be amazed http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VFhMOy-cw0 and production values on boiling point were rather low, it might not make a big difference.

I believe anyone who can read English well and consult a dictionary when necessary has access to most of the content of a book like Saint-Ange even if they've never learned French. (Which is technically never true anyway: French was a major donor tongue for English after AD 1066 and accounts for some fraction of current English vocabulary.) ← Not to take the topic too off topic, but I bought La Base when it was only in French some years back and despite having a good street-french vocabulary and a pretty extensive French food vocabulary (including odd but important terms like cuillères à soupe), I couldn't make the book useful (though it was always very very sexy). perhaps you underestimate your French! Anyhow, found it translated thanks to you kind folks, and have it on order....

IN Pepin's Chez Jacques: Traditions and Rituals of a Cook, he refers to the 7,500 recipes in the `Repertory of Cooking', all of which consist of little more than a few statements giving the principle features of a dish. Needless to say, I want this book. Strangely I can find no other reference to it. Anyone have a clue?

For my wedding, my mom hand-wrote all the family recipes out on 4x6 cards and put them in a photo album. It had never occurred to me the two formats -- photo and recipe-- were the same until then. Now, seven years later, I've stuffed the rest of the slots with printouts either thoughtfully formatted by the likes of epicurious and food network, or reformatted in Word to be four inches wide, then folded accordion style and slipped in a pocket. I'm only now considering buying a second album... they are pretty roomy. Lately I've been copying recipes into my recipe box on epicurious, marking them private if they are someone else's recipes and public if they are mine, so I can be lazy and not have to reformat them, and so I can look them up online more easily. Now they have the new print yrou own cookbook, it might be even more useful (and no, I don't work for conde nast...)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/006122814...id=W2BSNZ9TV7JN is a new book on waiting, and looks interesting (despite the title.) But you don't write a book because there isn't one out there-- since while you are writing one, a similar one could be published, so you never have a guarantee of no competition-- you write because you have a story to tell. If you have a story, tell it. I do think you should try shopping it around before starting the labor of writing. If nothing else, you'll get free advice about what the public likes.

My father just sent me this quote from the New Yorker (he failed to mention who the author was, but I bet on Bill Buford.) "You should always know the first name of the person you buy your meat from." Now that i think about it, odd the New Yorker would allow a sentence ending in a preposition... it's still a sentiment I heartily endorse.

amazon: Art of Eating the website has a cruel collection of enticing snippets that will be sure to drive you to order back issues.

Two bits of data 1. Trader Joes now has Sea Salt Dark Chocolate Covered Caramels and 2. I hope you have all read Gladwell's write up on the pill Time to stop having periods. Still, if you have to, Sea Salt Dark Chocolate Covered Caramels!!

I really don't know why good food=expensive food. It's cheaper to make homemade versions of almost anything, and most of the time it's faster as well. Cost compare nachos-- melt grated cheese (sharp cheddar/jack mix, ideally) over chips with black beans (it's okay if they are in a can)then top with chopped tomatoes mixed with a chopped sliced green onion and some cilantro. You could even fine dice half a jalepeno into it. It will take you 15 minutes on the outside, be multiple times healthier, cheaper and taste better. You will never open a can of cheese sauce again. Frozen food is expensive! Canned is nasty and costs more than fresh! And you know, I love truffles, but friends ooh and ahh over old fashioned italian meatloaf, and nearly pass out with joy when they see grilled tenderloin. You can roast califlower, or steam broccoli and top it with Julia Child's lazy cream sauce: reduce heavy cream by half, then stir in a little nutmeg, and, if you please parmesan. Your friends will think they are at the French Laundry. Finally I would feel like a bad human being if I put any weird chemicals in my friend's bodies, and rude if I fed them any worse than I feed myself and my family. But I'm paranoid like that. I cook from scratch every single night, and it's only expensive when I decide to go for a fancy meat. Veggies are almost always cheap, especially at a farmer's market. Even at Whole Foods they aren't that much, compared to a box of corndogs. I think the only problem is education. No one knows how to cook anymore. When my friends ask how I cook like this, I give them Jacque Pepin's Fast Food My Way and go out and buy another copy. I'm not some kind of kitchen genius, I just found some good cookbooks. We should have a "teach a friend to cook" day, or something. Let's hold some interventions!