SKinCA

I just ate at L'Atelier on Oct. 26th. I found the food superb. It was lunchtime and though I had a reservation it was totally unneccessary. I have photos and when I have time will post them. If you want to just pop in, try an early lunch. At noon, the place was very empty and I think you will be accomodated.

We've been grilling CostCo frozen burgers all summer by putting them on the grill frozen. Been working like a charm as they cook all they way through but seem to retain quite a bit of moisture. Go figure. My husband first did against my better judgement, but it's been really great.

FrigoI have two experiences with Sub Zero. My mother in law has one and it has leaked from the day she got it and no amount of time from a service man seems to cure this problem. Also, for some odd reason, when she moved it to a new house it was impossible to switch the door configuration, so now her refrig opens the wrong way! That seems ridiculous for such a pricey appliance, doesn't it? Second - I work as an assistant at Sur La Table in the cooking school. We used to have lovely, capacious Amana freezer on the bottom fridges. Sur La Table made a deal with Wolf/SubZero and now we have a sub-zero. It's a smaller model. The downsides: We had to throw away 2/3 of the food in the fridge when we switched over - no room! We now have to run next door to the kindly local restaurant for ice as the ice maker sucks! It makes very little ice and makes it veeeerrrrryyyy slooooowwwly. We used to be able to put 2 half sheets pans with recipe mise en place side by side (the long way) on a single shelf. If we needed to we could have had six complete mise en place in there. Now we can fit barely 1 half sheet pan per shelf. I would never in a million years buy a sub zero for my home. And the wolf ovens suck too, but that's a different thread. Also, a really cool thing is that whatever fridge you get you can get 3rd party customized panels for your fridge. Check out: Frigo They do custom stuff, not only for your fridge but also for dishwasher, etc. Stainless steel and beyond! Think chalkboard, wood, your favorite sports team logo.....go wild.

As I've said, I found myself liking both final contestants less and less as time wore on. But Michael was more appealing in the final episode while Ralph's brashness became more annoying. I really loved the look of Michael's restaurant and didn't like Ralph's. I wonder how much of their superior approval ratings came from the fact that it must have been a freebie meal? They should have charged people, then seen if they felt like returning. I thought the GR London offer was totally scripted, but a good outcome for Michael. I wonder if GR would do the show again. Maybe another celeb chef would be willing to host this time and we could see a different kitchen style? Or would that be totally pointless for "Hell's Kitchen"? Maybe Tony Bourdain could do it and the challenge wouldn't be so much the hellacious in-kitchen service but the hellacious after-hours pub crawl every night? Or Mario Batali and everyone would be forced to wear orange clogs all the time? Or Jamie Oliver and no one could use any tools but their hands and have to say either "mate" or "my son" in every sentence or be disqualified? Or.... you get the idea.

I didn't much like Jessica (pouty and snippy - too right!), but I also find myself liking Michael and Ralph less and less each week for their nasty backbiting, boys club attitude. I can't wait for those two to go at each other and stop pretending they are friends. Whoo-boy and they say that women are backbiters! As a side note, was anyone else weirded out that every single one of the contestants was a smoker? I mean, how likely is it that 12 random people would all smoke? I'm picking Ralph to win, as I did way back in week one, but that being said, his food doesn't really ever seem that appealing to me. It's pretty tough to ruin filet mignon, but I thought Michael's plate looked much more attractive.

Yes. Jessica, Michael and Ralph conspired to bury Elsie alive, which was shitty. I liked her the best out of all of them, but my pick for winner continues to be Ralph. I'd like to see Jessica go next - I can't stand her pouty puss.

All jokes aside as I truely thought Los Gatos was a beautiful town. Now on the other hand a few days later I spent July 4th in Pittsburgh watching the fireworks and now were talking about a town with a few burgers under it's belt. ← When you say Pittsburgh I imagine muscular women and men with boobs.... Glad you enjoyed your Manresa experience. I'm a huge DK fan and reading about what he's got on the menu now makes me want to hop in my car this minute!

Well, they will now! That sound good.

I just got to catch up with last week's show (yippee Tivo!), so here's my belated 2 cents: If I were Jessica I would have nominated Andrew and Ralph. The reasons - "Chef, Andrew has consistently been the weak link in the chain. I think the team would do better without him." and "Chef, Ralph is my strongest competitor on the Blue team. If you let him go, I have a better chance of winning. If you keep him and ditch Andrew, my team is still going to get stronger - also good for me." It has the benefit of ballsy play. Jessican didn't have much to lose and Andrew is clearly a pain. I'm looking forward to the next chapter.

Home sick from school? GG was the highlight of my morning as a child! Now, as an adult, not only do I love those original recipes but I really groove to the hip 70s pots/pans and serving pieces he uses. I have a modest collection of mid-century modern, some of which I first saw when he used them on his show. Catherine Holmes pieces come to mind, but I can't say with any real certainty. He was so hip, so naughty (especially to the 10-12 year mind). They used to rerun the original on Food Network, very late at night, as I recall and once, during a bout of insomnia, I watched him make a souffle-like omelet that looked just delicious. I got up the next morning, found the recipe online and had it for lunch that day. It was yummy! Cheers to Graham Kerr!

Chiff, Understand where you're coming from but I am going to have to disagree here. The brigade (hmm, interesting parallel use of the term) is the front line of the battle-field. Their objective: Fill the seats, beat the competition, make money. A restaurant can have the most brilliant chef on the planet and completely fail if the line can't perform. BTW, what's the line on that numbnuts that shoved too much salt into the risotto? - CSR ← I think that numbnuts was lucky to make it through the cut! He's a smirking bastard and what I dislike about him most is how nothing is ever his fault. He's quick to blame everyone around him and to answer back and I think he was a detriment to the team. Much worse then Wendy, who seems to be only clueless. I'm glad Jeff is gone. He was a whiner. And as bad as GR is in the kitchen, when the contestants get a chance to go out with him socially, it seems to be quite fun for them. There is probably much interaction that they aren't showing here. I know it's all a goof and far from "reality", but I'm having a blast wallowing in the reality trough!

I knew your background from your many excellent postings, Chef! I was picturing something like Oded Fehr (on the left of this picture): Chef Zadi In the Kitchen only with a toque instead of the black headband. I think it'd be a monster hit.

Although I would be glued to the tube for a real life view of how the line works in a restaurant, I doubt the rest of America is up for it. Let's face, those of us fascinated by the inner workings of a restaurant kitchen are in the minority. There probably aren't enough of us to provide a tv show with the kind of numbers they need to attract advertisers. The Food Network didn't dumb it down out of spite or ignorance. Their market research and ratings showed that the audience overwhelmingly preferred their cooking shows to be personality-driven and not technique driven. Hence we end up with Hell's Kitchen - GR - Bully Boy, Elsie - Stay At Home Mom, Chris - Overconfident Exec Chef, Dewberry - Fat Hick GR isn't actually very different from an amped up Mr. Miyagi in "Karate Kid". His methods may seem cruel and arbitrary, but they teach valuable lessons which all will realize in the end. Wax on, wax off, y'all! The reality show formula requires easily recognized archetypes to function and must craft a storyline (though editing) that creates the dramatic arcs that we are all familiar with: "Underdog Comes Out on Top", "Smug Guy Taken Down a Peg", "Timid Girl Finds Fortitude". Things outside of this formula have a really tough time breaking through to mainstream America. As someone referenced upthread "Ya gotta have gimmick!" Now, if Chef Zadi would like to consider wearing a large scimitar in his belt and beheading failing line cooks, we could probably get THAT on Fox in a flash! Famous tag line: "Off with their heads!"

To follow protocol strictly, there also has to be a Swiss Army knife in there somewhere. ← I think to be strictly 21st century the tool of choice might be a Leatherman. But old school works! Hurray for the wire hanger. The annoying locking mechanisms of the Cuisinarts is exactly why I have a Kitchenaid processor instead.

Hey! If you get right on it you can make those brownies and mail me a few out here in CA! As for the show, I think they did show another side of Ramsay during dinner. Of course, it's all scripted, but I'm willing to go along for the ride. And one point to make - a nice boss that makes everyone feel great is ideal, of course. If I had to choose between Ramsay and Anti-Ramsay, I'd work for Anti-Ramsay, natch. But at least Ramsay is WSIWYG. Most bosses I've worked for - not in a kitchen, mind, but in the computer industry, were asshole passive-aggressive wankers (feeling the Ramsay vibe on the slang today!). Nothing like slaving away for someone who doesn't teach you anything, doesn't get your back and doesn't know what they want. I don't know if I've been miraculously unlucky in bosses, but there you have my 20 years of working experience in a nutshell. And if we're talking long bets, I'm keeping my eye on Ralph as a dark horse. He seems quiet and competent. And I'm not sure Jeff didn't deserve the boot instead of Dewberry. Granted he had a meltdown, but he also learned to clean squid, made a decent spaghetti and, in the end, did the right thing by staying. He also took his "firing" really well. And in re-reading this - note to self - holy shit - must get a life!