chuckyoufarley

← Ramsay may be a pig but he's serious about his craft and doesn’t suffer fools, ever. I do agree with a large portion of the posters that the abuse Ramsay dishes out seems a bit contrived at points. The thing is that the abuse he's ditching out is not uncommon at all in a real kitchen of his caliber. Personally I think that all the contestants on this show are way out of their league and Ramsay is still trying to keep some shred of quality that with unqualified cooks amplifies the abuse. In a kitchen like Ramsay's and others of his caliber, his cooks are expected to be able to re-produce and act as the hands of the Chef (Ramsay) whose name is on the restaurant. If you have defined yourself in the realm of Ramsay, Ducasse, Trotter, Keller, etc, you have a standard to live up to that allows no deviation from perfect. The thing that a lot of people don’t understand is that cooking great food to its highest level is laden with hundreds if not thousands of variables that with the slightest loss of concentration go very very wrong. Compound that by having 15 cooks cranking out dishes the odds are a given that a lot will go wrong. That in itself merits extreme micro management. Most great chefs live by the idea that if Im not doing it myself most assuredly someone will F it up. When you are manic about doing your best in a kitchen the stress can create an environment that allows abuse to stay on track. I seriously doubt any chef on this site would argue that they haven’t been the focus of some chef’s depraved pursuit of quality. Chefs that decide to work for the likes of these great Chefs understand that the "motivation" is their path to pushing themselves beyond what they perceive is their best. The comforting thing for folks worried about these "monsters" abusing people is that if you suck as a chef you dont usually take a lot of abuse because you either quit or get fired. Chefs I think are fine for the most part with the ranting of the likes of Ramsay. They are possessed with being the best they can and they should be allowed a little wiggle room when it comes to dishing out the verbal tirades. Bottom line is this... You act in a professional manner, take your craft seriously, and don’t mess up what the chef is trying to produce; you don’t take any abuse at all.

The show is just tragically ridiculous. I was hoping for a group of chefs that could have been packaged as slightly competent. I mean lets get real here. Which one of those "chef" contenders is going to be able to captain that albatross they call a restaurant when they win the big prize? Ridiculous. That said , I cant wait to see it unfold each week before my horrified eyes.

Last night my wife made Salmon poached in a simple court bouillon with Fennel as the major component. Served over asian cucumber salad with a lemon grass nage. Good light meal that takes some of the guilt out of the memorial day burger fest on the horizon. Happy Memorial Day! Shaun

I worked in a retaurant that did close to 300 to-go dinners for Thanksgiving. Yeah I live in Southern California. One of the items in the desert baskets was a bag of Macadamia nut white chocolate chip cookies and a few others. My pantry guy Freddy was put to task with producing close to a thousand of these babies. As the final boxes were being sent out I decided to treat myself to a cold glass of whole milk and one of Freddies fine cookies. The thing that struck me halfway into the cookie was how damn rich and complex the cookie was. I commented "Damn freddie thats some good cookies man. Your getting better in your old age." Before I left for the evening I did a quick inventory and found out somehow in one week we had burned through close to 5 industial size boxes of the Lard we used to goose the flavor of the fry oil. Then It struck me, freddy had sent out 300 dinners with cookies made with lard not shortening. Great cookies though. Frankly, the best cookies I have ever eaten. I hope that we didnt serve any vegatarians.

Thanks for the heads up. We are going to be down at the Westin for 5 nights and from what I've seen of the hotel food there it appears to be just that...Hotel food. I plan on eating at Auga in addition to "C" one night. Mexiterranean is intriguing to say the least. The dinner at "C" is going to be our 5th anniversary celebration. My wife and I have 3 boys under 2 years old and she deserves a bit of a soirée. My mother asked me if I was going to ask her to marry me again, my answer was “after the 3 boys? I don’t think I’ll press my luck.” She deserves this meal more than you can imagine. My wife comes from a family of chefs and she's was thrilled when I suggested eating at a Trotter overseen restaurant. I'll make sure I give a detailed run down here for the folks at Egullet. If this is the restaurant you suggested I'll go there as well. http://www.loscabosguide.com/frenchriviera/ One of the things I'm a little concerned about is an encore of the green apple 2 step I got on my last trip to Cabo. Being a chef for over a decade and a half I think I'm pretty hip to sizing up where I should and shouldn’t dine internationally. I know all don’t drink the water, make sure stuff is cooked etc. I have the stomach of a billy goat as well. That said, Cabo almost killed me last time I was there. My wife is a little hesitant to veer off the beaten path this time. Nor do I want to go through another course of industrial strength antibiotics, 2 steroid shots and have my blood sensitized to fight of low-grade alpha/beta forms of hepatitis again. Yeah, It was a rough trip to say the least. From your perspective what are my odds at beating the house in "craps" at the Riveria place you suggested? Seriously though, what are your thoughts on doing a tasting there and getting a bug? Thanks for the info again and I'll be sure to do a write up on my meals in Cabo. I may even bring a camera and photo log the meals at all three. Shaun

Had a dinner party this weekend. Loosely themed Spanish. I made short ribs braised in rioja (not really, I told the group it was rioja but in truth I used a 5th of Charles Shaw Red) and palacios chorizo. Served the ribs on a bed of mashed Yukons with a minced roasted but still under cooked anaheim chile, a tablespoon of champagne vinegar and a perverted amount of EVO. I dressed the plating with parsley oil and a good amount of minced crispy rendered chorizo to mimic the mega pinch or two of Fleur de sel I usually use on frenchy style braised short ribs. Yum.

Well that sounds much better than I expected. I am really excited about the wine pairing. I know little or nothing about the wines of Baja. Frankly, the only knowledge I have was from article in Saveur a few months back. Appreciate the response and I will be sure to go into as much detail as I can when I eat there later this summer. Shaun

My wife and I are planning a trip to Cabo San Lucas in late summer. We have a reservation at Restaurant "C" in the Palmilla on our anniversary. I have seen a few posts inquiring about the restaurant with nary a single illuminating review. I’m going into the experience assuming the restaurant will be the same caliber of similar satellite restaurants (ala Las Vegas) of various famous chefs. As this is going to be a pretty special occasion for us I am really interested in hearing reviews from anyone who has eaten there recently. Thanks, Shaun