Claudia Greco
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Posts posted by Claudia Greco
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Wonder if Seth know the name of Ramsay's alleged longtime mistress, too? (!) (That story seems to have died, BTW, but if it hasn't, I'm just waiting for Seth to try and blow some sunshine up Gordon's trou by mentioning her. THAT would be a meat cleaver-worthy bollocking (!))
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Meh.
Hosea's win didn't leave me as nauseous as Ilan's, but it was just a flat note on the end of an overall flat season. To his credit, he appeared to make the best meal of the three.
Ed: Whoa ... just watched the end of Stefan's exit with Fabio. Hilarious. "And the looks of ... Jeff!"
Stefan: "And the legs of Lauren . . ."
Fabio: "Lauren's a great girl, but she's . . . 4'3"."
Stefan: "You stretch the legs out. The legs of Lauen -"
Fabio: "Dude, she's 4'3 -"
Stefan: "But she has great legs - trust me. So, there. The legs of Lauren -"
Fabio: "But she's 4'3!"
Hysterical!
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We can only hope that tomorrow night will be the night!
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Oh, hungrycat, I'm with you on that! I was so sure Colleen or Lacey would be gone by now, but it's Seth I really loathe. Want to twist his head off just looking at him. Dumbass. And Emmalish, you're right. Just when you think poor Gordon is saddled with incompetent webfooted mutants and is totally justified in being a dick in the kitchen, he does something shitty like that to Robert. Proves he really IS a dick, inside the kitchen or out of it. Does anyone notice how he really picks on fat (or even chunky) people? And just what has THAT got to do with a cook's ability or talent?
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Is it just me, or has Stefan crossed the line from being merely arrogant to full-bore obnoxious?
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OK, so I'm a happy camper that (1) Fabio didn't get chopped, and (2) actually WON an elimination challenge - with a broken finger! He won't be Top Chef, but if he makes it to the top three I will be ecstatic. You could see he was thrilled to be cooking Italian food for a paesana, and that it would be straight out of his nonna's (grandma's) playbook.
I was shocked by Stefan's misstep, but I never thought they'd send him home. Leah? Sorry, she was expendable.
And Carla continues to ROLL! You GO, Carla, girl! I thought the squab looked a little bit done, but then figured it was the lighting and the sauce. It was interesting to hear Colicchio and Pepin discuss how the old school cooks prefer game birds cooked rarer,and the younger cooks go for more done, and I was glad Pepin did not hold it against her.
I'm thinking Carla, Stefan and, yes, Fabio for the final three. I had thought Hosea was stronger initially, but he doesn't seem to have quite the technical grasp I originally thought - and brain fog seems to be setting in. Whereas Fabio, who was previously put off here and there with small elements (like avocado) seems to be undergoing a personal culinary renaissance - he's GETTING it, now.
It'd be a serious hoot if Carla took down Stefan in the final battle. He is technically a good chef and pretty creative, but Carla's classic training is finally coming out and working nicely with her off-the-wall creativity - she is rapidly becoming my favorite cheftestant EVER.
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Well, Seasons & Sorbet managed to hang on through three eps without ever once having cooked seasonally, or produced a sorbet - until last night! Too bad it apparently was vile! No decent sorbet, no market research? Oy! And how much longer do we give Harriet and Mike? They both keep having clever ideas that keep blowing up in their faces.
Fish pie, anyone?
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Of course I cracked up last night during the Food Porn episode - wonderfully cheesy, grainy 70s sexploitation/porno cinema verite, and I love how each chef got his own porno "nom de guerre" - including "Tony BonClair". Too funny! But Tony makes a good point about food as porn, as fetish - and why not? Pleasure is pleasure. And he lined up some of the guiltiest pleasures on the planet - from the high-end classiness of Eric The Ripper, to the porcine decadence of Au Pied de Cochon to Momofuku's - and, oh God, I can testify to the crackaliciousness of the Momofuku Noodle Bar steamed pork bun, in particular. It's my regular guilty pleasure grab n' go (!)
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Oh, that analogy is PERFECT!
Yeah, it's a bit like Salieri saying he's bored with Mozart.The problem with Jamie's remarks for me was that, she's certainly free to not like the food or be overly impressed with it (but I find it hard to believe, given her own seafood-centric approach, she wouldn't see something exciting/interesting in the opportunity). There were just better ways to say it than, IIRC, "I was a little bored with it to be honest . . . ". Taken into context of her snotty attitude at times throughout the season, it was just too much. -
No, Hosea couldn't go BACK and look, but he should have been able to taste it and see it when he cut open his fish, is what I was saying. And, also, they always have the cheftestants eat some megastar's food and then try to replicate it. So, you'd think that headed into lunch at Bernardin, a chef would consciously be thinking that the food was part of a challenge, and proactively be thinking, tasting, remembering - mentally taking notes. I would. (Although that beautiful private dining room had me agog - I was watching that robin's egg blue wall that looked like it was made of textured (checkerboard) glass more than I was watching the monkfish, but then again, I'm not competing for 100 large!)
I can respect Eric's food not being Jamie's kind of food, but, yes, as a chef, you have to be able to cook out of your personal preferences and comfort zone and, in this case, in an elimination challenge, you better FIND the inspiration, dig deep and cook to win. And even if you hate an ingredient and never use it yourself, you have to know how to use it and how it should taste. I still feel Jamie did not live up to her ability. I really think she is much better than how she performed. Pity. But there it is.
Go, Carla! The goofy come-from-behind underdog! Yeah! I think they're feeling her love now! I loved her quickfire comment to Ripert: "Don't even TELL me what's wrong! You don't need to!" Funny, funny lady, is our Carla . . .
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I felt Jamie was doomed from mid-luch, when she remarked she wasn't that thrilled with Ripert's food. If you're invited to lunch at a food god's restaurant, you, as a Top Cheftestant, should now from past seasons that you are going to be asked to replicate that dish. So, lack of enthusiasm aside, Jamie should really have been paying attention and whipping up a head of enthusiasm mid-bite, just to survive the challenge. She wasn't doomed for her dislike of Ripert's food - merely her execution of it.
Having said that, I'm not sure what was worse - a chef who knows her mistakes and knew how to fix them but couldn't, or a chef like Leah who did not even have a clue as to how put Eric's dish together. I was sure it was Leah going home, based on her giving up in the quickfire and not having a clue in the elimination challenge. But, as others have wisely pointed out, Leah's dish was at least edible. Toby called Jamie's braised celery "a salt lick". Oh, SNAP! No getting around that.
Hosea was lucky he wasn't axed. Maybe he wasn't familiar with Z'a'atar per se, but Eric already told him to use a lot less than he did in practice, and he certainly should know not to bread the filet as heavily as he did. Sear the fish BEFORE breading? Well, OK, maybe he wouldn't have thought to do that automatically, but he would have tasted and seen that step at lunch. He knew enough to rest the monkfish (although he didn't leave himself enough time to do so).
Props to Fabio, though, for his comic relief. I love how he explained to Ripert after he won the sardine - fileting round how, as an Italian child, he grew up skinning "sardinians". Yeah, sure . . . he's fiorentino (Florentine). I can see THAT (!!)
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Cheese and acid ARE a natural combo in Italian cuisine, so I wasn't sure what Fabio was saying. But I didn't really catch why Conant was criticizing, either. Now, cheese and seafood in Italian cuisine, I understand - that's a no-no. Cheese and acid? It's beautiful thing. I thought Fabio was trying merely to defend his dish - and rightly so - and wasn't been arrogant or rude about it . . . just plaintive. But I thought Scott's reply to him was dismissive - AND condescending.
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Tony and Marco Pierre White dissed Alinea at the Starchefs ICC this past fall. I'm not surprised he didn't go there.
"Dissed"? Really?! What did they say? I find that a bit surprising . . . mystifying, too.
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Just ruminating how this season's train wrecks will start shaping up. The cooking instructor with the enchilada dish that was a hot mess? Oh, that has disaster written all over it. But the corporate buffet chef who can't even handle the ice cream maker? Jesus. Whiny little cow. I think Ramsay is gunning for Seth, a/k/a "Forrest", though. Tonight's ep should be replete with the usual slightly nauseating but horrifically riveting elements we all have come to know and . . . uhh . . . "love". Oh, God. I should feel SO ashamed of myself . . .!
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Toby is a natural snark like Tony (a true BritWit) but, you're right - I think he has an agenda to be witty and snarky first, and critique the food second. I enjoy him, though. I really thought poor Fabio was going to get axed last week - and, yes, I thought Scott was a bit condescending. Fabio was just trying to defend his food - I think it was "cheese and acid"? Fabio needs to make it to the very end for entertainment value, if nothing else. He has the BEST soundbites, and you gotta like the guy. Besides, he deserves some redress for having to spend weeks sleeping in the "bunky bed"(!!)
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I don't think he deliberately mispronounced "Achatz" - Tony always mispronounces Ferran Adria's name (it's "Ah-dree-AHH", not "AH-dree-ah" - yes, I asked!), and he has known him and admired him for years . . .
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Excellent! My husband, who usually hates these kinds of shows, was asking about it the other day - glad it's back!
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While I was in DC last week, I read that Rock will be opening a restaurant next to Ben's Chili Bowl. He is hoping to have it open for the inauguration.
I liked Rock, and rooted for him all the way. Did anyone ever hear what happened to Heather? Another class act who I liked and was glad to see win.
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Yeah, I'm going to have to check the TC site -Claudia, I saw that too and can't figure out if it's a one-off or a whole season's worth of dinners? And Amy Sacco?
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My gorilla was too tired to focus on that (!) But the gorilla DID notice, watching NR reruns yesterday, that Tony has a new show on Travel Channel - At the Table With Anthony Bourdain, starting Monday 10/20. This week's guests are Ted Allen, Chris Wilson NY Post Page 6 columnist), Bill Buford and Amy Sacco of Bungalow 8.
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Ummmm . . . this board is the No Reservations board, where one could reasonably expect fans of the show to post comments. It's not about hero worship or sycophancy - we just like the show, find it entertaining and (to a point) educational. Occasionally, there is also criticism of an episode. What I can never understand, MitchBill, is why readers like you would bother to expend the energy insulting fans of the show on a board specifically set up so we can exchange comments and POV. I think it less a matter of us being "in denial" than you subscribing to the wrong board, perhaps.
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Ditto. Actually, while on the opposite end of the hunting spectrum as Ted, I do respect the fact that he hunts with a bow and arrow, has respect for the animal and for what it gives him as food, etc. I just wish he didn't LOVE hunting so much (!) Having said that, I am on the FAR, FAR opposite end of the political spectrum as Ted, but I'm kind of the Tony persuasion - you don't have to agree with Ted 100%, but he IS likeable and smart, in a totally gonzo kind of way.
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Which begs the larger question - why has the Southwest become the last bastion of truly over-the-top aging rockers? (!)
Hells Kitchen US season 5 [2009]
in Food Media & Arts
Posted
Ahhh, the production gods were good last night! One more useless schmuck gone! And I don't think it was about the cooking, either - definitely about HYGIENE! Cross-contamination!