David Ross

Erik is still spewing bad breath about tacos and Chef Bayless-even after his Top Chef 15 minutes of fame. Check out the March 27 Q and A with Erik over on Grub Street. He has some rude things to say about Chef Bayless and the taco fiasco. And apparently his culinary career is really taking off. He mentions on the post that "My guys are talking to Vince Neil from Mötley Crüe." Hmm. Wonder how that plays into Erik's cooking career....

Well--I did have a few more glasses of wine after 8:03p.m. on March 28, but the wine was more interesting than commenting on Padma's declaration about Stephanie's wonton. I don't really have a problem awarding a fruit cobbler with streusel topping and a fried wonton garnish as the winner of the Elimination Challenge. I think it could be the perfect, winning dish for a summer block party if it was prepared properly using seasonal fruits. I liked the idea that Stephanie enhanced the fruit flavors with some basil and lime. I've always qualified my opinions about the dishes on Top Chef by noting that I'm only offering an opinion based on what I see through the television. I can't back up my opinions with the ultimate test-the taste test. But in this case, I think what I saw on television is more than enough to shout back to Padma that deep-frying wonton wrappers cut in cute shapes and sprinkling them with cinnamon-sugar is not in fact "genius." Tasty, sure. Tasty to the point of being in "love" with the wonton, maybe. But just not "genius" in terms of the concept.

You might also check out Max Jacobson's good review of Carnevino in the April issue of Las Vegas Life. It made me hungry for a thick, juicy steak in Las Vegas.

Great approach. Just start building a list of choices, and menus and prices if you can get them online, then make your selections. You'll see lots of postings and photos of Las Vegas meals on eGullet to help with your search. Daniel Boulud Brasserie at the Wynn offers a Prix Fixe Menu at $48 if you dine prior to 7pm. There are 3 choices each of an appetizer, main and dessert. The menu is posted online. I'm hopeful we'll see restaurant prices in Las Vegas come down this Spring. Hotel prices have already come down. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that gaming revenues, the driving force of the Las Vegas economy, were down in February, so I think we will see the hotels and restaurants lower prices to attract more people to the casinos. I just booked a week at The Mirage for a trip in May and on both Friday and Saturday nights the room was only $135 a night. That's quite a bit lower than what I would have paid for the same room at the same time last year. Maybe the menu prices will follow suit.

Speaking to our Top Chef topic, this debate first came to light on Wednesday's episode when some of the top whiners on Top Chef snorted that they didn't think a taco was upscale. While their soapbox rants added to portraying them, (Erik and Spike), as the bad boys of the Top Chef clan, they were clearly missing the objective and goal of the Quickfire Challenge. Spike apparently contained his personal thoughts on tacos and presented Chef Bayless with an appropriate dish that met the challenge-and Spike was awarded a spot for creating one of the top three upscale taco dishes. Well, isn't it curious how the saying "what goes around comes around," sometimes rings true in the end. One of the Top, Top Chef whiners was Erik-he failed miserably in even coming close to meeting the challenge he was told to attempt. It wasn't about the philosophical aspects of the challenge. Erik was roundly booed by Chef Bayless for his feeble taco attempt. Erik's gone now and the competition moves on.

Tonight I started with a Chinese Celery Salad with Dried Shrimp. A bit "grassy" for my taste but a nice, crisp salad. Many thanks go to gfron1 for giving me the recipe for this next dish, Shrimp with Thai Lime Butter. I served the shrimp with grilled green onions and a broth that had Chinese sausage, dried shitake mushrooms and noodles.

Looks delicious. But you are, in a way, sort of making my point. To me this would be a Mexican Influenced dish, not classic Mexican cuisine. ← You might be right. I'm certainly not the expert on Mexican cuisine and I was merely looking at the issue from what I found on Chef Bayless's website and the posted menu for Topolobampo. It would be interesting to hear how the Chef would answer the question. This is certainly an interesting topic and one that would be appropriate as a new topic in another forum. But in terms of Top Chef, either way you look at the issue of whether or not there is an upscale or classical Mexican cuisine, most of the Top Chef contestants still didn't follow the directions for the Quickfire Challenge.

If you would like an idea of what "upscale" Mexican cuisine looks like, I recommend going to Chef Bayless's website. Go to his Topolobampo Restaurant and click on the menus. One example of what I would call upscale Mexican cuisine is this dish from the Spring Dinner Menu: "Langosta en Crema al Almendra: pan-roasted Maine lobster in velvety almond-thickened guero chile cream. Red quinoa and garlicky braised mustard greens. 38.00" I'd say that is a pretty good example of an "upscale" dish. Maybe I am naive, but I would have thought that the Top Chef contestants, knowing the competition was going to be in Chicago, would have studied the menus at Rick Bayless's restaurants. Surely they would have anticipated he was going to be one of the judges and would have prepared by familiarizing themselves with his cuisine and the dishes he serves at his restaurants. Wouldn't they?

I agree with you. Those were sorry-ass corn dogs for sure. I think Erik said "There isn't much you can do with hot dogs." Yes there is Erik, you wiener, you leave the hot dogs in the neighbor's fridge and don't turn them into soggy, little weinie's coated in pancake batter. I had to watch Episode 3-"Block Party"-a third time this afternoon to see if repeated viewings would change my mind about this episode. It didn't. Personally, I think this was one of the weakest efforts from the Top Chefs that I've seen. The food was for the most part very average. I guess it is safe to assume that the Top Chef contestants don't read our opinions on these pages. If they did, they might gain a better understanding of what they should be doing in the kitchen in order to be successful at the judges table. We’ve already agreed that in previous episodes, the chefs committed the ultimate sin by not tasting their food before it went to the judges. Falling in line with that seasoning failure is another fundamental error in judgement that we see committed on a regular basis by the Top Chefs-willingly or unwillingly-to understand the specific challenge before them. Since I’ve just opened the first bottle of wine, my version of the Top Chef Commentator’s drinking game, I’ll focus on the “Quickfire Challenge” tonight. (It could take more bottles of wine than I have in the house to get through the entire episode tonight). Here are a few suggestions for the “Top Chefs:” -Rather than creating a dish in your mind while you barrel like a bull through the kitchen, I’d suggest you just take a deep breath and put a few moments of thought into your dish. Andrew was quoted as saying he felt like he was “running around like a New York rat.” Yes Andrew, you were. (Andrew fidgeted like he was over-medicated on drugs that he purchased through the internet from a foreign pharmacy. How Andrew produced one of the top taco dishes is beyond me). Don’t create a dish as you go because that can be a recipe for disaster on the other end. You’ll hear that call for “2 minutes left” and wish you had taken those 2 minutes up front to plan your dish appropriate to the challenge. -You’ve got 30 minutes in the Quickfire Challenge, so make sure you keep the dish simple in terms of just a few, but exceptional, ingredients. Choose a cooking method that you can do in say 25 minutes, and then you’ll have 5 minutes for plating. If you create a complicated dish on the fly as you race through the pantry gathering a plethora of ingredients, you just may be surprised 30 minutes later when Padma barks “knives down, hands-up Chefs.” -On this point of timing and following the specifics of the challenge, I’ve got a hint for the Top Chefs-follow the example set by the winners. Richard used just three main ingredients-Jicama (as the "tortilla" in the taco), Avocado and Papaya-in his thoughtful, perfectly executed “upscale” taco dish. And Richard gave me a “gotcha guys” moment when he graciously asked the judges if he could taste one of the tacos with them. That was a crafty move. A Chef who is excited to taste his dish shows me that he’s confident in his food. And he won. (I do have a small criticism for Richard and the Judges-“upscale” tacos should not be served off a wet cutting board. A nice white plate with a few sprigs of cilantro would have been nice.) -Present a dish that speaks to the challenge you have been given. Please, please, don’t rant on and on about how your personal interpretation of the “taco” conflicts with the challenge before you to create an “upscale” version of the taco. That’s not what has been asked of you. You’ve been challenged to create an upscale version of a taco that would be suitable on the menu at TOPOLOBAMPO in Chicago-a restaurant owned by one of the country’s foremost Chefs of Mexican cuisine and the winner of “multiple James Beard Awards.” If you are conflicted between your personal opinions and the challenge before you, (Erik and Spike), it just might cloud what you put forward on the plate for the judges. (Erik). What you might think is “street food” in Cabo is not what you were asked to present to the judges table. It would have been funny if Chef Bayless overheard Erik say that Chef could “go screw himself” in response to the judge’s criticisms. But I don’t think Chef Bayless was watching that interview of Erik slamming the judges critique of his taco mess. Chef Bayless put Erik’s taco drek in simple terms without the aid of an edited clip when he said quite simply that “it was a mess.” And not the winner. A few more glasses of wine tonight and I might just comment on Padma’s culinary revelation at the judges table for the Elimination Challenge when she proclaimed that “I love the wonton…The wonton is genius!”

Hello Synergy-I echo the questions that rjwong and jsmeeker are asking you. Before I give specific restaurant recommendations for Las Vegas, I always ask some basic questions like what type of cuisine you are interested in, location, atmosphere and the one biggie-price. The price of dining in Las Vegas is quite expensive. You will be hard-pressed to find a steakhouse on the strip with entree prices in the $15-$35 range than you've suggested. There is a steakhouse at the Circus-Circus property up on the North end of the strip that might be in that price range. I haven't been there but it does get decent reviews. But the hotel is not in the exciting part of the strip and I think it is rundown. The prices of steaks at the top houses on the strip are averaging around $50. There are some lower cuts that aren't as expensive and some high-end beef like Kobe that raise the steak prices to over $100 per plate in some cases. Most of the high-end steakhouses do not include side dishes-the potatoes and the creamed spinach are an additional cost. I would recommend these restaurants: Jean-Georges is the steak restaurant at Bellagio, Craft by "Top Chef" judge Tom Collichio is down at the MGM and the Capitol Grille is at one end of the Fashion Show Mall overlooking the strip. Additional choices might be SW Steakhouse at Wynn and two new steakhouses at the recently opened Palazzo-Carnevino by Mario Batali of Food Network fame and Cut by Wolfgang Puck. You can find menus and prices posted online for each of these restaurants. If you are springing for the cost of a suite at Bellagio, you may want to consider paying the cost for dinner at one of the top steakhouses. I think it would add to your fun and memorable Las Vegas experience.

Wow, thank you. I'd encourage everyone who doesn't own a hard copy of one of Fannie Farmer's cookbooks to check out this wonderful website.

This looks fabulous! And it's ironic you are posting this delicious looking mutton because we have been talking about how hard it is to buy mutton in America over in the "Why is Lamb So Expensive" thread in Food Traditions and Culture. Count yourself lucky that you have mutton chops available.

What a beautiful sandwich. And you've done the Rueben club proud by using Russian dressing.

Thanks! What a collection you have. That 1904 edition is to be cherished. I'll have to try some of the candy recipes. I wonder if your Mother was like my Mother and Grandmother when it came to making fudge--they would never make fudge on a rainy day--I think they thought the humidty on a rainy day would prevent the sugar from cooking properly. In those days they made fudge the old-fashioned way by cooking the sugar and never used marshmallow cream.

Do you own an edition of "The Boston Cooking-School Cookbook," and do you cook from the original recipes in the book? I would be interested to know what edition you have and if you have ever cooked one of the recipes in the book. Or--have you adapted one of the original recipes using modern techniques and ingredients? Two of my most cherished cookbooks, "The Boston Cooking-School Cookbooks," were written by Miss Fannie Merritt Farmer of "Miss Farmer's School of Cookery." The older cookbook was published in 1913 and the second has a publishing date of 1921. I believe our family has the original 1896 version somewhere in storage, but I'm not sure about that. If I find it I'll let you know. The two vintage gems have been in my Mother's family ever since they were purchased new by my Great Grandmother Jenny Pink of Twin Falls, Idaho. When Jenny passed away, the cookbooks were left to her daughter, my Great Aunt Bertie Pink. When Aunt Bertie left us, Mother stored the cookbooks away and they were never opened for many years. It wasn't until I got older and discovered an interest in food and cooking, that I realized our family owned a valuable piece of cookbook history. In the 1913 edition, Miss Farmer opens with an interesting quote from Ruskin that gives an insight into her thoughts on cookery in the early 20th century. The quote reads, in part..."Cookery means the knowledge of Medea and of Circe and of Helen and of the queen of Sheba. It means the knowledge of all herbs and fruits and balms and spices, and all that is healing and sweet in the fields and groves and savory in the meats. It means carefulness and inventiveness and willingness and readiness of appliances. It means the economy of your Grandmother's and the science of the modern chemist; it means much testing and no wasting; it means English thoroughness and French art and Arabian hospitality....." Quite prophetic words, and in many ways, still appropriate to the state of cuisine today. The text and the recipes open a refreshing window on America's tastes over 95 years ago. Many of the recipes would find a welcome home on today's restaurant menus and would do doubt be as delicious today as they were back then. I found two recipes that I wanted to share in the "Eggs" chapter. The first, a recipe for "Eggs a'la Livingstone," is an early version of an egg dish that would likely find a place on a restaurant menu today-foie gras and truffles seem to be as popular in 2008 as they were in 1913. The ingredients include: 4 eggs 1/2 cup stewed and strained tomatoes 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon paprika 2 tablespoons buter Pate de foie gras Finely chopped truffles Toasted bread The second egg recipe-"Omelette Robespierre," calls for sugar and vanilla in an omelette-at first glance an odd flavor combination, but one that could work-an omelette garnished with sugar caramelized by "a hot poker." 3 eggs 3 tablespoons hot water 1 tablespoon powdered sugar 1/8 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon vanilla "Beat eggs slightly and add remaining ingredients. Put one and one-half tablespoons butter in a hot omelet pan, turn in mixture and cook same as French Omelete. Fold, turn on a hot platter, sprinkle with powdered sugar, and score with a hot poker." Let me know your thoughts on the impact that Miss Farmer's works have had on the American kitchen and if you think there is value in revisiting some of the recipes from days gone by.

The topic seemed to somewhat move towards 'professionalism' and I was responding to David Ross's comments below. Though anger and swearing may be distinct, they are similar enough responses that they can be grouped together in this conversation, and I would venture to guess often accompany each other. I won't directly quote it, but in the Ramsay biography I mentioned, there is a story where Robuchon throws a plate of ravioli and hits Ramsay in the head, and another Robuchon throws a roasting pan at someone and breaks the front of an oven over a messed up meat dish. He also talks about the bollockings that follow and I believe Ripert talks about Robuchon taking a liking to him and not cursing him out like he did to the other cooks. So I was just bringing this as an example of how a 3-star kitchen isn't necessarily " efficient and professional without displays of anger or profanity". ← Intersting points about Chef Robuchon. Thank you. It may surprise some to hear me say thank you for sharing those examples, but it certainly opened my eyes and helped me gain a better understanding of this issue. As you can tell from my postings in both the Top Chef topic and on these pages, my assumption, apparently not totally accurate, was that one should not hear foul language, or witness anger, in a Michelin-Star kitchen-a "Top Chef" kitchen so to speak. Of course, I would still like to hear more chefs respond to this query. It's interesting that Gordon, a disciple of the "F" school, may have been influenced by Robuchon when he was hit in the head by a flying ravioli. I wonder what was in that ravioli?

Chris you've presented an interesting comparison-is the tone in Keller's French Laundry kitchen different, quieter and more "professional" than the kitchen at Bob's Taco's? I can't provide anyone with a factual report that might answer your question, but based on my unscientific experiences, I have found that top, "Top Chef" level kitchens are a workplace that is efficient and professional without displays of anger or profanity. These are not kitchens that I would describe as calm or unhurried-stress and a sense of urgency is pretty much a given in the kitchen. It would be interesting to pose your questions to Chef Keller or Chef Robuchon to see what their expectations are for decorum in their kitchens.

I think there is general agreement among us that profanity is a part of many restaurant kitchens. We get that part. But I see the heart of the discussion more a question of whether or not profanity should be accepted as appropriate in a top, professional kitchen. It seems as though we often accept the unacceptable as a normal course of business-in this case swearing in the kitchen-but do we stop long enough to ask whether or not that is what we should be accepting as the norm?

Thanks Chris for starting a discussion of this topic. As one who is in large part responsible for stoking the fires of this debate about profanity on Top Chef, I'm going to be interested to hear what everyone has to say. Some of you may be interested to read through our posts on Top Chef Season 4--it will give you a perspective on the issue of foul language in the professional kitchen and our differing viewpoints. I've probably been the most vocal in expressing my distaste for the use of the "F" word in a restaurant kitchen. Maybe it is a generational issue, but I'm in the over 50 traditional demographic that doesn't believe that there is a place for profanity in a "Top Chef" kitchen.

But aren't bleeps, snarky attitudes and sniping, like the obligatory guy with the kewpie doll haircut, the main attraction of Top Chef? It's not like this is a show about cooking - it's just another Real Housewives/Rock of Love/Dancing With the Stars "reality" crapfest set in a kitchen. ← But you see, that is where I veer off the common road and take a turn to the left-I don't see the costume jewelry as the main attraction of Top Chef. I guess that puts me in the minority demographic. I do see Top Chef as a show about the food and the cooking. While I find the "What the F is mayonnaise made of....." moments silly enough to generate a chuckle, that's not why I tune in. I watch because I am interested in seeing some talented young chefs and the dishes they create--which in turn keeps me in touch with trends in today's restaurant kitchens. So my level of interest is probably quite different than most people, yet they are the interests that fit my personal tastes. I suppose that is an analogy we could apply to the different tastes of restaurant customers-something on the menu for everyone. My favorite moments from past episodes of Top Chef have all come from the food-Marcel's dish of "Hamachi Poke with Pineapple Poi" from the second season and Hung's "Duck with Truffle Scented Broth & Mushroom Ragout" from last year are a couple of examples. Marcel's Wizard of Oz Munchkin haircut wasn't the reason why I was rooting for him to win-it was his food. (As we all know, I didn't win that office pool--Marcel was booted off the set in favor of Ilan being named the Top Chef. Where is Ilan by the way?).

While I realize that profanity is accepted as the norm in some kitchens, I just can't see that as being appropriate or professional. Certainly I'd be the outcase judge if I sat next to Tom, Padma and Bourdain if this topic came up. The food and the flavors would of course be at the top of my judging criteria. But if I happened to walk into the kitchen with Tom during one of the challenges and I saw and heard one of the chefs swearing up a blue streak, they'd drop down to the bottom of my judges card. If they all shared the F word and their food was awful, I'd have a hard time finding a winner wouldn't I? I can hope that as we go along we'll see some adventurous cuisine put forward. I think we will, but I also think I'll have to accept and put up with the bleeps, the snarky attitudes and the sniping. Such is the intrigue of Top Chef.

Maybe. I'm not sure. Is it (sorry!) a chicken and egg thing? Do we eat less lamb because it's hard to find, or do is it hard to find because we are a country of beef lovers, with easily available cheap chicken and pork? I'd eat good lamb twice a week if I could. And I can't. Somehow, lamb seemed to have slipped off the menu in the average family dinner sometime in the late seventies? ← I sure wish I knew why the American taste for lamb has dropped so drastically. Today when I ask people about eating lamb they turn their noses up. They think it tastes "gamy" and has too much fat. I then counter with questioning whether they've ever eaten lamb and most say no. How sad that someone would discredit a lovely food they have never tasted. It is sort of like asking people this time of year if they have ever eaten rabbit. "You mean bunny rabbit?" "I'd never eat that cute little bunny." As members of eGullet, we certainly know that Mr. Cottontail is a cute animal that tastes delicious, just like your little lamb Mary-cute and delicious all at the same time. My Grandfather knew some of the old Basque sheperds who cared for the flocks of sheep that roamed over Southern Idaho. The sheperds were known for their Basque lamb dishes--recipes that most surely were brought to America from the old country. That's a story going back a century or more and those days and those lamb recipes are for the most part a forgetten chapter of our history in the Northwest.

Could be, but I would say that Chef McEwan and his staff in Toronto do show a lot of class and professionalism sans the F'ing word. I see you hail from Vancouver? Wonderful restaurants in your city.

I think it comes down to the simple facts of cost, demand and regional influences. It saddens me to hear everyone's reports about the lack of lamb throughout our country because it is such a delicious meat. I live only 90 miles from one of the larger lamb processors in the West, yet I can rarely find their lamb products in my local supermarkets. The lamb that we do find in our supermarkets usually comes from a mega-producer and I don't know if it came off a ranch in Eastern Washington or a farm in Wisconsin. And the variety of what we see in our supermarkets consists of lamb shanks and tough shoulder chops with the occasional leg or loin chops thrown in around holiday periods. I rely on Costco to always have racks of Australian or New Zealand lamb available and it is usually in the $10-$12 dollar a pound price range. I find an 8-rib rack of lamb affordable and more than enough for two people. Costco also sells nice, thick-cut lamb loin chops and boneless leg of lamb. I do feel a tinge of guilt buying foreign lamb at Costco because I live in farm and ranch country and one would think that local lamb is readily available. Sadly it is not easily found in the local markets. If we are lucky, sometimes a local farmer will sell lamb at one of our farmer's markets, but unfortunately due to our weather, (we had 7" of snow on Friday), the farmer's markets won't open until later in April. I can buy a whole lamb direct from a local farm, but even with my voracious appetite that's a lotta lamb for one guy. Out West, we've seen the production of lamb and the consumer's taste for lamb decline for many years. The decline in supply has resulted in a rise in the cost of producing lamb. There is a difference in how sheep and cattle are fed and raised, but the higher cost of lamb seems to be more affected by supply and demand than the issue of how sheep are raised. As you all know, beef prices are rapidly rising. Beef tenderloin in the market here yesterday was $18.99 a pound. My Great-Grandfather and Grandfather owned a business in Twin Falls, Idaho that sold wool pelts. Yes, the skin, the hide and the wool all in one. Southern Idaho was once the home to thousands of sheep ranches and lamb was a regular on the dinner table. I remember one time that a family friend fed us a dinner of Mutton Stew. It was delicious. I know most of you are probably turning up your noses at the thought of eating meat from older sheep, but it is fragrant and delicious. You can rarely find mutton today.