Joisey

The thing that fascinates me about Taco Bell is the delivery system for the non-solid ingredients....great hoses hanging from the ceiling looking like a cross between a caulking gun and the oil hoses at Jiffy Lube. I'd last about 5 minutes as a cook there because I'd be shooting people with those sour cream cannons.

I remember seeing that Batali/DuFresne episode when it first aired and expecting Mario to administer a big whupping on him. I'm not a fan of molecular cooking by any stretch and pretty much condsidered WD-50s menu BS. However, as the battle went on I thought some of the stuff Wylie was doing was kind of cool (especially the Tilapia Noodles). By the end when judging came around I said to my wife that I thought the judges weren't giving him as much of a chance as they should. I've put my skepticism of Wylie's style on hold for the most part since. What always strikes me about Mario is how well-rounded he is, cuisine-wise...he can do any style pretty much effortlessly, something I can't say about Bobby. To be honest, I haven't watched Iron Chef since the ridiculous "Battle Hamburger" with Flay and Kerry Simon...I mean, I know Food TV is dumbing it down but come on, IC is the last vestige of anything interesting on that network. I guess that's over with now.

I went on the show's website and read that Sweaty Tom is actually a French Culinary Institute graduate. Either he should get his money back or that school needs to look at its admission standards.

Portland, OR on a Monday afternoon, 1:45 or so. 1.5 hour wait at a 400 seat CCF. They must have gross sales equal to some country's GNP. I don't have a problem with the food, it beats the hell out of the other chain restaurants.

You'd have to go to a Drugstore to find a bigger collection of d**chebags than the men's team on that show. Heather at least has some chops and looks like she's been there before. Personally I'm rooting for more hot tub scenes with Virginia. I think Ramsay is brilliant, though I wish the show was on HBO so we could get it uncensored. The "Apprentice" style elimination segment is beyond tiresome, but it's fun seeing the challenges and watching a kitchen in the shits.

It's a shame to come so close and fall short. When I was there, one of our chef-instructors took the exam. British guy by the name of David St. John-Grubb. He got bounced out of the running because of the shape of his toast points on a dish, if I remember correctly.

"The Cake Bible" by Rose Levy Bernbaum. My wife actually owns it, I just look at the pictures and don't kid myself for a second that I could pull any of that stuff off. Books like that remind me how bad my patissier skills were in school.

Another worthy companion in the series, Ruhlman is one of my favorite writers of ANY genre. The fact his subject matter is my chosen career and life is icing on the cake. I have a couple of questions about the book that maybe Michael or someone else in the know can answer: Did Brian Polcyn take the CMC exam again? If so, was he successful? In the CIA visit chapter, mention is made of Tony Bourdain writing some critical comments of Michael on a website. I'm assuming it was eGullet, but what was the gist of the thread, and does anyone have a link or summary? I was saddened to read that Corky Clark lost his Fish Kitchen at CIA. Although at the time I considered him a complete bastard, the teeth scars I still have on my ass from his seven days back in 1990 teach me lessons every day.