mattsea

Yes, he does seem a strange choice. MasterChef Australia went the opposite route, with the show praised for its non-harsh attitude towards contestants. It was apparently (I didn't watch it) a softer, friendlier reality show. The ratings were through the roof.

This is an attitude I'll never be able to understand. A risotto, cooked traditionally, will take somewhere in the region of 17-20 minutes to cook. Are those 10-13 minutes *that* important? I enjoy cooking, and I suspect you do too! I just don't understand.

The UK show MasterChef has been licensed by Fox. An American version of the show will appear in 2010, hosted by Ramsay.

I had no idea they're notoriously tricky! Mine is about 6 foot tall, and produces more leaves than I could ever use!! I do suspect that Rhode Island has slightly different weather to Western Australia though, which may explain the difference. Mine likes full sun (and I mean FULL), and I tend to water it every 2-3 days in summer. It's in a large pot with good drainage. They also seem to like being pruned. I regularly massacre mine and it comes right back with growth spurts.

I just wish that the finale episodes themselves went for 2 hours. Then we would get more of a sense of the creation, execution and judging of each dish.

My understanding is that the current French Laundry technique for poaching a lobster tail (ie. poaching in beurre monte controlled by an immersion circulator) is a hybrid of the classic TFL technique (a traditional poach) and the technique used at Per Se in the early days (cryo-vac'd tail with small amount of butter). As to why they've chosen to use this hybrid technique I don't know. I do know that it's delicious.

In Myer last night I saw Thai Street Food for $69.95 and Movida Rustica for $44.95. I imagine they're the same price at other Myers.

I can think of a few exceptions to the rule, such as Thai Food by David Thompson.

as far as sandwiches go, I very much enjoyed Eisenberg's Sandwich Shop when I was in NY last year.

I don't think I could do $1 per head, but $1 per course should be possible. Where are you drawing the line as to what's included in the $1? Spices from your cupboard? Cooking oil? Electricity and gas?

Gail Simmons has confirmed that the two-part finale will be shot in Napa. Maybe the Thomas Keller rumours are true?

Agreed, but I think there is a considerable middle ground between a stiff, formal, servile server who refrains from giving his/her name, and the "pal" who is over-friendly as you describe. I'd like someone in the middle. Someone human, but not in my face.

Yes, I agree. The only possible exception would be if these occurred in truly top restaurants for which you were paying a significant amount of money (like Per Se or Le Bernardin or something). Other than that, I think adherence to these rules would make things too fussy for me. The "no names" rule really strikes me as odd and somewhat archaic.

My girlfriend and I both loved Oyamel, Jose Andres' Mexican small-plates restaurant.

I believe he splits his time and has constant video hookups from one kitchen to the other.