Alain Ducasse vs. Joël Robuchon

[DanM]

Let me preface this by saying that I am severely sleep deprived and strange things come into my head...

I was watching a rerun of No Reservations in Paris where Anthony Bordain goes on a love story about Joël Robuchon and his accomplishments. The only other chef I can think of that is as accomplished today is Alain Ducasse.

So here is the mental exercise of the day... If Chefs Robuchon and Ducasse got into a friendly cooking competition, what would go down and who would win?

Any other chefs you would love to see compete?

Dan

[David Ross]

I'm not so sure I'd like to see Robuchon and Ducasse in a competition. The idea leaves me with a sense that such an event would somehow end up sending a signal that the winner was "better" and I'm not so sure that would be an accurate assesment of their talent. I've tasted the cuisine of both Ducasse and Robuchon and I find their styles so different that I'm not so sure a competition would prove one is better than the other. Both of course are technical Masters, so it would end up being a matter of style I think.

While I have my personal favorite of the two, I'm not sure one is actually better than the other. I have friends who worship Robuchon, others praise Ducasse. I have friends who idolize Guy Savoy, whose Las Vegas restaurant I find to be boring and only average. Then again, some of those same critics think Pierre Gagnaire is a genius savant. I find his cuisine often confusing and muddled.

Having said all of that, your idea of a competition between such highly regarded Chefs is certainly intriguing.

[Shalmanese]

Didn't Iron Chef Japan do this about 10 years ago?

[DanM]

I'm not so sure I'd like to see Robuchon and Ducasse in a competition. The idea leaves me with a sense that such an event would somehow end up sending a signal that the winner was "better" and I'm not so sure that would be an accurate assesment of their talent. I've tasted the cuisine of both Ducasse and Robuchon and I find their styles so different that I'm not so sure a competition would prove one is better than the other. Both of course are technical Masters, so it would end up being a matter of style I think.

While I have my personal favorite of the two, I'm not sure one is actually better than the other. I have friends who worship Robuchon, others praise Ducasse. I have friends who idolize Guy Savoy, whose Las Vegas restaurant I find to be boring and only average. Then again, some of those same critics think Pierre Gagnaire is a genius savant. I find his cuisine often confusing and muddled.

Having said all of that, your idea of a competition between such highly regarded Chefs is certainly intriguing.

Many good points. But again, this would be a friendly competition that would hopefully end with a few laughs and a bottle of wine, provided by the loser, of course.

Thomas Keller vs. ???

Julia Child vs. ??

[David Ross]

I'm not so sure I'd like to see Robuchon and Ducasse in a competition. The idea leaves me with a sense that such an event would somehow end up sending a signal that the winner was "better" and I'm not so sure that would be an accurate assesment of their talent. I've tasted the cuisine of both Ducasse and Robuchon and I find their styles so different that I'm not so sure a competition would prove one is better than the other. Both of course are technical Masters, so it would end up being a matter of style I think.

While I have my personal favorite of the two, I'm not sure one is actually better than the other. I have friends who worship Robuchon, others praise Ducasse. I have friends who idolize Guy Savoy, whose Las Vegas restaurant I find to be boring and only average. Then again, some of those same critics think Pierre Gagnaire is a genius savant. I find his cuisine often confusing and muddled.

Having said all of that, your idea of a competition between such highly regarded Chefs is certainly intriguing.

Many good points. But again, this would be a friendly competition that would hopefully end with a few laughs and a bottle of wine, provided by the loser, of course.

Thomas Keller vs. ???

Julia Child vs. ??

Let's see. Maybe Thomas Keller, (American Chef doing French), vs. Boulud, (The French that took on America).

Julia Child in her day maybe vs. Craig Claiborne? Cookbook Author and Cook vs. Restaurant Critic and Cook?

[Big Mike]

I'd like to see Thomas Keller face off against Grant Achatz. The whole teacher vs. student thing would be fun.

[paul o' vendange]

I'd like to see Thomas Keller face off against Grant Achatz. The whole teacher vs. student thing would be fun.

I thought the matchups were limited to mortals only?

[chef koo]

The matchup is just as important as the judges I think. The result is basically shows the demographic of the people eating it. If you had a group middle class americans from the south judge a competition between Paul Prudhomme and Joel Robuchon, I'm sure the votes would be vastly in favor of the former. Also the criteria. With 2 chefs at the top level competing it really is a matter of who the judges happend to prefer. And what if the culinary philosphy of a particular chef doesn't fit the criteria? They're screwed. What if it's a timed competition. Some chefs have food that takes hours to prepare.

Edited December 10, 2010 by chef koo (log)

[jsmeeker]

Many good points. But again, this would be a friendly competition that would hopefully end with a few laughs and a bottle of wine, provided by the loser, of course.

Thomas Keller vs. ???

Julia Child vs. ??

Julia Child vs. Rachael Ray.

Both were/are Celebrity TV cooks. Both were/are popular. Both female.