Groundbreaking Chefs Whose Food Has Seen Better Days

[makemewarmer]

I just think that a restaurant such as The Fat Duck would place a lot of value on innovation and exploration.

Alinea has been on top for years and the restaurant continues to push itself into new territory. I think that is very admirable and I almost expect it from restaurants of this caliber.

After all, The Fat Duck has a food lab that I assume is for the sake of cultivating new ideas. Great restaurants are supposed to evolve, that's what makes them great.

[JudyB]

I just think that a restaurant such as The Fat Duck would place a lot of value on innovation and exploration.

Alinea has been on top for years and the restaurant continues to push itself into new territory. I think that is very admirable and I almost expect it from restaurants of this caliber.

After all, The Fat Duck has a food lab that I assume is for the sake of cultivating new ideas. Great restaurants are supposed to evolve, that's what makes them great.

With reservations being so difficult and the prices being so high it's four years since we were last there. However, based on our experience over previous visits and on the write-ups I have seen it is clear that the menu at the Fat Duck does evolve. The "problem" is that the headline description of many of the dishes either remains unchanged or changes only in subtle ways so it isn't obvious from the website.

So to find out how much the menu really changes you need to find someone (with lots of money!) who goes there regularly enough to be able to give a reliable report on how much the menu actually changes.

Edited May 20, 2012 by JudyB (log)

[chefzoso]

My biggest one would be Todd English....He also seemed like a media creation....One famous Chef whose restaurants never disappoint in Jose Andres

[Baselerd]

I've never eaten at a Jose Andres restaurant, but Minibar seems very relevant and creative, which I can respect.

[pacman1978]

Gordon Ramsay for me. He was a great chef but now is a tv celeb and a large chunk of his restauarant empire failed a few eyars ago and he was close to losing it all. RHR is an amazing restaurant with 3 stars but it would be interesting to know how much he has to do with that and how much needs to be credited to Clare Smyth the head chef...

Sadly though a lot more money in the celeb route cooking simple food than being head chef of a two or three star restaurant.

[radtek]

Perhaps John Besh? His Lüke restaurant here hasn't been communicated well to me by my friends.

It's easy to lose your edge in this business and if the chef/owner isn't ALWAYS around to make sure things are up to par you start to see a slide no matter how talented the Exec is. AT that point they're just cooking his food.

But I also think there is the "jaded" aspect to it as well. That is why I try to patronize my long-time favorites infrequently and do my own cooking. If I go too often the dishes and service just don't seem as good as my memory serves. Familiarity breeds contempt.

[Gregg]

Also falling all the way to number 13 on the Pellegrino list this year. They really have to get back in the game.

I'm really hoping that's sarcasm. Both his restaurants are listed in the top 15 restaraunts in the world. Id consider them sqaurely "in the game".

Lol. I thought the same thing! I'd have to agree with Todd English. Lunch at Olives in Vegas a few months ago wasn't far from lunch at Wendy's in the airport the next day. But the price was.

[HungryC]

Perhaps John Besh? His Lüke restaurant here hasn't been communicated well to me by my friends.

It's easy to lose your edge in this business and if the chef/owner isn't ALWAYS around to make sure things are up to par you start to see a slide no matter how talented the Exec is. AT that point they're just cooking his food.

But I also think there is the "jaded" aspect to it as well. That is why I try to patronize my long-time favorites infrequently and do my own cooking. If I go too often the dishes and service just don't seem as good as my memory serves. Familiarity breeds contempt.

Can't agree with the Besh assessment, as his other places--Domenica, Borgne--are certainly at the top of the game locally. I suggest that Paul Prudhommes K Paul's is but a sad shadow of its former self.

[ScoopKW]

Lol. I thought the same thing! I'd have to agree with Todd English. Lunch at Olives in Vegas a few months ago wasn't far from lunch at Wendy's in the airport the next day. But the price was.

I haven't tried Ramsay's new place at Paris casino because I haven't heard anyone (cooks, chefs, servers, guests, friends, critics, nobody) say a good word about it. Except for the food review at the local newspaper, who has never handed down a bad review, ever. (I suspect the paper disallows bad reviews about major advertisers.)

[Brown Hornet]

On WG Puck... Here in Atlanta "Wolfgang Puck Catering" offers the worst faux beef burgers and dogs and frozen chicken fingers imaginable at the "Georgia Aquarium". Worse than school food. So yeah, that drags his name down. http://www.georgiaaquarium.org/explore-the-aquarium/food-and-shopping/

Yup, Puck's casual dining restaurants aren't any better. I'd rather save some bucks and eat at a McDonalds. On the other hand, my meal at CUT in Vegas was one of the best steakhouse meals I've ever had with dare-I-say a fairly inventive menu.

Regarding Colicchio, his short-lived Atlanta Craft/Crafbar was actually very good, albeit overpriced in comparison to comparable Atlanta restaurants. I give Tom lots of credit for outstanding quality control if the Atlanta branch was indicative of his other restaurants. The former chefs at Craft Atlanta have moved on to other very successful Atlanta restaurants which again speaks highly of Tom's eye for developing a strong culinary team.

[gfweb]

I ate at Colicchio's Riverpark a while ago. It was just average at best. Undercooked ravioli. Uninspired seasoning of the entree. Didn't respect the protein.

Pack your knives... and all that.

Edited December 13, 2012 by gfweb (log)

[jsmeeker]

Lol. I thought the same thing! I'd have to agree with Todd English. Lunch at Olives in Vegas a few months ago wasn't far from lunch at Wendy's in the airport the next day. But the price was.

I haven't tried Ramsay's new place at Paris casino because I haven't heard anyone (cooks, chefs, servers, guests, friends, critics, nobody) say a good word about it. Except for the food review at the local newspaper, who has never handed down a bad review, ever. (I suspect the paper disallows bad reviews about major advertisers.)

I had a pretty good experience there a few days before Thanksgiving.

[flourgirl]

Wow, Jose Andres and Bobby Flay! My heros!

Me too. Every recipe I make of Bobby's is a hit!

[SobaAddict70]

Todd English... but was he ever all that great?

Tom Colicchio? I have never been to any of his restaurants, but I am wondering if he is more than a popular face on Top Chef. Is he cashing in on his fame, or is he really that talented?

Funny, as I was channel surfing tonight, I saw Todd English was on HSN shilling his "line of Mediterranean-inspired cookware, appliances and gourmet foods. Episode 33."

Now, I never ate at any of the early or groundbreaking English restaurants (if indeed there ever were any), but the first time I ate at one of his restaurants, it was in Vegas...and it sucked.

So, I don't know the answer to your first question.

As far as Tom C. goes, I think his restaurants are still putting out some pretty damn good food.

Well, we know that Todd's latest venture in NYC sucks. The review below was posted the day after Christmas, so it's fairly recent.

We could have enjoyed branzino a la plancha without the overcooked, rubbery fish. It sits on a bright, beautiful base of ruby-red pomodoro, itself resting atop emerald-green basil pistou. They’re both shaped into round-edged stars. It’s a dazzling combo, even if the Provence-evoking pistou belongs more to May than a chilly New York December. Rabbit tagliatelle ($24) doesn’t hit those heights; while fork-tender meat nicely absorbs the acidic tomato broth, the pasta resembles store-bought egg noodles.

Desserts continue the slide back downhill. There’s a random quality to sweets like the apple crisp ($14), which yokes together quince butter, green apple sorbet, egg-noggy nutmeg ice cream, and a fried hunk of sugar-coated dough we took to be the crisp. Likewise, brick oven roasted banana ($14) pairs a grilled banana with neutered salted-caramel ice cream and little meringues. It looked, felt, and tasted incoherent.

After sipping from one of the most vile restaurant espressos ($5) I’ve ever sampled, I asked our server where Olives gets its beans. He conferred with an unseen manager, returning triumphant with the answer: “Arabica.” I gave up.

Read more: http://www.nydailyne...0#ixzz2GxLZFmfR

[rotuts]

Yar ! todd is just after those consulting checks. he seems to need they for personal fees.