COOKING UNDER FIRE from PBS: April 27 premiere

[BigboyDan]

If I remember right, most of the male contestants were over 23, one was 37 and another was 42 even; thus my remark above about the males being dolts...

[Mnehrling]

::Spoiler Alert if anyone hasn't seen the final episode yet::

Big congrats to Katie.. I guess 'balls to the wall' works better in NYC!

I still was quite impressed with Sarah and Autumn, even with the small errors at the end.

Edited July 14, 2005 by Mnehrling (log)

[BuzzDraft]

Well, it was a long time coming.

English got to make the choice for his own restaurant, but I was still somewhat surprised that Kentucky Katie never was held accountable for her chronic lateness, and breaking some clear instructions/rules. If I'm in the restaurant, and my dishes are coming out cosistently late, or incomplete, the food that did make it to my table would have to more than make up for my irritation.

Anyway, it was a good series. I may watch it over again from the start and see if it feels different the second time.

Thanks Chefs Tsai, Ruhlman, and English.

I still want the 86 pan Katsuji flung on the cooktop when he left.

Edited July 14, 2005 by BuzzDraft (log)

[Mnehrling]

What does everyone think about Todd's comments to Autumn in her humble comments? Maybe it is a Southern thing, but I respect Autumn's reverence for her fellow contestents.

[robert40]

What does everyone think about Todd's comments to Autumn in her humble comments?  Maybe it is a Southern thing, but I respect Autumn's reverence for her fellow contestents.

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I agree ! For the sake of argument who is the best chef among Keller, Bras or Passard ? Or are they different?

I don't buy this I'm better then anyone notion. Most great chef's will admit they are alway's learning.

[coquus]

Ahh, the best reality cooking show I never got to see, I doubt I'm staying up until three to catch the final, so. . . Katie sounds like the best choice, I hope she works out for him. At which of his seventeen restaurants will she be working?

[Mnehrling]

I just thought of something. Katie was complaining they gave her the wrong cornmeal for her grits- requesting white but receiving yellow.

They complained Sarah's polenta was bland- and I noticed it was very 'white'.

Could the different cornmeals have been swapped, thus hurting both of their dishes?

[Phatlouie07]

what the heck was autmn talking about the berries and cows?? funny when katie used "i kicked it up a notch". michael, even though the prize is being in one of todd's restaurants, who would you have picked between sarah and katie if the final say was mostly up to you??

[Mnehrling]

what the heck was autmn talking about the berries and cows??

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I've heard this from some people who are really deep into eating only local organic. I believe Autumn just wasn't explaining clearly (or she was BSing).. Basically, it is cooking with only the ingredients that are ecosystem related. Usually these are militant foragers.

I've tried to find some web resources on this, but the people that follow this must be so far off the grid they don't have the internet.

Edited July 14, 2005 by Mnehrling (log)

[glossyp]

perhaps afterwards i can be persuaded to reveal the identity of culinarycathexis...

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So, is it Katie?

[WHT]

What does everyone think about Todd's comments to Autumn in her humble comments?  Maybe it is a Southern thing, but I respect Autumn's reverence for her fellow contestents.

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I think this gets into an interesting and slightly dangerous area; where self-assessment ends and hype begins. But so much of what goes on in business is based on some “jock-mindset” model. If the product costs more, takes longer to get, is harder to use and hurts a significant number of users the company will still try and play themselves off as the best. Likewise when a company looks for employees that are experts in the technologies as well as totally customer oriented; few such people are truly that good. The same thing if a company wants to hire a person with more years experience than the product has been available or even better one that has experience with something that is only done in that industry by that company.

In any of those cases expectations and bragging will ultimately bring disappointment. The three industries this seems to be most prevalent in are hospitality, sales and technology. A braggart chef or technician can screw up the workplace faster than anything if given the chance. I think in the case of this show the wrong two people made the final cut. To my way of thinking autumn and Katie should have been the final two. Autumn was not as aggressive as she should have been nor as articulate and that hurt her the most.

[RyuShihan]

I'd like to defend the comment about the guys being dolts.

being one of the guy contestants, I can't talk for every single one of them but I can defend myself. I wish I could talk more about the schematics of how each contest worked but PBS made me sign a contract and personally I don't want to be sued for saying something I am not supposed to say. (Especially with Michael trolling the boards ;)

What I do know is alot of people on the show worked at some really nice places and had alot of skill. I am talking able to work at 4-5 star skill, but in any given circumstance on any given day anyone can win any competition. Those with more skill sometimes do better. Sometimes people with less skill fall thru the cracks. Anyone who has ever worked in a kitchen knows this. Just look at that one boss you thought "Man how in the world did he/she ever get in that position?"

In truth, All of the women played very hard. Plain and simple good at cooking. Would I say they were the best, No. Each person has skills that they are strong at, some people were allowed to shine more at those skills, just because the contest fell in their favor. Billy was a butcher, you think if their was a contest on cutting the right cuts of meat he would win? How about Making a real kitchen menu, with Russels knowledge and experince could he control food cost better?

Who would have the best knife skills? In fact could any one contest give you enough information to determin ones skill? Alot of great Chefs will tell you you will lose alot before you win and you will lose alot more after youve won.

The hardest thing as one of the contestants IMO was not knowing how you did in comparison to your competiton. The actual taste of each item. Personally I made many mistakes. I have had previous cooking competition background. So I had that in my mind the whole competition. I was making sure my cuts were correct, making sure everythign was sanitary, not moving to fast. Anyone who has eer done a ACF competitoin knows that you can gain or lose points anywhere. So I was being overly cautious. Unlike Katie who was throwing caution to the wind and trying new things and experimenting. In the end I belive that is what helped her win. Looking back on it from an outside perspective, if I woulda been a judge, she was showing ingenuity as well as some of Saras dishes. Now why didnt any of the guys do it. I know why I didn't, because I thought if i played cautious till latter it would be better. I know for fact a few others did the exact same thing. So maybe it was the girls "want to win" attitude from the start that carried them to the end.

but if you really think the guys were dolts, try finding out where some of them worked or their past experiences. You might be surprised to learn some of their backgrounds. I know I was.

To any of the other contestants who might have been lucky enough to read these forums, I know a couple do......I just wanted to say hi, and it was truthly a great experience.

[YoChefGregg]

The judges did everything that they could to ensure that Katie won.

I wasn't able to see many of the episodes, but it seems that they went out of their way to cut Katie slack. Did the Katie stink eye frighten them?

She does have an intensity that I think the judges appreciated.

She has plenty of chutzpah, but that will take her only so far.

Katie, good luck in your new position.

If the program is on next season, I hope that they get some production help. As on example, they missed the opportunity of showing the expression on Katie's face when they held up the "winner" pan.

[JayBassin]

Does anyone know what the time span was from the first show to the end (in actual months)? And when was the last show actually taped? (It seemed to be in the winter in NYC). If it was about 6 months ago, what's the follow-up? How is Katie doing in the Olives kitchen, and where are Autumn and Sarah now? Personally, I'm surprised that someone with chronic timing problems, a frenetic style, and an inability to follow direction would win, (not to mention serving at least two dishes that would have been sent back to the kitchen---burnt creme brulee and chemical-tasting grits---and not being able to recover with a new dessert after forgetting the lavender).

[ronnie_suburban]

Ryu, thanks for checking in.

Do you think that participating in the show made you a better chef? Were you able to learn even while you were "under fire?"

If you had to choose a winner at the beginning, who would it have been? By the end of the competition, would your pick have been the same?

=R=

[coquus]

Ahh, the best reality cooking show I never got to see, I doubt I'm staying up until three to catch the final, so. . .

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Well, I did. Unfortunately, no final just Miami Down to 6 episode, so I was a bit disappointed that I stayed up for just one episode. It was late so maybe I was seeing things but that steak Katie put out looked pretty raw in the middle, and it seemed to me like she was doing play by play for the whole show.

[Genny]

I was honestly surprised that the judges didn't "get" what Autumn was trying to explain. I'm not big into the organic culture but I remember seeing the catch phrase, "If it grows together it goes together." I thought this is what she meant and it is sound thinking. She seemed to have the most consistent product of the 3 finalists as well. But, alas, I do understand that one must be able to articulate their drive and desire to win.

The cometition was for a job, pure and simple. Every boss has to make hiring decisions based on who will fit in with the existing crew with their skills and personality both. Discipline can be taught, this is something Katie will have to learn and I'm betting that Chef English plans on teaching very quickly. Many of the best dishes came from Katie and that type of talent can't be taught, it can only be harnessed. I think Chef English will also be able to do that.

Thank you to all the contestants, this has been the best "reality show" I've seen (at least that I watch for the contest and not just to laugh at!).

Good Luck Katie! I'd love a recap of how the contestants are doing today and to know how the experience changed them.

[Mnehrling]

It looks like Autumn is doing well:

http://www.tbopusa.com/recipe4.htm

[RyuShihan]

Ronnie, of course it made me better, how could an experience like that not. The amount of pressure, crasy work times, and the stress of waiting was the worst.

Also being able to play with some new ingriedients.

Originally I would never have thought one of the girls was gonna win. I had predicted JP or Katsuji. In truth JP was trying to stay under the radar till closer to the end. Katsuji because he had some really good ideas, but i persoanlly didn't agree with his flavorings of food.

Toward the end I woulda gave it to Sara persoanlly, but like i said before I don't know what the judges tasted. If you look at each contest and see who won which ones, individually its actually kinda surprising how the judges decided on everything. But like it was made clear to me by the producers, each day was a brand new day and nothing was comulative. IF that is truthfully true, then anyone could have won just by whoev er had the most luck. Now if what micheal said earlier was true and the 3 women were plain and simply the best, then that wasn't dictated by each individual competition. by the time episode 5 was picked I had already told JP that i thought Katie was gonna win but I figured she had good experience working for Alain Ducasse. Wish I coulda got so lucky. To answer somone else question the tapings were about 13 days long if you were the final 2.

That was in the aplication information on the website, so thats nothing secret.

[AlexP]

I, once again, enjoyed the shows. However, you could see that in the final 3 challenge, Chef English had decided whom he wanted in the final 2 and even maybe in his kitchen. Although I liked Sarah, her dishes appeared to be the weakest. Her dessert had raw dough and the other one was not good (I just cannot remember what it was now). Autumn's food did not received on the program any complains, it was just her attitude. For the first time, in my opinion, the worst performer in the specific challenge did not get eliminated. Did Sarah's lasagna alone save her?

In the final, it was pretty clear that Katie was going to win from the first dish. Sarah was just not there, poorly cook foie, dirty truffles, undercooked lamb...

Katie made some mistakes, specially late food and lack of dessert, but at the end, the food was better according to the judges. I wish Sarah had done a better job, but I think Chef English made up his mind before the final.

Are there plans for a second season in progress?

Alex

[WHT]

I was thinking about the chemical taste noticed in the grits dish. It may have been from the preservatives in the cream cheese, some of the brands tend to weep if not kept cold. Salt or sugar would make the taste more prevalent as would heat.

[oneidaone]

What about the description "decomposed lasagna"? she probably wanted to kick herself for using

that term instead of "deconstructed."

I thought it was mean at the end when they held up the pan and made both agonize over the

final outcome, it seemed to last an enternity.

Congratulations to Katie - nice swig on the champagne bottle! You deserved it! A hui hou.......

[BryanZ]

Is Katie still cooking at Olives?

[ronnie_suburban]

Thanks, Ryu, for the reply. Best of luck in all your future endeavors.

=R=

[BigboyDan]

Actually Autumn is the winner - chef de cuisine in Washington state instead of on the line in a New York sweatbox.

Edited July 14, 2005 by BigboyDan (log)