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COOKING UNDER FIRE from PBS: April 27 premiere

Gifted Gourmet

By Gifted Gourmet
in Food Media & Arts

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glossyp

glossyp

Posted
Posted (edited)
as gloria estefan would say "comin out of the dark"..............it's me katie.

Aloha! It is you, just as we suspected/expected. Congratulations. How is it going?

edited for clarity as usual.

Edited by glossyp (log)

"Eat it up, wear it out, make it do or do without." TMJ Jr. R.I.P.

jeunefilleparis

jeunefilleparis

Posted
Posted

Having known Katie for several years and having been cooked many meals by her, it is a bit hard to be objective, but here goes

I didnt watch every episode because i have been away, but on the episodes that i did catch, Katie was always on top of her game. Yes she had her faults and like all the other contestants, she was called on them. They did not let her off easily when they thought that she was slacking.

I m very surprised at all these comments about her being "gruff". Have any of you worked in a kitchen, i ve never met an executive chef be "really warm" in the kitchen, outside of the kitchen, fine, but while working,I dont think so.

Being friendly is great but when you are in a kitchen trying to serve top quality food, being warm and cheerful doesnt pay off. You need to be a leader and you need to be assertive. As Katie mentioned, if a guy is assertive hes just doing his job and that is all fine and dandy but put a woman in his shoes, shes a total bitch and it s amazing that in the 21rst century that women are still expected to act passively. Asserting onesself doesnt equate to bitchiness. It is a necessary part of the job that will lead to success.

Also, I have to comment on the posts regardign the "3 girl winners" Clearly the judges thought that they were the best; and had they been men, I seriously doubt that anyone would have said a thing.

Katie had an internship at ADNY and then went on to work there. I met everyone in the kitchen there( before the news chefs came) and if she can stand them and work with them ( where she was one of the only women chefs) she can hold her own at Olives.

Katie, I wish you all the best, you dont need any luck. Just create those meals that you ve made me and I know you ll rock.

L

"Is there anything here that wasn't brutally slaughtered" Lisa Simpson at a BBQ

"I think that the veal might have died from lonliness"

Homer

kjente2

kjente2

Posted
Posted (edited)
For "oneidaone"

I CANNOT BELIEVE I SAID DECOMPOSED! And what kills me is that I didn't even notice when I watched the finale. I read what you said and had to go back and watch the show to see it with my own eyes. I feel like such an idiot... At least Ming knew what I meant. I don't think the judges even noticed when it happened. Talk about embarrassing!!!

Thanks for pointing it out!

Sara Lawson

You did a GREAT job! Very much enjoyed watching!

Where are you now?

On another note, KQED in Northern CA will not air the last episode until next week. The way that I heard Autumn's statement about cows and raspberries was cook locally. I was more amazed that the judges didn't hear that.

Edited by kjente2 (log)
RyuShihan

RyuShihan

Posted
Posted

To second what micheal said, If you ever got to meet Rieber youll notice one thing, he is very genuine. After watching "The naked Chef" you can tell his style of production is more about real fealings than the made up stuff you see on alot of other cooking shows.

AS for Katie, let me be the first to say, she was very GRUF the first few days, but hell so was every person competiting. Everyone was trying to feel each other out and I can still remember the first day how it was like stepping on egg shells. In fact the very first 86 felt like a freight train. You would think after you heard it wasn't you , you might be relieved but i truth you knew only one person was gonna win. So it was more like, "When is it my turn" In the end once alot of us got to know each other better you find out Katie is actually a very careing person, she took interest right away about my wife and child. When we were all sitting up in the room watching "Sideways", the day after the wine competition. I still remember someone saying " Now why didn't we watch this the night before?" was either Autumn or Sara. Because of all of the wine information it had. Katsuji I even found wasn't so bad after you had a couple of beers with him. Russel was by far the funniest person on that trip. Autumn, I only saw her not smile the first day , she was always very happy. In truth, everyone who competed won something....True it wasn't the cool job Katie has but it was one hell of an experience, I would tell anyone if they had the chance to take it. You learn so much from all of the contestants, and you get to play with items you migth not get to normally. So if you trully have a real passion for cooking, this was AWESOME.

Hi ,Sara and Katie....btw sara like your new job? Katie, "Get er Done!"

Sara Lawson

Sara Lawson

Posted
Posted

Thanks to everyone for their support of myself and all the other finalists (HI MATT! HEY CHERRY!). I am genuinely grateful for all the posts I've read, good and bad. (It's nice to know people watched and enjoyed the show!)

To answer questions regarding where I am now... I am running a small private bistro on the Culver City Studios Lot: "Stage One Bistro." It's basically a one-woman show, open only for lunch, with a very seasonal menu, and great daily specials. I'm really having a lot of fun with it.

I really enjoyed doing the show. Inviting everyone to my room in all the different cities to study and food-talk really made it easier for me. I learned things from every single finalist, and feel like I've grown tremendously since. If I could do it all over again, I would in a heartbeat.

So when you feel the sweat, start to trickle down your back, and the hungry people are about to attack, don't you fret, and don't forget, you'll always be, COOKING UNDER FIRE!!! (Ming Tsai, you crack me up) Hahaha...

Behemoth

Behemoth

Posted
Posted

Sara! I was sure you would quietly take first place in the end but then again I never seem to call these things right. Maybe I need to start watching more reality shows. Then again maybe not.

MichBill

MichBill

Posted
Posted
Thanks to everyone for their support of myself and all the other finalists (HI MATT! HEY CHERRY!). I am genuinely grateful for all the posts I've read, good and bad. (It's nice to know people watched and enjoyed the show!)

To answer questions regarding where I am now... I am running a small private bistro on the Culver City Studios Lot: "Stage One Bistro." It's basically a one-woman show, open only for lunch, with a very seasonal menu, and great daily specials. I'm really having a lot of fun with it.

I really enjoyed doing the show. Inviting everyone to my room in all the different cities to study and food-talk really made it easier for me. I learned things from every single finalist, and feel like I've grown tremendously since. If I could do it all over again, I would in a heartbeat.

So when you feel the sweat, start to trickle down your back, and the hungry people are about to attack, don't you fret, and don't forget, you'll always be, COOKING UNDER FIRE!!! (Ming Tsai, you crack me up) Hahaha...

Hi Sara

It was fun to watch the series. I really enjoyed it. Obviously it was not a true test of cooking skills. You were so much more competent than Katie and it was kind of interesting to see the judges ratiionalize how to figure a way to let her win.

I hope you are doing well. All of us who watched the entire series know that you were the real winner.

Rebel Rose

Rebel Rose

Posted
Posted

Ryu, Sara, Katie, what was it like to socialize in the evenings and compete during the day? Is it similar to working in a kitchen, or much more intense? Is it hard to go from laughing and having a beer at the end of the day to aceing your friends out the next morning? How do you prime yourself to focus like that?

Obviously there was a lot more filmed than we saw. I am currently working on a video project, and the videographer tells me to plan on four hours of shooting for every three minutes of finished film. Can you tell us more about what the shooting was like--the hours, setup, frustrations, etc.?

_____________________

Mary Baker

Solid Communications

Find me on Facebook

Matthew Sievert

Matthew Sievert

Posted
Posted

I enjoyed the series.

I think it was done in true PBS style (I used to work for a local PBS station). The judges were critical, but provided positive feedback no matter the circumstances.

Even if Katie's food was late, or non-existant. Her work portrayed the philosophy that every cook in the industry should obtain. Such as, Don't ever serve substandard or burnt food.

About her final brulee not being presented. I can understand that if her "perfect" meal was not "perfect" then second-best was not going to cut it.

Congrats to all the cooks who participated.

john b

john b

Posted
Posted
About her final brulee not being presented. I can understand that if her "perfect" meal was not "perfect" then second-best was not going to cut it.

I was left wondering why Katie didn't just serve a classic creme brulee, omitting the lavender when she found out that she left lavender off of her mis list.

John

"I can't believe a roasted dead animal could look so appealing."--my 10 year old upon seeing Peking Duck for the first time.

Michael Ruhlman

Michael Ruhlman

Posted
Posted

that's a good question. but also remember that dessert was not required in that final competition.

as for lavendar, I've always liked a comment Eric Ripert made. "lavendar you put in the drawer to make the socks smell nice. don't put it in your food."

prasantrin

prasantrin

Posted
Posted
that's a good question.  but also remember that dessert was not required in that final competition.

as for lavendar, I've always liked a comment Eric Ripert made.  "lavendar you put in the drawer to make the socks smell nice.  don't put it in your food."

I just got back to North America last week, so I only saw the last two episodes. But since you brought up Eric Ripert, I think you, he, and Anthony Bourdain should be the judges if there's a second season. How much fun would that be to watch! :biggrin::blink:

BCinBC

BCinBC

Posted
Posted
as for lavendar, I've always liked a comment Eric Ripert made.  "lavendar you put in the drawer to make the socks smell nice.  don't put it in your food."

That's a good quote, Michael. I was suspicious about the lavendar creme brulee as well, although obviously if I was able to taste it I might change my mind.

After having watched the 2nd half of the series, I have to agree that the half-hour format was waaaay too short - relatedly the time allotted to viewing the actual cooking was too limited, and the "reasoning" of the judges to cut Katie slack could have been elaborated on. (I had the same perception that BuzzDraft did, in that Katie seemed to be sending out the best food but she also had some advantages or shall we say leniency working for her.) The scripted parts (intro and 86) that Michael, Todd and Ming had to do were too hokey, but at least would be palatable if they took up 2 minutes worth of a 60 minute show rather than a 30 minute show. And giving the guest chef more time to do demos etc would be great. Many or all problems solved by going to an hour.

I did enjoy the show and would like to see another season (in hour format, not to harp on it...). Also a final "where are they now" episode following up on all the contestants would be welcomed - I need closure! Congrats to Katie, Sara, Ryu and the rest by the way. I hope the series gets rerun in marathon format by PBS so I can see the whole thing.

My trip report: South of France, September 2005

-----

I'm okay, you're okay!

RyuShihan

RyuShihan

Posted
Posted

rebel rose to answer your question from my opinion only, when we had time off we relaxed best we could, for me that meant finding a place to grab something to drink, oddly in my real life time i hardly drink but it wasn't like i had many options not knowing any of the places really we went to. and ppl split up to sorta hang out with who they felt comfortable with at that time. So it wasn't uncommon to see ppl hanging out with different ppl as the show went on. Even from teh first episode i think every one felt sad everytime someone got 86'th but also relieved at the same time. Was very weird emotions imo. Altho I am sure Katsuji would tell you he was just relieved.

oneidaone

oneidaone

Posted
Posted
as gloria estefan would say "comin out of the dark"..............it's me katie.

Aloha and CONGRATULATIONS Katie! I always liked that Gloria song! Like I said before, I enjoyed

seeing you take that victory swig! Good luck and stay cool! A hui hou :smile:

"You can't miss with a ham 'n' egger......"

Ervin D. Williams 9/1/1921 - 6/8/2004

Rebel Rose

Rebel Rose

Posted
Posted
Even from teh first episode i think every one felt sad everytime someone got 86'th but also relieved at the same time.  Was very weird emotions imo. 

I was once in a similar [non-food] competition, which is why I asked. I learned more about myself in the offline time with competitors than I did during the competition. Hard to explain, but interesting.

Edited to add: This is one reason I so admire all of you. This was a long, demanding, adventurous process--not a one day taping. Everyone demonstrated tenacity and desire and passion that few of us could. Bravo!

_____________________

Mary Baker

Solid Communications

Find me on Facebook

jeunefilleparis

jeunefilleparis

Posted
Posted

Chef Katie

I hope that your first day at Olives went well!! Please let us all know what you thought about it. Oh and i want to know if your whole name is on your sous chef coat or only the last name you like

L :rolleyes:

"Is there anything here that wasn't brutally slaughtered" Lisa Simpson at a BBQ

"I think that the veal might have died from lonliness"

Homer

john b

john b

Posted
Posted

as for lavendar, I've always liked a comment Eric Ripert made.  "lavendar you put in the drawer to make the socks smell nice.  don't put it in your food."

Now that I think about it, the one time I ate lavendar creme brulee, it reminded me of creamy perfume.

John

"I can't believe a roasted dead animal could look so appealing."--my 10 year old upon seeing Peking Duck for the first time.

ken T

ken T

Posted
Posted

Todd English in today's Seattle Post-Intelligencer talking about Autumn ...

But, reached yesterday after landing in Seattle to attend an event at his restaurant, Fish Club, English sounded softer. "It was a tough decision at the end of the day. The last three were really great. I shouldn't say she (Autumn) wasn't the best pick. In the limited time that we had, her experience didn't maybe lend itself best to the position we were filling."

achevres

achevres

Posted
Posted

I must chime in because it's hard for me to keep seeing a word misspelled...it is lavender.

BTW, congratulations Katie!

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