Bravo's Top Chef Season 2

[Jakea222]

I still want to know what a MASTER COOK is, can anyone tell me - NOT a MASTER CHEF - it is driving me crazy

[C_Ruark]

I still want to know what a MASTER COOK is, can anyone tell me - NOT a MASTER CHEF  - it is driving me crazy

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Answers are upstream. ETA: Find my entry on p10.

~C

Edited January 29, 2007 by C_Ruark (log)

[racheld]

Nothing to do with Marcel's cheffing skills, but he just KEPT mumbling about "xan-thum gum." 

Win or lose, perhaps Marcel could team up with Alton Brown for a show--they could cook in twin "TAN-GINES."

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I've never quoted ME before, but it must be done, so that I can apologize for the snarky remark about things I knew not of. (I have children and grandbabies to be an example to, and one must uphold Standards).

There IS such a thing as xantham gum, which is some bacteria-derived, air-helping, foam-bubbling concoction which apparently kept Marcel in foams all season.

I HAD looked it up, knowing about xanTHAN gum already, thought I had all gears humming, and so I spelled my jibe just like he said it, "xanthum." Just today I found my error whilst reading the latest "Voyage into Creativity" in The Daily Gullet. docsconz mentioned it and spelled the new one correctly, and I found it by that spelling.

So---apologies all round, to Marcel, to anybody who knew better and was polite enough to preserve my dignity, to anybody who got the wrong idea from me, the total ignoramus of all things molecular.

I stand by the Alton Snark---are his PEOPLE too afraid to correct him, or does someone of his stature in the Food World really NOT KNOW?

[KristiB50]

Food and Wine posted an interview with the winner on their website today!!!

It's now gone but I can't believe they made such an idiotic mistake!

[BryanZ]

Xanthum, xantham, xanthan are all the same thing. The proper spelling is xanthan, however.

[prasantrin]

Food and Wine posted an interview with the winner on their website today!!!

It's now gone but I can't believe they made such an idiotic mistake!

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That's my kind of magazine!

Seriously, I'm not one for suspense, and I read spoilers all the time (I also read the endings of books fairly soon after starting them). So if you want to leak the winner to me, I'd be more than happy to know! (And I promise I won't reveal it to anyone else!)

[KristiB50]

  That's my kind of magazine! 

Seriously, I'm not one for suspense, and I read spoilers all the time (I also read the endings of books fairly soon after starting them).  So if you want to leak the winner to me, I'd be more than happy to know!  (And I promise I won't reveal it to anyone else!)

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I PM'd the winner and the Food and Wine article to you. Enjoy!

[annecros]

I have to admit I am not pleased with the recent spoiler. But, honestly, whatever. It is a television show.

I am sure both finalists are doing just fine, and have opportunities they would have never dreamed of otherwise.

In a perfect world, and all that.

[SorchaR]

And is it just me, or did Ilan and Sam throw Elia under the bus on that whole Marcel cheating thing?  They egged her on to get her to say something, and then didn't have a word of support or evidence themselves.

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They absolutely did. Just like they did to Cliff the week before.

[racheld]

Thanks, Bryan---at least I was within blocks of the ballpark. I've been reading "xanthan gum" on lists of ingredients for what seems like forty years, and the definition I read said the xantham has been around only since the 80's.

I still shoulda played nicer.

[rconnelly]

Damn, I'm sorry I missed F&W website.

Anyway, I just had a flashback about the very first episode and the first two people they showed...Ilan and Marcel!

Clever editing? Or just a coincidence?

My prediciton....Ilan wins after Marcel gets caught trying to sabotage Ilan's meal!

I know they aren't going to be in the kitchen together, but the great spirits tell me this is so!

[annecros]

Well, Food & Wine is now covering their butts. They said they did a profile of both of the finalists so they would be ready to go to press immediately for the March issue, and they have them both on the website now.

Ack

[gingersweetiepie]

Well, Food & Wine is now covering their butts. They said they did a profile of both of the finalists so they would be ready to go to press immediately for the March issue, and they have them both on the website now.

Ack

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transparent damage control for fear of lower ratings, but you obviously know that.

awful.

[Jakea222]

Thanks - I have never heard of that - is it a self or restaurant proclaimed title...oh well they are all pretty good cooks - too much drama for me

[annecros]

Thanks - I have never heard of that - is it a self or restaurant proclaimed title...oh well they are all pretty good cooks - too much drama for me

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I think it is his actual title at work.

[Dave Weinstein]

Note that the "new" interview also continues the "official" (and false) claims that the head shaving preceeded the attack on Marcel.

[BryanZ]

Elia admitted that they shaved their heads afterwards on her Chow.com interview. She may well have not known about the plan until Cliff attacked Marcel, but that's not really relevant anymore.

[BryanZ]

In anticipation of the finale, Sir Bruni graces us with his opinion in today's New York Times.

For all its generically hyped-up drama, cheesy gimmickry and abject fealty to the tropes of reality television, “Top Chef” really is about cooking: what goes into it; what comes out of it; what reliably succeeds in the kitchen and on the plate; what predictably doesn’t.

Full story.

[Othafa9]

I still want to know what a MASTER COOK is, can anyone tell me - NOT a MASTER CHEF  - it is driving me crazy

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A Master Cook, is a Las Vegas Casino coorporate designation. For instance their is no such thing as a "pastry cook" here. All pastry cooks are deemed "Bakers". A master cook is half-way between a Cook, and a sous-chef.

[annecros]

Elia admitted that they shaved their heads afterwards on her Chow.com interview.  She may well have not known about the plan until Cliff attacked Marcel, but that's not really relevant anymore.

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Here is another interview from Gothamist with Marcel, that clarifies that the head shaving took place after the man handling.

http://www.gothamist.com/archives/2007/01/...el_vigneron.php

[C_Ruark]

I still want to know what a MASTER COOK is, can anyone tell me - NOT a MASTER CHEF  - it is driving me crazy

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A Master Cook, is a Las Vegas Casino coorporate designation. For instance their is no such thing as a "pastry cook" here. All pastry cooks are deemed "Bakers". A master cook is half-way between a Cook, and a sous-chef.

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Sort of OT: If the pseudo-traditional brigade model is used, aren't Commis and Chef's de <station> senior? I've never worked Vegas (not that I want to ).

[hsm]

In anticipation of the finale, Sir Bruni graces us with his opinion in today's New York Times.

For all its generically hyped-up drama, cheesy gimmickry and abject fealty to the tropes of reality television, “Top Chef” really is about cooking: what goes into it; what comes out of it; what reliably succeeds in the kitchen and on the plate; what predictably doesn’t.

Full story.

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I don't believe I fully understood just how weak that opinion was until now.

Mr. Colicchio, whose projected earnestness gives his opinions extra weight, offered one kitchen aphorism after another.

Caught the tail end, sts, of Ilan and Marcel on the Today Show. Ilan's still a weasel, so while I don't have to like him to like his food, I do have to at least hope he'll win to watch.

The continuing attempt to sell the mythology that the hair cuts took place after the assault may be one of the most annoying TV things ever. You were busted, Bravo. Try making something out of that besides Lame Stew.

Edited January 31, 2007 by hsm (log)

[Blondie]

Here is another interview from Gothamist with Marcel, that clarifies that the head shaving took place after the man handling.

http://www.gothamist.com/archives/2007/01/...el_vigneron.php

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Thanks for the link. I had missed that interview.

I came to really appreciate Marcel this season. He's talented and creative, and despite the outright hostility from the other cheftestants, he seemed to handle it well. I will be very disappointed if he doesn't win. I'm starting to warm up to Sam again after seeing him show some class in the preview of the Finale Pt. 2 (on Yahoo). Ilan and Elia are another story. After the hair incident, I would have expected anyone with some sense to pull back and be a bit more mature. I wouldn't darken the door of an establishment that would hire them.

[tino27]

Long time lurker on this thread ... first time poster.

Obviously none of us were privvy to tasting any of the dishes in the finale. It felt like both sides had a few problems, but overall the dishes were very good. But for me, Marcel has more potential than Ilan. Yes, Marcel needs to work on his bedside manner. But from what I've seen in the culinary world, there are many head chefs who are difficult to work with but offer a great opportunity to learn from the master. This is how I look at Marcel. Clearly he is thinking in modern terms, in modern plating technique, in modern flavors. There is nothing wrong with putting together dishes with solid well-known flavors, but I appreciate the risk-taking chef even more.

As an aside, who picks Michael as one of their sous chefs? If it were me, I'd rather have Mia than Michael. But I suppose that's just me.

[tmgrobyn]

Marcel really is a chump. He recognizes the talent that Sam has, chooses him to help, and then when things go bad blames it on him. He's exactly the kind of guy I hate working for. Everything that goes right is his idea, when things go wrong it's the hired help's fault "those bunch of screwups just don't support me" attitude that makes the world of food so exasperating.

I would never want to work for him. He showed poor leadership skills, a total lack of organization, and very poor delegation skills. I hope he decides to take the nod and learn something from the experience.

It was kind of creepy at the end when he started his "I don't care if the other contestants liked me, I like me, I like my cooking..." stuff. Suddenly I was watching Planes, Trains and Automibiles, with Dell telling Neil that his wife liked him...

I am glad Ilan won. That said it really should have been Sam all along, or Cliff.