Top Chef - S6E1 Postmortem

A rousing start!

I'm still on the road and getting some blogging into a 20 minute internet-connected window here, so a few quick thoughts before the rankings on Monday

A quick thanks to Jesse Friedman of the excellent Beer & Nosh for hosting a little Top Chef get together last night, not to mention feeding me a number of delicious things, including some of his home brews. I'm consistently amazed by good food's ability to bring folks together on the spur of the moment. Something about breaking bread and yaddayaddayadda, I'm rambling. But a kind offer by Jesse and a fun night with a food-loving crowd. Thanks, guys!

One episode in, it sure looks like this is a talented crowd. Even most of the clunkers didn't look that bad.

I love that they're going to throw in some serious prizes this season. One of the major complaints about last season was that too many of the contestants seemed to be hanging back, trying not to fail rather than trying to excel. Cash incentive along the way could really help with that problem. I just hope they'll be offering it for the eliminations rather than the quickfires. There's already incentive to excel at the quickfires. You can win immunity and you can't be sent home. There's no reason not to let it all hang out. But dangling a significant carrot (and $15,000 is ... *ahem* ... significant) could do wonders for the eliminations.

Jerk line of the night goes to whoever (I'm not in front of my DVR yet) asked Jennifer C. if she was the pastry chef at 10 Arts. She wins major points for not taking his head off right then and there. He would have deserved it.

I'd love to take credit for pegging Jennifer Z. in last place, but then I'd also have to take credit for pegging Eve 5th, so we'll just say there were some hits and some misses in the first episode.

My internet window is closing, so I have to run... more once I get back home in front of the DVR and can take some time. I'm shooting for rankings on Monday, but travel may delay that a day.

Discuss!

Comments

[kit]

Dom! I am in awe your bottom-ranked was sent home. I've decided you must have superpowers :)

[sipsik]

You are good!

[Bart]

I loved it!

Michael was the only one who stood out like a sore thumb to me. He really came off as utterly unlikable. I hope that's just the Bravo edit, but he said some unforgivable things.

And wow! Does Jennifer look like she could win just about every challenge or what?!

Also, I'm a fan of Mattin. But that may just me being slightly prejudiced... *whistles inconspicuously*

[Jim D.]

Seriously - if you work at a restaurant named 'El Camino Real' and you can't knock out an edible Chile Relleno, you deserve to go home. That monstrosity looked like something you'd get at the late, (not so) great Chi Chi's.

[kit]

In case anyone's wondering what article Colicchio is referring to in his blog:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/02/magazine/02cooking-t.html

The article is long, so here's an excerpt:

"But here’s what I don’t get: How is it that we are so eager to watch other people browning beef cubes on screen but so much less eager to brown them ourselves? For the rise of Julia Child as a figure of cultural consequence — along with Alice Waters and Mario Batali and Martha Stewart and Emeril Lagasse and whoever is crowned the next Food Network star — has, paradoxically, coincided with the rise of fast food, home-meal replacements and the decline and fall of everyday home cooking.

....

Today the average American spends a mere 27 minutes a day on food preparation (another four minutes cleaning up); that’s less than half the time that we spent cooking and cleaning up when Julia arrived on our television screens. It’s also less than half the time it takes to watch a single episode of “Top Chef” or “Chopped” or “The Next Food Network Star.” What this suggests is that a great many Americans are spending considerably more time watching images of cooking on television than they are cooking themselves — an increasingly archaic activity they will tell you they no longer have the time for."

[babyarm]

Tom can suck it for all I care. The mrs. and I put in more than 2 hours prepping and cooking for tonight. Hell, combined more than 3. More than welcome to enjoy what we make in front of a 108" projector screen.

Soon to be on the Wednesday menu: Black mole braised chicken.

[babyarm]

Tom's comment's not withstanding it certainly seems the talent level is already pretty high here. The average age has to be half a decade above any other season if not moreso. That will make for a great season in and of itself.

Kudos to dom for Id-ing the strong/weak chefs just off resume material. You should be in HR for a major hotel chain or something ;-)

[kit]

In case my comment above is misleading, that excerpt is not from Tom's blog, but from the article that Tom's blog references. Here's what Tom's blog says about the article:

"Recently an article written about the lack of time that people are spending cooking hinted at Top Chef as being part of the reason. With the feedback I’ve received from viewers, including countless nine- and ten-year old boys and girls who watch devotedly and are now in the kitchen cooking away, I have to believe it’s quite the opposite."

[anon man]

Well done, Dom, in part. Your bottom went home, but second to bottom was a top. But, I would say his island-centric will crush him in Vegas. When one goes to Florida, you get these unique to the U.S. flavors. Not sure how he reproduces that in Vegas long term. The V brothers are here for awhile but need to distinguish themselves.

[Cousin Sam]

So is it just me (probably not), or is the snarkiness among the chefs that much harder to take after watching TCM? Yikes. I watched the finale of TCM first so coming off that it was a bigger let-down than usual. That and watching Preeti with those clams.

[Dreamboat]

I feel driven to comment on the article about how little time people spend cooking. I have to agree but also defend why. Note that I have only read the quotes on this bog and not the full article.

I cook for myself and my 12 year old daughter. That is it. When I was married and before my daughter was born, both my husband and I cooked and experimented in the kitchen. I loved that. But with a child, you need to feed them. They do not want fancy food. They want their food NOW (think Varuka Salt). My daughter’s favorite foods are hot dogs, Kraft mac & cheese (the blue kind…), hamburgers with ketchup, spaghetti, and pizza. If I try to be creative with any of that then she lets me know that I suck. I no longer cook, I prepare boxed food.

But I have hope because she loves Top Chef! Sometimes she gets inspired and makes a “Quick Fire” for me, that almost always features hot dogs. I loath hot dogs… But I eat it and I give her feedback (brown sugar on hot dogs, not so good).

So I wish I did spend as much time really cooking as I do watching Top Chef. However that would be a huge waste of food that I simply cannot afford. But I am watching Top Chef with my daughter so she is learning that a truffle is a mushroom and not just a chocolate bon bon, among other things. She is getting excited about food. And once her palate is mature I hope that she and I will really cook together rather that prepare boxed food.

[Jon Olsen]

Man, whatever. I spend 2 hours in the kitchen everyday...but Tom's not writing about people like me so much.

Anyway, after the totally humble and humane experience of TCM, it's a little hard to listen to Mike or whatever (I don't learn ANY of their names for about six or seven episodes) look at Hector's (I guess I learn the non-white guys' names) deep fried steak and sniff "this is going to be easier than I thought." Though he made it into the top four this week so who knows.

I guess I'm really happy about Redbeard winning, but maybe that's because I think he's cute. Or I have a VERY strong arctic char bias. Oh my gawd I ate a lovely piece of arctic char last year. Anybody using that fish has my best interests at heart I feel.

I think I would put down cash money, like pay per view rates, if Wolfgang Puck was on every week whippin donuts across the room and popping off about dishes. That was some funny shit right there my friends.

Is it just me or are these chefs (Mike and the two brothers notwithstanding) a lot less arrogant than years past? Maybe we just haven't seen their disgusting true natures yet? I'm too cynical. But they ARE in Vegas, and my love for Hunter S. Thompson makes me naturally cynical about anything that happens.

ZOhmygawd wouldn't a Fear and Loathing challenge be the MOST. FUN. EVAR? Pick your favorite passages from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and interpret them through a dish. The person doing cheap tacos would have to automatically lose.

I'd have to pick the ether binge scene in Circus Circus. That or the scene where they're tripping out in the lobby and seeing giant lizards fucking. I'd make an alligator cream soup with seared asparagus spears, and some kind of hallucinatory coulis. Topped with a foam. No, I don't know what I'd make; I'm drunk.

[Jon Olsen]

I thought an aureole was a nipple. Is that areola? man, I wish one of these chefs (again with the names) worked at a restaurant whose name meant "nipple" or "nipple ring." Let's get this season Started!

[vizoroo]

Jennifer appears to be the early fave even if Kevin won.Think Ron's team was probably the weakest which put him in the top 4.

Congrats Dom, you called it!

[dan_boston]

Was lucky enough to have a few local chefs over for dinner for this episode. They confirmed the presence of an unprecedented number of heavy hitters on the show this season.

Looking over your ranking, folks performed fairly consistently with your expectations, with a notable exception from Eve...it wasn't just that her dish looked like something I could have thrown together, it was that she didn't seem to understand the criticism. Perhaps she was just flustered, but even that could end up being a fatal flaw. Hopefully we'll see better things from her next week.

Again, I find myself somewhat astounded that chefs of these calibers still have such huge holes in their training/experience. I can understand being crappy at shucking clams...I can't understand never having shucked one when you have chosen to make cooking your profession...and that's just one convenient example. There are many qualities that distinguish the front runners from the laggards, and I think that general knowledge and wide ranging competence is a major factor.

[Allison]

Great job with the first rankings ... I don't know how you do it! Looking forward to seeing more from this talented crew.

As for the article Tom referenced, which I did read in its entirety when it was published (and I do think it's worth reading), the author targeted the Food Network, not Top Chef. I don't think anyone reading this falls into the category of watch-but-not-cook.

Dreamboat, I understand trying to satisfy kids, having once been one -- on my parents' night out I'd make French bread or something like that & would have Kraft Mac & Cheese for dinner. Though I loved my mom's homemade mac & cheese, this boxed version was considered a treat. Mom didn't do mixes, etc. -- only homemade. So I would make something from scratch & eat out of a box ... weird, I know.

Also, recently spent time with a trained chef cooking for her twins -- they're night & day in terms of their palates. Just saying that there's plenty of hope for your daughter -- keep giving her options & time. And keep watching Top Chef ;-)

[babyarm]

i realize it has nothing to do with food, but the chefs need to have some concept of odds and expected value this season. The decision to eschew a 1/5 chance at $15,000 for a 1/17 chance to avoid $0 is about as dumb as you can get. She effectively wrote each one of them a check for $750 with that bonehead move. Stunning. People astound me at their lack of understanding of basic math.

[Mookie]

@babyarm:

Comment involving more math: "Today the average American spends a mere 27 minutes a day on food preparation (another four minutes cleaning up)" Of course that's an average. You and your Mrs. drive that number up...but a whole hell of a lot of other people drive that number down.

Basic math concepts aside (BTW: I was always bad at probabilities): I agree, it was a dumb move she made. The chance to NOT compete in the first Quickfire seems like you'd be setting yourself up for failure. Every other chef HAD to participate in the relay so they got a taste of what the competition was like. And the other four actually got a chance to cook under a time constraint. If not for the money, then just do it for the chance to get your feet wet!!!!

Not really sure how her food rated as the critiques for her dish were edited out. Curse these early episodes!

[Anne]

Jon Olsen-Tom's not writing about you at all. He's referencing an article by Michael Pollan that appeared in the NYT and defending the show and people like you.

I think you can consider taking the immunity a chance to get your feet wet--experience an elimination challenge but give yourself a chance to fail. Still, I agree that going balls-in would probably have been the more astute move.

[kit]

Hmmm...so thoughts i'm having over Robin declining to join the quickfire cook-off...

1. Even if she did understand the odds as babyarm put them, there's always that pesky risk aversion factor.

2. To make the comparison between 1/5 chance of winning $15000 and the ability to up one's chances of staying from 16/17 to 17/17, we've got to value how important staying is to her. If the value of staying is at least $51000, then the better bet is for her to stay. Ignoring the $100K prize, say she thinks the exposure will really drive business to her restaurant.* If it leads her restaurant to make about $20000 more in profit each year, on average, for the next 3 years, then she's keeping her golden chip. (Ok I have no idea if those numbers are close to reality or what, please feel to tell me I'm being ludicrous :) )

3. As much as I already can't stand Isabella, he may have had a point about what Robin's decision says about her confidence in herself. If she's thinking that her probability of winning that quickfire cook-off is more like 1/10 or close to zero, or her probability of getting sent home is much higher than 1/17, then her valuation of how important it is for her to stay could be alot lower and still make her decision the "right" one from a mathy standpoint.

Ok I'm done! Thanks for reading if you made it through ;)

* My understanding is alot of previous cheftestants who didn't win still got alot, monetarily speaking, out of the exposure - definitely Fabio who has mentioned multiple times his substantial jump in profits, Ariane, I'm sure there are others. Even if you don't own a restaurant, as I believe Robin does, the exposure can lead to opportunities to open one even if many viewers can't stand you, like Spike. It's that whole thing Richard Blais said about the chicken or the egg. (http://www.bravotv.com/top-chef/blogs/richard-blais/chicken-and-caviar?page=0,1 )

[Dave_P]

Great opening episode, and lead in to Masters. Good thing they didn't show Masters first though--anything these guys would've put out would've paled in comparison, and would've been horribly unfair.

I have a few personal faves so far, and one of them rocked and another stumbled.

Jen C. (henceforth, just Jen as the only remaining Jennifer) looked strong. Hmm... ya think a Ripert protoge can cook fish? Really surprised she got beat by another fish dish though. She has some attitude too, but not an overbearing one (so far), which I like (so far). Definite favorite.

Eve! Local gal that I was rooting for fell really flat. I was thinking of checking out her restaurant this weekend too, but couldn't get a table. Hopefully, she'll get it together and pick things up, but if she's the type to get flustered under pressure, she ain't going far on TC, esp w/this field.

Ash is the other "local" boy for me, since I live in MI, but grew up in NY. As the only NYC representative, I'm pulling for him to do well. Unfortunately, his performance wasn't all that memorable last night (i.e. middle of the pack).

So those are the 3 I'm sorta pulling for, plus the Voltaggio brothers and Kevin are definite early favorites. Early contenders for chaff-dom seem to be Robin, Jesse and Preeti. Esp Robin (it was Robin, right? So hard to keep them straight this early) that wussed out on a chance to win 15K. Are you freakin' serious??? Oh, and Preeti, if you don't know how to do something on a team trial, you have to let your team know this. Those clams were just painful to watch.

Speaking of which, how much cooler are the QFs going to be this season, if they keep up the 15K challenges? :)

--
Dave

[anon man]

I'm going to give Robin a bit of a pass here, by the way. Yes, the math was bad, but this is still a reality show, and in the reality show world, immunity is the most valuable thing in the world. Also, its kind of a shocking, novel offer, and she didn't look to have a lot of time to think it over. But, I do believe that when she picked a team to "compete" with, she did pick the Blue team which looked to be the strongest. There were some pretty weak other teams, by the looks of things.

And on the cooking/kids/time part of the thread, yes, cooking with kids is a bitch. We feed ours what we eat, or more often than not given my work schedule and the Spanish timing we often use for dinner, the leftovers from the night before. Do I make concessions, of course? Yes, I used packaged stock sometimes when I run out of my own; I use a vacuum marinating machine for brining to speed things up, and sometimes the kid gets chicken nuggets when we're tired. (Sue me.) I personally can't wait until she's old enough to help me roll pasta or help the wife with her family Kibbeh recipe.

[Lon]

My only comment relates to this week's ranking. One win does not make a season, so it will be interesting to see the rankings and how much Dom gleaned from actual show that changes his pre-season beliefs. There were a few surprises, but he was pretty much right on.

[paula]

Dreamboat: I LOVE that your child creates QF hot dog meals for you. That's hope for the future, right there. My daughter's the same way.

Allison: Bingo. There's a huge difference between the 24/7 "cooking" stuff on Food Network and the weekly dose of Top Chef.

The maturity and talent of this group of contestants (for the most part) has me excited for this season. My first impression of Kevin (that's red beard, right?) is that he's a Blais-in-training--Which is awesome. I'm loving him already, as well as Jen C., who showed incredible class in not kicking that guy in the neck for asking if she was a pastry chef.

[Sarah C.]

In response to your question, Dom...I believe the world renowned French chef that Mattin was getting all twitterpated over is Joel Robuchon.

[Sarah C.]

I was also a little surprised (and maybe disappointed??) that they pulled out the mise en place relay so early. The very first episode even! I believe this is a TC first but please correct me if I'm wrong. I usually get really wrapped up in the relay, but this time I didn't know who to root for and didn't really care who won.

[Dave_P]

Going through Bravo's blogs (and wishing forlornly that they'd fix their godawful website), Blais has a great entry on what it's like to be a contestant the first few days.

http://www.bravotv.com/top-chef/blogs/richard-blais/wolfgang-pack

That reminds me, who was it that was afraid to unpack their luggage? Was that Jen Z? Would've been prophetic (or just good editing) if it were.

--
Dave

[jse91]

This episode was harder to watch after the wonder that has been top chef masters. There were several points that I wanted to fast forward, but unfortunately I was watching in real time. And that obnoxious Mike guy - I know it is just a calculated act, a plan to get more screen time. I am sure that all those lines were practiced ahead of time, but what a loser. I suppose he thinks he is hysterical.

I am definitely going to be rooting for Kevin and the guy from Haiti - because I love Haiti.

I loved the looked on Tom's face when that woman kissed him and Puck was so funny, what a great character.

And what the heck was Padma wearing last night?

All in all I am glad TC is back, but my heart has been won by the Masters edition.

[Bart]

Paula:

"...Jen C., who showed incredible class in not kicking that guy in the neck for asking if she was a pastry chef"

YES! I noticed that too! Oh my God, I was SO insulted on her behalf. Just for that comment alone, I hope she wins the whole damn thing, lol

[paula]

jse91: I'm sure you're right about Mike. I loathe these guys who say obnoxious and misogynistic things just to get screen time/attention, then try to turn around and say, "Oh, I'm not really like that." You know what? Yes you are. And even if you're not, you're still a prick.

[jse91]

Paula - you are right, he will come out and say it was editing. No dude, it was acting, bad acting. Which seems worse, that he would be willing to put that out in the universe despite not believing it.

Hopefully he won't be long for my TV screen.

Also, was it just me or did anyone else have a visceral reaction to Hosea among the other winners? I mean, I know he is a nice guy, so I feel a little bad about it. But I was just shocked to see him there. I think I had forgotten about how last season turned out. I guess I am used to seeing Ilan at this point, who doesn't stack up with the other. But seeing Hosea's picture on the opening segment just stunned me. I still can't believe he won.

On the upside it made me think: "Oh, I hope we see Carla and Stephan sometime this season."

[jse91]

FYI - The Amuse-Biatch photo essays are hysterical today.

[Beatrice]

Nope, no visceral reaction to Hosea at all. He won fair and square. He obviously worked hard during the interim, came prepared, and competed. Stefan treated the whole thing as a lark -- he was the best and didn't need to prove it -- and basically took up the place of someone who might have given a damn. And alas, Carla choked.

It's Ilan that startles me when I see him again. Wait, that's right, he won! So forgettable.

[Bart]

Also, how hilarious was the Tom/Gail exchange?

"Rack of lamb! That's so clever! Rack!"

"Yeah Tom we get it."

[anon man]

Paula/Bart. Thank you, I had totally forgotten the "you must be Ripert's cute little pastry chef" moment. I even remember thinking, "ooooh".

[Brent]

How about Wolfgang Puck as a judge? He was having fun. Remember him on Iron Chef? He seemed to be having a blast there too. Would love to see him on Top Chef Masters. He'd be a hoot.

[zsparks]

Bart:
"Also, I'm a fan of Mattin. But that may just me being slightly prejudiced... *whistles inconspicuously*"

Mattin is quite a piece of work. How could they not hire him?! But if he doesn't have more than that silly scarf (I am hoping for a beret and a horizontal striped boat-neck T), it'll get old fast.

[zsparks]

Also, I agree with Tom about Top Chef inspiring cooking. It certainly has among everyone I know who watches TC. It has not only inspired us all to cook, but to experiment with confidence, and to raise our standards for what we're putting on our plates and for the entire presentation of the meal. (Next stop: What We're Wearing When We Eat. Think of me as a Gail type, please.)

[zsparks]

"Is it just me or are these chefs (Mike and the two brothers notwithstanding) a lot less arrogant than years past?"

It's not just you, though I thought brother Michael was not so bad, and laughed out loud at his euphemistic declaration that Bryan is an old fuddy duddy, because no kidding, what a bore. And that's how I read Bryan - a bore, not so much arrogant.

Mike! Good heavens to Betsy. Masters runs on its chefs' amazing cred. TC has to have conflict, so I guess there has to be at least one true blowhard.

[Independent George]

Anybody else miss the first run because their TiVo season pass is set for 'Top Chef' instead of 'Top Chef: Las Vegas'?

[aaalex]

babyarm: i disagree entirely about the "math" involved in robin's decision. "top chef" is game whose rewards increase the longer you are part of the competition. the only odds that count are those that involve your staying in the competition. as such, the only relevant info was: immunity = %100 certainty of staying in the game. the $15,000 would have been great, no doubt, but they were a distraction. robin was thinking globally, taking the entire game into consideration. if she had chosen to give up immunity, she would have displayed "cojones" (not that hector's "cojones" helped him any) but not smart gamesmanship. on top of remaining in the game, robin's immunity allowed her to take stock of the competition and, by putting herself in with a strong team (blue), she got to compete with the best group without risk. that's called good reconnoitering, i think.

mike's sneering suggestion that robin was behaving in a cowardly way by keeping her immunity only makes sense if you agree that macho displays of confidence or daring are revealing of bravery. i don't think so, and it felt like sour grapes to me. (like hosea complaining that stefan chose the easiest dish to reproduce at le bernardin. uhm ... if the point of top chef to stay in the competition, stefan made the only logical choice. as did robin.)

(anon man: all the above was just my lomg-winded way of agreeing with everything you'd said before me.)

not sure i agree with those who felt jen was being insulted by being asked if she were the pastry chef. first, she didn't take it as an insult. second, if one knew 10 arts was a ripert restaurant, it might be natural to think jen was sous or pastry chef to ripert's chef. third, it's not as if asking someone if she's a pastry chef at a good restaurant is an insult. keep in mind how many competitors on top chef have been incompetent pastry cooks. in the end, in order for it to have been an insult, the asker (hector?) would have to have known jen was the chef at 10 arts, would have to have contempt for pastry chefs and would, most likely, have expressed that contempt in his voice. (there wasn't any contempt i could read in the askers' voice.) all of which is to say that, to me, it just sounded like a getting to know you kind of question.

jse9: i agree with you completely about hosea. it's possible to agree hung, stephanie and harold were deserving winners, but stefan was superior to hosea throughout the competition and, beyond that, had a way more interesting perspective on food. i felt a kind of renewed disppointment that hosea had won and found myself wondering what stefan might have said about the food. (though it's not like any of the winners made eye opening comments.)

i agree jen is one of the one's to beat, but it's not as if she came off as being without prickles. she's confident and maybe a little arrogant (she pointed out she'd made her share of guys cry in the kitchen ... remember the chiarello power dynamics discussions?) but likable for all that. despite michael i.'s off-putting comments (or the villain edit), i get the feeling it's too early to tell who's really a jerk. (the moment between the two michaels was kind of cool.)

[aaalex]

oops. i meant to say: mike's sneering suggestion that robin was behaving in a cowardly way by keeping her immunity only makes sense if you agree that macho displays of confidence or daring are revealing of COMPETENCE.

displays of confidence and daring might be brave, but they aren't good indicators of ability.

[kit]

aaalex says: "not sure i agree with those who felt jen was being insulted by being asked if she were the pastry chef. first, she didn't take it as an insult. second, if one knew 10 arts was a ripert restaurant, it might be natural to think jen was sous or pastry chef to ripert's chef. third, it's not as if asking someone if she's a pastry chef at a good restaurant is an insult."

First off, my general impression is that pastry chef is one of the few positions in the kitchen that is viewed as more female-friendly. I did some googling and came up with the following tidbits.

From an online article in Forbes:

"[I]n a recent survey, Starchefs.com, which covers the world of chefs and food, found that women represent only 22% of the restaurant business, and only 15% of executive chefs are female. Women fare much better in cakes and tarts, representing 39% of pastry chefs."1

From an interview with some female chefs in NYMag:

"Are there “women’s jobs” in professional kitchens?
Rebecca Charles: Pastry chef has always been the traditional one, and I think that’s still true today.
April Bloomfield: It’s an easy option for the girls to go into pastry.
Rebecca Charles: You’re not on the hot line.
Sara Jenkins: You don’t have to compete with everybody else."2

Secondly, I don't think anyone will disagree with the statement that at least historically, professional kitchens have suffered from gender bias.

From there, I don't think it's a huge leap to believe that the position of pastry chef, at least traditionally, has not been accorded as much respect/status/prestige as a position that "works the line." Now whether that difference in status is due to differences in the job requirements, or has arisen owing to bias with regard to gender, I have no idea. But I think it can be insulting to have someone leap to the conclusion that your job in the kitchen is one that is often accorded less respect than the actual job that you do have, simply based on your gender. I don't think whoever made that comment (Ron? Hector?) intended to be insulting, but whoever it was, was most likely engaging in gender profiling. Whether that's ok or not, really depends on whether you think stereotyping/profiling/making assumptions based on superficial characteristics can sometimes be ok.

1 - http://www.forbes.com/2009/05/29/restaurants-food-industry-forbes-woman-entrepreneurs-chefs.html

2 - http://nymag.com/restaurants/features/39595/

[mar]

If I remember, not only did Jen C. not take the head off whoever asked if she was the pastry chef, she also didn't correct him or say her true role. Because I was thinking how cool she was keeping it on the down low. I think there is plenty of arrogance in this season - Michael I. is the obvious candidate here (pathetic, really), but Jen has her share of confidence (not unjustified), and the west coast brother was another one. It's just not as in your face. Yet.

Beyond the not competing in the quickfire question about Robin, why would she pick the strongest team to compete with in the EC? Knowing that you are going up against the other members of your team, wouldn't it make more sense to pick a weaker team to compete with to up your chance of winning? Robin couldn't get kicked off, but there's no reason she couldn't win. I get that there is a pride issue there (wanting to try to beat the best), but heck, you couldn't win the whole thing without winning your heat.

[Skillet Doux]

Regarding the Jen C. / pastry chef incident:

1) I'm certain she did correct him. I'm still not home and can't review tape, but I believe her response was along the lines of, "No, I'm the chef" or some such.

2) Many chefs absolutely DO think of pastry as a lesser calling. I don't pretend to know how prevalent that feeling is (and people who have real experience in professional kitchens, I'd love if you could jump in and lend your impressions), but whether or not it was intended as such in this particular instance, for many people it absolutely is a put down.

3) It's also, as mentioned above, often thought of as a "woman's" job in the kitchen. The times they are a-changin', as they always do, but executive chef positions are still heavily male-dominated. Anyone recall the clip from Top Chef Masters about a month back when Cindy Pawlcyn was talking about how she came up in an era when women were even less welcome in professional kitchens? She said -- and I'm going to paraphrase as I remember since I don't have the exact quote on me -- that she was told flat out "you could be a PASTRY chef, maybe, but executive chef? No way." Unless there was something else that led him to believe she was a pastry chef, jumping to the conclusion that she was working pastry because she's female smacks of the restaurant industry's less than female-friendly past (and present, frankly). Men do the serious cooking, women bake sweets and candy. Though not quite so incendiary, it's similar to if a minority mentions that he works at a hotel and is immediately asked if he's a bellhop. Even if you think it's possible that the question is well-intentioned, it carries so much baggage (ha!) that anybody with half a brain and an ounce of sensitivity should know not to go there.

[aaalex]

kit: thanks very much for the info. it does put a spin on asking jen if she was the pastry chef at 10 arts.

dominic: you're right, jen DID correct whoever it was who asked her about being the pastry chef. she said, without particular emphasis, "no, i'm the chef". and that was the end of the exchange.

"half a brain and an ounce of sensitivity"? so, whoever asked jen if she's the pastry chef at 10 arts is an ignorant sexist pig? i think you might want to tone that down a little. first, because the exchange was nowhere near incendiary enough to carry that connotation. second, because the suggestion that there is ANY analogy between being a bellhop in a hotel and the pastry chef in a restaurant is itself pretty insensitive. there is obviously real skill involved in being pastry chef and we've seen how difficult it has been for the chefs to do desserts (stefan the notable exception). (isn't it about time there was an EC based solely on dessert? there have been a QF or two already, no?) also, whatever else kit's info tells us, it indicates there are a lot of women who ARE pastry chefs. i don't think they'd appreciate the suggestion that merely asking a woman if she were a pastry chef is proof you have "half a brain and [no] sensitivity". i think you have to take these things on a case by case basis. there probably are men whose assumptions are that whatever women do must be less difficult/worthy than what men habitually do, but that doesn't mean ALL men who ask the question ask it with this assumption in mind. if you were going to pick a moment of obvious insensitivity out of the first episode, i'd choose the casual way michael i. mentioned how ashamed he'd be if a woman beat him at shucking clams. jen, who was at le bernardin, was pissed she lost the race because, of course, she had worked as a sous chef at le bernardin. it didn't even occur to michael i. that a woman might be more capable than him because of her actual experience. i mean, it seemed to michael i. that WHATVER the woman's experience, he should, as a male, be better than she is. that's demonstrably stupid and stupidly sexist. the other situation? maybe sexist, though i trust jen's reaction. she let it go, easily. (of course, if she were to write in here that she had been offended but didn't feel she could react as she might have, given the cameras and the situation ... whole other ball game.)

[aaalex]

another "oops" moment. i wrote "there probably are men whose assumptions are that whatever women do must be less difficult/worthy than what men habitually do". i should have written "there OBVIOUSLY are men whose assumptions are that whatever women do must be less difficult/worthy than what men habitually do".

[SorchaRei]

On pastry-chef-gate . . . it was, at best, a tin-eared thing to say. Sexism is known to be rampant in the chef world and on the line, and pastry chef is a less prestigious position (note that restaurants are often tied to their executive chefs by name, but only rarely to their pastry chefs). The polite, safe way to ask that question was "Oh, Ripert's place in Philly? What's your job there?"

Jen handled it well, but given the way she talked about making boyz cry, I don't think she missed the subtle sexism that I think I saw there, too. She just didn't let the unfortunate remark turn into anything bigger than an unfortunate remark.

Alas, the same cannot be said for Mike I. He's either an unrepentant bigot or he's decided to play one on TV. Either is despicable, regardless of how common it may be in the cooking industry. I found myself wishing that he were not as good a cook as I think he is, because he looks to me like someone who will make it fairly deep. He appears to cook well, focuses down in a way that we know appeals to Gail and Tom, and seemed to be quite at ease in the Top Chef kitchen/fishbowl.

On the question of math, I have taught probability at the university level, and one thing I try valiantly with my students is to convince them that expected value only tells you anything if you know how to value the things you are comparing. I agree with the position that in this game, immunity has absolute value, and in a position where you don't know anything about your strengths compared to the others in the room, it would be foolish to give that up. It's also important to know yourself -- a risk-averse person will value immunity more highly than a risk-taker, and neither is wrong so much as they are just different.

What's more, anyone who has watched the show knows that the first challenge has nearly eliminated more than one eventual winner over nerves -- Stephanie's hand shook so hard she almost couldn't sauce her first dish, and Harold almost got tossed off Hubert Keller's line for his shaking hands. It's hard to predict who's going to be hit with that kind of nerves while settling in, and so initial immunity provides also the opportunity to scope things out from a position of safety. You can't use "math" to compare the expected vlaues of the outcomes, because only one has a dollar value (the chance to win the $15000). Math is only useful to model things when you use it appropriately. Valuing immunity only as a chance to avoid $0 is, for most contestants in this game, not a good reflection of what immunity means to them

Jen Z. was the right person to go. It appeared that everyone else in the bottom understood what their issues were. She just kept saying that the dish tasted good. Even more than poor food, I hate to see people who cannot hear feedback on the food that they cooked.

I disliked that the groups were, by all appearances, not more evenly matched. I think that the golf ball donuts would have made the bottom in some of the other groups, and it's hard to get a good sense of who really put out the best dishes when the each of the top four were competing against other people.

The quality of food overall looked very high, they sent home the person I most wanted to have sent based on the food produced, and I'm looking forward to the rest of the season.

[jse91]

"Pastry Chef Gate" - ooh, that's fun to say!

I don't think the person who said it is a sexist pig. But I think it very clearly reveals a set of assumptions. For example, I am a Ordained Minister in a mainline denomination, serving as a pastor in a local church. Depending on the region, most pastors are male. I am female. Whenever I say "I work at a church" or "I work here at the church" a common response is "Are you the secretary?" or "So you are the Christian Ed. Director?". This happened a lot more often when I was in the South.

When someone says this, I do not presume that they are sexist or even that they do not believe women should be ministers. I do think they they assume ministers are men and that is how they picture them in their head. I also don't assume that they are insulting church secretaries or Christian ed. directors.

I think they same thing was revealed with the pastry chef question. The asker revealed a sexist assumption about what he thought the kitchen of a Ripert restaurant must look like. And the picture in his head had men chefs and women pastry chefs. Relatively harmless, esp. compared to Isabella's comments, but it revealed something he probably hadn't intended.

Speaking of our friend, his behavior off set is actually worse. One of the extra video's has him saying truly awful things about Robin and sadly a whole lot of people are laughing. He can't get off my tv screen fast enough.

[Skillet Doux]

Hold on there, aaalex, I don't think that's a fair reading of what I said at all. I neither suggested nor implied that pastry chef is in any way a lesser calling. I talked about how many people DO feel that way as a means of illustrating just how insensitive a comment like that can be, but don't lay that at my feet.

It was a poor analogy, I'll grant you that. Couldn't think of a better one at the time. But now that I have -- and it's shocking that I didn't earlier since it happens to my wife all the time -- would you have felt that my "half a brain and an ounce of sensitiity" comment was out of line if Jen had said she worked at a hospital and the fellow in question said, "Oh, are you a nurse?". Because I think that's actually an excellent analogy.

Actually, come to think of it, that's not a good analogy. To make it truly analogous, the fellow doing the asking has to be a male doctor who is obviously already aware that his female colleagues fight that stereotype all the time. I'm not sure that's better, though.

Look, it could have been isolated. We all say dumb things sometimes. But that's a pretty bad one that's a serious eyebrow-raiser. And I stand by the claim that whoever it was -- at the very least, at the time he said it -- was operating without half his brain and was possessed of less than an ounce of sensitivity :-)

[aaalex]

dominic: it's like kit said above. this was an example of profiling and the degree to which you'll find that offensive has to do with your feelings about profiling. always wrong? then the question was "a serious eyebrow raiser". if not, then your response is likely to be more modulated. when chiarello called dale "young man", those who took offense were likely put off by a white man calling an asian man " young man", as if to deny the asian man full respect. as it happened, chiarello simply couldn't remember the guy's name, because he'd met a number of chefs that day. dale took offense immediately. but even before knowing chiarello's reason, i was more sympathetic to chiarello. i think you're right that you need to know the person who's asking the question. you need to know that BEFORE you can say the question's an eyebrow raiser, to my mind, and in this case we don't know who the asker was. (my guess: hector ... deeper voiced male, anyway)

but there's something a little odd about this opening episode, period, where "the battle of the sexes" is concerned. i mean, to introduce vegas we get scantily clad showgirls. (micheal i. mentioned he found them "exciting") and then, we get michael i. saying he has "one less old lady" to worry about when he comments on robin keeping her immunity. (how many "old ladies" are there this season? or is "old lady" a euphemism for women he doesn't find exciting?) before that, we had jen talking about making boys cry in the kitchen. it feels a little as if we're being set up for an ongoing battle between the men and the women. in which case the "are you the pastry chef?" falls into the pattern and probably was meant to display a certain sexism. (god, i hope i'm wrong.)

[Skillet Doux]

Aaalex, I understand what you're trying to say, I don't disagree that you can't judge that kind of thing without knowing the person, and I believe I even made the statement -- unless he had some other reason to think so -- in my first comment. But what I think you fail to acknowledge, and perhaps this is simply a difference of opinion, is that insensitivity is not purely a matter of intentions. Saying something stupid and insensitive does not preclude the possibility that you're perfectly well-intentioned, but that doesn't change the simple fact that what you said was both stupid and insensitive.

What's more, I don't think the Chiarello example is apt. It's perfectly plausible -- whether you believe it was the case or not -- that Chiarello was ignorant of how his comment would come across (I personally found it to be rather condescending completely independent of any racial component, which I'd never even considered until others brought it up). But how can an experienced, professional chef be unaware that many if not most women working in the field will bristle when you jump to that conclusion? Ergo, either you know that what you're saying is likely to be taken as an insult, or you're so colosally oblivious that you don't realize the baggage behind what you're saying. Either way, it's stupid and insensitive, no matter what your intentions.

I think this is a very different discussion if we're talking about some Joe on the street. There, as with Chiarello, you say, hey, maybe he just didn't realize how that would come across. But when you're living and working in the industry, even under the most charitable interpretation (unless, as I said above, he had some other reason to believe so that we're not privy to -- and that's precisely why it's merely an eyebrow-raiser), you'd have to be colossally dense not to realize just how insensitive towards your colleagues that kind of assumption can be.

[aaalex]

in terms of the men vs. women dynamic on episode 1, i almost forgot to mention michael v.'s EC challenge: he mentioned the las vegas vice, plastic surgery, and then created a "rack" (nyuck nyuck nyuck, get it?)while apologizing. ("i don't mean to be a pig or anything", he said.)

at judges table, collicchio comments on michael v.'s clever "rack" and gail said, a little exasperated, "we get it, tom" (or words to that effect.)

to be an optimist: maybe they got all the crude "man vs. woman" stuff out of the way right at the start. clear sailing from now on ...

[Skillet Doux]

Anyway, I didn't mean to launch into an extended discussion of what does and doesn't constitute insensitivity. I was just trying to provide a little context -- since women's roles in professional kitchens IS a significant food topic -- to point out first that that's likely to be perceived at least as a slight and very possibly as a broadsided insult, and second that anybody working in the restaurant industry should -- and probably did -- know better.

[Independent George]

What was the deal with the deep-fried ribeye? What was Hector going for with that? I didn't quite make out his explanation - has anyone tried something like that before?

[aaalex]

dominic: i think i understand where you're coming from as well, but as someone who's a member of a minority and has had to decide how to live with sometimes painful comments, you learn (or it's helpful to learn) how important it is NOT to allow yourself to be too worked up by the surface of a comment. it comes down to this, i think: you have to know who your "enemy" is. you have to know who can harm you, who you can live with and who you can't. if you judge people by the surface of their words (without regard to the spirit behind them), you sometimes find yourself in a world filled with enemies. as you said above, everyone has mispoken at some time in their lives. so, it's important to know who really has trouble with you and who doesn't, who you need to be wary of and who you don't. in this episode, the one who asked jen about being a pastry chef was probably just being thoughtless. (the question, by the way, was immediately followed by the words "what do you do?", implying he didn't want to insist she was simply the pastry chef) whereas, from micheal i.'s comments, you get a sense he has issues with women or (as sorcha rei said) is behaving as if he does for the camera. it's important, in both a personal and a professional sense, to distinguish between a michael i. (who may be a real problem for the women) and the one who asked jen about being a pastry chef. does that make sense? in any case, i don't think we're arguing from different sides of the fence.

[aaalex]

independent george: hector was joking/somewhat serious when he suggested that puerto ricans fried everything. it is part of their culture, he said. so, that was his "vice": frying.

[jse91]

I thought Hector's vice was smoking, specifically cigars - which is why he smoked the steak first.

[Bart]

aaalex mentioned something about a men versus women's thing...

Hell's Kitchen plays up that angle heavily - Gordon Ramsay separates the men from the women and have them play on competing teams. Sexist remarks ABOUND.

Of course, comparing Hell's Kitchen to Top Chef is like comparing a McDonald's hamburger to one of Hubert Keller's $5,000 burgers, but still - it does show that there are still lots of men out there who definitely have the preconceived notion that women are somehow innately inferior in the kitchen.

So far, Mike Isabella seems to show that. I just hope, for the sake of my own intense personal gratification, that Jen is the one who beats him every time :)

[kathy from austin]

My thoughts on the first episode. Hardly comprehensive, jut some "gut" impressions:

*Jessie: Those lip and nose rings are going to drive me nuts. Way too distracting and frankly, tasteless for a chef.

*Mike: Arrogant. In the course of the first episode he managed to complain about the possibility of a female "out-shucking" him in the mise en place; called Eli a "monkey" and is generally pretty insulting. Either he will get the villain edit or will develop as the one to root against.

*Jennifer: She has a very good spirit and a quiet confidence. Both her halibut and cerviche were stand outs.

*Preetie: No confidence. She knew damn well that she couldn't help with the clams, but just seemed to accept her fate. That could be a problem later.

*Brian and Michael V: Analytical and interesting. They both seem very capable. The judges' praise of Michael was very impressive.

WHAT IN THE HELL IS SEITAN? I am a cook, not a chef, but I have never in my life heard of this.

*Eve: She appears disorganized and unfocused. She wanders around the kitchen looking for white wine and substitutes cream. Again, I am no chef, but that is a dish changer and she should have thought that through.

Kathy

[anon man]

Aaalex and Dom, one other possibility in the pastry chef incident maybe some editing slight of hand. Maybe he said it purposefully or unprompted and the debate over what kind of a-hole he is is relevant. But, there could have been a beginning to that where she was talking about her gig and mentioned that she created a pastry for the menu or maybe they were talking earlier about the possibility of dessert and how comfortable people are with it and she expressed comfort in dessert.

In other words, with shifty editing you just don't know if there was a back story there. or maybe not.

[Duffy]

Re: What is Seitan? "Joy of Cooking" has a very short section on Seitan at the end of its chapter on Beans and Tofu -- defines Seitan as an Asian meat substitute based on wheat gluten instead of soy, and offers two recipes -- for a root stew and a middle eastern style meatball. Both recipes include a ton of seasonings and many ingredients -- 20 for the stew, 14 for the kibbe. It is pretty clear from the text that flavor has to be added to this stuff to make it edible for a normal human palate, and that if mishandled it becomes (or is) grey, tough and bitter.

[Shelly]

My opinion on the Mike Isabella thing? He's a typical Jersey guy getting the villain edit. He obviously stays the course -the editors know how most of the season, if not all of it, plays out- and they want something to build fire and interest. Mike made stupid comments, and he made them to someone who likely also stays in the competition. It's the perfect opportunity for reality TV to build tension and keep the viewers watching.

That said, no one is putting the words in his mouth. He's acting like an asshole.

My opinion on Robin? She was smart to keep immunity. She could size up her opponents without being distracted by worrying about staying in this week. That's far more valuable in a competition then jumping in and getting her feet wet and showing cojones.

I like the higher caliber of contestants. Instead of 80% hot messes on plates we get 80% good tries with details that let the judges tell who's better, and who should go. The choice last night was clear because of that.

[Krazikarl]

Its weird to me that people dont know what seitan is. Where I am, its a fairly common meat substitute that I've eaten a number of times. I also see it in pretty much every grocery store. At asian places its usually called "Mock Duck" or "Mock Chicken" (for the duck and chicken flavored variety respectively). It can also be flavored to taste like beef.

Its not bad stuff, but unless you are doing a vegetarian/vegan meal, I see no reason to use it on a show like Top Chef. The whole point of seitan is that you can get it to taste and feel like the real meat. But if the best case scenario is it being as good as chicken...why dont you just use chicken? Chicken is a lot easier to work with.

[Bart]

Shelly - Hey, as a Jersey guy, I take offense at your assumption that Isabella is a typical resident of the Garden State ;)

[Cheryl]

On another topic..did anyone see Mark from Season 4 tonight on Iron Chef America as the sous chef for the challenger? He is now married as evidenced by his wedding ring and he made a gorgeous dessert.

[skoolie]

Yes I did just see him. He looks more put together than on his season. I remember the judges gave him a hard time about his cleanliness as a chef. He looks like he has really cleaned up his act.

[skoolie]

Also wanted to mention that I think for the most part the cheftestants are only acting competitive. I think we are getting a little p.c. on the subject. There is a lot of ribbing, amd smack talk in the kitchen and in any competition.

Mike I is a bit rough around the edges and obviously doesn't always think before he speaks but in terms of sexism I think what we will see this season is really competetive people reacting to each other, if anything the pastry chef comment could have just been more about sizing up competitors and less about sexism.

Also why such the harsh critism of tats and piercings. They are talent chefs not corporate mangagers, I think it's perfectly fine as long as they don't cause any danger in the kitchen. It doesn't make them any less professional or any less competent in their talents and skills. In fact a great food tat on the right person could give you a hint of their passion and dedication to the art of food.

[Nsam]

Why doesn't Lee Anne blog anymore? I really miss her -- her blog was by far the most interesting on the Bravo site. Does anyone know -- is she still working for TC?

[babyarm]

she may be done. Fabio took over her video slot for tcm.

[Allison]

Pastry-chef-gate (that's a good one). I didn't read too much into it. Heck, most industries are male-dominated, especially at the higher levels, at least the ones I've worked in (primarily IT/investment banking and now higher education). I'm not so sure that the restaurant industry is unique (as I think Dom said).

I enjoyed Wolfgang Puck as a judge & am looking forward to more of the season.

@ Dave: "I personally can't wait until she's old enough to help me roll pasta or help the wife with her family Kibbeh recipe." Kibbeh!!! The sight of the word makes me happy. Call me a weird food geek. Thanks to the internet, I found a recipe that replicates a great version that I hadn't been able to find for years. Don't you love help for those labor intensive recipes?

[zsparks]

ID George: What was the deal with the deep-fried ribeye? What was Hector going for with that? I didn't quite make out his explanation - has anyone tried something like that before?

I have had that, and it's yum, but it's no Craft Steak. It's campfire food, really. I wonder whether that's where the smoke got mangled in translation. It's not even always deepfried, I think, though it's definitely fried and not grilled.

"Mock Duck" or "Mock Chicken" Yikes! This sounds scarier than Boca's "Chik'n."