Comments on: Top Chef Masters

By: ellaella

ellaella — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 04:08:59 +0000

Hi, Jack. Oh, Bourdain would be great entertainment and I’d love to see him be judged! I agree about not wanting to see cheftestants from the regular show. I don’t think that’s what Bravo has in mind. They’re in a different league from the masters and I don’t think they could keep up.

24 chefs – if this is on just once a week, that’s a six-month show. Oy!

By: ellaella

ellaella — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 03:48:59 +0000

What are those reasons most people have, Jenni?

I think this will be even more polished for many reasons, first among them it’s entertainment and this round, it’ll be marquee names. I hope you’re right about encouraging people to get in the kitchen, but I think people who are already challenging themselves, trying new and different things are the one who might be inspired. Those who think RayRay and Pauler Deen are just OMG wonderful might watch for the names then put Cool Whip on the shopping list.

By: ellaella

ellaella — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 03:37:28 +0000

Word - I agree with everything you said about Ripert and will add another quality: humility. It’s not a term I usually associate with great chefs in the age of celebuchefs, but the ones who seem to exude it are usually French. Daniel Bouloud has spoken about his wife’s family looking down on him because he was “just a cook” and Jacques Pepin (who, it is easy to forget, cooked for Prime Ministers) wrote in his memoir about being a cook and his surprise at the elevation of cooks to star chefs.

They all seem to be so well-grounded and give me the impression their top concern is the food, not the next piece of cookware they can slap their names onto and flog on shopping channels.

Speaking of that, don’t be surprised if Todd English is part of this new show.

By: Jack

Jack — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 20:44:17 +0000

Ha, it'd be fun to see Bourdain compete but I'm not sure if it'd be particularly sporting. He's famous for his writing and his TV presentation skills, not his food. I love Eric Ripert. He looks so intimidating and so well-known but he appears to be such a nice guy. I hope they manage to pull a lot of their old guest judges and some serious, established chefs instead of drawing too heavily from their pool of eliminated contestants. Although some of the past finalists would be fun to see again. Jack’s last blog post..links for 2009-02-17

By: Jenni

Jenni — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 19:02:22 +0000

I am very excited about this, but not for reasons that most people have (I don't think). It is my hope that seeing 23 "real" top chefs go down in flames will encourage home cooks everywhere--even the best sometimes cut themselves, under- or overcook the foie, under- or over-season or crack under pressure. I think this competition might encourage folks to get in the kitchen and just go for it. All these polished, highly rehearsed shows showing beautiful people producing perfect meals is so not the reality--either in life or in a restaurant. It will be refreshing to see some true professionals either literally or figuratively head from the frying pan to the fire! Jenni’s last blog post..Oh, Nuts!