Posted by Raphael, July 9, 2008 at 10:00 PM
Last night the season finale of the ratings powerhouse Hell's Kitchen aired, pitting Louis Petrozza, catering director, against 25-year-old Christina Machamer, the culinary school student. Gordon Ramsay, known for expecting his chefs to be physically fit, picked Machamer as the winner over 47-year-old Petrozza, basing his decision on her "potential and drive." She gets the position of "executive chef" (in title only) at Ramsay's new Los Angeles restaurant, a prize "worth" $250,000.
Hitting the inbox today was a press release from the cooking school Machamer attended, the Culinary Institute of America, that helped explain why she was labeled a "culinary student" for the duration of the show.
The backstory, after the jump.
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Posted by Raphael, July 7, 2008 at 11:15 AM
This Tuesday is the season finale of Hell's Kitchen, pitting Louis Petrozza, catering director, against Christina Machamer, the culinary school student. Most people have doubted whether or not the contestants were actually qualified to function as executive chef at Gordon Ramsay's new Hollywood restaurant, Gordon Ramsay at The London, the reality show's grand prize. The New York Post runs the first in-print mention (that I've seen) that the prize is, unsurprisingly, fictitious and executive chef by title only:
Do you honestly think, my sweet pea, that I'm going to be that stupid and that vulnerable? That I would stick my ass to the window and give one of them a chance to run that restaurant, which is a multi-million [dollar] investment? One of them will be part of an amazing team, put in the deep end. But they will definitely not be running the room." For the record, the winner will be called an executive chef, but in fact will be one of 65 chefs responsible for all hotel meals, including breakfast, lunch, high tea and dinner...
Previously
In Videos: Don't Burn Gordon Ramsay
'Hell's Kitchen,' The Game: A Review
In Videos: 'Hell's Kitchen' Uncensored, Season 2 Episode 1
Posted by Raphael, July 5, 2008 at 1:00 PM
"What we do is the same thing like those on Broadway. Everyday you open the curtain and it's a new show." —François Payard
Learn more about renown French pastry chef François Payard of New York City's Payard Patisserie and Bistro in his interview on Nightline's "Platelist" series. If you're not craving chocolate right now, you will after watching Payard make chocolate French toast and chocolate cake. After watching the video, grab the recipes and read more of the interview at Nightline's website.
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Posted by Raphael, June 20, 2008 at 9:45 AM
Nightline continued its "Platelist" series last night with none other than Gordon Ramsay. He does the standard cooking demo and the brief biography but shares some particularly harsh words for food critics:
"Unfortunately, today at the age of 41, my persona gets judged over my substance, which is really frustrating," he said. "I've been cooking for 21 years, and it shows on the wrinkles of my face. But here's the scenario: I'm now being judged by individuals that know less about food than I do. But yet, you have to take it like a man. Well I don't want to take it like a man anymore. I'm fed up with the sarcasm, the damn right rudeness and more important, the arrogance of food critics. Have they actually spent a 16-hour shift cooking 70 to 80 lunches, 120 to 150 dinners short staffed, fish cook is not turning in, produce inconsistent because of the weather?"
Oddly, Nightline cut out parts of the interview from the broadcast and posted larger excerpts to its website: Ramsay, the serial marathon runner and strong believer in physical fitness, insists that his staff be fit, expecting them to hit the gym, going so far as to weigh his chefs every time they step into the kitchen:
"Staying fit is part of the important role of a chef today. I think the days of the balding, alcoholic, fat chef have long gone. The pressure on young chefs today is far greater than ever before in terms of social skills, marketing skills, cooking skills, personality and, more importantly, delivering on the plate. So you need to be strong. Physically fit," he said.
"So my chefs get weighed every time they come into the kitchen. And they run. And they seriously look after themselves. They have free memberships to the local gyms, and more important, I need them to … not just to train their palate but to look after themselves."
Video after the jump.
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Posted by Robyn Lee, June 6, 2008 at 12:45 PM
Want doughnuts topped with bacon or frosted and dipped in Cap'n Crunch? Then make your way to Voodoo Doughnut in Portland, Oregon. Anthony Bourdain visits the famed doughnut shop to to try their unconventional "non-conformist doughnuts" ("I kind of wish I was drunk before eating this," he says about the chocolate and peanut butter doughnut), and learn about their failed doughnut flavors, including Jägermeister and NyQuil. Watch the video, after the jump.
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Posted by Robyn Lee, June 4, 2008 at 12:00 PM
Mo Rocca interviews Mario Batali in a park in New York City's Chinatown as they grill recipes from his latest book, Mario Batali Italian Grill, touching upon the subjects of convection heat and prehistoric grilling. They attempt to give free samples of their grilled shrimp to the park goers, but don't get many takers. Watch the video, after the jump.
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Posted by Raphael, May 8, 2008 at 12:30 PM
Mario Batali made the braciole from his new book, Italian Grill
, on Jimmy Kimmel's show last night. Kimmel did indicate he knew his braciole. "I'm from Brooklyn," he said. That, Mario said, is known as "Western Italy." The whole exchange, after the jump.
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That Amateur Gourmet video interview with Anthony Bourdain? The bleeped bits? Damn. Strong stuff. As reported on AmGour: "On Sandra Lee: 'She should be taken to Guantanamo and waterboarded.'" And that's not even the worst of it.
Posted by Raphael, March 2, 2008 at 11:00 AM
Anthony Bourdain was interviewed by Google executive chef Nate Keller at Google headquarters on November 20, 2007, as part of the Authors@Google series. 55 minutes! Video after the jump.
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Posted by Mario Batali, October 16, 2007 at 4:15 AM
Editor's note: When we thought of who we wanted to star in Serious Eats' first regular video series, Mario Batali's name kept coming up over and over again. Why? He's funny, passionate, generously spirited, smart as hell, and a great cook. So we hope you'll enjoy Unclogged, Mario Batali as you've never seen him before. —Ed Levine
The Takeaway
Mario says:
- "What you want to eat when you eat a bowl of pasta ... is pasta."
- "The way that they refer to their sauce in Italy is condimento—condiment—and when you think about a hot dog or hamburger, the condiment is something that kind of greases it up, but it never overtakes the main event of the hot dog or the hamburger."
- "Americans overdress their pasta 99.9 percent of the time. It should never be a bowl of soup. It should be noodles, with a little stuff."
About Mario: Mario Batali has created a thriving restaurant empire and has established himself as a top restaurateur. Together with his partner, Joe Bastianich, he operates seven New York City hotspots. Mario splits his time between New York City's Greenwich Village and northern Michigan with his wife, Susan Cahn, of Coach Dairy Goat Farm, and their two sons. More Mario: mariobatali.com.
Posted by The Serious Eats Team, March 2, 2007 at 6:00 AM
Today marks the debut of our Q&A feature on Serious Eats. Each Friday we'll be asking various food lovers what makes them tick. Here, we're happy to have chef and author Anthony Bourdain kick off the series.
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