Life Lessons I Learned From Top Chef Masters
I was watching Top Chef Masters last night and a really strange thought, and also life lesson, came to me. On the regular version, when the chefs heard the comments and critiques given to them by the judges and participants, they were always really tense and upset, and every single mistake or mishap was the end of the world.
In what I saw last night, the Masters laughed and joked the whole time, and when one of them realized that their entire bag of groceries waas accidentally placed in a freezer and not a cooler, it didn't really seem to phase him much and he successfully created a Plan B.
What I learned was this: with age and experience comes the wisdon to that know s*** happens. Things will go wrong. People will not always like what I make or do or try. I cannot be friends with everyone and yet, even if the dryer shinks my clothes, the oven burns my cake, I turn the pan on too high and scorch my fish...life will go on....we can laugh, we can make fun of ourselves (like the one with the "cake" that was mush), and we can learn and improve and enjoy life anyway.
What have you learned from Top Chef or any other food show that you didn't think that you would? Or am I the only one?
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15 Comments:
No, I agree with you and made the same observation. The lesson I learned was to not take things overly personally and just laugh at yourself. But I have to say that these guys had the luxury of being relaxed because they are already well established and successful and they were competing for money for a charity - not money that they personally would need to rely on for career success or paying off bills. Thus, since the reward didn't as directly benefit/impact them, maybe the stress level was lower since not as much was at stake as in normal Top Chef.
laurelie at 12:13PM on 06/11/09
I watched the rerun this morning. I have to agree that that attitude was awesome.
They also wished each other luck and seemed to get along really well. It's great to see professionals act professional and enjoy what they're doing.
gingercookiewithlime at 1:32PM on 06/11/09
I was thinking the EXACT same thing when I watched it this morning. What a difference between the Masters and the Rookies. Thank you @Traveller for expressing that.
Yes they were competing for charity, etc., but their REPUTATIONS are on the line, they really have no less to lose than the other contestants. In fact, I think they had more to lose than the rookies.
What I had reinforced, was something I'm really starting to *GET* this past year. RELAX, most everything I worry and fuss about is NOT life and death. Laugh, roll with it, learn something, enjoy the EXPERIENCE, learn something new, be nice to your fellow humans.
TeriN at 2:05PM on 06/11/09
i was impressed with how the master chefs (unlike most of the chefs on the regular top chef) did NOT have the attitude like they were too good to cook for girl scouts or in a dorm. they just took eerything in stride and had a good snse of humour. they were able to just do the best with what they had, not complain, and laugh at themselves.
gypsykid at 3:06PM on 06/11/09
ditto to what all of you said.
i wanted to kiss hubert keller when he gave his opponent his kitchenaid mixer.
andshewas at 4:29PM on 06/11/09
I agree with laurelie. If the amateur chefs screw up and lose their shot at making it big, it's a much bigger deal to that person than if these well established chefs dont make as much money for their charity. But on the other hand, it's much more fun to watch the contestants be relaxed about what's going on! I just posted my recap of the episode here.
Hillary
Chew on That
Chew on That at 5:28PM on 06/11/09
dammit why didn't i watch this....*kicks self in arse*
hungrychristel at 5:43PM on 06/11/09
when I watched last night I was thinking that I loved how Hubert and the other chefs focused on the opportunities rather than on the negatives. That's a life lesson we should all apply on a daily basis.
MadelynRodriguez at 6:14PM on 06/11/09
I'm with @andshewas. I was (pleasantly) shocked when Hubert Keller shared his appliance. I remember thinking that would likely not happen in another competition.
mollykate678 at 6:33PM on 06/11/09
I haven't really learned anything special, but two things stand out as advice for contestants.
1. taste what you're making
2. make sure it's done
And as mentioned above- even with all the best planning, things go awry. Be flexible and go to plan b or c or d......
CJ McD at 7:29PM on 06/11/09
@hungrychristel Bravo is rerunning this show many, many times this week, so you shouldn't have to "kick self".
LearP at 1:18AM on 06/12/09
The sense of security that the professional chefs have is refreshing, and showed that they were able to laugh at themselves and prove the points being made here about life being short and you should enjoy the ride!
chefjimbo at 7:11AM on 06/12/09
This is not a lesson so much as question I kept asking myself...
why do people/judges at these shows can't have their own little tasting plate??? Why do people have to all eat out of the same plate? If food is served family style or if more than 1 person needs to eat from the same entree plate, why can't people have their own individual small plate to serve yourself a tasting portion??
It looked so disgusting seeing intellingent adults eat soup from the same bowl and dunking their spoons over and over... because I understand they just didn't taste it one time... and with the same used spoon they would go over and taste the soup next to it. If in the contestant's restaurants they usually change utensils with each course, why can't the adopt the practice of having indiviual plates to eat from...
This just bothers me... the lesson: You do not need to share your saliva and germs with any other stranger in a table/dinner environment. It's just not necessary.
MadelynRodriguez at 5:34PM on 06/12/09
It's all about the charity. These people have secure livelihoods, they already have what the regular season contestants want so they can afford to screw around. Same as on charity game shows.
the_o at 5:43PM on 06/12/09
But it is better to take their attitudes into life because a lot of the time that's all you can do, getting bent won't help a thing, you just look like an ass.
the_o at 5:44PM on 06/12/09