[Blarg]

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Last night I watched Ramsay's KM, which was a repeat of an older one. The chef was some highly regarded french chef who put together his own top notch team and opened a place in a small town in Scotland. The place was losing a lot of money and they couldn't understand why.

Basically it came down to a menu that the 'simple' people of this quaint town couldn't understand, and he just did too much to the food. He felt adding more, and more made the dishes better, when instead they just ended up being a jumbled up combination of flavors. He had a hard time grasping that 'less is more', until Ramsay basically hit him on top of the head with it. This chef had a huge ego, and couldn't bring himself to make basic/simple food that the locals would enjoy...he was a french chef, and wanted to make his complicated, high class french food.

I think Hung has this same problem. He thinks by making complicated food he shows himself off as a Top Chef, but instead he comes off as an egotistical fool. There's no doubt he has talent, and may be one of the best chefs there, but his ego really hurts his final product. Should we really be surprised though? He is good friends with Marciel (last season) and I guess they cook together all the time.

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I've worked at mid-level hotels, catering mostly to business travel, that have this same problem. It's hard to get good chefs for them, and when you do, you can't really take full advantage of it because business travelers most of all want comfort food. Something they can understand and eat at the end of a tired day, not be challenged by or feel they are forced to pretend to like it. Steak and potatoes? Awesome. Fried chicken? Great. Something French or Vietnamese, no matter how good and easy to decipher? Pass.