TV cooking contest shows - Page 8

Thanir · #71 07-31-2007, 05:22 PM

I agree with everything you say about Bonnie. I would imagine if she wins, she really won't be getting her own place...regardless of how its advertised. Last years winner, Heather, is not the executive chef at TBones like the finale showed, rather she is the Senior Chef at Terra Rosa, which is at Red Rocks Casino

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The Red Rock people subsequently backed off their commitment, saying that Heather would instead be put in a position commensurate with her skill level. Later, they decided to move her out of T-Bones and into to a job described as "Senior Chef" at Terra Rossa, the resort's Italian restaurant. There's already an executive chef in place at Terra Rossa.

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http://www.restaurant-hospitality.com/article/14221

I actually ate there on July 4th [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] and the Lobster Bisque was one of the best things I have ever had.

Oh also the 1st year winner never claimed his prize either, but that seemed to have something to do with his gf at the time.

Going back to this years HK...i will be surprised if bonnie wins, but i was surprised last night.

Blarg · #72 07-31-2007, 05:40 PM

Interesting, thanks for the info. Getting past her not being given an executive chef job, would you describe Heather's move to Terra Rossa as simply a lateral move, or a demotion? Considered both in terms of her position and its eventual potential, and in terms of the quality of the restaurant and/or its profitability?

Thanir · #73 07-31-2007, 06:13 PM

I think it definitely has to be a demotion since she is like 1 of 3 Senior Chefs at TR, and she was supposed to be an Executive Chef at TBones.

For me TR was one of the more upscale places I've ever been, I'm a pretty simple person, but my friend that came down with me won 6k at the Binions Classic so he was buying [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]. TR was like $75 a person, but TBones looked like it would be double that...it was definitely more high scale than TR, and their menu had no prices on it, while TR's did.

Regardless I would imagine Heather is pretty happy where she is since it's a step up from where she was, and has a lot more potential I would imagine. Also I would think she has a lot less pressure on her since she isnt the one 'in charge'. It lets her do her thing, and learn more about running a place like that.

I just posted that article just because I find it funny that the show never once said she didnt get the 'promised prize' that they had been promoting. I also think this precedence makes it easier for them to pick Bonnie to win since she can win, and just be the Senior Chef, under some Executive Chef, so she canlearn the ropes.

Blarg · #74 07-31-2007, 06:55 PM

It has always seemed to me clear that simply winning a cooking contest is no indicator of anyone's ability to run a top restaurant, so I've always been curious how it could possibly be used that way. It makes sense that it hasn't.

trying2learn · #75 08-01-2007, 04:26 PM

ate at Terra Rosa yesterday for lunch...it was great.

to add to the reply, it's def a demotion. at the same time, TR is a kick ass little restaurant so it's not like she's in bad shape or anything.

also, i will be amazed if rock doesn't win this. other than bonnie's palate - rock has outshined everyone in the pack imo.

katyseagull · #76 08-02-2007, 08:29 AM

I watched Top Chef last night. Pretty interesting episode. They had to figure out how to freeze a pasta meal and then reheat it very quickly for customers at a local grocery. This proved to be a rather difficult challenge. I really enjoyed this episode a lot.

Pretty fun to watch the different teammates struggling to communicate with each other. Too many big egos! Now that I'm reading Kitchen Confidential (got my copy right before I went on vacation) it is all starting to make a lot of sense to me. That is, I never realized that chefs were so egotistical and passionate. It appears to be standard in the industry.

katyseagull · #77 08-02-2007, 01:10 PM

Well I just read the OOT thread on Top Chef and it would appear that most people thought last night's episode sucked. Lol. I guess I'm the only one who finds it interesting how they freeze food for sale (which is really kind of weird as I never freeze any of my own food ever nor do I buy frozen foods [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]). I just found it really interesting to watch the process and also to watch the teammates attempting to be diplomatic.

I think Howie is pretty annoying. I read in OOT how others find him interesting but I find him to be antisocial and overly sweaty. Also, from the few episodes I've watched I can see he really digs pork. Have to say, though, that I was loving his little tirade at the end there. "As long as the cat's out of the bag..." Haha! That was pretty funny. He went a little over the line if you ask me but what the hell, I guess he figured why the hell not.

I thought the Indian girl would get voted off. What is her name? Also, I was a little taken aback by how much Joey was crying. Wonder what it means that I have such harsh views of men who cry on TV.

Blarg · #78 08-02-2007, 01:16 PM

Glad you got the book and hoping you like it, Katy. It's a fun and revealing read.

This show had very obnoxious product placement that I could have done without. Not only did they essentially make Bertolli frozen food the center of the primary challenge in the show, guest chef Rocco was shamelessly shilling it while describing the challenge. Yuck.

Hung got another well-deserved dressing-down, and I can't say I'm not glad of it. Having so much ego and inability to listen to people while still so young suggests he could become a true a-hole and failure in many aspects of life coming up in very short order. That said, I did feel bad for him anyway. He should have stood up to his partner, Joey, but he just collapsed and went quietly to his doom. He looked absolutely stricken during the judging, and the same spiked with anger during the service.

Howie, too, was terrible at working with his partner. Sara may not be a particularly good contestant, but a guy like Howie makes it very hard to contribute, much less do so without getting into a fight. He just started blocking out Sara from the very beginning of the challenge, and he was hardly graceful about it either.

I think many challenges on these shows are being discounted because working together as a team is being talked of as something that should take a very distant back seat to expressing one's culinary genius. The problem with that is that these chefs are not aspiring to cook at home, but in a business. Someone with an inability to work with and motivate others can sabotage the relevance of any level of his own talent. In a business, one simply does not work alone.

This makes Howie someone who seems like he needs to either work by himself or expect in his working life to be in big trouble if he can't find people who are absolutely perfect matches with him and stay with him forever -- which will entail putting up with his tunnel vision and tendency to angrily tune people out. An autistic savant is not what a kitchen needs. Maybe I should start calling Howie "Rainman."

I was glad to see CJ do well. He has said he never won anything before, but he has gotten plenty of compliments on doing good food, and from what I recall has not spent significant time at the bottom. His "tuna casserole" was ruinous in a previous show, but at least it showed him thinking. He seems to have potential, and I liked that for once, everything seemed to go well for him.

Blarg · #79 08-02-2007, 01:20 PM

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Also, I was a little taken aback by how much Joey was crying. Wonder what it means that I have such harsh views of men who cry on TV.

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I think I've seen everyone on this show cry so far, and some of them haven't even been eliminated yet.

Men crying isn't socially acceptable, but then again neither is their being stoic all the time. So they're in a kind of grotesque, distorted bind. Given that, cutting them some slack seems fine to me. After all, how many days a week do you have one of the biggest dreams of your life completed crushed while being publicly humiliated about it? I'm sure Joey didn't particularly want to cry that much or plan it out, so I cut him some slack.

katyseagull · #80 08-02-2007, 01:24 PM

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Howie, too, was terrible at working with his partner. Sara may not be a particularly good contestant, but a guy like Howie makes it very hard to contribute, much less do so without getting into a fight. He just started blocking out Sara from the very beginning of the challenge, and he was hardly graceful about it either.

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This is what I was thinking too. Personally I would have a very hard time working with a guy like that. I wouldn't even know where to begin. Also, I was very surprised that Howie didn't insist on using the type of pasta he wanted. I thought he would be a little more 'take charge' than that. I guess he really was trying to be a team player but man when things went bad at the end he really didn't hold back his feelings did he.