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In uncertain times, we count on simple pleasures: Home cooking, unemployment checks and the heady mix of ego, chutzpah and alcohol-fueled drama we have come to anticipate from "Top Chef."So when Bravo announced that "Top Chef Masters," the show's latest iteration (hosted by Kelly Choi, right), would be given over to established culinary superstars, fans had reason to worry: Would decorum and professionalism win out over brash experimentation? Would upstart bickering be replaced by upper-crust camaraderie? Would the fauxhawk go the way of the dodo?
The answer after the inaugural hour is a qualified "yes." But what "Top Chef Masters" loses in amateur hour enthusiasm it gains in hyper-astute commentary. It is a knowing look at what it means to be a celebrity chef in an era when celebrity chefs are often made overnight on cable TV. Every week, by stripping four different "masters" of their sous chefs, sommeliers and Cuisinarts -- in one instance forcing them to make do with nothing more than a dorm room's toaster oven, microwave and hot plate -- it resets the bar for gourmet ingenuity.
Read on to learn about the Girl Scout mafia's dessert tastes and prosciutto-popcorn risotto.
As if to underline the humility, both of the night's challenges catered to kids. Boston chef Michael Schlow noted that young people's palates are "just emerging," advice that Aureole's Christopher Lee (formerly of upscale New York eatery Gilt) might've been wise to heed -- and that "caramelized" translates as "burnt" to the neophyte taste buds of a phalanx of Girl Scout dessert critics.
The pink-barrette mafia far preferred Hubert Keller's playful mousse swans and whipped cream mice (a lure for his gorgeous and presumably champagne-free orange sabayon).
Keller's luxuriously creamy mac and cheese with prawns -- drained in a dorm shower, no less -- took top honors, but not without strong competition from Lee (we'll take Gael Greene's word on his apparently delectable popcorn-topped, prosciutto-studded risotto) and aw-shucks Texan Tim Love (whose rare-to-perfection skirt steak, encased in a perfectly charred crust, had us drooling).
Anticipating the judges' verdicts with a few customary bottles of red, the foursome couldn't have seemed more down to earth. Let's just hope that in coming weeks, these pros' gloves start to come off as well.
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6-11-2009 @3:26PM RobynT said... I think the masters' version also has more appeal as "food porn." The original has some of that as well but with the "masters," there's a higher percentage of really good-looking dishes.
I also like learning about these chefs. I've learned to recognize a few chefs when they've been featured on the show as judges or whatever, but I get even more of an opportunity here. I think it's good publicity for the chefs too. I completely fell in love with Hubert and checked out his restaurants online last night. The prices are pretty high for me, but I'm determined to stop in and try a dessert next time I'm in SF or LV.
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6-11-2009 @7:06PM Jeff said... I think it did not help the show to put the "masters" into two extremely unlikely scenerios for quickfire and elimination.
Unlike "Top Chef," you barely get to know the chefs before they're eliminated, so that the emotional connection isn't there. And, if they're eliminated, you never get a sense of what their real food is like when they're cooking in microwaves and showers.
I'd be pissed if I was one of the competing chefs.
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