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.jpg) Michael Chiarello. Photo: Bravo TV. |
Last night was no exception. When she offered an oh-so-helpful etymology primer -- "The word 'chef,' as you know, means 'chief'!" -- you could practically see the four remaining pros shudder in their aprons.
Yup, after a season of going it solo, the polished pros would direct a crew of underlings for the penultimate elimination challenge. That the challenge itself was one of the vaguest and least interesting of the season -- cook a buffet for 200 "Hollywood insiders" -- didn't matter, especially considering that the pool of sous-chefs they had to choose from were some of the most memorable: the snottiest, cockiest young turks of "Top Chefs" past.
Spike Mendelsohn, Ilan Hall, Richard Blais, Dale Talde -- they all stood there like kids waiting to be picked for dodgeball.
With the exception of a was-it-staged screaming match between Michael Chiarello and Dale, and Anita Lo's disillusionment with former colleague Jamie Lauren, the work itself turned out to be relatively drama-free.
What the upstarts ultimately provided was an opportunity for us to get an inside look at how these celebs might run their kitchens -- and to realize that we would never, ever, want to work for Chiarello.
If Rick Bayless presented himself as the kindest, most egalitarian boss you could ever hope to have, and Hubert Keller inspired a Gandhi-like following through his cool, collected perfectionism, Chiarello was the evening's dictator. Or as season five's Fabio Vivani best summed it up, "I can tell this dude is Italian 'cause he's making everyone run around him like a chicken with no head."
Cooler heads prevailed, as Keller earned the most hosannas for his colorful 18-dish (!) spread, highlighted by a vivid-red Vietnamese gazpacho. Despite all the sturm und drang over Chiarello's management style -- and the judges' disproportionately negative comments on his "furry and mealy" swordfish appetizer -- the raging bull managed to score well above the harried Lo, whose luscious-looking stuffed short rib couldn't salvage its ill-conceived companion, a raw bar of oysters and tuna.
Lo should take heed of Chiarello's words, delivered after his own drubbing: "It is what it is."
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8-18-2009 @1:02PM Canadianfoodiegirl said... A few seasons ago Gail Simmons used the line, "The word 'chef,' means 'chief'" at a judging deliberation. I remember this because at the time I groaned and remembered that she'd been in the French immersion program in school.
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