Xoco's churros are hard to get. Photo: ehfisher/flicker.
Would you wait three days for a "Top Chef" churro?
Rick Bayless, one of Chicago's top chefs and the winner of Bravo's "Top Chef Masters," is extending his gourmet Mexican empire to street food. Last week, he added XOCO (pronounced "Sho-Co") to his string of Windy City hot spots including Frontera Grill and Topolobampo. The latest aims to bring authentic Mexican tortas and caldos (sandwiches and soups) to the masses. How did it go over with the locals? The line snaked out the door.
When Slashfood swung by for after-dinner churros -- the delectable fried-dough treats sprinkled with sugar and spices -- it took three nights of trying to get in.
Chicago's own Rick Bayless may be the king of Mexican cuisine in America, but his win on "Top Chef Masters" proved the chef could also cook through the canon of other world cuisines.
If you've been faithfully watching the first season of "Top Chef Masters," you know it's not about the drama. It's not about the high-stakes tension. And it certainly isn't about the fashion about one of its namesake Top Chefs. (Mexican-chef extraordinaire Rick Bayless' specs invoke memories of a junior-high chemistry teacher, circa 1996.)
So how climactic could last night's finale have possibly been? Three of the most established, entitled chefs in America duking it out for ... what, exactly?
Well, words like "honor," "pride" and "respect" were thrown around, as were references to the charity money at stake, of course. There were the requisite sound bites about "every one of us deserving to win" or "this will be the closest" of all the season's scores. Yes, the group-hug feel of the entire season culminated in a finale so steeped in admiration, they had to set it in a museum, Malibu's majestic Getty Villa.
All of this made Italian stallion Michael Chiarello's fighting spirit -- so cockily annoying in previous episodes (though this week he attributed this impression to Bravo's editing) -- a breath of fresh air, even if he did overdo the boxing metaphors: "It's like Rocky Marciano, Rocky Balboa and Rocky's trainer all in the ring at the same time," he quipped, leading one to wonder who the Burgess Meredith of this trio of celebrity chefs might be -- graying Frenchman Hubert Keller, perhaps?
The pugilist vibe seemed to indicate that the gloves were coming off, or "the truffles are coming out of the bag." Keller was so enamored of his, which were overnighted from his homeland (what happened to the usual dollar limit on ingredients?) that he did a little celebratory dance, shaking the velvety fungi-like maracas.
Who knew someone as adorable as Zooey Deschanel could be so difficult? Truth be told, when the actress and singer showed up as a guest judge/elfin dinner hostess last night on "Top Chef Masters," we were counting the moments until she threw the inevitable curveball: "I'm a vegetarian."
When she added "no eggs or dairy" -- never uttering the word "vegan" -- and professed her intolerance for soy or wheat, we sensed the evil guiding hand of the show's producers, eager to ratchet up the tension for the five remaining celeb chefs. The only way they could've played it up more would have been to have her break plates and pull a "Mommie Dearest" at the dinner table: "I told you, no gluten ingredients EVER!"
No such luck. The star of the heavily Bravo-promoted "500 Days of Summer" was a model of apologetic demureness when she met the cooks pre-meal, although she did decline Michael Chiarello's request to sing couple of a cappella songs in exchange for his culinary handiwork.
Behind her back, the Italian cuisine maestro was the most outwardly offended by the restrictions, calling them "off-putting."
Now things get ugly. We've been waiting all season for something to break the respectful, civilized, almost comically cordial spell cast by the "Top Chef Masters" assortment of celebrity chefs, each gingerly battling the other for a claim to Bravo-endorsed superiority (not to mention a philanthropic sack full of Lexus-supplied charity cash). In Wednesday night's first round of finals, the cloud of cheery camaraderie seemed to have finally lifted.
It wasn't the chefs who removed their gloves -- or mitts, to be more appropriate -- but rather, the folks behind the scenes. From the quickfire challenge to the judges' table, the six chefs who've made it this far were subjected to a grueling, baffling psychological experiment the likes of which we haven't seen since the Skinner box.
Maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration. But right from the start, something was off-kilter. Even host Kelly Choi's usual preschool-teacher diction took on a tinge of deviousness as she announced that each chef would be asked to prepare his or her "sig-na-ture dish," making sure to linger on every syllable.
Rick Bayless on Top Chef Masters. Photo: BravoTV.com
What fresh hell is this?
We could tell "Top Chef Masters" producers were hoping to get an "eww, gross" rise out of audiences with their elimination challenge last night: Cooking with organ meat. (They even dedicated a text message poll to the matter: "Which offal is the most awful? Ears, heart, stomach or tongue?") But to more adventurous viewers -- and to the four masters who regarded their ordained ingredients with either laid-back geekiness or "bring it on" vigor -- the far grislier prospect was the choice of guest judges: amusement-park patrons.
To be fair, the hungry throngs waiting to sample the results of the "street food" challenge seemed mostly to be savvy foodie-hipsters and not some stereotypical coaster-riding troglodytes to whom a mall pretzel with mustard is a culinary leap of faith. But that didn't stop LudoBites bad boy Ludo Lefebvre from burying his tenderly simmered pig's ear pieces under mounds of gloppy cheese in an attempt to fool the masses; similarly, Pikayo's Wilo Benet sliced the beef heart in his colorful pita pockets so thin as to be unrecognizable.
Spinning off the wildly popular "Top Chef," Bravo TV is pitting 24 of the best chefs around the globe against one another in a no-holds-barred knife fight for the chance to win $100,000 for charity in "Top Chef Masters." The show, which debuts Wednesday at 10 p.m. EST, comes complete with its very own Padma in Kelly Choi, a 33-year-old former model born in Seoul and raised in the suburbs of Richmond, Va.
She was cherry-picked straight from local access TV in New York, where, dressed in skimpy outfits and armed with an inquisitive mind, she gave New Yorkers an intimate view of some of the city's top kitchens. We caught up with her to talk about her rise to national stardom, how the best chefs in the world handle criticism and what the deal is with magicians acting as judges.
How did you get involved with the show? Someone from Bravo called me out of the blue and asked me to fly out to L.A. to meet the producers. What I do on ["Eat Out NY"] is pick a dish and cook it with a chef on TV. I pick all the restaurants that I want to feature and dishes that I think the readers would be into. This Bravo exec saw me on TV and flew me out and my dream came true.
Why do you think this show matters in this economy? Why not? Everybody loves food. The alternative is to cook at home and you can totally pick up tips. It's a fun way -- to be inspired by fun and passionate people -- to cook at home.
In last night's episode of Top Chef, teams created dishes to serve at a block party in a Chicago neighborhood. First things first: This was one intense block party. We're talking moon bounce and dunk tanks. In fact, now that I think about it, the food didn't even look like the best thing there.
I've been featuring a lot of books lately that aren't actually cookbooks, but books that are about food, cooking and eating. Today's featured book is no exception. Called How I Learned to Cook, it is a collection of essays by some of the world's most famous and accomplished chefs in which they share some of the pivotal moments in their culinary educations. There are stories from 40 chefs, including Rick Bayless, Mario Batali and Eric Ripert.
As someone who has always been fascinated by how people chose the career paths they take in their lives, I love dipping into this book and reading about the moments that have influenced successful people. There is also a fantastic companion book called Don't Try This at Home, which includes stories of culinary catastrophies.
Ever since friend pointed in me in the direction of Epicurious.com when I was looking for a Passover recipe several years ago, it's been one of my go-to websites for interesting recipes, food tips and the occasional article. They recently launched a redesign of their site, and it's not just the same old stuff dressed up in new HTML. There's a bunch of new features including a recipe bar search, new categories and my very favorite, a brand spanking new blog.
The Epi-log as they're calling it is staffed not only by the Epicurious editors, but also by a pretty nifty assortment of guest bloggers. They've got Amy Sherman from Cooking with Amy (food blogger makes good!), Rick Bayless (who really needs no introduction), food writing extraordinaire Melissa Clark, the grill man Michael Y. Park, wine expert Natalie MacLean and Neal Pollack, who bills himself as Writer, Food Lover, Dad (please read his post about how his son threw a temper tantrum because they were out of capers. It made me giggle audibly).
Today was the first day that really, truly made me feel like it was summer. Humid, suffocating, with just a hint of agony and despair. And it's only June 27th.
Another reason to dislike summer? Reruns. There are more and more original shows in the summer now, but it's rather depressing when your regular shows are in reruns for 2 or 3 months. Martha Stewart's show has been in reruns (it's not one of my regular shows but I tune in now and then), but starting July 16 she'll have two weeks of special "Martha's Summer Session" episodes, where famous chefs will come in and cook. Included: Mario Batali will make Shrimp From The Devil Priest, Michael Lomonoco will make Skirt Steak With Chimichurri Sauce, and Rick Bayless will make Jicama, Beet, and Orange Salad.
Other guests will include Sue Torres, Michael Schulson, and Scott Conant.
Sometimes, holidays just beg to be celebrated with fried foods. Yesterday, to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, Jessica made churros and posted about them on her blog, Su Good Eats. Jessica tells us that churros got their start as a French dish, not a Mexican one, since they are based on choux pastry, which is typically used to make eclairs and cream puffs. In this case, of course, it is deep fried and rolled in a cinnamon-sugar mixture to make a crispy and delicious snack that you'll want to eat as soon as it's cool enough to pop into your mouth. Coincidentally, the recipe came from the same cookbook that was our cookbook of the day yesterday, Rick Bayless's Mexico One Day At A Time!
While there is a somewhat streamlined version in his newer bookMexican
Everyday, Chef Rick Bayless is in top form with his bestselling Mexico
One Plate at a Time. Collected from his childhood and extensive travels throughout Mexico, the
book features more than 120 traditional Mexican recipes, from starters to desserts, and the simple to the complex. Each
of the dishes is accompanied by a description of what the dish should look and taste like, so any cook unfamiliar with
the cuisine will know that they are on the right track. Of course, the recipes are so detailed that it is difficult to
get off track with them. Some of the recipes call for specialty or traditional ingredients, which might be difficult to
get at a local market depending on where you live, but the extensive appendix even includes a list of websites where you
can fine everything you might need. You're guaranteed to have many great, authentic meals with the recipes in this
book.
Zagat doesn't survey only diners anymore. To see what industry insiders,
including chefs and restaurant owners, wanted to see and wanted to stop seeing in food in the next year, Zagat went straight to the
source. From Anthony Bourdain to Rick Bayless, they want to see:
Artisanal cheeses and organic
foods; more innovation and less repetition; authentic Vietnamese, tapas, Mexican and Japanese; customers who ask for
advice; an increase in passion in both service and food
From Gordon Ramsey to Ming Tsai, they could do
without:
Truffle oil; electronic distractions; overly detailed menus; "concept" and
formula restaurants
On the fringes of the survey, Tony Bourdain is asking for more smoking sections and Mark
Furstenberg (owner of BreadLine in DC) wants more butterscotch pudding, but it seems that at least some food trends are
headed in the direction that chefs want. Organic foods are used more than ever and there is an increasing emphasis on
regional, "authentic" cooking, but only time will tell what the New Year will bring.
Spinning off the wildly popular 
Spoiler Alert! Spoiler Alert!
Today was the first day that really, truly made me feel like it was summer. Humid, suffocating, with just a hint of agony and despair. And it's only June 27th.
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