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FeedMolecular Gastronomy in San Diego
Plus: Malarkey's weekly Top Chef Power Rankings
Oh My San Diego! Did I stir up the molecular gastronomy bee’s nest or what?
The fact that I got the El Bizcocho kitchen to take time away from their beakers and gelatin to visit my blog brings me great happiness. I had to reread my blog after some of the response that I got. For a minute I thought I kicked your kitty but then I realized I only stated the obvious without being threatening or confrontational, and I got “smacked” like the cross-dressing, has-been boxer married to a former playmate, Oscar de la Hoya! I was just trying to defend San Diego as a sophisticated group of diners who know what they like and probably don’t even care that Judd “former Seinfeld chef” insulted them because they have something better to do then suck on a ball of cow marrow transferred into a derived flavor with no nutritional value. I do believe that the great chef Joël Robuchon explained it best when he said at the 2006 (yes, three years ago) International Chefs Congress in New York City that molecular gastronomy was “nothing more then pure culinary masturbation,” so I now say, put that in your sauce with some gelatin and FOAM IT.
San Diego, let’s welcome Billy Boyle to town and go pay him a visit at the Sé San Diego hotel, at the awfully named Suite and Tender on Fifth Avenue ... I hear the food is amazing, with no smoke and mirrors.
I had dinner at Cowboy Star and I think it’s my new favorite spot downtown besides Café Chloe, which owns my wife’s heart.
Enjoy my Top Chef blog!
Finally, a NYC Challenge
I had such high hopes for this season in NYC and all of the endless possibilities; finally Top Chef delivers, with Eric Ripert as the host judge.
I missed last week’s blog because I was in Vegas doing a demo with Richard Blais at the NATPE convention. I really didn’t have much to say about the “NYC All Star Challenge” except I was really happy the current season won. That was a far cry from being the best that Top Chef has produced or highlighted out of NYC. Without Hung and Harold in the mix we had just a bunch of early-elimination characters — great characters that we will always enjoy, but still not the all-stars who should have represented. The fact that Carla won (or at least I think she won) was like the Detroit Lions getting a really easy season against a bunch of Pop Warner rejects.
This week’s challenge highlighted cuisine that is of the highest echelon of our country’s dining scene. I of course have a hard time with chef Eric Ripert because he’s the one who sent me packing my knives in the mountains of Aspen with the cowboy challenge, but I will always have the greatest respect for someone like him with such (stealing Hung’s line) "style, grace and elegance" ...
Breaking it down like the cheftestants in the Quick Fire Challenge: It's impossible to reproduce one of Eric Ripert’s dishes he has worked on for years in two hours after having tasted it only moments earlier. One more thing from my eyes-only: I swear that Padma has the biggest crush on Eric Ripert. I saw it in Aspen and I saw it again on this episode.
The Malarkey Power Ranking:
1. Stefan: Winning the Quick Fire and the Elimination only solidifies him as the “Top Chef” of season five. This guy is fierce with his lobster and asparagus reproduction. He refers to skinning an eel like riding a bike ... Awesome display of confidence. Such a hard-edge competitor, I heard a very accurate rumor that he spends his time in nail salons as a means of relaxation. This self-described pretty boy with the shiny dome will be traveling with Eric Ripert this summer. He should be able to buy everyone cold beers with his $100K in pocket.
2. Hosea “The Seafood Guy”: I am really good friends with the guys who own the rights to “Who’s Your Daddy” and they want your address to collect their copyright-violation dinero. I was the seafood guy from my season and I had no idea that you are supposed to let monkfish rest before slicing it. I always do medallions ... Obviously it’s going down to Germany vs. USA in the World Cup of Top Chef, and I am beginning to think USA might actually have a chance.
3. Fabio: The bread crust looked like a pain in the ass but he pulled it off without having to give a bunch of Malarkey doing so. I loved him using his knife as a spatula on Ripert's nonstick pans. His tight French ass is probably still clinched.
4. Carla: Alright already, this is the first time I have not had her on the bottom. I’m really starting to enjoy her and all of the “hoody hoos,” owl cries and “swagger.” She confessed to being a theater major and now all she wants to be is an Eric Ripert dish ... You can’t write nor think this outside the box ... You go girl!
5. Leah: Quit batting your eyes, rubbing your hair, flirting with anyone who will take the time to give you a moment’s glance. The pouty lips and exaggerated smiles while “giving up” are forgettable ... Head home and let the real chefs get down to it, and I don’t mean “get down.” Your party is over. Butter and miso? What planet are you on? I always thought Jamie was the better chef!
Farewell Jamie: You inspired the line of the season: In my best Fabio impersonation: This is TOP Chef, not Top Scallop! When you say in your interview that you are over cuisine like Eric Ripert’s, and that this or that dish was not your favorite, you have lit the fire of the wick to your own piece of dynamite that invariably explodes in your own face. Jamie ROCKED IT, and I would love to cook with her anytime. She was quoted as saying the second best line of the season: “Bored with Eric Ripert’s food.”
One last farewell to Jeff, who did a great job on the show ... The wink was the worst and the leadership was the best.
I call it like I see it and I want you to do the same ... Let’s hear it!
Could somebody on the set please get Toby some dental floss?
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Reader Comments:
This line is the first time I laughed today since hearing that fixing my car is going to cost me over $1K … love it.... "so I now say, put that in your sauce with some gelatin and FOAM IT."
Im glad you defended us San Diegans and yourself. I am an avid diner in San Diego County, and enjoy eating at all restaurants and i think we...as a city get underrated for the food we produce. We get very little recognition from the outer city media, so I think the battle between yourself an the seinfeld chef is GREAT for the city of S.D. Now all we need is for the two of you to get toether and settle this in the kitchen. Judd v.s. Malarkey. This would be even better for us diner's as well as for the city of San Diego.
- Kathryn P.
International Chefs Congress in New York City that molecular gastronomy was “nothing more then pure culinary masturbation,” Joël Robuchon It was Actually 2007 (I was there) he had a demo on SOUS VIDE… is that considered "Molecular gastronomy??" If it wasn’t for Labs than we wouldn’t discover that amazing cooking tool right?
Gastronomy is the study of the relationship between culture and food.
A gourmet's principal activities involve discovering, tasting, experiencing, researching, understanding and writing about foods. Gastronomy is therefore an interdisciplinary activity. Good observation will reveal that around the food, there exists dance, dramatic arts, painting, sculpture, literature, architecture, and music; in other words, the Fine Arts. But it also involves physics, mathematics, chemistry, biology, geology, agronomy, and also anthropology, history, philosophy, psychology, and sociology. The application of scientific knowledge to cooking and gastronomy has become known as molecular gastronomy.
So I guess El Bulli and The Fat duck and many others Michelin stared restaurants around the world are committing culinary blasphemy??
"The future of gastronomy belongs to chemistry." Brillat Savarin, 1825 (another
The whole Newspaper article failed to reveal that the food that I do is twist on classics. Not Beakers or syringes but a good roast chicken = )
Steve
2 WORDS......COOK OFF!
I hope that Oscar De La Hoya isnt at home in his "special underware", surfing the web and come across your bold statements, because i would pay any amount of money to see him come the SD and thump some molecular gastronomy into your giant head. As far as the Chef Congress is consirned I didnt see you here the last couple of years. Times are changing and so is the food world. Brovo to Steven Rojas and our culinary team for all there hard work. I know the path that this team is taking is not the easy one and weather San Diego embrasses us is to be determined. But to tell you the truth San Diego, Im glad that everday i get up and come to work im trying to make a difference in food and not on my public reputation. This isnt a blog about the food world or food at all. Its a irrelivant banter about a TV show. if you would like to learn somthing go to stevenrojas.typepad.com and learn about what we are doing at El Biz.
Brian, you can make reservation on open table for El Biz we wont tell anyone. Just give me a call if you want me to handle it.
"Chef Judd Canepari", if you forgot.
Alright Children,
And children you all are. Brian... I saw you on Top Chef almost TWO years ago... there can be only one winner and the rest are?...
Anyway you didn't win all you got was this stinking blog that almost nobody reads... it is hard to find anyway. You work for a corporate chain that I have never been to but the best thing I have heard said is that it has a decent oyster bar. Fresh oysters from the ocean with traditional garnishes... who can argue?
Steven, you won a Michelin star (brian...could you do that?) at Saddle Peak, but why did you leave??? Too scared to go for 2? I don't get it. Gavin did great at El Biz but in 09 has 1 star as well (Cafe Boulud). Michelin isn't coming to SD; period. So, the best you can do with El Biz is to make a name for yourself as a big fish in a small polluted pond. I only hope you can find some love in this town, where molecular gastronomy is not mainstream, and the staple meat and potato is king.
Judd, Seinfeld is great, Roppongi is doing ok, and La Valencia is... what it is. You are trying to ride Steven's wave... trying to get a little last minute love before you resolve yourself to being a hotel exec chef with little or no future in serious food. Keep it real, do what you know and do not try to push the envelope, stick with what you can do make the exec dollars is my advice.
To the guy expecting a cook-off... good luck with getting that to happen, both sides are busy, and more importantly both sides have too much to lose to wager in something like that.
To the general populous, culinary masterbastion???? that is pretty harsh. some things can come easy, normally through the time honored tradition of cooking, however with the new ingredients available to chefs all over the world... Simple, seasonal ingredients prepared honestly, (with new or old techniques) properly seasoned and well served will always be the backbone of this industry.
"If you can't adapt, you might as well die"
Winston Churchi
WOW! Well said. I think that is the most logical and reasonable response. San Diego is... a steak and potatoes town, and therefore Oceanare will always be more successful than El Bizcocho. Sorry Judd, I guess Malarkey wins. I have eaten at both restaurants and I can say that the food at El Bizcocho is more intricate and exciting than when Gavin Kaysen was there, but some of the Oceanare fish dishes give them a run for there money; only in flavor not close by a long shot in presentation. So to both chefs"good luck in your careers and make san diego proud" oh! and Brian maybe you should take the chefs advice and take a trip to El Bizcocho...and perhaps the chefs at El Bizcocho can do the same.
Winston,
before you enter this entertaining famliy fuad, with your Chefs Knife, you best have the culinary to back it up. I know these guys and im sure any one of them would love to teach a few lessons to a no named first year culinary grad or a culinary grand dad in "serious food". We can all write a witty blog entry, but can we all go toe to toe with these guy?? Your best postion is annonymous. Or you can Stage'(is that Correct)? with any of them and give us a retraction blog later. No TV show, No Stars, No last minute Waves. I think your over your head. Chef Brian, Chef Steven, Chef Judd. What do you think?
"You wont adapt, so go ahead and die"
there is still only one way to settle this! COOOK OFFFFF!