Nils Norén, you broke my heart.
Michael Chiarello is creepy, right? He’s go an amped-up, fake-y charm. You can see why it works when it’s aimed straight at the camera on the Food Network, but when the Magical Elves crew take two steps to the left and you have to watch him relate to actual human beings, he’s like a Charming Lifestyle Robot exuding unctuous semi-gayness.
But, damn, it turns out he can cook. And the only guy who had a shot at him—amped-up, twitchy seafood chef Rick Moonen, who could have knocked him off the pedestal with a 3-star shrimp corndog in the Quickfire—just…. didn’t. (What was that about? Has any Top Chef contestant ever failed to get something, anything, onto the plate?)
This week: Art Smith, Jonathan Waxman, Michael Cimarusti, and Roy Yamaguchi. Since none of these chefs are particularly famous or female, I’m going to choose the hometown boy: Jonathan Waxman.
Procrastiblog 
This was the first TCM that felt like good entertainment. I’m not sure if it was Moonen’s initial fuck up or Chiarello’s TV friendly personality or even the challenge but these guys worked it. Their dishes were all interesting and they took risks. I’m not sure how risky a basil, strawberry, dairy combo is but they all made stuff I want to eat and learn to cook.
If anything, TCM demonstrates that TC is a game and even great chefs get foiled by the relatively arbitrary rules.
Comment by Meg — July 26, 2009 @ 9:49 am