the de-pampered chef
the wife and i caught a great show last night on BBC America called "Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares" wherein Gordon Ramsay - the "foulest-mouthed chef in Britain" - sets out to turn around a failing restaurant in just a week. much more interesting than "The Restaurant" and its horrid Rocco DiSpirito, Ramsay is a total shitstorm with credentials and as his moniker would suggest he's not the type to hold his tongue. in last night's episode (9pm, repeated at midnight and 4am) he was dealing mainly with Tim, a 21-year old self-styled head chef for whom 11 concurrent customers was too much to handle. Ramsay even cruelly sends Tim to his (Tim's) parents house to cook a meal for his parents and grandparents. the food was mostly prepared in advance but even that can't stop Tim from royally tanking. the process of watching the unassured and untrained Tim gain a base level of competence in time to have a successful night on Valentine's Day was engaging enough, but when peppered with Ramsay's constant barrage of expletives and other creative language (our favorites: pronouncing the "a" in "twat" as in the word "hand" and threatening at one point to "pickle [Tim's] testicles") it demanded a closer level of attention. by the time we reached the coda where Ramsay visits the restaurant a month later (only to find much of his effort undone and most of his advice unheeded), we were ready for another hour. i don't know if the show will hold up as well in future viewings, but considering there are currently just 4 episodes to be aired it may have some time before wearing thin.
you can read the Village Voice's take on the show and ready yourself for Ramsay's foray into American network television courtesy of (who else) Fox. just be prepared for lots of bleeps (BBC-A seems to only bleep out the "f*cks"). also just found is an article about Tim's attempt to gain a measure of revenge against Ramsay, featuring lots of words spelled like "f******".
Comments
I've never been able to figure out why, but that "Good Eats" guy (mentioned in the Voice article) just burns my ass. I want to strangle him every time I see him.
Posted by: Dave Nelson | January 6, 2005 02:34 PM
I've heard that from many people about Alton Brown of Good East. I'm almost ashamed to admit that I like his show a great deal. That show and the Italian American kitchen on PBS are the only cooking shows I enjoy, so maybe don't come to dinner at my house...
Kaci has told me that most of what is said on Good Eats is utter BS. I guess my affinity for the show started when I realized how much it reminded me of Phil Hartman's SNL character, the Anal Retentive Chef. Anything that reminds me of Phil Hartman automatically gets points.
There's something about cooking shows that causes extreme opinions. I absolutely despise Jamie Oliver, but many people seem to like him, and not just my wife, who thinks he's cute.
Posted by: jake | January 6, 2005 04:23 PM
"Molto Mario" was my favorite, but it doesn't seem to be on anymore. Nigella Lawson's a babe, but I don't watch her show much. She totally won me over with her episode about cooking for/with a hangover. I'm still devoted to "Iron Chef."
Why does "Good Eats" seem to mistake quirkiness for repeated extreme--and extremely unflattering--closeups of Alton Brown's face, particularly his nostrils? And why does he always act as if we've distracted him? Hey, bub, you're the one on MY television.
Jamie Oliver is a complete twat.
I'm surprised no one has brought up the incredibly grating bubbliness and bad tipping habits of Rachel Ray. Matt and I want her to star in "$0 a Day," in which she just dines and dashes.
Posted by: David | January 6, 2005 06:00 PM
"Molto Mario" was my favorite, but it doesn't seem to be on anymore. Maybe he was preoccupied with "Iron Chef America," which I'm hotly anticipating.
Why does "Good Eats" seem to equate quirkiness with repeated extreme--and extremely unflattering--closeups of Alton Brown's face? It seems like I spend a good 10 minutes of every episode I've seen looking up his nostrils. And why does Alton Brown constantly act as if we've distracted him?
Jamie Oliver is such a twat.
I'm surprised no one has brought up the grating bubbliness and terrible tipping habits of Rachel Ray. Matt and I want to her to host a show called "$0 a Day," in which she just dines and dashes.
Posted by: David | January 6, 2005 06:07 PM
how embarrassing not only to write two drafts, but post both of them.
Posted by: David | January 6, 2005 06:08 PM
nice work, Dave. don't know why you felt the need to edit Nigella out of the second one. i just made a beet-ginger soup of her's last night and it was pretty damn good (though it made my pee a bit red today).
Alton Brown i do kind of like, though the quirkiness of his show can be highly grating i admit. as for Molto Mario, he's good but i can't watch him for very long because something about him just seems unclean to me and watching him eat is a repugnant, vomit-inducing experience.
Rachel Ray is a special case and probably worthy of her own post at some point. she's staggeringly annoying, yet somehow i always get sucked in when she's on. i don't knnow what to chalk that up to. we recently saw a very early episode of "30 Minute Meals" in which she had a different hairstyle (cuter) and acted as if she had taken a quaalude. just way less bubbly and more tolerable. but i guess that didn't play as well with the audience, so she decided to play up the sorority girl with a nice kitchen/ugly tourist thing. the show where she hangs out with celebrity restaurant owners is unwatchable though unless you want to see her drunk and fawning over people such as Tony Danza.
PBS' Lidia's Italian Kitchen and Simply Ming are two of my favorites.
Posted by: jamie | January 7, 2005 11:50 AM
Forgot about Simply Ming. Don't catch it too often, but always enjoy it. I recently saw one where he cooked with his parents, really much sweeter than when Lidia's son is on. He practically sweats through the TV.
I cannot find the words to describe how much I despise Rachel Ray. I'm pretty sure she's satan in disguise.
Posted by: jake | January 7, 2005 04:34 PM
Umm....I don't think she's wearing a disguise. She is definitely a space alien sent here from Blandora, a moon orbiting the planet Sucktopia.
Lydia on PBS is, of course, the bomb-diggity. I also used to like the grilling show with bobby flay and the super-redneck guy in the overalls. Flay would kind of goof on the redneck guy, but you knew the redneck's bbq was obviously much better.
One super-annoying thing about Good Eats is how 80% of the show is spent telling you how to do things you'll never do. Who is ever going to spend 30 minutes making the "perfect cup of tea." By the way, if you visit the food Tv website, you can buy a 9-dvd set of the show. oh....my....god.
I guess I never realized how much food channel I watch, but I just thought of the one guy that drives me even battier than good eats....it's the "low carb cooking" show guy. Can he stop it with the "do you know how many net carbs are in a saltine cracker?" business already.
Posted by: David Nelson | January 7, 2005 07:52 PM
I detest Rachel Ray. Her giggle is like nails pounded straight into my eyeballs. I also despise Sandra Lee and her Semi-Homemade cooking. Call me a purist, but I think the Food Network should not be promoting some twit of a trophy wife who opens a can of soup and calls it "love in a bowl"
Posted by: the wife | January 13, 2005 10:23 AM