r|alex: ... tc revisited (pt. 2)

Y-E-S . . . F-R-A-C-K-I-N-G . . . W-A-Y!

yes ... i have procrastinated my weekend away, but it has been for a good cause. this was SOOO worth it today. so a little bit about how sunday evolved.

it started on saturday ... while in the mix with my regular saturday errands (peet's, bank, groceries, etc.), i was excited to see a truck trailer with the top chef logo. HOWEVER, i actually had no idea about bravo's top chef tour. (bad top chefardy vanna, bad tcv!) soon to end in september and having started in june, here is the schedule.

let's digress for a moment of word association & promotional info on tour locations ... turns out bravo's "san francisco, ca" reference ACTUALLY EQUALS "fremont, ca". really, eh? let's see ... how has this panned out for other preceding tour locations?

• jericho, ny = jericho's whole foods [check]
  
• boston, ma = cambridge's whole foods [check - close enough]
• philadelphia/pittsburgh, pa = shadyside's whole foods [check]
• columbus, oh = columbus's north market's food & ohio wine festival [check]
• st. louis, mo = st. louis whole foods [check]
• denver, co = denver's cherry creek's farmer's market [check]
• phoenix, az = phoenix's (downtown) public market [check]
• san diego, ca = san diego's ocean beach's farmer's market [check]
• san francisco, ca = fremont's festival of the arts [uhm, hmmm, errr ... NOT (!) a check]
  

here's the deal ... fremont is ~ 40 miles south-southeast
surprisingly, there also are a couple of whole foods
sprinkled throughout the bay area.
(oh wait! fremont doesn't have a whole foods.)

(but fremont has an annual arts festival. well played, fremont, well played!)

turns out ... cities that may also have some national name recognition and are closer to fremont include: oakland (has an airport and then some), san jose (has an airport and then some), palo alto (stanford university) ... but who am i to debate. (side note: ryan, who lives in the bay area, mentioned he has never been out to fremont. well, now he has!)

this anti-location thing was a benefit (i'm guessing) ... i'm pretty much thinking that we made the 10:30 AM demo because the pre-registration tickets just didn't max out ... like they already have for the los angeles tour on the 8th and 9th.

how the sunday evolved, and i touched stephanie and ryan ... the recap over here with my partner-in-crime. all this began after a quick jaunt at peet's and signing up on the waiting list. we were, in fact, part of the last 5 folks let in for the 10:30 AM show.

a few more tidbits ... homemade croutons were first prepared and then another little light salad-appetizer(-ish) was prepared. all in attendance were served (tho' not on compostable plates/utensils - note to self, comment to bravoTV). steph & ryan chatted it up, answered questions, and described cooking tips/techniques. relearned about how to pick a watermelon and how to cut a melon.

• homemade croutons - i found ryan's recipe over here.
• mission beach cafe - restaurant (14th & guerrero) where ryan is exec chef.
• one of the best questions asked - by the gentleman (originally from chicago) sitting next to me, asked of ryan ... what did you think of the tailgate party challenge?
• see here is the thing about that episode (epi6) ... THIS ("final stats") is the thing. ouch!
  
• three questions i asked - responses in a later post.
  
• what's up with lisa?
• do the s.f./bay area chefs hang out with each other?
• do you all read the blogs?

fun times!

r|alex: ... top chefardy REVISITED (pt.1)

... in fremont, calif, OF ALL PLACES (go figure)

(and just walking distance from a hooters (?!))

SIMPLY PUT - SCORE!!!

really. REALLY! CEREALLY!!!

yes, our current frivolity is pr5air,
because we JUST FINISHED up our
TOP CHEFARDY FUN several weeks ago!!!

so for all the top chefardy folks,
i always got your backs covered!

ENJOY!!!

"thanks so very much" to stephanie and ryan
for a wonderful cooking demonstration. tasty, tasty, tasty!!!

i'll fill-in a few more details about the fun this morning at the fremont festival with pal, joanne.

meanwhile, you also can check out pics over here.

top chef-ardy [part 7]

a.k.a. - i kinda cook, too - sorta, kinda ...

our top chefardy marked the end of thursday & friday chats about complete strangers' abilities to cook, despite the fact that no food was ever sampled.

(SIDE NOTE: soon, thursday & friday chats will be about complete strangers' abilities to design and sew garments, as well as memorable quotes. but i digress.)

as if we knew the cheftestants and as if we knew how yummy or sh***y halo halo tastes. (o.k. i chose that for the brethren (filipino) theme.) not so much. however, vicarious living can happen and can get a bit mixed-up with the real world.

just need to share that one of the four chefardy work horses crossed paths with one of the actual cheftestants, jen (of the former jen & zoi) during SF's pride weekend. chefardy work horse ALMOST greeted jen as if ... as if they were buddies. AS IF. as chefardy work horse approached the zoi-less jen (perhaps with the intent of outstretched arms to console her), jen's lack of acknowledgment and recognition of chefardy work horse was a clue. just a little clue.

anyway ... chefardy made me think about my own cooking efforts. sure, i may not be as fabu as any of the cheftestants (with or without fauxhawks), and sure i wasn't one of the tie-breaker-folks ... but i have my subscription to fine cooking, a few new kitchen gadgets, can cook bistek (a l'il filipino food over there in the pic to the left), and a blog.

what does this mean? ... this means i can engage in the narcissistic exercise of fauxtalk about how kinda fabu i am in the kitchen ... sorta kinda. kinda sorta. and if bronze medalist fauxhawk r.blais gets to yap it up, so can i. simple folk, i am. simple folk.

What's your favorite new ingredient?
. my salt - sea salt and kosher salt

What's the most versatile spice?
. uh ...? salt?

What's the most underused spice?
. in my cupboard, anise. i have no idea why i purchased it and in what recipe it was used. (time to throw out the anise.)

What items should be in every pantry?
. uh ...? salt, broth (chicken or veggie), saimin noodles

What's your favorite knife?
. my wüsthof classic 8" cook's knife (thanks to lori)

What's your favorite pan?
. for now, my 10-inch fry pan, which i currently use for as a sauté pan UNTIL i get a sauté pan, of course

What's your favorite place to buy equipment?
. equipment? cooking stuff is called equipment? i dunno. sur la table and target?

What's your favorite mail-order source?
. huh? i'm suppose to have a favorite mail-order source? for cooking stuff? o.k. ... i agree with r.blais? - the dow chemical company, for methylcellulose and gellan gum. (or maybe kelco.)

What's the kitchen appliance you wish for most?
. now that i have my little chopper (which may not be considered an appliance), how about a nice little mini-food processor from either kitchenaid or cuisinart?

If you could design one piece of serving equipment, what would it be?
. a smell-o-rama something or other

What's the best restaurant dish you ate in 2005 2008?
. haven't yet had a "best" yet for this year

What's your favorite sushi place?
. ono sushi in san diego for the combo of atmosphere, food, people, laughter-out-loud factor, and people watching

What restaurant would you want to eat in once a week?
. vagabond kitchen in san diego's south park area

If you were going to open a fast-food place, what kind of food would you serve?
. food that sounds healthy. for starters - sweet potato fries

Are there any dining trends you see on the rise?
. hmmm ... fusion tapas stuff (or did i miss that trend, already?)

A lot of chefs are getting into doing things completely from scratch, like making cheese. What would you like to make from scratch?
. l.a.g.'s rhubarb-mango yum-yum dessert!

On a scale of one to 10, with one representing an emphasis on using in-season ingredients as simply as possible and 10 championing high-tech, scientific cooking, where do you rank yourself?
. uh, 3 ... ?

If you could upgrade one piece of equipment in your kitchen, what would it be?
. the mini-food processor that i do not yet own (?)

Which newfangled piece of equipment (i.e., sous vide equipment, the Pacojet, the Thermomix or a dehydrator) do you think will gain a real place in home kitchens?
. WTF?! (how about just an old school rice cooker?)

What ingredient used by avant-garde chefs (i.e., agar agar, transglutaminase, methylcellulose) do you think will make its way to home kitchens?
. r.blais response: The whole line of gums: xanthan gum, locust-bean gum and modified starch. They thicken foods without changing the food's taste. You can use gums in place of corn starch and flour. There's some debate now about the safety of handling liquid nitrogen, but it's really only as dangerous as frying oil. ... my response - xanthan gum - simply because a good friend of mine used to work for kelco, . all sorts of stuff about xanthan gum - molecular structure, product info, options, and fancy-schmancy xanthan gum

What's your favorite cookbook?
. oh, i'm so simple and a novice - i have two ... the new basics cookbook and essentials of classic italian cooking. now the question is - how often do i actually use them? (although i do make a point to cook stuff out of fine cooking magazine)

From whom would you most like to take a cooking class?
. my friend lori ... and chefs at parallel 33 (san diego)

Spanish chef Ferran Adrià has been a big influence on chefs recently; what or who do you think will take his place?
. eh? que?

If you were given $1,000 to spend on food, equipment, travel or a restaurant meal, what would you buy? What about with $10?
. with $1,000, i would "combo" my choices - travel to vancouver b.c./canada, eat at a noodle house, eat at a fine dining place, purchase a food processer, and spend the rest of the money on my vacation. with $10, i'd get ahi poke.

Do you have any favorite insider spots in airports?
. at OAK, the smoothie place (terminal 1) and peet's (terminal 2). at SAN, rubio's (terminal 1). at DEN, rocky mountain chocolate factory (concourse b)

Do you have any good stories about your regulars?
. not that kinda gal, thank you very much

Do you have any food-related superstitions?
. i like to pronounce correctly (eventually) the food that i eat, so in case i get food poisoning ...

Are you planning on backing anyone in new ventures?
. yes. lori!

so ends the top chefardy saga

(was fun while it lasted!)

top chef-ardy [part 6]

these were the winners
shades on the left - - - l.a.g. on the right

this
was
the
main
prize

and this was
the final score
and interestingly enough,
$1.50 + tax is how much the main prize cost*

(l.a.g. is psychic. one of the audience members was psychic.
wooooooo---whooooo!!! honestly, l.a.g. had NO idea!!!)

top chef-ardy [part 5]

FINAL
top chef-ardy:
ELIMINATION

self-explanatory

pics of each of the cheftestants to be placed in order of elimination. for the "finale" - l.a.g. and shades just needed to have the last 3 in no special order. it was the OTHER ONES that had to be in order - ALL CORRECT to win final jeopardy. and how did they do? both - not so well.

the final score?
(later. will be posted under [part 6])

top chef-ardy [intermission]

our score card
going into the tie-breaker

• pick a pic ... each peep selects an icon/avatar/game-appropriate marker (aka piece) that the tracker updates each week by either moving the piece forward or watching it languish.
• point system ... without going into details, points are given for selecting the correct quick fire, winner, and/or loser. also, selection of the "top chef" occurred mid-season, thus a method to begin to weed out the chaff. in other words, BRAGGING RIGHTS!
• selections ... predictions are due promptly at 4:30 PM (PST, via the atomic clock) each wednesday before the new episode. predictions allowed via phone, i/m, text, or the bugging the commish (or delegated person(s)). selections are compiled and sent out to everyone.
  
• QA/QC ... our pool of peeps are quite sensitive when it comes to tracking & scorekeeping, therefore, a draft tally is forwarded to the commish, as well as one or two other faithful participants
  

some tidbits for this effort ...

• early withdrawal ... our little "ratatouille remy" moved on early in the game, however ratatouille remy was present and accounted for at the tie-breaker (loyalty at its best, and we are glad rr came along!!!)
  
• legacy ... regardless of scores or early withdrawal, we make a point to ensure some legacy
• mood-markers ... some participants changed out their markers, depending on the success or failure of predicting the outcome of each episode. as a for instance, we watched "tom c" change his mood from a shit-eating-grin to an oscar-the-grouch-grrr expression. also, "the whisk" was gaining ground for a couple of weeks and morphed into an electric mixer, only to be down-graded back to a handheld whisk.
  
• lazy selections ... one participant got lazy a couple of times and voted for the SAME CHEFTESTANT for each of the categories in one show (quickfire, winner, loser).
  
• vacation ... vacation does not deter some, as our commish flew off to a far away land for 3 weeks and still managed to acquire 11.5 points. (not bad at all!)

intermission almost over.
please return quietly to your seats.

top chef-ardy [part 4]

the overall atmosphere ... was pretty much smiles, laughter, guffaws, and just plain fun for the entire tie-breaker.

i believe that this picture was taken is just before [part 3], so props to the camera man for capturing this before-moment! MEANWHILE, fast forward.

daily doubles ...
one in each round. both daily doubles were all about
"how much could we make fun of your shitty
good is your palate?"

green souvenir bandana for round one; orange souvenir bandana for round two. (both 100% cotton, of course)

why souvenir bandanas? ... faux hawk wigs were too expensive (relatively speaking).

first round's daily double ...
was all about l.a.g. and the syrup taste test.

second round's daily double ...
was all about shades and the EVOO taste test.

long story short ...
neither passed the taste test. wagers deducted from their points.

top chef-ardy [part 3]

WHAT?!?!
we forgot to make
name tags and cue cards?!?!

before we got into the swing of things for the tie breaker ... tie breaker organizers shirlsd and CahHh shared this moment.



CahHh was introducing the work horses (the 4 sweater-wearing-gals in these pics) and introducing the tie-breaker-give-me-my-prize-folks.

in this pic above of shirlsd and CahHh ...

who said what to whom?
who did what to whom?

did someone fart out loud? did someone not fart out loud but fart nonetheless? can shirlsd's feet touch the ground? was there an earthquake? did CaHh have a joy buzzer moment on shirlsd's shoulder? does CahHh have to go to the bathroom? did shirlsd already go to the bathroom? why is the gal (aka l.a.g.) in the light grey hoodie simply looking on? did CahHh steady herself after unsuccessfully attempting the tree pose?

turns out CahHh called out ... l.a.g.'s name when intending to introduce shirlsd as vanna. shirlsd is not l.a.g. l.a.g. is just slightly less than 1" taller than shirlsd. shirlsd's hair is longer than l.a.g.'s hair (always). l.a.g. was a tie-breaker-constestant. shirlsd was CahHh's partner-in-crime.

honestly, it's not like l.a.g. and shirlsd look alike. they don't all look alike. i mean, if you ask l.a.g., she'll say the same thing. she'd agree - l.a.g. and shirlsd don't look alike. but l.a.g. and shirlsd do know some form of martial arts (or have friends that know martial arts), are so-so drivers, use chopsticks (even to catch flies), and are pretty good at math. really.

top chef-ardy [part 2]

[part 1] is over here. and i figure a few visuals of the features & benefits that were talked about would help.

our top chef-ardy board ... currently set up for regular top chef-ardy (aka round 1) with the yellow cards and double top chef-ardy (aka round 2) with the pink cards.

... take a break and get artsy-fartsy-craftsy. YOU can make one as well, or buy one of those 'photo boards' from an arts/crafts store. make one? ... board, fabric, ribbon, buttons and/or whatever (tacks, pins, staples, tape, nails, ...). clever use, eh?!

top chefardy work horses ... four gals IN FRONT of the partition served as the work horses.

from left to right ... shirlsd (aka vanna),

pony-tail-gal (scorekeeper),
commish (timekeeper),
and CahHh (aka alex).
in the background,
an interloper
(aka l.a.g.)

and we did have a camera man, also.


top chef-ardy answers ... for the record, CahHh came up with the answers for both rounds, with a little help over here. and let me tell ya - there were a few that were really pretty good Qs - several, in fact, that neither of the die-hard tie-breaker-participants were able to figure out. i was CahHh's sidekick and props person, despite my misplacing one of the important (relatively speaking) props just before heading over to the venue where we hosted our top chef-oolery! nevertheless, this was the crew for the top chef-ardy-aganza.

props? yes, props (and supplies) ... these included daily double stuff, some more prizes, and other needed accessories. here are some of the more important items.
from left to right ...

• BACK ROW (for the daily double): plastic containers , EVOO(-ish), syrup(-ish), syrup (maple syrup), EVOO
  
• MIDDLE: solo plastic container
• FRONT ROW: winner's tiara/crown, buzzer #1, filler packets (soy sauces), loser's 2nd place winner's tiara/crown.
  

other props included: watch, buzzer #2 (errr ... more like squeaky/obnoxious toy), white board (for scorekeeper), tape, cardboard, bandanas, ribbons, pens, paper, and stuff. most importantly, CahHh kept one of the props in line with the top chef freakin' product placement theme and the drum . beat . of . one . of . the . sponsors . no - NOT her, but this blah-blah-blah.

about the daily doubles ... there was one in each round. and if you haven't figured it out yet, it was a taste test of "which is the higher grade between the two mystery liquids?" syrup was in round 1 and EVOO in round 2.

daily double outcome? ... NEITHER of the we obviously have sh**ty palates tie-breaker-give-me-my-prize-folks scored on the daily double, therefore losing points they wagered. no bragging rights for either of them. (wah-wah-wah) but it was good to have them EACH chose a daily double. made it easier to make fun of both of them.

their souvenir for daily double? ... as part of the homage to miss flavors of asian cuisine (no, not the gaysian), they did, however, get little astro/neon souvenirs.

top chef-ardy gang returns from venue ... we certainly had fun and bonded a little over this healthy, lunch time break spent over at marathon plaza (over on 2nd/folsom in SF). it was actually a sunny day - tho' from this pic where we are flashing our secret top chef signs, you'd think it was winter!

(part 3 later)

top chef-ardy [part 1]

well ... i didn't quite finish posting the frivolity from our prw-air activities (and i will do so ... eventually. really. i. will.)

top chef-o-rama ... however, we did continue our frivolity with top chef. nearly a dozen of us participated in our "forecasting" of the top chef winners (and losers) for each show. a point system was created. a commish (aka commissioner) and scorekeeper kept us in check. there were a bunch of rules.

prize to the winner of the tie breaker ... when all was said and done, there was a tie. a frackin' tie. a tie between two folks. how the hell could there be a tie?!

regardless - HENCE, the need for a tie breaker.
which we did. today. in public.
and the tie breaker resulted in a winner who got a little congrats prize.

the main prize.
a $1.50 (USD) + tax (in california) prize.

a little set of cooking utensils

(well, sort of, i guess)

teaser-ish ... in short, it was all about TOP CHEF-ARDY. yup, top chef via jeopardy. features and benefits included:

• 3 rounds
• regular jeopardy
• double jeopardy
• final jeopardy
  
• 4 categories - true/false, quotes, gossip, potpourri
• 4 questions for each category
• 2 daily doubles - one in each round
• in honor of top chef, taste tests for the daily doubles
  
• a point system - round 1 at 100/200/300/400 and round 2 at 200/400/600/800
• buzzing in via ... a taboo buzzer and a little squeaky toy
• four top chef-ardy work horses and an assistant camera man
  
• an alex - host and answerer-sayer
• scorekeeper - writer-downer of scores and math wiz
  
• a vanna - index-card-hander-over to alex and point-presenter to scorekeeper
  
• timekeeper - buzzer, sound effects, and speeder-upper
• prize(s) for the winner

so ... about the main prize

the best part ever of this set,
in my opinion (and others)?
[click on the picture]
nice english translations, eh?!

ENJOY!!!