Last week, Mad Man Mancini (aka Al Mancini) — Official Friend Of ELV and restaurant critic for Las Vegas CityLife magazine — sat down with us (accompanied by a tape recorder) by the Mandalay Bay pool to discuss the impact Top Chef (currently filming in Las Vegas), has had on the quality of restaurants and cooking in America (and whether its show will be good for Las Vegas). Short answer: Yes indeedy
Click here to read a couple of critics talk about this (and other weighty matters affecting the televised culinary world) in the erudite, learned, incisive and philosophical tones for which they are known.
AND–while I’m as hooked on them as the next yahoo–what do the grotesquely artificial constraints of these shows tell us about how the contestants can really cook? Absurd time limitations, bizarre or “missing” ingredients, pretentious wankers alternately screaming obscenities and oozing fake sensitivity, etc.
On another note, most of the celebrity chefs, when in public (and by that, I don’t mean a staged “Public Appearance” at some special event) tend to behave like most jocks: self-entitled, rude, inconsiderate, cheap, demanding, and often abusive. Even though they’ve spent large portions of their professional life in a service profession, when in Vegas they’ll stiff dealers and ignore their fans. Sure, people like to point out exceptions like Charles Barkley, Drew Carey, and a few others, but for every one of them there are dozens of Terrell Owens, John Elways, Michael Jordans, Bobby Flays, Charlie Palmers, and Bruce Willises.
(p.s. thanks for letting me vent, but since I still work in a casino and would like to keep my job, please preserve my anonymity)
Both your and Mancini’s arguments make great points, but I favor Mancini on one of the points. I agree with you, John, that in many ways, the show is bad for food. But for the average person, these shows, or any food show (even this one… http://www.mydamnchannel.com/Coolio/), serves as a gateway for the uninterested to become interested in food. To a large extent, like you said, most people’s interest in food remains shallow (the starf***ing aspect). However, for some, these shows are their introduction into the culinary world. While it is an imperfect introduction, and many viewers will continue to buy Flay’s cookbooks and equate grilling a steak to the highest levels of culinary discipline, some will go beyond and educate themselves on a deeper level. To some extent, the celebrity chef and the reality cooking show has played a part in elevating the national consciousness on food. But maybe the reality cooking show has jumped the shark and is now doing more harm than good by keeping the national conciousness plateaued mediocre celebrity chef hell, rather than educating it even higher.
It was a great, thought provoking conversation, and it was nice of you guys to share it.
Does KNPR know you use that kind of language when reporters have their tape recorders running?