BOTTOM CHEF

i'm not sure about anyone else but i'm glad they finally got around to booting this nimrod off the show(top chef). it has nothing to do w/seeing her pugnacious arrogance reduced one more time to bovine petulance, her pouting lower lip jutting out like an overstimulated clit. we've come to expect this from know-nothing semi-talented cooks caught red-handed in their own delusions. seeing this woman drone on robotically about "her cuisine," parroting alice waters' creed was simply embarrassing. watching her massacre beautiful fresh ingredients(o those poor sardines!)was appalling.

my desire to see her gone really has more to do w/how badly the bay area has been represented on the show. how about that guy who had no idea what veal piccata was? or the two who played the system & got on together despite being lovers( & weren't they a load of fun w/all their whining & eventual elimination that brought more petulance & baleful glares)? how about mr. neck tattoo who seemed stymied when faced w/the simplest kitchen task? btw, every one of these folks had good jobs in decent to good restaurants here in the bay area.

watching this "executive chef" evince ennui while tasting eric ripert's dishes was so jawdropping that i had to check out what "her" restaurant does. surely they must be cutting edge, right? yeah, right. standard french bistro fare. gee, i wonder how cutting edge she feels turning out 50 orders of french onion soup a night.

my whole point here is this: there are great restaurants here in the bay area that really do walk the talk about fresh seasonal ingredients thoughtfully prepared w/simple presentations. i imagine that people committed to this aesthetic are more interested in working for their mentors & learning all they can. i checked & chez panisse & quince were both doing sardines this week. i wonder how long "chef jamie" would last in michael tusk's or david tanis' kitchens. for someone who thinks they know it all & actually knows very little, not very long i'd bet.

the sad part is that "chef jamie" will go back to her position as executive chef w/o fully realizing that she's what anyone(other than her friends)w/half a brain saw on the tv screen: someone stuck so deep in a rut that they think they're plowing new fields.