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PBS: Chef's Story
By JULIETTE ROSSANT  If you have been tuning in to Chefography (see review) on the Food Network and are craving still more biographies of chefs, you're in luck. Chef's Story (distributed by Janson Media), a new 26-part PBS series, starts airing in April across the country. The host, French Culinary Institute (FCI) founder and CEO Dorothy Hamilton, asks the following questions as she introduces the program: What does it take to get to the top of the cooking world, and how do the great ones stay there?The chefs interviewed include some of American's leading chefs, and better yet, some of them are not even TV personalities:  There is an accompanying book, Chef's Story: 27 Chefs Talk About What Got Them Into the Kitchen (Ecco 2007), edited by Dorothy Hamilton and Patric Kuh. It is unfortunate that only three women were included in the list of 26 chefs. There are many women chefs who could have been included who are chefs in New York City and easily accessible to the FCI. They need to be championed and held up as models for students and viewers.What is the difference between the PBS production and the Food Network one? Bobby's Chefography episode covers his career chronologically. There are plenty of cute snapshots of Bobby in various kitchens and even playing basketball. He does not cook -- he does not have to, since presumably the Food Network audience for this program has already seen him plenty of times on his shows. There are interviews with his business associates and a few chefs. Though there is not much depth and there is plenty of repetition, Bobby's Chefography episode provides a seamless connection to his persona on his Food Network shows.  Bobby's Chef's Story episode is more ambitious. It starts with Dorothy in an interview with Bobby in front of a student audience at the FCI. Bobby was in the first graduating class of the FCI, so she knows him well. She asks about Bolo, Bobby's Spanish restaurant, and how has managed to create a Spanish restaurant when he is not Spanish. Bobby says he is stealing the flavors of Spain and serving them with contemporary New York style. Unfortunately, Dorothy does not follow up and ask him about what New York style is all about, even though that is in essence what all his restaurants are about. Instead, she moves on to ask about his daughter Sophie's interest in the Food Network. It turns out that even though her fourth grade classmates watch the FN, Sophie does not. Again, there is no follow-up: why do her classmates watch and why does she not? The unexplored fact is not whether Sophie is avoiding daddy-overose but whether children represent a growing segment of the Food Network's and other Food television audiences? Bobby confesses that he enjoyed his show Food Nation the most of all his shows because he didn't cook. Instead, he traveled around America learning about food. He mentions Boy Meets Grill but not Throwdown! with Bobby Flay; presumably, Throwdown was not yet airing. About Iron Chef America, Bobby says: I don't think of it as a TV show. It is an athletic event. I am highly competitive… It's exhilarating.Again, the half-hour format means there is not enough time to talk about the impact of Iron Chef, Iron Chef America, and other reality Food TV cooking shows on the student audience, or chefs, or the viewing public, or the role of competition in fine dining. When Bobby goes on to say that the rise of television chefs opens up lots of other jobs for those interested in food. Dorothy does not ask for details. After the talk, Bobby prepares a piece of chicken in a 16-spice rub. Time is short so after mixing the rub, sauteeing the chicken, he adds prepared garnishes. What does this short cooking demonstration add to our understanding of why Bobby Flay is successful? Nothing. Bobby barely cooks. He does talk a bit about flavors. Why not separate the cooking segments from the interviews segments and make them a master chef's class?  Another episode involved Daniel Boulud. Daniel discusses his early life on a farm outside Lyon. After he describes how patrons helped him in his career and differences between Georges Blanc, Michel Guerard, and other chefs for whom he worked, he tells the story about how he met Jean-Louis Palladin in Washington, DC. Again, Dorothy does not follow up. Why was Jean-Louis so exciting for Daniel? What was Washington like for a French-trained chef? For his demonstration, Daniel makes a braised, stuffed scorpion fish. He explains why he cuts each ingredient just so. In the process, Daniel reveals the depth of his training, the brilliance of his French technique, and his love of cooking. Chef's Story is a good start -- but only a start -- into probing the reasons for the success of many of today's chefs. Focusing on aspects such as their cooking abilities and their business acumen would illuminate more in a half-hour show. This is a subject explored in great length in Super Chef. Did someone involved in the production believe audiences would not sit through a full half hour interview show? The press material states that there is a one-hour show available for students. What a pity that show isn't being broadcast. If you don't know Bobby, Daniel and the other chefs well, there is much to learn in this introduction. However, given that many of the chefs involved either appear in the Media or have their own TV shows, Chef's Story could delved much, much deeper. Book details: Publisher Amazon.com Television information: American Public Television, TV Guide, WGBH, WNET, WYCC, WTOC, KQED, KUED, KLRU Previous articles: Food Network: Chefography 2 International Culinary Cneter - Spain's 10:Cocina de Vanguardia Bobby Flay with Chrysler: Not First Bobby Flay: Married and Motivated Daniel Boulud v. Todd English: Initial Branding [Food Television--complete] Technorati Tags: superchefblog, Juliette Rossant, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, blogging, food blogging, Chef's Story Del.icio.us | Digg | Technorati | Blinklist | Furl --> back to Super Chef |
posted by Juliette Rossant at 3/27/2007 09:35:00 AM
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