Hell's Kitchen

I have become an absolute lunatic with dining now that I am living in Manhattan.  I am hunting down places, flipping through the Michelin book, devouring whatever any food critic says, awaiting for the dining sections in various print materials, convincing friends to trek to various locations they wouldn't head to for a reservation I had to fight for, and ultimately obsessing over places that are not even open yet.  Not so weird given that my obsession that takes up the other time is art, but it is sorta becoming pretty much a fuckin damn serious obsession.   My parents are visiting next weekend and they thought I was a lunatic for getting reservations a week before but lets be serious .. I am not allowing them (but more so me) to wander around and into any piece of shit restaurant with all the greatness that is available.   BRad (a best friend, who secretely reads this yet always denies he doesn't) will always dismiss me as irrelevant for my new obsession but I usually tell him to fuck off anyways.  (photo to the above left is from Per Se while the below ones are from Ramsey and thanks to the Tasting Menu blog). 

A long time ago, before I met Tom and J (haha), I thought Chili's was a good restaurant.  Seriously.  Little did I know that Guy Savoy and Thomas Keller were bustling about their kitchens creating little bits of heaven.  Little bits of heaven that I would choose over a hookup (that very possibly could become a boyfriend) if given the two choices.  Like really, a penis is JUST a PENIS.  I really don't understand why guys who are in their forties and fifties (with money to eat at Guy Savoy's restaurants) are so obsessed with some twenty year old and his cock.  Fucking go out and eat people, experience it, and if your are lucky and choose correctly it will be something life altering and mind blowing.  And lets face it, chances are the penis that you are obessed over getting even after having one is not going to blow your mind.  (I say this having had one of my slutties three weeks in my life, lol).   And with that thought, one of my fathers odd dreams for me when I was a child, which he reminds me of now and then, is that I should have been a chef and he should have sent me to culinary school.  Pretty weird of a dream now that I think about it but art school is sorta close is what I usually rebuke.

I am talking about this because I have become obsessed with the second season of the supposed hit TV show titled Hell's Kitchen (which adorably enough happens to be the neighborhood that I live in) and then with reading about Gordon Ramsey, who is opening up a NYC restaurant very soon.  The show is about:                                                       

World-renowned chef GORDON RAMSAY is back for a second serving of the sizzling unscripted series HELL’S KITCHEN – and he’s putting 12 new would-be restaurateurs on his chopping block.
A former pro-soccer-player-turned-Michelin
-starred-chef, Ramsay has conquered London’s haute cuisine scene. Now he’s crossing the Pond again, to discover – or create – America’s next culinary star.  The heat is on and the “steaks” are high as the contestants endure Ramsay’s hellishly intense culinary boot camp for a chance to win the ultimate mouth-watering prize – the coveted title of Executive Chef of a luxurious fine-dining restaurant at the brand-new Red Rock Casino Resort and Spa in Las Vegas. In addition, the winner will be eligible to receive a financial interest in the restaurant and assist its design.  Each week Ramsay will grill the ambitious hopefuls as they attempt to prove they have what it takes to run their own restaurant. He will slice and dice the contestants, keeping only those who possess the right combination of ingredients to ensure success.  The contestants’ inexperience, combined with the perfectionist Ramsay’s acid tongue, may be a recipe for disaster, but for one aspiring restaurateur it’s the chance of a lifetime.

But ultimately it is about the workings of everything behind the scenes in a restaurant's kitchen.   I would recommend checking it out.

Comments

[Anna Swartz]

OMG, I love Hell's Kitchen! Love it! I'm 100% jealous of you, living in a fabulous restaurant mecca. *Sigh* ;-)

[Kiwi]

Rock on!!! Someone after my own heart ... hehe I trekked from the other side of the world to eat at Thomas Kellers French Laundry, and it was worth every red cent ... even more so that we got to go into the kitchens and meet the dude cause we were such fans. Hehe

Now that I have arrived in NYC I have found some very cool places - ummm Fatty Crab (that is darn good fusion, seriously, 643 Hudson), and Tartine (W4/W11) is the best French bistro food I have had in years (well besides Kellers Bouchon, but hey Tartine cost like $25 for 2 of us and the steamed artichokes ... oh la la hehe). Dang my notebook is beginning to bulge with my food commentry scrawls (agreed - this is a very satisfying bulge ha).

I am thinking about the French Culinary Institute course ... I will be broke by the time I leave this city ...