A Flash of Gastroblog

I've been snapping pictures of some foods I really enjoy. Some of it might seem dubious (vegetarian/healthy/organic) but I wouldn't document them if they didn't taste delicious. Here's a quick gallery of some of my favs:


Also, while I'm on the subject, anyone else watching "The Next Iron Chef"? It's great. They pit a number of famous and accomplished chefs against each other for a spot on the Iron Chef show. It's a little different than other "reality" chef shows because these are successful chefs looking to up their stakes with some heavy television exposure. [I had never heard of Mario Batali until Iron Chef.]

The only competitor who cooks in a restaurant where I'd have a chance of getting in is Michael Symon from Cleveland. He could win it because aside from a really creative repertoire, he also has a fairly interesting personality. On the other hand, they may be looking less for personality and more for professionalism for this show, in which case John Besh has the upper hand.

I think the Food Network is the only channel I'll actually miss when we get rid of Dish Network.

Last thing. I saw "Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares" on the BBC America channel over the summer and loved it. The American version sucks so far. The restaurants in England were a little rough but it seemed like Gordon actually consulted with and changed the minds of the owners and chefs. In America, it just seems too extreme to be real. There's no way the pizza place in L.A. could last for six months with no customers and shitty food.

The first one in N.Y. was so rat and bug infested that it would have been shut down -- even by N.Y. standards. Also, the pacing of the show is really odd in the American version. There's no re-training of the cook and the "transformation" is mostly what he and his design crew do to the tables and decor.

I guess it's the same thing that happened to "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition". What started out as an interesting study in how to take an old dwelling and make it newer has become, essentially, a lottery where the winner goes on vacation and we watch a construction crew build a brand new house (not so exciting) then fill it with Sears stuff. Oh, and we hear the same excruciating hard-luck story of the family. (I'm not saying that the families don't deserve a break, but the heartstring pulling is egregious.)

What are your favorite foods/chefs/shows?