Guess Who's CominG to Dinner?
MATUS, VICTORINO
Casual Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? Finally joining the high-definition television community, I've come to enjoy several channels in HD, including HBO, ESPN, Discovery, and National Geographic....
...For one, the Frenchman has yet to do a sitcom—Emeril's eponymous show on NBC lasted all of one season...
...The best program, however, follows at 10 p.m...
...When he arrived in America, Daniel's first job was in Washington, cooking for the European Commission (God only knows what he thought of the District's eating scene in the early 1980s...
...Unfortunately, Daniel is also in the midst of a legal battle against former employees who are alleging racial discrimination, though he vehemently denies this and is suing the organization that represents the plaintiffs...
...We watch as Daniel patiently prepares meatballs fricadelle-Lyonnaise and a vacherin of licorice and roasted pears while his co-chef for the episode assembles a Smorgasbord de Luxe...
...Not that everything in HD is ideal, mind you...
...You may wonder what separates Daniel from, say, uberchef Emeril Lagasse...
...If not, no worries...
...Plus, it'll beat whatever is on Cin-emaxHD at that hour...
...In fact, I would like to be one of those people...
...Daniel also sells his own food products and kitchenware...
...At the same time, Daniel is known for his generosity toward his loyal workers and sits on the boards of numerous charities...
...I'll content myself with watching others dine at his table—in high definition, of course...
...Reichl then asks why the chefs at the table went into the business in the first place...
...In any event, when the camera rolls in After Hours, expect no outbursts whatsoever...
...It begins with Three Sheets, a brilliant show in which host Zane Lamprey drinks his way around the globe, sampling local libations like pivo in Prague, sake in Japan, and snake bile in Taiwan...
...Today, Daniel runs a total of five distinguished restaurants in New York, Palm Beach, and Las Vegas (but interestingly none in our nation's capital—the experience must have scarred him...
...Called After Hours with Daniel, the hour-long show (currently on hiatus) offers viewers an intimate look inside the world of acclaimed celebrity chef Daniel Boulud...
...He's published numerous cook books, though none with a suggestive title like The Naked Chef or Nigella Bites...
...Celebchef Rocco DiSpirito admits he was motivated, in part, by a desire for fame and fortune...
...So tense is the relationship between reviewer and reviewee these days that proprietor Jeffrey Chodorow has banned one New York Times critic from all of his restaurants for panning one of them, Kobe Club...
...In one episode, Gourmet editor Ruth Reichl defends the practice of food criticism, explaining her obligation is to the reader and | not the restaurant staff, who | may be out of a job because of a a negative review...
...Raised on a farm near Lyon, France, Daniel entered the restaurant business at age 14...
...Then they serve it to their guests, who include fellow chefs, restaurateurs, actors, food writers, and, on one occasion, Tiki Barber...
...Probably...
...Eventually the rising chef started his own restaurant in New York and later took the helm at Le Cirque...
...I say "for the most part" because he is known for the occasional flare-up—not that colorful language in the kitchen should come as a shock...
...Here, I am thinking of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Joakim Noah, and anything on Cinemax after 10 p.m...
...An admirable sentiment...
...Daniel, on the other hand, says that it was simply that he takes pleasure in feeding other people...
...By far his most valuable is Letters to a Young Chef, in which Daniel advises aspiring cooks to find a mentor, pay one's dues, master an established chef's recipes before experimenting on one's own, and, naturally, network...
...A half hour later we get Uncorked with the rotund Billy Merritt, a man who knows all about beer but little of wine, and educates himself (and the viewers) on oenological issues such as decoding a wine list and understanding the distinction between Pouilly-Fuisse and Pouilly-Fume...
...What follows is a casual but elegant dinner with lively conversation, mostly about food...
...But one of my favorite channels is INHD, particularly on Wednesday nights...
...Soon he was training under renowned French chefs like Roger Verge and Michel Guerard...
...Victorino Matus...
...Unless of course you've never heard of Daniel Boulud...
...Instead, things proceed correctly (though if you look in the eyes of Daniel's staff, you can see a glint of nervousness...
...He is, for the most part, a rather mild-mannered gentleman...
...Daniel also doesn't use annoying catchphrases like "kick it up a notch" or "Bam...
...And, really, who wouldn't want that...
...So if Monsieur Boulud reads this, he should please know I would be more than happy to take a train to New York, pull up a chair next to Tiki Barber, and eat whatever he serves, even tete de veau (I'd just add ketchup...
Vol. 12 • May 2007 • No. 32
