Pressure Cooking

I was disappointed late this afternoon at work when I inquired as to what day it was and my coworker said, "Tuesday," that is to say, no Top Chef. But she did point out that it was the premiere of the new season of Hell's Kitchen!

I've seen a few episodes of Hell's Kitchen before and I thought it was pretty good but it never really held my interest. And here's why:

It's schtick for schtick's sake. It actually pains my sensibilities because it seems to me that Gordon Ramsey is A) an incredibly talented chef and B) a talented entertainer. And Hell's Kitchen ruins him! It ruins the whole thing. It makes his Limey-with-the-mouth-of-a-sailor-and-the-patience-of-a-drill-sergeant-and-the-palate-of-a-Brillat-Savarin routine overblown, expected, and tired. Sad. It's more about the reality TV aspect than the food aspect, and that's a shame.

Watching tonight's episode made me realize why Top Chef is much better:
1) a kickass head chef judge who actually provides critique beyond "@#$^*!" (Tom Colicchio),
2) a serious panel of judges, including guest judges drawn from the current pantheon of respected celebrity chefs,
3) Tony Bourdain, on whom I have an unabashed man-crush, and who I would really like to go drinking with,
4) Padma Lakshmi, whose palate makes me blush.

What I like about Top Chef is that it captures the serious nature of competitive cooking coupled with the glitz of reality TV. Of course, Top Chef is not the first, nor the best, in this category - that title goes to the seminal Iron Chef.

Unique; exceptional treatment of subject; entertaining yet never insulting to its audience; Iron Chef is the ultimate cooking-as-entertainment show. Iron Chef America is a fantastic second. Purists may disagree, but I for one adore Alton Brown, want Jeffrey Steingarten's life, and am enthralled by Cat Cora (read her blog). Still, I think the original must get the nod over the successor because of its uniqueness. Also, something about the uber-polite dubbed Japanese voices scratches me right where I itch.

So, in case any of you care, here are my rankings:

1. Iron Chef
2. Iron Chef America
3. Top Chef
4. Hell's Kitchen