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November 25, 2008

Forget fantasy football. Fantasy chefs is the new rage

With the impending change in federal administrations the buzz in some circles is over who will end up Top Chef. As both a foodie and a political junky, I have to say that as issues go, this one is just about nirvana for me.

Tim Ryan, president of the C.I.A., has a superb suggestion:

Though he says speculation about celebrity chefs is "like engaging in fantasy football," he believes the Obamas will seize the opportunity to do make changes. He suggests another CIA grad as a candidate - John Doherty, executive chef at New York's Waldorf-Astoria hotel - but said Obama could also shake things up with a rotating cast of big name chefs for state dinners, much in the same way John F. Kennedy invited famed artists and performers to the White House.

"Chefs are great performers. So to take a page from Kennedy's playbook and recognize the artistic performances of the culinary greats, each state dinner could be organized by different high-profile chefs," he said.

That way, Obama could bring in chefs like Thomas Keller and Jonathan Beno - the first American chefs to be granted three Michelin stars - molecular gastronomy guru Grant Achatz or Ethiopian-born Marcus Samuelson of Aquavit restaurant. Such an arrangement would allow the president to "capture some of the star power but in a practical and realistic way," Ryan said.

The first thing that I can remember wanting to be when I grew up was a politician. The second was a chef. I've never cooked for a living, which may be why I enjoy it so much. But it seems to me that the job of Top Chef would have to be an exceptionally challenging one at times - particularly during a State Dinner. Food has to be mass-prepared but has to taste like it wasn't mass-prepared. And as anyone who has spent much time in a kitchen knows, timing is critical. You can't just leave prepared food under a heat lamp for any considerable period and expect it to taste it's best. Lots of seafood, for example, has a very narrow prime where it's neither undercooked nor overcooked. Anything either side of that narrow prime simply doesn't have the taste or, more importantly, the texture one expects of a premium meal. And you can't be serving cafeteria-style food to the most important people on the planet while the reputation of your entire country rest at least partly on how dazzling the meal is. So, it's gotta be very, very challenging to pull off.

The political junkie in me likes the idea of Obama retaining the current Top Chef. But the foodie in me very much likes Tim Ryan's rotating celebrity chefs idea because it would highlight our nation's gastronomic standing in the world. And what foodie wouldn't approve of that?

Posted by Kevin at November 25, 2008 02:28 PM