Review: Sugar High
I have said it more than once. I’m tired of dessert oriented shows. I know that a lot of people dig them but for a savory guy they just don’t cut the mustard. As humorous and charming as Adam Gertler is I really can’t get into Kid in a Candy Store. I love Cooking Channel’s Unique Eats but it’s spin-off Unique Sweets bores me. The same for Top Chef and Top Chef: Just Desserts. And don’t get me started on Cupcake Wars (worst show on TV).
The one dessert show that I did like was Ace of Cakes which wrapped production last winter. Let’s face it, Ace was the best and everything that’s come out since is trying to capture the magic at Charmed City Cakes. But I didn’t dig Ace because of the mind-boggling cake sculptures, although they were cool, I liked it because of the staff at the bakery. They were very interesting and funny people, devoid of onscreen drama. Especially the adorable Katherine Hill. Purrrrr.
When a friend at the Network hipped me that Duff had a new show coming out I approached it with mixed feelings. I, like most Food Network viewers, like Duff a lot. He is one of the most recognizable stars in the food TV universe and one of the most likeable as well. But at the same time it was sure to be just another dessert show. Duff is great but it was his interaction with his staff that made Ace so much fun.
Imagine my surprise when I watched the premiere. Duff makes an extremely good food/travel host. It was still Duff, but there is a polish and professionalism to his voice-over narrative that makes him exceedingly approachable. It isn’t silly nor over the top. All of the voice-over work is so good it makes me wonder why he hasn’t made a career out of documentaries and commercials. The voice was Duff, but then again it was someone new.
Then came the interaction with each featured vendor. There was the old Duff. The joking, the crazy laugh, the quirky sense of humor; it was all there. So now we have the best of both worlds. The new, mature host Duff and the old, playful, cake blower-upper Duff. What a terrific blend.
But what about the content? It’s still just dessert right, glorified bowls of sugar? Not for me it wasn’t. The producers have done a great job of lining up vendors with personalities that compliment the host’s. It made me care about desserts. In fact, I’m adding Venice Beach’s Schulzies Bread Pudding to my “must do” list on my next trip to LA.
108 bread puddings? Are you kidding me? To me bread pudding is the perfect dessert food. It can taste like whatever your favorite desserts is. It’s easy as all get out to make, makes use of left-over ingredients (gotta watch that food cost) and it has tradition. It has all of the things people look for in a great dessert – complexity of flavor, contrasting textures and luxury that can only come from sugar and saturated fat. If you ever see me on a reality cooking competition you can bet my dessert course will be breading pudding. Or Key lime pie.
Okay, back on topic. I cannot believe how enjoyable I found the show. Would I like it better if it were Ribeye High? Probably, I never get tired of seeing a perfectly cooked medium-rare piece of meat, That being said, I’ll be tuning back in to Sugar High and for me that’s high praise, especially for a dessert show.
Sugar High airs Fridays at at 10:30pm/9:30c on the Food Network.
Ace of Cakes Canceled
Food Network announced Sunday Nov. 21st that there will only be one more season of Ace of Cakes. Too bad because this was the only cake-oriented TV show that was not a complete snore fest. Cake Boss, Cupcake Wars and those Food Network Cake Challenges are absolutely wretched.
Chef Duff Goldman said via the Charm City Cakes blog, “There are, of course, lots of mixed feelings about this news: we love our crew, we love being a part of a funny, genuine show that highlights our fair city and the work of a bunch of goofball friends. But Ace of Cakes has been in production for nearly five years—it’s like having a film crew document all four years of high school and then some. Though it’s incredibly bittersweet, after over 110 episodes, we think it’s time to catch our breath and explore some exciting new opportunities.”
According to TMZ, who was the first to break the news, the network is currently working on some projects that feature Chef Duff. Read the entire TMZ story HERE.
10 Most Influential Chefs Part 2.
This is a ranking of the chefs I feel have had the greatest influence on the American culinary scene. When the idea of ranking the 10 most influential chefs originally came to me the first thing I had to do was set out a criteria for my ranking. Here’s what I asked myself:
- Have they influenced younger chefs?
- Have they had an influence on the American table?
- Have they influenced the US dining scene?
- Have they influenced home cooks?
- Have they influenced me?
As with any of these types of lists debate will rage. I invite, nay! I implore you to use the comments section to offer your own critiques and substitutions. Let’s start with a review of Chefs 10 – 6:
10. Michael Symon
9. James Beard
8. Graham Kerr
7. Bobby Flay
6. Emeril Legasse
If you are interested in reading my justifications or reasons for ranking who I did, where I did then read Part 1 HERE. Now let’s proceed with the top 5:
5. Julia Child (author of Mastering the Art of French Cooking and a dozen more cookbooks and host of The French Chef and numerous other TV series). Ah Julia. You can find people who dislike Emeril and Bobby and Graham and even those who hate on Jacques Pepin, but everyone loves Julia. Thankfully those who did not grow up watching her cooking on TV got a chance to know her in last year’s hit film Julie & Julia. Julia left us in 2004 but her influence on the way home cooks cook is apparent even today. Sure Beard was first and Kerr the most famous but Julia transcends time. She taught Americans that not only is it good to dream big but also to fail big. She made great food accessible to the everyday person and removed the bourgeoisie tethers from French cuisine. She returned it to the commoner. I am lucky enough to own a first edition copy of Julia’s second book, the companion to her hit series, The French Chef. It was a gift from one of my own chef groupies and it is the star of my cookbook collection. I do not cook from it, I cherish it. Just as we all cherished Chef Julia Child.
4. Thomas Keller (The French Laundry and ad hoc in Yountville, California, Bouchon in Yountville, Beverly Hills and Las Vegas, Bouchon Bakery in Las Vegas, Yountville and New York City, Per Se in New York City). Do you know why you have heard of Yountville, California? Because of Thomas Keller. Before Keller opened his first eatery, The French Laundry, Yountville was just another spot on the map. Now it is the heart of the Napa Vally wine country. Many have proclaimed Chef Thomas Keller the best chef in the world. Of course there is no way to quantify such an accolade. The kicker for me of Keller’s genius was on an episode of Anthony Bourdain’s short-lived Food Network series, A Cook’s Tour where Bourdain and some friends were treated to a Keller tasting menu at The French Laundry and midway through the six hour eat-a-thon Keller had made a course specifically for the chain-smoking Bourdain – a Marlboro Red infused custard. According to Anthony, “this is like driving a Rolls Royce naked in mink underpants.” You can watch the entire French Laundry Experience HERE.
3. Daniel Boulud (Daniel, Bar Boulud, Cafe Boulud, DB Bistro Moderne, DBGB Kitchen & Bar and Bar Pleiades in New York, DB Bistro Moderne in Miami, Cafe Boulud in Palm Beach, DB Bistro Moderne and Lumiere in Vancouver, Bar Boulud in London and Maison Boulud in Beijing). Boulud is very talented. He has a devotion to wowing diners and has maintained that reputation for going on three decades. His restaurants can be found all over the globe ( four countries on three continents) but with Daniel it’s all about disciples. Boulud has mentored more big name chefs than anyone since Escoffier. The list of names is ridiculous. Boulud also starred as the host of a show about the truly extravagant side of dinner parties on the now-defunct HD network MOJO called After Hours with Daniel Boulud. It was unequivocally the best food porn I have ever seen. You can watch every episode for free at Hulu.com. You can’t really call yourself a foodie if you don’t.
2. Ferran Adrià (El Bulli restaurant in Roses on the Costa Brava, Spain). You had to see this one coming. I mean this guy is on everyone’s list and for good reason he created a cuisine. Although Adrià balks at such talk and even declines to call what he does molecular gastronomy but that is a good description. Adrià’s unique vision and creativity have produced the bulk of the world’s food trends for the past four or five years – foams, caviars and all manners of deceptive looking morsels. He has made a small Catalonia village over looking the Atlantic ocean one of the must-see locals on earth. They flock there for a meal at the current best restaurant on earth. And they have a sense of urgency about it. El Bulli is closing its doors in 2014 so that Chef Ferran can work on other projects. It’s a shame really because if you don’t have reservations already then chances are you may never get to try it. Chef Gordan Ramsay describes Adrià’s cooking as, “. . . cooking 20 years ahead of its time.” Adrià’s disciples are as numerous as his accolades and they spread from Barcelona to LA and beyond. You could easily make the case for Adrià to be #1 and get few arguments, after all the guy did invent a whole new cuisine. How do you top that?
With one spot left to go I’m sure people are already making a list of chefs they think belong on this list more than others. You’d be hard pressed to find fault with any top 10 chef’s list that included the likes of David Chang, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Laurent Tourondel, Larry Forgione, Gordon Ramsay, Nobu Matsuhisa or Alice Waters. If fact if you asked me to do this again in six months chances are you’d find one or more of them on that list. By mentioning that I have just given you a clue that none of them are my #1 most influential chef. That goes to . . .
1. Wolfgang Puck (Spago in LA, Chinois in Santa Monica, Postrio in LA and Las Vegas, CUT in LA and Las Vegas, Trattoria del Lupo and Springs Preserve Café in Las Vegas, Five-Sixty in Dallas, The Source in Washington DC, Wolfgang Puck B&G and WP24 in LA, Wolfgang Puck in Orlando, Wolfgang Puck Grille in Detroit, 20.21 in Minneapolis, countless cookbooks and official caterer for the Academy Awards Governor’s Ball). Puck’s career has been ridiculous. Many consider him the first rock star/chef because he was the first chef (sans TV) that people actually knew about. He was the first chef to have people show up at his restaurant just to get a glimpse of him. His gig catering the Governor’s Ball at the Oscars was the catalyst to it all and it is something he still does to this day. He was really the first chef to build an empire of multiple restaurants. Puck is responsible for introducing two cooking styles – Fusion and California Cuisine. He has an impressive list of disciples. He pioneered branding for chefs and has also done a number of hit TV shows. Most importantly, if you ask many of the other great chefs discussed here they’ll tell you that their number one influence is Puck. To any who have read much of my writing you may have noticed that I usually refer to him as “the incomparable Wolfgang Puck.” From where I sit that is the best way to describe him, incomparable. Though numbers ten through two may change for me depending on the barometric pressure or what color socks I’m wearing Puck will always be #1.
Alright there’s my list. Rip me apart in the comments if you like. It’s all good.
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“Cupcake Wars” Premieres
Are you serious? A series about competitive cupcake making?
In case you are lost, what I am talking about the Food Network is premiering a new series about, get this now, competitive cupcake making called Cupcake Wars. As if elevendy-gazillion cake decorating contests (and none of them good) are not enough now they are going to have miniature cake decorating contests. I don’t know if there is a market for televised cupcake bakers. Then again I never dreamed that a glorified karaoke night would ever shatter television records like American Idol has.
Apparently cupcake bakers (cupcakesters?) are very territorial as the original concept for Cupcake Wars was a documentary about their often heated turf wars. Now the idea of cupcakesters rumbling like the kids in an S.E. Hinton novel has a certain appeal – provided they do battle with rolling pins. But after some discussion, Super Delicious (the production company responsible for Cupcake Wars as well as Manswers and The Assistant) morphed it into a weekly no-holds-barred, loser-leave-town cupcake battle royal.
What makes Cupcake Wars even more unfathomable to me is that the host’s name is, hold your hat, Justin Kredible. He fancies himself a magician. For his first trick, I hope he makes this show not suck.
The pilot episode features blogger Natalie Slater (Bake and Destroy) as well as cupcaksters Candace Nelson of Sprinkles Cupcakes and Jane Lockhart of Sweet Lady Jane as judges. Slater is a tattooed pocket hottie who doesn’t own a bakery but describes herself as being, “obsessed with cake.” Nelson’s Spinkles Cupcakes is a critically acclaimed bakery in Beverly Hills. Lockhart opened LA-based Sweet Lady Jane 20 years ago because she felt most commercial desserts were “too sweet.”
The contestantsfor the first episode were Whodidily Cupcakes, Sweet E’s, Hotcakes Bakes and Two Parts Sugar. Cupcake Wars airs Sundays at 10 p.m. ET on the Food Network.
So I watched and HERE is my review.
Check out my exclusive interview with judge Natalie Slater HERE.
