As "Top Chef: Chicago" (or as we like to call it, "Top Chefcago") starts whittling down its latest batch of chef-testants, reporters got the oh-so-rare opportunity to chat with judges Tom Colicchio and Padma "I'm Way Hotter Than Tom Colicchio" Lakshmi about the pitfalls of culinary school, the questionable merits of okra and how not to become the next Emeril Lagasse.
Do you have any culinary pet peeves? What’s the one thing that you just can’t deal with on a plate?
Tom Colicchio: I will not eat okra. I hate it. That and grated mountain yams for the same reason: slimy.
Padma Lakshmi: It’s not slimy when I make okra!
TC: I don’t care who makes it. You can fry it. You can do whatever you want with it. You can keep it. All the okra lovers out there—there’s just more for them because I don’t want it.
You wear different hats as a restauranteur and as a celebrity chef. Has working with all these young chefs in any way informed your own cooking?
TC: Oh, let’s go back: I’m a chef. I hate that word "celebrity" in front of chef. You know, I have 250 people who work in my kitchens around the country, and any one of them would do very well on this show.
On the set, you have assembled some of the greatest chefs in the world. Are you guys actually eating food from craft services, or does it go untouched?
PL: I try to come to a set very hungry to give the contestants the full attention of my appetite. But sometimes it’s not possible. And our craft services is not very good, so I tend never to eat it. Surprising, but true.
TC: We don’t eat a whole lot of food on the set. We’re taking a bite of something and a little bit of this. But we’re not eating full dishes. But we’ll do a challenge at one in the afternoon and we’re judging at two in the morning. So there’s plenty of time to eat whatever is on craft services, and we tend to go for the junk. At least I do—like candy and things like that that I shouldn’t be eating.
What's your one guilty pleasure you grab from craft services?
TC: Beef jerky. Yeah.
PL: Cheese! Cheese or chocolate...
Have either of you ever been surprised at some of the chefs you thought you knew and then seeing what they did behind the scenes?
TC: It is quite surprising some of the things they’ll do. You know, I think at a certain point they’re so tired and sort of flustered, and they forget the cameras are rolling.
PL: They’re also away from their families, so it turns into a little bit of a "Lord of the Flies" situation. I mean, I was very shocked when they shaved their heads and threatened to shave Marcel’s head [in season 3].
What do you think the best place to learn cooking is? Do you think it’s cooking school, or should you try your hand at an actual restaurant?
TC: I gave a commencement speech before I was on "Top Chef" to a graduating class at CIA [the Culinary Institute of America]. And my message to them was if you want to be the next Emeril Lagasse, just look at your parent sitting next to you, apologize for wasting their money and go find something else to do. If you came to school because you want to learn how to cook and you want to be a professional chef, then that was a great decision.
Some people say it’s making the perfect egg, some people say it’s the best grilled cheese... What one dish do you think says the most about a chef?
PL: I don’t think grilled cheese is that difficult to make nor do I think eggs are very difficult to make. But I do think the way you make eggs in the morning shows a lot about your technical skills. Tom makes really great eggs, by the way.
TC: I don’t know if there’s any one thing. Andre Soltner, who was a great chef at Lutece, would actually ask every cook who came into his kitchen to make an omelet. He thought that it takes a certain amount of care to make a rolled French omelet.
Do you think the chefs on "Top Chef" have access to quality ingredients at the level that they might be used to in their own restaurants?
TC: Sometimes it surpasses what they’re used to, and sometimes they fall short. It all depends. I think some of the places they shot were doing a pretty good job of produce and not always with fish and meat.
PL: Also, there are things that consumers can do when they go to a store. Like for instance, if you go to your deli or to your cheese monger, go to somewhere that’s busy because not only does that tell you that’s a good place but that means that their cheese will have a high turnover.
What have been your favorite and least favorite dishes so far?
PL: So far on my time at "Top Chef," the worst thing I ate was the chocolate gnocchi with a morsel of liver in it. And, ironically, probably one of the best dishes I ate was from the same chef, Ilan Hall, and it was the fideos with chorizo and clams. Same episode, same chef—worst and best!
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