![]() Now it’s back to business as usual, turning out saffron- and cinnamon-braised lamb shanks, wild mushroom farro risotto and other seasonal fare. “They don’t want to make a reservation unless they’re sure I’m going to be there. “People are definitely peeking into the kitchen,” she says. And it’s helping to fill the Absinthe reservation book as well. The newfound notoriety has been a kick, says Lauren. None of that mattered to the Lauren fans who continued to blog about her and fill the discussion forums at, comparing the Absinthe chef to Battlestar Galactica’s brash Starbuck, Scarlett Johansson and other pop culture icons. In the end, Colorado chef Hosea Rosenberg took the top toque. Lauren herself was done in by black bass and braised celery - her least favorite vegetable and one the judges hated - in an episode filmed at Le Bernardin with the final six contestants. I ended up running the kitchen, when it wasn’t my kitchen to run.” The team I was on, we were all really creative, but no one was leading us. Six hours to open a restaurant is completely ridiculous. What about the show’s signature challenge? The episode in which chefs vie to open a restaurant in a single day is both the most eagerly anticipated and most frustrating challenge. “That was really tough - three hours to cook outside in toaster ovens? Who does that?” “The most difficult was the Thanksgiving challenge,” she says. They edit out his quips, but he’s quite funny. It’s funny to see him going from judge to human. So what about the judges: Tom Colicchio Lakshmi, a former fashion model and new and acerbic Toby Young? Spend that much time battling bizarre challenges with a small group of people, she says, and you’re bound to bond. “I’m close to a lot of them,” she says, “Ariane, Carla, Leah, Stefan and Fabio, Jeff.” The pair will cook together for a special event at Absinthe next month, and again at the Pebble Beach Food and Wine Festival April 16-19. They’re close friends, Lauren says, who still hang out. Lauren, a member of the self-proclaimed Team Rainbow, just laughs when the flirty topic comes up. Season four Top Chef Stephanie Izard picked Lauren as a favorite early on, predicting that the big prize would go to either Lauren, Italian charmer Fabio Viviani or fellow European Stefan Richter, whose culinary creations consistently wowed the judges - and whose confessions of a dreamboat-style crush on Lauren provided a little added entertainment for viewers. Meanwhile, industry insiders, bloggers and foodies lapped up their every move. They duked it out on the line at Craft Restaurant, dissected recipes at Le Bernardin, and made something old, new, borrowed and blue for Food & Wine editor and longtime “Top Chef” judge Gail Simmons’ bridal shower. Cameras followed Lauren and her fellow chefs as they cooked for such varied judges as the Foo Fighters, Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Eric Ripert. Lauren responded with a puréed chickpea soup topped with cilantro yogurt and pickled chilies, and flavored with her secret ingredient, the trendy, curry-inspired vadouvan she’d brought from the Bay Area.Īnd so it went, for six weeks of filming. Take that recipe, she said, and make it soup. Ten minutes into a Quick Fire Challenge that involved infusing a little personal style into a “Top Chef: The Cookbook” recipe, for example, host Padma Lakshmi told the harried cheftestants that the judges had changed their minds. ![]() The “Top Chef” judges loved her clean flavor combinations - a baby BLT amuse bouche, for example, that combined heirloom tomatoes, quail eggs, basil and smoked bacon drizzled with balsamic syrup - and her dry wit and cool demeanor under pressure.įaced with the show’s usual trademark twists, Lauren simply rolled up the sleeves of her white chef’s jacket and got to work. ![]() New York-born Lauren was trained in classic French technique, but the flavors she favors at Absinthe - and on “Top Chef” - showcase new American cuisine and local, seasonal ingredients. Totally stressful and nerve-racking, but I’m lucky I had the opportunity.” I live alone and to go back to the college dormitory thing, cameras in your face - aside from that, it was fun. “The worst part was living with all of these people. Lauren, with her colorful tattoos, broad grin and assured, almost cocky air of confidence, was a natural. Not, she marvels, any actual Quick Fires, the show’s rapid paced challenges that bestow equal parts panic and immunity, at least in the early weeks. Lauren’s audition materials included video footage of cooking and hang time with friends, head shots and interviews. They wanted personalities, she said, who would make good television. ![]() “The magic elves actually contacted me,” she says, “when they were doing casting here a year ago.”īravo’s producers weren’t just looking for culinary skills. ![]()
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