Hide Article Text (OCR)
editor'spickJanet Zuccarini brings all the flavors to Top Chef Canada'By Michael KorbI've been told there are no calories in the food you watch other people create on television, so watch as much of the culinary stylings of Top Chef Canada as you like. It airs Mondays on Food Network Canada.Now in its seventh season, the competition series continues to be the standard to which all other culinary shows are judged. And a big part of that is due to the quality of not only the competition, but the people judging the action.From head judge Mark McEwan, to food critic Chris Nuttall-Smith, food personality Mijune Pak, and host Eden Grinshpan, you can count on an insightful nugget coming from the judges. But, like McEwan, restaurateur Janet Zuccarini is one of the few who has experience creating successful restaurants across the continent.After opening Trattoria Nervosa in Toronto in 1996,she's gone on to open Gusto 101, PAI Northern Thai Kitchen, Kiin, Same Same, Chubby's Jamaican Kitchen and the Los Angeles-based Felix, named by Esquire magazine as the No. 1 Best New Restaurant in America. Based on that level of success, she might get chefs better than anyone.And she understands that chefs today are often fully committed to the limelight.You are always going to get a mixed bag (when it comes to chefs), says Zuccarini. I will generalize a little bit, but it takes a certain breed to be a chef. ... Now we are seeing these tatted up chefs — they look like rock stars. They are celebrities. And they want that. But I have also encountered the sweetest, kindest, smartest people that you could imagine.And that seems to hold up for the group of talented chefs onboard this season. With that interestinq twist ofa play-in feature last week that saw chef Benet Hunt earn his way into the competition, and then to see himself land in the bottom three, the smack talk remains at a minimum.The one guilty party of tough talk ended up going home early last week, but Zuccarini knows you can't judge anyone too harshly at this stage of the game.It's not all normal cooking, you have challenges, says Zuccarini. And it may not tell a lot about your talents. You are being judged on that challenge. So I am trying with each season to have empathy. I want to be straight and honest.It's something that she's getting better at with every season and it's helping her in her own restaurants with her own chefs.I used to be succinct, says Zuccarini. I wouldn't explain myself well enough. But this series has really helped me articulate what“Top Chef Canada” airs Mondays on Food Network Canada.I like or don't like about a dish.And let's not kid ourselves, it's always more fun to watch when something goes horribly wrong in the kitchen.It's an occupational hazard, adds Zuccarini. I have put things in my mouth that have been horrible. You don't always know what you are going to get.But we do know the winner of Top Chef Canada” gets a whole lot of cash and prizes and some of this country's top bragging rights.And viewers get to experience it all with zero calories.
Newspaper Details
Lethbridge Herald
Lethbridge, Alberta, CA
Sat, Apr 06, 2019
Page 38
Full Page
Clipped by
Wikimedia F.
California, DZ 22 Jul 2023
Other Publications Near Lethbridge, Alberta
Prairie Post
Lethbridge Sun Times
Lethbridge Herald
Lethbridge Daily Herald
