BajaNomad

Chef Rick Bayless Plays Not My Job

mcfez - 3-13-2012 at 11:30 AM

Twenty-five years ago, a guy from Oklahoma opened a restaurant in Chicago that served Mexican food — and since then, things have gone pretty well for him. Rick Bayless is now an award-winning celebrity chef, a best-selling author, star of his own TV show, and a Top Chef Masters Champion. Soon, he'll be making his stage debut as an actor.
More.........http://www.npr.org/2012/03/10/148307299/chef-rick-bayless-plays-not-my-job

DENNIS - 3-13-2012 at 11:34 AM

I like his Baja segments where he ends up cooking something on the beach in a hurricane. Sure looks like fun. :lol:

sancho - 3-13-2012 at 11:50 AM

The last 6 weeks on Sat., his shows were on Baja, from
the Cape, TJ, Ensenada, Guadalupe Valley for
wine, Mag Bay where he was on the Isle
cooking lobster, Todos Santos

vgabndo - 3-13-2012 at 01:26 PM

Here's a URL for a behind the scenes look at the filming of the episodes in Baja as seen by his personal assistant. I got locked-in for sure. :bounce:
http://www.fronterafiesta.com/discuss/behind-the-scenes-baja...

[Edited on 3-13-2012 by vgabndo]

Iflyfish - 3-13-2012 at 03:12 PM

Good one! Love the background scenes better than many of the episodes! More like Anthony Bourdaine meets Rick Bayless, only he isn't on acid.

Iflyfish

Bajahowodd - 3-13-2012 at 03:51 PM

Sorry. But for a number of reasons, I consider Bayless to be either a Mexican cuisine fraud, or hoar.

Fact is that he lived for quite some time in Los Angeles, given that his brother, Skip, was a sports writer for the LA Times. Given Rick's time in LA, it appears that he decided to that the Mexican Cuisine battle was way too competitive, so he fled to Chicago, where he basically was the only game in town.

That said, as a so-called master chef, he seems to open way too many cans. His work is not really from scratch. And all that canned crap contains mountain of sodium.

In my opinion, he is just a lucky second rate cook.

wessongroup - 3-13-2012 at 04:13 PM

Wood, you trying to get along with others again ... :lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

It all helps ... thanks :):)

Bajahowodd - 3-13-2012 at 04:18 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by wessongroup
Wood, you trying to get along with others again ... :lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

It all helps ... thanks :):)


Just my two cents, Wylie.

Stickers - 3-13-2012 at 04:23 PM

"Bayless was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, into a family of restaurateurs and grocers specializing in the local barbecue. Having begun his culinary training as a youth, he broadened his interests to include regional Mexican cooking as an undergraduate student of Spanish and Latin American culture.

After finishing his undergraduate education at the University of Oklahoma, he did doctoral work in Anthropological Linguistics at the University of Michigan and, from 1980 to 1986, lived in Mexico with his wife, Deann, writing his first book Authentic Mexican: Regional Cooking From The Heart of Mexico.[2]"

Seems he took a very scholarly approach to Mexican cooking before opening a restaurant.

DanO - 3-13-2012 at 04:35 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Bajahowodd
Sorry. But for a number of reasons, I consider Bayless to be either a Mexican cuisine fraud, or hoar.

Fact is that he lived for quite some time in Los Angeles, given that his brother, Skip, was a sports writer for the LA Times. Given Rick's time in LA, it appears that he decided to that the Mexican Cuisine battle was way too competitive, so he fled to Chicago, where he basically was the only game in town.

That said, as a so-called master chef, he seems to open way too many cans. His work is not really from scratch. And all that canned crap contains mountain of sodium.

In my opinion, he is just a lucky second rate cook.


See what this respected food blogger had to say about Bayless basically throwing L.A.'s mexican food scene under the bus when Bayless opened a restaurant here awhile back, and his review of the restaurant. Brutal. After this, I wasn't inclined to try to run the gauntlet to get into the place, so I can't offer an opinion, but food critic (and Pulitzer Prize winner) Jonathan Gold was similarly unimpressed.

http://www.streetgourmetla.com/2010/08/red-o-tinga-tu-madre-...

vgabndo - 3-13-2012 at 11:25 PM

Gourmet shmormet, I don't care if HE can cook, there is just a lot of good solid Baja fish taco porn in those segments.:lol:

Bajahowodd - 3-14-2012 at 02:03 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by DanO
Quote:
Originally posted by Bajahowodd
Sorry. But for a number of reasons, I consider Bayless to be either a Mexican cuisine fraud, or hoar.

Fact is that he lived for quite some time in Los Angeles, given that his brother, Skip, was a sports writer for the LA Times. Given Rick's time in LA, it appears that he decided to that the Mexican Cuisine battle was way too competitive, so he fled to Chicago, where he basically was the only game in town.

That said, as a so-called master chef, he seems to open way too many cans. His work is not really from scratch. And all that canned crap contains mountain of sodium.

In my opinion, he is just a lucky second rate cook.


See what this respected food blogger had to say about Bayless basically throwing L.A.'s mexican food scene under the bus when Bayless opened a restaurant here awhile back, and his review of the restaurant. Brutal. After this, I wasn't inclined to try to run the gauntlet to get into the place, so I can't offer an opinion, but food critic (and Pulitzer Prize winner) Jonathan Gold was similarly unimpressed.

http://www.streetgourmetla.com/2010/08/red-o-tinga-tu-madre-...


Thanks for the link. Quite a scathing review. I almost choked when he complained about sending the Red-O chef to Chicago to learn about mexican cuisine from non-Mexicans.

Good news is that word out is that Jonathan Gold will be re-joining the LA Times.

DanO - 3-14-2012 at 02:38 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Bajahowodd
Quote:
Originally posted by DanO
Quote:
Originally posted by Bajahowodd
Sorry. But for a number of reasons, I consider Bayless to be either a Mexican cuisine fraud, or hoar.

Fact is that he lived for quite some time in Los Angeles, given that his brother, Skip, was a sports writer for the LA Times. Given Rick's time in LA, it appears that he decided to that the Mexican Cuisine battle was way too competitive, so he fled to Chicago, where he basically was the only game in town.

That said, as a so-called master chef, he seems to open way too many cans. His work is not really from scratch. And all that canned crap contains mountain of sodium.

In my opinion, he is just a lucky second rate cook.


See what this respected food blogger had to say about Bayless basically throwing L.A.'s mexican food scene under the bus when Bayless opened a restaurant here awhile back, and his review of the restaurant. Brutal. After this, I wasn't inclined to try to run the gauntlet to get into the place, so I can't offer an opinion, but food critic (and Pulitzer Prize winner) Jonathan Gold was similarly unimpressed.

http://www.streetgourmetla.com/2010/08/red-o-tinga-tu-madre-...


Thanks for the link. Quite a scathing review. I almost choked when he complained about sending the Red-O chef to Chicago to learn about mexican cuisine from non-Mexicans.

Good news is that word out is that Jonathan Gold will be re-joining the LA Times.


Gold's first column for the times was last Saturday.

http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-0310-gold-2012031...

What a great writer.

Bajahowodd - 3-14-2012 at 03:29 PM

Not to sound like a broken record, but.....

Virtually every time I watch Bayless preparing a Mexican dish, he uses canned stuff. Methinks he's the Paula Deen of Mexican cuisine.:lol:

And I stand by my first assertion that he went to Chicago merely because he would never have made it in LA.

That said, I've always thought, watching him, that he was just "a little off".

[Edited on 3-14-2012 by Bajahowodd]

bajadock - 3-14-2012 at 04:46 PM

Loads of ingredients at your favorite fish taco shop comes out of a can. And Raquel Welch couldn't act.

Ensenada Fish Taco Tour video on Rick Bayless site is FUN.

Stop #2 in the vid is the lesser known Tacos Chopipo, owned/run by the architect of my home, Francisco Orosco. He claims he makes loads more profit from his taco shop than his architecture biz. I like his architecture work.

The subject taco shops, Mariscos Norteño, Tacos Chopipo, Tacos Marco Antonio and La Guerrense are all mapped here

Bajahowodd - 3-14-2012 at 04:55 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by bajadock
Loads of ingredients at your favorite fish taco shop comes out of a can. And Raquel Welch couldn't act.

Ensenada Fish Taco Tour video on Rick Bayless site is FUN.

Stop #2 in the vid is the lesser known Tacos Chopipo, owned/run by the architect of my home, Francisco Orosco. He claims he makes loads more profit from his taco shop than his architecture biz. I like his architecture work.

The subject taco shops, Mariscos Norteño, Tacos Chopipo, Tacos Marco Antonio and La Guerrense are all mapped here


Ahhh! But, the difference is that your local taco shop never portrayed itself as Alta Cuisine.

If you are going to charge a premium, you had better have a reason for it. Canned crap doesn't cut it for me.