Top Chef Masters Brouhaha, Disaster in Mountain View, Two New Tastes
Last Monday, I spoke with Shannon Sturcken of FerenComm, the PR firm that represents the new Bravo TV show Top Chef Masters.
I told her I knew who won the competition and had published it last week in the Yummy letter’s SCOOP, which reaches almost 18,000 folks via email. It carried a spoiler alert.
If you do NOT want to know who wins the whole thing, do NOT go to the archives.
Sturcken explained that all the participants signed a contract that stipulates that it will cost them $1 million if they reveal the outcome.
She then said she wouldn’t ask me my source and I said, that’s good, because I won’t reveal my source.
FYI: I am protected by the California Reporters’ Shield law and something called the First Amendment.
She asked me why would I write about the winner.
I told her because I am in the news business and it is news.
She concluded that the Yummy letter’s SCOOP was cheating people out of their experience.
The next installment was a call from the PR person, who actually reps the master chef who won.
She suggested that we might want to remove the news from our archives because the show was for charity: each chef’s charity benefits from their win (the show is set up in rounds), with the top prize of $100,000 going to the Top Chef Master winner.
And, more importantly, no one would watch if they knew the outcome. But, I thought, the money is in the bank for the charities, so no one loses a dime.
What this whole brouhaha is really about is Bravo’s business and advertising revenue, and here’s why from James Hibberd’s June 11 Live Feed blog:
Bravo's Top Chef Masters got off to a soft start Wednesday night, drawing about half the rating as the most recent premiere of the network's original hit Top Chef.
Masters" opened to 1.4 million viewers and a 0.7 adults 18 to 49 rating. Its 11 p.m. encore garnered an additional 600,000 viewers.
As opposed to this, from February 2009, according to Hibberd:
Wednesday's Top Chef season five closer (3.7 million, 2.1 adults 18 to 49 and a 6 share) became the show's second-highest-rated episode ever, growing 11% over the finale last year. The episode fell just 1-10th of a point behind Season 2's record high, but was easily the most-watched episode in recent years. (Overall, season five ranks as the highest-rated season of the show yet.)
And then there’s this from Advertising Age by Andrew Hampp:
Bravo is cooking up a high-end special based on its Top Chef franchise… The cream-of-the-crop approach has translated to the show’s sponsors as well.
Longtime sponsor Toyota Motor Co. has upgraded its involvement to focus on Lexus, which will provide the winners of each of the nine qualifying rounds with $10,000 for the charities of their choice, totaling $90,000 in donations. New this year is Anheuser-Busch InBev’s Stella Artois, which will sponsor weekly on-air tune-in spots and billboards…
The individual challenges on Top Chef Masters will also be put through Bravo’s rigorous “brand filter” for integrations and product placements. In recent seasons they’ve included everyone from Diet Dr. Pepper to Butterball to Quaker Oats, amid occasional fan backlash.
Wouldn’t it be funny if Bravo subpoenaed me to spill the beans? I, of course, would refuse and they’d send me to the pokey, where I would go on a hunger strike, come out incredibly slim, marry a millionaire old dude, and retire in Barcelona.
After the disaster at the "Great American Food & Music Fest" at Shoreline this past Saturday, I wonder if it is safe for its “food curator” Ed Levine to return to the Bay Area anytime soon.
It was a cool idea: Let’s bring in some of the best food from around the country, feature Food Network chefs Bobby Flay (the Host) and Guy Fieri, line up some good bands like Little Feat, and rock-chow down in Mountain View.
Here was the lineup:
• From New York, Katz's Deli Pastrami Sandwiches
• From Los Angeles, Pink's Chili Dogs
• From Cincinnatti, Graeter's Ice Cream (Oprah's Favorite)
• From Buffalo, Anchor Bar Chicken Wings
• From New York and Beverly Hills, Barney Greengrass Bagel, Smoked
Salmon, and Cream Cheese
• From Texas, Southside Market Barbecue Brisket and Sausage
• From Ann Arbor, Michigan Zingerman's Deli
• From Philadelphia, Tony Luke's Cheesesteaks and Roast Pork sandwiches
• Straight Outta Brooklyn, Junior's Cheesecake
The problem was that people came very interested in eating and with their ticket ($35 and up) got a free first plate of food.
So, you had eight purveyors and over 8,000 hungry folks. The next disaster (and the biggest) was that the computerized system failed and management scrambled to go to cash and credit cards.
“When we got there, there were long lines for refunds, it was pretty disorganized,” says chef Nancy Oakes of Boulevard, who prepared her signature crab cakes on the culinary stage.
She went on to say, that she thought it was put together pretty quickly, and that people who did get food had no place to sit down and eat it.
This from someone with the handle “macadam” on the
“I went at 12:30, waited in line 1-1/2 hours to get in.
Waited 1 hour for a plate of Southside Market BBQ (good, not great)
Waited 1 hour for Graeters ice cream and Juniors cheesecake (both great)
By that time, Pinks was out of hot dogs, Zimmerman's was out of bacon, along with several other stands out of various items.
Went home.
A good idea, extremely poorly executed.
Projecting 10,000 people. Ten thousand people and only eight vendors? What's wrong with that picture?”
We also spoke to our friend KGO’s Gene Burns, who broadcast from the festival from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
“We got there to begin broadcasting at 10, and the festival didn’t open until noon,” he explained. “We didn’t really know how bad it was. But the Texas barbecue fellows came over before we left at 1:20 p.m. to bring us some brisket to take home and told us the computers were down and all hell was breaking lose.”
I asked Burns if he would broadcast again from this event if it were held next year: “From a broadcast point of view it was terrific; we interviewed all these food icons from around the country.”
Food “curator” Ed Levine issued a half-assed apology on his blog
Serious Eats, infuriating folks here even more. By Monday night the apology had moved off the main page.
Refunds for the Great American Food and Music Fest can be requested by calling Live Nation Customer Care at 888-598-4299 or Shoreline Amphitheatre at 650-967-3000.
In the last three weeks I tried two very different and fabulous restaurants in the Bay Area.
When Susan and I were in New York recently, we saw a flock of salad places with names like “Tossed’ and “Chopt.” All were creative salad joints and just what the doctor ordered for weight watchers, vegetarians and vegans.
When I heard about Lettuce, I figured it was in San Francisco’s Financial District – that’s where I would put it.
But no, Bahman Tehrani’s restaurant is located at 1632 Locust Street, in the heart of Walnut Creek (925-933-5600, lunch and dinner daily).
The look of this place – painted sparkling white with sunny accents – is as fresh looking as his distinctive soups and salads.
It was a slightly chilly day in the East Bay, so I opted for the vegetable rich minestrone, served with an Acme Bakery roll. There are 16 salads on the menu and a rainbow of dressings.
My salad with a pesto-based dressing was terrific. A sandwich filled with prosciutto hit the spot as well.
I was in the neighborhood, so I tried the just-opened Urban Burger located on Valencia Street in the heart of all the Mission district’s foodie venues. The idea behind Urban is that they offer a burger for every taste.
I know, here comes a list:
Burger made from all natural Meyer beef
Diestel ground turkey
Chicken breast
Gardenburger
Portabella mushroom
Once you’ve decided on the main event, you can move onto the “build your own burger section” with four kinds of cheese, 13 toppings, nine spreads or sauces, and finally, what kind of bread.
I really didn’t have time to meditate too long on my burger-choices – yeah, illegally parked once again – so I went for the Urban classic ($7.75), a beef burger with lettuce, tomato, pickle, red onions, and the housemade urban sauce. It comes with fries or a side salad.
I liked everything about it except the sauce, which I found a little sweet.
The menu fills out with onion rings, sandwiches, salads, and shakes.
Ozuma Restaurant in Oakland (2251 Broadway at Grand Ave., 268-9866) has announced the introduction of "Sushi Mondays" with an all-you-can-eat menu priced at $30 per person and offered every Monday night from 5:00 to 10:00 p.m..
The special is available only at the restaurant's sushi bar and includes rolls, nigiri and select appetizers prepared by master sushi chef Ido Kiyotaka. Guests who make reservations are asked to mention that they will be coming in specifically for Sushi Monday, but walk-in diners are welcome.
Executive Assistant to Culinary Leader (Napa County)
Highly Acclaimed Restaurant Group seeks Administrative Assistant to the Chef.
Incumbent performs a wide variety of complex and confidential administrative and secretarial duties in support of Chef Thomas Keller…
The French Laundry in Yountville, CA has a FT opening for an executive administrative assistant for Chef Thomas Keller. Position is responsible for all administrative and personal organization of the Chef’s schedule and office. The ideal candidate will be warm, capable, thoughtful, computer fluent, as well as self-directed…
I like the warm part.
For more information about GraceAnn’s tours of North Beach, Chinatown, The New Mission, and Nob Hill, visit
Masters" opened to 1.4 million viewers and a 0.7 adults 18 to 49 rating. Its 11 p.m. encore garnered an additional 600,000 viewers.
After the disaster at the "Great American Food & Music Fest" at Shoreline this past Saturday, I wonder if it is safe for its “food curator” Ed Levine to return to the Bay Area anytime soon. 
It was a slightly chilly day in the East Bay, so I opted for the vegetable rich minestrone, served with an Acme Bakery roll. There are 16 salads on the menu and a rainbow of dressings.
Once you’ve decided on the main event, you can move onto the “build your own burger section” with four kinds of cheese, 13 toppings, nine spreads or sauces, and finally, what kind of bread. 
Incumbent performs a wide variety of complex and confidential administrative and secretarial duties in support of Chef Thomas Keller… 