Marcel Vigneron Master cook at Jo�l Robuchon at the MGM Grand
Emily Sprissler Line cook at Nobhill at the MGM Grand
Otto Borsich Chef-instructor at the Culinary Institute of Las Vegas
Elia Aboumrad Assistant room chef at The Hotel at Mandalay Bay
Bravo, Las Vegas chefs.
The second season of the culinary-competition series "Top Chef" debuts at 11 p.m. today on Bravo, and four Las Vegas culinarians are among the 15 participants. (Another Las Vegas connection is head chef/judge Tom Colicchio of Craftsteak at the MGM Grand.)
Advertisement
Quite a representation, and tribute to the city's place in the culinary world. And -- no surprise -- all of the local contestants came here from somewhere else.
"I think a lot of people in the industry are realizing that you can work in New York and you can work in San Francisco and you can work with some of the best chefs in the world, but you're also going to have to pay to live there," said contestant Emily Sprissler, who lists her hometown as Washington, D.C., and is a line cook at Nobhill at the MGM Grand. "In Las Vegas, you can work with a lot of the same chefs, but still achieve some of your goals."
Such as buying a house.
"Especially as you get older," said Sprissler, who's 30. "I wanted to buy a house. When I bought something on the Internet, I did not want to fill out that apartment line anymore." In Las Vegas, "you can work for Michael Mina and Daniel Boulud and you can have your house, too. And you can have health insurance.
"That was my goal. Vegas was going to help me get there. So I'm the proud mother of Boris, a 7-month-old Siberian husky."
But like most culinarians who have most of their careers ahead of them, Sprissler has her eye on bigger and better things; hence "Top Chef."
"It's really just about getting exposure," she said of the show. "It's a great opportunity. As the show gets bigger and has a little bit more cachet, more and more people are going to have the opportunity to accomplish things that they wouldn't have been able to accomplish otherwise."
"I decided to be a part of the show because I think it's a good opportunity for me to network and showcase my capabilities and my culinary skills to the public," said Marcel Vigneron, a 26-year-old native of Bainbridge, Wash., and master cook at Jo�l Robuchon at the MGM Grand. "Being inside the kitchen for the past decade or so, you don't get that opportunity to show your face or allow the public to know you. I figured it would be a good opportunity to get my name out there."
"I thought it was a great opportunity to meet new people, for exposure, to compete," said Elia Aboumrad, a 23-year-old native of Mexico City and assistant room chef at The Hotel at Mandalay Bay.
Aboumrad said she didn't have cable -- or even a TV -- but heard about "Top Chef" because she knew Stephen Asprinio, who was on the first season.
At 46, Otto Borsich is a little farther down the career path, but "Top Chef" still appealed.
"I'm an adventurous personality," he said. "I thought I'd give it a go. I've got a lot of experience and I thought I'd bring a lot to the program.
"When I applied for the show and got accepted, I was thrilled. I wanted to get as far into the show as I could." But regardless of the results -- which none of them could reveal -- "there were thousands of potential contestants," Borsich said, "and I was one of 15."
While he may not be out for the same degree of exposure as the next generation of cooks, he hopes to inspire them. Borsich, a native of Vermillion, Ohio, is a chef-instructor at the Culinary Institute of Las Vegas.
He said he traded the restaurant kitchen for the school version because "it's an opportunity to give back. A lot of chefs invested a lot of time and energy in me. It's basically a sacred obligation to give back to the industry -- a sense of duty.
"And also, being in Vegas -- the restaurant capital of the world -- I want to make sure the next generation of chefs and cooks who are out there are properly trained."
Borsich also hopes to bring attention to a favorite cause.
"I'm very involved in hunger issues and I do a lot as a chef to help hunger and poverty issues in this country," Borsich said. "I have a bigger vision: to raise awareness on a national -- if not global -- level, to keep our politicians accountable."
But it would seem that not all of the contestants were as altruistic.
"They were trying on the show several times to make us work in groups, which I thought was a bad idea," Aboumrad said. "They know perfectly well there's no such thing as a team. Nobody's really going to follow the leader and behave like a cook's helper. It is a competition. It's not like we're fighting for two candies. We're fighting for $100,000, and everybody wants to win."
Aboumrad said she also was mystified by the cavalier reaction of some of the other contestants regarding the judges' comments.
"When I got criticized by the judge, for me afterward it was difficult to just change the page and have some wine and get drunk at night, because that's what everybody did," she said.
But while the show may have been a little more competitive than a typical restaurant kitchen, it was not without camaraderie, Sprissler said.
"I met a lot of really great people," she said. "One of the things I'm sorry about -- but it had to be -- is we're going to be edited. They're going to do the best they can for the show. I think a lot of the good qualities that people have aren't going to be shown, for the benefit of creating drama and dynamics."
PROSCIUTTO-WRAPPED ASPARAGUS
8 stalks asparagus
8 slices prosciutto, very thinly sliced
Freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste
Lemon juice
Clean asparagus and trim bottoms. Blanch in boiling water for about 25 seconds, then plunge into an ice bath. Quickly grill the asparagus so it gets nice marks on it and a smoky flavor.
Wrap most of each asparagus stalk in a piece of prosciutto. Heat about 1 teaspoon olive oil in a saute pan. Season asparagus with salt and pepper and sear in the hot pan until it's crusty. Repeat. Squirt with lemon juice.
Serves 2 as an appetizer.
-- Recipe from Emily Sprissler
SEARED SCALLOPS WITH
GRAPEFRUIT GINGER
MARMALADE AND FRESH
BELGIAN ENDIVE SALAD
For marmalade:
1 pound grapefruit wedges
1/4 pound orange wedges
3 1/2 ounces grapefruit juice
7 ounces maple syrup
2 ounces grated fresh ginger
For vinaigrette:
4 cups olive oil
2 ounces lemon juice
2 ounces lime juice
1 ounce orange juice
Belgian endive spears
4 large scallops
Olive oil for sauteeing
For the marmalade, cook the grapefruit and orange wedges, grapefruit juice and maple syrup together very quickly. When it reaches a marmalade consistency, add the ginger. Remove from heat and cool.
For vinaigrette, whisk oil and lemon, lime and orange juices until emulsified.
Cut the endive into wedges.
Sear the scallops in olive oil and season to taste.
Place scallops on plate with a little marmalade around them. Place an endive wedge on top, drizzled with a little vinaigrette.
-- Recipe from Elia Aboumrad
HOT AND RAW TUNA
2 pounds fresh tuna loin
1 cup (approximately) olive oil
1/2 pound haricots verts (or green beans)
4 red bliss potatoes
5 tomatoes, blanched and seeded
1 sprig fresh basil
4 hard-cooked eggs, peeled
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
1 red pepper, roasted and cut julienne
1/4 cup fine julienne of red onion
1/3 cup coarsely chopped, pitted kalamata olives
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh basil
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped Italian parsley
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
Cut four 3-to 4-ounce pieces of tuna from the whole loin, slicing thinly completely against the eye of the tuna loin. (You will have fairly large, thin pieces of tuna.) Cut the remaining loin into four equal thick steaks.
Lightly oil both sides of the large, thin pieces and place a piece between two sheets of waxed paper or plastic wrap. With a meat mallet or the back of a small skillet, gently pound the tuna until it is significantly flattened to an even thickness, using care not to rip or tear the tuna. The tuna should be 1/4-inch thick or thinner. Repeat with remaining three large, thin pieces.
Refrigerate all tuna for later use. At this time, put four large plates in the refrigerator to chill as well.
Trim the tops and bottoms of the haricots verts or green beans and cut in half. Cook in boiling salted water for about 4 to 5 minutes, or until tender. Drain and place in ice water for about 1 minute; remove and set aside.
Cut the potatoes into wedges and place in a pot of cold salted water. Bring the pot to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer until the potatoes are cooked, about 30 minutes. Do not overcook. Drain and reserve.
Cut the tomatoes into small dice. Place 1 tablespoon olive oil in a small saucepan, add tomatoes and basil sprig, season with salt and pepper, turn on high heat until tomatoes begin to bubble, turn down to medium simmer, stir occasionally and cook until all of the liquid has evaporated and the tomatoes have become thick like paste. Remove the basil and discard. Place the tomatoes in a blender and puree until smooth; reserve.
With an egg slicer cut all four eggs; set aside.
Place the lemon juice and zest in a small mixing bowl and whisk in the olive oil to make the dressing, using a ratio of three parts oil to one part lemon juice. Taste and adjust accordingly with salt and pepper.
Take the tuna and the plates from the refrigerator and remove the waxed paper or plastic wrap from the top of each tuna slice. Place a tuna slice flesh-side-down on each plate and then remove the top piece of plastic wrap or waxed paper. Equally divide the tomato puree among the four plates, placing in the center of the tuna and spreading it out into a circle about 3 inches in diameter.
In a separate mixing bowl place the haricots verts, potatoes, egg slices, pepper, onion, olives and herbs. Season with salt and pepper and add enough of the lemon-oil dressing to coat the ingredients. Place an equal amount of the mixture on each plate atop the tomato puree.
Place a small skillet on the stove and heat on high. Season tuna steaks with salt and pepper on both sides. Once the pan is significantly hot, add enough oil just to create a film on the surface of the skillet (a light smoke or haze should be visible). Place all four pieces of tuna in the skillet. Quickly sear for 15 to 20 seconds, flip the tuna over and repeat on the other side for another 15 to 20 seconds. The tuna should be very rare.
Quickly place the hot tuna on top of the salad and serve immediately.
Note: For a stylish presentation, place a ring mold in the center of the plate on top of the tuna. In a separate bowl, toss the potatoes with some of the lemon-oil dressing, salt and pepper and place a single layer of potatoes in the ring mold. Next, toss the haricots verts, peppers, onion, olives and herbs with lemon-oil dressing and salt and pepper. Put some of this mixture into the ring mold, gently pressing it down so it is 1/2 inch below the rim of the mold. Place the egg slices on top of the mixture in a single layer to completely cover. Using an icing spatula or butter knife, place the tomato puree on top of the eggs and smooth like the frosting on cake. This gives the salad a polished look and provides a base for the hot tuna steak. Repeat the process for the remaining plates; cook the tuna steaks and place on top of the tomato puree.
Serves 4.
-- Recipe from Otto Borsich
AVANT GARDE BREAKFAST
(Coffee caviar, hot molasses foam, coddled quail eggs, blinis and bacon powder)
For the coffee caviar:
8 ounces freshly brewed coffee
1/2 teaspoon alginate acid (see note)
1/2 teaspoon calcium chloride (see note)
2 cups water
For the molasses foam:
2 cups heavy cream
1 to 2 tablespoons molasses, to taste
1 teaspoon agar agar (see note)
For the coddled quail eggs:
10 quail eggs
For the blinis:
28 ounces milk
1 1/2 ounces yeast
5 eggs
1/2 cup oil
1 1/4 pounds all-purpose flour
1 3/4 ounces sugar
1 ounce salt
For the bacon powder:
1/4 pound bacon, cut in small dice
For coffee caviar: While cold, mix coffee with alginate in blender until alginate has dissolved. Heat mixture to 205 degrees and hold.
Dissolve the calcium chloride in the water and reserve.
For the molasses foam: Combine all ingredients in a pan and bring to boil; reduce to simmer for five minutes. Strain through fine mesh sieve into a whipping device. Hold hot in hot water bath until ready to serve.
For the quail eggs: Place eggs in a small saucepot. Cover with water by 2 inches. Bring water to boil, take off heat and let sit for 2 minutes. Plunge into cold water, peel and reserve.
For the blinis: Heat milk and yeast to 100 degrees and set aside for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, separate egg yolks from whites. Whisk the yolks while slowly adding oil, making a mayonnaise emulsion sauce. Sift dry ingredients and add to wet. Fold in mayonnaise and allow to rest 1 hour. Whip the whites to medium peaks and fold into batter. Cook batter in pancake fashion and reserve.
For the bacon powder:
Slowly render bacon until cooked. Drain on paper towels and chop into fine powder consistency.
To serve: Fill a syringe with the coffee solution. Release one drop of coffee solution at a time into calcium chloride solution and cook 1 minute. Strain and rinse the caviar in a cold water bath.
Steam pre-cooked blini for 1 minute. Place blini in the center of the plates, shoot molasses foam on top of blini, drain caviar and spoon on top of foam, top with eggs and sprinkle with bacon powder.
