Whatever, Whatever: Meatless Meals Fail to Hit the Mark
on "Top Chef"

post from Televisionary on 29 October 2009 04:08:00 AM. © Televisionary

First off, I am not a vegetarian. I've flirted with vegetarianism at certain points in my life (perhaps, most notably, a reaction to dining hall food at university), but I've been a blissfully happy carnivore for the majority of my life and I don't see that changing anytime soon.That said, vegetarians often get a raw deal in restaurants and sometimes have to deal with chefs that don't understand how to satiate someone's hunger without the inclusion of meat. But vegetarian cuisine can be just as nourishing, comforting, and filling as carnivorous dishes; it's just a matter of replacing protein with protein and making sure that the dish is more than a collection of cooked vegetable side dishes.Last night's episode of Top Chef ("Meat Natalie") found the cheftestants grappling with the unexpected. After arriving at Tom Colicchio's craftsteak in Las Vegas, they all made a very big assumption and believed that they would be creating steak-based dishes for Tom and his special guest. But Tom's guest was vegetarian actress Natalie Portman and there would be no red meat going out of the kitchen that night.Top Chef has always been, at its core, about how well the chefs can adapt to whatever is thrown their way, whether that be time elements, a change in plans, or the exclusion of meat altogether when they're cooking in a steakhouse. Some chefs rose to the challenge, producing stunning and inventive dishes, while others this week sank to some new lows.So how well did they...

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