Interview with Chef John Besh

[petermarcus]

So, Christey and I talked our way into covering the Bocuse d'Or USA, where the USA chef was chosen to compete against the rest of the world in Lyon, France, next January. It was held at Epcot, during the first weekend of the International Food and Wine Festival (which will be running for the next month -- we have to get back there to actually enjoy wandering around and grazing).

We're one of the featured publishers for http://Foodbuzz.com, which sorta aggregates food blogs and restaurants into a giant food commmunity. They have a Foodie Correspondant Program, where they get media passes to culinary events so bloggers can write about them.

This was a stunningly cool event. The concept for the competition is absolute technique, from knife skills, to sanitation, to, of course, amazing food. The USA have never placed well, partly because we are only really starting to emerge as a serious food country. The chefs Christey and I were literally bumping into: Traci des Jardins, Patrick O'Connell, Andre Soltner, John Besh, Hung Huynh (Top Chef season 3 winner and a contestant in the competition), Daniel Boulud, Paul Bocuse, restaurateur Sirio Maccioni (Le Cirque), and, of course, Al Roker.

I interviewed Chef John Besh (Iron Chef competitor and James Beard winner) who emceed the event with Al Roker, and we talked about reality food TV, the purity of food, and what's going on in New Orleans:
http://fotocuisine.com/2008/09/28/interview-with-chef-john-besh/

Comments

Besh

[evilegg.livejournal.com]

I read somewhere that that dude wants to bang your wife.

Re: Besh

[petermarcus.livejournal.com]

No, that would be Sirio Maccioni, who is about 107 years old. He told me, he started out watching the food, then just started watching Christey take pictures, squatting, bending over, that sort of thing. He was very charming telling me about it, though :)

Re: Besh

[evilegg.livejournal.com]

Do you think he'll have to "pound his meat" or "punch the dough" or however you cooking-types say it?

Re: Besh

[petermarcus.livejournal.com]

Cleaning his cod, maybe?

The guy used to cook for Frank Sinatra (and, apparently, Frank Zappa). Even at his age, I don't think he needs to go home alone.

[miss-anansi.livejournal.com]

Too fabulous! What an awesome experience!