The Chopping Block (file under clearly American)

The Enfant Terrible. The Icon. The multi starred Michelin Chef who gave it all back. The dreamer. The tactician. The Cook. The man. I’m speaking of course of Marco Pierre White.

This week a new show premiered on NBC called “The Chopping Block,” with Marco Pierre White at the helm. I have to tell you I was hoping for more of Chef White. The premise is quite simple, teams of two, one front of the house and one back of the house, are integrated into bigger teams and given their own restaurant to run. In the show opener they are given their spaces which are nothing but shells which they have to clean up and get ready for service the next day. While at the same time preparing a dish for Chef White to determine who was going to be Head Chef the next night for service.

While I like the concept of the show, despite the gastronomic explosion and appetite for all things Chef around the world, I think that ultimately it is going to fail. But maybe I am wrong. Which is too bad. When Chef White speaks I listen intently. While at the same time I think that the people there do not necessarily for a whole myriad of reasons.

Ultimately the winner is going to get two hundred and fifty thousand dollars to open their own restaurant. Having watched the first episode I can tell you that if it was anyone other than Chef White who was the key to the show I would not watch. It is on the short side of boring, save for when he is on the screen.

I’ve given it a chance. I might still record it so that I can fast forward through it to the parts which he is on the screen. Other than that I feel as if the Chopping Block is probably going to find its way to the cutting room floor. Which is unfortunate because more Americans should know about this great Chef.

Marco Pierre White once said; " Looking back, I realize that it was my love of nature which gave me the understanding of natural ingredients. Mother Nature [sic] is the true artist, and the chef is merely the technician. "

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A la prochaine

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