Who do you think is the best chef?

[Sabra_1]

Great chef Gordon Ramsey was trained by Marco. Here is a small part of an article about him.

Brooding and foul-mouthed, volatile and controversial, Marco Pierre White was the enfant terrible of the British kitchen through the 1980s and 1990s. His verbal and physical brutalizing of other chefs and diners was the stuff of legend his cooking the stuff of genius.

White's story reads like a moral fable. His is the tale of the chef who spent 17 years working towards his dream of winning three Michelin stars, only to find that gaining them left him exhausted, disillusioned and wracked with self-doubt. His quest was founded on a belief that stars would bring acknowledgement, and acknowledgement, happiness. They did not.

Within a year of opening his legendary Harvey's restaurant in Wandsworth, south London, White had won first one star, and then a second. His third star, won at the Restaurant Marco Pierre White at the Hyde Park Hotel at the age of 33, made him the first British chef ever to reach such culinary heights, and the world's youngest ever chef to do so. Then, in 1999, he gave back his stars and walked away from the stove.
This for me says it all really about Marco and what I believe myself

Ten years after giving up your stars, how do you view gastronomy?

I hate the snobbery of it. I hate food being overworked. Most chefs paint pictures on plates to hide their lack of technical ability. They are doing it for themselves, not for their guests. How many people walk into a Michelin-starred restaurant and don't feel comfortable? They can't take their tie or jacket off, can't speak too loudly. When I had my three stars I never had a dress code. Who am I to dictate how people should dress? And how many think they've got to say the food is delicious because of where they're sitting? If they are honest, they'd prefer to have a corned beef sandwich with some Branston's or get a take-away curry.

Why should good eating be so formal? I don't want a f***ing tasting menu. You have one mouthful and then you are waiting for the next course! Starter, main course - if it's that good I'll come back tomorrow and choose some other ones. If you force things in life, they break. Allow people to eat food! Waiters start talking you through every dish like you are an imbecile.

[shook7]

you cant say the best because someone will always be better than you. what it should be is the most successful or recognized.
with that said, i would have to say thomas keller or gordon ramsay, because look, Thomas Keller has the French Laundry, Bouchon, and Per Ser. Gordon Ramsay is credited as the best restrauntuer in the world, so yes. and im not just saying this because of there television ****

[jpdchef]

Originally Posted by kuan

Ed Leonard I'd say is way up there.

Sigi Eisenberger.

Jacques Pepin.

I worked with Chef Sigi in Nashville.How did you come to know him?

[RAS1187]

Would it be cliche to say Morimoto? Im not sure if I hold him as the best, but I definitely hold him in a very deep respect.

[iconoclast]

Originally Posted by Jeremy

Question - Who is the best chef in your country?

i imagine this is limited to living/present day? that being so... eric ripert... daniel boulud... anthony bourdain...

i hope no self-respecting person calls rachel ray, or hoffman or sandra lee etc a chef... bc theyre just awful.

[Sabra_1]

GR was trained by Marco Pierre White. GR has sold out to TV which is a shame, I believe great chefs encourage not intimidate. If GR's team is ineffecutal it's because of poor leadership, I am over the screaming matches for tv, it does little for the food.
I am with Iconoclast on Rachel who?. Real chefs are like artists takes years to hone their craft.

[shel]

Originally Posted by Sabra_1

I am with Iconoclast on Rachel who?. Real chefs are like artists takes years to hone their craft.

Rachael Ray will be the first to tell you that she's not a chef, but "just" a cook - and there's not a thing wrong with that. I pretty much stopped watching her show quite some time ago, but sometimes I'll check in on what she's up to. There are times when she offers some good ideas for a busy home cook.

A lot of people put RR down - she's an easy target - however, after reading the board here for several months, and seeing what some people put forth as recipes, or reading about what and how they eat, RR food doesn't seem as bad as many people make it out to be.

Now, Paula Deen, that's another story However, most anyone can learn something or get ideas from anyone else. Recently I got some great ideas (not recipes) from Paula Deen.

shel

[Entropy]

.....I used to worship Thomas Keller. But I need to eat at the French Laundry to wipe out bad memories from Per Se, which was the biggest disappointment for that kind of money from a chef with that reputation. It pains me to say this, but the most impressive thing in that restaurant was the flatware and china. Don't get me wrong, I still like Keller...

Hands down, my pick would be Eric Ripert. For me he's one of the few chefs who hasn't been ruined by the whole celebrity phenomenon which has been damaging the food industry (imo, the focus on FOOD has shifted to the money alone.) He still works every night at Le Bernardin, which btw, has never lost a star over the years, and the focus is still on the food, not just about numbers. We had a 9 course tasting which lasted nearly three hours, it was never rushed and everything was absolutely perfect and the consistency astounding. Its the only time I've spent that much money and thought it was worth every single penny. Believe me, all our pockets were empty, but I plan to return there again and again, because I trust that place.

On the professional side, I trailed in the kitchen there some years ago and I've never seen a kitchen team work like that in my entire life. When service started, the entire line moved over to the garde manger station to set up the plates. The passion for the food and cooking is indubitably there. From a professional and consumer point of view, that's the way it should be.

[BrooklynChef]

French Laundry was hands down the best meal I have ever had. I have eaten at some of NY's finest restaurants...Daniel, Le Bernadin, Jean-Georges, Bouley, and so-on. Thomas Keller at the French Laundry blows them all away i think. I have both the French Laundry Cookbook, and Bouchon Cookbook. I must say he is my kind of chef - that is, an absolute hound for proper and perfect technique. While many of the recipes in these books are too complex and expensive to recreate unless they exist on your menu, there is so much to be learned from this towering gastronomic god!

Oh yeah, and Morimoto is often forgotten in such discussions of greatness because he is a master of Japanese not French cuisine. I freelance at the food network sometimes, watching this guy work is truly inspirational.

[BrooklynChef]

Ripert is truly amazing as well, I re-read what I wrote after posting, and I am sorry for saying that keller blows him out of the water. That was a misstatement that is not so. I agree with you about ribert.
How do you feel about Kunz?

[Montelago]

Michele Bras. You should check out the latest cookbook. The plate presentations are unlike anything you have ever seen before. Completely unique flavor combinations and total harmony for the eye.

[BrooklynChef]

I thought we were talking about America's best chefs. If it is global, then I agree either michele bras or pierre gagnaire.

[cape chef]

Originally Posted by kuan

Ed Leonard I'd say is way up there.

Sigi Eisenberger.

Jacques Pepin.

Tell me about Leonard?

[bughut]

Michelle Roux,and Anton Mossiman for perfection and tuition. Recently discovered American iron chefs for pure entertainment. Rick Stein for his ability to turn the nation onto fish. ( For long enough, if it didnt come wrapped in newspaper with chips, Or breadcrumbed with a slice of lemon, it was a big no no )Also he's made us more aware of the need to conserve fish stocks in a big way. Finally, Keith Floyd. Tv Chef from the 80's. Drank like a fish while filming but he was my inspiration.

[EddieVanHalen]

Armando......the guy who makes the Pork Carnitas at that little place in the Mission District.....

or is it Julio?...

maybe it's Arturo....

anyway....whatever his name is.....he kicks ***!