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So, Padma wakes everyone up at six to make her breakfast? When I saw that, I thought, “that would’ve made me cranky”.

I also wondered if maybe the chefs had heard some rustling in the kitchen, so they knew it was coming. If you hear all that stuff moving around, you know something’s going on. That being said, at the end of the day, being on set, you’re so tired that there’s a good chance that they were just sleeping like a dead person, and they didn’t hear anything. I’m just not a morning person, and I know that before I have my coffee, I don’t want to speak to anybody.

You have to know what the challenge is, and, that said, you have to know who the sponsor is, too. And this week, you were going to have to do something in a blender. I’m not so sure everyone did use a...]]> http://www.bravotv.com/blog/harolddieterle/2007/09/plane_and_simple.php http://www.bravotv.com/blog/harolddieterle/2007/09/plane_and_simple.php Wed, 12 Sep 2007 20:00:01 -0500

This week's Quickfire Challenge was pretty tough. I'’m surprised they had this one so far into the game. I would’ve liked to have seen what else was on the kitchen pantry table. It was very vague. I saw some cornstarch and I saw some limes and eggs. But I didn't really get a feel for what they got to work with. This challenge was kind of on the same tune as our convenience store challenge, and when they had to cook out of a little vending machine last season. With this one, some of them I thought had tougher aisles than others.

Specifically speaking, I was just thoroughly amused watching Hung put his dish together. I can't remember who it was, Brian or CJ, who said it looked like a Smurf Village -- it was really funny. His dish and Frank's "Mushroom Fantasy" from last season have by far been the two most...]]> http://www.bravotv.com/blog/harolddieterle/2007/09/it_takes_a_smurf_village.php http://www.bravotv.com/blog/harolddieterle/2007/09/it_takes_a_smurf_village.php Wed, 05 Sep 2007 20:00:04 -0500 First, let's start with Restaurant Wars: Part I. They had Daniel Boulud as guest judge. Daniel is very, very charming. It’s a lot of fun watching him. I got to hang out with him when I was in Aspen, and he just totally breaks the stereotypical snooty Frenchman mold. He's totally a gentleman, really, really knowledgeable, really smart. I could just sit there and listen to the guy talk for hours. And then he's also ridiculously talented, one of the greatest restaurateurs in the world -- he’s on top of the world!

The chefs had to make burgers for him in the Quickfire Challenge. I think it’s one of those things where they give you the Red Robin menu for a reason. I think Daniel made a great point: It’s called a burger because it’s on a burger bun, and a lot of them didn’t make burgers. A lot of them used slices of bread -- that’s not really...]]> http://www.bravotv.com/blog/harolddieterle/2007/08/stay_away_from_the_salmon.php http://www.bravotv.com/blog/harolddieterle/2007/08/stay_away_from_the_salmon.php Wed, 22 Aug 2007 20:00:03 -0500

Let me start with Rocco: How are the mighty fallen.

I’ve staged in his kitchen at times and he’s incredible. The food in that kitchen was incredible. At the time I was like probably 21 years old, and I was scared to work there because I didn’t think I could cut it. That being said, at the end of the day -- you gotta know you’re a cook. There are times I don’t know if he was thinking like one. It’s worrisome. Which Rocco are we going to get? The smartest thing for him to do is open a 50/60 seat restaurant where he is in the kitchen cooking everything and just get back into it.

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Let me talk about the quickfire: we had a blind taste in the first season. It was tough because half of the ingredients, I haven’t even seen or heard...]]> http://www.bravotv.com/blog/harolddieterle/2007/08/how_are_the_mighty_fallen.php http://www.bravotv.com/blog/harolddieterle/2007/08/how_are_the_mighty_fallen.php Thu, 02 Aug 2007 12:17:12 -0500

I thought the special was great. It was a lot of fun. It’s interesting to hear questions about what’s on everybody’s mind and watching at home, and giving them the opportunity to ask questions. Some of the questions are really just great, and others are pretty superficial. Is it anyone's business how Padma got her scar on her arm?

As far as the drinking clips are concerned, that’s what we do. I think that it gets a little magnified sometimes with the drinking. But like Tom said, what else is there to do? If all other liberties are taken away from us, and then we're told, "Oh here, why don’t you have some booze and have a good time? Well, OK. It certainly helps take your mind off certain things for a small amount of time anyway. There's no newspaper, no Internet, no television, no cell phones, no...]]> http://www.bravotv.com/blog/harolddieterle/2007/07/judges_bring_it_on.php http://www.bravotv.com/blog/harolddieterle/2007/07/judges_bring_it_on.php Wed, 25 Jul 2007 20:00:06 -0500

First off, the guest judge Maria Frumkin didn't seem like anything. I think her name kinda matches how she's feeling -- she was a little bit of a frump. She liked maybe two things, one of which was Sara's cheese tart. I thought Sara's tart was really appropriate. I mean she's been really waiting to incorporate some of her cheese-making style into her dishes, and i thought that was really cool.

Joey won the Quickfire, and he just really cracks me up. Him and Howie--they're at each other's necks one week, and then the bruisers reunite. There was huge love and a lot of man-hugging going on. It's just one of those things where they're mostly all bark and no bite. They may be loud, aggressive, and a little obnoxious, but when it's all said and done, they both ran away.

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As far as the use...]]> http://www.bravotv.com/blog/harolddieterle/2007/07/all_you_need_is_huge_love.php http://www.bravotv.com/blog/harolddieterle/2007/07/all_you_need_is_huge_love.php Wed, 18 Jul 2007 20:00:05 -0500 Gin is one of my favorite drinks. I got thoroughly excited when I saw the bottles… it’s one of those challenge I would’ve enjoyed being a part of. For a while, I was a die-hard Rum and Coke fan, but I drank too much of it. All that sugar? I was putting on tons of weight. I said to myself: I need a new drink… something that’s going to be refreshing in the summertime. And someone handed me a gin and tonic, and I was like—oh. That’s good. And slowly but surely, I found the gin I like, and Bombay Sapphire in that pretty blue bottle: this is what I’m talking about. Some people, when they’re drinking gin, get nasty. I get quite giddy.

I thought it was a great quickfire challenge. I thought that some of the chefs had better drinks selected for them than others. A lot of the drinks were dessert-oriented, because of all the fruit...]]> http://www.bravotv.com/blog/harolddieterle/2007/07/teams_work.php http://www.bravotv.com/blog/harolddieterle/2007/07/teams_work.php Thu, 12 Jul 2007 15:22:07 -0500 First off, I thought it was cool that the chefs caught their own fish in the Quickfire. I like Alfred Portale -- I like what he’s about. He’s a great chef, and in a lot of ways, he has a similar style to Tom’s -- he and Tom Collichio are old school American chefs. So he’s a good chef to cook for early on and kind of get a feel for it.

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The conch is just a pain in the ass to get out. It’s one of those things where you have to be a little relentless. So, when you’re running against the clock it’s not something you really want to mess with. So I get why they avoided it. I think it’s more of a time thing. If the chefs had steady hands and could’ve relaxed with the time, it wouldn’t have been that big of a deal.

Brian works at a fish restaurant -- that’s his...]]> http://www.bravotv.com/blog/harolddieterle/2007/06/sweet_vindication.php http://www.bravotv.com/blog/harolddieterle/2007/06/sweet_vindication.php Fri, 29 Jun 2007 15:46:48 -0500

I have to say, watching it all, and checking out the set-up, I have to give a shout out to my girl Lee Anne, because the citrus table was pretty darn impressive. They had some really nice stuff. They were all cut open, to accentuate how beautiful the citrus was. She’s a good producer, it was cool.

I think watching Hung cook, there are two things: One -- he’s going to bust his ass one of these days falling while running. He looks like he’s pretty much on the edge of being out of control all the time. Two -- it’s clear that his knife skills, and his technical cooking ability are probably the best amongst the group. I thoroughly appreciate the fluidness of watching him cook and cut.

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Norman Van Aken likes to hear himself talk. You put him inside an atmosphere like “Top...]]> http://www.bravotv.com/blog/harolddieterle/2007/06/shout_out_to_leeanne.php http://www.bravotv.com/blog/harolddieterle/2007/06/shout_out_to_leeanne.php Fri, 22 Jun 2007 14:11:47 -0500

First of all, I have to say thanks to everybody for reading last season’s blogs, and it’s good to have you all back for Season three. Things have been good. I got my restaurant, Perilla, up and running, and everyone has been pretty awesome about it. If you’re in Manhattan, you should stop by. We’re down on Jones Street between Bleecker and West 4th. And I have to say, we’re doing some pretty amazing stuff. It’s exceeding even my expectations. Come by and we’ll feed you.

Watching the first episode is like watching the first day of school. I get nervous. And I get a little jealous. We never had such a nice pad. I had to bunk with Stephen and Miguel in that little room. And Miguel -- that guy snores.

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I have to say, that quick fire challenge – I was really impressed with...]]> http://www.bravotv.com/blog/harolddieterle/2007/06/i_root_for_the_bruisers.php http://www.bravotv.com/blog/harolddieterle/2007/06/i_root_for_the_bruisers.php Thu, 14 Jun 2007 13:54:45 -0500