Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
Seeing How the Sausage Is Made
And there’s a lot of gristle in that sausage, possums, if the above is any indication. We came upon that on Television Without Pity, where poster SisterOfSylar said the tidbits came from a friend with access to inside information.
We have, of course, no way of knowing whether any of these tidbits are true, but if they are, they help to make sense of other events.
For example, during many of his post-win interviews, Hosea Rosenberg oddly discusses how demoralized he was after his make-out session with Leah Cohen, which doesn’t make a lot of sense. Earlier, we theorized that remorse on the part of Leah and Hosea was not necessarily the result of their consciences needling them, but, rather, “a product of discovery, a realization that their encounter would be televised, and would have consequences.” And if Il Colicchio did indeed have to do a finger-wagging chat with the two lovebirds, it makes this theory of ours all the more plausible. And it’s easy the stress from a fruitless attempt to convince editors not to show the make-out footage.
In any case, very interesting, possums, very.
(Click on the picture to enlarge it and read the details of Scott Conant-Fabio-Colicchio Italian-offs, Colicchio-sick-making food, and avuncular ursine scoldings.)
Friday, February 27, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
It’s Not Delivery, It’s Viviani: Fabio to Shill for Italian Frozen Pizza Made by German Corporation
So sayeth the press release, announcing that “Fabio Viviani will act as American spokesperson for Italy’s number one selling frozen pizza,” Dr. Oetker’s “Ristorante” brand. Now, possums, we have no shame in admitting that we had never before heard of that undoubtedly storied Italian, Dr. Oetker, so we turned to the Internet.
According to Wikipedia, Dr. Oetker is a German company founded in 1891 by the eponymous Herrdoktor, who chose Nazi Party member Richard Kaselowsky as company leader in 1920. “In 1937, the company received the title of Nationalsozialistischer Musterbetrieb, or national-socialist model company, by the German Labour Front…. The company participates in the Forced/Slave Labor Compensation Fund, an organization of German industries taking responsibility for slave labour during the Second World War.”
It cannot be said strongly enough, however, that none of this is unique to Dr. Oetker as a company. After all, other highly reputable modern brands have Nazi associations in their corporate pasts. For example, historian Neil Gregor wrote a book on Daimler-Benz that found “a close association between the car manufacturer and the Nazi system” and established that “the company acquiesced in the exploitation of forced labor.” And yet no one has a problem buying a Merc, and in 1998 Daimler-Benz merged with the All-American Chrysler Corporation.
Nowadays, Dr. Oetker is apparently a multinational corporation with a good reputation in corporate responsibility and environmental matters. And somehow frozen pizza is now part of the empire, however odd it seems. Indeed, the German television ad below reflects that cognitive dissonance.
The Fabio “will participate in a five-city media tour this summer to introduce the favorite brand of thin-crust pizza lovers throughout Europe and Canada to consumers in the northeastern United States.” So if you live in the Northeast, you know what to look for, possums.
Commander’s Palace Owner Loves Fabio, Gets Into “Squabble” with Tom Colicchio Over Machismo and Desserts
That's what Ti Martin, the lady herself, divulged in her blog:
I ended up sitting near Fabio – a past contestant. He is a dynamic character and sweet all at once. Across from me was Toby Young – hysterical – pithy. I was glad he wasn’t judging our food....
It was one of the longest 3 course meals I’ve ever experienced but it was a great crowd and a pleasure to be in the company of industry experts. Tom and I did get in a bit of a squabble when I suggested that perhaps “machoism” is to blame for the lack of concentration male chefs put on dessert. He pointed out that one of the contestants tried a dessert and it fell flat (literally – it was a soufflé that didn’t rise) – but at least she tried. We’ll agree to disagree but I’d say that was about as heated as the conversation got.
And if you want to get advice on how to evade an alligator if you're being chased by one, watch Ms. Martin tell you here.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Will Even the Lesbians Succumb to His Charms? Fabio Viviani to Guest Wednesday on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show”
Well, they have a similar fashion sense, so perhaps it will work out.
From the guest listings on the show's website:
CHEF FABIO VIVIANI: Everybody can’t stop talking about him! He was just eliminated from Bravo’s “Top Chef,” but a lot of people thought he was going to win it all! (Me included!) He’s an amazing chef and has a personality to match! The show’s finale airs tonight and it’s down to Carla, Hosea and Stefan!! After Fabio gives a cooking demonstration, I’m gonna try to get him to spill who becomes Top Chef!
Theeza eeza tha feerst estep for Fabio televeezhon domeenazhon.
And what's this, from a Bravo Q&A?: "Hopes are that America likes me a lot because you will see me again, very soon, Italian-style."
Possums, we have an exclusive preview of Fabio's new television show:
Friday, February 20, 2009
Mamma Mia! Fabio Viviani Says His Mother Is “Smoking Hot”
On the video (which, until Bravo reintroduces embeddable viewing, you’ll have to watch here), Fabio says Hosea and Leah were more than friends and less than lovers, that males kissing is “a European thing,” and that he would vote for himself as fan favorite. He also asks Bravo to provide him the DVD of the season because (ahem) Bravo doesn’t sell DVDs of Top Chef.
The Fabio Viviani Exit Interview Roundup, Part 1: He Hates Cilantro, Likes In-N-Out (Animal Style!), Is a Good Lover, and His Mother Isn’t Dying
People Magazine:
You talked about your mom being sick. How is she doing?
The show is kind of exaggerated a little bit. My mom is not dying. She has a problem that she cannot move her hand. Her body produced too much calcium and the bone in the wrist is calcifying. It can’t be cured. Every six months she needs to have a surgery or else she’ll be completely paralyzed. It’s an expensive and stressful thing. But she’s hanging in there.
Is she proud of how far you got in the competition?
You know what? She doesn’t even know what’s going on. She know I’m on the show, but it’s hard to realize your son is on national TV because in Italy we don’t have these things. In Italy, if you are going on TV, it’s because you killed a whole family somewhere or you robbed a bank. So it doesn’t really happen that you are on national TV for something good. My mom, she was very happy. She told me she saw me on Google. And I told her, “Mom. I’m not on Google. Google is a search engine.”
….
Name one food you cannot stand.
Cilantro. I hate it from the deepest of my heart. And if one day if I’ll be filthy rich. I’m going to buy 20 acres, I’ll grow cilantro, and then I’m going to fly over with a combat airplane and drop an “m” bomb on the field and blow the whole thing up.
Pick your favorite fast-food restaurant.
In-N-Out is pretty good. “Animal style.” No pickle. I hate pickle too.
********
Grub Street
So you have a cookbook deal?
Yes, I have a cookbook that is coming out in April, a food and mixology book. One of my colleagues at the restaurant is a great mixologist. It will be at Wal-Mart, it will be everywhere. And what it talks about is how to do easy, stress-free Italian food, pairing with martini instead of wine.
….
You said you needed the prize money to take care of your mother. Is she going to be okay without this money?
The fact of my mom has been a little bit misunderstood. She’s not dying, she has this problem in her hand. She’s very young, she’s 47, and she has this problem [with] the bone and the cartilage in her wrist, they’re falling apart because there’s something wrong with her blood. She’s not going to die, but she had to quit the job that she was doing. I support my family every month.
A lot of viewers think you’re “the cute one.” What makes you cute?
I think an accent does its good part. And then, you know, my mom is telling me all the time that I’m the cutest person ever, so I guess my mom is right.
….
Do chefs make good lovers?
Chefs make great lovers, 'cause if you don’t please them while you’re having sex, you please them while you’re making dinner. I please them in both cases.
********
Endless Simmer
And Padma?
You know, she was speaking straight-forward Italian to me. She started in Italy as a model, she was on this TV show there, so I was actually looking at Padma way before she was tasting my food. She has a great palate. She’s a model, not a chef, but she’s very personable and we had a good time together. She’s very fun.
Were you worried about coming off as an Italian cliche?
Well you’ll have to tell me what an Italian cliche is. I left Italy because there were too many Italians, so it’s nice to be one of the few here. I think I represented my country well. Look, I’ve only been speaking English for 2 1/2 years. I had to rent the last season of Top Chef on DVD because on TV I couldn’t understand what they were saying. [Amuse-Biatch Editor's Note: This is a little odd to us, since, as far as we know, Top Chef isn't actually available on DVD.]
….
What are you up to now?
I’m getting a lot of offers, being asked to do TV shows, license my image on a line of cooking products, so all kinds of things. I hope you liked my face, because unfortunately, you’re going to be seeing a lot of it.
Another TV show! Tell us more.
Aaah, I can’t say yet, but let me just say - Watch What Happens.
Seriously. The Fauxhawk? Really?
I’m a chef, and chefs are a little like rock stars. Every summertime for the first day of summer, I dye my hair blond. Blond-blond, like Pamela Anderson blond. And then when the blond is gone I get the fauxhawk. I like to change things up. I know the pink scarf, fauxhawk thing is not really American masculine, but I’m Italian, so I don’t give a damn.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Fabio Viviani: Danny Gagnon Is So Messy That I'd Rather Live with a Pig
Well, possums, we can't say we're surprised by Fabio's statement to the L.A. Times. Not a bit surprised, in fact. We shudder just to think of it.
Fabio also announces that his restaurant is "doing 40% more business than it did in 2007" (which seems better than when he told Bravo last week that "[i]n the last 6 months of 2008 [his] restaurant did over a 38% more in profit respect to the last 6 months of 2007").
Our favorite exchange includes a bit of nationalism and a declaration that signorino Viviani is in the pink:
Right. [Stefan Richter is] also not the only cocky one.
Amore, you have to understand that chefs are like rock stars. I’m like that too! The difference is that I’m Italian. I’m personable because I'm Italian. If I was American, it’d be different. You'd think the same way about me. Look, when I left Italy to move here, I had to sell my three restaurants to do it. If I was not confident I couldn’t have done that. You have to be confident in this business.
Why’d you get a Mohawk?
I change my hair cut every other day. I’m very extravagant in certain things. I never have matching socks. Chefs are like rock stars. They have to do something to wow and create buzz. It’s not good hair to have in the U.S. but quite frankly I don’t care. I got my pink scarf, pink socks, pink shoes...
Finally, he offered further confirmation that the boob tube will not be long without him: "I'm going be everywhere. For sure a little more TV. We have something in the making."
Reunion Show Filmed Yesterday; Fabio Merchandising Blitz Begins
As per Raggaydy Andy's blog,
We taped the reunion show yesterday....It was a lot of laughs and the [producers] unearthed some laugh-out-loud never-before-seen footage. It was raining t-shirts as Bravotv.com gave away a few...and Fabio surprised us all with some of his own. The Italian heartbreaker made shirts that featured quotes that other people said to him during the show, and some with lines that he wanted to say to others.
....
Tom hosted all the chefs and judges for a viewing of last night's episode at CraftSteak and it was so sweet watching Carla's husband watch the show. He cried as he discovered that not only had his wife won the episode, she won a Toyota Venza and a spot in the finale. (Carla is a good soldier and is living by her confidentiality contract!). The restaurant erupted into thunderous applause celebrating her win, and that lady took her well-earned bows. Concurrently, you could hear a pin drop when Fabio and Stefan were up for elimination, and the crowd groaned when Fabio hit the knife like that poor chimp Travis.
And if you look, Bravo is already selling the t-shirt pictured above. Uh-oh. Might this mean that Fabio will take the fan favorite prize from Hootie? Say it ain't so.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
So When Is Fabio’s TV Show Premiering?
That Fabio Viviani is getting his very own show seems as much an open secret as it does a teleological necessity (television was invented so that Fabio could go on it). On his blog, Tom Colicchio says,
Fabio was very gracious in defeat, though, and I will share with you that the following morning, I had a chance to spend a little time with Fabio, and I learned that he has a lot of exciting developments happening professionally. This is a man who by the age of thirty had run and sold several successful restaurants in Italy, come to the U.S. and created great opportunity for himself. Without spilling the beans prematurely, I'll say only that we all have not heard the last from Fabio …
Sure sounds like television to us. Indeed, during his exit interview, after recounting a De Sican childhood of little money, child labor and cardboard shoes, Fabio himself says, “I have offer for new tv show.”
So, will it be Bravo, Food Network, or KTLA?
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Fabio Viviani: “I Butchered My First Cow at 11”
That, possums, is just one of the interesting tidbits we learn from a Long Beach Press-Telegram article on the Fabio. Also of note:
• He was called for Season 2 of Top Chef, but didn’t have his citizenship papers, and so couldn’t participate.
• He daily drinks three tablespoons of olive oil.
• His cholesterol is 137.
• His favorite junk food is Nutella.
• His favorite episode of this season was the Foo Fighters Thanksgiving show.
• His advice on how to achieve a good life: “Eat a lot, laugh a lot, and have a lot of sex.”
Sadly, no word on his penchant for drag. At any rate, possums, have a read and experience the full Fabiolosity.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Amuse-Biatch “Choked Up” Photoessay: The Disconnect Between Actions and Words
Well, to be fair to Fabio, possums, it does look as though he’s choking something, rather than someone, so on that level, maybe the t-shirt is actually accurate.
Still, he did do a lot of choking during this episode, n’est-ce pas?
