03:08 PM EDT 06/14/2013
Joe Bastianich
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Joe Bastianich's MasterChef Blog: All Bets Are Off in Las Vegas
Originally posted 06/13/2013 07:00AM
Joe Bastianich is a restaurateur, winemaker, author and one of the judges of MasterChef. He'll be blogging each week about the show's search for the best home cooks. Follow him on Twitter @Jbastianich or visit joebastianich.com.
Down to the final 16, we felt the pressure mounting as our MasterChef home cooks faced their second team challenge and battled it out in Sin City.
Although they produced some great plates, ill-conceived and poorly executed strategy was sadly a recurring theme of the evening.
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Joe Bastianich's MasterChef Blog: 'No Major Mishaps' in First Group Challenge
Originally posted 06/06/2013 09:10AM
Joe Bastianich is a restaurateur, winemaker, author and one of the judges of MasterChef. He'll be blogging each week about the show's search for the best home cooks. Follow him on Twitter @Jbastianich or visit his joebastianich.com.
Faced with their first team challenge of preparing lunch for some very picky elementary school students, both MasterChef teams seemed to emerge relatively unscathed. Initially the red team's choice of chicken teriyaki had us judges on the fence, but in the end it was a very smart move. The kids might have told Gordon they'd never heard of this dish before, but the flavors proved familiar.
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Joe Bastianich's MasterChef Blog: Why Krissi Biasiello Is One to Watch
Originally posted 05/30/2013 08:30AM
Joe Bastianich is a restaurateur, winemaker, author and one of the judges of MasterChef. He'll be blogging each week about the show's search for the best home cooks. Follow him on Twitter @Jbastianich or visit his joebastianich.com.
This week's episode of MasterChef proves you can't "fake it 'till you make it" on season 4. As a competition show, we've graduated beyond entry-level challenges of chopping onions and peeling apples – and this year's top 40 delivered. I wonder how many of our home cooks thought – even just for a second – we were going to make them slaughter that baby lamb. The look on the vegetarian's face was priceless! It was certainly a night of surprises.
Immediately cutting the less talented contestants was liberating, and that enabled a very strong group to move forward to our first mystery-box challenge. Saying goodbye to Brian, especially after his weasel–like behavior at elimination, was no loss for me. Now Luca, on the other hand, gave us judges a bit of a scare. He has considerable talent, but where is his judgment? This is the time to bring your A-game – not to experiment. To come that close to being eliminated on day one, after having spent the last year preparing for a second chance at the MasterChef title, is, quite frankly, disturbing. You are on thin ice amico mio.
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MasterChef's Joe Bastianich Blogs About Season 4 Auditions
Originally posted 05/23/2013 07:15PM
Joe Bastianich is a restaurateur, winemaker, author and one of the judges of MasterChef. He'll be blogging each week about the show's search for the best home cooks. Follow him on Twitter @Jbastianich or visit his joebastianich.com.
Hello, MasterChef fans!
It is great to be back for another season of the world's most-watched culinary competition show! In addition to having some of our strongest contenders to date, season 4 brings some pretty amazing guests judges, including the great Paula Deen and the easy-on-the-eyes (and very restaurant savvy) Eva Longoria, to name a few ...
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Restaurateur Joe Bastianich Blogs: Why Quitting Can Be the Best Start to Your New Year
Originally posted 01/01/2013 04:40PM
Joe Bastianich is a successful restaurateur, vineyard owner and author of the memoir Restaurant Man. He's also a judge on MasterChef, which challenges home cooks to prove they can cut it in top professional kitchens. This week he's blogging about helping people keep one big New Year's resolution – quitting smoking.
There are many things I'm looking forward to in 2013, both personally and professionally. Plans for new restaurants in the U.S., including Eataly Chicago, are underway, and I'm gearing up for the 2013 Ironman world championships in Hawaii – if I'm lucky enough to get a spot! But one big life change kick-started all of it 15 years ago, my decision to quit smoking. This choice is something many of you are probably also considering in the New Year and trust me, it's worth it.
You might be surprised to hear that those in the restaurant industry – people who rely on their palate for work every single day – have a higher population of smokers than many other occupation in the U.S. I used to be one of those smokers.
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Joe Bastianich Blogs: Why Christine Ha Won MasterChef
Originally posted 09/11/2012 07:30PM
On Monday's finale we watched the culmination of a stellar and emotional season of MasterChef. The level of talent this year had an almost pioneering quality to it – and our final two, Josh Marks and Christine Ha, both exemplified this beautifully in the finale.
The last challenge from which we select the winner will always be a nail biting experience. However, this year felt a little different.
Since the finale was pre-taped, we had a viewing party with Josh, Christine and their families at Eataly in New York. I was able to relive the final day and its excitement alongside Christine and Josh.
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MasterChef Season 3 Winner Revealed
Originally posted 09/10/2012 10:30PM
MasterChef judges Gordon Ramsay, Joe Bastianich and Graham Elliot started season 3 by inviting 100 home cooks to Los Angeles to show off their best dishes. After weeks of intense competition and countless flavorful foods, only two remained, Josh Marks and Christine Ha, the show's first blind contestant.
So who took home the prizes – including $250,000 and a cook book deal – on Monday's finale? Keep reading to find out. Spoilers ahead!
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MasterChef's Joe Bastianich Blogs About Season Finale
Originally posted 09/05/2012 10:15AM
Joe Bastianich is a successful restaurateur, vineyard owner and author of the memoir Restaurant Man. He's also a judge on MasterChef, which challenges home cooks to prove they can cut it in top professional kitchens. Each week he's blogging season 3 of Fox's hit show, offering an insider's take on the competition.
This week's episode of MasterChef brings us one step closer to finding our next winner! Becky, Josh and Christine battled through part one of the finale and surprisingly it was our consummate frontrunner Becky who underperformed.
Putting yourself on a plate apparently isn't as easy as it looks – and I honestly thought this challenge was too simple for our top three.
For Becky to end her time here over a horribly butchered filet of fish is something that still shocks me. I'll never understand why she didn't choose something she knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that she could ace – a dumb move for such a smart girl. I would have chosen something I could have prepared drunk or in my sleep and still executed to perfection. This challenge was meant for playing it safe! Prepare something within in your repertoire – and nail it! Her failure here was a prime example of overconfidence, which can be a killer.
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Joe Bastianich Blogs: Frank and Josh Missed a Golden Opportunity
Originally posted 08/29/2012 08:40PM
Joe Bastianich is a successful restaurateur, vineyard owner and author of the memoir Restaurant Man. He's also a judge on MasterChef, which challenges home cooks to prove they can cut it in top professional kitchens. Each week he's blogging season 3 of Fox's hit show, offering an insider's take on the competition.
On Tuesday's MasterChef, our four remaining contenders were given the thrilling – albeit terrifying – privilege of preparing a meal for three of the most inspiring and intimidating culinary figures in the world.
Alain Ducasse, Daniel Boulud and Guy Savoy are about as high up on the ladder as one can go. No matter who takes the cake in the MasterChef finale, they will have the memory of this experience forever.
I think Frank and Josh missed a golden opportunity here. Everyone knows there is no love lost between them, but let's put their situation in perspective: Two months ago they were tinkering around at home where their biggest challenge was deciding what to prepare for their next dinner party – and now they're serving true culinary greats.
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MasterChef's Joe Bastianich Blogs About Finding the Final Four
Originally posted 08/22/2012 12:35PM
Joe Bastianich is a successful restaurateur, vineyard owner and author of the memoir Restaurant Man. He's also a judge on MasterChef, which challenges home cooks to prove they can cut it in top professional kitchens. Each week he's blogging season 3 of Fox's hit show, offering an insider's take on the competition.
We are down to our own Fab Five on MasterChef!
Allowing our remaining home cooks to use self-selected ingredients is so beyond their skill level at this point, I'm honestly surprised they thought it would be that easy. With $250,000 up for grabs, they should have seen it coming. Graham, Gordon and I took a look around that kitchen and realized the best way to trip them up was to let their extreme diversity pose the challenge.
There is an unspoken but absolute belief among the contestants that Becky is the frontrunner by a long shot. The problem this poses for Becky is that she, too, believes this blindly. While I admire a strong sense of self-confidence, there is always a happy medium.
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