Cooking Under Fire:Now in Progress
Despite near-daily attendance at the film festival, Seattlest has
managed to keep up with PBS's cooking reality series Cooking Under Fire, which airs on KCTS Wednesday nights at 8:30. Among the six remaining contestants are two Seattleites, Autumn Maddox and Jean-Paul Abernathy, competing for their chance to work for NYC-based celebrity chef Todd English and become "the
next great American chef."
A third Seattle contestant, Blair King, was 86'd (the show's industry-inspired term for "eliminated") a few weeks ago after serving a meal in which the turnip-top garnish was only the obviously inedible thing on the plate -- the judges weren't too fond of the actual food, either.
Jean-Paul seems like a decent, non-cocky guy. He also seems doomed, particularly because he's low on camera time. His storyline in the most recent episode involved the judges wondering if he'd pop up from under the radar, and ended with him serving yet another middle-of-the-pack dish.
Autumn, however, is Seattlest's prediction for the final two. She embodies "Seattle nice," talking pleasantly with the judges, 'fessing up to potentially tenure-ending mistakes, and misting up when her competitors are 86'd. Round after round, she serves up some of the better food, though she's never served the unambiguous best.
The editors are not-so-subtly contrasting Autumn with Katie Hagan-Whelchel, a Kentucky native now working in a New York restaurant. Katie's been singled out for her culinary style and her prickly, fork-in-your-eye attitude. The judges have noted that she needs to work on her communication skills, but they also wonder if Autumn is "too nice" to make it in a New York kitchen. Either woman would make a worthy winner, but Seattlest is rooting for the hometown girl -- she's welcome to cook for us anytime.
