How is it that the best anybody can make for Natalie Portman on last night's "Top Chef" was some
roasted kale and mushrooms (made by Kevin)? Is that really all people can make for vegetarians?
Brian V. has a vegetarian version of his 21-course tasting menu at his restaurant,
Volt, and even on the normal menu has something described as "Nancy's young eggplant caponata, parmesan, zhatar, roasted pepper hall." That would have been better than what he
offered last night.
But more importantly, why did nobody make pasta? And I was surprised there weren't more roasted veggies, rice or potatoes, too. While we don't know the entire list of supplies, it's hard to imagine why everybody made only vegetables without much protein or starch.
There are
so much other options they could have made with a little more imagination. How about roasted vegetable lasagna, eggplant schnitzel cacciatore, vegetarian paella or a sophisticated take on falafel and tahina. Robin even mentioned falafel but instead went with a vegetable platter-type thing. It was awful.
It still amazes me that there continues to be a lack of imagination when it comes to vegetarian fare on this show. There have been only a few people, Kevin included, that can really relate to eating a vegetarian diet. If you haven't eaten a lot of vegetarian food then it's impossible to put yourself in those shoes -- and, therefore, make something creative.
Just because there's no meat or fish, that doesn't mean food can't be elegant. But "Top Chef" is still trying to figure that out.