Customer Reviews

Meat Natalie

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"Meat Natalie" is one of the better episodes of the latest season of Top Chef. The Quickfire Challenge is fun and campy- make TV dinners inspired by TV shows,ranging from The Flintstones to LOST. ("Top Chef Masters" also has a challenge in making a LOST-themed meal) The twist is at Tom Colicchio's Steak restaurant in Las Vegas. The contestants are prepared to grill the meat on the BBQ... but they have a special guest, Natalie Portman (Queen Padme Amidala in Star Wars Prequel Trilogy) And she puts the competitors to the test--make a vegan/vegetarian dinner for her and her friends.

The contestants are truly baffled, and lack background in meatless cooking. They don't have people like Roxanne Klein, Deborah Madison, and Tal Ronnen to help out! The contestants come up with some stunning dishes. They're more stylish and sophisticated than the meatless dishes in these great cookbooks:
Linda McCartney on Tour: Over 200 Meat-Free Dishes from Around the World
The World in your Kitchen: Vegetarian recipes from Africa, Asia and Latin America for Western kitchens
Sunset Vegetarian Cooking - Nutritious Recipes With Flavor & Imagination

"Meat Natalie" is a fun,educational episode!

Most of the chefs are not oriented towards vegan or vegetarian cuisine. Thus, when challenger Natalie Portman came on the show and said she was a vegetarian, you could see the dismay. Nonetheless, most rose to the challenge. These were all entrees and they were very imaginative. Personally I would have loved to eat the eggplant one for dinner. (I was just as glad not to see them peel an eel or boil lobsters or crayfish in this episode as I have on other TC episodes. I tend to forget that many chefs actually have to kill the item which is going to be in their dish.)