Google's gourmet embarrassed on 'Top Chef'

September 11, 2001, gave many people pause for thought. But how many can say that such a dark day made them want to cook?

That was the interesting claim made by Preeti Mistry, the 33-year-old executive chef with Google's Bon Appetit management company. She made her declaration on the latest episode of Bravo TV's "Top Chef," in which she was a contestant.

Was.

For Mistry was removed by the judges after serving a paltry pasta salad to the brave and hungry airmen and women at Nellis Air Force Base.

You see, the judges, led by the bald, lip-twitching Tom Colicchio (he of New York's Craft restaurant), weren't merely upset that she had prepared something that a bankrupt British public school might offer its pupils during a power outage.

They were distraught that, even when challenged, she thought the dish was good.

When all around her blanched at the blandness, Mistry was unbowed. So for her stubborn myopia, she had to hear the words that lead so many young chefs to tears, recriminations, Xanax and a job at the Outback Steakhouse: "Please pack your knives and go."

Mistry's reactions lay somewhere between blase and Buddhist. But she had already proved that she was incapable of shucking clams. Now here she was shirking criticism.

Regretfully, this was not the finest advertisement for the Google brand. Nor for the Google canteen.

After Woz's demise on ABC's "Dancing with the Stars," the tech world continues its search for a reality TV breakthrough.

It is a troubling situation, one that should surely be discussed at the highest levels.

[Mikeatle]

Not impressed. Publish the recipe and let real people decide.

[compbry15]

I really hated the way this article was written. Very annoying to read.

[kr3bstar]

That's often the case with this guy. I subscribe to cnet's rss feed, and unfortunately, the links frequently lead to this guy's horrible articles. <br /> <br />What is Google's involvement with a chef? What exactly is the bon apetit company? I'm assuming that most people, myself included, had no idea google was involved with food. This article does nothing to clarify that.

[ajcroteau]

Yup, the very first line of this article should read... Webster's Dictionary required...

[censorshipblows]

Wow. There are so many morons that come to this site.

[cvaldes1831]

Mistry's not in tech. She's in the F&#38;B industry: Bon Appetit Management Company issues her paycheck.<br /><br />If she was transferred to the Monterey Bay Aquarium restaurant, you wouldn't call her a marine biologist, would you?

[krosafcheg]

Lame, nice tag line tho.

[enovikoff]

Yes, the article was quite snobbish - much like the judges on Top Chef!<br /><br />Mistry amply demonstrated herself capable of flights of culinary fancy as well as capable skills. However, what brought her down was being *practical*: the people at Nellis liked her dish, and it was appropriate to provide a vegetarian and familiar alternative for that group of customers. If she was working in my corporate cafeteria, I'd be delighted: it's rare to find foodservice that balances culinary excellence with crowd-pleasing diversity.<br /><br />If there's one thing Mistry could have been dinged for, it was not reading the culture of the judges and the show well enough to swallow her common sense and practical judgment in favor of wowing the judges.<br /><br />I'm hoping that Google finds that Mistry made the kind of choices that they want with their foodservice, rather than a few curls of frisee surrounding a nearly invisible cube of kobe beef frozen in liquid nitrogen and then seared with a blowtorch, or some such impractical (but occasionally fun) froofroo.

[Sourdust]

The "one thing Mistry could have been dinged for" is huge. If you're cooking in your own restaurant it's OK to indulge yourself and do what you want since the people come to you, perhaps because of you. But if you're brought in to cook for a specific group you are supposed to know who you are cooking for and satisfy them. And if you're in a contest it makes even more sense to do so.

[happyparadox]

Preeti's salad made more sense than Chris's article.

[dowell100]

Recycling old columns, Matyszczyk? Yawn x 2.

[jnfr22]

How annoying! what just because she cooks at Google's kitchen mean's she's suppose to be a "Top Chef" All things Google do not mean all things great! Glad she got booted, otherwise Google might be thinking they could really be invincible.

[ralfthedog]

Google is known for their food. The keep the top talent in the computer industry by bringing in the best chefs and giving the food to the workers for free (Everyone from the CEO to the guy with the mop.)

[jture]

Taking this a little too seriously, aren't we?

[professionaladventurer]

I can't count the ways this is irrelevant. Writing style, entertaining. Story, not so much.

[gdogkim]

"Mistry's reactions lay somewhere between blase and Buddhist. But she had already proved that she was incapable of shucking clams. Now here she was shirking criticism. "<br /><br />Great Article! Entertaining, funny, and seemingly provoking reaction from Google PR people as evidenced by the string of comments (all around the same time makes it a bit apparent perhaps). Who knew that the Gmen monitor these things so closely!<br /><br />And like the chef with bland pasta, they too seem incapable of accepting criticism, nay, satirical commentary. <br /><br />Must be a nice life at the googleplex. Apparently they put secret ingredients in the food so that even the blandest of pasta tastes of ambrosia, and everyone's poo smells like sweet cinnamon rolls.

[wbbabr]

Google brand in food? Just because it's Google doesn't automatically make it the best. Is the Google canteen even considered one of the best restaurants in the Bay Area? Apparently, some of her recipes are still in beta version...

[ralfthedog]

Yes,it is. Google has always tried to get the best chefs. It is one of the top perks for working at Google.

[wbbabr]

Google brand in food? Just because it's Google doesn't automatically make it the best. Is the Google canteen even considered one of the best restaurants in the Bay Area? Apparently, some of her recipes are still in beta version...

[d4nowar]

I want to make it. Post the recipe!

[l2z58]

You can find Top Chef recipes at Bravotv.com.

[jpickar]

Here is the recipe. The issue wasn't just that it was boring - the elements were disparate. http://www.bravotv.com/foodies/recipes/pasta-salad-with-broccoli-peppers-sun-dried-tomatoes-and-artichoke-hearts

[LinuxRules]

Even though I love to cook food, I would not want to be called a chef, a chefs job is demanding and stressful for those four hours every night (or morning). The dish is a simple dish, and the ingredients should not have made it bland unless not enough spice and seasoning. I personally like my salads heavy on the vinegar side. I hope that was not the main dish, though.

[SwissJay]

Hmm, I caught 2 minutes of that show without the sound and thought that was a very feminine dude, haha, LOL!

[P_F_M]

The latest in a long string of meaningless, irrelevant articles?

[shycelticwitch]

After listening to her whine about having to cook for a bachelor/bachelorette party 2 episodes ago (she was upset because she's lesbian and can't get married)... I found it hard to watch her at all.

[ricemom]

That wasn't her; it was the other chef with short brown hair. <br /><br />Second, the ingredients were so disparate because that's what that military kitchen had on hand! Nobody was cooking with select ingredients; it was all frozen, bagged, canned crap. <br /><br />Pasta salad was the safe and bland dish to make for such a meal, but if you've ever been to mass meal or potluck, someone invariably brings a safe and boring dish to share.

[FMC4U]

What is this burst of "american supremacy" vs the UK ?? where does it come from?? I think instead of "technically incorrect" this column should be just called "incorrect thinking"<br /><br />He should read this:<br />http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20090614_the_american_empire_is_bankrupt/<br /><br />And this:<br />Lack of funding haunts (America´s) public school system<br />http://media.www.jhunewsletter.com/media/storage/paper932/news/2006/09/21/Features/Lack-Of.Funding.Haunts.The.Public.School.System-2304294.shtml<br /><br />And this<br />http://www.educationuk.org/pls/hot_bc/page_pls_user_article?d=scholarship

[Xade_not_perfect]

And what does your comment have anything to do with pasta salad and supposedly bad cooking, the actaul subjest of the article? Speaking of pasta salad, my mother made it just about the same way Mistry did, except she always put tuna fish in it too. It tasted good, although I geuss it was really tuna-pasta salad.

[fdunn3]

All that matters is whether the folks at Google are satisfied with her cooking. <br /> <br />They hired her, and they eat her food. I would think by now that something like this would be like water off a ducks back. It should not mean anything to her professional career that someone other than her present employers did not like her cooking.