Page 13 - Tonilee & Bobbye Social Media Special Edition Oct Nov 2011 (1)

Chopped and light. Perfect for a warm summer evening. The entrée choices
were a nice variety from marinated pork tenderloin to lamb. For my
By Debra Yatsko entrée, I chose the Moroccan lamb shank cooked with raisins and
a subtle blend of Moroccan spices and served over a bed of pureed
Four up-and-coming chefs are standing in front of the judges table parsnips. The lamb literally melted in my mouth and the delicate
staring at the cloche covered plate. Host Ted Allen (Food Detec- spices did a dance on my tongue. It was very flavorful and tasted
tives, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy) raises the lid, looks at the just the way I had envisioned it would. I did scan the dessert menu,
losing chef and says “You’ve been Chopped!” There are gasps mostly out of curiosity, despite being completely stuffed from din-
of surprise, relief and sadness as the loser exits the room. The ner.
chopped chef might take it well, but not often. The prize for the
Chopped Champion is $10,000, which is a hard amount of money Overall, I would have to say dining at Barracuda Grill was a posi-
to walk away from. While exiting you often hear them utter such tive experience. The service was above average, the food visu-
words as “I can’t believe it, I am the best chef here!” Avidly dis- ally pleasant and reasonably priced. Despite being well prepared
playing the ego and drive it must take to be a contestant on Food and delicious, I found the dish to be too heavy for a hot summer
Networks Reality TV show “Chopped.” evening in Southern California. If I had a criticism it would be that
The challenge for these chefs is to create a three course meal us- menu could have had a more “seasonally appropriate” fare. But de-
ing all the ingredients in their “mystery basket,” they may also use spite the non-summer entrée choice, I definitely would not hesitate
ingredients in the fully stocked pantry and fridge. There are three to dine again at Barracuda Grill.
rounds: Appetizer, Entrée and Dessert. Each round is timed, 30
minutes or less. Sound easy? Not with the ingredients they are
given, which normally do not belong together on a plate. Each
round has some curveball component that may inspire or stump.
For example: The appetizer basket may include snake and buck- A PERSONAL LOOK AT THE
wheat flour. The entree basket may feature M & M’s and sardines
and the desert basket might include fried pork rinds and strawberry NEW TV SERIES PAN AM
jam.
After each round, the contestants must stand before the judges By Gayle Valentino
table and have their dish critiqued. As the three experts taste the
food you can tell by the look on their faces how successful the chef
was. Sure some is good, but oftentimes the dishes are just plain After flying for 27 years for both a charter and domestic airline,
weird! Each round eliminates a contestant when Ted chimes out I was looking forward to the new TV series Pan Am. I began my
the words “You’ve Been Chopped.” And so it goes until two are career in l977, so the show's era is a little before my time, but there
left standing ready to battle it out in the final dessert round. were still many similarities that lingered 10 years later. No, we did
The last round is tense and the judges take into account the two not have to wear girdles, but yes we still had appearance checks,
previous courses the chef has prepared when deciding who will and the dreaded weigh in always threatened our jobs. We didn't
win the battle. All eyes are on the last plate covered with the wear gloves, but it was mandatory that we carry an extra pair of ny-
cloche. Ted lifts the lid and rings out the final “Chopped” words lons. Our nails were checked and make up was important. We had
of the show. The emotions are evident as the chopped chef walks pants as an optional uniform piece, but you rarely saw the females
off stage, and the final chef left standing walks home with an extra in them. We still had to wear two inch heels, even in flight; it would San Diego
$10,000 in hand. Not too bad for a day’s work behind a hot stove! be years before we were permitted to wear flats. Woman

The Pan Am Stewardesses were beautiful and maintained a glamor-
ous look even when flying for several hours. I would not say that 13
Barracuda Grill was always true of my experiences, especially after flying an "all
nighter". Somehow the show overlooked this detail! During my
By Glenda Batzer early days of flying, the passengers did get dressed up, and the
series did reflect on how special it was to travel by plane in those
641 S. Coast Highway, Encinitas days. The service was far more gracious in that era, and Pan Am
Reservations Accepted: Phone number (760) 230-1464 had a reputation for excellence in this arena. So it was nice to see
Price: Moderate the acknowledgement of this polite time.
Private Dining available
I have to admit the cast of characters was a little disappointing
Hours: Open daily from 4:30 and the story line was weak. The relationship between Pilots and
Happy Hour Sun-Thurs from 4:30 -6:30 Flight Attendants exists, but is probably not quite as romantic as
Parking: Available on the street and behind plaza. was inferred, and I don't remember any espionage during my years.
International cuisine with a Moroccan influence. However, I did hear there might be some truth to this, but it seems
rather remote. The lead stewardess, Maggie, was definitely not
The chef and owner of Barracuda Grill is Mo Hani. The restaurant somebody I worked with. Being the lead or senior flight atten-
is located next to Pacific Station in Encinitas. dant was usually met with resistance. It paid a little more, but not
enough to warrant the extra responsibility. And I NEVER, NEVER
As you enter the restaurant, it is a small footprint but with lots saw any one being flown in on a helicopter to take a flight. When a
of floor to ceiling windows. The windows make the outside foot lead was needed it usually went to the most junior person on that
traffic seem close and almost distracting, but once you are seated crew even if they had not received the extra training.
inside, it is very quiet and has a surprisingly cozy feel, not unlike a
gentlemen’s drawing room. All this being said, it was fun to be reminded of what was. A much
kinder, gentler world existed when Pan Am was the only way to fly.
My waiter was friendly and very attentive. He made certain I had I forged through many years of changes that were not always bet-
water and a lovely glass of Merlot immediately after being seated. ter. It was a great career, and watching those Stewardesses walk
I spent the next several minutes browsing the menu, enjoying my through the airport in the opening scene touches my heart and
wine and taking in the sights just outside the window. brings back wonderful memories. So, on Sunday nights, I will be
watching and smiling.
As an appetizer I chose a beet salad served on micro-greens with
a very light lemony vinaigrette dressing. The salad was crunchy