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Tuesday, September 3, 2019 — 7A
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RESORT-STYLE POOL
WITH TANNING DECK
JIM FITNESS CENTER WITH
CARDIO AND WEIGHT MACHINES
JOE COFFEE BAR WITH
COMPLIMENTARY COFFEE
UPGRADED UNITS
AVAILABLE
PET FRIENDLY
WITH DOG PARK
COVERED PARKING OR
GARAGES AVAILABLE
When
“Good
Eats”
premiered in 1999, it was
clear that it is as much a
recipe as it is a show. Each
episode is a deep culinary
dive into the origins, history
and science of a particular
dish. There is prepwork
involved,
research
and
ingredients to amass. Alton
Brown maneuvers through
his kitchen with rapid-
fire narration and snappy
angles. The episodes are
seasoned to taste with low-
budget skits. Twenty years
later, for “Good Eats: The
Return,” the recipe clearly
hasn’t changed, but that
doesn’t make it any less
enjoyable.
The world of culinary
television is weighed down
by the humdrum of fast-
paced cooking challenges,
wasteful
extravaganzas
and unnecessarily dramatic
contests. But “Good Eats”
has always been a shining
needle
in
that
rough,
crowded
haystack.
A
departure from his chaotic
persona
in
“Cutthroat
Kitchen,”
Brown’s
dedication to simplicity and
effort is both refreshing
and
relaxing.
In
his
kitchen, intensity is absent
and replaced instead by
advice,
recommendations
and guidance. Each dish
has a history, a science and
is given such an incredible
amount of attention that
Brown will often do the
dish in multiple different
ways. Waste is unheard
of, as Brown uses as much
of any ingredient as he
can, focuses instead on
multitools and encourages
his viewers to save things
they
would
normally
discard for other, more
experimental dishes.
In his return, Brown
dons a cleaner, more chic
look. His once bright and
colorful kitchen is replaced
instead
with
a
clean
and shiny neutral space
that very much reflects
modern taste. Even Brown
himself
looks
incredibly
different from the campy
host
who
burst
onto
the screen in 1999, now
exuding
confidence
and
sophistication.
Much like every other
installment,
the
“Good
Eats:
The
Return”
premiere focuses on an
underappreciated
dish
chicken parmesan. With an
almost scientific accuracy,
Brown establishes exactly
where this dish went wrong
(it’s all mushy) and how
they can fix it (it needs
more crunch). First, Brown
takes us to Manhattan,
where he boldly proposes
that
all
Americans
are
actually Italian-Americans
by virtue of food culture,
much to the dismay, I
imagine, of actual Italian-
Americans.
Before
long,
Brown dives into the actual
dish,
starting
with
the
ingredients.
To
Brown,
everything is important:
the tomatoes, the garlic and
even what kind of mortar
and pestle to use.
What’s incredible about
“Good Eats” is that the
cooking
is
hardly
the
most
important
thing.
Instead, it’s understanding
how you’re cooking. For
Brown, the technique and
culinary science is both
the
beginning
and
the
end. We’re taught why we
spritz the chicken with
water before pounding it
out, to broil the pasta sauce
alone before adding the
chicken and to distribute
everything evenly. Brown
even whips it up “fancy
restaurant style” in case
you wanted your chicken
parm to look prettier.
Eats: The Return” may
not be different, but that
doesn’t
mean
it’s
stale.
In many ways, it feels
like
coming
back
to
a
relative’s
house,
except
you haven’t seen them in
a while and everything’s
been
updated.
It’s
still
the same “Good Eats,” it’s
just been modernized. At
its heart, “Good Eats” is
still
about
appreciation,
not just for food, but for
the work that goes into
it. It is a celebration of
learning,
understanding
and
practice.
“Good
Eats” doesn’t pander to
dramatizations or tension.
It is as it is — relaxing,
thorough and, above all,
good eats.
‘Good Eats: The Return’ is as
good as ever
MAXWELL SCHWARZ
Daily Arts Writer
Curing my summertime
sadness: from NYC to A2
When
“Good
Eats”
premiered in 1999, it
was clear that it is as
much a recipe as it is a
show. Each episode is a
deep culinary dive into
the origins, history and
science of a particular
dish. There is prepwork
involved,
research
and
ingredients
to
amass.
Alton
Brown
maneuvers through his
kitchen with rapid-fire
narration and snappy
angles.
The
episodes
are seasoned to taste
with low-budget skits.
Twenty
years
later,
for “Good Eats: The
Return,”
the
recipe
clearly hasn’t changed,
but that doesn’t make it
any less enjoyable.
The world of culinary
television
is
weighed
down by the humdrum
of fast-paced cooking
challenges,
wasteful
extravaganzas
and
unnecessarily dramatic
contests.
But
“Good
Eats” has always been
a
shining
needle
in
that
rough,
crowded
haystack. A departure
from
his
chaotic
persona in “Cutthroat
Kitchen,”
Brown’s
dedication to simplicity
and
effort
is
both
refreshing and relaxing.
In his kitchen, intensity
is absent and replaced
instead
by
advice,
recommendations
and
guidance.
Each
dish
has a history, a science
and is given such an
incredible
amount
of
attention
that
Brown
will often do the dish
in
multiple
different
ways. Waste is unheard
of, as Brown uses as
much of any ingredient
as
he
can,
focuses
instead on multitools
and
encourages
his
viewers to save things
they
would
normally
discard for other, more
experimental dishes.
In his return, Brown
dons a cleaner, more
chic
look.
His
once
bright
and
colorful
kitchen
is
replaced
instead with a clean
and shiny neutral space
that very much reflects
modern
taste.
Even
Brown
himself
looks
incredibly
different
from the campy host
who
burst
onto
the
screen
in
1999,
now
exuding confidence and
sophistication.
Much like every other
installment, the “Good
Eats:
The
Return”
premiere focuses on an
underappreciated
dish
chicken parmesan. With
an
almost
scientific
accuracy,
Brown
establishes
exactly
where this dish went
wrong (it’s all mushy)
and how they can fix it
(it needs more crunch).
First, Brown takes us to
Manhattan, where he
boldly proposes that all
Americans are actually
Italian-Americans
by
virtue of food culture,
much to the dismay,
I
imagine,
of
actual
Italian-Americans.
Before
long,
Brown
dives into the actual
dish, starting with the
ingredients. To Brown,
everything is important:
the tomatoes, the garlic
and even what kind of
mortar and pestle to
use.
What’s
incredible
about “Good Eats” is that
the cooking is hardly
the
most
important
thing.
Instead,
it’s
understanding
how
you’re
cooking.
For
Brown, the technique
and
culinary
science
is both the beginning
and
the
end.
We’re
taught why we spritz
the chicken with water
before pounding it out,
to broil the pasta sauce
alone
before
adding
the
chicken
and
to
distribute
everything
evenly.
Brown
even
whips
it
up
“fancy
restaurant
style”
in
case you wanted your
chicken parm to look
prettier.
Eats: The Return”
may not be different,
but that doesn’t mean
it’s stale. In many ways,
it feels like coming back
to a relative’s house,
except
you
haven’t
seen them in a while
and everything’s been
updated. It’s still the
same “Good Eats,” it’s
just been modernized.
At
its
heart,
“Good
Eats”
is
still
about
appreciation, not just
for food, but for the
work that goes into it.
It is a celebration of
learning, understanding
and
practice.
“Good
Eats”
doesn’t
pander
to
dramatizations
or
tension. It is as it is —
relaxing, thorough and,
above all, good eats.
ISABELLE HASSLUND
Daily Community Culture Editor
When
summertime
fades into
remembering
rather than
making memories,
it’s easy to feel
stubborn to
change.