by Chandra Clewley

 

 

On this week’s episode of Private Chefs of Beverly Hills, there are three events Big City Chefs have coming up. The first event is a CD release party for a band called Rock Sugar. Rock Sugar is a band that mixes familiar metal songs and pop songs from the 1980’s and they are looking for a similar fusion in their menu for the party. The second event is a Beverly Hills Women’s Club event which is very important to the company as the women attending are the Who’s Who of Beverly Hills and what they have to say matters. The third event is a party for Mary Dann, a well known wedding planner, for her book release. Because she plans weddings for a living, the chefs know she will be extra critical of the presentation and the food.

 

For the first event, Chef Brooke and Chef Manouschka are going to reinvent the food and have a ton of work to do. Because the band is a band, they aren’t allowed to start preparations until 2:30 in the afternoon and normally would have started at 8 a.m. As they get going, the band is constantly interrupting them, first for lunch, then just to flirt and ask questions. It is setting them back a lot. The menu for the event is all hors d’oeuvres: Mini Surf and Turf with Potato Whip, Shrimp and Pork Stuffed Cucumber Cups, Korean Barbeque Pizza with Kimchee, Spicy Lasagna Cupcakes, Bacon Wrapped Banana’s, and Indian Meatballs in a Coconut Broth with Miso Rice. After making them lunch, Brooke asks the band to make her a deal and stop interrupting their prep time.

 

The second event has a board of four women presiding over the menu, and they are tough on Chef Brian and Chef Jesse. They are cooking for 50 women, so Big City Chef’s adds Chef Anne to the mix, a chef we have not seen yet, just to help out. Chef’s Brian and Jesse have been known to butt heads before and they are hoping it won’t happen this time. The board of women for the Beverly Hills Women’s Club are very demanding and doubtful of the chef’s talent.  They want the best of the best, and everything has to have variety, be bite size, cannot repeat ingredients, cannot have sauce, and cannot be crumbly. It will be an early lunch. The menu is appetizers of Chesapeake Bay Style Shrimp Cocktail, Pan Seared Yam Cake, Plum Compote Tart, and Chilled Cucumber Soup. After that is served, they will open up a buffet that will have Divine Seafood Salad, Chilled Asparagus Salad, Goat Cheese and Watermelon Salad, Coconut Risotto, Pistachio Crusted Chilean Sea Bass and Spanish Style Chicken. The kicker is that the mayor of Beverly Hills will be at the event as well, and she must be impressed. 

 

The third event is Mary Dann’s book release party. Mary wants traditional and hearty dishes but doesn’t want it to be overboard. Chef Stuart and Chef Sasha are put on the job, which is held at her beautiful Manhattan Beach house that sits on The Strand. The hors d’oeuvres will be Chicken Skewers with Italian Vodka Sauce, Mushroom and Goat Cheese Duxelle, Crab Stack on Brioche Toast, Grilled Shrimp and Feta Caesar Salad, and Potato Leek Soup. For their main course, they will service Marinated Beef Tenderloin and Roasted Vegetables. And for dessert, Mary has specifically requested Tahitian Vanilla Cake. Chef Sasha and Chef Stuart keep butting heads because Sasha seems to want to push the envelope with Mary’s requests by changing things up. Chef Stuart thinks that Mary is a professional in the event industry and she knows what she wants; he doesn’t understand why Sasha isn’t just delivering what Mary has requested. Mary is appalled that Sasha is calling her Feta and Shrimp salad a Caesar and wants to know why she won’t just make a plain Caesar salad. Sasha wants Mary to try it, and after trying it she likes the salad but insists it isn’t a Caesar. Stuart cannot understand why Sasha is being so difficult, and he is hurting her feelings by being overly critical of her. When he goes to serve his soup, she refuses to help him plate of serve it. Sasha then has a surprise for Mary regarding the cake, and when she brings it in to show Stuart, it is this ugly cake with cocktail umbrella’s stuck in the entire thing. Sasha is super excited about the cake, which makes everyone sort of question her taste level. Stuart is appalled by it, and cannot believe she is going to serve it, but Sasha thinks it is fun and whimsical. It’s not. Mary walks by and sees the cake. As a viewer, you can tell she thinks it is horrible but doesn’t want to hurt Sasha’s feelings. She tactfully says that she had a more elegant, smooth, fondant like cake in mind, and would Sasha mind just plating the cake? After the party has eaten dinner, the cake is served with a Raspberry sauce and just like everything else, the guests absolutely love it. The night is a success and Sasha apologizes to Stuart for being so difficult, but her feelings were hurt about the cake.  

 

Back at the rock start party, Chef’s Brooke and Manouschka are way behind because they are constantly getting interrupted. By the time the party starts they are not nearly ready and the band’s manager gets on their case. Brooke is tired of all the childish interruptions and tells the manager she is going to count to five and he has to be out of the kitchen. He finally leaves, but comes back to pester them again. Finally, when they are close to being finished, he does something right and brings in two servers to help them out. The food, although late, is a huge success and looks amazing. Brooke and Manouschka are happy with the results and so is everyone else.

 

The Beverly Hills Women’s Club is a serious group and when Chef’s Brian, Jesse and Anne are in the kitchen busily preparing, the board brings in the mayor. She tries Jesse’s Plum Compote Tart and says it’s one of the best things she has ever tasted, but then she tries Brian’s Yam Cake, which he has refused to make bite size, and she doesn’t like it. Poor Brian’s face just falls, he seems so disappointed. He knows he needs to redeem himself and is concerned with the Coconut Risotto which the women were skeptical of. Once everyone has served themselves, Brian finds the table with the women on the board and the mayor, and they all have really enjoyed the food, especially Brian’s chicken and risotto. The event is a success, to everyone’s relief.

 

 

Private Chefs of Beverly Hills airs Friday nights at 10/9 c on the Food Network.

 

(Image courtesy of Food Network)

 

 

Follow Chandra at twitter.com/ChandraClewley