by Chandra Clewley

The Food Network has come to the table with a reality series that will compete with the likes of other network shows that capture how the other half live.  Private Chefs of Beverly Hills covers Big City Chefs, a traveling catering service for high end clients in..errr…Beverly Hills. There are 6 chefs: Sasha Perl-Raver, Brian Hill, Jesse Brunne, Brooke Peterson, Stuart O’Keefe and Manouschka Guerrier.  Along with the chefs, are CEO Tom Stieber and Branch Manager Samantha who dispatches the chefs to their various events. 

The first event of the series is The Club and Client Marjorie. The Club is a doggie country club and Marjorie is throwing an introduction party for a new member of the club, Pumpkin. The Club caters to pups with massages, grooming and doggie day care. The challenge is for the chefs to match the plates they will be serving to the pets with their owner’s plates, by using similar ingredients and having the plates look elegant yet match. Chef’s Manouschka and Jesse are assigned to this event, which they find to be some sort of alternate reality where the dogs are spoiled.

On the menu for the dogs: Appetizer of Peanut Butter and Jelly Pate and a Main Course of Kobe Beef Sliders with Turkey Bacon Rings. For the humans: Appetizer of Foie Gras with Blueberry Reduction and a Main Course of either a Kobe Beef or Ahi Tuna Slider with Onion Rings. For dessert, both will get Pumpkin Pup-Cakes.

The second event is a Botox Party that Client Alexis is throwing for the opening of her new salon/spa. Chef Brooke and Chef Stuart are on this job and are planning on having a lot of finger foods with clean presentations. 

On the menu: Soup trio of cucumber puree, cantaloupe gazpacho with a prosciutto crisp and butternut squash with white truffle oil. The Hors d ‘Oeuvres are ceviche with a wonton crisp, wagyu beef on a potato chip, fingerling potato with caviar, cantaloupe and mint salad with prosciutto, and crudités with green goddess dressing. 

Before the chefs can even begin prepping for the party, Alexis comes in and after trying the soup vetoes it. She had previously approved the menu, and the chefs are a bit miffed with what to do. They rush to plate the hors d ‘oeuvres since they are skipping an entire step, but refuse to trash the soup, just in case they need it. Alexis, who comes into the kitchen a thousand times, asks the chefs to improvise spa names for the food they are serving.

The third event of the season premier is a Glamorous Camping Trip that Client Eric is hosting. All six of the men on the trip are millionaires and are roughing it. The term “Glamping” and “Glampers” is coined. Chef’s Sasha and Brian are assigned to this event, since Brian is strong on the grill. There is no kitchen. However, there is a lake, tents and a fire pit. When the chefs arrive the campers are very hungry and they must act quickly to get the fire started….which takes them forever. Finally, they get it going and begin to prepare the classic camping food with a twist.

On the menu: Appetizers of eggplant and pepper spread on baguette rounds and Cowboy caviar soup with hot dog croutons. For the main course, fresh vegetable cous cous, and apricot glazed Cornish game hens with a spinach and pear salad.

The thorn in the Glamping challenge is Mark, a restaurateur/chef that is looking over Sasha and Brian’s shoulders the entire time. First he is worried about the hot dogs, which are really gourmet chicken sausage. As the chefs serve the eggplant and pepper spread everyone seems disappointed that it is cold. Sasha laughs and tells them that it is supposed to be cold. She then serves the soup, and to her relief, Mark approves of it. 

Back at The Club, Marjorie has thrown a major curve ball by making the dogs and owners menus that enable them to customize their sliders, something that will set the chefs back and eat up a ton of time. Manouschka is defiant that she will not individualize the burgers, while Jesse thinks they have to. As Jesse takes out the first course, no one even pays him mind. He thinks he needs a tail to be noticed in this club. The natives are getting restless when they chefs are attempting to customize 40 burgers, 20 for humans 20 for dogs. Finally, the food comes out and everyone loves it, so the event is a success.

The Botox Party is in full swing, and Stuart serves some of the appetizers. He is surprised by all the services that are happening in front of him. Teeth whitening, botox, lip injections et al. It turns out that someone has had some serious work done and can’t eat anything but soup, so to the chefs relief the Soup Trio is back on, and it goes over well. All in all, the entire event goes great. Especially the part where Alexis suggests that poor Brooke get some 'Tox. Brooke says it's not all about how you look, it's about how well you cook...I think we have found our voice of reason in this chef. 

Back to the Glamping party, the boys go fishing and bring two itty bitty trout back to the chefs to cook up along with the game hens. The fire is so uneven they worry nothing will cook right, but eventually create makeshift ovens to keep the meat moist. Mark is lurking and hovering and wants to know everything about everything. Finally, Sasha serves up the fish, and dishes it at the table, while Brian serves the Game Hens. Their most important critic, Mark, is impressed with the food and the tableside service and the event goes without a hitch.

Private Chefs of Beverly Hills is a great inside look at what it takes to be in the food industry. For those of us who have been there in the thick of it, we commiserate with the idiosyncrasies of clients when it comes to what they eat. For others who have never had the pleasure and torture of working in this high stress industry, here is your sneak peak at how unbelievably eccentric people can be when it comes to what they ingest. 

Don’t miss the next mission impossible on Private Chefs of Beverly Hills which airs every Friday night at 10/9 c on Food Network.

(Image courtesy of Food Network)

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