Chef Boot Camp

At some point in our professional lives, it is easy to forget why we chose that job. There are two paths to take. One would be to change careers. The other is to re-discover what inspired us to join that profession in the first place.

On the new Food Network series, Chef Boot Camp, each episode focuses on three chefs who have lost their cooking mojo. The owners of the restaurants where these chefs work have reached a breaking point. Under the tutelage of Chef Cliff Brooks, they will be forced to learn new dishes and hopefully re-ignite their love of being in the kitchen. If they are not able to succeed, they may find themselves out of a job.

I find this program to be interesting. Though it is a reality show, it feels like it extends into real life because the consequences of what happens on the show extend long after the credits roll.

Do I recommend it? Yes.

Chef Boot Camp airs on Food Network on Thursday at 10PM.

Advertisement

Being Mr. Wickham Review

Charm has its uses. It can get us places that being curt or direct cannot.

The new play, Being Mr. Wickham premiered worldwide (via the internet) this past weekend at the Theatre Royal St. Edmunds Bury in the UK. In this one hour, one man play, Adrian Lukis brings his 1995 Pride and Prejudice character, Mr. Wickham back to life. It’s been 35 years since the book ended. Wickham is now 60 and contemplating how his life has turned out. His marriage to Lydia Bennet is still somehow thriving after what looked to be a rocky start. Sitting in his library and enjoying a brandy while his wife sleeps upstairs, Wickham tells his story as only Wickham can.

This play is such a treat for Austen fans. Though it has been 26 years since Lukis played Wickham, it feels like no time has passed at all. He is still the charming, smooth talking rogue that he was in his youth. But age and experience has mellowed him out a bit. Co-written by Catherine Curzon and directed by Guy Unsworth, it is an intimate look at one of the most infamous characters in classic 19^th century literature.  I feel like wherever she is, Austen would approve. It is fanfiction of her work in the best sense of the word.

Do I recommend it? Absolutely.