Today's Entertainment

Gretchen Mol of "Nightflyers" on Syfy "I was really into 'The Crown.' Like when we were working on this show, whenever I had down time I would watch 'The Crown' and I really enjoyed that. And that's kind of the last thing I've been into." Megan Hilty, seen recently in "Santa's Boots" on Lifetime " 'I love 'New Girl.' It's nice just to have something delightful on. And 'The Great British Baking Show' is also delightful. That's because they aren't competing for some grand prize; I mean, they get a cake stand at the end! They're just lovely people making lovely things and drinking tea." Hoda Kotb of "Today" on NBC: " 'The Real Housewives of ... .' It doesn't matter which one. I take a sleeve of Oreos and get in my bed and watch." Pressure is a given in culinary competition series, but "The Final Table" throws in a psychological element for good measure. Now streaming on Netflix, the 10-episode series pits 12 teams of two chefs from around the world cooking the national dishes of Mexico, Italy, Japan, the U.S., Spain, England, Brazil, India and France. Each episode focuses on one country and a panel made up of a food critic, a celebrity food ambassador and a world-renowned chef judge the final product and send a team home. The two teams left standing then vie in the last episode to see which tandem will take their place at the eponymous final table alongside culinary greats from the above countries (who also serve as judges). In the opening episode on Mexico, the contestants were charged with making a taco. That may sound simple enough but it also led to some head-scratching as they had to figure out how to best play to that episode's celebrity judge. "We had no clue how to cook for these celebrity judges," says contestant Aaron Bludorn, executive chef at Café Boulud in New York City. "Were they going to expect us to be outside the box and cook to our own cuisine or were they expecting us to re-create their dish exactly how their mom used to make it? And that was such a huge challenge for us to figure out each episode. ... And certain chefs took it their ways and succeeded. "I remember when Graham (Campbell, his partner) and I cooked things in our wheelhouse and then we got shot down," he continues. "Every episode was different. Because we didn't know the judges (ahead of time), we couldn't study up on what their likes or dislikes were and scour their Instagrams to see what they like taking pictures of. It was just more like, 'Alright, here we go.' " Timothy Hollingsworth, a chef at Otium in Los Angeles, actually found it easier to cook for the people who would arguably be the toughest critics, the expert chefs. "Even though there was more pressure because you can be sent home," he says, "it was actually easier because you knew who you were cooking for. You know, if you're cooking for Enrique Olvera, you know who that is. If you're cooking for Grant Achatz, you know who that is. Clare Smyth, you know who that is. And you know what their food is. If you know those chefs, you know their style and you can kind of play to that. You can operate within your own style but you know who your audience is." "The Final Table" on Netfl ix BY GEORGE DICKIE 'The Final Table' chefs play to their audience Page 8 December 10 - 16, 2018 Marble Cheese ............................................................$2.59/lb Virgina Smoked Ham ..................................................$2.59/lb Stir Fry Veggies 32oz ..................................................... $3.99 Fruit Flavored Runts ..................................................$2.49/lb *New Item* Wheat Crackers .......................................$2.29/lb SPECIALS DEC. 3 - DEC. 15 *Ne *Ne *Ne *Ne *Ne *Ne *Ne *Ne *Ne *Ne *Ne *Ne *Ne *Ne *Ne *Ne *Ne *New I w I w I w I w I w I w I w I w I w I w I w Item tem tem tem tem tem tem tem tem* W * W * W * W * Whea heat C t Crac racker kers *New Item* Wheat Crackers ................. ............ ................ ...... .. .......................................$2. $2. $2. $2. $2. $2.29/ 29/ 29/ 29/ 29/ 29/lb lb lb lb lb lb $2. $2. $2. $2. $2. $2.29/ 29/ 29/ 29/ 29/ 29/lb lb lb lb lb lb Orders can be faxed to 574-642-0181 • Please allow 24 hours notice Nice selection of steak and brats. Orders Must be in by 12/21 *HOLIDAY MEAT & CHEESE PLATTERS AVAILABLE!* Order Your Pies TODAY! YOUR LOCAL FULL LINE GROCERY STORE 65730 SR 13 • Millersburg 574-642-4399 Mon– Fri: 8 – 4:30 • Sat: 6 – 1 pm Saturday Morning Coffee & Rolls Starts at 6:00 am notice BLE!* Orders *HOL

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