Jen Z., Please Stop Whining About Seitan And Living In Las Vegas And Come Back To Xochitl! at Phoodie.info: The New Food And Drink Blog For Philadelphia

As you no doubt know, Jennifer Zavala (she of Philly’s Xochitl and before that, El Camino Real) was the first contestant to be unceremoniously booted from Top Chef: Las Vegas last week. (Pardon us for being a little late to the game on this one; we’ll have a wrap-up on last night’s episode a little later today.) Zavala’s crime? Serving Wolfgang Puck seitan. Which gets to the heart of something we’ve noticed since this blog started up: Lots of hardcore phoodie types are secretly racist against vegan foods, especially when given the chance to have something meatier. Now, sure, we can all attest to the amazing things that can be done with seitan and tofu — Horizons, anyone? — so maybe it’s better to say that Zavala’s crime, more aptly put, was “serving Wolfgang Puck seitan when she could have very easily served him something dead.” But this is the food world. Jen Z., on some level, had to know this, even if it is also true that seitan can be goddamned delicious. None of that worries us nearly as much as the video above, posted on Bravo, which reveals that Jen Z. is STILL IN VEGAS (like guests, Vegas smells rotten after three days), and worse still, she is STILL UPSET ABOUT THIS SEITAN BUSINESS. To which we say: Honey, come home. Your city needs you. And Philadelphia is not like Top Chef: Here, you get a gazillion chances because we are fuck-ups. Sometimes, this can be a good thing.

8 Responses to “Jen Z., Please Stop Whining About Seitan And Living In Las Vegas And Come Back To Xochitl!”

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1 Ben Aug 27th, 2009 at 1:54 pm
Can she actually cook? El Camino Real has pretty lame food. I am guessing that if she was hired for Xochitl she has chops… hopefully she doesn’t fuck it up, that place is great.
2 Buckethead Aug 27th, 2009 at 2:26 pm
Horizons makes their own seitan, Jen bought it in a store. That was reason enough to send her home.
3 greg Aug 28th, 2009 at 8:56 am
Let her stay in Vegas- she cant cook. Mediocre at best
4 Felicia Aug 28th, 2009 at 3:07 pm
Good news, she’s been home for awhile. I saw the lady herself with a big armload of veggies fresh from the walk-in last Thursday at Xochitl. Their “staff meal” Thursdays are a pretty sweet deal.
5 really? Aug 30th, 2009 at 10:45 pm
regardless of the ingredient, her food looked like crap especially up against some pretty good stuff. and her attitude just made me cringe. she pretty much personifies the “hipster foodie chef” types that dont usually last too long in professional kitchens. lots of talk but don’t like to work and don’t like to put in the time to really learn things.
of course some people really surprise you… Kevin might look to fit this bill at first glance but his food looks great..Jen /10arts is also turning out some killer food- I predict them and the 2 brothers for the final 4!
6 Jeff Llewoh Sep 1st, 2009 at 1:55 pm
Honestly, she comes off as an immature, unprofessional chef.
A friend of mine had received a call from her regarding a job. Told me that she sounded like some strung out stoner that kept on saying “She wanted to kitchen to rock and roll and kickass.”
Yeah, she might of been Ozzy’s chef on Ozzfest, but when you are trying to push for an upscale restaurant, babe, that shit doesn’t cut it. My friend just laughed an hung the phone up on her.
Jen from 10 Arts has a strong advantage here. Eric Ripert protege and pushes out some serious grub.
7 brian Sep 8th, 2009 at 7:41 am
Whoever wrote this, please stop. Her crime was serving crap. did you see the plate? the freaking chile relleno looked nasty. what happened to the crust? this is one of the stupidest lines i ever read “Lots of hardcore phoodie types are secretly racist against vegan foods”
8 kick rocks Sep 11th, 2009 at 2:31 am
wow…i bet none of you are chefs or have had a lot riding on one meal…and totally screwed it up…in front of a film crew. Good job everyone above…keep typing like you have a clue and preaching things that no cares. Good luck Jen…by the way I hate Seitan but the guys above only eat at stephen starr spots anyway.

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Jen Z., Please Stop Whining About Seitan And Living In Las Vegas And Come Back To Xochitl!

8 Responses to “Jen Z., Please Stop Whining About Seitan And Living In Las Vegas And Come Back To Xochitl!”

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