Maximalist Pierre White.
Photo: Courtesy of Esquire
Esquire just will not stop with the "fop chefs." The magazine that nattied up David Chang, Simon Hammerstein, Michael Psilakis, and others now pits “minimalists” André Balazs and Dan Barber (wearing a $3,500 suit) against “maximalists” Marco Pierre White and Vikram Chatwal. White, who’s shown hurling kitchen utensils at a woman (but in an artful way!), has an interesting take on maximalism: “If you are going to serve something with caviar, then be generous with the caviar. I might not be able to eat it all, but I want to see it all.” God bless the man, even if Gordon Ramsay beat him out as the "BlackBerry Entrepreneur" of 2008 in British GQ's "Men of the Year" issue.
Esquire also unleashes an “Almanac of Steak” that plays it very much by the book in singling out the “20 Best Steaks in America.” Indeed, just about half of John Mariani’s picks are the usual New York suspects: The Palm’s sixteen-ounce prime New York strip, the Roumanian tenderloin at Sammy’s Roumanian, the namesake dish at Steak Frites, Smith & Wollensky’s filet mignon, the beef wellington at One If by Land, Two If by Sea, and the Wagyu beef at — wait for it, now — Kobe Club. The one curveball? Macelleria’s T-bone. Of course, Peter Luger’s porterhouse also gets a nod, not only on the list, but also in an online article by A.J. Jacobs where he tries it after abstaining from red meat for two decades: “I can't deny: It's absolutely delicious. Salty and charred.” The ending, unfortunately, occurs in the restroom and is not happy.
The Almanac of Steak [Esquire]
Less Is More. More Is More. [Esquire]
Related: ‘Esquire’ Escalates Chef-Fashion War With ‘Maxim’
