"...Our food is fucking amazing."
March 29, 2020 9:58 AM Subscribe
Floyd Cardoz passed away on March 25th due to complications from COVID-19. Described by the New York Times as "the first chef born and raised in India to lead an influential New York City kitchen," you might recognize him from winning Season 3 of Top Chef Masters or, most recently, appearing in the episode "Don't Call it Curry" of season 2 of David Chang's Netflix show "Ugly Delicious" (Netflix link).
Reactions from people both in and out of the culinary world abound, but here are a few:
Padma Lakshmi Pays Tribute to the Late Chef Floyd Cardoz: "This Is a Huge Loss"
Floyd Cardoz Was My Competition. But He Was Also My Muse.
What Floyd Cardoz meant to the South Asian culinary world.
Reactions from people both in and out of the culinary world abound, but here are a few:
Padma Lakshmi Pays Tribute to the Late Chef Floyd Cardoz: "This Is a Huge Loss"
Floyd Cardoz Was My Competition. But He Was Also My Muse.
What Floyd Cardoz meant to the South Asian culinary world.
This post was deleted for the following reason: Poster's Request -- frimble
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posted by nightrecordings at 10:13 AM on March 29, 2020
posted by nightrecordings at 10:13 AM on March 29, 2020
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posted by Frayed Knot at 10:13 AM on March 29, 2020
posted by Frayed Knot at 10:13 AM on March 29, 2020
How Floyd Cardoz’s Genre-Crossing Talents Built a Better NYC Dining Scene
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posted by lalochezia at 10:14 AM on March 29, 2020
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posted by lalochezia at 10:14 AM on March 29, 2020
He was also really generous with his time in helping my buddy Sarah Lohman with her book Eight Flavors. The curry powder chapter would have been almost nothing without his help. It's a huge loss.
posted by lauranesson at 10:18 AM on March 29, 2020 [4 favorites]
posted by lauranesson at 10:18 AM on March 29, 2020 [4 favorites]
https://basicswithbabish.co/basicsepisodes/indianbreads
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posted by the antecedent of that pronoun at 10:23 AM on March 29, 2020
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posted by the antecedent of that pronoun at 10:23 AM on March 29, 2020
Oh, and thank you, primalux, for this post. We've been talking about him for a couple of days, but I didn't have the energy to put something together.
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posted by lauranesson at 10:23 AM on March 29, 2020
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posted by lauranesson at 10:23 AM on March 29, 2020
Yes, I mentioned him in the Top Chef thread on FanFare, but of course a lot of people didn't see that.
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posted by praemunire at 10:27 AM on March 29, 2020
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posted by praemunire at 10:27 AM on March 29, 2020
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posted by Token Meme at 12:47 PM on March 29, 2020
posted by Token Meme at 12:47 PM on March 29, 2020
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posted by gingerbeer at 1:00 PM on March 29, 2020
posted by gingerbeer at 1:00 PM on March 29, 2020
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But I want to say, there's a fundamental problem with the Western-gaze "Indian food can also be high-end" trope that always grates on me and that I rarely see acknowledged.
I (and a lot of other Indians) would say that the high end of Indian food is the food people eat with their fingers at home, or sometimes at the temple. The care, developed over centuries, to freshness, timing, presentation, variety, texture etc long predated nouvelle cuisine or Escoffier for that matter. That one may eat it off a banana leaf while sitting on a stone floor doesn't make it "low end". And shoehorning Indian dishes into a Euro restaurant concept and pairing it with wine doesn't make it "high end", it just makes it restaurant food, though of course in some cases it is done better than others.
posted by splitpeasoup at 2:43 PM on March 29, 2020 [9 favorites]
But I want to say, there's a fundamental problem with the Western-gaze "Indian food can also be high-end" trope that always grates on me and that I rarely see acknowledged.
I (and a lot of other Indians) would say that the high end of Indian food is the food people eat with their fingers at home, or sometimes at the temple. The care, developed over centuries, to freshness, timing, presentation, variety, texture etc long predated nouvelle cuisine or Escoffier for that matter. That one may eat it off a banana leaf while sitting on a stone floor doesn't make it "low end". And shoehorning Indian dishes into a Euro restaurant concept and pairing it with wine doesn't make it "high end", it just makes it restaurant food, though of course in some cases it is done better than others.
posted by splitpeasoup at 2:43 PM on March 29, 2020 [9 favorites]
Danny Meyer opened Tabla and Eleven Madison Park in the same building at the same time, just across the park from where I used to work. Although it was EMP that achieved legendary status and all those Michelin stars, Cardoz's cooking in Tabla was just so damn fun, full of surprises and effortlessly memorable. You could go to Tabla any time, especially the Bread Bar, and be guaranteed a great experience. RIP to a great creator and a great chef.
posted by How the runs scored at 3:36 PM on March 29, 2020 [4 favorites]
posted by How the runs scored at 3:36 PM on March 29, 2020 [4 favorites]
I went to Bombay Bread Bar with a fellow Mefite a while back. I was so sorry to hear this.
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posted by ferret branca at 6:34 PM on March 29, 2020 [1 favorite]
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posted by ferret branca at 6:34 PM on March 29, 2020 [1 favorite]
We used to live just up the street from North End Grill. Went there opening weekend and sat at a table next to Gael Greene. Chef Cardoz came out of the kitchen and pointedly made sure to greet every single table, not just the famous critic. We had many great meals there, and at White Street when he moved over there. Very sad news.
posted by Guernsey Halleck at 7:21 PM on March 29, 2020 [4 favorites]
posted by Guernsey Halleck at 7:21 PM on March 29, 2020 [4 favorites]
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posted by St. Hubbins at 7:03 AM on March 30, 2020
posted by St. Hubbins at 7:03 AM on March 30, 2020
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posted by Fizz at 10:04 AM on March 29, 2020