Chefs return to the kitchen and recall past criticism: "Some of it was nasty. I thought, 'To hell with it'"
One starts a critique with a compliment, the other prefers to get straight to the point - but chefs Avi Biton and Yuval Ben Neria know that as long as it is substantive, one can learn from any criticism. In an interview with +12, they explained how they judge experienced cooks, what criticism still sits in their heads, and how the professional kitchen has changed completely in recent years: "Once, someone threw mashed potatoes at my face, that was the culture."
After a baptism of fire in the previous season of MasterChef: Dream Team, chefs Avi Biton and Yuval Ben Neria arrive at the new season understanding that they will face cooks who have already experienced the pressure of the competition, and who have gained experience in professional kitchens, at events, and with recipes that exploded on social media (MasterChef: Dream Team, premiere episode tonight, Monday, Channel 12).
In an interview with +12, the two returned to the criticism they received in the past, explained how to give sensitive feedback to contestants who have already been in that position, and shared what they think is the secret magic of the show. "I think it's about the chemistry of the judges together, and the viewers who have gotten used to seeing professional cooks. In 'Dream Team', the contestants no longer need an audition, they are real chefs, most of whom work in it day-to-day," explained Biton and added: "With the whole situation today, there is something about giving the head a rest, sitting on the sofa and watching a cooking show. It's comfortable and fun, you see good food and don't think."
"There is a special dynamic that has been created between the judges. Everyone already knows the dynamic that exists in the regular 'MasterChef'. They know that Eyal Shani has his sentences. Here there are cultural gaps, and it is expressed beautifully," said Ben Neria. And yet, the pair of relatively young chef-judges on the show also looked with humor at the gaps between the judges. "Eyal Shani has a room alone, and Yuval and I are in the same room. We are good friends so we don't mind," said Biton with a smile.
How does it feel to give criticism to returning participants? Biton: "I always start with the good, then the not-so-good things, and at the end something good again. I really don't want to hurt, God forbid, not in terms of livelihood or anything, but I feel comfortable saying bad criticism too. The reason is simple, we are all in this profession. I am criticized every day, there is no day that a dish doesn't return in one of my restaurants or in my delis and in the event hall where I have catering. I am always criticized, so I can feel comfortable criticizing others too. It's okay to criticize, you grow from criticism."
Ben Neria: "I'm like Avi, but I don't start with the good. Basically, I think that if the criticism is substantive and said about the technique, in a substantive way and not humiliating, then it is excellent and that's how you learn. I also receive criticism every day, and I also give criticism, including to myself. Avi and I feed thousands of people a month, in the end you see the reviews, some are substantive and some less so, and you choose what to pick and how to take it."
Is there criticism you received that you still think about? Ben Neria: "I was always afraid of criticism, that they wouldn't understand, and I received some nasty criticism. In the first review I received from Avi Efrati (restaurant and wine critic for the Walla website) at Taizu in 2013, maybe four months after I opened, he wrote 'nice pop'. I was terribly offended by that. Today I would say, he is right, to hell with it. To this day, 15 years later, it works."
Biton: "The really hard criticism is when one of your guests tells you: 'I ate at your place, I really like your food, today I was very disappointed'. Then you understand that this is real criticism. Everything he says to me after such a sentence, I absorb for real. I know he loves me, and it's disappointing. It's like your partner telling you: 'I love you very much, and we are breaking up'. You are really disappointed by it when you go to sleep at night, and sometimes because he is right in his comment."
Regarding Biton's words, chef Ben Neria added that for him it is more painful when one of the guests tells him that they feel he is not present enough in the restaurant. Therefore, Ben Neria, and also Biton, work hard so that in every restaurant of theirs, their language and knowledge will find expression. "In every restaurant I am in, whether it's for half an hour or five hours, I leave a certain impact. I go over things, feel that I am making some kind of change. Even if it's a small change, I think that every time you enter the kitchen and you stand on something that looks wrong and fix it, it's a plus. I accumulate such pluses throughout the week, and that's what keeps the restaurants at a level," explained Ben Neria.
"For me, productivity is not measured by how many hours I spent in the kitchen doing service. Productivity for me is measured by the fact that I can come to the restaurant and teach the doctrine that I would like my team to learn. I think that is much more important today, when you have several restaurants and you are a chef who oversees several places. If you are inside it's cool and tasty because you are still cooking it. The wisdom is to teach how to do it, and that for me is the most significant productivity that a restaurant and a chef have," noted chef Biton.
Did you have a case where you were really angry in the kitchen? Ben Neria: "In my kitchen, you can see dents in the refrigerators from kicks I gave out of anger, but basically what can you do? Once as a cook, they would throw glasses and plates at me. Someone, I won't say his name, threw mashed potatoes at my face, there was such a culture. Today if you don't smile at a cook, he goes home. The competition is so great, it doesn't work like that."
Biton: "The condition for acceptance with me is a pulse. Seriously, there aren't many teams and cooks. I remember that once when someone made a mistake, they told me 'go home and take someone with you'. Today it's more forgiving, and they just tell you to come tomorrow if you made a mistake."
Ben Neria and Biton emphasized that the level in the competition is particularly high, and Biton testified about himself as a devoted viewer of the show. From his point of view, when he was invited to judge, it was a closing of a circle. But, do they think they could have succeeded as contestants? "I think Eyal Shani would have passed beautifully as a contestant. For me, there are few dishes that I think about and manage to pass on the first time," said Ben Neria. "Usually it's a process of several weeks of trying and changing raw materials and techniques. It's hard for me with spontaneity but I would have won." Biton was a bit more reserved: "I am competitive, I can't stand losing, but I don't think I would have stood the pressure."
