Top Chefs of the Pacific Northwest

Amateur-looking footage is combined with cookie-cutter music to ostensibly introduce viewers to selected dishes of the chefs at three Pacific Northwest locations: Steamboat Inn (Oregon), Salishan Lodge (Oregon) and Kasper's (Washington). Each of the instructional sections begins with an interview with the chef, and is followed by the creation of what sounds like an exotic and exciting dish, including gingered sweet potato soup, a rye bread pudding, and barbecued trout with onion caper relish. Unfortunately, the program, which is plagued by abrupt edits and fluctuating audio (not to mention the lack of onscreen or offscreen recipe cards) makes for a generally unpalatable viewing experience. Not recommended. Aud: P. (R. Pitman)