I’ve been a big fan of Gordon Ramsay’s U.S. and U.K. television shows “Hell’s Kitchen” and “Kitchen Nightmares”, so I was naturally curious to see the show of the man who apparently once trained Gordon, Marco Pierre White. I had never heard of Marco before seeing the promos for “The Chopping Block”, which I found interesting because through Gordon’s shows, Top Chef, and various other cooking shows on cable I’d heard about quite a few popular chefs.

The Chopping Block is one of the most boring shows I’ve seen in years. Not only does Marco have absolutely no personality at all, but the show is filled with people who have a clearly-apparent lack of skill. I don’t really care about any of them. That’s not Marco’s issue (unless you break it down to the fact that it’s HIS show), but it seems that the editors would have done a much better job to get the audience to give a damn about SOMEBODY on the show.

My point is that Marco Pierre White may just be the classic example of a teacher who has been completely overshadowed by his students. He seems to regret his decision to retire and is now attempting to jump back in at the top by capitalizing on the success of Gordon Ramsay and Mario Batali. Whether that’s true or not, Marco seems like a man who is desperately grasping at straws to regain a name for himself and become relevant in the restaurant business again. Based on “The Chopping Block”, it doesn’t appear that will happen any time soon. Let’s see what happens over the next year or two. One thing is certain: he’ll have to do a lot more than he’s doing on “The Chopping Block”.

I remember reading a quote where Marco said Gordon Ramsay’s motivation was money. While Ramsay’s restaurants are expensive, all one has to do is eat there to realize that while money may be a motivation, it certainly is no stronger than his motivation for absolutely incredible food.