Q&A: Chefs' Table Series with Carol O'Connor, Joe Murphy & Area Star Chefs

Parkway locals Carol O'Connor, owner of tablecritic.com, and Joe Murphy, former owner of the defunct (and beloved) A. Boschetto Bakery in Roslindale, recently began the Chefs' Table Series. O'Connor and Murphy answered some Patch questions about the television show, food and chefs.

Patch: What is the Chefs' Table Series? 

O'Connor: The Chefs’ Table Series is an instructional, informative and entertaining cooking show that will present the art of cooking in a broad range of cuisines by qualified professionals and experts. The 55-minute show features other segments like the Chef’s Tip of the Week with Executive Chef and Owner Steve LaCount of Chiara Bistro located in Westwood, who discusses the best use of herbs, and how to cook sauces. 

We have Beer Piaring with food with craft beer explained by Brian Murphy, a certified cicerone and director of sales and marketing for the Massachusetts Beverage Alliance. For Wine Pairing we have had pairing of wine performed by Dan Hirschkop, the wine director at Gordon’s Fine Wines and Liquors. 

We also have Gadget of the Week feature with a culinary expert from Williams Sonoma sharing the helpful hints when it comes to gadgets used for preparing and cooking food. For the Health Tip of the Week a certified health coach provides the health and wellness tip of the week. 

For the Restaurant Review, I interview the chef, owner, manager of the featured restaurant, and the segment features interesting tidbits about the chef and restaurant.

Patch: So it's a TV show, which you can watch at aired times and on the Chefs' Table Series website? What channel and when can I watch it in Boston?

O'Connor: People can watch the show on local access television; we are building a viewership in local towns via their community access TV station. Boston Cable subscribers of Comcast and RCN can view the show: Channel 23 Comcast, 83 RCN, 84-3 Comcast digital every Thursday 12 to 1 p.m. We anticipate that the show will be aired at night in April 2013 when the new BNNTV schedule comes out.

Patch: And this is a joint venture of you and Joe Murphy? How did you two come up with the idea, and where do you two know each other?

O'Connor: Correct, it is a joint venture. Joe Murphy joined TableCritic, Inc. in 2009 and assisted TableCritic in the production of non-profit event planning. He worked closely with me on the creation of a public relations firm.

Joe attended Boston College, the metropolitan college of culinary arts of Boston University, and the French Culinary Institute in Soho, Manhattan, New York.

Joe and I attended many restaurant openings and events, after which we discussed the idea how people love to attend a food event with a glass of wine, and how this would be a great idea to start a Chefs Table Series at independent restaurants, which we ran for two years. 

I was a co-host with Glenn Williams on BNNTV for three years and my segment of the show involved invited chefs from restaurants. We knew at that time that doing a cooking show for local access TV stations with highly trained professionals from food related industries, that this would be a winningly formula because there is nothing of this caliber on local access stations. Then we partnered with Dedham TV and started pulling the TV show together. Joe and I are very proud that the Chefs Table Series Team has worked diligently to create this interesting and engaging television program.

Patch: Where is it being filmed? 

O'Connor: The show is filmed at Gordon’s Fine Wines & Liquors Culinary Center in Waltham The 1,300 square foot well-designed kitchen provides the perfect layout for Joe and the chef of the week to prepare and cook the food, as well as share tips and suggestions to the viewers.

Patch: You've featured local restaurants/chefs Roslindale Chef Christopher Lin from Seven Star Street Bistro, and The Corrib in West Roxbury for St. Patrick's Day - how do you select the chefs being featured on the show?

Murphy: We look for chefs that have a solid background in culinary food service that has a presence on camera and can articulate his or her technique. We like to introduce diversity of cuisine. For instance, we did a five-show series on the traditional Christmas Eve Feast of the Seven Fishes. We did an Italian Easter. A Turkish Mediterranean cooking (show).

Patch: Is cooking for a TV show different than cooking for a restaurant, or at home?

Murphy: Yes, there is a great difference between cooking in a restaurant and home cooking. One of our primary objectives of the show is to encourage people to prepare and eat a communal family meal at least one a week. During the TV cooking session, I always ask the chef can the dish be made a day beforehand and stored for service? We try to take in consideration the busy lifestyles of a traditional family or a single-run family because they are so rushed that they don’t have time to prepare dinner.

Patch: You also run the Tablecritic.com website for restaurant reviews - how does this fit in or compliment your Tablecritic.com work?

O'Connor: TableCritic has developed its presence by working with great restaurants. This is another addition that will showcase the chef and restaurant of the week but will also provide people the techniques, methods and creativity used in preparing a fabulous meal. The website also features photos, chef and restaurants news. We plan to expand into more shows and more events in the next year.

Patch: Do you take suggestions from viewers to interview chefs? If so, how does someone make a suggestion?

O'Connor: Yes we encourage suggestions and comments; viewers can contact Carol at caroloc@tablecritic.com.

Patch: Anything else you'd like to say about Chefs' Table Series?

O'Connor: Joe and I share the same passion for great food and cooking. We are true foodies and this has inspired us to share our interests with the public.