All Top Chef Interview with Mark Gaier

Photo:  Maine Food & Lifestyle

Top Chef Masters contestant, Mark Gaier, talks about his experience on the show.

ATC:  This is Laura Kluvo with all Top Chef and I'm on the phone with Master Chef Mark Gaier,
Hi Mark!'

MG:  Hi Laura, How are you?

ATC:  Congratulations on making the cast of Top Chef Masters!

MG:  It was really exciting when they approached us.  Honestly, at first I was a little reticent.  I'm not a big fan of reality television.  I wasn't sure if I wanted to do it.  There was a lot of persuasion from Clark and other people.  I was very excited once I got there, albeit nervous, but if was a lot of fun.

ATC:  It has been fun for us to get to know both of you.

Does Clark ever let you forget that he outlasted you?

MG:  We don't really talk about it.  It doesn't really bother me, and we've been together, for so long, it felt like the family was still represented.  He is not really gloating over it.

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Posted on AllTopChef.com

ATC Love to Chef Mark Gaier

This week's teppanyaki challenge proved to be on the difficult side for just about everyone involved, but mostly for Chef Mark Gaier, whose "zen" dish of scallops and bok choy got him eliminated. Not only was the dish perhaps too simple for the critics, it was also very underseasoned (a common sin on his team).


Chef Gaier, we feel like we barely saw what you can do in the kitchen and are very sorry to see you go. Here's to your partner, Clark, who will have to carry on in the competition without you and hopefully do you proud.

Posted on AllTopChef.com

Meet the Chefs - Mark Gaier

Owner, Arrows
Competing for: Equality Maine Foundation

In 1988, chefs Mark Gaier and Clark Frasier opened Arrows, a sustainable dining experience set in a restored eighteenth century Maine farmhouse. It was chosen as "One of America's 10 Most Romantic Restaurants" by Bon Appétit and “One of America’s Top 50 Restaurants” by Gourmet. The chefs champion old world practices that include growing and foraging their own crops, curing their own meats, and making their own cheese. They have cultivated over two acres of gardens, including an abundant greenhouse, which supply the restaurant with its handpicked produce and herbs. In 2005, Mark and Clark opened MC Perkins Cove in Ogunquit, Maine, a sleek and more casual restaurant dedicated to classic New England fare with stunning ocean views. In 2007, the chefs partnered with Marriott to open Summer Winter in Burlington, MA. In 2010, the James Beard Foundation named the duo as "Best Chefs in the Northeast." They have been featured in Bon Appétit, Food & Wine, Time, Travel + Leisure, and Vanity Fair and they have made frequent appearances including the CBS Early Show and NBC’s TODAY show. Mark Gaier grew up in a big family near Dayton, Ohio, where his mother inspired him to begin cooking and even baking bread by the time he was fourteen. He went on to work in publishing, where his favorite work was putting on the dinner parties for the staff and advertisers at the magazine. He decided to go back to school and study culinary arts under Jean Wallach in Boston. Gaier worked at the Whistling Oyster under Michael Allen before meeting Frasier at Stars Restaurant in San Francisco.

Posted on AllTopChef.com