What on Earth is MEAL TICKET?

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by Sands,Barbara

Vallartans are accustomed to cocktails at 7:30, but BREAKFAST at 7:30? AM? It happened on Friday morning at the Hacienda San Angel, Janice Chatterton's boutique hotel on Miramar when a crew showed up from Manhattan to tape a new reality show called Meal Ticket that will be broadcast beginning in October 2007. To be honest, the concept is a little silly, but a number of lucky ones did enjoy breakfast since it was up to Janice to invite the breakfast guests.

Presumably we were all to be tourists, but I'm not sure we seemed like tourists with half the guests speaking Spanish and half resolutely
speaking English.

The guests first assembled downstairs in the lounge area where coffee was served. We then went upstairs to the restaurant dining room overlooking all Vallarta to enjoy more juice and coffee along with gorgeous, perfectly ripe fruit and pastries that I can only say came from Pitillal and were delicious. Then it was back to the dining table by the kitchen for the chef's pièce de résistance.

The Chef's Name is Ralph Pagano, and he has been cast by Helicon Media of New York as the chef who gets a one-way ticket to a mystery location and must "buy" his way home by preparing a meal with what he finds at his destination. His first event was in Iceland ; this was his second and he was taken (presumably blindfolded) to Mismaloya. However, since he had been here a year ago on his honeymoon, Vallarta was not unknown to him and he apparently DID hear the announcement at JFK. Ralph is told at least what the weather will be so that he may pack appropriate gear.

So, what did Ralph cook for breakfast? His idea of Mexican Eggs Benedict that had some breakfasters wondering if the food too was to be a mystery. Instead of English muffins, there were rather chewy pieces of toast for a base, but the food piled on top was quite tasty to some, or at least that's what we all told Chef Pagano. I personally would only have objected to the eggs being overpoached and found the rest quite good including spinach and chorizo and a very zesty hollandaise made with lime and a bit of cilantro.

The show will be a feature on a new HDTV network. MOJO—a new 100% hi-definition channel "tailored to fit" a targeted predominantly male audience "from exceptional food to extreme locales, from high tech toys to high stakes antics, from Wall Street to easy street and the best of sports, music, movies and more." It will be reached via a number of top cable channels. To read more about it, go to MOJOHD.COM.