LA Chef Tricks Foodies With Elegant Meal Made From McDonald's Ingredients

A popular Los Angeles chef tricked a group of food bloggers by serving a fine dining meal made from McDonald's ingredients. The Guardian reported that Chef Neal Fraser, restaurant owner and former Top Chef Masters contestant, invited a group of 40 foodies at the Carondelet House in Los Angeles. The food bloggers were told that they will be testing an experimental meal made from fresh ingredients.

The report said that the foodies were treated with an upscale meal that included a chilled avocado soup, a salad topped with bacon bits and buttermilk dressing, spicy meatballs, bacon-wrapped chicken, and a coffee custard dessert. Unbeknownst to the bloggers, Fraser used McDonald's ingredients for Egg McMuffins and Quarter Pounders.

Food blogger Danielle Salmon told The Orange Country Register that midway through the meal, she started to get suspicious. "It seemed a little off from what he normally serves," Salmon said. "We were thinking it was a weird secret ingredient."

At the end of the dining event, Fraser revealed that he was serving food made from McDonald's ingredients. Fraser said that the goal of the fine dining meal is to change people's perception about McDonald's food.

According to Clay Paschen III, president of the McDonald's Operators' Association of Southern California, there is that perception that their food comes through the back door processed. "But we cook. We have a kitchen."

Roshonda Payne, a lifestyle blogger, said that she did not realize that she was eating a meal made from McDonald's ingredients. "It's just goes to show you that McDonald's is (real) food," she added.

Chef Eric Crowley, a Los Angeles cooking instructor, said that he was not disappointed that he was served with a meal from fast food ingredients. He added that he is happy that McDonald's is working on improving their image. "If I went to McDonald's and got food like this, I would go more often," he said.