Top Chef - New York

Last season's show really bugged me and i'm not sure if i'll hang on to this season. Will probably watch and post, but not be into it as i had previously been.

This show used to be about the cooking and the way it ended last year, keeping the nasty untalented Lisa around cause she made for good reality tv, was terrible.

There don't seem to be many "characters" which is nice and the food did look good, seems like they did their homework.

Nothing too exciting last night, but it always starts like this because there are so many contestants.

I stopped watching two seasons ago. The show failed to up the ante. The contestants got less interesting as did the challenges. And when the food you're making doesn't look delicious, then I really why should I care whether you stay or go?

To be fair, Tom Colicchio more or less stated in the cast reunion that had he been present for judging Restaurant Wars, things might have gone differently. I think the logical way to take this is to assume he would have sent Lisa home.

That said, last night's episode left me feeling exactly as you describe above in regards to Stefan. Based on his altercation with Daniel he's going to be this season's "contestant to hate". He'll probably make the top three, though the fact that his skill doesn't match his knowledge (a vinaigrette is an emulsion) might bite him in the ass in the long run.

The show has always had drama, though, and it's always boasted all the trappings of reality TV. As long as the focus is more on the food and the techniques, it should still be watchable.

I love this show. Like all "reality" shows I had to make a decision to keep watching knowing that the Producers are making decisions at times on who leaves based on who makes good TV (see jstraw80's example above). But I really enjoy cooking and cooking shows and I like the flow of this show. This and Project Runway are both done really well, they've nailed the format.

I was glad the two culinary school hacks went home yesterday. Making apple salads was such a cop out on the quickfire. And Mr. I Want My Cooking To Save The World was annoying as hell. Is it bad I want him to get mugged on his way out of NY?

Anyway, I think Stefan is around for the long haul. He seems very talented and his ego and conflict will make good TV. I also like Richard? from Team Rainbow and the NY guy with the beard. I hope the Hawaiin keeps going strong, he seems nervous as hell but full of talent.

I have to agree, seeing both Lauren and Patrick go home was a bit of a relief for me. I found it VERY surprising that the show picked up two people so clearly green in the kitchen in the first place. They're not even out of culinary school yet, which really made me raise my eyebrows.

I completely agree about Stefan. Top 3 or bust for him. I'd be shocked if he fell outside of the top 3. He sort of seems like he'll be this season's Hung, which means he could win the whole damn thing-- Top Chef shows that even total assholes can still be #1. The only thing that could stop Stefan would be if he can't control his mouth. I'm curious to see how he does at judging in team oriented challenges.

Eugene is the man. I love that he accidentally created a classic Indian dish and wound up in the top 3 for the challenge. I've got high hopes for him, too. I'm also throwing in my support for Fabio and Daniel (the guy with the beard), but I honestly can't see Dan getting very far. The only reason he was safe from elimination last night is that the other guy's dish was way worse. It's possible that Chinese is just out of his element, so maybe he'll make stronger showings the rest of the season.

Well, what male Top Chef fan doesn't? Look at that face, I just want to kiss it.

Re: vinaigrettes are emulsions.

Answer: depends. It isn't automatic, just depends on what you're doing with the vinaigrette. If you need to emulsify with one, then in that case, yes: the vinaigrette is an emulsion.

Handy to have a SO who's a chef. Hehe

Our money is on Eugene, who didn't know anything about Indian food yet ended up in the top three with his elimination dish. Very cool. Yeah, Stefan may be the chef to beat - but it'll be interesting to see if his ability matches up to his own ego.

Haha, just caught your post and have to agree with everything you're saying here!

I'll add that Patrick's use of salmon for a Chinese dish was....odd.

But his cooking will SAVE THE WORLD!

Sort of. A vinaigrette is made by mixing oil and vinegar, two immiscible substances. By definition, that's an emulsion. That said, oil and vinegar have a tendency to separate from one another, and the oil will float to the top as the vinegar sinks to the bottom. Fortunately, giving the mixture a stir/shake/etc will re-combine both elements.

It's because of this tendency that vinaigrettes are commonly referred to as unstable emulsions. This is why I side with Dan over Stefan (apart from the fact that Stefan acted like Daniel had kicked his puppy or something, seriously who gets that worked up and hostile over a fucking vinaigrette)-- you're probably going to make sure the vinaigrette is combined before serving it. That aside, he's wrong because he's arguing that a vinaigrette and an emulsion are two different things, when they're undeniably related.

EDIT:

I can appreciate the guy wears his heart on his sleeve, and I respect his passion, but all the same I have to agree that the "save the world" thing was...well stupid, to be blunt.

I know we all like to blame the producers when we disagree with their decisions. But given the cash reward at the end of the competition, wouldn't that be illegal under the laws created after the Quiz Show scandals that prohibited the fixing of televised contests?

Well looking at the previews, she does something right or wrong next week to get to the judges table.

yeah it was a good episode. it was so clear that she was getting the boot, she was the entire focus of the episode.

Stefan was put into his place after the quickfire.

I really want to taste something that is so sweet you cant even swallow it.

Favorite quote : "It tastes like glue."

I also loved how they made the almost-contestants look like total douche bags.

Ariane is so obviously in over her head. Despite this I had a feeling she'd avoid getting cut again. Eliminating her felt far too obvious, and Jill's defense of her dish wasn't "lame" as Gail put it-- it was pathetic and almost insulting in how unenthusiastic it was, especially considering that Jill got on the show at the expense of rejected chefs who we got to meet in the elimination challenge. Was there someone in that crowd more worthy of Jill's spot than Jill? Maybe.

Good episode overall last night. My boy Eugene didn't stand out, but he didn't shoot himself in the foot either. Same with Daniel. Fabio showed himself to be a pretty awesome guy, and I think he owned the episode. He's full of the bravado and cockiness typical of a lot of Italian men, but he's playful and genuine and he clearly cares a lot about his food beyond it's potential to win him the competition.

He's the anti-Stefan, in fact. Stefan's reaction to Donatella stomping on his wiener (ha!) was to get butthurt; Fabio's reaction to be called for judging was to provide a passionate defense of his dish that was full of genuine sentiment. His response to the judges informing him they liked his dish was pretty classic. Overall, Fabio made an impression on me, and judging by the skills he employed last night I think he's also got a shot at top 3. I'm pulling for either him or Eugene to win.

On a negative note, the hot dog challenge was kind of stupid. Really it was a sausage challenge. Sausage is a lot easier to make than hot dogs, and in fact only a handful of chefs in the States make their own hot dogs (the process is very time-consuming compared to making sausage). And that's fair enough since the two items are related, but if they wanted to give the contestants a hot dog challenge, they should have been given actual hot dogs and asked to do something to elevate them or deconstruct them.

Also-- the spherical olives thing was fucking awesome.

Chefs are egomaniacs but they should know that anybody can have a bad day. Those almost contestants were ready to hate anything that was put in front of them. That Jaimie can really cook. I liked how in ep.1 she was all "yay team rainbow" but when it came time to cook she shut that big gay dude right out. Hosea should have followed his instinct on the canned crab and reevaluated his game plan. I think the big gay guy, Long Island, and Pretty Boy are the coasters. I haven't seen anything that impressed me with any of them and they seem to be doing just enough to not face judges table. Yeah the spherical olives were impressive, but I'm glad that there isn't and obvious Ferran Adria/Wylie Dufresne devotee on this season.

Let's see...Richard, Danny, and...Jeff? I think. I agree, I like Daniel personally but I'm guessing that each of them are just hangers on, though I think Jeff might actually have a few tricks up his sleeve that could impress the judges later on. Most likely they'll all fall just in/outside the top ten.

Well, at least no one has outed themselves as such. The olives are just impressive because making them is fairly simple, if perhaps somewhat time-consuming, but the effect is undeniable.

Well we've yet to see a gelee' or a foam so...fingers crossed.

Second week in a row that the wrong person was sent home, even though it could have been any of the three.

Turns out I was right about Jeff. The guy's good. He's a bona fide chef. I admit that I'm taking more credit here than I should, since it's obvious that there's even more to Jeff than "a few tricks up his sleeve". His leadership in the kitchen should go a long way, though it may not turn this competition into a win if he doesn't produce more strong dishes.

I agree about Alex being the wrong person tonight, but Richard definitely deserved to get sent home for making a dish that had nothing to do with Thanksgiving, and making it badly. I think there's a difference between mistakes in executing a dish, and mistakes in conceptualizing a dish, and he fucked up on both ends. And I'm saying this as someone who likes Richard. I like him even more now after having heard the letter that he left for Alex upon departing. He's a great guy and I hope he goes far, but he screwed the pooch and paid the price.

There's also a good case to be made for Alex going home. He is, after all, getting married. That's not the reason for him to go home, but it very obviously is keeping him from getting into the game 100%. On a different token, much as I admire him for being ballsy, his choice was extremely foolish. He should have dismissed it the moment he thought of it. Being a chef is all about making choices. Trying to make a creme brule in an hour was a bad one. I personally would rather have seen Melissa or Jaimie go home-- Melissa, in particular, made a bad choice just like Alex did, given the parameters of the challenge.

Fabio continues to be my hero. I'd love to try that pumpkin tiramisu he made for Thanksgiving.

I would also like to come out and admit that I was totally fucking wrong about Ariane. Good for her. She's turning around everyone's impressions of her, and she's kept her head up high even through the disastrous first and second episodes.

Fabio rocks. Even if he loses Fabio is setting himself up well to show up on TV soon elsewhere. He has already shown more personality and skill than an entire season of Next Food Network Star.

And I was also wrong on Ariane. She has really wisened up and played the game well while cooking like a fiend the last two weeks. Good for her. Although the preview makes it look like she craps the bed again next week.

As for Alex...fuck him. He commited the cardinal crime of reality TV. He was BORING. Boring and being a whiner will always get you booted. I'm not saying that bland blonde girl with bad bangs is any good (I can't even remember her name), she stinks too.

Good episode.

Either guy should have gone home. That really was a trainwreck of a dish.

Two great moments stand out: When they said that the tomato sorbet was the best in that dish and seeing the look on Stefans face and when lesbo chick said out loud " i want this win" and she didnt get it.

Was kind of a farce that Ariane won again just for cooking something right, which is their job.

Oh and can i get a still of Fabios wife please ?????????????

But why wouldn't she win for cooking the best part of the whole meal? Especially since she cooked lamb, and lamb is a chef's protein. If you don't believe me, check the history of lamb dishes in Top Chef-- they're almost always well received by judges. The other thing is that meat in general isn't easy to cook perfectly. Sure, I can flip on the burners or get the grill going and I can cook you a damn good piece of chicken/steak/etc. I won't be able to cook it as well as a trained chef who understands that getting a piece of meat absolutely, 100% perfect is a very, very delicate art. There's this misconception that meat is the easiest thing in the world to get right, and this isn't the case-- especially when you're serving the aforementioned protein to highly refined and trained palettes. The slightest error in time cooked-- be that over or under-- will change how the dish is received by such a crowd, period.

On the rest, I definitely agree about Jeff being praised for his sorbet. Seeing him light up with happiness as Stefan stewed in his own douchebaggery kind of made the episode for me. I'm actually beginning to toy the idea of rescinding my earlier prediction of Stefan making top three, because the last few episodes haven't been particularly kind to him. (Not that they've been definitively bad for him, but last episode's Quickfire was the first time he's really stood out since winning episode 1.)

I'm sad to see Fabio and Eugene do badly. Fabio had it rough with "Blue" as a concept, and he was almost there-- if he'd chosen a different fish (Chilean Sea Bass was a bad idea, political gaffe aside) and if the rest of the dish had better textural variation, I think Team Blue would have done well. Eugene made the fatal flaw of trying to sneak botched product by the palettes of discerning diners-- I admire him not wanting to waste food, but a culinary challenge/bridal shower combination is hardly the place for such prudence, especially considering what's at stake.

Jamie's also a huge sore loser. She's not, to her credit, an awful person outside of losing. She just handles critique and defeat very, very badly.

Big time. Its almost like these chefs have never watched the show (and maybe they haven't). Anyone with half a brain should realize that there are a few cardinal rules to being successful on TC:

1 - Have a personality, good or bad.
2 - Never defend a henious dish. If something is hated by all of the judges quickly try and distance yourself or throw a co-chef under the bus. Defending bad food gets you tossed.
3 - Don't be a sore loser. They hate sore losers.
4 - Be able to cook the shit out of easy food and do well with difficult dishes.
5- Don't cook boring food but if you do make it fantastic. Good won't cut it with staples.

Was glad Danny left if for no reason I was sick of his mugging. He has been trying to be "Mr. Funny Guy" the last few eps and it was getting old.

(and count me in for wanting more pics of Mrs. Fabio as well)

That's a definite for #1. Like I said at the start of the thread, good or bad, naughty or nice, sweet or sour, anyone can win Top Chef so long as they have the skill and drive to do so. I didn't mention that having a personality also makes a huge difference-- even if you're a dick, at least you're memorable. If you're a dick who makes good food, you're screwed out of winning Fan Favorite, but people will know who you are and know what you're capable of.

I liked Danny, but I'm glad he went too. When the whole panel of judges tears your dish apart, don't keep defending it. Even if you were proud of it you still need to listen to what they have to say, and process it. The judges do not take kindly to having their expertise and advice tromped on by sanctimonious hot-shots. For reference, see Tom's reaction to Spike telling Rick Tramonto, "Well, YOU kept the scallops in your freezer". If Tom has ever had a this-close-to-snapping moment, that was it.

When i was referring to my "farce" about Ariane winning it, i meant to point out that she didnt do the marinade or seasoning for them, all she did was clean up the chops and cook them. Secondly, she screwed up the timing on them and was about to serve them raw/very rare, until hearing the advice of others, she put them back in to cook.
If it wasnt for the others giving her advice and helping her plate, she would have been totally screwed. So for her to win it on her own was the farce. Unfortunately, the judges didnt see what went on in the kitchen, just a tasty lamb chop that was served to them.

I get your point, but that's not what you were saying before. Regardless I see where you're coming from.

And this was my point-- that at the end of the challenge she still made the best part of the whole meal, and that's what she was judged on. Based on what the judges had to go on, why shouldn't she have won?

As for the kitchen, pardon me for being argumentative, but I remember Ariane being a lot more collected than Jamie. Sure, the timing wasn't ideal. I imagine such issues arise occasionally in kitchens even with the best of preparation. That said, Ariane kept her cool. That's commendable. As to everyone else helping her plate-- they weren't only helping her, they were helping Radhika and Jamie. I consider that a testament to the good nature of the other contestants, instead of an indictment of Ariane's skill as a chef. I would expect such admirable behavior from chefs in any kitchen.

And think of it this way, despite timing problems she managed to produce the best and most key ingredient to her team's dish.

The other thing is that Jamie had the chance to step up and say something, either about Ariane's timing slip-up (which I think would have been poor footing on her part) or about how she conceptualized the whole damn dish. If she'd enlightened the judges as to her involvement, she might have won. Instead she chose to remain silent. There are times when it's fine to keep quiet, and that wasn't one of them.

I hated Fabio at first, but now I love him, along with Chase.

Why is Jamie cooking only scallops? It that the only thing she can do? Will we see Scallops Ice Cream? And I expected more of Eugene, really.

So far, the only people I can't stand are Stephan, Carla (the one that looks like The Monarch) and Jamie Scallops, but I like this season.

Poor Fabio. He hasn't had a hit recently, and it's not for lack of trying. I did raise my eyebrows a bit at Martha Stewart's reaction to his polenta. I would have liked to have seen a little bit more of his dish just so that her criticism made sense ("It was grayish"...how?).

I agree about Jamie. From next episode's preview, she makes even more scallops, and prompts Fabio to exclaim, "This is Top Chef, not Top Scallop." If she doesn't break out of her scallop obsession, she's going home. Not because scallops are bad-- quite the opposite-- but because making nothing but scallops is going to lead to her becoming one-note.

Then again, Eugene is really hurting himself by being so defensive over his food. Obviously a chef should stand by what he/she cooks, but when you're being told that your dish wasn't very good, and when it's obvious that it wasn't a hit, then you need to take a second to think about it. He made himself look really bad at judging, and if not for Tom's gift, I think Eugene would have gone home, and if his inability to listen to criticisms of his food doesn't resolve itself, then he will.

The good news-- I was also really happy to see Jeff do well, and I was surprised to find that seeing Stefan bounce back and produce a top 4 dish made me happy. Of course ultimately Hosea wins it, and it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. I have a strong feeling Hosea is going to be one of the leads for Fan Favorite. Everything about him is likable; his attitude is great, he has personality, he has passion, he's a good cook, etc. After the disaster that occurred the morning before the challenge, I was happy to see him walk away the victor.

The entire scene was touching, as well. Seeing all the chefs come together to help Radhika and Hosea was inspiring. I shouldn't expect anything less, but it's still nice to see. I think one thing people ignore when discussing Top Chef is that while it's an individual competition, the winner is being given a free pass into the world of high cuisine. I won't suggest that all chefs who operate in this world are A-class people, in fact I'm sure many of them are douchebags, but I can guarantee they know how to function smoothly in a group. Even Stefan pointed out that it doesn't matter if the other guy is your worst enemy, you help people out in the kitchen and you act professional.

So while it was great seeing the crew come together, this is what should be expected of them if they want to win the competition. If any one of them was incapable of such teamwork, then I think it would in the end reflect badly on them.

What did everyone think of Tom's discussion with the chefs at the end?

It really seemed like they were pinning Jeff up to fail, but he did so well.

I love Tom's lecture, "you're not going to win this competition making deviled eggs.!"

Yeah Eugene's butt was saved, but any of them could of went home.

The only thing that bothered me about them pitching in was the lack of thanks by both of them, esp after he won! And i highly doubt Radika would have ever helped anyone else out.

I was waiting for those breasts to fall out of that red dress, holy cleavage!

I love how when Padme asked about the scallops being a winter food sarcastically and then Martha putting her in her place.

So who left the fridge open? a producer????????

Stefan isnt as annying as i prev thought and of course every women loves Fabio!

Yeah, the fridge thing seemed suspect. I want some CSI shit to determine who fucked up. The scallops thing was hilarious.

Hosea made a point to thank everyone who helped him recover from the fridge disaster, right after winning in fact.

I also loved Tom's speech. I hope that he motivates the chef's to take more risks and be more bold, because this really has been a fairly unimpressive season so far. Strong start, and a weak midpoint.

Jeff, I think, can handle heavy work loads gracefully, but he also has a tendency of getting into trouble when he gives himself too much to do. I was concerned that his dish was going to land him in hot water, so seeing him score with the judges and the crowd really made me happy. He's a natural showman, too; I bet that that helped a little bit.

I would love to see what happened with the fridge. Get Vincent D'Onofrio in the Top Chef kitchen stat!

I make wild mushroom polenta all the time. The mushrooms always discolor the polenta no matter how I try to prevent it. Fabio shouldn't have been docked for that. I don't think anybody purposely sabotaged the reach-in refrigerator. I think too much hot stuff was put in it and the pressure from the steam poped the door open. It happens. I think Jamie is a pretty awesome chef but she has become too focused on winning a challenge. She probably has people complementing her scallop dishes all the time and is becoming single minded on the scallops because she believes it is in her wheel house and it will lead to an easy win.

Jaime mentioned she works in a restaurant that specializes in scallops. That's what she makes all the time in her restaurant, so she thinks its an easy go-to recipe.

Just watched a mini-marathon of the last 4-5 episodes. Don't know the contestants enough to be rooting for anyone, but I do know Jaime is a sore loser and needs an attitude upgrade.

That Carla chick is going to be in my nightmares for weeks. Every feature of her head is disproportionate to the other.

Stefan and Jeff seem like conceited jerks, but if they make good food, then that's what counts.

Hosea and the Indian chick whose name I can't remember totally lucked out in that last challenge. In previous season's the other contestants would have left them high and dry.

Arien, I can't tell if she's a genius or just lucky. I have to assume everyone who makes the show did so because they have at least a base level of talent. But she doesn't make particularly complex dishes. On the other hand, she reminds me of that guy from last season (or maybe a season ago), who specialized in comfort food (mac and cheese and such) and made it far in the competition because he made delicious food. It seems that was what Martha responded to. Sure spinach puree isn't hard. But it tasted delicious.

The camaraderie between Stefan/Fabio is really funny and cool. As a matter of fact, so far, everyone seems to be pretty genuine.

Kudos to them all for helping out Hosea and Radika and man, who in the hell left that fridge open? I wanna know. Anyways, all of the chefs pulling together like that almost made me weepy. I doubt that would have happened in past seasons (especially last season).

Tom's little kick to their asses speech was needed. Desperately. I hope all the chefs take it to heart.

I really did think Radika would win it - her and Jeff's dishes seemed the most interesting and creative of the bunch and according to everyone there, tasted pretty good, too. Yeah, I know WHY Hosea won (red ribbons), but the judges seemed more impressed with the dishes by Radika and Jeff. Aw well.

Oh, and slimy scallops. Ew. Jaimie, what the hell were you thinking?

Interesting. I've never made wild mushroom polenta, so this is new to me. It's just that the dish didn't look so grayish as to be unappealing, at least not from the dish we saw. Still, regardless, if that's how the dish appears, he shouldn't get called out for it.

In short it's not so much that his dish wasn't a hit as it is that he got called out for it by Martha.

I agree that the fridge thing was probably an accident, too, but there's something about the timing that feels too convenient.

I think she's got skills. Simple food doesn't mean low-end of ability. In fact, making something that's "simple", I would argue, is extremely difficult because in order for something simple to really shine, the flavors all have to be perfect. For her simple dishes (and they really are, I don't even think I'd need a recipe to replicate her tomato/watermelon salad) to beat other, more complex dishes, they have to be spot on.

Smugbug, I totally agree on Jeff/Radhika. I'm glad Hosea won, but I was really expecting either of the other two to take it. Mostly it would have been nice to see Jeff pull one out, at this point I think he deserves it.

Few points about the fridge fiasco, it doesnt appear that it was the fridge with all the hot food, both Rhadika and Hoseas food were raw and took up most of the fridge.

And i think that Rhadika was so ready to use her spoiled food too, look at the rerun and her face the whole time.

I think Arien is a really good cook, but not a Top Chef. she really hasn't done anything special. The guy you were referring to was Dave from season 1.

I have a bad feeling that Jaime is going to be like last years lesbian nightmare that just stayed around for entertainment value.

QUESTION:

Heading to NYC this weekend, are Tom C's restaurants really good?

Is there a new episode Wed night?

Dave! That's exactly who I was thinking of. Was that really season 1?

There's a Holiday Special All-Stars show this Wed.

Isn't the holiday special a rerun from last year? It looks like the one they ran last year and I didn't see any contestants from season 4 on the promo. Maybe I'm wrong.

Side note, the local paper had an article over the weekend about a new place Richard Blaise (sp) is starting up here in Atlanta. They listed his history over the past few years and he didn't stay anywhere very long at all. Apparently he's buying in as a co-owner with this new place and he designed the menu. Its all kinds of crazy and fancy burgers. Once the place has been open a few months I'll give it a whirl. Tom C also has a new Craft that just opened in Atlanta downtown. The menu looks amazing but hot damn is it expensive.

Maybe. I didn't watch last year so its new to me.

I can't stand the British guy.

How the hell did Melissa stick around so long?