Top Chef - New York - Page 2

Stefan is not British. He meant the new judge.

In The Closer's defense, I hate Stefan, too.

But the whole forced Simon Cowell vibe of the judge annoys the shit out of me. I liked how he compared their food to weapons of mass destruction, a joke that was tired and hacky 4 years ago.

I kind of liked Melissa and was kind of hoping she would stick around a little longer, but it was very likely she and Eugene were toast this week.

I kinda figured out that the Taco girl would go home, but even if Eugene kept failing, I was hoping for Carla to go instead. Maybe it's the fact that each time she speak or make one of her weird faces I want to punch her so very much.

The new Brit judge looks like Heston Blumenthal's evil retarded brother.

Still rooting for Chase.

Agree about the hackishness of the WMD line. Melissa hung around far too long. It almost seems as if she lacks the ability to fully vet her recipe as well as the foresight to see how it will be received. Stefan is a prick and is utterly lacking in social skills. His ego is disproportionate to his skills and he is, in fact, quite skilled but Scott Bryan he ain't. He needs a crack in the jaw and if he worked in a kitchen with me I'd be the one to give it to him. Maybe alone in the walk-in or some time during and after shift beer-up. I think Jamie is pretty good but not as good as she thinks she is and the way she seems to think she's entitled to win any time she is top three is off-putting.

I agree the right people went home.

Some observations i am coming up with:

1. The two European guys aren't that great, quite over-rated

2. Carla isnt that bad and probably was saved because she was honest with her last dish.

3. Jaime (aka Scallop girl) will be around for a while only because of her personality.

4. This season will only be about personality, more-so then last year.

Carla's honesty didn't save her. The fact that at least some part of her dish was edible did. The judges said over and over Melissa's food tasted and smelled like cat food and Gene's fish was overcooked (Collichio: "I'm sad some poor fish gave its life for that") and he combined two foods that no one in their right mind should combine.

Also, I've noticed more and more the end credits that run by say the Producers of the show have final say over who stays or goes. So yeah, despite the judges opinions, if the producers want good TV by a bad cook, that person is staying.

Lastly,

That woman frightens me.

Oh yeah, forgot to mention that i agree, the new judge is a douche.

And over the Chrstmas break i ate at one of Tom Collicchio's restaurants, Craftbar, to see if he actually knows what he is talking about. Well he does, quite possibly the best meal i have ever had.

What did you get? How were the prices?

The prices were average for a NYC upscale restaurant. The drinks are what killed us. Their mixed drinks were excellent, but at $12-15 a pop, it really adds up.

Their menu is available online: http://www.craftrestaurant.com/craftbar.html

We got a bunch of starters, the highlight was the Duck Prosciutto item, never even heard of such a thing.

What was funny is i got the scallops, which had the Risotto on the dish as a side, which Tom said last episode should never be considered a side.

That's hilarious (re risotto)!

Tom sure has a lot of cauliflower on his menu. I hate that vegetable. Might convince a friend to check it out. Lots of good stuff on there.

Who are the favorites right now? Hosea? Stefan? Jeff? Ariane? It's tough for me to say, even this far into the season. Hosea and Stefan have been better-than-average. Jeff has highs and lows. Ariane cooks simple dishes well, but takes no risks. At this point last year, it looked pretty clear it was going to come down to Stephanie, Richard, and possibly Dale. There are no real dominate chefs this time around. I'm guessing it comes down to Hosea, Stefan and Jeff, with Radhika as the dark horse.

I don't think i missed anyone, but the chef's left are: Ariane, Carla, Fabio, Hosea, Jamie, Jeff, Leah, Radhika, Stefan.

In my opinion, this is my ranking to win it:

Next to leave: 9. Jeff
8. Fabio
7. Carla
6. Radhika
5. Ariane
4. Jamie
Final Three are: Hosea, Leah and Stefan

I think Leah pulls it out.

You see Jeff leaving before Carla? What? Did you watch the show?

He's there till the Top 5 at least, but that's a guess. And really, it's way too soon to guess who's staying.

And let's see Jamie cook something other than fucking scallops.

really no rhyme or reason except for the fact that Carla makes for better TV, where Jeff is pretty boring. Being that Jeff has either been spectacular or shitty, i'm guessing his next one is shitty and thats it for him.

Jeff looks like Chase from House. Carla's only real skill so far is her facial exuberance. And Jeff had some winning dishes.

Advantage Chase.

Jaime pulls ahead of Hosea and Leah after this last challenge. She proved she can cook something other than scallops well, and handled herself with Stefan. The latter two just showed poor judgment. I guess they were too busy playing kissy face for 3 hours.

Rhadika, Carla, Fabio and Jeff are the next to go in that order. I think the final two comes down to Jaime and Stefan. And I can see both doing what it takes to claw their way to the top.

Jaime has had some other good dishes, like the corn soup. I dont want to move her up though, even though that quickfire challenge was stupid, it still showed that she is pretty lazy and uncreative....

but not as lazy as Rhadika! Cant wait for her to go, you know she wont be thankful or respectful.

Hosea made a total douche comment when he said he shouldn't have helped Stefan by giving him the spam. This said after the challenge where Stefan and the others all helped him when his fridge was open and his pork was ruined...which he ended up winning. I guess its ok to help him, but not for him to help anyone else.

I lost alot of respect for Leah and Hosea and i'm guessing their significant others are long gone by now, at least i hope.

The main challenge was good, however it was stupid to have them waste all that time making a menu on items that they ended up having no control over the ingredients.

The new judge was even more annoying with his stupid comments.

Carla saved again by her tart! Sucks that the winners of the challege didnt get a prize, not even a book!

Ariane was probably the right choice, but didnt deserve to go.

Do you think the producers went up to Leah and Hosea and suggested that if they play kissie, they might hang around a little longer?

But that's just it, she does this during the quick fires. I agree she is lazy and uncreative, however in terms of judging and her standing in the game her behavior in the quickfires are moot. All she cares about is impressing the judges, and she will 100% go to bat for whatever food she creates during the main challenges.

That's what disappointed me about Hosea and Leah. It's one thing to not give a shot about the quickfire. But to be that lazy and uncreative during a main challenge? Unforgivable, especially given their level of talent.

I think that Jeff has about as good as a shot at making the final as anyone. The rest are all capable of shotting them selves in the foot, Stefan, Hosea, Jamie, and Fabio have all fucked up at one time or another. There just no clear favorites these years.

Absolutely this came into play. Even if they didn't tell them the producers knew they could bank on more Leah and Hosea interaction to push what they consider "compelling TV". Ariane got screwed, Leah is useless and Hosea is a pussy.

I ready see Stefan as the winner. Jamie, Jeff will be around to the end.

No way Jeff makes it to the end. He over thinks everything. Every challenge - quick fire or main - he makes a minimum of 3 dishes: one being outstanding and the others mediocre to terrible. Occasionally the outstanding dish will save him, but more often the terrible dishes drag him down.

Stefan problem is his ego. he good, but I just don't see him learning from his mistakes. I see someone else winning it. I see him getting down to the final 5 at least, them repeating a mistake, he already made before. He might win he is good, but it not a forgone conclusion.

I have a feeling that if Radika had chosen Stefan, she would have not gone home.

or Fabio, which was the reason Leah did not go home. the teams won and lose last night because of Radika and Fabio.

Didn't Fabio make the thing that supposedly tasted worse than a frozen egg roll? I know he did well at his main job, but it seems like his food is continuing to go downhill.

Hopefully Spike and Andrew's screen time next week will be brief.

Toby Young's metaphors are so fucking bad. Is he trying too hard because he's nervous? I looked him up and he's the guy that wrote "How to Lose Friends and Alienate People", so apparently Simon Pegg plays him in that movie.

I don't see why he'd be nervous. It's not live and it's heavily edited. They could take his best stuff. It's just completely forced, based on the Simon Cowell model, and destined to suck.

I'm really worried about Fabio. The guy has top 3 potential and I feel like he's squandering it.

It's about time to start pegging our top three; the snag here is that a top three hasn't clearly emerged. Stefan isn't invincible by any means, as he's made dishes that have failed to impress before. If Tom Colicchio is stressing the personality side of chef-dom this season, Stefan has a huge roadblock in his path to top three glory. Moreso when you consider that Tom has specifically noted that Stefan's personality is lacking.

I've actually started to take a liking to Stefan; he's a jerk, but the unlikeable side of his personality has a certain logic to it. Meaning I don't think he's a jerk for the sake of being a jerk, I think he's a jerk because his world view kind of puts him at odds with people by default. That said, I think he's somewhat boring and unwilling to take risks, which combined with his noted lack of personality could be his undoing. This isn't really his fault; he's a caterer, and I think that shines through in the way he approaches many challenges. I do think that this could end up being to his detriment.

If personality is being treated more seriously as criteria for judgment this year (Tom has said that in the end they only go by the dish the judge produced, but that's definitely not totally true), then I think Jaimie is also in pretty deep shit. Despite her lack of personality and her low win percentage, she has, however, done pretty well for herself in terms of impressing people with her food, so maybe that will save her in the end. I'm interested to see what her problem is next week though.

Leah I can't see making top 3. I quite like her, and her cooking sensibility, but she gives up very easily, and sometimes it's hard to buy her passion for her profession. I have lost count of the number of times she has said, "I don't care" about a particular challenge. Aside from the fact that her food of late has been lacking, I think she's currently coasting and not putting 100% of herself into her cooking. I would love to see her in the top 3, but I'm not confident she can make it at this point.

Like I said, I'm worried about Fabio. Fabio is my guy, but he's slipping worse than anyone. I'm terrified of seeing next week's episode; the previews kind of foreshadow him getting cut, or at least standing on the blade's edge. He really needs to step his game up again, and bring back the sensibilities he displayed in the second fourth episodes. I think his personality can carry him a long way, but if he doesn't up his cooking he's just flat-out not going to make it.

After last night, I really don't see Carla having a chance. I don't think that I need to elaborate on this one.

In the end, my top 3 is Jeff, Hosea, and Stefan. Yes, I realize I pegged him as having roadblocks in his path, but those issues aside he's the best technical chef on the show. I think Stefan's ability in the kitchen is practically unmatched amongst all of the other contestants; only Jeff and Hosea (and Fabio, when he's fucking awake) can rival him. Hosea, despite his role in Team Lamb's utterly criminal treatment of their protein a couple episodes back, is a total package chef. The same goes for Jeff. I think they've both proven themselves to be completely capable throughout the entire season, and they both seem more driven to prove themselves than some of the other remaining chefs.

Maybe its because I came late to the show, but what's so great about Jeff and Hosea? I've seen at least the last 6 episodes and they have not shone in the least.

I think its a forgone conclusion that Stefan and Jaime are top two. Who rounds out the number three spot could be anyone really and i don't think it would matter, honestly.

Jeff has really interesting ideas for dishes, but they miss at least as often as they hit. Hosea is sort of the middle of the road guy, nothing too spectacular but nothing horrible- which should put him in the final four in this group. I have no idea who the fourth would be, though. Given that the show is rigged to an extent, I'd guess Leah. That way they can extend the ridiculous little Real World shit they've got going on. But I could also see Jeff or Fabio going on a mini run and getting there. The best two certainly seem to be Jaime and Stefan.

The third of the top three is usually a joke. Remember last year the girl (whose name I can't remember, I want to say Lesley). By the end they already know who is going to win, it is just a formality. They seem to just pick who they like for the third (remember Dale?). They really seem to like Jeff.
The Chiefs this year are really blah! Just I still like the show, even though it is a bit predicable.

Not exactly. Richard shit the bed in the finale and Lisa (the joke) almost ended up winning. Not that the producers would have let that happen.

Lisa that is her!

Last night showed why I root for Stefan. He has strong opinions, sticks with them, and is usually right. He KNOWS food and knows what his audience wants and how to give it to them with his style intact. Also, he doesn't make up excuses. When the freezer failed last night and Carla crapped the bed (as always) Stefan adapted and still made the best dish of the night. And he's extremely versatile unlike Scallop-girl.

I love Fabio also but he's toast. His personality is the best on the show but he's falling behind the others on cooking. Once they cut the dead weight (leah and carla) I think he's next.

And why bring back Andrew and Spike? They sucked. Their cooking sucked, their loser personalities sucked, and their weird homo-erotic "broness" sucks. Hate those two.

Andrew and Spike work for the show, they do commentary and blogs on the website.

As for Rhadika going home, i think it was a mistake. This show is Top Chef, not top manager/hostess. cleary, the producers picked this one, since Leah and Hosea's relationship make for better tv then Rhadika.

I also dislike the new judge, his comments are so lame.

Exactly. Did she cook anything? No. Did she contribute to the conception of the menu? No. Her only job was to be a good hostess and she shit the bed. Actually, that's not true. Her job was to be the brains of the operation. And here, she also shit the bed. The judges made the right choice.

she also picked her 'friend' over the better cooks. Stefan is a dick, but if you can't stand up to a dick like Stefan how do you plain to run your own business?

I've sort of touched on this before, but I think people read "Top Chef" and conclude that the show subsequently is only about cooking. If that were true, the show would be titled "Top Cook"-- there's much more to running a professional kitchen than simply cooking, and in such a setting the Chef is the one who supervises all facilities of the kitchen. Radhika might be a good cook but she's not necessarily a good chef, and last week showed that. She let her staff walk all over her (not just the cooks, but the wait staff as well) and floundered in the front of the house.

Frankly I think things would have gone differently if Radhika had put her foot down and had Jeff hold the front of the house. Say what you want about his cooking, Jeff has an undeniable presence and charm and a seemingly higher level of experience running a restaurant/kitchen than most of the other contestants. I know he was adamant about cooking, but it was Radhika's restaurant and she should have been calling the shots. If Jeff had played host, I have no doubts that one of two things would have happened:

1.) Carla would have gone home, if not for her terrible desserts then for her even more awful defense of her poor performance. Yeesh.
2.) Sahana would have actually won (remember, the judges actually preferred Sahana's food to Sunset Lounge's, outside of the desserts)

Restaurant Wars is important because it highlights other aspects of chefdom beyond the conception and ultimate creation of high-dining dishes. The winner of the competition will always be chosen for the quality of their food, but personality and professionalism tests are definitely interspersed along the way for a reason. I liked Radhika, but there's no doubt she should have gone home for allowing Sahana to sink.

I thought about it some more and now I'm not too sure that Hosea's going to make it to top three. The more I think about it the more I realize that he's been coasting since Blue Hill. I like the guy a lot but I think he'll run out of steam sooner rather than later.

I'm calling it for Stefan, Jamie, and Jeff.

that kind of how I see it.

Fabio, and Jeff are better then Jamie but Jamie is more consistent. I would like to see both Fabio, and Jeff fight it out at the final, but I don't see both making it. It will mostly being Jamie and Stefan. I don't think Jamie can beat Stefan, but either Fabio or Jeff on their A game can.

Bingo. But Jeff might be replaceable with Hosea. But I'm rooting for Chase.

Good call. Jeff sucks.