Top Chef - S4E11 Power Rankings

(Click here for the podcast version of this post.)

Well, that was depressing. Nothing like an hour-long episode with an inevitable train wreck at the end. I realize disappointment over Dale's elimination isn't a universal phenomenon, and yeah, he was a jackass who looked even worse in the bonus footage than he did on the show this week, if you can believe it. But he still deserved to be in the finals, and the competition isn't half as interesting without him. We'll get to the full Dale postmortem in a bit, but first I want to briefly address the conspiracy theorists, who were out in force again this week. I know I shouldn't. I know I should just let it go. The fact is, I can't disprove the existence of a conspiracy to fix the results any more than I can disprove the existence of the chupacabra. And to be fair, I won't completely discount the possibility that they're right and my mind remains open to compelling evidence. But let me just say this, and then we'll leave this topic alone for the rest of the season. Given what we know, if you believe the producers are pulling the strings and influencing elimination decisions to help a woman win the finals, you must believe the following:

• That a woman winning or a number of women reaching the finals would have a significant impact on ratings.
• That the producers believe the difference in ratings to be so significant that they're willing to risk completely destroying an already successful show if word ever got out that it was fixed.
• That the producers feel it is vitally important to the audience's enjoyment to help women get deeper into the show, and yet seem completely unconcerned with keeping favorites such as Lee Anne, Sam, Tre, and arguably Dale when there were perfectly viable alternatives for elimination.
• That the show's staff is so incompetent, they can't achieve the same ends simply and with no risk to the show's credibility through careful casting.
• That female chefs just aren't good enough to compete with male chefs on their own merits, and need the help.
• That the judges are all in on the fix, and regular judges Tom and Ted, having stated in no uncertain terms that the producers have never influenced their decisions (with the exception of Cliff in season two -- a highly unusual circumstance and just the sort of thing the disclaimer is meant to address), are bald-faced liars.
• That numerous titans of the food world who were present as guest judges for close calls when men were eliminated -- including Paul Kahan, Art Smith, Rick Bayless and José Andrés -- are in on it as well.
• That Anthony Bourdain is the kind of guy who's willing to preside over a fixed contest. (UPDATE 5/29: Bourdain can now be added to the list of frequent judges who have explicitly stated that the producers have never in any way influenced their decisions, and who have gone on to say that they would not stand for it... though Bourdain's take on this familiar line is, as one might expect, significantly more entertaining than the others.)
• That of all of the people involved, not a single one has felt compelled to blow the whistle.

If all of the above strikes you as reasonable, then yes, it makes perfect sense to believe that Top Chef is fixed. And that's all I have to say about that.

Getting back to the good stuff, however, we get another great quickfire here late in the season. I don't think the chefs have been thrown on the line since the inaugural episode, when Hubert Keller ruled with an iron fist and gave them the boot at the slightest provocation. Even though the first go around was a fine dining establishment, I'm betting this was the tougher challenge. Eggs are tricky under any circumstances, much less when you're crammed into a tiny station and hammered with orders. Between the show and Lee Anne's blog, it's unclear whether the winner was strictly a matter of who lasted the longest before getting the boot, or if it was a nebulous judgment call on the part of the owner. But either way, Antonia has executed cleanly under fire all season, so it's not surprising that she was named the winner.

Restaurant Wars felt oddly rushed, this year. I think the editors generally do a fine job, but this struck me as an episode that really could have used the extra 15 minutes they tack on from time to time. The pacing of some segments felt off, I have a lot of unanswered questions, and the fact that half the blogging staff is AWOL this week doesn't help matters either. But while most of the attention has been focused on the train wreck that was Team Altamont and the subsequent controversy, let's not overlook the fact that Stephanie, Richard and Antonia were the first team to absolutely rock Restaurant Wars. We've been saying for weeks that this season's field is unusually strong, and you couldn't ask for stronger evidence than that. Even with Dale out of the picture, assuming these three survive next week, this may turn out to be the best finals yet.

Not much movement, which isn't surprising this late in the season, but there's one high-profile jump, and it's a crowd-pleaser.

Wins

Top

Bottom

1 Richard Quickfires 4 7 2 Last Week: 1 Eliminations 3 5 1 Richard hasn't wowed us recently, but he's performing well, he has almost a full season of excellence backing him up, and he still looks like the one to beat -- as long as he isn't cleaning seafood. Even with Stephanie heating up again and Antonia making a little more noise than usual, I think you have to consider him the favorite, and Dale's ouster only makes him look less vulnerable. All of that said, this wasn't the most exciting week for Richard. We don't really have a sense of how he performed in the quickfire, except that he didn't do as well as Dale and Antonia. In the elimination, he held down his position as Chef de Cuisine admirably, even if his dishes didn't give us much to go on. I still love the banana scallops, but the operative word here is "still". I understand the desire to play it safe, but c'mon, Richard. Show us something new! His beet salad with goat cheese, ras el hanout, honey and a number of fresh herbs looked rather nice, even given the ubiquity of beet salads these days, and the judges seemed to love it. One thing puzzles me, though. We've seen this beet / goat cheese / ras el hanout flavor profile before -- from Ryan, in the zoo challenge. Richard and Ryan were both members of Team Lion way back when. Was Ryan getting a little help from Richard? Did Richard adopt Ryan's pairing? If the latter, I don't think that reflects poorly on Richard. What we saw this week was a much more refined dish, and by no means the same thing. But it's interesting, nonetheless. Incidentally, I think he may have also had a hand in the lamb squared, but we'll get to that in a moment.

2 Stephanie Quickfires 1 2 4 Last Week: 4 Eliminations 3 8 3 >This week, I saw exactly what I needed from Stephanie to put her back above Antonia. She took control and, by all accounts, was the central figure in shaping the restaurant's character. And while the pressure of opening a restaurant overnight isn't the same kind of pressure as producing a spur of the moment dish in 30 minutes, she handled it beautifully and seemed completely in control throughout. But most importantly, she developed two dishes that were both unconventional and excellent. I'm something of a pasta purist – or at least highly skeptical of newfangled noodles -- so the fact that her linguine and clams with sausage and horseradish crème fraîche intrigues me says something. And while I'm less surprised by the gorgonzola cheesecake than some (I'm a huge fan of creative, composed cheese courses), I AM intrigued by her inclusion of a sweet potato puree along with the grape syrup and walnut crumble. Without the sweet potato, it's an unconventional -- if refined -- repackaging of a very conventional flavor profile. The sweet potato, however, is out of left field and I may cook this one up at some point to see how it works. If Stephanie can produce these kinds of dishes in the finals while keeping her wits about her, she'll be far more compelling than Antonia, and she'll absolutely give Richard a run for his money.

3 Antonia Quickfires 4 6 1 Last Week: 3 Eliminations 1 6 3 Antonia didn't have a half bad week herself, and she actually showed a little more spark than I've come to expect from her, but I still have some questions about what, exactly, she accomplished. My question rests with the lamb squared, where the braised shank could not possibly be more boilerplate, braised with carrots, celery, leeks and garlic, and the instructions for the lamb loin are found, oddly enough, in the recipe for Richard's beet salad. My hunch is that this dish -- the interesting parts, at least -- were actually Richard's, not Antonia's. But even though I've been down on Antonia (if only relative to the other top contenders), I must give credit where credit is due. Her trout with cauliflower didn't exactly reinvent the wheel, but it was a subtly creative dish that looked like it was stunningly executed. The sauce was composed of cauliflower, rapini, raisins, capers, hazelnuts, garlic, butter and cream, and I love the decision to plate it on the side, leaving the trout crisp, fresh and pristine. The refinement has always been there, but this kind of pizzazz is what's been lacking with her all season. If she can produce this kind of food going forward, I'll happily eat my previous criticisms and commence rooting for her openly. But the fact that it's such a grand exception, even within the context of this single episode, keeps me from exhibiting the proverbial irrational exuberance. It also keeps me from allowing her to hold the second spot against a surging Stephanie.

4 Spike Quickfires 1 3 4 Last Week: 5 Eliminations 0 1 5 Say what you will about Spike's tendency to play gamesman first and chef second, but he's one elimination away from the finals. The dude knows when to stick his nose in, when to run for cover and how to minimize his failings on the chopping block, even if that bit about having to hang Buddhas was laughably lame. Not only did he remove himself from a volatile situation in the kitchen and put himself in the front where he'd be safe as long as Dale and Lisa didn't dazzle the judges, but even on the food front, he picked a dish that he could easily handle and/or delegate while playing interior designer, and it was solid but unconventional enough to buy him another week. No, he hasn't wowed people, but his braised short ribs with pickled cabbage and apple basil Thai salad sounds a lot more compelling to me than Antonia's braised lamb shank with carrot, celery and leeks. I don't mean to defend him in the general sense. He's a cunning gamesman but a weak chef, and if not for Lisa's total inability to put together a coherent dish, he would have owned the basement since Nikki's departure. But as frustrating as it is, you have to acknowledge that he's demonstrated a lot of talent in this competition, even if it isn't exactly the type of talent the competition is meant to reward.

5 Lisa Quickfires 0 1 6 Last Week: 6 Eliminations 1 3 5 The state of Lisa's Top Chef bid can best be summed up by the nature of the Top Chef audience's reaction when she uncorked this little gem: "It's probably the first time that I've made a huge mistake in this competition, and I'm going to suffer for it big time." The first time, Lisa? Really? Well, allow me to retort: Lisa, Episode 3, on her skirt steak tacos: "I'm freaking out at this point. Rick takes a bite of my taco and physically can't break the steak off with his teeth." Daniel Boulud and Lisa, Episode 4, on her vegetable quickfire: DB: "Do you marinate lightly the zucchini before you grill?" LF: "Just with a little bit of olive oil and salt." DB: "This is back to basics." Johnny Iuzzini, Episode 7, on the infamous "Polish sausage" dish: "You can't change the terms of the challenge because you don't like the ingredient." Tom, Episode 8, on Lisa's quinoi crusted chicken: "The beans and the edamame were undercooked and really bland, like, no seasoning at all." Sam, Episode 10, on Lisa's sexy banana salad: "I liked the idea of using the squid and the lobster, but really all I could taste was the banana. It just seemed like a hodgepodge a little bit more than more of a composed salad." Tom, Episode 10, on Lisa's shrimp stir fry: "You promised us a stir fry, and it really wasn't too much of a stir fry. And there were so many things that weren't cooked properly on the dish. The long beans were pretty raw, and the shrimp was pretty raw too, even after it was in the microwave and came out." Ladies and gentlemen, according to Lisa Fernandes, her very first huge mistake of the season came in episode eleven, when she oversmoked her laksa. Nevermind that she's now been on the bottom of eight straight challenges. Nevermind that her last four dishes, all squarely in her Asian wheelhouse, bombed. According to Lisa, she's just now screwed up for the first time. I understand the logic behind Dale's ouster, and I can't fault the judges for making that call. But I also think it was the wrong call.

6 Dale Quickfires 1 6 2 Last Week: 2 Eliminations 3 5 2 I said it last week, and I stand by it now. I think Dale's sixth place finish -- more than Lee Anne finishing fourth, more than Sam finishing with a share of third, and even more than Tre finishing eighth -- is the single biggest upset elimination in the history of the show. Opinion seems to be split over whether Dale deserved the praise or was highly overrated, but from what I've seen, most who follow the second school of thought haven't been reading his recipes. His work was crisp, imaginative, and compelling, and while his attitude had significant flaws, his food, for the most part, did not. All of that said, however, whether or not you agree with the judges' decision, Dale put his own head on the chopping block. And as disappointed as I was with the decision, as I rewatch the episode, I see more and more places where he simply and inarguably screwed up. No matter how justified his feelings about some of his fellow competitors were, that was no excuse for his awful attitude. He was snide, surly and combative not just with his teammates, but with the judges as well, and as mentioned above, based on the bonus footage, it looks like the final edit actually cut some of the more objectionable material. He also made a mess of his executive chef role, rolling out a menu that was surprisingly tame and traditional, and still failing to deliver, both through bad planning and bad decisions. Whole Foods doesn't have the sticky rice you need? Stop right there and choose another dessert. And when you forge ahead anyway and it turns out terribly? Suck it up and eighty-six it. Yeah, it looks bad, but at least you're demonstrating that, as Executive Chef, you're exercising some control and pride in what you serve. And contrary to popular belief, not only can the executive chef of the losing team survive, but the executive chef of the losing team HAS survived -- half of the time, in fact! See Lee Anne in season one and Sam in season two. But you have to take responsibility for the mistakes you made and demonstrate that you understand what you did wrong, neither of which Dale seemed inclined to do. But lastly, and most importantly, you can't make lousy food. We get mixed signals on the dumplings. Padma loves them, Ted appreciates the crust, but Bourdain implies they were greasy. Ditto on the halo halo. Andres, unfamiliar with the dish, is impressed. Bourdain, familiar with the dish, feels it's competent but familiar. But you know what strikes me? What Dale served for Restaurant Wars, after the benefit of experience, was actually a dumbed down version of his episode seven halo halo. That one was praised for bringing together all kinds of disparate flavors and textures into a pleasing, refreshing whole. But in the Restaurant Wars version, half of those elements were missing. And lastly, he turned out an entree that the judges absolutely hated. And lest we forget, on Top Chef, bad sweet is more forgivable than bad savory. I'll stand up for Dale a little bit here. For starters, despite the dish's title, and without going into great detail, what he made wasn't butterscotch. It was caramel with some butter and some scotch whisked in. And while butterscotch in a savory context isn't Vietnamese, caramel in a savory context very much is, and it absolutely can and does work. But in Vietnam, the caramel's sweetness is tempered first by the fact that the sugar is cooked JUST shy of burning, which adds a strong bitter component, and second by the inclusion (usually, I believe -- Vietnamese experts, jump in here) of fish sauce, the excessively salty and funky properties of which, again, take the edge off the sweetness. While I understand it in theory because of its saltiness, I don't see miso having quite the same effect, and based on the color of the sauce, I'm thinking he didn't take the heated sugar close enough to the brink before shutting it down, thereby making what should have been a bittersweet sauce merely sweet. And while I don't know if it has any traditional roots, I also question the pairing with scallops. But my point is simply that I think this was an error in execution, not the crazy lack of judgment that it may seem to many. He was trying to put an interesting twist on a classic Asian sauce, and while he's been doing that successfully all season, he blew it this time, plain and simple. If that dish succeeds, Dale's still around. For that matter, a LOT of things could have kept Dale around. If he had just edged Antonia in the quickfire. If he had just lost that coin toss to Lisa. If he had just gotten Tom rather than substitute head judge Bourdain, who probably weighed the executive chef role more and previous performance less than Tom would have. It took, as I called it last week, the absolute rock bottom hide the women and children four alarm disaster worst-case scenario to bring Dale down, and I think that speaks to his strength in this competition. But as they say in sports, that's why they play the games. If the favorites always advanced while the scrubs always went home, there'd be no sense in having the competition at all.

So we've definitely been led to believe that it'll be four chefs in Puerto Rico, which means one more gets the axe next week and Spike or Lisa or -- *gasp* -- both make the finals. Our guest judge, for those who don't recognize him from the preview, is Rick Tramonto, a very well-respected fellow around Chicago (and to a certain extent, the nation) whose personal flagship is Tru, a fine dining establishment just off the Mag Mile.

-- POTENTIAL MINOR SPOILERS WARNING --

We don't see the quickfire again, but it looks like the chefs are working the line at Tramonto's Steak & Seafood -- another one of Tramonto's restaurants that I haven't had the opportunity to visit. It's officially described as "an upscale, contemporary steakhouse serving a la carte dinner every night, showcasing specialty cut steaks, fresh seafood preparations and an international wine list." Perhaps the reward for winning the quickfire is the ability to choose your station for the night? As usual, this is 95% guesswork, and I probably have it all wrong. But if correct, this could be a really exciting challenge that I kind of like in some ways and not so much in others. It should, in theory, let the chefs who are skilled, precise and experienced shine while exposing those who aren't. But if somebody gets stuck on an unfamiliar station -- god help the poor sap who draws the grill station at an upscale steakhouse if s/he hasn't spent lots of time on a grill station before -- one of the favorites could be a victim of bad luck in the last elimination before the finals, and I don't like to see that kind of randomness this close to the big show. All things being equal, however, in a challenge like this I'd expect Richard and Antonia to execute cleanly, Spike and Lisa to flail or flop completely, and Stephanie to go either way depending on which Stephanie shows up. Enough wild speculation, though. We'll see what happens on Wednesday.

Discuss!

Comments

[J-diddy]

Hey dude, you rock! I have thoroughly enjoyed your blog ever since I found out about it from Ted Allen's blog on the Bravo website. I must say though, I must disagree with your statement that Dale's elimination was the biggest in the show's history. Tre's elimination in Season Three edges this one out, I believe. Let us not forget that Dale had won 3 challenges in 11 episodes, while Tre had equaled that feat in 10. Also, Dale's 3rd win came in episode 10, while Tre's came in episode 8. Overall, I believe that Tre had exerted much greater domination over Season 3 than Dale has in Season 4. Also, Stephanie has technically become the first Top Chef contestant to ever win 4 elimination challenges. However, you only have her down as winning 3 challenges this Season. Let us not forget that Richard did give her the win in Wedding Wars. However, I can understand if you do not count that as an actual win. Anyway, I love reading your opinions and this blog brightens my week.

[Jamie]

More of a general comment about the season, since I'm all commented out from the previous post. Being both a Chicago resident and a Top Chef fan, I've been a little underwhelmed by the utilization of Chicago this season. The only reason I mention this now is because I assume the following episode will be the last in Chicago. Police academy, Bear's games, deep dish pizza, Polish sausage...Uncle Ben's Rice (kidding). Maybe I'm just in denial about my (our) city. Perhaps it's just coincidental that the trend towards Top Caterer become so pronounced in Chicago this year. Maybe the recent (but not really) emergence of Chicago as a FINE DINING destination has time yet to be accepted nationally, but I think deep down I was hoping this season would help solidify that. Instead I got Art Smith telling me to eat healthy.

Perhaps this week every Chicago chef that I've come to love will burst forth from Tramonto's kitchen and make everything better. Maybe a double whammy, Michael Carlson comes skipping in with Dale as the producers whisk away Lisa. Now I'm excited.

[canasian]

I'm repeating myself here, but no one read what I said, so I feel justified reiterating it on a post that isn't six days old. The preview for this week is called" Final Four?". Yes, the question mark is in the title. Like Dom said, this is 95% guesswork, but the question mark indicates that the final four might be coming to us in a slightly different package. There might be a double elination looming, sending us straight to a three-person finale, possibly either a one-part challenge or we might be back to the two-person finals. If this occurs, I mentioned on the "Bummer." post that Antonia and Spike look safe, and Lisa's getting the hardest criticism and basically a tie for the other eliminatee between Steph and Richard, which is worrying. On the flipside, there might be no elimination, which has an entirely new heads and tails in itself. On one hand, it might mean one of their "a technicality came up so now we need a new challenge for next week or we need to redux this one because we can't send someone home" curveballs (think of Betty's crispy cookie). Or, they might say everyone's food was so good, they're going to have a five-person (three-part?) finals.

[Skillet Doux]

Canasian...

You could be right, but I read the question mark not to mean "is it four?" but rather simply to mean "who are the four?"

I certainly wouldn't rule out a last-minute curveball, though.

[Dan]

Why has Spike become the Rodney Dangerfield of Season 4? To defend him is as easy as simply watching the episodes and paying attention:

1) Spike was smart in "Restaurant Wars". He accepted his order from Hitler and Mussolini to work the front of the house (did he even have any say in this?) and allowed the fireworks to begin. Watch the close-ups of him trying to hide the smile on his face as the two tyrants ground each other into the dirt. I knew he was savvy, the judges knew, the producers knew, his teammates finally knew (much to their dismay), and every viewer who dislikes Spike knew (even if they're not admitting it.)

2) Per Padma, "Spike did his job properly." Per the guest judge, "I like the feel in here." Per Bourdain, "The atmosphere only increased the expectations for the food." The only negative comment about decor was about the purple napkins. Rewind to previous seasons when interior designers had to be brought in to correct the dismally decorated (and scented) restaurants.

3) Spike correctly communicated front room information back to the kitchen. Lisa was prickly but accepted it. Dale hated it and got blasted by Bourdain when he dared say it was inappropriate.

4) Spike's short ribs was the best received dish on their menu. Yes, SPIKE'S short ribs. Stephanie got full credit for their linguine with clams even though it was crystal clear that she had help washing/preparing the clams and making the pasta (Antonia, Nikki, cameramen, hair stylist - who didn't help with the pasta?) And, you know what - that's what teamwork and restaurant work is all about. Stephanie had a brilliant idea, did brilliant work and gave brilliant direction. Spike did the same (maybe a little less brilliant to be fair) yet he is berated for not doing his "fair share." I think there is a huge double standard occurring here. To top it all off, Spike graciously shared kudos with Lisa and Dale. I really wonder if either of them would have done the same thing.

5) In "Wedding Wars", Spike's Chilean sea bass is singled out as the best dish on the groom's side. Per the footage, we see that Spike had to grab this dish away from Dale - who was arrogantly trying to do everything himself.

6) In "Wedding Wars", Spike is accused of not doing his fair share by only chopping vegetables and creating the sea bass. However, Gale Gand states that chopping the vegetables "is a big job that probably took up most of his time". Also, Spike had to have the fortitude to grab the sea bass away from Dale. More also, per the footage, it sure didn't look like anyone was shirking their duties to me.

7) The footage from "Wedding Wars" sure looks like Spike is conniving - but only conniving to try and set Nikki up for success ("..keep her away from Dale..", "I know our girl will bring us home to success...) Hello, but in my world conniving to help someone is called "teamwork".

8) In "Common Threads", Spike's pasta puntanesca is very well received and is only outshined by Antonia's whole wheat pasta. I couldn't figure out why he was not in the top three but assumed that one pasta dish was enough for the judges to discuss.

9) In "Improv", Spike's soup is deemed "one of the best seasoned dishes of the season" and is very well received.

10) In "Elements", the producers cut the footage to make it look like Spike is an unfeeling jerk (i.e. add drama). However, if you watch the episode, you'll note that:

a) Spike tries to get Antonia to take a backseat since she had won immunity. Antonia fights him all the way and somewhat belittles him, "I'm using q-u-a-l-i-t-y ingredients..."

b) Spike correctly wants to prepare soup to represent their element, "earth". Antonia disagrees. Zoi is quiet. And the judges almost seem shocked that the group did not prepare soup since it is the most obvious choice for an earthy starting course.

c) Spike advises Zoi to season her mushrooms (it's in the footage), and what does Zoi get booted for? not seasoning her mushrooms.

d) At the end, we see Antonia lying about refusing to make soup ("it's in the footage") and Jennifer apparently angree with Spike about Zoi's departure. I hope both Antonia and Jennifer offer Spike an apology when they watch the episodes.

11) Spike did make one or two "lesbian" comments, but they were much more silly than icy. Do we really think that a guy who gets naked with another guy in a bathtub on national TV is homophobic or misogynistic?

Admittedly, Spike was an annoying nuisance in the "Cops" episode. And, he was lucky that Andrew had drunk his 3000th Red Bull right before Judge's Table or he would have deservedly gotten the axe. But, luck does play a part on Top Chef and Spike's admittance of "...perhaps I did misuse the one quickfire challenge I won.." did sound somewhat sincere. If it was, I really hope to see him in the Final Four. If it wasn't, well, I just kind of hope to see him in the Final Four

[Skillet Doux]

"Why has Spike become the Rodney Dangerfield of Season 4?"

Because, Dan, as I said a couple of weeks back, he's competent with many styles of food, and master of none. Over the run of the season, he's only been on top of four challenges, and won just one. As a means of comparison, Antonia's 5 for 12, Richard is 7 for 12, Stephanie is 4 for 10 and Dale was 4 for 11. I'm not one who advocates giving too much weight to the numbers, but that incredible disparity exists for a reason. In most (certainly not all) of the examples you cite, he stands out as a competent dish among train wrecks, not as an excellent dish the likes of which can win him the competition. He's gotten as far as he has not by excelling as a chef, but through smart gamesmanship, cooking just well enough to survive, avoiding major screwups, and a lot of luck -- which is all fine and good, but I think most people, myself included, would like to see the better chefs rewarded, not those who are better at playing the game (though, of course, the intersection of the two is the ideal).

There are, as you point out, exceptions, the soup being the big one. But the rest, when you look a little deeper, look at what he's being compared to when he's being singled out for praise, look at the recipes -- he's just not doing anything that interesting or impressive. He's had his moments, and if you look back at my comments through the run of the season I think you'll find that I haven't hesitated one bit to praise him when appropriate. But buzz through his recipes quickly and tell me if you think they look like the creations of a top four chef, especially when compared to Richard, Stephanie, Antonia, Dale, Jennifer... and even Mark and Andrew when they're on. He can crow scoreboard if he likes (though Dale seems to have cornered the market on that particular bit of douchebaggery), but I'd eat at the restaurants of any of the above in a heartbeat before I sought out Spike's.

[Skillet Doux]

J-diddy...

Thanks :-)

BTW, as gracious as Richard was with the Wedding Wars prize, I think it would be grossly misleading to call that a win for Stephanie. The judges decide who wins, not the contestants. The Bravo website doesn't credit her for it, and neither do I. Not that my count is always in lockstep with the official count -- it isn't -- but in this case, we agree.

[jesster36]

For Wedding Wars, it was my understanding that Richard won the challenge but decided to give the prize to Stephanie, which they then decided to split. Richard mentions this discrepancy in the "Burning Questions Blog" under "Richard: Here Comes the Chef" on the bravotv.com website.

Love this blog!!

[DaveP]

Well, nothing much left to say about this episode since we hashed it all out last week. The rankings are exactly what I expected, and as they should be. Hopefully, you'll have another post-mortem Thursday for this week's episode where we can lament about how Spike or Lisa (or god forbid both) will be making it to the finals.

BTW, I think the 1st showing of the episode was 1:15. The subsequent repeats were cut down to 1hr, but I'm fairly sure the first broadcast went from 10:00 to 11:15 (EDT).

One last thing about the conspiracies. I don't buy them for a second either, but I do think there are subtle things the producers can do to manipulate the field. For example, the QF challenge and its reward was just the sort of thing that would get rid of a very strong chef who wouldn't get eliminated in an individual challenge. Just the fact that there's a team challenge with just 6 left probably means the producers wanted a bit of a shakeup--maybe not specifically targeted, but knowing that odds were good that someone highly qualified would get axed, and there'd be much controversy (which equals ratings in their mind).

[Tom]

Thanks for a great posting, as usual. I completely agree with your rankings and analysis.

Oh, Dale, Dale, Dale.... He really dug his own grave, but I still contend that the judges made the wrong choice. I think your point re: Bourdain not giving as much weight to past performance is probably right on the money. I can even see how the voting broke down - Padma/Ted v. Bourdain/Andres. If the head judge gets to decide in a tie-breaker, Dale is toast. Padma did not say, as she did during Andrew's ouster, that it was a unanimous decision, so we know there was at least one dissenter at judge's table.

As I see it, so many of Dale's mistakes can easily be attributed to sleep deprivation, exhaustion, etc. - the group had just come off Wedding Wars a few days earlier and had to be up at the crack of dawn for the QF. No one functions at their peak in this kind of environment, and personality types like Dale's are especially susceptible. Dale is clearly not someone who handles stress well or someone who can dig himself out of a hole. Once the teams were announced, he just put his head down and made bad decision after bad decision.

[Dreamboat]

I will miss Dale, but he did dig his own grave. If ONLY his dish did not suck, he might have had a chance. But between the bad scallop dish and his endless ranting, he had no chance. (note to Dale: you get more belligerent when you drink...).

Anyway, my comment has to do with the previews. Have you noticed that they always show Padma looking at the contestant sent home when she says "Please pack your knives"? Last week she looked left and when the chefs lined up in front of her I thought "Oh, no! Dale is going home!" And this was way before he started to rant.

This week she looks right. Just saying....

[Diane U]

I would agree that Dale's response to the challenges all season have been more creative and well-executed than those of Lisa & Spike & even Antonia, and certainly tied with Steph. But he screwed up this challenge with a lot of focused intent and energy. In the role of exec chef, which he demanded and won, he owned at least part of everything about the food and service. Why did he want to be exec chef so bad? Seems like he wanted control of only his own dishes and to take credit for only what the judges liked.

And I don't know if this came out in the comments from last week (I stopped reading after the first few pages!), but Dale DID pick the rice, so he also lied to the judges! "exceptional for rice puddings - well, there ya go!" He apparently doesn't know know what rice pudding is, or that rice for rice pudding is not sticky rice - his solution to fix it was absurd - so HE can take credit for messing up that dessert from start to finish. He dropped a rotten avocado in his halo halo. His butterscotch was apparently executed poorly.

Upset? I guess - but deserved? absolutely.

Lisa might be able to cook well under perfect circumstances, but should have been gone from this competition by now. Spike is sneaky & sly, perfect for reality TV. I hope Richard wins - it won't be that surprising, but it will make sense. My favorite, though, was Valerie - she looks a lot like that SNL chick that does "Debbie Downer." :) Thanks for your wonderful blog!

[Tim]

I'm pretty much commented out from the last thread, too. It was a lot like therapy. With the last round of postings it pretty much looks like we're in the final phase of grief - acceptance. whew!!
No surprise in the rankings. I think you're right with Antonia and Steph. I agree with you and others that this is the best season for talent. I'm sure we'll see Dale's cooking in the finals. Barring another surreal upset, he'll probably be cooking for team Richard, though I think that Steph would choose him as well, now. It should be pretty exciting either way. I would expect phenomenal creativity and execution from him and Richard. If he paired up with Steph, I think that would be her best chance for pulling together an upset. I know we've all been pretty hard on Lisa. So maybe Dale did pick the rice out. I would just think that since they both specialize in Asian cooking one would know how to improvise and cook from scratch when needed. As a former baker I know how to improvise baking powder from baking soda and cream of tartar, and buttermilk from milk and vinegar. It just seems that part of specializing in an area of cooking would encompass knowing quick fixes and shortcuts. (Yes Lisa. Improvising doesn't mean adjusting the rules to your recipe, but adjusting the recipe to the rules.) I'm sure she's a better cook and person in real life than what we see through a jaded lens, but she reminds me of that slugger from "Major League" who couldn't hit a curve ball, or Zoolander who couldn't 'turn left.' A chef in Asian cuisine who can't cook rice. Now that's a tragic flaw.

[Tim]

PS Skillet Man, I forgot to compliment you on your opening observations regarding conspiracy theories. Personally, I think the only competition ever really rigged are for government contracts.
Good blog!

[bill (lowercase b)]

Trying to figure out how much influence Richard has had in other's dishes, I thought the lamb squared sounded familiar. Just remembered that's because I'd just seen a picture and description of a similar dish from his new kitchen, Home: "Fourth Course - 2 textures of lamb. Lamb rib and some lamb loin, served with potato gnocchi, brunoise of veg, and lamb jus. "

Not necessarily conclusive one way or the other, just interesting. Link to Atlanta Cuisine comment with photos:

http://www.atlantacuisine.com/cgi-bin/eforums/YaBB.pl?num=1207940638/136#136

[anon man]

SD,

Check out the menu at Foxtail (Antonia's Restaurant) I think you'll see that the beet salad is on the menu. Either 1) its an example of how common beet salad is now or 2) one of them stole the recipe from the other. Not sure which, but I find that interesting.

[Skillet Doux]

Anon Man...

Ha! There it is again :-) Good catch.

To be clear, I'm not suggesting there's anything wrong with any of this. I don't think the word "stole" is warranted unless you're talking about lifting an exact recipe. Of course chefs see interesting pairings and techniques and they want to do their own take. It's not just acceptable, it's how so many wonderful, creative dishes start. It's just that the beet and ras el hanout struck me as an interesting pairing when Ryan did it early in the season, and now I'm wondering if one of his few successes actually came from Richard, or if Richard liked it enough to quickly adopt and adapt it to his own style. Within the scope of this competition is another story. I think it's kind of weak to mimic a competitor's recipe later in the competition, but unlike Stephanie and Lisa's fruit desserts, which looked VERY similar to me, Ryan and Richard's beet salads looked like two very different dishes that were based on the same beet / ras el hanout / goat cheese pairing.

And yes, beet salads were trite three or four years ago. Of course, that doesn't make them any less awesome :-)

[Bill]

"d) At the end, we see Antonia lying about refusing to make soup ("it's in the footage") and Jennifer apparently angree with Spike about Zoi's departure. I hope both Antonia and Jennifer offer Spike an apology when they watch the episodes."

Incorrect. There is clear footage of Antonia saying something like: If you want to make soup, we'll make soup.
Interesting comment from Bobby Flay on Iron Chef on Sunday night. One judge commented on one of his dishes (paraphrasing) that it was an example of letting a few quality ingredients come together in a harmonious way. Then another judge commented that he didn't have to do much with that dish.
Flay's response: "I had to show restraint."
Perhaps something to think about when judging Antonia's plates.

[Skillet Doux]

"Flay's response: "I had to show restraint."
Perhaps something to think about when judging Antonia's plates."

That's very true, but the line between restrained and boring is a very fine one. Simple is good. More ingredients doesn't equal better. But many of Antonia's dishes have seemed short on character, or they've been dumbed down versions of dishes that aren't simple by their nature (her jerk, for example). When you're doing simple at a high level, there has to be either some really exceptional technique, or some very personal touches that are an expression of the chef's character.

Incidentally, without having seen this dish you speak of, restrained for Bobby Flay is typical for everybody else. He's somebody who tends towards the OTHER end of the spectrum, I think, throwing waaaaay too many flavors into some of his dishes :-)

[Skillet Doux]

Bill...

I found that Iron Chef America of which you speak.

To be fair, Flay's dish was pristine grilled langoustine with a lime vinaigrette and crispy fried basil -- simple, but already a little unconventional -- and it was served in the context of a five course meal that was anything but.

So again, ultrasimple is good -- but the chef still has to find a way to put his or her signature on it, and it can't be all you do.

[DaveP]

"Flay's response: "I had to show restraint."
Perhaps something to think about when judging Antonia's plates."

Dom already addressed this, but also consider that Bobby Flay's signature is crazy SW flavors. There's a world of difference between Flay needing to show restraint and someone whose style is already predisposing towards the bland, not to mention the ingredient at hand.

I too saw that episode of ICA and the judges & Alton Brown repeatedly mentioned how delicate the langostino was and how easy it was to overpower the flavor. An entirely different beast from underseasoned carpaccio, don't you think?

[warhol]

Why does everybody hate Lisa so much? No mater what bolg i look into she is universaly bashed. Is this an inside joke? As i see it spike is the one who deserves all your rightious blogger fury. He is the biggest jackass in Top chef history. With the finger pointing and the "was'nt me" attitude. Does any body remember Butternut squash soup gate? Enough about him, this post is about Lisa. I will say that Lisa is indeed a bitch, but as Tina Fey said in Saturday Night Live- Bitches get things done. P.S. i'm a Hillary suporter

[DZ]

Here's the type of "conspiracy" that I think does happen on these types of shows:

• That the producers think having a woman win is important. You could replace this with some other goal (e.g., keeping an interesting or confrontational or whatever contestant around).
• Some discussion with the judges about what makes for a good show. This could just be post mortems about past seasons or discussions about what the goals are in structuring and/or casting for a new season. It does not have to be a “I want you to let a female chef win” type of statement or instruction. And some goals, such as wanting interesting contestants around, are so obvious no discussion is even needed (which is not to say that they don't talk about who some of the contestants that have made for good TV have been). For many of the reasons you note, it would be unwise to explicitly try to fix a contest.
• With this as context, the judges do not set out to reach a particular outcome, but they do have that in the back of their minds, either consciously or subconsciously, when there are close calls.
• I don’t think we know enough about the details of judges’ table to say, but it seems to me quite plausible that Tom could push the outcome in a direction he wanted, if it was otherwise a close call.

I don't have a strong prior on whether this type of scenario happens on Top Chef (and I haven't gone back to try to identify instances) but I think it is quite plausible that this has happened on occasion. Granted, the type of dynamic described is next to impossible to prove, but that is also why it can be effective. (And to the extent it happens subconsciously, query whether it is a fix of any kind.) I'm more inclined to think it would happen with a controversial contestant that people think makes for good TV than a strict desire to have a female chef win.

If you're a judge and you think of Top Chef as a good gig, why wouldn't you keep the interesting contestant around if it is a close call (and even if you would eliminate that person is judging solely based on cooking) if you thought that would make the show better?

[anon man]

SD, yes, Beet salad/goat cheese is awesome. So, awesome, I had it last night at Corduroy in DC. The goat cheese was softened/creamed a little and spread out as a thin layer on the plate. The beets, etc. were placed on top. Great plating, and still yummy.

As for the TC version, the Raz el Hanout was used by Richard in the first challenge (Crab cakes), and at least one other time that I can't recall right off the top of my head, so I think its one of his go to flavors. So, if you had handed me the recipe without an author, I would have guessed Richard. But, maybe Antonia came up with a similar dish independetly. I'm sort of curious how long that dish had been on the menu at Foxtail...

[Bill]

I agree with the follow-ups on the Flay/Antonia thread, I’m only suggesting that the point be kept in mind when evaluating her plates/recipes.
Along the same lines, I can’t recall if it was in one of his books or if I heard him say it, but Bourdain said that he didn’t consider himself a very imaginative chef and that he didn’t lie awake at night thinking about flavor profiles. All he wanted to do was cook French bistro faire and do it well. I’m not sure how highly he’d be regarded as a chef were it not for his TV shows but my guess is that prior to his fame he had a certain level of respect in the N.Y.C. culinary world.
For those that have read Ruhlman’s book on the Master Chef exam at the C.I.A., or if you know what it entails, which of this season’s Top Chef candidates do you think would do the best under that type of evaluation?

[Skillet Doux]

"Why does everybody hate Lisa so much? ... I will say that Lisa is indeed a bitch, but as Tina Fey said in Saturday Night Live- Bitches get things done."

Warhol, I'm going to sidestep the whole "women must be bitches to succeed" debate and simply point to Stephanie... but the issue here is that this particular self-proclaimed bitch hasn't made a good dish since episode five while simultaneously demonstrating complete ignorance of her suckitude and a total inability to take criticism. THAT'S why she's reviled -- not because she's a bitch.

[Skillet Doux]

Bill...

Heh. Speaking only for myself, my love for Bourdain has nothing to do with his cooking ability :-)

Having never eaten at Les Halles, I've heard that it's passable at best, even within the narrow scope of French Bistro. My sense is that if not for Kitchen Confidential, he'd be a competent but unremarkable and narrowly-focused chef which, let's be honest, aren't hard to come by in New York. Personally, I find his candor about his abilities in the kitchen quite refreshing, and it only makes him more believable in his role as snarky media darling. I think it also lends him a lot of credibility as a Top Chef judge, since he doesn't even pull punches when it comes to assessing his OWN faults.

[anon man]

Actually, Bourdain is fairly clear that he knows he is mediocre as a chef. The opening of his current TV series makes that pretty clear. His strength as a judge is not so much in his amaziming culinary skill (the Kitchen Confidential recitation of restaurants he's driven into the ground leads one to believe that he's no innovator), but that he has a decent understanding of how foods should be prepared and a lenghty resume of foods eaten around the world.

He's also a prick, which makes for good television.

[swalter1]

I was looking online and that Trout recipe sounds more like something that came from Stephanie's restaurant Scylla. I have a feeling both main courses had more to do with Richard and Stephanie than Antonia. However I do think Antonia is a master at executing these dishes although designing unique dishes does not seem to be her forte. Just a thought. Although, it looks like from the preview bad stephanie is back this week and may not make it to the finals.

[John Coctostan]

Hey, Skillet Doux, I'm really digging the blog. (Came for Top Chef, stayed for the for the food talk.) I agree with what you've written about 'Restaurant Wars' and about Dale. He was my favorite chef, despite the flaws - of all the people on the show this season, he'd created the most dishes that I really wanted to try. I can even forgive some of his hostility (some) because I could understand his frustration. And at least I could see his frustration/hostility, unlike with someone like Antonia who seems to hide hers behind passive-aggressive behavior, in which she disregards other competitors' skills. See: her not really caring what Spike wanted to do with the Earth dish and dismissing Dale as only doing Asian (which is both absurd and untrue). I'm getting increasingly frustrated with Antonia's stay on the show, actually, which started when she was bashing my favorite, Dale. I'm not saying she ever should have been booted, because she hasn't deserved it, but it's clear to me that how well she does in the Eliminations depends an awful lot on who she's working with (Common Threads, aside obviously). When she's in the bottom she's worked with Zoi, Zoi and Spike, and Lisa. When she's in the top she's worked with Richard and Stephanie, Richard and Stephanie, and Richard and Stephanie. It looks she's not elevating her teammates - they've been elevating her. I don't think she would have fared any better on a team with Lisa and Spike than Dale did, which underscores what a massive, massive advantage she gained through the (deserved) quickfire win.

It seems I've sequed from Dale support into Antonia bashing, which won't win me any friends, but there it is.

[canasian]

Richard is definitely behind Ryan's beet salad in episode 2. Yes, it's kind of irrelevant, but it was a fun way to waste fifteen minutes. Whole foods doesn't carry raz el hanout, and LeeAnne doesn't stock it in the Top Chef pantry. Richard brought it form home (for those who don't know this season they were allowed to bring $2000 worth of equipment and ingredients they "couldn't live "without"). Probably, Ryan didn't even know it was accessible to him unless Richard had offered it.

Also, swalter1 mentioned it looked like bad Steph was back this week. AGAIN, 95% SPECULATION, but it looked almost as though she was criticizing someone else's dish. My guess is that the judjes gave her the old "throw someone under the bus or your ass is on the line" treatment. People who don't think it occurs - barbecue challenge last season: Tom asked Joey "who do you think should go home?" because it was clear that his dish was the worst. He honestly answered the question and what do you know? Joey was safe that week.

[Skillet Doux]

Canasian... I agree with the conclusion, but are you sure that WF doesn't carry ras el hanout? Not only do I remember them carrying it, but I thought it was part of their line of private label spices. I'm working off memory and definitely could be wrong, but I feel pretty confident I've bought it from them before.

[canasian]

Dom... You probably are right. I'm also working from memory and haven't been to whole Foods in a few years, so their products probably have changed.

[muhammad]

Viva La ChupaCabra!!! I like your posts more than this season's show. Definitely.

[Diane U]

Thanks for putting the finger on why I revile Lisa besides her bad cooking! "ignorance of her own suckitude" - perfect! She's so scary when she stands there glowering at the judges - can't believe they don't just bust out laughing.

Could Richard, or anyone, have made ras el hanout? Not to downplay it, but it seems like you could attach that label to any blend of (fairly common) spices.

Also, Antonia's bio on bravotv says "FAVORITE SIMPLE SPRING RECIPE: Baby beets with bouchon goat cheese and marcona almonds." Beets with bouchon is fairly specific ... a beet salad is on Foxtail's menu ... I think Antonia helped make the salad!

[AJ]

Re: all the conspiracy theories. I completely agree with DaveP, I don't think that the producers have any pull at Judges' Table which is why I have never bought into the theories in the past; however, they do have complete control of the show away from that & I think the way they let Antonia pick her entire team instead of just pick first was a HUGE way they let their influence be felt (as is a team challenge this late in the game). Can you honestly say that you couldn't predict exactly what was going to happen going on from that moment?
On the other hand, Dale didn't do himself any favors & his attitude was the worst it had been thus far. I feel like he was exhausted and at the end of his rope & there was no fixing that. It's too bad he couldn't be in the finals, but next time I am back home in Chicago I will be seeking out his cooking!

[bill (lowercase b)]

AJ, Dale is at Buddakan in New York.

[Cheryl]

Not sure if anyone noticed but Ted has updated his blog on the Top Chef sight about the episode and addressed questions raised. He had a death in the family which caused the delay in his blog.

[AJ]

Thanks bill, I guess I foolishly thought he was in Chicago just bc he was a Chicago native!

[Jennifer Anderson]

I love this blog. I have been reading it ever since Ted mentioned it on his blog. Well written, entertaining and great cooking/food information as well. Well done