Top Chef - S5E5 Postmortem

I'm going to sidestep commentary for the moment on this completely predictable and worthy elimination and concentrate on the real story of this episode.

I've been irritated by some losers. But I think that's the first time I've been irritated by a winner.

Seriously? C'mon. It's not Ariane's fault. I'm not going to hold it against her. But is that not the worst highway robbery of a challenge winner we've ever seen? Even setting aside the fact that she was a glorified prep monkey for this challenge, she's the one who nearly blew the dish and everybody in the kitchen had to pitch in to save her. Totally ridiculous.

Still sick. Lots of work. Talk amongst yourselves.

UPDATE : Okay, apparently Tom wasn't in the kitchen during the crunch and nobody bothered to tell the judges it was Jamie's dish. That makes it understandable. But no less irritating.

UPDATE II : Second real story of the episode. Hooooo, buddy, did Eugene expose himself. All fears realized.

UPDATE III : Okay, okay, as Gilby points out below, I'm being a little rough on Ariane. That's the frustration talking, and cooking perfect lamb is entirely worthy of praise. But I absolutely stand by my claim that she was the least worthy of the three, that she only did what any competent cook should be able to do, and that the intercession of some chefs who weren't even on her team may very well have saved her from elimination on this challenge (though, admittedly, the judges may have actually found no plate preferable to the "sushi" abomination). And the fact that she's won half of the elimination challenges thus far without putting together a single dish that was creative, sophisticated, well-executed and the product of her own brain -- well, it's nothing to hold against her, but I find it kind of maddening.

UPDATE IV : Starting now, using the word "splooge" to describe your dish's appearance is grounds for immediate elimination...... oh, hey, that worked out nicely!

Comments

[Bill G]

I'm worried about Eugene. He was a favorite of mine going in; I really thought his culinary instincts were going to make him compete with some of the chefs with better pedigrees.

But now I know that'll never happen unless he forgets the word sushi. Seriously, the guy puts together some great plates when he's uncomfortable, but as soon as he gets a chance to revert to his comfort zone he fumbles terribly.

Also, as annoying as Arianne's win was, Jamie's "second place" (self-proclaimed) was pretty grating.

[Gilby]

And yet Leanne disagrees. In her words, plating Lamb 10 minutes out results in cold Lamb.

Sorry, I think you've got a bias against Ariane and can't give credit where it is due.

[kit]

I vote that for your running total, you award this elimination win to Jamie instead of Ariane. Even Tom, in hindsight, seems to think she should have won!

Ok so these strange mid-commercial soap opera interludes...I'm starting to think they're all going to be about making up cheftestant romances, meaning I can fastforward through them without missing anything food-related. I mean c'mon, they couldn't have told us right off the bat that Leah and Hosea actually have significant others? And now I'm supposed to believe that Jamie's going to, what, forget that Stefan's a man, or that she's a lesbian? Ok maybe that's not what the producers are going for, but seriously, it's just TMI. Less Temptation Island whatevers, and more food please!

[babyarm]

Best show of season so far by an enormous margin, and I was starting to get a bit worried. Had all the quirky elements of what makes this show so watchable. Stefan showing his two sides (and two marriages to the same wife?!?) and we get more of the personal narratives and some epic interactions.

Pretty clear the restaurant war chefs are settling in nicely. Perhaps all this arianne love is merely just bravo not wanting to tip their hand so much. Hey, but she got 4 minutes on TV and an expensive george foreman grill for the effort.

[Skillet Doux]

"And yet Leanne disagrees. In her words, plating Lamb 10 minutes out results in cold Lamb.

Sorry, I think you've got a bias against Ariane and can't give credit where it is due."

What I'm saying is that when your only responsibility is to cook the lamb, and you proceed to miss the agreed upon target for plating timing (good or bad) and it takes all hands on deck including other teams to save you from going home because your plates weren't finished on time, who should win? You, or the person who conceived the dish, or the person who actually seasoned the lamb that you cooked? I'm thinking either B or C... but certainly not A.

I'm not trying to downplay the difficulty in cooking great lamb. But are you saying you really feel that she was the one most responsible for the success of the dish, and that her contribution wasn't one that any other competent cook could have performed?

[Annie]

Ok first off I just read lee anne's blog, and she says if anybody was robbed it was Radhika, who actually came up with the marinade for the lamb in addition to the raita. BTW I remember the judges saying the flavor of the lamb was lingering. I thought Jeff would win also based on the compliments he received. SO in my head the winner should have been either Radhika or Jeff... NOT Jaime and definitely not Arianne. Jaime's attitude is a turn off thats the first time I saw someone actually whisper i want this win right before they announce the winner. But the Real Highlight of the episode is... HOOTIE HOOOO. Im glad Carla is still around just cause her energy is hilarious.

[Gilby]

It's two minutes.

We're not talking about a massive miss, but a slight timing issue with a lot of meat. Overcooking it is bad--it needs to be just so. An oven being a little off or something of the sort can cause a slight wobble in time, again, which is what we're talking about. And she showed decision making as a chef, in that she didn't agree to pull the meat early but insisted on the extra couple of minutes that it needed.

And I don't think that any cook can pull off a perfectly done protein, mostly as so many have failed to do so over the course of this series. Hell, look at Danny in tonight's show. And Tom (and other judges) have always been quick to call out a sublimely done protein. (And that's two in three weeks for Ariane, btw.)

That said, I'm not saying Ariane deserved the win. At all. I'm just saying that you're not being very fair with your comments towards Ariane. I'd probably agree with Leanne that Radhika would have been the right choice, given that she did the marinade (so important in a great protein) and the excellent Raita. Though Tom is spot on in that the judges may have swung towards Jamie if they had known what role she played in the planning and conception.

[Skillet Doux]

I will happily concede that "glorified prep monkey" is over the top :-)

And don't misunderstand, I'll actually bump her for doing a nice job with the lamb come Monday. But we seem to agree that she was the least worthy of the three, and I think you have to consider the very strong possibility that had other teams not stepped in to help, she could be gone. Presuming this is a utensils down hands up scenario, if they can't get the plates out, there are people at that table without food. And when that happens, Ariane's the one who's in trouble for misjudging how long it was going to take to prepare her lamb. Point being, the difference between elimination and this win may very well have been a bunch of chefs who weren't even on her team.

And yeah, chefs do screw up protein, but that doesn't mean they should. And pointing out Danny as a basis of comparison isn't exactly a ringing endorsement :-)

Anyway, you can call it bias if you like, but the fact is that we're five episodes in, and despite two and a half elimination wins, Ariane has yet to put forth a single creative, sophisticated, well-executed dish that was of her design. I'm not saying she can't... who knows, she hasn't had to!... but that doesn't make it any less maddening. I hope she comes out next week and justifies it by putting out some great dishes. But through luck and circumstance, she's managed to win half of the elimination challenges so far by not screwing up. When there's some really interesting, creative stuff going on, even though it's nobody's fault and she hasn't done anything wrong, yeah, I find that irritating.

[Anne]

Okay, I'm not a chef, or even a cook, but I agree with LeeAnn that people were lame on the Quickfire. I mean, three ingredients? Salt and pepper, that's two. It was a cool challenge, with lame results.

[Doug]

Ahem... Deconstructed sushi? In which the ingredients of the sushi are themselves reimagined? Eugene seems to think everyone is a MacGyver like himself. Sure, Danny deserved to go home, but Tom's comment that he would have liked to send that whole team home is hard to disagree with.

And yet we're quibbling over Ariane's win? She'll either show up with some real skills or prove to be a glorified line cook soon enough. I think Jamie can live without a new set of knives for another week.

[kit]

Hmm...so it seems to come down to which was more impressive, the conceptualizing of the winning dish (Jamie) or the flavoring of its lamb (Radhika), and not having tasted it and being generally clueless foodwise, I have noooo idea. But in this case I find it hard to weigh execution, without more, as more deserving. I'd only tip towards Jamie over Radhika, for more "official purposes" (those being SD's own tabulations), since Tom seems to be leaning in that direction now that it appears he has more information about who was responsible for what in the winning dish, and he's actually a judge. I love Lee Anne, but she doesn't get to judge. Of course, I could just be reading way too much into his blog comments!

And yes, completely agree this episode was so much better than the last one. I do wish the chefs had been more daring during the taste test quickfire, Lee Anne seemed to have prepped some really fun stuff for them! Anyway, I hope they have the mise en place relay again this season (that apple race in the first episode is not going to cut it!), I have such fond memories of Casey's slo-mo onion mincery and Hung the chickenmaster.

[Anne]

Oh, and the picture of that dish above burns my eyes.

[Skillet Doux]

"(that apple race in the first episode is not going to cut it!)"

Maybe not, but it cut both Richard and Lauren!!!!

...

(sorry)

[kit]

"Oh, and the picture of that dish above burns my eyes."

Yes! Mine too! I can't take my eyes off it, like rubbernecking a car accident. Whichever blog basically called it what happens when you go to a buffet was spot on (except for Danny's "splooges" in the corner there, I don't even know what that's about...)

I do wonder if Danny had seemed more accepting of the judges' criticisms, if they would have sent Eugene home instead. Not that I'm complaining...

[Gilby]

You have to give Ariane credit for her Turkey. The brine and sauce elevated it, and she as much as Eugene put together a makeshift cooking method.

But yeah, otherwise when she's had a good idea her execution has been off. And though her execution and idea were spot on for her salad, it wasn't all that creative.

I'm still not fully sold on Ariane, but I do think she's a real contender at this point--based on the fact that I think we can consider her struggles in the first two episodes to be rather crippling jitters. Her credentials are good, and it appears her instincts are as well. On the other hand, her self-confidence has appeared shaky, but is it still after two straight wins? And a highly praised should-of-won the week before? Problems with self-confidence could still sink her, no doubt, but we can point to possible weak points for other contenders as well.

[Annie]

Top (my personal guesstimates)

Jamie- bad attitude, great chef,
Stefan - The fact he works every ones last nerve makes him interesting.
Jeff-

Middle (To me any of these people can be top four)

Fabio- I know he's a favorite and should prob be in the top to most, but I wasnt sold based on this episode). He looks like he works best alone, these team challenges may affect him in a bad way. Restaurant Wars!!!
Radhika- Most underrated player in the game. And yes she seems to only be cooking indian food and prob getting picked on it even more for being Indian more so than Lisa and her asian food or Dale and his Asian food?
Leah- Talented no doubt, but doesn't perform on the elimination challenge. Lately it's been due to her immunity, but def a slacker.
Hosea- Mixed feelings about him
Arianne- She's been winning, and i love the idea of her winning because of how it kills the other chefs, but still unsure of her when it comes to her OWN unique dishes and originality.
Gene- Ok so he's been a personal fav. And yea he screwed up this episode.

Bottom:
Carla: I LOVE her! Her personality, the quirkiness. Her positivism. They way she DIDNT throw Danny under the bus, not that she needed to. Yes she should have spoke up during the conceptual part of the challenge, but for the sake of harmony she didnt. I think she's a great team member, but not TOP chef. 2 more episodes for Carla.
Melissa: She should have left last episode, not sure what she even did this episode.

[David M]

A few thoughts -

1. Padma said the reason the lamb was the winner was because it was the most flavorful dish. The flavoring came from the marinade. The marinade was made by Radhika. And when I saw Radhika making that marinade I thought to myself, that's going to be the winning dish. Nothing is more flavorful than lamb marinated in yogurt and indian spices - I've made it many times myself. I would've cut it from the rack and grilled it - would've saved some headaches.

I like Ariane and think she has some potential - or at least all the makings of a classic lingerer - but she put meat in an oven with a meat thermometer - not really winning Top Chef material, IMO.

2. Why isn't every Top Chef episode 1 hour 15 minutes?

3. I knew Danny was going home because in his interviews his eyes were kind of red and half closed. I remember the biggest culprit was Joey in Season 3 - they showed the guy talking about his dish and his eyes were totally bloodshot.

[Scott Lin]

My two cents on this episode:

- I know this has been touched upon, but how can Hosea win with vegetable oil? I know Stefan was cocky when he went Coriander, but it's kind of odd that they allowed sugar, salt, pepper, and vegetable oil

- Is it me or are bravo blogs harder and less interesting to read than before? I'm also not digging the past top chefs blogging (i think it's more of me missing Ted Allen and then now probably Gail). I also enjoyed guest judges blogging, which doesn't happen as much anymore. Plus, Bravo made every page of the blog like a couple of sentences, it's just really annoying to follow. Tom's blog entries are also really rushed lately. Maybe it's just me.

- Thank god for Hosea's brilliance "I have immunity, I don't want to be in their way." Finally, how come it takes five seasons for someone to realize this?

- I was shocked when Ariane won, but I kind of saw it coming. Jamie really didn't do a good job selling herself. I felt she deserved it because she conceptualized the entire dish, but I mean don't be so modest.

- When Stefan turned on his jerk-side, I kind of thought it was Bravo trying to up the ante. I'm kind of shocked because I liked Stefan. Hard to say now because I can respect a competitive guy, but he's downright disrespectful. He was married twice? shocking if that's his attitude around the house.

- Fabio's edginess was a bright light to me, I like to see him having that edginess. I'm happy Jeff finally cooked a great dish. The judges were really mean to something blue team, I thought they didn't do great, but they succeeded in implementing their dish and Fabio sold it really well. I think Tom should realize that and be a bit nicer, it doesn't seem like anybody was overly offended by that dish.

- Eugene kind of surprised me. Maybe it's because I watch too many top chef but right when he muttered "deconstructed" and "build your own sushi" I immediately had sirens going off in my head. Why would ANYBODY think this is a good idea anymore?

- First Thanksgiving and now Christmas? Just funny since Top Chef viewers know the show is filmed a while back.

lol i wrote a lot. I just gotta say, I love this blog. This is now exclusively the thing I read about Top Chef.

[Scott L]

One more thing, what is up with this Stefan Jamie flirty flirt? Is anything more disturbing?

[Dan]

I really agree with Dom here. Arianne has been getting lucky. But Arianne doesn't get that. I also found it really interesting that Arianne didn't acknowledge that *her* winning lamb only won because of Jamie's conception, Radhika's marinade, the plating efforts of every remaining contestant, and a meat thermometer.

Seems like all she actually did was compute (incorrectly) the amount of time that an x pound rack of lamb would need to cook at y temperate, and physically place and remove the meat from the oven.

I'm capable of doing that too. I can also crudely slice tomatoes and watermelon on a plate with some balsamic and blue cheese. I guess I should go on Top Chef.

To me, this is a similar situation to Lisa last season, in which mediocrity is rewarded again and again with progression. The difference being that instead of having a mediocre chef with an inflated sense of self and a bitchy attitude progress through competitions, we have a mediocre chef with an inflated sense of self and a pleasant attitude win competitions. While on the whole, I think this is better, it is still unsatisfying.

I blame, not Arianne herself, but the format, the judging, and the editing. It seems that just as viewers are stuck making judgements and forming opinions on the basis of meager information, so too are the judges, leading to 'wrong' decisions such as the one we saw today.

While I don't know Jamie personally, she is a good friend and colleague of my favorite chefs, Jason Fox and Ian Muntzert (of Bar Tartine in San Francisco). They speak highly of her and her talents, and the little we've seen of her validates their faith. While these challenges seem to rely less and less on skill and vision and more and more on gimmicks and luck, there are still moments where the quality chef shines through, and I'm hopeful she will continue to rise to those occasions.

[Dan]

Oh, and as an additional note, Radhika really needs to grow some testicles and get over these silly fears of being buttonholed and judged.

There are definitely worse things in the world than being seen as an 'indian' chef. So what if they do? Use it. Revel in it. You are an heir to one of the worlds oldest and richest cuisines. This gives you an immense tool kit of flavor pairings - this can be an immense advantage and is nothing to feel self-conscious about.

At the end of the day, the judges seem most concerned about whether their food is tasty and good to eat. If you have to dip into the indian well to do that every time, then that showcases the versatility and range of indian flavors more so than your limitations as a chef.

[Independent George]

The funny thing about Stefan is that he might be arrogant, but he's also usually right. The tiff with Hosea in the supermarket was irritating, but I thought the other chefs would have done well to listen to him on everything else (Gene, I'm looking at you). Jeff's sorbet might have been a favorite, but given his timing issues in the past, Stefan's warning about plating issues sounded spot-on. He might say it in the most indelicate manner possible, but the guy knows his stuff. It seems more arrogant to dismiss someone's well-grounded criticism because you don't like him than it is to offer it brusquely.

I also give credit to Carla for not throwing her teammate under the bus regarding the mushrooms.

[darylt]

Amen to Update IV! And he shouldn't have made it to the judge's table -- maybe a trap door for these types of situations!?

[Biebs]

Thought it was interesting how they felt the need to put two teams in the bottom. It was pretty clear that Borrowed was top and New was bottom. But, the people seemed to like the blue dish (on a whole) more than the Old dish (except for the sorbet).
Blue seemed to be the only team struggling with their concept, though, blue was a tough one to go on. I go thte feeling that the judges felt the need to ding them for a dish they found "boring". It was probably immediately obvious to "Blue" that they weren't going home after hearing the horror of "New".

Seems that it would have been just as easy to only call Borrowed and New and skip the other two teams.

I loved the bracket format for the quickfire, but thought they should have done the "back and forth" with ingrediants for every round, also if they bring it back, no salt, pepper... that's too easy.

[Adam]

Hearing the chefs say things like "salt" and "vegetable oil" may seem lame, but it was part of the challenge. If you let a chef try to list off 4 ingredients, and he gets away with salt, pepper, onion, and oil, then that's your fault for not bidding higher.

The second round of that challenge was a layup for Hosea. When he said "I immediately knew exactly what was in that", my wife said, "yeah, I always get that at Jax".

[TruJep]

Biebs, I'm so glad you pointed out Team Blue's positives.
I remember Gail stating at the JT that.."while the flavors were lovely...." and, I also heard the murmurings from the ladies which were positive and the one negative.."but it seems like old people food..." It may not have been pazazzy but apparently tasty. I didn't get the impression it was really a loser other than disappointment that the dish wasn't that creative considering Fabio and Leah's previous skills in the challenges.

Another note: We have Melissa's confessional during the prep stating she was worried that it didn't have pazazz or a wow factor. Can't remember the exact words. Again, as a team member, was that stated to the others to try and up the ante?

[DaveP]

Dom,

I'm right there with you re: Ariane, and I don't think you're being too harsh on her at all. Yes, she deserves credit for her work, though she got some much needed advice from her competitors (esp. Jeff), but not the win. That was complete BS. Rahdika or Jamie (or Jeff) deserved the win more, I think.

As for Gene and his take on "deconstructed" sushi... I know Hawaii has a ton of Asian influences, and what he created (though it shouldn't be served on a single dish) is more traditional Korean "sushi", and in fact he even mentioned he wanted to serve it "Panchan" style (terrible bastardized pronunciation, but we'll let that slide for now :)).

In Korea, often the sashimi is served with many plates of vegetables, including leaf lettuce & sesame leaves to wrap in, and a peppery/vinegary sauce instead of soy, and you can pretty much wrap it up as you please. His biggest mistake, which I thought was just shoddy editing before he admitted to it, was he didn't explain how to construct the sushi to the ladies. That and only putting out a couple of tiny sheets of nori for wrapping. And overcooking the shrimp. And messing up the rice, and trying to compensate. Gene, buddy, you already know you don't need fish for sushi, but you also don't need rice either. Either make it right or don't serve it. Putting stuff in it for "texture & flavor" when you're going to be using it for sushi? Seriously?

I still like Gene a lot, and I was very happy that Danny sucked enough to take the bullet. Really reminded me of Ryan from last year as the guy who Just. Didn't. Get. It. As for Carla, much respect for not throwing Danny under the bus, even though she had every right to, but you have to express yourself more, esp if you can see the impending disaster.

For the rest...

Still liking Leah. The "blue" plate by Fabio and her (another excellent disappearing act by Melissa, which should see her safely into further rounds) was almost unfairly criticized, like they had to rip into it to keep us in some suspense as to who was going to be sent packing.

Jeff is stepping it up nicely. The look on Stefan's face when the judges raved about the tomato sorbet was priceless. And even though he ended up being right about Gene's dish (again, just poor execution), Stefan is way, way too biased about his European sensibilities, saying this and that won't work, because he's not used to them working. Nice redemption by Hosea--I still think he's a contender.

In any case, a far better episode than the last, and we're almost done with all the chaff (Melissa, Ariane (yeah, I know she's won 2 EC's in a row), maybe Carla, maybe Rahdika) and we can start really narrowing down the rankings. Except next week is Martha freaking Steward. Ugh.

--
Dave

[Jake]

I like Stefan -- and please remember, this is competition. When he's making "suggestions", he's doing it because he thinks it gives him the best chance to win, and he's confident. I loved the look on his face when he listed salt and pepper as ingredients, because he knew he was smarter than his opponent on that challenge. He is deservedly confident.

I liked the quickfire, but the chefs were way too timid. I could have named 5-10 ingredients in each dish just by looking at them. Once you know it's green curry or mole ... isn't that a breeze? And how is naming salt, pepper, or vegetable oil lame? They're ingredients, and the chefs who are weaker at seasoning tended to be the ones who forgot to name them. Hmm, right?

As soon as Danny decided to add the mushrooms without consulting Carla, I knew he was gone. As soon as he said "splooge", I prayed he was gone. Is that supposed to be his "bam"? I don't think it's going to catch on.

I think Radhika is way overplaying the pigeonholing aspect. I feel like she's trying too hard not to cook Indian, and as a result, barely has. The key is to adapt Indian flavors and techniques to other cuisines, and it seems like she's reluctant to do even that. I think that's a huge mistake, and is like cooking with one hand tied behind your back.

The way to get through the first half of the season is to not screw up. At least Ariane is capable of executing simple, good dishes (now that she's seemingly over her early season issues), which is more than can be said about a lot of the eliminees. That's her strength, and I bet the food at her restaurant is very good, if not particularly challenging or innovative. I'd much rather eat that than Danny's ... I can't even say it.

[Bill]

I agree with all of Dom's original points, no change of heart after reading post-blog analysis.
I have a question for the pros in the audience. Is it really bad form to use a digital probe so you can keep a constant watch over the temperature?
I understand in a busy kitchen you can't do that but if it's your sole responsibility to keep an eye on the temperature of the lamb wouldn't it make sense to have that temperature read-out right in front of you while you're doing nothing other than standing in front of the stove?
I get grief from people who come over for BBQ's because I use the digital probe. I tell them not to worry, I'll take the piece of meat that had the probe in it so they won't miss out on the 100th of an ounce of juice that comes out when I pull the probe out.
It dials you in perfectly, Alton uses it, what's the deal? Plus Ariane kept poking the lamb with her thermometer so I don't get why she didn't she insert the probe to begin with, sit back, watch the numbers and adjust the oven temp accordingly.

[Ally]

It was a very revealing episode, I agree. (I was literally holding my head in my hands as I watched the Something New trainwreck).

But I also think the episode showed a lot about Jeff and Stefan. Stefan's insipid terrine was a terrible idea, what a waste of some nice tomatoes. I am saying this while eating a big ole bowl of crow. Stefan? Eugene? Not so much.

[anon man]

My random comments: Non-food first: flirting with the Lesbian? Genius, nimrod. We've found this year's uber-villian. But how awesome was it that he kept ripping the Tomato Sorbet and it was the best of the three parts of that dish. Can I get a "shut the F up, go cry in a corner and make your terrines?"

I'm not sold that Ariane's win was theft. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. Jamie clearly had a big part of that dish, but the lamb was the star and it was Ariane's. If Jamie wanted the win, she should have said that it was her dish conceptionally. But, Raddhika didn't get robbed. What was her important contribution: being Indian? That's not much.

As for the sushi team, I'm going to give Carla and Gene a pass there. Its hard to carry someone like Danny. He didn't seem to offer anything except high fives and weird sides (sauce, mushrooms). Maybe desconstructing the sushi was a mistake, maybe not. I dunno, it was too jumbled to ever say for sure. Surf and turf roll? I would try that at least once. The overcooking of the rice is bad, but other than gasping in horror when the mushrooms went on, what was Carla's crime exactly?

My thoughts are there two groups. Group A is clearly good, group B, jury is out. Group A: Ariane, Stefan, Hosea, Jeff, Fabio, Jamie.
Group B: Gene, Carla, Leah, Raddhika, Melissa

[Biebs]

I get the feeling that "winning" vs. making a good/great dish on the best team isn't really that big of a deal. I think the pouting by Jamie is a bit much, I just don't think it matters down the road at all.

I only see 4 chefs as "below the standard" and that's Melissa, Carla, Eugene (though I think he's interesting, I just think he's overmatched), and Ariane (despite, of course, of winning 2 challenges).

When I was watching I saw the teams break down and my first thought was, "Wow, old is stacked and new is in trouble". Also, I understand Stefan is pushy and a prick, but rather be on satan's team? really? I would think that Radhika would rather be on his team than the Eugene/Daniel/Carla disaster (seriously, did anyone see that team and think, oh, they are going to make something great?)

[David M]

anon man posted:

"But, Raddhika didn't get robbed. What was her important contribution: being Indian? That's not much."

She MARINATED the lamb - that was the major flavor component of the dish. Jamie may have come up with the concept (which was, btw, 'let's use Radhika's strengths'" Arianne might have put the lamb in the oven, but Radhika is the reason that the lamb really stood out.

I think she definitely deserved more credit at judge's table (maybe they didn't know she made the marinade) - and she'd be receiving a lot more respect in this blog if she had. I think she's #1 underrated chef right now.

Another thought I just had about Eugene - WHY WAS HE COOKING RICE WITH THAT WEIRD DIGITAL RICE COOKER?? And complaining about it? Why is he using something for the first time in this competition? How many times has the guy cooked rice before and it turned out perfect, he's got to try something new now?

It's like what Alex said at judge's table last episode, "this show is about pushing yourself to try new things." ...or something like that... and Tom immediately said "no, this show is about cooking good food."

Especially at this point in the season, these guys don't need to push boundaries and stretch their knowledge, they need to show us who they are as chefs and what brought them to this point, stick to what they know and let us see their culinary personalities.

[1000yregg]

Oh man- when Daniel said "splooge", I had images of Operation Mayhem from Fight Club and oddly enough ingredients in soup.
I was really disappointed in Gene this episode - poor, poor execution.

[Ally]

One other thing, related to Tom's blog --

He admitted that they didn't know who had done what, but didn't they, in previous seasons, flat out ask? Maybe they aren't doing as thorough a job as they should, as judges.

Abdicating responsibility to the contestants, when it is well known that they are loathe to "throw people under the bus" is a little, well, irresponsible.

[Cici]

I agree that Gene make a lot a mistakes, but I also can see where he's coming from in some of those mistakes. DaveP, rice is most definitely an essential ingredient in sushi; the definition of sushi is vinegared rice. The simple solution would have been not in doctoring the mushy rice, but dumping the rice and simply calling the dish something different, such as a deconstructed seaweed wrap. And if that's the point you were making when saying that the rice wasn't essential, my apologies for getting stuck on semantics. But Gene, too, was way too fixated on the concept of "sushi" to even consider that option.

David M, as for the digital rice cooker, that's an appliance that's pretty much ubiquitious in any Asian home kitchen, and should have allowed Gene to make perfect rice without paying any attention to it at all. The point of failure was probably that Gene added too much water at the beginning, which is about the only way you can screw up using those rice cookers. I can't fault him for trying to take what should have been a time-saving option. However, here's where I come back to agreeing with you--why try something new that might fail, unless you have a Plan B in place, and the time to execute it?

And in my final point of defense of Gene, his trying to doctor the failed rice? If you take his story arc of the underdog with no formal training, and conclude from there that his practical experience would have been in less upscale, less frills restaurants (ones that aren't looking for a pedigreed education and resume in their chefs), then make another assumption that those types of establishments would be operating at tighter profit margins and be less willing to throw out unspoiled food for the sake of culinary/artistic purity, then Gene's instinct to "fix" the perfectly edible--albiet not tasty--rice rather than wasting it seems organic to his set of experiences, though unthinking in the context of the competition.

All of this being moot, of course, if Gene had time to make another batch of rice as the Bravo blogs say. Final analysis, same as the majority opinion, poor guy's in over his head.

[Trish]

Dan said: "There are definitely worse things in the world than being seen as an 'indian' chef. So what if they do? Use it. Revel in it. You are an heir to one of the worlds oldest and richest cuisines. This gives you an immense tool kit of flavor pairings - this can be an immense advantage and is nothing to feel self-conscious about."

Good point...it's definitely better than being a repetitive chef using techniques like sous vide or molecular gastronomy. I don't know why she's so freaked out that the judges will think she's a one-trick chef; no one has mentioned that as a possibility besides her.

And IIRC, Tom got on Hung's case for NOT showcasing his culinary heritage in his dishes at one point.

[Steve F.]

I fully agree with everyone that this was probably the best episode of the season as the elimination challenge demanded excellent basic skills and encouraged creativity, and gave us an extra fifteen minutes to appreciate their struggles and accomplishments. This is why we tune into Top Chef. I did not even mind the tangents into their personal interactions as much, as it allowed us to appreciate the contestants as human beings as well as chefs.

By all rights, if the judges were consistent, Gene should have gone as the "leader" and conceptual artist. But, as been said before, the judges have the flexibility to emphasize different criteria for each elimination challenge. In this case, they chose Danny's seeming inability to learn and lack of understanding of the basics of cooking over Gene's bad concept and bad execution. It is a tough call. But I can go with that as Gene has proven himself the better cook.

While I am thrilled that Jeff is finally getting his act together, I am bothered by the beating up of Ariane over her win. The three chefs of Team Borrowed contributed pretty much the same amount of skill to the winning effort in my estimation:

1. Jamie provided the leadership and concept (plus a major flavor ingredient).
2. Radhika provided the Indian flavors and her skills in preparing them.
3. Ariane provided her experience and skill in cooking lamb.

All of these contributions brought about that wonderful dish. From my point of view, Radhika did nothing new or special as she had made those flavors before. So it really does come down to Jamie's concept and leadership versus Ariane's managing the cooking of the lamb. And while I lean towards Jamie, kudos must be given to Ariane for not just cooking it "perfectly" but for standing up for the quality of her food. How many times have the chefs been told - "don't serve undercooked meat", "if it's not good, don't serve it." Yes, she had to rely on everyone in the kitchen to help her plate the food to serve in time. But with a handful of minutes ideally scheduled between cooking and serving, she did what she was supposed to do as a good chef - took the two minutes she needed to cook her meat right and then asked for help.

I think choosing the winner was an extremely tough call - Jamie, who put it all together, or Ariane, who fought to do it right and did it "perfectly."

(I agree that Ariane has excelled in basic skills and has not yet shown the creativity we expect in a Top Chef. But, you know, the judges have always placed extraordinary emphasis on basic skills as many of the contestants struggle with them. Bravo to Ariane for shining these past three episodes.)

[Gilby]

Yup. Sushi rice is in the pantry, and there was time to make it at the dinner service. Gene should have made another batch, no doubt.

But Cici is probably right in that some of Gene's experiences probably gave him the first instinct to save the rice.

As for Tom's comment about not knowing who did what, it seems they did ask. They asked who did the lamb, and the answer was Ariane. None of them spoke up about the marinade. And Jamie didn't speak up about planning the dish. All three seemed to try to be modest at Judge's Table, and that left the Judges to go with rewarding a perfectly done protein. (Again, it is an achievement. Look at the parade of protein disasters on the five seasons of this show. And look at the parade of excellent proteins that have won high praise.)

[Jake]

I'm trying really hard to resist making a "protein disasters" joke about Danny's choice of words. I'm just a little too classy to go there. (Whoops.)

[Skillet Doux]

Okay... lots to respond to, here:

"I know this has been touched upon, but how can Hosea win with vegetable oil? I know Stefan was cocky when he went Coriander, but it's kind of odd that they allowed sugar, salt, pepper, and vegetable oil."

I don't see that as being a knock on Hosea, I see that as being a knock on all of the competitors who didn't think to mention basic seasoning and include that in their bids.

"Seems like all she actually did was compute (incorrectly) the amount of time that an x pound rack of lamb would need to cook at y temperate, and physically place and remove the meat from the oven.

I'm capable of doing that too. I can also crudely slice tomatoes and watermelon on a plate with some balsamic and blue cheese. I guess I should go on Top Chef.

To me, this is a similar situation to Lisa last season, in which mediocrity is rewarded again and again with progression."

I don't think that's fair. Lisa was making a lot of lousy food. Ariane's had a couple of stumbles, but by and large she's making good food. The problem is that she's either making easy food or hitting basic skills. That's all fine and good, but it won't carry her all the way... or even to the finals, most likely.

"Oh, and as an additional note, Radhika really needs to grow some testicles and get over these silly fears of being buttonholed and judged.

There are definitely worse things in the world than being seen as an 'indian' chef. So what if they do? Use it. Revel in it. You are an heir to one of the worlds oldest and richest cuisines. This gives you an immense tool kit of flavor pairings - this can be an immense advantage and is nothing to feel self-conscious about."

In Radhika's defense (and she's growing on me, BTW), one of her quotes from this episode has put that whole issue into a better context, I think. I'm not reviewing tape at the moment, but she said something along the lines of being happy to embrace her heritage, but that she simply wanted to use those flavors in new and interesting ways. Though the edit hasn't made it very clear, I don't think she minds being known for Indian flavors, I think she wants to avoid being pigeonholed as a TRADITIONAL Indian chef. That makes a whole lot more sense and, frankly, a fresh take on your family's roots is a great route to the finals if she can do it effectively.

"In Korea, often the sashimi is served with many plates of vegetables, including leaf lettuce & sesame leaves to wrap in, and a peppery/vinegary sauce instead of soy, and you can pretty much wrap it up as you please."

An excellent point, and one I'd planned on mentioning until you beat me to it :-) But it was still a terrible idea for the event, though, and totally botched to boot.

"Another thought I just had about Eugene - WHY WAS HE COOKING RICE WITH THAT WEIRD DIGITAL RICE COOKER?? And complaining about it? Why is he using something for the first time in this competition? How many times has the guy cooked rice before and it turned out perfect, he's got to try something new now?"

This doesn't bother me. Unless you're a hardcore Japanese traditionalist who gently sets the pork on the side of your ramen bowl and whispers, "See you later!", you make your rice in a rice cooker. I'm sure there are a few models he has used and is familiar with, and in the TC kitchen his options were almost certainly a different model of rice cooker with which he wasn't familiar, or a pot. I'd say he made the right choice, even if it didn't turn out well for him.

"He admitted that they didn't know who had done what, but didn't they, in previous seasons, flat out ask? Maybe they aren't doing as thorough a job as they should, as judges."

If they didn't make a habit of asking very incisive, direct questions, I might agree. But this situation strikes me as the exception rather than the rule.

"While I am thrilled that Jeff is finally getting his act together, I am bothered by the beating up of Ariane over her win. The three chefs of Team Borrowed contributed pretty much the same amount of skill to the winning effort in my estimation:

1. Jamie provided the leadership and concept (plus a major flavor ingredient).
2. Radhika provided the Indian flavors and her skills in preparing them.
3. Ariane provided her experience and skill in cooking lamb."

Yes, they all played key roles, but one of those was purely foundational. Dumb analogy... if you have a band that plays a phenomenal song, awarding Ariane is like awarding the musician who did a workmanlike job in hitting all of the right notes over the songwriter who wrote a beautiful creative piece and the other musician who brought incredible soul to the piece with a beautiful solo. It's not that that basic performance isn't valuable and necessary to anchor the piece, but whose contribution was unique? Whose contribution made the song special? And which of the members could be easily replaced with a want ad in the paper next week?

Again, I'm not saying Ariane doesn't possess this ability to produce creative, interesting, sophisticated dishes with her unique signature on them. I'm making two points: One, if she does, she hasn't shown it. Two, she can't win without doing so. That's the basis on which I put her beneath those who, even if they've been inconsistent, have at least shown flashes of style, creativity and sophistication. As some have said, what Ariane is doing will help you to survive the early going, but it won't win you the big enchilada.

"All of these contributions brought about that wonderful dish. From my point of view, Radhika did nothing new or special as she had made those flavors before."

This is another point I take issue with, and I've addressed it recently. So what if she's done it before? Are you supposed to take your years of experience and creativity and check them at the door? Precisely the opposite! The judges don't care what you have or haven't made before you walk in the door. It's about utilizing your technique, your palate and your creativity to make great food that reflect your style. In the late stages, though I don't believe they've said it in so many words, the judges are looking for a mature artistic voice -- not a technician, or a dreamer, or a competent prep cook, but somebody who has a unique vision for the type of food s/he wants to make and the skills and palate to make it great. If Radhika has this great neo-Indian lamb marinade that she's developed over the years and considers one of her specialities (this is a hypothetical, to make a point), that's EXACTLY what the judges are looking to award. She takes her experience and her skill and uses them to bang out a great dish that's hers. Who cares whether the idea hit her two minutes or two years ago?

And incidentally, the reason I have Ariane so low is because everybody above her, Radhika included, however inconsistently, has shown signs of a mature artistic voice. Ariane hasn't. And unless she does, she's ticketed either for the middle of the pack, or she's destined to be this season's hanger-on who overstays her welcome before being clearly outclassed in the late rounds.

[DaveP]

Cici,

There's a reason I put "sushi" in quotes. What they were serving was not sushi in any traditional terms, but some comtemporary mash of different styles, and what it was closest to was a Korean style of serving sashimi (as I said in the first place). I then said "sushi" thereafter to simplify things. If you'd like to get into an etymological discussion of sushi though, I'd be very happy to oblige. :)

BTW, mad props to Dom for knowing how Koreans eat, er, raw fish. Again, I just don't like using terms like "sushi" or "sashimi" in this context, cuz it's not very accurate, except that that's how 99% of the Eng speaking population understands the concept.

--
Dave

[Mann of Sandd]

Off topic a bit, but I figure here is as good a place as any. I just took a trip to Richard Blais' new hamburger concept, Flip (not sure if he's consulting or if it's his baby, think it's the former). The food (corned beef hamburger with buttered cabbage, beer mustard and a fried egg, along with sweet potato tots with some sort of blue cheese mayo) was pretty good, but the liquid nitrogen milkshake (pistachio) was a bit of a letdown. Will definitely hit it again though, probably this weekend. Blais was in the building, looking busy but bemused as always.

[Cici]

Naw, DaveP, if you say you know how sushi is defined, then I believe you. Chalk it up to my disliking how inaccurately or not at all that 99% of the Eng speaking population (including Gene, if the Bravo editors are to believed from the previous episode) understand it. ;)

To the point about the salt, pepper, etc., used to win the Quickfire, I'm with Dom--why not take the gimme's if the rules allow you to take them? To paraphrase Tom from another episode, the goal is to win the competition, no?

[anon man]

Having finally had the time to read the bravo blogs, I think I agree with LeAnne. Who CARES about indivdiual winners of challenges? You get virtually nothing (except on occassion you get a trip to Italy or something), so who cares which of the three actually "won" the challenge.

[Cici]

Oh, on a different topic. As an addendum to last week's comments on Top Chef playing deja vu with challenges from other cooking reality shows, in Season 4 of Hell's Kitchen, their taste test culminated with two contestants taking turns naming the ingredients in Gordon Ramsey's clam chowder (I think they managed to get up to 7, without using salt & pepper).

[Cici]

Ummm...feeling particularly chatty today, I guess. But just to clarify on my previous comment, my focus was meant not so much that Top Chef did a poor imitation of Hell's Kitchen (there's got to be only so many ways to structure a taste test), but that the Top Chef contestants with their deeper resumes and skill sets probably could have and should have done a lot better at this challenge.

[Cici]

Feeling particularly chatty today, I guess. But just to clarify my previous comment, the focus was meant less that Top Chef imitated Hell's Kitchen (there got to be only so many ways to structure a taste test), but that the Top Chef contestants with their deeper resumes and skill sets could have and should have done better with this challenge.

[Cici]

Arrgh. Sorry. No more typing today.

[canasian]

DaveP

Yes! I knew there had to be someone else here and on TWoP! And for all the pimping of this site I do over there, I haven't made any converts...

Anyway, the episode. LOVED the quickfire. Name that tune, the sauce edition. Very disappointed that they aimed so low. Having only had mole once, never having shrimp and lobster boulliabase, I could probably name 7 or 8 in each. We finally get a real challenge, but I think it was a little mean to team blue and team old. They new borrowed was certainly the best, and new was certainly the worst, so why put blue in the bottom and old on top? Just put them in the middle. I really though that Jamie was going to win this episode. However, if there's anything I've learned from seasons one of Top Chef and Project Runway and Top Design and Shear Genius (I'm addicted to Bravo, okay?), it's that the Magical Elves love rewarding their bridesmaids when a $100,000 check is involved.