Top Chef - S5E7 Postmortem

Vindication on one front, humbled on another, annoyed on possibly the most important.

Jamie wins one. 'Bout time. I don't care if she has attitude about it. She's right. Of course, fennel/orange is as textbook as they come, so I'll be curious to see the recipe.

Ariane makes a creative dish. 'Bout time. Let's see if she can do it again, but full kudos.

All three of Toby Young's money lines are tired cliches, including the singlemost irritating description a critic can possibly use. When you call something dog food or cat food, it's because A) you lack the ability to articulate your objection to the dish, B) you lack confidence in your opinion and overcompensate with absurd hyperbole, or C) you're so drunk with your critical power that you just throw the nastiest thing you can think of out there. This is my first experience with Toby Young, and I'm holding off on final judgement for now, but none of the above bode well.

Discuss!

Comments

[Lon]

Thought the best chefs were among the top performers and the weakest chefs were right where they belonged.

The one remark I always hear about Ariane's dishes is their good taste. Maybe she does actually belong in the top group.

[Steve]

Thrilled that Ariane now has made it into the top group with a creative dish. My bet is that she came in second to Jamie. I'm more confident now that my hope that she makes it to the top 5 will happen. Who knows, she might even be top 4. She's been real consistent. And Fabio has been making mistakes.

Sorry about Gene...but we all knew it was coming. Same with Melissa. Glad Carla lasted. She might surprise us by hanging on for another couple of episodes. She's quirky and gives the show character. But she is next in line for the chopping block based on past performance.

[Independent George]

I've never been so impressed with a 'loser' as I was with Carla tonight. Her performance at JT was a textbook performance on class and professionalism: no drama, no BS, no tears - just a straight answer on what she did wrong, and what she needed to do to fix it.

Toby Young was beyond horrible; Colicchio can be tough, but he's never mean, and his comments are almost always constructive. Young is is just drunk on his own power and convinced of his own infallibility. Where the other judges seemed like they wanted the contestants to succeed, he looked like he was waiting for them to fail so he could pounce with a pre-rehearsed put-down. In other words, an asshat.

[Lou in NJ]

I think that Carla was saved by her (self) analysis of her dish at JT - she came off best.

I read TC's blog and he put it best - the new judge came in thinking he was hired for his wit but realized it was about the food. It'll be interesting to see if his style of criticism develops with the chefs' creativity in the coming weeks.

[Independent George]

Also: Toby Young aside, I loved both challenges tonight. It was more than a little rough watching your food get eaten and critiqued live, but it's also an incredible learning experience. The middle chefs are often left in the dark on how their dishes went; this time, once they got past the initial shock, they were all left with some very candid feedback. The wiser heads will learn a lot from this.

NEXT EPISODE (POSSIBLE SPOILERS): I've been waiting for this episode for two years. The three former contestants I've wanted to see return the most are Hung, Stephanie, and Richard. Since Richard and Stephanie are already blogging on the Bravo website (and Stephanie's restaurant should be opening soon - huzzah!), that left only Hung as a potential guest judge. I can't wait.

I can do without the personal drama, but it also looks like the chefs will be handling live animals before cooking them. I doubt they'll have to slaughter them personally (to be humane, you really do need an experienced professional for any animal larger than a housecat). I'm pumped.

[kit]

Completely agree about Carla's performance at JT's, for all her wackiness and dodo affect, she can also be professional and self-aware, and really capable of selling herself convincingly. I need to learn how to do that in my own career :)

Really enjoyed this episode, not only for the great challenges, but also for the minimal "drama" (no Finnish attempts to turn a lesbian straight, or "Cheaters of Top Chef").

A theme has definitely been emerging about Top Chef providing a unique opportunity for intensive feedback for a chef. It's got me wondering how hard it is for chefs to receive feedback on their work from the normal "course of business." I guess the level of business may be a sign, or which dishes are ordered more often, but it seems like that's a rather noisy indicator compared to the specific comments Tom et al. offer up. Often at restaurants, they ask me how the food is, and I always say "it's great," or something similarly generic, even if I think there are problems, because I don't know, I guess some combination of not wanting to be rude, assuming they must know what the problems are but they're just not of a caliber to fix them, and honestly, who am I to say what good food is?

[Chuck]

I am one baby step away from cutting out of this show. I usually watch it with my brother and sister-in-law and we have begun counting the product placements throughout. Tonight's episode sank to a new low: 29 by our count. I was actually quite angered by the Diet Dr Pepper Quickfire Elimination, not to mention the endless loving shots of the damned can. The closeups of the Glad packages are bad enough, but Bravo apparently has no shame. I was too distracted to really watch the show.

Toby Young is and has always been a complete jerk, and I think both Tom and Padma seemed to hate being in his company. I agree that none of his putdowns were original, but they paved the way for Bravo to make a little more coin by asking people to use their cellphones to vote for the wickedest line. This good show has been almost destroyed by all of Bravo's shenanigans, INCLUDING Padma's mention of Jean-Christophe Novelli's 'upcoming show on Bravo.'

[Bart]

You know what I think about Ariane (I just may be her biggest cheerleader here)...but I just want to point out, respectfully, that the judges said that her food was "perfectly cooked."

Am I the only one who finds that remarkable? They said that about her turkey, about her lamb, about this skate, and lord knows what else. I have never heard another contestant get that same bit of praise so often.

[anon man]

I actually enjoyed watching the extended food critiques and seeing the difference in opinion between Tom and Toby. Jeff's dish was loved by Toby and the guest, despised by Tom. If we had seen more of that, we might have a sense as to who is wearing the pants there.

[Independent George]

I found the T-Mobile placements the most jarring, because you can at least make the case for all the other placements being at least somewhat related to the cooking. What I hate about it is the fact that the commercial breaks seem to be getting longer and longer (and they all seem to be ads for Bravo), and they're STILL taking time away from JT for the sponsors.

I also wish they would have gone local and had them shop at D'Agostino's instead of Whole Foods.

[kit]

I think Eugene has been holding out on us during the season, check out this gem from his exit interview, on what he'd be doing if not cooking: "Ask Martha Stewart for a pottery job, or something, in one of her barns." I think he's somehow managed to conflate Martha Stewart with Pottery Barn, which is just awesome.

[DaveP]

Best episode of the season so far, bar none. I honestly was starting to get pretty bored with TC, esp with the 2 or 3 week layoff, and wasn't expecting to get back into it. It was the perfect time to deliver to us the best actual cooking competition of the season so far. Sorry to see Gene go, not so much for Mel. Carla's really showing a lot of class through and through, esp for a reality show.

On Toby, he was obviously going for the soundbite (and Bravo was cheering him on, ala their moronic poll o' the night), but he did offer some constructive stuff in between. I thought it was interesting the 2 European judges loved Jeff's dish and Tom just hated it. Too bad for Jeff Tom's head judge. He still needs to take a step back and cut down on the number of things he's trying to incorporate.

Jamie's starting to bring it, and I have to give Ariane some respect, though it *still* seems like she's cooking simple things (haven't seen the recipe, maybe there's more to it?), though to perfection. Stephan's back in the winner's circle--he might've won w/better dumplings.

I still can't get overly excited about any front runners atm like I had been able to about Hung, Tre, Dale T, Richard & Steph from the last two seasons. I can see anyone from a pool of around 6 taking the whole thing, but there's no clear favorite.

Looking forward to Dom's rankings, and man am I stoked about Hung's visit next week! I mean Sam as a guest judge was an absolute joke, but Hung absolutely belongs on that mantle. Aside from winning season 3, he was a finalist to represent the US for the next Bocuse d'Or.

--
Dave

[DaveP]

Forgot to add: what was up with the QF? Exactly how hard is it to make dessert w/o sugar if you're left w/a pantry full of honey, syrups, fruit, etc (chocolate too, I'm sure)? Oh, and let's not forget the Diet Dr Pepper (ugh).

--
Dave

[babyarm]

I don't know if anyone reads much of the stuff on BravoTV's website, but they totally tipped the QF winner last week with the previews and it turned out to be R just as they tipped it. They have already tipped the QF winner for next week.

I thought they were going on some sort of spoiler shut down this time. They can't even keep the lid on their own material they publish.

Sigh.

Is this British guy on TV in the UK or he just print? Maybe he thought this was supposed to be an American Idol type gig? I'll google this guy and see what his columns and stuff really look like today.

In any situation I think Jeff is setup to be one of the top 3 guys, but could easily get "Tre-ed" during restaurant week. Tries to do too much. etc. etc. Then one dish just bombs and he's gone. Nobody has a higher hit/miss percentage now at this point.

[Allison]

DaveP: what was up with the QF? Exactly how hard is it to make dessert w/o sugar if you're left w/a pantry full of honey, syrups, fruit, etc (chocolate too, I'm sure)? Oh, and let's not forget the Diet Dr Pepper (ugh).

Ditto. I have no idea why anyone would consider using Diet Dr Pepper under these circumstances.

Can't say I'm surprised by the results, but I'm also impressed by Carla's self-awareness & presentation at JT.

Very much looking forward to next week & hoping that Tom's right that in saying that Toby realizes that this show is more about the food than his "wit."

[Independent George]

My Top Chef challenge rankings (I might have to split between QF and EC soon):

1. Wk 1 QF (Big Apple) - Completely fair, completely enthralling
2. Wk 7 EC (Focus Group) - Cooking for each other - why didn't they think of this sooner?
3. Wk 1 EC (Melting Pot) - Local challenge done right
4. Wk 2 EC (Show Your Craft) - Watching pros in action
5. Wk 4 QF (Amuse Bouche) - The emphasis on visuals is perfect for television
6. Wk 5 QF (Taste Test) - Setup was excellent, but the contestants played too conservative. Not Leann's fault.
7. Wk 6 QF (One Pot) - This is what a QF should be - based on a simple, logical premise
8. Wk 7 QF (Sugar-Free) - I liked it, but let's not pretend that any of this was 'healthy'. Sugar is sugar whether or not it comes from sugar cane.
9. Wk 2 QF (Hot Dog) - Hot dogs get their due
10. Wk 3 QF (Rolling With The Punches) - I don't normally like 'surprise!' challenges, but this one was well done.
11. Wk. 6 EC (Gail's Bridal Shower) - The setup was about as good as it gets for a catering challenge. Too bad the chefs didn't execute.
12. Wk 6 EC (Christmas) - Another catering challenge with another ridiculous theme.
13. Wk 3 EC (Foo Fighters) - Another pointless, gimmicky 'twist'
14. Wk 4 EC (Today Show) - Just plain awful.

Putting it down on text really helps me get a clearer idea of what it is I look for in a good challenge:

1. It has to be fair
2. It puts the chefs in a position to succeed, not at a disadvantage
3. It's about the food

The reason I tend to dislike catering challenges is because they violate points 2 & 3; Gail's Bridal Shower turned out well because it met all three criteria. Surprise gimmicks like the toaster ovens & microwaves in Foo Fighters violates 1 and 2. The Today Show managed to violate all 3.

[anon man]

One question that I thought of while stuck in traffic: Did they have to use Diet DP, or was it just the sponsor? It seems like a lot of them used it, but it wasn't clear why. The black cherry taste is pretty distinctive and I could see a lot of those dishes completely sucking if they used that flavor profile.

And, unlike most everyone else, I'm not against the challenges being sponsored by companies, especially if they don't have to incorporate the product into the dish. For instance, the "Bombay" challenge where they had to make a dish to go with a drink or the Butterball challenge where they didn't have to make a turkey (but of course both did), were both fine. The Uncle Ben's rice challenge, not so much. Sponsorships are a fact of life, and aside from them being a bit heavy handed with the food porn shots of the can, I would rather put up with that then a "snickers challenge" where they had to use a snickers bar.

Oh, I forgot to mention my favorite part: When Ariane offered to put the cream on the dessert and he reacted as if she had offered to scoop some dog feces on it. Sure it was over whipped, but I'm sure it tasted fine...

[Mann of Sandd]

Thought it was a great episode last night. Thought the EC was one of the best we've had and was honestly surprised at the clever "twists" they presented (with the chefs critiquing each other and with the tv in the kitchen area). Tom seems to allude that this was the spark that some of the chefs needed to produce better food going forward. I'm very excited about the rest of the season.

A few other points-

The product placement doesn't really bother me. This show can't be cheap to produce, so they've got to rely heavily on sponsors to offset that cost, I'm sure. Hope this doesn't delay a new season since the economy is so tight. I do wonder if they were required to use Diet Dr. Pepper and we just weren't told.

I'm going to wait and see on the new judge, but the blogs that are up now seem to indicate that he was just feeling out the situation. You could sense a shift in his demeanor between group A's tasting and group B's. He seems to know his stuff and his insight at judges table seemed valuable.

Carla's probably the weakest chef left, but she's made quite an impression with her integrity and personality. I'd be shocked if she's not "fan favorite" as she comes off as so genuine. I think it's time to give Ariane a bit more credit. I still don't think she's top 4 material, but she's proven that she can make food that tastes good if nothing else.

They gave away the QF winner of next week's episode way back in the Week 1 preview (of the season to come). As soon as I saw the preview last night, I recognized the clip.

Jeff is probably atop my Power Rankings, followed by Stefan and Jamie.

[Caulder]

I thought Toby was a no-show frankly. And nothing against him, but he was built up as some sort of hypercritical tyrant and I don't think the promise materialized. Regarding his 'cat food' comment: That stuck with me through the night and I woke up thinking about it. I don't know why it stuck with me, probably because as Dom points out it just seemed so cliche, it wasn't interesting as a critique, as humor, as anything. But then I thought about the dish he was referring to and wondered what else was left in the digital cutting room floor. To give him the benefit, I started thinking that maybe, possibly, his cat food comment was directed in a very specific way toward a dish that would attract feral cats. His other specific criticism was that it smelled of fish in a very unpleasant way, so I think it's possible that he wasn't just being lazy, uninspired, and hack-y with his cat food comment, but that he was saying that the dish resembled the kind of fishy smelling garbage that draws alley cats towards dumpsters.

What got on my nerves about his comments were all the references to Hollywood. Jeff's avocado sorbet reminded him of a Tom Cruise cameo? Bingo! Why that's as clear as a neurologist on a ladder. Thanks for the input.

I'm very happy with the Tats and Bangs double elimination. Fish tacos? At least the daikon/basil/wedding cake frosting/fish-coal/collard green/eugene mess seemed to come from planet crazy. I don't think that still-born fish taco would've even placed in last season's taco quickfire, unless the challenge had been "Bore us with a taco."

[paula]

I thought this was a great episode, too. Except for the idiotic QF. My god, they didn't even try. Create something sugar free that still tastes like an indulgence? But you're free to use honey, chocolate, and all the fat you can get your hands on? Gee, tough challenge. After watching that painful commercial with Brian and Stephanie (seriously, she could barely keep from wincing throughout the whole thing) and then seeing the Dr. Pepper commercial right afterward, I got what they were trying to do. They didn't have to use the soda in their dishes. See, Diet Dr. Pepper tastes totally not diet and belongs in the dessert aisle. And the chefs were challenged to create something "diet" that totally wasn't diet and belonged in the dessert aisle. Get it? Get it?

Ugh. The worst part is that Padma's intro to the QF--which sounded bizarre, and barely made sense--was, in retrospect, merely a DDP commercial in disguise.

Also, I'm now officially impressed with Ariane's uncanny ability to cook any protein perfectly. Seriously, that really is unprecedented.

[Esther]

Agreed with Caulder re: the cat food comment. In general, the "money lines" were unhelpful and lame (e.g. the WMD one). In Melissa's case, though, a dish that smells strongly of slightly-off fish can indeed be very reminiscent of cat food, and there isn't necessarily a better description of that particular smell.

I'm so glad that Carla stayed around, and I feel slightly guilty for thinking so; her food has never particularly impressed me, but I adore her bright personality.

I was actually as unimpressed by Gene's QF dish as by his Elimination one. The latter was a bad judgment that he didn't have the skill to harmonize, but the former was just a kitschy cliche, very reminiscent of his Vegas background. His "innovativeness" struck me as gimmicky when it worked and flailing when it didn't. (And the sauce for his daikon was as boring of a red sauce as they come.)

[winer]

gene's tenure on top chef makes me think about how creativity is dependent on good solid technique in order to work. i was glad the judges gave him acknowledgement for being creative, but i also think it makes sense that if you can't cook a whole fish without burning it, you shouldn't move on. in away gene is the antithesis of how ariane was presented in the first few episodes: she appeared to be all technique and no creativity. this week she shows that perhaps her technique is solid enough for her to explore some ideas that come across as less than obvious. anyway, yeah, i thought it was a good episode and i will be sad to see eugene go. unlike some other commenters, i didn't see eugene as crazy: i just see him as a chef whose technique hasn't caught up with his imagination.

[Otter]

Carla was also the picture of class while dining; constructive criticism, no trying to knock down the competition, credit where credit was due. I wish she was going to last longer, but I just don't think her food is going to make it.

Question for the masses: If Radikah had not had immunity, would she have been on the chopping block?

[fogggin]

Time to vent:
One question struck me while watching this episode, why is this group being treated with kid gloves? At this point in the show, I still do not see the clear emergence of a "Top Chef" (though imho Jeff comes fairly close and I'm wondering why he isn't screaming to high heaven about why he's always passed over for wins, ala Jamie..though in her defence, at least she was chosen in the top 3 a few times). Maybe these chef-testants were chosen more for their personality than outstanding culinary prowess? I just don't understand this season.

[Polybus]

Otter, I don't think that Radhika would have been on the chopping block. Tom's blog states that he thought her dish was actually pretty good. In fact, I was caught off guard by the level of disagreement among the judges. I found it refreshing that we were shown even a tiny bit of the debate that results in JT - on most episodes, it pretty much looks like the judges all agree.

I'm in agreement with most of the group posting here: three cheers for Hootie!

Although logically I can see her packing her knives this week (I think most of us agree now that she is probably the weakest competitor left), I do not have great feelings about Leah and Jeff. Leah is really hit-and-miss, performing very well in the QF and then folding into mediocrity in almost every EC. I thought that Jeff would learn to concentrate on trimming down his gradiose ideas. I believe that he is probably an excellent chef, but he is undoing himself, as babyarm stated above, by doing too much. One mis-step and away he could go.

Right now, I think that Jamie, Stefan and Radhika look like finalists, with Hosea, Fabio, and Ariane completing the top six, and Leah, Jeff and Hootie bringing up the rear.

I'm looking forward to the new Power Rankings to see how Dom gets them ranked.

And I agree with most of the posters, I think this was probably the best show of this season and I hope that they continue to get better. I'm reserving judgement on Toby. You could see him change during the course of this episode (Tom remarked that the change was almost immediate in his blog).

One more quick observation: let's hope that Jamie is done with scallops!

[anon man]

Speaking of Blogs, read Toby's blog at Bravo and at his site. He may be an ass, but he's a funny ass. His bravo blog notes that at Gordon Ramsey's restauant has a tasting menu called "Menu Prestige" which he describes as Franglish with the noun and adjective reversed. He claims he almost ordered as Yoda: "Menu Presitge have I will."

[David]

In what respect is Carla weak? She actually struck a chord with me with her comment about "pizzazz." I think the show (read the judges) are often enamored with chefs who make pretty looking food with decent taste, and come down hard on those who have solid flavors but more rustic plating. (I think this may be Fabio's Achille's heel if this holds true.) Chefs like Leah, Jeff, Hosea, and even Jamie, are prone to deliver the dishes with the trail of oil drops of the swooshes of sauce. That technique is textbook, and, in my estimation, boring.

I've said this before about Eugene, but I'm seeing some more creative, but still formulaic chefs on the show. Namely, I'm thinking of Jeff and Leah. Their food always looks nice, but other than a random sorbet, they usually get decent, but not outstanding, remarks about their flavors. Leah seems to be adept at scoring the QFs, but I don't recall her really bring it home in the ECs. Jeff's vulnerability is excess. I don't think he's come across a technique he doesn't want to include in his dish.

Despite the inclination to rely on magazine shot plating (I think he's overcompensating for his lack of formal culinary training) Hosea seems quite solid.

Stefan is Stefan.

I don't see Jamie making it to the end. She tends to go into hermit mode too easily. She may pull a Dale or a Richard (in the finals) and overthink a dish to her peril.

Ariane seems to be coming into her own. I'm actually very happy that she's been redeemed for the early gaffes.

Quite honestly, I could easily see any of the remaining fall off any given week, and don't think Carla is the lock for the next utterance of PPYKAG. In fact, I'm going to go out on a limb and say the few couple of people to go will be Radhika, Ariane and Jeff (in no particular order).

[Bill]

Tom's blog comment on Radhika's bisque was interesting considering Toby's reaction. I'm starting to get the sense that Tom is over sensitive to spicy food. As much as I respect Tom's opinions I find it unfortunate that the chefs have to tone down the heat.
It seems that Jeff's has the skills and the knowledge but he's not considering who he's cooking for. If he would cook closer to the classics I think he would do much better.
I'm sticking with my top 3 of Jeff, Radhika and Leah. I'm not sold on Ariane and Jamie and Stefan have trouble rolling with punches.
I hope Hottie sticks around for a while, I find her very entertaining (and I give her more cooking credit than most people).

[RM]

Amen on Toby Young, people, he was the worst. "I have found the weapons of mass destruction"? That is really a 2004-vintage joke. I was expecting him to make some references to Austin Powers or something...

The Tom Cruise reference was, um, strained. But I have a couple others he could try. How about "This soup is like the script of Seven Pounds. Terrible!" Or what about "After eating this pasta, I wished I was dead, just like the dog from Marley and Me." You can have those, Mr. Young, free of charge!

[David]

LOL @ Bill. You said "Hottie." (instead of Hootie) Was that Freudian slip?

[DaveP]

For some reasons, I haven't been able to access the Bravo blogs today, and I'm kinda fed up with the TWoP mods so I think I'll just stick around here. :)

Someone mentioned Ariane's nasty whipped cream above--I'd forgotten about that. That looked like it was about 2 more whips away from becoming butter. I don't think I'd want any on my dessert either (unless it called for butter). Since the Diet Dr Pepper was fair game, I wonder if they left any Nutrasweet or Splenda in the pantry while they were at it? Really, for such a good episode, it was one of the worst setups for a QF ever.

Something else that bugged me about Stefan & Toby's comments on the daicon dish--maybe it's a European thing, but we have all sorts of hot daicon/radish dishes over in Asia. I'm frankly disturbed that those two can't even imagine having a warm, flavorful daicon dish. Then again, I was mortified when Tom and some of the others thought tomatoes and peanuts were an odd flavor combination (have any Thai lately? Seriously...) last season. There are some seriously shocking gaps in culinary experiences of people who really should know better. Granted, I have no idea if warm daicon would go over with a tomato basil sauce, and I can't imagine the texture would go over well with ppl expecting pasta.

--
Dave

[aaalex]

@RM i'm still laughing at the marley and me comment.
thank you

[Jon Olsen]

I don't think Carla is next to go. I think it's Leah or Hosea, who are both either lazy, unimaginative, or miss critical things.

Radhika is getting dang lucky with these quickfires, but I'll go out on a limb and predict she'll be the first to go when they stop giving immunity. They stop that before the final 5 or 6 don't they?

Jeff is being heavily edited as a frantic over-reacher, and I suspect he's finishing closer to the top three in ECs than we realize. I bet Jeff is getting frustrated but we see Jamie's more because she's the more interesting personality for the producers.

I think too that Ariane is being given a season-long edit: showing how poorly she fared in the early episodes in order to set us up for how impressive it is that she makes it to the last five--I don't know if she goes to 4 or 3, but how many other chefs consistently Nail protein after protein and go home? Maybe we're seeing creativity in her approach now because they've edited in the comments about her technique with the pineapple; and maybe because she's actually being more creative. I love skatewing so much and as soon as I saw it I took it on faith that she was going to survive another episode.

The change in Toby—and I agree, his appearance was annoying to the point of being shockingly bad—is going to come pretty quickly. Reading his blog on Bravo and his home blog, it looks like his main schtick is harsh reviews of *restaurants* and specifically the restaurants that get rewarded by success even when they treat people badly (Didn't Ruth Reichl sell a bunch of books on this theme already? :-p ). I think this is his m.o. moreso than just acting like a boorish prig. I bet he'll "get it" about the food-focus quick snap. Time will tell though, but don't trust those editors, I say!

[Elise]

Who else misses Bourdain? I haven't read the Bravo blogs yet, so I don't know how much better Toby is in print than unscripted off the cuff comments, but it seems like they were looking to fill a Bourdain shaped hole and failed miserably.

[Steph]

Edging out the product placement for most annoying part of the episode was Hosea's comment right before the elimination: "I feel bad for Melissa, I think she's really worried she's going to go out like this without doing her best yet"

...Wasn't that the point of this entire episode? What prevented her from doing her best work exactly? She must have known she was in trouble, she's been on the block 3 times now, why would she save her best work? Mystifying.

I agree with Caulder regarding the cat food comment. The only time I have dished out raw tuna it has been into the bowl of some neighbor's felines (not a big fish person)

[the chef]

so here it is. Daikon with tomato and basil is nasty and truly nasty. No doubt about that. So the soup from radika was just bad and not good. And stefans dish was great and tom sayed it. jamies was great.

[Bill]

Posted by: RM | January 08, 2009 at 04:22 PM
LOL @ Bill. You said "Hottie." (instead of Hootie) Was that Freudian slip?

I'll have to delve into that next time I'm under hypnosis.

[Kristina]

@DaveP: Are you using Firefox? I had a problem getting to the blogs last night, but had no problem when I switched over to Internet explorer.

[Independent George]

I think what bugs me most about Melissa is that at JT, when asked why she should stay, her answer is always about how much she wants to be there, and not about her food. I just find that sort of thing baffling. Again - Carla's response should be an example for everyone.

[Bart]

I had another thought. Maybe it's just my own poor memory (and it is poor, can someone spare a brother a dime?) - but can someone please remind me why Jeff is being ranked so highly in a lot of places? The only dishes that came off as memorable were his sorbets, and that Christmas dish (but I'm more inclined to chalk that one up to weak competition as much as his own skill).

I don't doubt his skill - he's certainly held his own. But as far as the "wow" factor goes - I've only see that come across in his sorbets. I mean, I have faith that guy can make a sorbet out of belly button lint and make it the best you've ever tasted, but can he do anything else equally as well? I'm not so sure.

[Linda]

I agree with your impression of Toby Young. Some of his 'zingers' felt rehearsed. Like he'd prepared them beforehand, then searched for dishes to apply them to. I found this comment in one of his opinion articles focusing on food reality shows:

"You don't need an encyclopedic knowledge of food to make a convincing judge, so much as the ability to describe just how awful something tastes in a wide variety of different ways. If you can be witty at the same time, so much the better."

Now, I enjoy a good scathing comment as much as the next viewer (I mean who doesn't relish Bourdain's caustic remarks) but I'd like a little more out of a judge.

P.S This is a great blog. I greatly enjoy your insights into the show.

[Dan]

David: I hope your prediction about Jamie is wrong, but you make a valid criticism. She's very emotional, and that could really cost her. I'm still in her corner though.

One of San Francisco's largest strengths as a foodie city is the incredible control chefs have over their protein and vegetable sourcing. It isn't much of an exaggeration to say the chefs can follow their ingredients from the womb, egg sac, or seedling all the way to their kitchens. This turns into a real disadvantage when you are suddenly thrown into a Whole Foods and are faced with fish, meat, and produce that is so often lackluster. Chefs from a less rarified environment probably have an easier time adjusting.

I was also surprised and pleased with Arianne's showing. Good for her. Gene and *especially* Melissa needed to go. If either of them had two brains in their head though, they would have acknowledged the criticism, as Carla did. Ultimately, I think that's why they kept her instead of Gene.

[Kathy from Austin]

This was a fantastic episode, as many have said.

I can't get any of the Bravo blogs up. Can someone post a summary of Tom's comments?

Thanks!

[David M]

Well, I've got to go ahead and say that despite Carla being a very cool person, I feel she will be the next to go - unless someone really screws up.

So once Carla is out, I feel a lot of chefs are kind of equal. I would have put Ariane as a bottom feeder, but her last dish was - once again - hailed as perfectly cooked and even had some creativity to it. You can't have your food called perfectly cooked every single week and not know what you're doing a little bit. Her style is simpler and more comfort food-y then the other chefs, but this episode showed she might have some other tricks up her sleeve and if she can pull them out at the right time, she can be a force.

Originally Radhika looked weak comparatively, but not so anymore. She's my personal favorite, so I'm really hoping she goes far in this competition. I think she's making great choices and I think she should stick to her Indian influences. It's such a big and varied world of spice and flavor - lots of places to go. I can see her getting sent home for stepping out of her comfort zone and abandoning what got her there.

Fabio is showing himself to me as overrated - I think his skills are not that sharp. His plating is always a mess and he's made some really boring dishes - worse than Ariane in my opinion. Carpaccio... seared tune salad... crab cake with no twist? Lee Ann said his crab cake for the Christmas challenge tasted like TGI Friday's. He did a decent pasta this week, but undercooked and underseasoned the lamb. I think his personality and camera-friendliness have overshadowed a lack of skill.

Jeff will go home if he doesn't start focusing on cooking 1 or 2 things really well instead of trying to do 8 different things. No one cares that you can cook that many things at once and you will always be judged by the worst thing on the plate. He seems like a guy with solid skills and creativity - but if he keeps this crap up, he will be going home sooner rather than later.

Leah has been a little quiet lately - not a lot of air time. But her dishes are always tasteful, well-executed and interesting. Her elimination dish - Bread Encrusted Rouget with Fried Beans in Chorizo Broth didn't get a lot of play, but it sounds awesome. I have her for top 4.

Hosea also was a bit under the radar this week, but he's got skills for sure. Again, well-executed, creative. His bacon-wrapped halibut got some thumbs down for being a little rubbery, but I think he's top 4.

Jamie has been the most consistent performer so far. Her biggest knock is leaning on similar ingredients. She did scallops 3 times in a row! Before that, she did soup or puree... well, it seems like every week twice a week. The stuff she's putting out is consistently in the top, flavor-wise - (although she's also been in the bottom 3 twice). I think she's probably the one to beat if she can stay focused and be a little more varied with her ingredients.

Stefan looks like a lock for final 2 - he looked great in the first episode winning both challenges and although he hasn't been as consistent as Jamie (he in fact has not won anything since then!), he's also never really been in danger either. His dish this episode looked heavy-handed to me, but that's German-Austrian food. And the judges seemed to really love the flavor. He's shown the best range of styles and execution in general in my opinion. A Stefan-Jamie final would be fun to watch!

[El Paso Mark]

Well I’m sure sorry to see Gene go. Sure thought from Tom’s comment that he would be staying. What a surprise! I knew Gene wasn’t destined for the top, but had hoped he’d stick around awhile longer. He seems like a nice guy, and I like the fact that he “Came up through the hawse pipe” as it were- Working his way up from dishwasher to head chef. Way to go Gene. You’ll be missed.

Same goes for Carla. Boy, is she a lovable kook or what? I know she’s not going to go much further, but I’ll miss her “Contribution” (Personality) to the show.

Not surprised Melissa got sacked. About time. How many times now has she been on the bottom? Anyone else think she was kinda creepy?

The biggest surprise (For me) was Arianne winning. Again. I thought sure she’d be gone by now. Is there something about her that I’m not seeing? Is she that good?

Stephan, what an arrogant so and so. Would love to see him tank, but not bloody likely. Will be interesting to see what the brew up between he and Jaime is about.

Poor Fabio. He’s got to be pretty frustrated by now. I wonder how much of his “Difficulty” is do in part to the language barrier? Whilst he has some of that Europena Arrogance in him at least it’s not a blatant as Stephan. Hope he makes it to the top 4 at least (And steps on Stephan on the way).

How many scallop dishes has Jaime made now? Top Scallop. Love it Fabio!

I know nothing about Toby Young, but I got a kick out of him and his comments. Seemed to me like the typical Brit no sugar coating, , non PC, tell it like it is critique. Or is he really just a wanker?

Cheers,

Mark

[Weirdsmobile]

After about five seconds of Toby Young, my heart wilted in the knowledge that he was going to be stinking up the entire remainder of this season of Top Chef, with his ludicrous bad-boy posturing and overwrought one-liners. WMD jokes? Really? I know this season was taped a while ago, but 2003? I loved the cat food quip, too. Wow. Never heard that before.

The last straw was when he whipped out such penetrating culinary insights as "fennel tastes anise-y." OMG RLY? Damn, that is exactly the kind of esoteric food expertise we need on Top Chef. I hope next week Toby will unveil more obscure secrets of the culinary world, like whether or not trout smells fishy.

My only hope for the rest of the season is that at some point Bourdain will guest judge and show Toby how it's done.

God, I miss Ted Allen.

[Ally]

Did anyone else notice that both Stefan and Fabio are making total a$$es of themselves with the whole European thing? They are beginning to seem totally xenophobic and horrible. It's about the food not what country you're from...?

[KimberH]

"about 2 more whips away from becoming butter"

Actually, it looked like it WAS butter.

I was not impressed with the new judge - he needs to get rid of the "hokey" comments. Leave the snarky comments to Bourdain who actually excels at it and truthfully, CAN excel at it. He is a chef, after all.

I always believed that people who can not "do", judge.

[KimberH]

And Dom is correct!

Per the Top Chef Blog -

"Until next week where one of my favorite cheftestants Hung will be back!"

[Kellhoun]

Has anyone else noticed that in the reruns for Top Chef, the Christmas episode is always skipped.

[DaveP]

Kristina, and others having trouble with the Bravo blogs:

Yeah, I'm using Firefox and bravotv.com is just broken. I also use adblock and noscript and fairly tight security settings and any site that can't deal with that isn't going to get through. Just out of curiosity for Toby's blog, I opened the site in IE, and even then, I had to lower its security to almost minimal levels just to view the stupid blogs, which I won't be doing again.

David M said, "you will always be judged by the worst thing on the plate." I don't know if I completely agree with that, but it's still an excellent observation. You do get picked apart for your failures a lot more than executing a bunch of things well, but you also do get points for doing extraordinary things, even a single component of a dish. More often than not though, a single bad component will totally ruin a dish for many a judges.

One of my favorite challenges ever was cooking for Andre Soltner and the other deans of the French Culinary Institute. Hung's winning dish was widely praised, but his pommes dauphine was criticized for being too dense, and quite pointedly it seemed. Still, it wasn't a total flop, and his other components obviously made up for it to win the round. Compare that to Casey's misuse of beluga in the S3 finals that pretty much washer her out of the competition. So yeah, I don't think you get judged solely by the worst thing you make, but it certainly leaves a bad, bad impression that's hard to overcome.

--
Dave

[David]

A lot of Davids on this blog. :-)

David M, your post suggests that Carla is the one last piece of fat that needs to be cut from the remaining contestants. I don't agree. I actually think the chefs are all pretty equal at this point, and as I pointed out, there are other chefs that I think are more vulnerable than Carla. I guess that's what makes watching the show so fun. We're all working on educated guesses, hunches and personal opinions/favorites.

Out of all the blogs on Top Chef, this is BY FAR, the best. Dom provides great insight, and the responses are so much more thoughtful and probative.

[David]

Can you all help me get something straight? I see a number of people refer to whom they think will be the final two. I thought, as of last season, the finale starts with four people and the final now has three contestants. Am I wrong?

[DaveP]

Seasons 1 & 2 had 2 finalists. S3 & 4 had 3. I see no reason why they'll go back to 2 for this season, though I can hardly anticipate Bravo's newest wacky hijinks.

I think Carla, and Rahdika (and Hosea?) to a lesser extent, are a notch below the others left in the competition. I would've put Ariane in that group too, but she keeps succeeding for me to really count her out at this point. Still, if I had to pick a lead pack, it'd be Stefan, Jamie, Jeff & Leah with maybe Fabio thrown in. The rest sort of are a step of two below, but I think Carla is towards the bottom of that logjam as well.

Having said that, I don't think the lead pack isn't all that far ahead of the rest of the herd, unlike maybe previous seasons. It's just really hard to anticipate who's going to emerge on top this season.

I *do* think that all the chaff are finally gone with Melissa out of the picture (I think Gene could still pull some brilliant stuff out of his chef's hat, but he was just way too inconsistent), and the number of contestants have been reduced enough that each chef's dishes should be able to be examined in more detail, which is always a welcome part of the later rounds.

--
Dave

[Polybus]

I don't know about anyone else, but I'm just STARVING for Dom's comments!

;-)

[David]

You're not alone Polybus. I feel like a crackhead, popping in for a hit every hour or so--hoping for new shyt! :-O

[babyarm]

Is this blog dead? Is there another one out there that is similar in content from a fan side? There's that mixneats one, but it's not quite the same thing.

[Skillet Doux]

Allright, allright, keep your shirts on :-)

I'm finishing up the rankings tonight. The fix will be available for perusal tomorrow morning!

[David]

Thanks Dom! It's gotta feel good to be in such demand huh? :-)

Tomorrow will be a fix of TC from morning 'til night.

[Mukta]

Finally! I'll have something worthwhile to read while eating my morning bagel! :)

[Unhappy Gilmore]

Finally, I will be happy.