Top Chef - S6E10 Power Rankings

We're getting down to the wire. Hard to believe, but two more eliminations and it's off to the finals. Of course, you'd feel better if everybody were performing a little better this close to the end, but hey, everybody has their off days.

I really found this episode kind of ehh. I'm sure I'm not alone. And I don't mean from a structural standpoint. A simple high-concept themed quickfire and a simple restriction elimination. No reason everybody shouldn't have rocked. But a certain collective malaise seemed to have overtaken the field. But hey, it's been a long haul, they've been sequestered for about three weeks at this point and they're probably all wrecked. But hopefully this is where the adrenaline of the final push the finals will take over and we'll see some great stuff in the next two episodes.

Much has been made, both here and in the judges' blogs, about the amount of surprise over the chefs' lackluster performance in the vegetarian challenge. I guess I'm surprised and I'm not. On one hand, it just seems odd that out of seven contestants, not a single one went the pasta route. But on the other hand, I wonder if the chefs almost thought that too obvious, as though they were concerned it might come across as too plain. Of course, if that's the case, in the process of pursuing flashy, some of them forgot good.

Oddly, I feel like I don't have much to add this week. At this point, it becomes a question of whether our top four(?) survive the next two episodes. Promises to be interesting.

The power rankings are not purely a prediction of who is most likely to win, or an assessment of last episode's dishes, or a reflection of the contestants' historical performance, but rather a nebulous amalgam of all three, combined with a little bit of gut feeling, to provide a relative measure of current awesomeness.

Wins

Top

Bottom

1 Kevin Quickfires 4 6 0 Last Week: 1 Eliminations 4 7 1 We've been saying for a long time now that it's really a toss-up among the top crowd, but as this thing wears on, Kevin seems to actually be putting a little space between himself and the rest of the top group. This week, he pulls off the rare and coveted double win. His quickfire dish was pretty darn straightforward, with just a couple of subtle touches of class on a simple dinner that must've been perfectly executed. His meatballs were a beef/lamb/pork blend that was seasoned with fennel pollen and cinnamon. The tomato sauce was pretty straightforward, though beefed up with a good deal of veal glace. The polenta was cheesy (cream cheese and pecorino) and creamy, the cauliflower was roasted and simply seasoned with rosemary, chiles and lemon, and the pears -- the least conventional component -- were glazed with honey, amaretto, cream, basil and grapefruit zest. His elimination dish, much as I love him, is one of the worst-looking plates we've seen this season. But he nailed it where it counts, in the flavor department, and this one looks like another great example of how his rustic-looking dishes are deceptively complex and layered. Mushrooms, turnips and kale. Mike V. certainly wasn't impressed with how it looked on the surface. But there's a lot of interest here. For starters, the mushrooms are handled two ways, the morels braised with butter, cream and lemon juice, and the hen of the woods sautéed with butter, celery and lemon. The turnips were similarly treated two ways, both as a puree and as roasted chunks, to maintain some additional textural interest. The kale was smoked before being cooked in butter, the pistou was done with pistachio, parsley and tarragon, and the whole thing was topped with a garlic syrup that starts out as caramel before he adds vinegar and reduces it. Again, it plays simple, but it isn't. And that's why Kevin isn't getting himself into trouble for playing it too safe. The people judging him can tell that there's a lot of layering and developing of flavors going on.

2 Michael V. Quickfires 1 3 1 Last Week: 2 Eliminations 2 8 1 Because of this, I can't really call Mike V. the anti-Kevin. If Kevin were one of these "take three ingredients, barely season them and roast them together" kind of guys, then I could draw a sharper contrast. Of course, I also don't think Kevin would have gotten very far cooking like that. But where Kevin excels at taking the familiar and making it unusually compelling from a flavor standpoint, Mike is one of those chefs who's really challenging brains as well as palates, and it makes them a great contrast going into the final episodes. That said, his quickfire dinner was an unusual exercise in creative restraint for Mike. Chicken fingers, almond cream, tomato coulis, spaghetti with cheese and cream, a cherry puff pastry, and nary a thickener to be seen. It also may be why he received no mention up or down. His elimination, however, challenged people. I'm still trying to get my head around banana and polenta. And his asparagus tips were blanched (simple enough) before being glazed in a mustard and kappa-carrageenan mix that apparently created some kind of a gel coating, and the dish was topped with some simple shaved asparagus and tomato seeds -- topped with an arugula and tarragon puree thickened with low acyl gellan gum. Hey, it works. In fact, Tom mentions in his blog this week that he initially wanted to give the win to Mike, but let the others talk him out of it. Bottom like, like Kevin, Mike still seems to be cruising, he's thrilling diners, and it'd be a big shock if he blew it and didn't make the finals (or the finale, for that matter).

3 Bryan Quickfires 0 3 2 Last Week: 3 Eliminations 3 6 0 Bryan just keeps on keepin' on, punctuating solid dishes with the occasional showstopper and using his thickeners and binders in a much more restrained manner than his little brother. His quickfire was also a rather tame meat and potatoes fare (well, okay, a little active RM snuck into the meatloaf and there was a touch of mirin in the apple tarte tatin), and his elimination dish was a mix of fennel, squash, zucchini, tomatoes and stewed artichokes that -- like Jennifer -- caught flack for its lack of body. Sounds like the judges were hungry, and the first fellow who gave them something substantial (and delicious) took home the prize. In any case, it's interesting to note that Bryan has been getting more and more conservative as the competition goes on. It's been multiple episodes now since he's broken out one of his funkier creations. Maybe he's feeling more confident and doesn't feel as though he needs to reach. Maybe he's running out of ideas. Maybe he's saving a few silver bullets for when he really needs them. I'm not really sure. But against Kevin and his brother, I think he's going to have to reclaim a little bit of that earlier wow factor to have a shot at winning.

4 Eli Quickfires 1 2 2 Last Week: 6 Eliminations 0 4 1 Wahey, what's this? There's an intruder in the top four! I'll elaborate on the reasons Jen's not here in a moment, but I want to take Eli's space to give him what I think is a well-deserved shout out for hanging in there against tough competition. Do I consider him a real contender? No, I don't. But I also don't want to take away the fact that even though he isn't pulling down wins, the judges have had some very nice things to say about his food. And this week was a great example. It might be tempting to write off his top elimination appearance this week as temporarily slipping past some stumbling competitors, and that's not entirely without merit, but that also overlooks the fact that it looks like a great dish that the judges seemed to view very favorably. My point is, just because he's now getting near the bottom, I don't want to seize that as an opportunity to smack him around for it. Fact is, it seems like the guy can cook some pretty good food. And with a little luck, he still might stick around for a while.

5 Jennifer C. Quickfires 3 5 3 Last Week: 4 Eliminations 1 5 2 I had to do it. I had to! Read the green italicized text right above Kevin's photo. She's not awesome right now, and she hasn't been for weeks. Since knocking out a nice broth in her joint dish with Kevin four episodes back, she snuck into the top on her pork belly and the rest has been bottom, bottom, bottom. In fact, at this point the only person who's been on the bottom more than her is Robin. Seriously! Even Eli has made two fewer bottom appearances! If we were to jumble up the episodes and ignore when she did what, I'd put Jen above Eli. In a competition like this, I'll almost always take peaks and valleys over steady competence. And I don't really think Eli is the chef Jen is (based on the limited window we get into their talents here). But for the Power Rankings, it's not enough to have done well weeks ago. Past performance will buoy you for a while, but after bottoming out three straight and four of the last five individual challenges (excluding the blindfold relay), I have to ding her. It wouldn't take much for her to reclaim that number four spot -- just a sign that she's getting her feet back under herself. But while I expected that rebound a couple of weeks ago, now I'm not so sure it's coming. I hate to say it, but as talented as she is, Jen looks so fried right now that I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if we end up sticking a fork in her before the finals.

6 Robin Quickfires 1 1 4 Last Week: 7 Eliminations 0 1 3 I touched on this in the postmortem comments a week and a half ago, but I want to go over it in an official capacity. I've drawn the Lisa comparison with Robin on a couple of occasions, but I don't mean it as a direct analogy. Perhaps evoking Lisa is too prejudicial of an action in this context and I just shouldn't go there. But allow me to explain. Despite the difficulty she seems to have with pulling tight, cohesive dishes together at times, I think Robin is a talented cook, and I think anybody who says otherwise either isn't paying attention or is getting caught up in hyperbole. She had a restaurant in Seattle that people loved, and the judges have -- on occasion -- had some very, very nice things to say about some of her dishes. When I draw the Lisa comparison, I simply mean that she's clearly outclassed, and while her skill has helped, it's also taken an awful lot of luck for her to get to this stage of the competition. As I said before, the difference between me and some of her fellow contestants is that I don't see this as a reason to make her an object of scorn. She's just trying to win like everybody else. But while she deserves a little respect for having survived so long, let's be realistic. She hasn't given us any reason to think she'll be around much longer.

7 Mike I. Quickfires 2 4 0 Last Week: 5 Eliminations 0 2 3 Aside from the fact that he clearly doesn't get along with Robin and isn't prepared to accept the possibility that her dish was better than his, Mike's exit interview was actually one of the more easygoing and humble ones we've seen. He knows that he screwed up his dish, he seems to know that he wasn't going all the way against this crowd anyway, and that if he didn't go home now, he would have gone home soon. And I have to say, on the recipe end his dish does look really flat, which is surprising given his background. It does seem like his problem may have been one of hubris, both this week and with his Greek salad back in episode three. Whatever, whatever, Robin won't make a better dish than me. It is what it is, Mike's handling the pork belly for us and I'll just throw together this stupid Greek salad on the side. But even that might be getting too deep into the armchair psychologist role. Bottom line is that he screwed up, and when you screw up, being allowed to stick around is a gift.

And looking forward to next week...

WARNING : MINOR EPISODE ELEVEN SPOILERS AHEAD

What is it about late-season breakfast challenges? Not that I'm complaining. So we have breakfast in bed for Padma and Nigella Lawson, a very short timeline, and a messy kitchen that gives everybody else one more reason (legitimate or not) to be annoyed by Robin.

The elimination looks like it's pretty much going to set the chefs loose -- after a Vegas travelogue, that is. Each dish is supposed to be inspired by a different casino, but it doesn't appear that they're putting any other restrictions on the chefs. And you know what that means. No excuses, and nobody but yourself to blame if you get sent home. With a challenge like this, I'd say it's finally Robin's time. But who knows...

Discuss!!!

Comments

[timothy]

Excellent as always. Thanks. I think the Robin & Lisa comparison makes more sense to me now that I just saw Lisa on the reunion episode. In memory Lisa was hyper-aggressive and cold-heartedly cagey, but she seemed pleasant enough on the reunion, and I can see how she had just kind of been overwhelmed and outplayed when she was a contestant. That makes sense as a way to describe Robin too. I am ready to see Mike, Kevin and Brian in the finals. These pre-finale episodes are hard to enjoy because they are less about watching people do their best as we reach the end, and more about watching the slow and inevitable demise of people I had admired. Hopefully this week they will all be at their best. I especially hope that for Jen. She is breaking my spectator heart almost as much as the NY Giants are right now...but that's a whole other conversation.

[jh]

PR on Monday this week?!?!?! Forgive me for the offal comment, but my heart bleeds with joy.

[Jiri Black]

In this episode many of the dishes in the elimination challenge seemed more like a second quick fire than an elimination: rushed, improvised, hope-for-the-best cooking.
wonder if the shopping trip to Whole Foods that we see before they start cooking almost every other elimination challenge gives them some much needed time to plan their dishes.

[Duffy]

Yeah jh!! You have been waiting weeks for the right time to spring that wonderful pun, haven't you??? And awarding it to Dom for the present of early PR's seems just right, doesn't it? Way to go.

[Bart]

Say what you will about the breakfast in bed challenge... I'm just going to come out and say it:

I would not mind having breakfast in bed with Padma Lakshmi or even Nigella Lawson.

There, I said it.

As for the rankings...I can understand why you switched Eli and Jen around. But my bone of contention is actually one ranking I think you nailed - Mike over Bryan. See, while I agree that Mike should be ranked over Bryan, I don't think Bryan is that far behind.

Maybe I'm reading too much into your comments, but I get the impression that you think Mike is clearly head and shoulders over Bryan. I'm not so sure. I think Bryan isn't playing it conservatively as much as he is showing careful restraint. I don't think he's run out of ideas, because he's pretty experienced. I get the feeling he's just playing the cards pretty close to his chest at the moment.

[Skillet Doux]

"Maybe I'm reading too much into your comments, but I get the impression that you think Mike is clearly head and shoulders over Bryan."

Definitely wasn't my intention, but I can see how it could be read that way :-) And I agree, I think he's just playing it cool right now. As usual, just going through the possibilities in my head.

[Independent George]

I have to agree on Jennifer - I'm still rooting for her, but it looks like she's already defeated herself mentally. It's hard to watch her flounder after seeing her take charge in the Air Force episode. If she can survive the next two weeks, and get a chance to rest and recover, I'm sure she'd be back to her old self and round out a phenomenal finale.

To borrow from Will Allen's analogy, she's gone from Samurai Mike to Dick Vermeil at the end of his stint in Philly. She just looks burned out.

[Jake]

I endorse not only moving Jen out of the top 4, but moving Eli into the top 4. He's young, and doesn't always fire on all cylinders, but if he starts putting things together the right way, he could put up a decent fight in the finals. I wouldn't bet on it, but I think it's possible -- sounds like a classic dark horse to me.

For most of the season, even when he was finishing in the middle of the pack, his food has looked consistently interesting to me.

[lisa]

While I agree with you that Mike might be above Bryan in terms of his food lately, his attitude seems far below. A Top Chef also has to be someone that people want to work for and with. Bryan seems so much more level headed and easier to work with and for.

[Steve]

Dom,

My only difference with you is with Eli's placement over Jennifer. With only the constraints of her imagination (and the Las Vegas hotel chosen for her) and being able to cook her food her way this coming week , Jennifer should be able to beat Eli's normally good, competent food - even if he's caught fire somewhat these past two weeks.

As for Robin, she should be easily outclassed. But we shouldn't count her out when she also has the freedom to cook her food. She's obviously stressed from the household opposition and that may be her undoing. But you never know, wouldn't it be a crock if she beats Eli?

[Independent George]

Steve - I agree that Jennifer is the better chef overall than Eli, but it also looks like she's mentally checked out of the competition. Based on Colicchio's blog post, her bottom dish in the last EC was clearly a lot better than was made apparent in the episode, but I don't think she knows that. As Jennifer has said many times, she's a perfectionist, and takes those bottom showings very personally, and I think the bottom showing is weighing in her mind. If she survives to the finals, and gets the opportunity to rest and recover, I think she'd get right back to being her bad-ass self again. With only six people left, though, that's an awful big 'if'.

That said, Stephanie also had a mid-season swoon before recovering nicely right before the finals (at exactly the same stage, too). As with Steph, it was mostly mental errors, but unlike Steph, fatigue seems to be the major issue. I'm still rooting for her, but I think she's in real trouble.

[Skillet Doux]

"While I agree with you that Mike might be above Bryan in terms of his food lately, his attitude seems far below. A Top Chef also has to be someone that people want to work for and with. Bryan seems so much more level headed and easier to work with and for."

True, but we've addressed this in previous seasons and unless the judges are struggling to put a little daylight between two contestants and are desperately in need of a tiebreaker, that won't come into play. They'll play lip service to leadership, attitude, etc., but that a distant secondary (or tertiary, or quarternary) concern. Bottom line, whoever cooks the best food is going to win.

"My only difference with you is with Eli's placement over Jennifer. With only the constraints of her imagination (and the Las Vegas hotel chosen for her) and being able to cook her food her way this coming week , Jennifer should be able to beat Eli's normally good, competent food - even if he's caught fire somewhat these past two weeks."

Maybe so. (I hope so.) And if she does, then she can have the number four spot back :-)

(They're not purely predictive.)

[Anne]

Heh. Hubris. Greek salad. Heh.

[Skillet Doux]

"Heh. Hubris. Greek salad. Heh."

Unintentionally appropriate :-)

[karen]

"A Top Chef also has to be someone that people want to work for and with."

And how do we know that chefs aren't knocking down the door to work with Mike at his real gig? Don't make the assumption that because he's been given the jerk edit (or is one in reality) that no one wants to work with him. Right or wrong, talent allows you to get away with a great deal and I'm sure that many chefs out there would love the opportunity to work with him even seeing him at his worst on TC.

[Luray]

A quick comment about the vegetarian choices the chefs made and the lack of pasta- If you look at Crafts menu, the only grains offered are a polenta and wild rice dish. As a fan of the show, I have thought to go to a Craft restaurant, but as vegetarian, there never seemed to be too much to fill up on besides vegetables. And though cooked properly, vegetables can be great- my fear is I would get something like the cheftestants put together. So, unless LeAnn stocked the pantry with pastas, there wasn't much else to choose from. Though I would have expected beans or something protein-ish.

[Skillet Doux]

"So, unless LeAnn stocked the pantry with pastas, there wasn't much else to choose from."

Dry pasta, perhaps. But I'm pretty sure Craft has flour, eggs and water back there somewhere :-)

[anon]

Well, and plus, we can't say for certain and I wish she had been blogging more this season, but LeAnn has been nothing if not thorough in the past. I have a hard time believing she would have left the contestants without a range of grain/starch options here. And, in fact, I believe Mike I. said in an exit interview that he had considered making a risotto, so we know that some non-menu grains were stocked, at least.

[babyarm]

Fresh pasta was so season 5 though.

[Bart]

Fresh pasta was so season 5 though.

And using dry pasta, you run the risk of someone saying, "Well, why didn't you make your own?!" and getting PPYKAG'd as a result.

[babyarm]

Top chef masters demonstrated well why dry pasta is often times more desirable. The worm has turned on that.

As a side note I would get a great kick if they made them do a culinary interpretation of Excalibur or Circus-Circus. The two casinos they featured in the preview are MGM properties so I imagine they are featured heavily including TI, Mirage, Bellagio among them. Maybe they throw a bone to Paris or Cesears though. They've spent quite a bit of time in the Wynn so it's not like they aren't getting around.

[Independent George]

Man, comments are quiet this week. The Power Rankings threads are usually full of chatter.

[Skillet Doux]

"Man, comments are quiet this week. The Power Rankings threads are usually full of chatter."

I don't think anybody actually believed I'd have them up on Monday :-)

(Can't say I blame them.)

[gilmore]

Can't disagree with moving Eli up a notch. Wonder if he has been schooled by Blais and has hung in the middle and now will pull out a few tricks to get in the final four. I wonder if with Jen's fade if Eli will need some tricks.

I guess this week will tell if Jen has her "it" back. The challenge should be a chance for each chef to shine.

[Ooba]

Re: Bryan.

I went to a cooking demo he did yesterday. He demoed Textures of Chocolate and I got to try a little bit of it - absolutely delicious. Anyway - he was using liquid nitrogen at the demo and someone asked him how he was taught to use this. He said no one had and then positively started beaming as he talked about how Tuesdays when Volt is closed, he will experiment with different techniques etc and try things out. At another point in the demo - he mentioned that he is big on planning and thinking things through. My point is - I actually think that Bryan might be as experimental as his brother but the difference is that Mike might be more of a just go for it kind of guy while Bryan wants to think it through in the competition. I think that is why we might be seeing some restraint there lately. I think he has plenty up his repertoire but maybe just hasn't been able to think it all the way through and would rather not risk something he hasn't had a chance to plan. We all saw the camping challenge where he sat for an hour plotting where to put things on the fire so that they would cook properly. Just a theory...

[lamelama22]

I read the PR like 5 min after they went up (luck of checking the website before going to bed, then staying up for 20 minutes reading everything), but I was too tired to comment, so I'm sorry for the lack of comments. But yeah, thanks for doing the power rankings, I really enjoy reading your commentary every week (or every 2 weeks, when Bravo decides we need a reunion special break).

I'm hoping Norris pulls it out. Every other time the Dom has challenged her to do something specific she delivered, so now that she's being called out for her tailspin I hope she spins and roundhouse kicks all the other contestants right outta this funk she's in.

[jh]

Ooba, I'm jealous of that chocolate, but your post brings up a good point about Bryan's methods. His thought process is probably why he does so much better in the EC than in the QF. He needs that extra time for his ideas to fester. We saw in the previous episode how the contestants were talking about possible dishes to cook the night before. Bryan's dish for the vegetarian challenge was pretty lame and could have been in the bottom 3 easily (I think the judges called Jen to give her a kick in the butt), and the lack of a stellar dish could be attributed to his lack of quick thinking on the spot, much like a QF. I'm sure that all the chefs have the potential to make some great tasting veggie food when given time and resources in a familiar environment, but part of watching these reality shows is to watch contestants sweat under crazy circumstances. Some fall flat on their face, and others channel their inner MacGyver.

Since Jen Norris has yet to pull out her crane kick, perhaps there should be a running Macgyver theme. Not sure which cheftestant fits the profile, but they can butcher a whole pig with a swiss army knife.

However, I would find it very humorous if people went to Kevin's station during the 2010 Pigs and Pinot event and ask him to serve them a vegetarian option.

[babyarm]

They have kept the finale location very tight. Usually at this point they leak this both in the Guide and on the main website. Next episode up.

Episode 12: Culinary Olympics

The leftover chefs participate in an elite cooking competition established by notable French chef Paul Bocuse. His chef son Jerome guest judges with culinary figure Thomas Keller. Also appearing: Daniel Boulud, Gavin Kaysen, Timothy Hollingsworth, Alessandro Stratta and Traci Des Jardins.

[Danny]

Dom, thanks for the PR. I pretty much agree with your placements. I do think that Eli should have gotten the same criticism that Jen did. What he served did not look like a main course - it barely looked like an appetizer and if I ordered that dish and it cost $10 I would send it back.

Reading your descriptions of Kevin and Mike V's food made it clear why I would consistently choose to eat Kevin's over Mike V's. Kevin uses natural ingredients and through many cooking methods creates fantastic layers of flavors. I just don't want all those MG chemicals in my food. It doesn't interest me. I'm probably missing out on some great foams (which always look like what my cat leaves on the floor after eating a plant) but give me fresh and natural any time.

That's why, for me, I would choose Bryan's food over Mike V.'s. Although Bryan does use some MG he does it with restraint and thoughtfulness. So for my personal rankings, if they were cooking for me, Bryan would be second and Mike V third.

[rab01]

Thanks for the rankings Dom! I'm not a competent cook at all so what I most love about your rankings is the insight into what makes the contestants' recipes interesting, innovative, unusual or boring or bland. Since we can't taste the food, your writing is the closest I've found to being evocative of the flavors the diners are experiencing -- to be honest, more evocative than the judges' blogs.

As for the order, I don't think anyone can complain about Jen being ranked 5. I know you are rating their level of current awesomeness but when I see your list, I think in terms of who would I be most surprised to see kicked off the show this episode and who would I be most surprised to see win the elimination challenge. Given Jen's past 3-4 days of cooking (and her moaning attitude whenever her dish isn't turning out perfectly), I think it would be less surprising to see Jen go than Eli. Therefore, this episode he ranks higher.

[Shelly]

babyarm, the finale location has been mentioned elsewhere in foodie blogs. I won't say what it is though unless Dom doesn't consider it to be a spoiler.

The rankings are pretty much as I see them too. Eli deserves his move up. Hopefully Jen got a kick in the pants from the talking to that Tom gave her though, and she'll be back in form this week.

[FleetoPod]

The location of Top Chef Finale was revealed on Bravo's site on 11/02/09.

http://www.bravotv.com/blogs/the-dish/top-chef-finale-location-revealed

Episode 11 will be airing this week Wed. 11/11 is "Strip Around the World" - Chefs must make the perfect breakfast in bed dish; Nigella Lawson serves as guest judge.

Episode 12 Culinary Olympics won't air until 11/18. Should be a good one as it's supposed to based on the international competition "Bocuse D'Or"

[Bart]

I never thought the location of the finale was a bit deal. It's cool to know, but I'm much more interested in the outcome.

Only thing that I worry about, such as the case with New Orleans or Puerto Rico...is that the locations for the finale could very well be legit locations for the whole season.

Why NOT have a Top Chef season in New Orleans?

And also, why NOT finish the season in the host city? Imagine a finale in Chicago at the Sears Tower... or in New York City at the heart of Times Square.

Anyway, looking forward to seeing how the end of this season unfolds.

[babyarm]

I don't think you can stick out the same location and not get hit with lots of spoilers. Tons of spoilers came out about prior seasons with regards to the participants everywhere but the puerto rico one, but now it's impossible to know since the final 7 usually go to the finals location anyway. People said the only thing they knew for sure was Fabio was not TC as far as spoilers that were public last year so they did a good cover job.

Napa was a nice location to do it I'm sure. Good catch on the blogs I didn't notice that.

[Shelly]

Well, since others mention it, they film the finale at Chimney Rock and Rutherford Hill wineries in Napa and Rutherford, and Cyrus restaurant in Sonoma.

[wolfefan]

Sadly, there's no Sears Tower anymore in Chicago.... It's now the Willis Tower (gag)

[Independent George]

Only thing that I worry about, such as the case with New Orleans or Puerto Rico...is that the locations for the finale could very well be legit locations for the whole season.

Who's to say they won't film a season there eventually? Las Vegas and NYC were both 'finale' locations before they filmed full seasons there. There's no shortage of great food towns around the US.

[rab01]

IG -- Speaking as a proud New Yorker, I don't think we ever had a finale here. Hell, we barely had a season in NY for all the use they made of the city. (If you're going to have a hot dog challenge, why not send them out with carts to Times Square?)
Your broader point is still good -- no reason why hosting a finale would preclude a full season in the smae place.

[Skillet Doux]

"Speaking as a proud New Yorker, I don't think we ever had a finale here."

I believe Independent George is referring to the sort of "pre-finals" they did in S3, where there was a brief one-episode New York stop (the French Culinary Institute) in between Miami and Aspen... and before the winner was announced in Chicago.

They... uh... got around that season.

[Independent George]

Dom's right; my memory is faulty. That was a weird season.

[Dawn]

babyarm, where did you get that episode description, if you don't mind me asking?

Dom, thanks for the PR. I would still put Jen at 4th, but I understand why you didn't. I have a hunch that she'll bounces back, and it's NOT because I like Jen. I genuinely feels that she has some fight left in her and if her inner Norris comes back, Eli better run. :)

[babyarm]

Two places. My TV usually. Tvguide.com also. Sometimes one has more information than the other, but not always. They published 4 weeks in advance earlier in the season and have since cut back to just one or two.

Typically someone will pickup the info very fast and put it on the wiki entry for top chef.

[Dawn]

^ I see. That's why I asked, cause there's a slight difference between your episode 12 description & wiki's. And although it's slight, it's a HUGE difference. I won't mention it here, but anyone could take a look at it at Top Chef season 6 wikipedia page if they want to know.

Big things going down in this week's episode, if it's true.

[babyarm]

Yeah, what must happen is there is a character limit for some TV information display so they must pay someone to copy edit the info bravo sends out. So some places you can have less characters but more "information". There doesn't seem to be a consistent location for the most valuable info you need to check a few places.

I do some wiki editing of top chef information from time to time also.

[Dawn]

Emm... guys check this out.

http://www.bocusedorusa.org/events.html

It seems like in episode 12, instead of just mimicking a Bocuse d'Or, the chefs are actually competing to be a candidate to represent USA at the ACTUAL Bocuse d'OR.

My mind, it is blown. Is this the best season of Top Chef or what?

[paula]

It's getting very spoilery in here.

[Dawn]

I'm sorry. I thought episode descriptions are allowed. Feel free to delete any of my comments, Dom, if you feel fit.

[babyarm]

Anything published by bravo is fair game and not "spoilery". The only thing in here that as far as I can tell bravo didn't publish is the filming locations for the finale.

[gilmore]

Just waded through the Bravo site of horrors and found this interview with Kevin.

http://www.bravotv.com/top-chef/blogs/burning-questions/kevin-gillespie-the-meat-stigma

[Will Allen]

Thanks for the link; Kevin, as is typical, gives reason to think, in a non-obnoxious way, that he is the smartest person in the kitchen.

[EdT.]

A couple of items:

1) If I recall, one of the blogs (Gail's?) for the last "real" episode mentioned that there were lots of ingredients available to the chefts that weren't touched. I presume that this included either (a) pasta, or (b) the ingredients to make pasta. I do recall that quinoa (sp?) was mentioned.

1a) In that regard, given that Jen had already made pasta once this season (the "deconstructed lasagna"), I am not sure why she didn't go that route. I'm guessing the nerves/burnout.

2) For reasons known but to (somebody), Bravo decided to assign "Episode 11" to that "Fabio Beats Up On Marcel" episode. Soooo, the new epi tonight is actually E12. Not horribly important, unless you don't want to read about the wrong one before you see it.

~EdT.

[gilmore]

My only guess is that Bravo did not want to go up against the World Series so they ran the "special".

[rab01]

Thanks for the link to Kevin's interview. I would now like to try to translate one of his quotes from "Kevin" into English:

"I have had the opportunity to talk to Michael about his comment and we have resolved any hard feelings as adults. I think that the stress of the show, and the overwhelming emotions that accompany winning and losing sometimes make people say or do things that they regret later. I feel confident that Michael and I share a mutual respect for each other and often agree to disagree on the proper way to approach cooking."

Translation:

"Yes, Mike really does think that but regrets saying it out loud. Obviously, I disagree with him (just remember I kicked his ass on that challenge). You can decide for yourselves whether or not he's a douchebag; I don't hold a grudge and I'm not going to fan the flames."

[Will Allen]

Precisely.

[Dawn]

EdT, I usually watch all the bonus clips on Hulu since it's easier to navigate than the Bravo site. Officially, that All-Stars Reunion Dinner is labelled '6.16', with tonght's episode labelled '6.11'. Makes sense that we'll get 14 episode plus 1 reunion special. It's probably different for DVRs though.

Again, nothing too important. Just thought I'll chime in.