Top Chef - S7E3 Postmortem

All rightey, some real, individual cooking!

Too bad it didn't do much to clear anything up.

I know I'm not disappointed to have lost Tracey from a food standpoint. I'm less certain about whether I'm disappointed to have lost her from a personality standpoint. The bar's been set a little low in that regard this season.

I thought there was some fun-looking food this episode. I think you've all been spoiled by last season, folks. (Me too.)

Very much looking forward to a straight-up, small volume, plated cooking challenge... hoping it comes soon.

Discuss!

Comments

[KinderJ]

Colicchio said something that I have of felt for a while. I am paraphrasing here, but calling some foods 'Italian' is insulting to Italians and Italian Americans. This was really driven home to me when I ate recently at an 'Italian'... food purveyor... attached to a highway hotel in southeastern Ohio. There was quite literally not one thing on the menu that was Italian. Not one thing. On my way out (family gig, had to sit through dinner) I noticed that they sold tee shirts with pseudo-Italian accented slogans. Now, I made no fuss, just quietly left and vowed never to return. But as someone who is literally an Italian American, as in I was born and raised in Boston but am this second looking at my Italian passport, I found the whole experience pretty offensive.

Now, I impute no ill will to Tracy. I know she was not trying to be insulting, or offensive or anything like that. And food terms are flexible- just think how many things are called 'Moroccan' or 'Latin' infused or inspired or style. Asian is the other big one for that. But what about her dish was even vaguely Italian? At all? Fennel? Is fennel seed now a sure sign of Italian food? All I can think of is some sweet Italian sausages (in America, I never ate them in Italy) have fennel seeds in them. I am sure other readers of this site can think of many other Italian dishes that use them, but that's me tapped out. Just one of those things that make me mad.

[JJH2]

This must be one of the most dour, snippy casts ever. Or maybe it's just been too long since I've seen Season 2. Everyone just seems to be so irritated with each other. I actually laughed out loud when Andrea asked Tracey what kind of pie she was making, and Tracey kind of just looked down helplessly at her sad, empty pie crust and said, truthfully, that she didn't know. And then Andrea interpreted it to mean that Tracey just wouldn't tell her, and started going all "well, I'll remember that then!" Wow. Defensive much?

Then there's Ed, who couldn't sound more miserable. First, he did nothing but piss and moan about everything in his confessionals. He was nasty to Alex ("I hate chocolate!" "He's so sloppy!"). He was miserable at the barbecue because he had to pretend to be happy (which is clearly a stretch for him). And the way he talked about how he'd surpassed his father as a chef already... it just seemed so mean. I'm disappointed his EC dish was so well received.

I can't help but like Tracey, even though she did pretty poorly in the competition. She is endearingly out there, even when she is going on about being clairvoyant, which would normally bug the heck out of me. You'd think she'd have a better idea of how much the Judges were going to dislike her food if she could really see the future... Plus she was pretty funny when she apologized to Tom for insulting Italian food. I wish she could have stuck around a little longer.

Gail cracked me up with her "How does it compare to your grandmother's celery spuma?"

Although Arnold's schtick was getting a little tired, I'm glad that his kofta was good. It looked pretty tasty.

[Daniel]

I definitely agree that the cast is quite dour and largely unlikeable. I don't mind Arnold the way some of the rest of you do, though I wouldn't say I'm in love with him either. I do enjoy the hell out of the subtext of most of his comments, and I am glad to see that he has a solid hand with flavors, even if I think his technical limitations limit how far he can ultimately go.

I truly dislike Amanda, Kelley, and Ed, but watching tonight, I was reminded of Lisa from a few seasons ago - I think there was a general consensus that even though she was almost universally disliked, it was her lack of skills that were the real problem. I'm going to work on getting over my dislike of the few and apathy towards the majority, and just try to ignore their horrible personalities and focus on the oftentimes tasty-looking food that several of them are routinely putting out.

Kelley's pie looked too rich for me, but props to her for putting out something so appreciated. Until Amanda starts aggressively snorting flour, I'll try to focus on her great ribs. Kenney's beleagured 'big daddy' persona grates on me, but I'm very appreciative of his skills. Same goes for Angelo. Arnold, again, I think has a definite expiration date, but I'm always appreciative of people who understand flavor in this competition. And Stephen....well, I'm sure he can grow a really nice beard.

One thing that does surprise me is how many people come into the competition so ill-prepared. While there are a ton of things you just can't control in Top Chef, prep skills and exposure to ingredients are things you can. You'd think that all these folks would come in here with amazing knife skills and at least cursory exposure to an extremely wide array of cuisines and components. I'm confused as to why that is so often not the case.

[Joe S]

I'm surprised a few more folks don't come in with some pastry practice as well. You would think they would expect to be stuck cooking a desert once in a while on the show.

[Danny]

Daniel, I keep thinking the same thing. It may be that some of them auditioned but have never seen the show (which would be boneheaded). At the very least get 4 or 5 desserts down as well as some basic recipes that can be applied to many situations and be used as a starting-off place.

[Bart]

So much for my prediction that a MOTPer would get the axe.

Bummer. I am disappointed to see Tracey go. I knew she wasn't a serious contender for the finals, but she had an engaging personality and often made me laugh - which I can't really say for most of the rest of them.

Nice to see Angelo give some legit props to another contestant for his/her food.

How funny is it that Tim, who bragged about grilling, ended up on the bottom while two of the top four included a girl and, quite possibly, the gayest man on Bravo's history.

I do like Arnold, though. Somebody's got to step up to fill the class clown void that Tracey left behind.

Good sign for Ed: during his quickfire (which failed), he said something that I think could make him a contender - he talked about having a dish, and then elevating it. He wasn't going to sit on his laurels, he knew he needed to stand out somehow.

Of course, it remains to be seen if he's the next Eugene (from season 5) or a more credible contender.

[paula]

JJH2: I see where you're coming from with Tracey. Her quote at the end was extremely simple but dead-on for the whole TC experience: "I'm not a bad chef; I just had a bad day." Good for her.

And I have to give Angelo credit for seeming sincere when he said Amanda's ribs were better than his own dish. That was unexpected considering the edit he's been given thus far.

Finally, that photo of Ed's dad had me breaking out in giggles the entire rest of the show. He looked like he'd just finished tying a damsel to a railroad track.

[gilmore]

The rankings should get a workout this week.

I too will miss Tracy - a much nicer Rosie O'Donnell.

Angelo even told someone their pie was in trouble in the oven.

How about the argument over the oven!!

I had to laugh that the big talkers were chopped down to size once the grill fired up.

Why do they use charcoal lighter? It destroys the flavor. I saw some chimney lighters out there. USE THEM!!!!

I am glad Waxman was a guest host. He is making the rounds - TCM, TNFNS and TC. I do prefer a knowledgeable chef guest host to a vapid celebrity/politico.

Does anyone miss Lee Anne? I did last week with those challenges. This week, the challenges were good. I miss her.

[Bart]

Paula: Finally, that photo of Ed's dad had me breaking out in giggles the entire rest of the show. He looked like he'd just finished tying a damsel to a railroad track.

That made me laugh out loud! Thanks for the morning giggles :)

[Danny]

Just rewatched and I was struck by how many carted out the micro green salad. There were some very tasty looking dishes but with the exception of Arnold, no one produced anything that blew me away. My ribs are better than your ribs seems like a Food Network competition, not TC.

Angelo was certainly more likeable this time but his use of the royal we drives me crazy. "Today we made blank and we used a blank sauce and then we served it over blank."

All told, this group just doesn't hold a candle to last season. So far, Arnold and Angelo's food are the only ones that I crave to taste. We shall see.......

[JJH2]

Whew. Tom and Gail's blogs are up and they are pretty critical of the cheftestants' performances as a whole in this episode. I'm interested to see the recipe for Angelo's "smoked" egg salad. Apparently there was a bad batch of tomatoes floating around the grocery stores that day, and every dish that had them included really suffered.

[aaalex]

is it just me or was it incredibly ironic to hear waxman saying "a good chef doesn't give up"? it was my impression, at the end of masters 2, that waxman did just that. he gave up, because he wanted to be with his family. more than that: he produced dishes that, in terms of presentation, could easily have been duplicated by a 10 year old. last night, he was also incredibly grumpy/mean - at least in the edit - towards the food. you'd have thought that, having gone through the top chef ordeal - and masters isn't nearly as difficult as regular top chef - he might have had a little understanding and sympathy. actually, he appeared to have precisely ZERO sympathy. he isn't the first of the "masters" who've been harsh, either. tramonto said he had no sympathy for the competitors on top chef. very strange, ape-dominance behaviour from the old guys.

also: three weeks in, it's difficult not to feel that last year was a blip, a special convergence of very very talented competitors. though angelo and kenny and, maybe, kelly make interesting food, there isn't a single competitor, this season, who seems capable of truly surprising you, the way the top three, last season, routinely did. we're back to the top chef grind and, so far, this season is shaping up to be one of the least impressive in a while: no great personalities (as there were in season five), no thrilling chefs (as in season 6 or season 4), just a bunch of sour people who, aware that top chef is a game that can bring them money, are playing this thing for the money. it's all gamesmanship, fear ("oh no! not dessert!"), sniping and, in amanda's case, childishness. i'm already looking ahead to season eight with my fingers crossed.

[nomnomnom]

That's more or less 6 challenges down and in reality only the first EC can be tied into their main proficiency. The next week's show should be the one that sets the tone.

From the A-Team I think Alex is slowrolling the competition. I get the feeling he's got a Hosea strategy in place. Do just enough to hit the middle, and wait it out. He also hit the board on the only worthwhile EC so far. I don't know where he was put this week, but he's certainly top 3 right now in my book.

Does anyone find it odd that 4 women went off to start the season last year, and 3 this year?

Big risers this week should probably be Alex, Lynne, and Amanda. Fallers probably Tiffany, Andrea, and Tim.

No idea what to make of Arnold.

Double elimination is going to really hurt. A paired competition next week. I'll try to do some team gazing to figure out what the pairs are.

The QC is making baby food so that could be just about anyone. I assume it's some sort of cuisinart product placement fest. Winner probably gets to pick partner.

[Independent George]

A few quick points:

1. For all the annoying sniping, I was really impressed by how much the editors focused on the food in this episode. It was especially noticeable during the quickfire - it seemed like everybody's dish got significant time during both prep and presentation.
2. I found it interesting that the other contestants all seemed to be impressed by Ed's QF, but Iuzzini. Was it just a matter of personal taste? Not surprisingly, I can't find the recipe on the Bravo site. Boo, Bravo (now there's a conundrum!).
3. Echoing the comments above, why would any contestant not have 3-4 dessert recipes memorized? Season 1 contestants had a valid excuse - they had no idea what was up. Season 7... not so much.
4. KinderJ, I had the exact opposite reaction to Colicchio's comments. I hate it when the judges bring that kind of crap up. I hated it when Hung got dinged for not cooking Vietnamese food. It just seems like a distraction for me. Screw "authenticity" - every food is ethnic food, and every food is fusion. It either tastes good, or it doesn't, on its own merits.
5. Despite my best efforts, I found myself getting really irritated by Arnold's gripes about Kelly. Exactly what did she do during this episode that he found so objectionable, besides pointing out that he was at the wrong station? I have trouble believing she actually did anything, because if she did, I'm certain the editors would have replayed it in slow motion and 200% zoom.

[Independent George]

I think I've been spoiled by Susur Lee at the dessert table on TCM. I now expect every contestant to build a great pyramid of donuts on every dessert challenge.

[paula]

Tom's blog story is awesome. His salt obsession now makes perfect sense.

[dach]

Glad focus was on food. Still too many contestants to get a close look at any contestant, but everyone got some TV time.

Amanda was a big surprise picked for the top, but good for her. Maybe she will get a redeem arc, except this is now 2nd EC she used a bunch of alcohol. Can she cook well without alcohol?

It looked like all the chefs tasted each others food --- with $400 budget they clearly made much more than could be eaten by the guests. Still at the grills, positive edit showing Tracey admitting she had the worst tasting food, and Angelo praising Amanda ribs after having making fun of it the night before.

This was equivalent to the cowboy cookout challenge last season. It certainly contrasts the skill and creativity level gap between the seasons. The side dishes especially seemed very mundane, as did most of the main dishes.

[jules]

Before last night I hadn't been able to see a single episode. I've just been lurking here reading Dom's rankings and all the comments. I had some extra time last night and watched all three episodes back-to-back. I had been hoping that everyone posting here was just put off because the cast wasn't as great as last season. It certainly was that and more! As aaalex posted, it's making me feel like last season was just an aberration. Everyone is so snarky and critical for no apparent reason. I enjoy a good snark as much as the next person but there has to be some substance behind it. The only cheftestant I liked was Tracey and now she's gone. And the fact that so many were totally unprepared to make pastry was astonishing. Have they never watched the show? I am one of the most basic cooks on the planet and even I can make a pretty good pie. I guess the good news is it can't get much worse from here......right.....

[Anon Man]

A few completley random comments.

1. What was with that confessional from Amanda that she was a coke head? Seemed completely random. Maybe there was more to the clip, like "I was at rock bottom and I started cooking and that saved me, yada, yada, yada." But without the back part it seemed completely unnecessary.

2. I guess I'm going to have to change my early preconceptions of Arnold. I assumed he was just an owner type, with some neat ideas but no craft. His "I got a facial to prepare for the show" comment only added to that preconception. But the lemongrass skewer looked tasty. Not sure he's top 3, but I could see him moving up. But, I could also see his rustiness (by his own admission) in the kitchen sinking him one challenge when he misses the time window. Continued watching of him seems useful.

3. I can't figure out Angelo. Total butt-in-ski in the QF, complete rip on the skills of others in the interviews, but fell all over himself to talk about how good Amanda's ribs were. (Although the "wow, this might even be better than mine" comment seemed right in character.)

4. I loved the "my mom isn't a pastry chef and she makes pie" comment. Pie. Come on. Make a crust, fill it with fruit or something. Not that hard. As someone who dabbles in pies, I found it comforting to see so many apple-rosemary-vanilla-alcohol variants, which is pretty much what I would do. I'm trying out for season 8!

[Duffy]

Yawn. I fell asleep just before the denouement, and realized that i didn't even care. Is this what it means when a show "jumps the shark"??

[nomnomnom]

Well the ratings are off 27%....Though I think the time move has a lot to do with this.

[paula]

Honestly, if not for this blog and the delicious time-wasting opportunity for conversation with other smart foodies, I might not have watched this season.

[Karl]

Long time listener, first time caller! Quick takes on last night's episode:

1) Are either Angelo or Amanda hitched? I checked the bios and did a search but all I come back with is stuff relating to Bethenny Getting Married, which is no help. If not, I've got a 5-spot on them hooking up at some point during the season, cementing her status as Leah2.

2) With the clairvoyant/psychic Tivo-buster clip followed almost directly by Tracey's elimination, I felt that the producers were begging us to scream "I bet you didn't see THAT coming, did you?" I only barely restrained myself.

3) I've got the CIA instructor pegged as a Hootie-esque darkhorse coming on hot in a bit. She's been almost non-existent thus far and I have a hunch it's not just because she's a MOTP'er.

[bryanD]

I'm surprised a few more folks don't come in with some pastry practice as well. You would think they would expect to be stuck cooking a desert once in a while on the show.
Posted by: Joe S | June 30, 2010 at 11:27 PM

Truer words were never typed.
In Bouloud's book, Letters to a Young Chef, he mentions that without youth (see title) and knowledge of the three baking skills (pastry, etc), the odds of becoming a "top chef" (his words) is very remote (due to obvious issues, ie. lack of youth= questionable innate drive; and lack of ALL skills= unseriousness, frivolousness, possibly delusional).
Great 3-hour read. Very handy as psychological primer for non-chefs viewing the soap opera aspects of Top Chef from the mindset of The Contenders versus The Others (with less experience, re seasons past). It seems that every action reveals that a Loser is a Loser in every thing he does from knife skills to time management skills. Bouloud thinks so, and he's a "nice guy". (Note Bouloud's use of "chef" as opposed to "cook". He freely allows that great COOKS who wish to just work on a line, can get by without baking, ie they may remain excellent kitchen staff OR maybe own a nice local place and be just fine, etc). But that is NOT what this show is about nor his book, so I find his book very relevant. I'm surprised some chefs aren't into such literature/common sense/maxims as Joe S rightly bemoans.

As for this season shaking out: Stephen must go.
There was once a TV cartoon with a character whose tag line was a slow, shaky-voiced "Weeee'll neverrr maaaake it!"
That's Stephen. May he be among the Two next week for the good of the game.

[Anon Man]

I've got a 5-spot on them hooking up at some point during the season, cementing her status as Leah2.

I just threw up in my mouth a little. I may have to not watch the rest of this season to avoid seeing this.

[JJ]

Well, I hope this week's episode has made some of the Angelo conspiracy theorists pause for thought, b/c there was nothing in his behavior that suggested that he sabotaged his teammates in the last challenge. He actually came across as a rather decent fellow, besides affirming again that he is one of the real contenders. I'm glad for Kenny that he got a QF win, but his obsession with smack talking Angelo is not to his credit. I thought it was absurd when he predicted that Angelo's Asian-inspired BBQ was going to be a bust. Are you kidding me? Asian BBQ (in general) is the bomb, and Angelo's version of it looked pretty terrific.

[Cheryl]

Just some random thoughts:

What is with the smoking?! There were smokers in Season 5 too..How do they really taste their food with their palate poluted like that?

I have to put Amanda in the too much information category. Did we really need to know she had a drug problem in her twenties? Although it does help explain her on edge demeanor and the cigarettes.

Tracy had a classy exit.

Arnold looks like a good cook but what comes out in his random side comments and confessional moments is that he seems to be auditioning for his very own reality show. Something along the lines of "Flipping Out" but food related.

[BritBrit]

@ nomnomnom

I was wondering how the ratings would be affected by the time shift!

Ever since they announced moving the show up an hour, I've thought it strange that Top Chef would go up against So You Think You Can Dance in the 9-10 slot. Seems to me that quite a bit of their viewer base (myself included) would be interested in both shows, what with all the the talented people performing amazing feats of movement or cuisine in the reality challenge format. Not to mention the inability to see SYTYCD at any time other than the original broadcast if you do not have access to a DVR. On Wednesday nights I usually don't get to watch TC until 11pm, if I can even stay up that late.

Just seemed like a silly move on Bravo's part to me.

[Bart]

First: Dom, hope the little one feels better soon!

Second: I'm exceedingly happy Bravo moved Top Chef an hour earlier. I got an earlier shift at work, so 10 pm is my bedtime. And I don't really care about dancing shows, so... there you have it.

[nomnomnom]

Not to diverge from food talk, but the timeshift was truly a horrid idea. I think they thought they could establish some sort of lead in. When the revenue for S8 and JD plummets, and make no mistake about it they will, this could seriously impact this franchise long term.

[timothy]

The above comments about the lackluster nature of the contestants so far make sense to me, but I am not ready to give up on this season yet. I think there might be several factors which have contributed to a shaky start: no Leanne so they have a new production crew; coming off of a truly exceptional slate of competitors so there is the comparison factor; tricky location in that DC is by definition a polarizing place. Also I think the longer a reality show runs, the more the participants and viewers are aware it is a reality show and this affects behavior. I am hoping that after a handful of episodes this will work itself out and the charms of watching committed professionals work under pressure to make good food will re-emerge. I am not willing to give up on the season just yet. Top Chef is most interesting to me when everyone involved forgets they are making a TV show and the chefs and diners get captivated by their love of food. I find the gamesmanship, personal drama, and trash talking to be boring. I like it when I am a fly on the wall in the kitchen of creative cooks, not a viewer of a heavily edited reality show. So far we haven't seen anyone get lost in the thrills of cooking but I am betting that it will happen soon enough.

[gilmore]

Mrs. Gilmore thinks the time change was due to the more adult nature of the show following TC - Works of Art. Don't know. Don't watch it. Don't think so as the trashy Housewives franchise runs at all hours.

As to boring food, etc. - was it three or four years ago that the food was so bad, Tom C. talked to all remaining chefs and challenged them. Next EC was to create their best dish. Even many of those sucked.

[aaalex]

timothy: i really hope you're right, but i remember that last season's group were also hyper-aware they were playing a game. rather than working against each other, though, they sometimes managed to work WITH each other - you remember jen carroll and the air force meal? for me, last season was, in retrospect, the best season on a lot of fronts, with only the horrid robin versus the rest melodrama to spoil it. so far, and i think 3 episodes is deep enough in to get an inkling, we haven't seen any contestants with the sheer confidence (like stefan's, for instance) to help the others out. (when angelo's foam dispenser wasn't working and he asked for help? andrea's first impulse was "to hell with angelo". they're all afraid of each other.) this season's group is - so far - jaded and sour. in an earlier year, this wouldn't have mattered as much, but ... by now, we've seen all sorts of villains - from the insane irishman of season one to the self-centered and slightly stupid howie of season three, by way of the loathsome ilan. this crew isn't even that "evil", if you know what i mean. they're just unpleasant, like pouring curdled milk into your coffee. i'm keeping my fingers crossed - with you - that they'll get less self-conscious - more generous - as they season goes on, but i'm not sure i WANT to see amanda as she is "naturally".

[Dreamboat]

A little off topic, but Bravo has up the site for TC Just Desserts. The 3rd judge is none other than Hubert Keller! I really love that guy :)

[timothy]

aaalex,

I hear you. I guess I'm just being hopeful because I am not ready to give up my Top Chef habit yet, and I see this season as crucial. It is hard to sustain seven years of any good thing (a debatable statement, but I think there is some truth there). If things just stumble along with a lot of grumbling and an occasional good tuna sandwich, I am going to get bored and move on to other forms of food entertainment. But I am still open to a pleasant surprise from this season. When a few more contestants are filtered away, when we see if people like Lynne and maybe Tiffany, Ed, Kevin and some others, can get into a groove, we could see some good cooking. But as I said, I hear you. It could just chug along in this uninteresting mode all season. That would bum me out.

[MiniMonkey]

Regarding "my mom isn't a pastry chef and she makes pie." I think this is a funny but pointless comment. I'm not a chef or a pastry chef, or even really a decent home cook... but I can make a pie if I follow a recipe carefully and accurately. But if someone told me to blindly make a pie, I would have no idea what kind of proportions were needed to make a proper pie crust or what kind of thickeners are typically added to fruit, etc.

Similarly, though I think it's reasonable for the contestants to expect to have to make some desserts, having to specifically make a PIE may have thrown many of the cheftestants off due to the aforementioned precision required specifically in pastry (as opposed to a pudding or many other types of desserts they could have reasonably chosen in a more open dessert challenge).

Now, granted, they could have gotten around this by doing, say, a graham cracker crust or something else more forgiving of strict proportions than a traditional pastry pie crust... but still, I don't think it's a prerequisite for a "Top Chef" to be able to pull a perfect pastry out of thin air, nor am I surprised that many of them couldn't.

[dach]

Are culinary school chefs required to take a pastry course? One culinary arts degree program I looked up does.

If yes, a culinary trained chef is expected to have taken pastry than the challenge is entirely reasonable for a "top chef" to show their breadth of skill. As a top chef is expected to have pastry back knowledge from school, even if they don't use it day to day. Like someone getting a Ph.D degree has to demonstrate breadth/broad knowledge of the field by examination, as well as deep knowledge of one area of their specialty by dissertation.

Knowing how to make a dessert pie should also overlap with bread baking and pasta making. Or just knowing how to make a plain old savory pot pie.

[bryanD]

"but still, I don't think it's a prerequisite for a "Top Chef" to be able to pull a perfect pastry out of thin air..."--minimonkey

According to Colicchio on his blog, a pie crust (pate brisee') only requires flour, water, butter and salt. And no measuring is vital. So he's Royally P.O.'d. Though he's trying to seem only Regular P.O.'d.

I expect another dessert challenge. Soon. (Just guessing)

[Karen]

It really may be a different skill set. I'm a horrible cook. Seriously horrible. I watch Top Chef because it's the equivalent of watching Olympic Gymnastics - something I could never ever do. I can't make roast chicken, I can't even make baked chicken breasts, or even chicken browned in a skillet. In fact, I can't even make toast without setting fire to the kitchen. Yes. I've set four toaster fire, on two different continents. You'd be surprised how flammable bread is.

I can't toast bread, but.. I can bake bread (without a bread machine). Wheat bread, whole grain, oat, challah. And cinnamon rolls. If it has yeast in it, I can make it; And cakes (bake yes, decorate... no). (And pie. And cookies.)

[Bawdy George]

Did anyone else catch Alex saying his pork was so good he could eat its a$$ all day? Eww.

[Anon man]

@Bawdy, I think that was supposed to be funny because it was pork "butt".

[bryanD]

Karen, you first paragraph was a great set-up and punch line. Funny!
Of course, your home oven revolting against chicken while purring for bread is absurd. I'll chock that up as comedic effect on your part.

Bawdy George, You've awakened a Memory I had chosen to INSTANTLY Suppress. Thanks for nuthin'!

Dom, Great TC blog and otherwise. And while you are the foodie and expert, just remember that the TV Gods deem that ALL reality shows have Ringers (jokers, Toby clowns, fall guys). These ringers are only SLIGHTLY more obvious this season. (Or are they?---besides Virgin Season 1, each TC has had problems)

I attribute the damper this season to...the setting.
Sure, DC has a food scene (albeit, aimed 90% at pantloads and tourists). But the "DC" ambiance evokes marble tombstones and white sepulchers haunted by mummies. It's a subliminal downer. We must ignore it!

As for the crap "chefs"? There are 5 or 6 good ones. Same as it ever was.

[ally]

Last season we also had stupid drama and general jerkiness, (Robin, anyone?) but compensating for that was some interesting-looking food. This time, not so much, which makes the asshat behavior and attitudes so irritating. It's so similar to season 2, uninspired cooking and uninspiring people. Particularly telling was Gail's inducement to Kevin - cook like a chef. Hello?!? It is pretty embarrassing that they have to be reminded that they're supposed to be chefs.

As they showed and described the dishes at the barbecue tasting, all i could think was, how boring is this food. Hopefully after this debacle, there will be less coasting and more cooking.

[Nikki L]

I called Tracey getting the boot when I noticed she got the Bravo elimination edit. Basically, whenever one person gets a high number of personal interview shots in one episode, they are going home. The Bravo elves never disappoint.

[Independent George]

This is from the perspective of a home cook, but I've always found pie crusts exceedingly difficult. I'm sure it's easier with practice, but it takes a lot of skill to cut the fat into the flour properly, and to roll out the dough properly without destroying it. The only success I've had was using the America's Test Kitchen technique of using vodka in the dough (because it moistens the dough without forming gluten), which actually highlights the challenge of pie crusts.

That said, pie fillings are actually pretty easy; you just need to think of everything as a custard. Whatever flavor you're going for, sweet or savory, you need the proper amount of tapioca flour, corn starch, cream of tartar, or egg yolks to set at the right texture - so I was rather startled when one of the chefs admitted to not using a thickener in the pie. I can understand a non-pastry chef screwing up the crust, but the filling is typically the easy part.

[JJH2]

I know I've definitely been spoiled by last season. I compare this challenge to last season's "Camping" challenge. The Camping challenge was much more difficult -- they had far more rustic conditions to work with, and weren't told that they would be cooking outside over open flame until AFTER they had purchased their ingredients. Yet still, although there was some terrible food put out then, the highs in the Camping episode were so much higher than this episode's highs, and it wasn't even last season's Four Horsemen that did all the great work.

In terms of creativity nothing this episode seemed to approach Mike's campfire dashi or Ashley's halibut dish with avocado mousse. And nothing approached the clean precision of Bryan's pork loin. Even Laurine last season managed to do a good job grilling up her arctic char. This dishes served this episode seemed so... anemic, for the most part.

[Skillet Doux]

JJH2... I'm considering the possibility that not knowing what facilities they'd have to work with is precisely what made for a better cookout last season. When you know it's going to be a kettle grill, you prep traditional kettle grill types of things. When you think you're going to have a normal kitchen, you prep an upscale dish and then have to adjust on the fly. If the season six crowd had been told where they'd be working, I don't know how different it would have been.

Well, different, probably. I'm not suggesting this crew looks to be at that level. But I wonder if knowing what they'd have to work with actually caused them to be less creative.

[JJH2]

Dom,

Actually, I guess that might be a possibility! I only remember one other grilling challenge off the top of my head (Season 3s), but you might count the tailgating challenge in Season 4. And I remember the Season 3 challenge for some spectacular flameouts (Hung's mushy "was it too classic?" arroz con pollo and Trey's glazed fish) rather than particularly great food. Wasn't it Howie and Joey in the top with pork and a fish stew of some kind? I don't recall the Season 4 tailgating party having many spectacular highs, either.

[jackie]

I was glad to see Tracey go as she was annoying the heck out of me, although I definitely though Stephen's dish sounded worse, at least with the edit they gave it. What I really couldn't believe was the cluelessness of his comments - in the stew room before judging he was still talking about his dish as if it was hypothetical ("the only thing that could've gone wrong is if..."), not realizing at all that it wasn't properly cooked, and after the first round of JT thought the judges' only problem with it was that it was too much like a restaurant dish. I'll be surprised if he hangs on another week!

This episode definitely cemented Arnold as the one I'll be rooting for.

[Daniel]

I like Arnold, and from the little we've seen from him, he is good at seasoning and flavor. However, the dishes he's made have all seemed very simple from a technique perspective. My thought with him is that he's just spent more of his time handling the front of the house, and less handling the back. This raises several issues:

1. His knife skills are either underdeveloped or rusty, meaning that prep will take him longer, making each challenge more stressful, leaving him prone to mistakes as a result of that stress, and giving him less time to think.
2. Technically, I worry that he might be limited in terms of varying techniques or exposures to particular ingredients and cuisines, which could put him at a real disadvantage in a theme challenge.

Again, I'm not criticizing him, just critiquing how well I think he can legitimately do. If what we've seen so far bears out, I see him in the upper echelons of the middle of the pack. However, barring screw ups from Kelly, Kenny, or Angelo, I just can't see him offering up serious competition. Kenny seems to be just as good on flavor; Kelly's been slogging it out on all stations of the kitchen for several years, and Angelo is right with Kenney on prep and seems to have an array of techniques in his arsenal.

[Pants McCracky]

I just rewatched this episode, and did I see Angelo garnishing his dish with celery and peanut butter? If so, that's hilarious.

[JJH2]

You know, the more I think about it, the more I like Arnold's chances, and I think he should probably get a bump in the rankings. Call it luck or whatever, but he's been in or near the top of all three Elimination Challenges. Both Gail and Eric Ripert gave positive remarks to his kaffir lime cake from episode one, and I believe he was in the strong group where any of them could have won. He was on the winning team in episode 2, although his contribution to the team's success may be up for debate. And he won the EC of episode 3. I'd probably rank him at #4, right below Kelly.

Maybe he has worked front of the house for too long, and he's working off some of his rust. In that sense he may pull a Dale Levitski and become a strong late performer (although arguably he's a very strong early performer...)