Top Chef - S7E6 Power Rankings

We're back!

Well, that wasn't the most enjoyable week. Thanks for not giving me a hard time, folks. Viral meningitis, while not its terrifying cousin bacterial meningitis, is still a nasty little condition. My ladylove's been in and out of the hospital since last Monday (mostly in), and though she's back home and on her way to kicking it, I understand people are sometimes hospitalized for a month. The lesson? Don't get viral meningitis. Y'know, in case you were considering it.

So at this point, I'm a little out of the loop. I've been watching, of course, but I'm not quite as on top of all of the supplemental information as I ordinarily am. Plus, with a two week gap, there isn't really any continuity in the rankings. So while I'm getting caught up, this edition will be a bit of a pause as we gear up for the second half of the season.

And frankly, now seems as good a time as any to address the season as a whole. Popular sentiment certainly seems to be that season seven is a clunker. I'll happily concede that it isn't a shining paragon of all that Top Chef can be, but I think that's a little harsh. These guys are mostly putting out good food, which is more than I can say for most of the field in a few seasons. I started thinking a couple of weeks ago that the problem may be rooted in the fact that so few of the contestants have easily distinguishable styles. Last season, perhaps even when we had as many as ten contestants left, you could look at their dishes blind and know whose was whose with a reasonable degree of accuracy. Now look at the dishes put out this week. Think you could do the same this season? It makes it harder to follow because the dishes all run together. Though it seems the food is generally very good, nobody's standing out, either in terms of quality or style.

Which got me thinking about how coming up with a good Top Chef cast is basically an impossible task. First off, we don't want to see people who can't cook, so they all have to be good. But not too good, or it doesn't feel like a competition between up-and-comers anymore. And other than a few throwaways, they need to all be of roughly equivalent skill level, or a couple will dominate and ruin any sense of suspense. They have to have personality or we're bored. But not too much personality. That's distracting. And a little negative is okay, but not too negative. Nobody wants to watch a bunch of nasty people. Unless there are also some really likeable people. Then we can get that good guy / bad guy thing going. And their styles have to be disparate, or we can't tell their dishes apart. Make sure they all have very different, easily definable styles. And we need to have an even gender split, and some level of diversity. And they have to be articulate on camera. And we need seventeen of them.

Got all that?

Seriously, I think it's a miracle most of these casts turn out as well as they do. No cast is perfect (well, you might be able to make a case for season four), so it becomes a question of strengths and weaknesses and which are more important to you. For me, the biggest one is the food, which is what made last season so much fun. Incredible talent, wild and recognizable styles. Makes for fun food TV. But many complained that four of them were just too good, and it took all of the suspense out of the bulk of the season. So what do we have this season? Parity.

And this is really what I'm holding onto as the thing that could make the second half of this season really interesting. Am I alone in thinking that this thing is totally up for grabs? The ones at the top have done well, but they aren't worldbeaters. The ones at the bottom have had a lot of problems, but even Amanda has turned out some really good food. And the middle of the pack... anybody care to put odds on who out of Andrea, Alex, Ed, Tiffany and Kevin make the finals, or should I set up the dartboard? There have been seasons where you could walk away from the show at this point, come back for the finals and make a pretty good guess as to who would be left. But unless the final four includes both Stephen and Amanda, is there really any final four that would completely shock you?

It also makes the rankings hell. Especially when I've been so out of touch for the past couple of weeks. But here goes.

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 Angelo Quickfires 2 4 0 Last Week: -- Eliminations 1 2 0 Two weeks gone, and I only had to change one number in the stats for him. Everybody notice that since winning the first three challenges, Angelo hasn't won a thing? He has all of the hallmarks of a Top Chef winner -- technical skill, creativity, a definable style -- and despite a few minor gaffes, he's managed to completely stay out of trouble. So the top spot is still his. But it's not by the wide margin it once was. It'll be interesting to see if he regains that early dominance, or if some of the pack start to challenge him. And some of them are making some noise.

2 Kelly Quickfires 1 2 2 Last Week: -- Eliminations 2 2 0 Kelly, for example, who seems to be finding her footing, has strung together some nice looking dishes including a couple of winners, and I think has earned the second spot. What's more, though she went to the final round of the hotel elimination challenge, she's never been on the chopping block. Her dishes aren't always the flashiest or most distinctive, but they're creative and mostly well-executed, she's on a bit of a roll and I have a hunch she's going to come on even stronger moving towards the finals. A flameout's always possible, but right now I feel comfortable predicting her for the top four.

3 Kenny Quickfires 2 5 0 Last Week: -- Eliminations 1 2 3 Kenny gave up the number two position as much as Kelly seized it. He's been one of the most successful contestants, but unlike Kelly he's also had a nose for the chopping block. Had I been doing the rankings this whole time, I probably would have kept him in the number two spot until this week, where Kelly's win coupled with Kenny looking completely flabbergasted at Judges Table tipped the balance. I still think Kenny's going to pull it together and make the finals. He's the last of the three for whom I'm comfortable making that prediction. And his style is distinctive enough that I think he'll do well there and have a shot at the win. But his flameout quotient is higher than Kelly's and he's coming off a rough week, so down to number three he goes.

4 ??? Quickfires 0 0 0 Last Week: -- Eliminations 0 0 0 No, Hubert Keller has not swooped in to join the Top Chef season seven field. And I don't mean to imply a huge break between the top three and the middle of the pack. It's just that no matter which of the MOTPers I put in the fourth slot, I don't feel good about it. Solution? Nobody's going there this week. It's up for grabs. Here's the thing. At this point, short of going with simple gut instinct, I think it's nearly impossible to find daylight between the next five contestants. They're different, but it's nearly impossible to say one is stronger than the others. You have two who have yo-yoed between the top and the bottom. You have two who, six episodes in, have still barely made a splash. And you have one whose reception has been pretty lukewarm except that he happened to bust out what seems to be one of the most beloved dishes of the entire competition thus far. In short, I pity the poor bastard who has to figure out how to sort out that mess... oh... right.

5 Kevin Quickfires 0 1 2 Last Week: -- Eliminations 1 3 2 And the winner of the pick who will give me indigestion this week is... Kevin! Here's the line of thinking. I'm putting those who have showed some fire -- even if it has also come with some failure -- ahead of those who are quietly plodding along. The Power Rankings are a measure of awesomeness, and while a legitimate strategy and potentially a great route to the finals, quietly surviving is less than awesome. Two weeks ago? No way this is Kevin. But he seems to be coming out of his funk, and this week he basically made a creative reimagining of Vitello Tonnato, which I only just identified as one of my all-time favorites. So the guy has good taste. And he's coming off a win. And that's good enough for me. But in all seriousness, the guy has made noise and his winners have been distinctive. And even though I would not be the least bit surprised to see him go down in flames tomorrow night, I'm going to put him here anyway. And before you chide, remember that somebody has to go here.

6 Andrea Quickfires 0 0 2 Last Week: -- Eliminations 1 2 0 Andrea is kind of like Kevin lite. Not in terms of cooking style, of course. I'm talking about record. Her results have that same up and down sine wave pattern, just with less frequency and amplitude. Fewer appearances top and bottom, and less triumphant or tragic. And while it'd be easy to simply say that's why she's here, the truth is that her recipes have a lot to do with it as well. Of the MOTPers, hers just strike me as a little more interesting and distinctive. So if everybody keeps performing as they are (not that I actually expect that to happen), she seems more likely to stand out than some of the other MOTPers.

7 Tiffany Quickfires 0 0 1 Last Week: -- Eliminations 0 3 0 In the little aggregate rankings you guys have been running (glad you're keeping busy in my absence, BTW), Tiffany seems to be ranking pretty high. I understand why. I have a good feeling about her too. But you want to know why I'm not putting her any higher? ... Quick, name one dish Tiffany's made other than this week's tuna and gazpacho! ... That's why. Okay, maybe a few of you thought of that sweet potato with chocolate sherbet. Can you name another? Exactly. Still, I like the cut of her jib. Though I wasn't around to go on record with it, I've thought for the past couple of weeks that she was due to make a move. And she started to this week. It won't take much more noise for me to shoot her right to the top of the MOTP. We'll see what happens.

8 Ed Quickfires 1 2 1 Last Week: -- Eliminations 0 1 1 Ed was a little up and down the first few episodes, but since then he's been much like Tiffany, which is to say quiet as a mouse. Except when speaking to camera, that is. But when it comes to food, he's one of the two that are just quietly surviving. I put him below Tiffany simply because his dishes lately don't sound the least bit distinctive. He has talent, but he needs to start standing out. Like any of the MOTPers, I believe he can. It's just a question of will he or won't he until it's too late.

9 Alex Quickfires 0 0 3 Last Week: -- Eliminations 0 1 0 Alex seems to be one of the more controversial figures, and again, I understand why. He's one of the few chefs who has made a dish we can remember for cryin' out loud. But here's the thing. That was five episodes ago. The judges loved it! It was delicious, creative, distinctive, evocative of a very personal style... it was the perfect Top Chef dish! Alex demonstrated right out the gate that he can do it. And then he proceeded not to do it for ten straight challenges. If he were just making that dish now, if we'd gotten five episodes of mediocrity followed by that deconstructed borscht, we'd be calling it the same thing we call Stephen's curried apple and date pie: a fluke. Again, he's part of this exceptionally tight MOTP that might as well be 4a through 4e, as far as I'm concerned. But for him to get much higher, he's going to have to show that he didn't run out of bullets in the very first episode.

10 Amanda Quickfires 0 1 2 Last Week: -- Eliminations 0 2 2 Amanda, in many ways, is a lot like Kevin. Big highs, big lows, big potential, big inconsistency. So why is he at five and she at ten? Gut. Really, that's pretty much it. Both could easily bust out a great dish and win this week. Both could just as easily bomb and pack their knives. But Kevin seems to be getting his act together while Amanda shows no signs of doing so. And that's all the difference in this field. If I have to guess, I say Amanda hangs around two or three more episodes, busts out one of the best dishes of the competition, and promptly botches her next dish and goes home. Any success, I suspect, will be fleeting.

11 Stephen Quickfires 0 1 3 Last Week: -- Eliminations 0 1 2 With every passing week, I'm not sure if Stephen's survival is making my number two preseason pick look better because he's inching closer to that mark by attrition, or if he's making it look worse because we all get to watch how bad that pick was for another week. Poor guy. Almost as painful as watching him being eviscerated week in and week out is the look on his face that says he's mentally slapping his palm to his forehead and thinking, "Stupid, stupid, stupid!" It's like he's cursed with the ability to see his failings with perfect clarity, only after he's made them. Every challenge, it's "My dish rocks!!! ... What?!? ... Oh, man, you're right!" as he stands there, completely crestfallen. Never have I found the chronically about to be eliminated so pitiable and sympathetic. But we all know it's just a matter of time.

12 Tamesha Quickfires 1 2 0 Last Week: -- Eliminations 0 0 1 Y'know, that rhubarb scallop dish looks really interesting. And I can see how it might work. I'm betting there's a good dish in there. But there doesn't seem much question that it didn't come out on this particular occasion. I feel like Tamesha's no great loss. She put out some interesting stuff, and that will be missed, but she just never gave me the sense that she was going deep. Might as well cut her loose now and let the others fight it out.

13 Timothy Quickfires 0 1 1 Last Week: -- Eliminations 0 1 2 Timothy's Top Chef legacy ends up sounding a lot like his reputation back in Baltimore. He never quite lived up to expectations. And when the DC/Maryland boy can't bring home at least a top mention in the blue crab challenge, you know it's all over.

14 Arnold Quickfires 0 0 1 Last Week: -- Eliminations 1 2 1 With his elimination now a couple of weeks in the rearview mirror, it really is a shame that Arnold bit it when he did. If nothing else, he brought some interest to the proceedings. The guy's dishes were unquestionably distinctive, and sort of an odd, wilder and less refined counterpoint to Angelo's creative Asian. But I think the most we could have expected from him would have been a spoiler for the finals, so I'm not overly sad to see him go. Or maybe, like me, he didn't want to live in a world where squid ink pasta is a wacky and challenging menu item that will scare people off. Goodbye, cruel world.

15 Lynne Quickfires 0 1 1 Last Week: -- Eliminations 0 1 1 I've been wanting to get this off my chest for over two weeks now, but though she deserved to go, I feel compelled to back Lynne up on one item. Dropping fresh pasta twelve minutes out IS crazy. One minute is hyperbole (unless it's really thin fresh pasta), but it's a very, very short cooking time, and to cook, sauce and plate eight(?) servings of pasta shouldn't take more than five minutes. That leaves it sitting there languishing for seven, which is waaaaaaaaaaay too long. No one disputes that Lynne undercooked the pasta, herself included (even if the show edit kind of made it seem that way). But that was an error that was independent of her call not to start cooking it so far away from the buzzer. I'm saying that by waiting to drop the pasta, she was right and Arnold was wrong... and THEN she blew it.

So there it is! More of a State of the Union than the typical hyper-obsessive analysis, but we'll try to get back to the latter this coming week now that things are mostly back to normal for us over here. I have a hunch this season is going to start looking up shortly. Hope I'm right.

WARNING : MINOR EPISODE SEVEN SPOILERS AHEAD

Every time I watch a clip on Hulu and hear the official ad pronounce Buitoni as "byoo-toni" I want to stick a fork in my eye. Why I care about how packaged "fresh" pasta is sold, I don't know. But if you're going to play the snooty Italian card, at least pronounce the name the way an Italian would.

That notwithstanding, I'm actually really looking forward to this episode. The quickfire is essentially an amuse bouche challenge that's structured in such a way that the chefs will be forced to keep their dishes to one bite. I love it. See who can pack the flavor in there. And for the elimination, an actual restaurant challenge, the exact nature of which remains a mystery. They're really cooking, folks, and it looks like they're cooking their own dishes. I suspect this'll be a good one.

Discuss!

Comments

[timothy]

Great to have you back. The Power Rankings really do make the show more fun, and yes, I am one of those who thinks this season isn't a lot of fun. I appreciate the way you have optimism for impending improvement. I think my problem with the show this season is there is no compelling story for me to follow. I don't want a story like the Robin narrative or the Marcel narrative, but I have some expectation that something will happen (plot) to interesting people (character). Last season was probably my favorite of all the seasons. For me the fun of that season was knowing that Michael would do something I had never seen before and Kevin would do something simple in a brilliant way. I would turn on the television with an expectation that someone would mix banana with polenta or turn a carrot into the center of a masterpiece. What do I turn my television on for this season? What creates a sense of expectation? It's not enough for me to hope for Angelo to literally have sex with a cabbage or Kenny to literally bark like the alpha dog he knows he is. Those stories just are not interesting. I agree with you that it should first and foremost be about the food, but the conception and the creation and the consumption of the food should take me in some direction. So far, no one is taking me anywhere. It's just reasonably talented people making reasonably attractive looking food. I am hopeful, though, for a

[timothy]

Oops. The last word on that last sentence should have been "resurgence."

[JJH2]

Yay for the return of the rankings. While I disliked the first two episodes of the season, I think the season has gotten much better. Some of the challenge structures have been a little off putting, but on the whole, I'm enjoying seeing the food that comes out. Probably the most exciting aspect of the season is -- at this point, I expect a potentially great dish from any of the competitors at any particular challenge. And I'm happy when some hithero unheard of middle of the pack cheftestant busts out something interesting. I'd love to see Amanda pull out something amazing that shakes up the whole rankings. Stephen, on the other hand, I am happy to watch flail around helplessly for as long as possible!

[wc]

Glad to hear everyone's doing better, Dom.

I'm also one who thinks this season is a downer. The show seems to be concentrating more on the rivalries than the food. There was a glimpse last season where whenever one of the Brother's V would win a challenge, they would show a quick shot of the other brother looking peeved. This year's version is Kenny and Angelo.

And it seems like the contestants are scheming more than ever. Did someone do a count of the word "strategy" on last week's episode? It shows that the contestants are more concerned about the competition than with the cooking.

[Bart]

Nice to see I'm not the only one who thought there was a big gap between the upper crust and the rest of the pack. My ranking after the last episode was:

1. Angelo
2. Kelly
3. Leave it blank.
4. Kenny

I can see why you put Kenny at 3 and left 4 blank, but over the last couple of episodes, he just reminds me way too much of Jeff from Season 5. He's overthinking his dishes and is needlessly complicating them. That will ultimately be his downfall, should he get eliminated.

I'll say this, though - he definitely has the chops to win this thing, but he needs to self-edit a bit, it seems.

Glad to have you back, Dom, and hope the family gets better soon.

[garik16]

As i said before in a post-ep thread, Season 4 was perfect. Good distinctive Food, Drama if you wanted it, people who were likable, etc.

Also, I'd hammer home on your point about the lack of distinctive voices here. Put it this way, In Episode 7 of Season 5, the chefs had a blind challenge. They were split into two groups, and each group judged the other one (though the real judges made the decisions), but each group WAS NOT TOLD WHO MADE EACH DISH.

And yet....it was obvious who made what. Stefan's dish was obviously identified by the group of contestants judging him, and it seemed like the other dishes were too. Season 5 wasn't a great season in terms of talent, but at least it was DISTINCTIVE.

Here? I can probably tell blind what dish is Angelo's and MAYBE Kenny's (By looking for the most complicated dish) and that's it. Nothing stands out! At least Season 2, while hated due to the low talent and insane amount of drama, had distinctive styles.

[Independent George]

It's not enough for me to hope for Angelo to literally have sex with a cabbage

My eyes!!! Aaaarggghh! Why do you do this me?

[Anon Man]

The "good-bye, cruel world" with Arnold is awesome. FYI, for those who care, WaPo had a list of the poltical and journalistic guests this week. For those who care, the list is from both sides of the aisle and feeds from Bravo's corporate overlords on a sister network. I'm assuming that's info direct from the Bravo press release.

@Bart, I disagree with your 1-2-gap-3 thing from two standpoints. First, if any of Dom's 5-11 guys left I wouldn't care. I might be slightly more disappointed if one left or the other, but really, they are kind of fungible. Second, I'm not really sold on Kelly. Heck, for that matter I'm not even sold on Angelo. Technically, they are both good, and if either put a series of courses in front of me, I'm sure I would enjoy almost all of them. But, I have no confidence that any of the chefs, including the top 2 or 3, would come out with any dish that would make me sit up and take notice.

[Steve F.]

Glad that things have settled down, Dom.

You are absolutely correct. Doesn't matter who's in spots four through eight. Angelo, Kelly and Kenny are tops. Amanda and Stephen are bottom. Everyone in between can have a bad day or a brilliant day, win or get kicked off, at any time. No way to tell at this point.

[paula]

"Angelo literally having sex with a cabbage"--well played, Timothy. Cracking up! And Bart, good call on Kenny = Jeff. I can totally see that.

[timothy]

IG -- Sorry. It was late at night. I was trying to be funny. FAIL

[Independent George]

The thing is, I don't think there's even really that much of a gap even between the top and the middle; the difference has mostly been more of consistency rather than of dominating peaks.

[Independent George]

I'll have to search youtube when I get home, but there's a hilarious Roberto Benigni bit where he confesses to a priest about his predilection for having relations with a pumpkin.

[Polybus]

Bravo, Dom! Welcome back!

The analysis of cast needs was spot on. I'm one of those who really loved Season 4 and it is at the top for me, in spite of the great talent from Season 5. And it wasn't just the great diversity in the chefs - the challenges were terrific. The movie challenge was especially good, with Mr. Blais as Willy Wonka.

More to the point, I'm wondering if Angelo's gamesmanship hasn't been holding him back through the last few episodes, diverting his concentration. I would like to see him focus more on his dishes. If not, I think it is quite possible that Kelly may overtake him.

The good thing about this season for me is that I find it to be unpredictable. As several people have said, it is possible that anyone might suddenly excel or crash at any time - and that does make it fun to watch. I think Dom is right about the issue of style. But even though lack of distinct syles may hurt the personality of the chefs, it does make things more interesting. I wouldn't put this season at the bottom, at least so far.

I would rank the best seasons as S4, S5, S1, S6, S2, S3 with the jury still out on Season 7. Right now I'd have to put it in about 5th or 6th place, but I'm still keeping an open mind. In my opinion, most seasons don't really take off until you get down to ten or fewer cheftestants. Seasons 4 and 5 were exceptions to that.

[Danny]

Dom, I am so happy that things are going in the right direction health-wise.

Polybus, I have the same concerns about Angelo and his gamesmanship. I recall three times in the past (last season's pasta salad, previous seasons' deviled eggs and microgreen salad) where Tom said to the chefs, "Did you really think this dish was going to win? You should always be making dishes that you think will be the winning dish." There is no way in the world that Angelo thought that peanut butter on celery - something a 3 year old could make - would be the winning dish. He obviously made that dish hoping to get rid of a rival. I fear that his Survivor/Big Brother strategizing will bite him ultimately. If you are the best chef you don't need to scheme and plot to win, you just need to cook awesome food.

[Independent George]

Polybus - I think you're mixing up S5 & S6. S5 was Stefan/Hosea/Carla. S6 was the Voltaggios & Kevin.

I'm surprised you put S2 ahead of S3. I remember that season as the one where the show really came into its own.

I'd go in the order of S6, S4, S3, S1, S5, S2.

[Naomi]

So much to love here. Dom's family on the mend, rankings are back and timothy's hilariously awesome cabbage comment.

[ally]

Yay! You're back!

Thank you for great commentary on the season and I mostly agree with your rankings and comments. One problem I'm having with Kenny is that its important that the cheftestants take criticism on board and address issues that the judges have with their food. He's been lucky in the sense that he's been on the bottom and heard the criticism that he has too much going on with his dishes. Unfortunately, he seems to be too egotistical to re-think this approach and simplify a little. That's why I think he has the biggest potential to flame out and soon. But now that I've said that, I've just anti-jinxed him and he'll probably win the whole thing ;)

I think Angelo is the most likely to pack a lot of flavor into an amuse, and to be honest I always wish I could taste his dishes. I still agree that he is number 1, if his shenanigans don't distract him from his own preparations.

[Polybus]

Dang, you're right, George! I did get them mixed up! Sorry, everyone!

[Polybus]

RE Season 2 vs 3:

Maybe I'm just being quirky and slightly biased in my thinking, but I really thought that the food was better in S2, more creative, and that the personalities were more interesting. Even though I wasn't an Ilan fan, I felt that he, Marcel, Elia, Sam, even Josie were just a cut above Hung, Dale, Casey, Brian and CJ. Just my opinion and I'm certainly guilty in the court of public opinion. I honestly think that the whole Marcel hair cut drama got in the way of some very good cooking.

Or maybe Howie just annoyed me so much that I couldn't properly enjoy S3. Dunno.

[paula]

I've said this before (and I'm not actually a massive Kenny fan or anything), but per Ally's comment, I think some--but not all--of the criticism Kenny has been getting at JT has been unfair. I can completely understand why he's a little baffled, though I agree he shouldn't seem quite as thrown every time as he has been.

There were two challenges he was at the bottom clearly more for dramatic purposes than because they didn't like his dishes. One because he didn't convince his team to use more vegetables, and two because he and Kevin didn't serve enough jus with their otherwise delicious dish. (Is that right? I may be misremembering. Sorry.) Both times the judges were unfairly harsh on him, and now this last time, Michelle Bernstein practically slapped him across the face and spit on him. Good god, no wonder the guy's rattled.

[Skillet Doux]

It probably wasn't clear from the way I put it above (I was half asleep when I wrote this... come to think of it, I'm half asleep now), but I agree that there's very little break between 3 and 4. I put that in just because I couldn't bear to pick one over the others for the top of the MOPT. But I agree, they're all close on the upper tier's heels.

IG... Night On Earth, I think?

Paula... agreed. Though Kenny's been in trouble, the sins that put him there, for the most part, don't seem as egregious. Which is why I still have him near the top.

[Independent George]

IG... Night On Earth, I think?

That could be it. I just remember dutifully transcribing & translating the scene for an Italian homework assignment in college. Good times.

[nomnomnom]

I guess since I'm the self appointed torch wielding pitchfork mob leader against Kelly I feel like I should step in. Do agree with Dom that they tried to get 8 so-so chefs instead of 5 ringers this season. It's made this part of the season more interesting from a competitive standpoint, and to that I say great. I still have my rankings set as

1. Ed 2. Angelo 3. Tiffany 4. Kevin 5 Kelly 6-n no order

I think this season has been confusing for the observer to watch Kelly. This pair thing has really jammed the radar of the big fans I think. I want to briefly break down everything she's cooked.

E1QF - Failed to qualify
E1EC - NY Strip in sauce with asparagus. Not noteworthy.
E2QF - I do not think this got on TV???
E2EC - Won EC for pork dish. I contend this wasn't good as much as the other teams were just so bad all around. Plus, there was some contention in the team as to what % it was responsible to her. I tend to discount such onerous challenges like this.
E3QF - Got praise for what I would call a country club buffet dessert.
E3EC - Made a forgettable burger which was nearly universally panned up and down. Still so early in the season that she managed to avoid JT.
E4QF - Made the bottom here. And while some think this was a baby food challenge this was really a open "cook your food" challenge. The puree thing was an afterthought.
E4EC - This is my main contention here. They put out three dishes.

Dish 1 - Kelly drove a horrible mishmash of a breakfast straight to the ground. I think this was mostly her baby and Amanda did the smoothie. A waffle with a poached egg and cheese on top? Really? You stop this EC right here and she's not even on the show right now. I'm convinced of this.

Dish 2 - Kelly again drove her portion the Red Snapper to universal disapproval from all judges. I'm not convinced if they stopped here she would be gone, but it would have been close.

Dish 3 - I get the sense that Kelly put Amanda in charge of Dinner to put her out of the front, but it was this dish that still makes people think of Kelly as a front runner here. I think this was 80% Angela's dish all along and Kelly provided only the gremolata and saucing. However here and everywhere you see Kelly as given all the credit here. I just don't get it.

E5QF - A middle of the pack crab dish that got no real comments
E5EC - Here again I have a huge problem. She makes basically roasted veggies and steps aside in the fear that Amanda will fall on a sword for poor pork. To distance she makes a cooking 101 strawberry dessert and people think she's Thomas Keller. I just don't get it.

E6QC - Again last week she makes country club food for the quick fire and wins out thus avoiding the elimination round. I think she lucked into the protein switch, obviously. There was no pressure to really do much with someone else's prep on short notice. So having what amounted to a giant egg worked well in her favor. I'm willing to give her a pass on this one.

Maybe it's just this season, but I can't just get fired up about a contestant that has shown no real technique, creativity, or even risk. Will she make the final 4, probably. Is that a good thing? I don't think so.

[heddhunter]

@nomnomnom:

I think you are too hard on Kelly. She was on Iron Chef and she did pretty well. For that reason alone, I think she has the potential to go far on Top Chef.

[Anon Man]

@nomnomnom, I'm not a Kelly supporter either, I'm in the "jury is out" camp, but I think you're a little harsh with the "country club buffet" line there. I think of her food as simple but well executed. And as we've seen time and time again, chefs who cook simple but consistently go pretty far and sometimes even thrive, with Tom and his style. Reference: Stephanie, Antonia, Fabio, Harold, and even Hosea to some extent.

Sure, the editing this year has made it difficult to determine where the technical errors are, but by and large she gets her praise for being solid. She made an omelet, BFD, but she made it well. Ditto the various desserts.

[Skillet Doux]

I'd like to point out that the omelet in question was done with goat cheese, almonds, fennel salad and a harissa vinaigrette. Despite her characterization on air, it wasn't JUST an omelet.

[ally]

Just another thing regarding Kenny (in response to Paula and Dom): My comment wasn't necessarily about whether Kenny deserves to be ranked as the third-best chef, which he probably is. This is a competition, he is a contestant, and therefore he has to understand that he can't just pile-drive the judges into liking his food. I think a lot of the contestants have complained that Tom likes his food a lot saltier than they're used to serving. And I do believe many have been PYKAG'd because of repeated lack of seasoning. Just saying, I don't think he's adjusting to the criticism. Sure, I think the first time they put him on the bottom for the wrong reason, to give him a message about leadership. But wrong or right, too harsh or not, the last two times I think they honestly the judges didnt like dishes 1 and 2 of the Hilton challenge, and I think they really disliked his last dish. But then, slimy okra can do that to you. :)

[TxGriff]

@nomnomnom

First things first, I think you are confusing Andrea's name with Amanda. Andrea and Kelly have been partnered twice; Kelly and Amanda have never been partners.

Now, while I agree that Kelly has yet to make anything that seems really AMAZING, she has been consistent and shows that she can cook well executed, thoughtful food. I have no problem with "simple" as long as it is done exceptionally well. Would you have argued that last season Kevin made "country club buffet" food because of it's simplistic appearance? And, as far as the Hilton dishes go, it's always difficult to tell who is responsible for what with the editing. I almost got the impression that Andrea was mainly responsible for the 2nd course, which was the most disliked. Once again though, we will never really know who is responsible for what, so we have to go on the information we ARE given, which is that third 3rd collaborative dish was the best dish of the whole day.

[nomnomnom]

The other think about Kelly (And yes I am getting Amanda/Andrea confused) is comparing S6 to S7 you didn't see people playing it so safe.

I think maybe the 4 ringers from last year may actually have served a purpose in that they pushed the lower competitors to swing big. There's nobody to push Kelly so she just puts out safe and well executed food. And I don't blame her as it's sound strategy.

But she'd be at best 7th, maybe not even RW material in S6 I'm confident. But because she executes well she gets an auto-pass from everyone here. Is this a problem with Kelly, or a problem with the season design in general? I'm not sure.

One thing I am sure about is I have little to no interest in eating anything she's put out so far. I can get that stuff on any bistro menu in town. For that reason I have little respect for her as chef except insofar as her execution abilities. I can see why she was on Iron Chef. That's an execution competition, not a creative one.

[Anon Man]

@Dom, I don't think we're suggesting its not a good and creative omelet. The salad/vinegar was smart to cut the fat ostrich eggs have. Not saying it isn't worthy of the win, but there's something different between a good/great omelet and say a chile infused gelee with duck balls, or the like, IMHO.

And, I LOVE omelets.

[Skillet Doux]

Anon Man... eh, I love me some good ol' Voltaggio-style flashy creativity. But I'm also of the opinion that great creative choices can be very subtle ones.

[Independent George]

For that reason I have little respect for her as chef except insofar as her execution abilities.

It's lines like this which bother me about your comments. On the substance, I would agree that she's been playing conservative (and doing a better job of it than the other contestants, I hasten to add), but to say you don't respect her as a chef? Sweet merciful crap, that goes way beyond harsh. That's the equivalent of Philadelphia sports talk radio.

[jh]

I see Kelly like a Casey or Kevin. Puts out "simple" food, but executes it well, and doesn't do the flashy MG food. Season 6 was kinda a fluke with the great level of food that we've seen. There were dishes in the bottom that season that could have won in previous seasons, but each season has to be judged on a sliding scale.. I'm just waiting for this season to get started. There haven't been many dishes that have completely floored the judges and me (damn you, S6, you have sullied our expectation), but hopefully things will start to pick up.

@nomnomnom, what's your reasoning for having Ed at number 1, since he has no EC wins?

[Independent George]

I love me some good ol' Voltaggio-style flashy creativity. But I'm also of the opinion that great creative choices can be very subtle ones.

I mentioned this on another thread, but I've recently gone through a bout of fine-dining fatigue. Specifically, after a week of expense-account dinners, I got sick of the flashy, often pretentious, displays of 'creativity' that served primarily to distract rather than enhance the flavor of the dish. Beyond a certain point, it turns into trendy gimmickry. If you've ever seen "L.A. Story", the scene at L'Idiot was a great parody on California cuisine. The innovation was genuine and extraordinary, but it also inspired a lot of ridiculous culinary contrivances. Novelty for its own sake is largely worthless; at the end of the day, everything on the plate needs to have a purpose.

That's one of the reasons I found Marcel to be overrated; he had a lot of neat whiz-bang techniques, but I never got the sense he added much beneath the surface. (Obviously, I couldn't taste any of it, but everything he did seemed more flashy than substantive). Similarly, I didn't find Arnold's food to be especially innovative, either; he just used a lot of Asian ingredients that might seem daunting to those unfamiliar with them, but never did much different with them.

[nomnomnom]

"It's lines like this which bother me about your comments. On the substance, I would agree that she's been playing conservative (and doing a better job of it than the other contestants, I hasten to add), but to say you don't respect her as a chef? Sweet merciful crap, that goes way beyond harsh. That's the equivalent of Philadelphia sports talk radio."

Respect may be the wrong word, but would I pay 40-100 bucks a head to sit in her restaurant after seeing this display? Doubtful.

I think the general SD reader is being far too results oriented in their grading. The challenges haven't really displayed the chefs chances to win this well. I'm hoping that tonight does this.

For what it's worth Kelly is up against Leah2 both preparing what appears to be Beef Tender. So this is a head to head battle, and those IMO tell the very most about the chefs. What she plates tonight looks to be another snoozer, however.

[Independent George]

would I pay 40-100 bucks a head to sit in her restaurant after seeing this display? Doubtful.

That's just it - I would gladly pay $40-$100 for a perfectly executed classic meal, over the same amount for something equally tasteless and avante-garde. See the blog post immediately preceding this one.

[Dreamboat]

"I see Kelly like a Casey or Kevin."

Kelly is no Kevin. Just sayin'

[Anon Man]

"I think the general SD reader is being far too results oriented in their grading. The challenges haven't really displayed the chefs chances to win this well. I'm hoping that tonight does this."

On this point, we do agree. That's my sort of puzzle with her (and the others too, for that matter). I want to say "wow, that looks like a great and interesting dish," but I haven't found too many times to say that this year for one person over and over again. I guess the closest is Angelo, who always seems to put something pretty stylish togehter, but I still get the feeling that there is something amiss there which I can't quite put my finger on.

Totally unrelated topic: For anyone who was planning to watch the new Gordon Ramsay vehicle for the joy of watching him light into a housewife from Omaha and reduce her to tears, skip it. Its like American Idol but with food. Lots of tear-jerking stories about why they cook, but no food of any substance and none of the amusing Ramsay explosions that make his stuff tolerable.

[jh]

I agree that Kelly is no Kevin. I just see similarities in that they don't do flashy food with MG. Their food tends to have a more homey feel to me. More Alice Waters than Grant Achatz.

[Polybus]

Not to stick my nose too deep into the argument, but one of the best meals I ever had was at Absinthe in San Francisco, where Jamie Lauren is the EC. There was nothing overwhelmingly "creative" about the meal, but everything was so well prepared, so absolutely delicious, that I'd gladly pick up the check again. I'm not saying that Kelly is in that category, but it does add to Independent George's comments above about what I'd pay good money for. (ie. "Kelly is no Jamie"?) Don't know. Can't taste it and just don't know.

[stuck]

does anyone know where you can watch top chef live online?

[doktarr]

"I think the general SD reader is being far too results oriented in their grading."

What's the alternative? Potential-oriented? I don't really see a rational set of criteria for judging this season that doesn't put Kelly in the top 4.

[bfish]

More on Kelly -- I largely agree w/ nomnomnom. Kelly seems accomplished and a smart, versatile player. OTOH her dishes aren't exciting me and Kevin Gillespie's did. Unless she's going to break out something really badass in the coming weeks, a win by her would only be slightly above Hosea. (She's generally more likable but her extreme insistence for getting credit for her dish in the school lunch episode didn't endear her to me, though realize some of this may be editing).

Like many others, I love last season best as it had the most "whoa!" food. Also liked season 3 which doesn't seem to be as much of a consensus pick here. Loved Hung and Dale, liked Casey (until season 5) and Tre, and Howie didn't bug me that much as he came through in RW and finale (for Casey). Season 4 was also fine but I was disappointed in the outcome (Blais fan here). It also had Lisa and Spike who bugged me more than anyone in Season 3, with the possible exception of CJ.

[vizoroo]

Don't know why, but whenever I settle down to watch TC, the phone rings, people drop by or the roommate needs something. So I'll be waiting for a repeat.

But tell me, did Alex take Ed's pea puree?