Top Chef - S8E4 Postmortem

Y'know, despite featuring one of the most stupid and pointless quickfire gimmicks in the history of Top Chef (and that ain't hyperbole), I actually ended up liking that episode just fine. That Carla featured so prominently is, I'm sure, no small coincidence.

Curse you, Spike, for making me decide I like you and then getting yourself kicked off! Still don't think he could've won, though.

Much to get into on Monday... game theory, missing dishes... perhaps a drastic Power Rankings housecleaning. We're far enough in that I should probably start purging some preseason preconceptions.

Discuss!

Comments

[H.F.]

Carla!

[matthew]

Woot! Where's my passport? :-D

[Vega]

Have you and Carla gone yet, Matthew?

Also CARLA IS SO AMAZING HOLY CRAP SHE IS MY HERO FOR ALL TIME THIS SEASON JUST GOT AWESOME.

[jbb]

So freaking happy for Carla. (And Matthew in Italy by extension.)

I have to say I'm quite surprised at how Spike let Angelo completely change his dish at the last second. That seems very out of character for him.

[Trillium]

ok, that blank needs to go down! What a freaking baby. I so, cannot stand, JAMIE. she needs to be sent home. She 'resented' Richard's comment?!? Well, Jamie, I resent your lack of professionalism.

Big props to Spike, Casey, Tiffany & Tre for not bringing up how Jamie refused to present her food; not once, but twice.

[paula]

Wow. Lots to say about this episode. But for now: Yay, Carla! As soon as she described that dish I said "Yum." And congrats, Matthew! Trip to Italy! Wooooo!

[matthew]

Thanks all! I just found out about her win and the trip tonight. I'm over the moon. I'm not sure when we're going to go.

[Dreamboat]

First: Dom, I hope your baby (toddler?) gets well soon! And for the new year I would like to wish Dom and his family Great Health, as 2010 has not been a good health year for them (or so it seems).

Second: I have some Carla LOVE here!!! I thought her soup sounded great from conception. Matthew, please pass a big CONGRATS onto Carla and I hope ya'll have a wonderful time eating your way thru Italy.

Finally: I have some Jamie DISTASTE here. Perhaps it has even grown to the level of hate. In 4 elimination challenges, she has only cooked twice. I think someone one this blog posted that she tweeted (something like) "I guess I am getting the asshole edit." Guess what Jamie? You ARE the asshole this season!!! Seriously. I very much doubt that Jamie has the cooking ability to make it to the end. She is just not that good in a competition (My God, she can't even cook BEANS!!). But she is playing the game. Whatever.

I will stop ranting now. There are still a lot of good chefs left and a lot of good food to see. :)

[ri]

Man, if you think you have a distaste for Jamie, just go watch Ripert's video blog. If it was growing before, it's just out and out in the open now. Paraphrased, he says she doesn't lead - can't be a chef. No technically skill - can't be a cook. Why is she on Top Chef? Pretty brutal on his part.

[lo]

Well congrats to Jamie for successfully playing the game. Are we sure it's Angelo whose employing a devious strategy?

Speaking of which, I think the editors and judges are really reaching in continuing to imply Angelo's "sabotage." Celery and peanut butter aside (because that was real), everything I see seems to suggest when it comes to teamwork, he just doesn't know how to let people do their part without getting involved. It's unfortunate but it doesn't immediately make him malicious. He looked like he really wanted to win (him and Tiffani) and let it get the best of him. Until I get actual proof of continued poor behavior, go Angelo! (and Tiffani!)

[EdT.]

My observations (which will find their way into a blog post):

GO CARLA! HOOTIE HOO! Love how you "man'd" up. And that the camera cut to a shot of Jaime when you declined a trip to the hospital. Also loved the "un-dunte" description. Just don't put it on your menu, please.

Jamie is the new Lisa. I also think she will be in everyone's sights next week. Jamie, you've. been. targeted.

Hey, Fabio - this is Top Chef, not Top Gnocchi!

Line of the night next week (from teaser at the end of the show): Asian diner: "What s this?"
Another Asian diner: "Caucasian dim-sum." Sounds like a train wreck on the horizon!

~EdT.

[Cynthia]

never really posted on here before, even though been reading through almost every season of top chef. I do love me some Carla, so happy for her and that she stuck to her guns- a trip to Italy - jealous.

[timothy]

Wow. Love, love, love Carla. Yes, all the stuff about cooking with love can be overblown in some contexts, but tonight showed that if you are a skilled chef, and if you are also confident, compassionate, mellow, and fun, those good qualities can propel you. And if you are a skilled chef and you are also insecure, antagonistic, fearful and kind of mean, those negative qualities can make you look like Jamie looks right now. I was a big fan of hers from her season but she is not looking good right now.

[redpoint]

Why were Angelo and Tiffany messing with Spike's dish in the first place? Probably because it needed help and they were trying to fix it. This episode was classic Spike, undone by getting too caught up in the game and not focusing on the food.

Everyone is going to hate me, but I say, in this episode, good for Jamie. Her garbonzos weren't ready. I haven't heard the Ripert report, but I do know beans, and I know that sometimes the damn things take twice as long as you think they will. There's no way I would go out and risk elimination just because my teammates were pressuring me to do so because of an inane strategy. How was that strategy going to work anyway? Why were they expecting their strongest dish (Richard's?) to go first?

I still remember Jamie in season 5 being a damn good chef. I'm still waiting for her to show us by cooking something. (she is cooking in the QFs, by the way, and she was in the top in the first round).

[bryanD]

Hot damn. That was a great episode. (If the EC judging were blind, I might likely have died a'la Nelson Rockefeller if Nelson Rockefeller were humping Top Chef when he died---[google].)

(Quickfire challenge? Stupid; but it doesn't matter in context, Selah!)

As a Real American I must doff the proverbial hat to Der Blais for calling Jamie out for resembling a personal cleansing appliance for sexually active females instead of a cook.

A doff of the hat, also, to Der Elfen for eliminating Spike in contravention of all reality teevee rules and bylaws. (No wonder his hat burned off!) While perhaps somewhat close-called qualitatively (Tiffany D), Spike seemed to know he fudged up royally by his own unflattering (unprecedented?) demonstration of himself throwing persons (Someone! Anyone!) unter Der Bus.

Episode rating: A+

[Joanna]

Go Carla go! So happy that she won, especially after her teammates doubted her concept, AND after she sliced her finger and kept going. Awesome.

I was kind of amused at how focused the yellow team seemed to be on Richard's food. Their entire strategy was based around who should go against Richard -- every other chef got an "ohhhh, it's just so-and-so" comment from Spike (which perhaps was part of his downfall).

Also, I've had the edamame dumplings at Buddakhan, and they are one of the few foods I dream about. Seriously, those dumplings are UNREAL. I can't even imagine what Tiffani's dish tasted like to beat an edamame dumpling.

[yurd]

It's not Top Gnocchi!

[ri]

Despite all the comments about Spike being sneaky and so on, his exit interview was very classy. Seems the stress of having no career is past him and now its more just fun to be in the show again.

[matthew]

"Also loved the "un-dunte" description. Just don't put it on your menu, please."

Carla LOVED this comment. She just Tweeted it.

[gdis]

I liked the way Carla stuck by her dish and concept from the get go and won while Spike backed off, tried to play the game, and lost. Carla is sticking to what she knows (her stew tonight and the shrimp and grits last week at wd-50) and appears to be a pleasure for everyone to be around.

A few random thoughts:

-I'm glad Tiffany backed off the "Angelo sabotaging" routine. Angelo had already won his match up and was in no danger of being eliminated. How can he benefit from sabotaging Spike?

-I don't think Casey was in any danger of going home. As Tom said, the other dish was simply better and I think they were nitpicking hers.

-Surprisingly, I am sad to see Spike go. He was entertaining this season and I enjoyed watching him.

-Wow I really dislike Jamie. I understand her not wanting to serve her dish... I guess my frustration is more with the show for not figuring out a way to make everyone cook. She seems to have no desire to work with other people and if she makes it to restaurant wars, would you really want her on your team? First sign of trouble and she'll find a way to bail. Interesting personality contrast between her and Carla or Casey: Carla stayed and won; Casey is almost always upbeat and confident in her cooking. Jamie seems miserable and has clearly been phoning it in (even last week was a semi no show with a pretty weak, safe dish).

-I'm still keeping Angelo ahead on the rankings. He continues to adapt and think on his feet while putting out good food. He also has a distinctive style and adapts it to each competition - you could line up all the food and pick out which dish he made. I'm not saying you couldn't do with Richard's food.. An Angelo vs Richard vs (Dale T or Carla) would be a great finale.

[Kenny]

I loved Carla's moxie tonight. Back in the day I was also impressed that she ate vegetables and avoided alcohol, and still was a completely amazing chef (for some reason that impressed me, and I made her ginger spritzer thing many times. And her oyster stew idea.)

Jamie, well. What can one say? She does know how to work it, but, well... You know.

And Spike. Damn you Spike!

[DF]

Matthew -- You are one lucky man. To me, Carla's best moment wasn't winning the EC, or her spirit after her accident. It was her humor and grace when presenting her failed dish in the QF. I'm not sure any contestant on TC has ever had any one episode where she shone as brightly did tonight. Congratulations!

[anne]

When someone questioned Carla's choice of African Peanut Stew and wondered, " who wants to eat that?" I said out loud, "I do!" So glad she won. I hope they put the recipe online. I think Carla might be my favorite contestant in reality show history.

[Dan_boston]

While Jamie's attitude and ineptitude in this episode pissed me off, ultimately I'd have to blame her pass in this episode on her teammates, not on her. Her dish sucked; why would she volunteer to go up - by refusing to be the bad guy, her teammates willingly threw themselves under the bus for her. Strange and self defeating. That being said, I don't see her lasting long, and I don't think she does either, hence her petulant, phoning-it-in performance

[Lon]

Generally I have many comments. But I'm enjoying myself watching Top Chef All-Stars so much I'm sort of speechless. Every show is an adventure with blood, sweat and tears abounding.

[Steve]

Thrilled for Carla. Disappointed for Spike - it was definitely between him and Tiffany who would go home. Hard to tell if Angelo and Tiffani didn't add to his dish whether his bland shrimp would have beat out Tiffany's under-seasoned tuna. He certainly was creative and added interest to the contest.

Jamie? Bad attitude. She's now gotten out of competing in 50% of the elimination challenges. Not fair.

[garik16]

For the record, I'm more or less on Jamie's side here.

"She's gotten out of 2 of 4 of the challenges of presenting her food" is the reason for the dislike of her right now.

But the first of those two, so it's seemed from everything is written, wasn't her fault: she panicked upon cutting herself, not having done it that way before, and left in the heat of the moment, not thinking about the dish.

Today, the team should've forced her to serve instead of Tre. Serving Tre made little sense really....if Tre won, Jamie would STILL have to go, and her dish wouldn't be fixed in that time. It's possible the last opponent wouldn't have been as tough to beat, but really...at that point, they should've thrown Jamie out there to get her in as a possible elimination and because she was needed to win ANYHOW.

[Kathy from Austin]

Damn. I am a Jaimie fan. That said, I recall during Top Chef Masters Anna (?) whom I was very impressed with choosing Jaimie and then having second thoughts about her ability. Do you guys remember that?

[Sprugman]

I have to admit it's getting tough to keep defending Jamie, but if her dish wasn't ready, she was smart to delay it as long as possible, and that was the best choice for the team, too. Why put up a known loser?

Also, I love that Spike was trying to be a Crafty MFer with his sneaky strategy and it backfired on him. It was a dumb strategy for whoever would have submitted to it.

[dach]

great EC.

IMO Spike was very much reality TV dramatic ... his teammates made his soup good. He lost entirely on his own shrimp failure. Adding salt to bland shrimp (think tasteless supermarket shrimp/cocktail sauce platter) after the fact only makes salty soup + tasteless salty shrimp.

Angelo gets plusses for adjusting on the fly, ditching his slimy mackerel, winning his match with tuna amuse bouche. Yes, he doesn't have a good record of helping out, but it could be he drawn to helping out hopeless causes, or he really is just not good at helping, despite best intentions.

[SCT]

Anyone else wonder what Mike Isabella cooked?

[David M.]

Tough to judge Jamie I think - the editors definitely want us to think about her in a certain way. But her QF dish looked great, I thought - the food she prepares when she has presented a dish has generally been solid middle of the pack or higher. And we don't know what other elements were involved in the chickpea dish.

On the other hand, a top chef should know how long it takes for dried chickpeas to cook properly and Eric Ripert is thoroughly unimpressed.

On the other hand Dom has been to her restaurant and loves it and she did cook some great dishes in her season...

O, confusion...

Great episode though! Now THAT'S how team challenges should be run - a complete team concept that still allowed for chefs to plate single-plate signature dishes with no absurd limitations. Great episode. Wish it was supersized so we could have spent a little more time on the dishes, especially at judge's table, but other than that - great.

[Khadijah]

Ditto on the Carla love.

Just one comment on the QF.. if the chefs weren't allowed any utensils and tools to cook with, I thought they should've had the judges eat the food without utensils too. lol.

I would like to see less drama and more cooking.

But I loved when Blaise called Jamie out in the stew room about not cooking.

[Jack]

Jamie is a one note chef: soup. In her season, soups were all she ever made, she's now made soups for the only two EC's she's been in, and she made another soup for the QF, which was a STUFFING challenge. She doesnt play well with others and clearly has NO interest in being in this competition. If she re-upped for more press for her restaurant it's only going to backfire. She needs to go.

[dach]

btw, Did they not show Angelo during the QF?

[Skillet Doux]

Jack...

Criticism of Jamie completely understood, but you... uh... have until late Sunday night (when I get back home to my notes) to fact-check that rant before I do it for you :-)

[doktarr]

There was some great cooking in this episode, but this is another one of those cases where the format of the challenge is just terrible.

I've got no problem with only losers on the losing team being up for elimination - people often get saved when they have a bad dish but their team wins. What I have an issue with is that Jaime got backdoor immunity by not putting out a dish. I don't really think there was any gamesmanship at play there, but the bottom line is that that's a terrible, terrible way to structure the challenge.

For the record, the smartest thing anyone said about the order of chefs you put out was "our strategy is to not have a strategy". You can't control your opponent's order, nor can you predict the quality of their dishes with any accuracy.

And yes, the no-tools thing was a joke, and really, it was totally unnecessary.

All of that said, I did enjoy the episode, because at the end of the day it was a pretty wide-open elimination challenge for the chefs, and they responded with some very interesting and appealing food.

[H.F.]

dach: "ditching his slimy mackerel"
It would have been very fun if everyone had said "No! Off my fish!" and he had to make something REALLY on the fly.

Have fun in Italy, Matthew (I want to go to Florence).

[timothy]

@KathyfromAustin: Good reference. It was Anita Lo who enthusiastically chose Jamie for sous chef and then seemed to regret it. I can't remember for sure but it might have been the episode when Lo was prepping a sashimi platter and she thought Jamie was too slow with knife work. Something along those lines? My gut feeling, based only on hunch and life experience, is that Jamie is a creative person who does things her way and likes to make a show of her independence. Put her on her turf in an environment she can control and she is going to impress. I am afraid this season is a perfect storm of negative factors for her; she comes across as petulant and incompetent, but my read is that she is probably a bit unsure of how to make the circumstances work for her and that insecurity is manifesting as inflexibility and apathy. I think there is a good chef and interesting person in their somewhere and I am hoping for a comeback. At this point, though, there is justification for ranking her near the bottom.

[Redpoint]

As I said, David M., who said a Top Chef should know how long chick peas should take to cook properly, dried beans can sometimes take twice as long as you'd expect. It depends how old they are. You can't tell by looking at them.

I don't see Carla's recipe yet on the bravo site. I'd love to have it-- is there any way we can get it, Matthew, please?

[Bart]

Congrats Matthew (and Carla)! I'm jealous!

Thoughts:

- Does anyone love, love, love the new beginnings of all the episodes, where we get to see the chefs immediately after the elimination, talk a bit about who went home? I do.

- I'm still willing to give Jamie a pass for ducking out to get stitches. For someone who's never gotten them before, that can be a very scary thing. But Spike is right - she is in a competition; she has to compete. Her inability to stand behind her dish reveals someone who is sorely insecure...someone who won't last much longer.

- I think Spike focused too much on the metagame (the US Open challenge) rather than the overall game (which is to cook the best dish you possibly can). That was his downfall.

Also, Spike, stop blaming others for your loss. That's just tacky. Grow some balls and take ownership of your dish.

- I don't think Angelo is a saboteur. He seems to genuinely care too much about the food. Even if he didn't like his teammates, I don't think he'd do anything to sacrifice the integrity of the dish.

- Blast, someone already said "It's Top Chef, not Top Gnocchi"! I was so planning on saying that.

Great episode!

Now, Dom, will you FINALLY please boost Carla up a few spots and knock Jamie down a few?

[SorchaRei]

As if I did not love Carla already, I just adore the fact that Matthew finds out about trips to Italy while watching the show. What an amazing woman she is!

[UKMatt]

Random thoughts:

1. I HATED the QF. What a stupid idea. I think we were through the intros and the QF in about 12 minutes. If they're going to make the QF challenges that ridiculous I'd rather see them Roshambo for immunity in the first minute and then see an extended edit of the elimination challenge.

2. Sad to see Spike go. He was entertaining if nothing else. Far more interesting to have around than Jaime for example.

3. I don't think Angelo is sabotaging anyone. I just don't think he's quite as good as he thinks he is. When he has time to consider his dish and refine the concept before cooking he obviously does well. Then he jumps in on other people's dishes, thinks up "improvements" on the fly (which he thinks genuinely improve the dish) and sometimes misses the mark.

4. There was an interesting moment at JT tonight showing just how much discussion we miss in the televised cut. Tre never mentioned that he did not cook his own salmon (something I complemented him on as it wouldn't change the reality of his dish being bad) but Tom (?) referred to it in his closing.

That's all...

[Kyle]

I just started watching the show in season 6, but I'm definitely jumping on the Carla train. What's not to love!

I think this episode shows a lot. Even though it seemed to be Tiffany that was 2nd in line for elimination, her dish couldn't have been that far off from Antonia's with how close the match for the point was.

I think the people who are in the most danger in the next few weeks are:

*Jamie - hasn't shown anything to stay around for
*Tre - It was clear that he was a goner if he didn't have immunity
*Mike - As soon as we have a non-team challenge, I think he'll find himself on the chopping block. Last night was another example of him quietly hiding behind stronger competitors. He does it well.

I think Fabio, Tiffany, and Antonia all need to be careful though.

[Anon man]

A few quick comments:

Ironic that Spike, who's best chance of going far was his embracing of strategy, was out done by it.

Good to see three of my favorites (from a viewing standpoint): Antonia, Fabio and Carla in the top.

By the way, my first thought after the win was: "Cool, matthew will be stoked!"

I liked the EC back and forth. QF= meh. Really looking forward to the versus Tom challenge.

[mncharm]

Loved this episode, even if it would have been preferable to make sure everyone had to compete (Tom notes that he'd like to see that fixed next time they do this challenge).

Spike's strategy - while it wasn't totally followed - was awful. That is precisely how the US lost the Ryder Cup a few years back.

As to the "drama," I have no problem with it if it is game related. That's not drama, that's part of the game. Angelo's behavior (which I don't believe was malicious) is absolutely worth discussing, as it helped affect the results - same with Jamie's Spike-esque strategizing.

[Bart]

Bourdain's blog is up, well worth the read. What I like about his blog is that I sense he really enjoys sitting down and watching the show. He's a judge, yes, but it's clear he's also a fan. I like that.

[paula]

"Back door immunity."

Exactly. I enjoyed watching the EC, but it really pisses me off that Jamie and Mike didn't have to serve a dish. Completely unfair in this kind of competition. And I don't blame Jamie for holding off and not serving hers, because she knows she would have been eliminated. I blame the show for allowing that to be an option.

What no one's mentioned here yet, though, is what a little b*tch Tre is turning out to be. Seriously, he had immunity. Yet he wouldn't share his fish (though he then let Angelo cook it in the end--ironic), he wouldn't serve his dish whenever the hell anyone else wanted him to in EC...and as someone pointed out in the first episode, it was likely him who blew the whistle on Blais going over time (not a huge deal, but taken in full context, still notable). Terrible sportsmanship. And his dish still sucked.

[rab01]

Bourdain's blog is even better than usual and this line is just priceless:

"God knows the warning signs were there. When Angelo starts talking about putting something "in" your food, it pays to be wary. He's always going on about putting "love" in his food -- and I've never been entirely convinced there's not actual penetration involved."

[matthew]

Thanks again for the Carla shouts! What I appreciate is that I know you all will be just as candid if she does something bas as well as when she excels. That's why this is my favorite place to read about and discuss Top Chef online. It's actually fun to learn about what happens in real time. The lows are not good for my nerves, but the highs are even sweeter. We're in Michigan right now with my family, and my son and parents were hooting and throwing high-fives!

I have to say, Carla's said "undonete" to me before, but it was never funnier than last night. That and "Do you need some floss?" I really appreciate her self-deprecating approach on the show. She said they didn't show it last night, but when Padma who were the least successful in the QF, Carla raised her hand. LOL! She did the same thing in Season 5 with Erip Ripert when they were filleting fish. Too funny. She's just like that in person.

Ok, as for the episode, here are some observations/random thoughts:

While I also didn't necessarily agree that the bottom dishes weren't up for Judges' Table, all the contestants were aware of the set up for review of dishes, so it was up to each contestant, to make sure the weakest (real or perceived) dishes were served. The only way we would have seen more dishes was for the yellow team to have gone on a run.

I think what gets me most is the deal with Jamie. I've had Jamie's food several times. She is definitely talented. She does however, in all candor, have a bit of that "I don't want to be bothered" vibe. She can be incredibly warm or incredibly distant. I've encountered both. I've seen her Tweets about getting an "asshole edit." I distinctly remember being in New York for the taping of the reunion show for Season 5, and Stefan called Carla about how he was being portrayed on the show. She understood his concern, but uttered, "If you say it, they [Bravo/Magical Elves] can play it. After seven seasons of TC, I can see some of the Elves editing slight of hand. What they don't, and can't do, is put words in your mouth or make you look frumpy and disinterested. Unfortunately, that appears to be Jamie this season. I'll stress that it is appearances. I have no sense of where Jamie is mentally and emotionally with regard to this show.

I thought Spike, who Carla and I are very fond of, handled his exit with class. I like what he said in his exit interview, as well as the after hours bonus clip. Spike is very aware of, and adept at, managing your image and brand.

I can't speak for Fabio's dish on the show, but I had his gnocchi recently at a Food & Wine event in Las Vegas and it was really tasty. Very light (like little pillows) and flavorful.

I don't necessarily buy the sabotage line on Angelo. If anything, I think he means well and is not trying to undermine people. With that said, though, I think he may not be aware of how his road to Hell is being paved with good intentions. At least in the eyes of others. I haven't met him yet, but Carla says he's really nice.

Tre's laugh is seriously maniacal.

[Naomi]

By the way, my first thought after the win was: "Cool, matthew will be stoked!"

Just one of the many things I love about this blog! I had the same reaction here. "Yay, Carla won!" Followed by: "Yay, Matthew's going to Italy!" Never would have happened if it weren't for ye ol' Skillet Doux :-)

[TxGriff]

I'm surprised at the animosity towards Tre. Sure, it was kind of odd that he didn't share the salmon with Angelo, but when did he refuse to serve his dish during the EC? I just rewatched the episode, and I didn't see that at all- the only person who was being pressured to plate and refused was Jamie. And why is it a problem that he notified the producers about Blais going over time (if he even did)? Rules are rules- it's not personal. If you go over time, you shouldn't be eligible for the win. I don't see a problem with that, or with making sure that those rules are abided by. Lastly, I didn't taste it, but I got the impression that his dish wasn't terrible. The main comment was that the salmon was overcooked and oily, and he didn't even prepare the salmon. I think that in the context of the "strategy" his team had, he probably wasn't planning on plating at all. Tom makes it clear in his blog that most of the food was really good. I think it's been made clear that everyone has off nights, and Tre wasn't 100% during the EC, especially given the fact that he had nothing to lose.

Jamie....well, not much to add about her. Although, ultimately her team should have stood their ground and made her stick to the plan they had all agreed upon. She undoubtedly looks bad, but that lose is somewhat on their shoulders. I don't think she'll be around too much longer.

[paula]

They didn't pressure Tre specifically, but they were all standing around shouting "Who's going to go?" Why wouldn't he just step up? He had nothing to lose. They were all stressed and panicky, so why not help out? Carla, Tiffany, Casey, Blais, Antonia, Dale...I think if any of them had immunity, they would have done whatever anyone else needed to help things go smoothly and do what's best for the team. I just don't see that with Tre. It's just a personality thing, I guess. It rubbed me the wrong way. (I do, however, adore his laugh.)

[lisa]

The only people to blame are Jamie"s teammates that lost their round.
They knew putting Tre up instead of Jamie increased their chance to go home. Shame on them for not being more forceful and pushing Jamie to serve. She knew what she was doing, protecting herself and they let her and so Spike suffered.

Ironic.

hootie!

[TxGriff]

Paula- I understand what you're saying. Maybe they didn't want him to plate specifically because he had immunity, and if his dish lost, then it would increase everyone else's chances of going home (which is ultimately exactly what happened). Or maybe he was just being selfish. I think it was pretty clear they were all really waiting for Jamie to volunteer. I also know how it feels to just have a personal dislike of a chef. No matter what he does, I just don't like listening to Mike Isabella talk. I don't know what it is. Oh yeah, maybe it was his "I was almost beat by a girl" comment in S6 :).

I just love Carla. It's said over and over on this blog, but has there ever been a more positive, joyous person on this show? And without any pretense, to boot. I hope she sticks around for a long, long time.

[BK]

I couldn't stand Jamie the first time around. But the problem in this episode wasn't Jamie but the the design of a challenge.

In one of the early seasons, angry Tom thundered at judges table, "This is a cooking show! And he didn't cook anything!"

The challenge last night practically guaranteed that at least two chefs wouldn't have to present food.

Imagine if one side had one each of the first four "matches." Then SIX chefs wouldn't have presented. Six chefs denied an opportunity to win, six chefs essentially given immunity from elimination for doing nothing. And the judges denied an opportunity to judge six chefs.

They should have tasted the food in every match and only announced the head-to-head winners after all the tasting was done. You'd still have the teams cheering and high-fiving after each winner announced, but you'd also make everyone present food, make everyone eligible to win, make everyone eligible to go home.

It's a cooking show. Make sure everyone cooks something!

[matthew]

Oh...I know it may sound bias, but I would have reacted the same way if I weren't connected to Carla. I thought Dale's comment about Carla's soup to be a little myopic, narrow...you pick the descriptor. It seems that Dale, and Mike at one point, doubted the appeal of Carla's soup. I think Colicchio captured it in his blog. Fancy doesn't = Fantastic. Though I still feel calling someone's food "homey" has a little bit of a pejorative feel to it, I think Carla and Antonia both have a more flavor first approach to cooking. Personally, I am SO over the swooshes of sauce. It has it's place, but it's starting to look really dated IMHO.

With that said, Carla said she does understand the notion of "elevating" her dishes. It's more about plating than concept or flavors. She said that that's what she took Casey to mean in the finale. She shared with me last night that she really likes Casey.

I think there's a lot of egos going on in that TC kitchen and a number of them either underestimate or don't respect Carla's culinary skills. I do hope it's the former.

[garik16]

@BK:
"In one of the early seasons, angry Tom thundered at judges table, "This is a cooking show! And he didn't cook anything!"

It's a cooking show. Make sure everyone cooks something!"

BIG DIFFERENCE HERE: Jamie DID cook something. That's unquestionable. Moreover, her team could have insisted she go (Tom details this in his blog).

Everyone cooked. The challenge gave the team's control over who, if not everyone, presented.

[Polybus]

Amen to those posters who nailed the problems with this EC. It's disappointing to me that several contestants simply were not judged in this EC. It's a cooking show - judge everyone's cooking. The other thing that bothers me is that if you are going to bring in a swing vote on the EC, make it a chef, not a tennis pro.

Although I don't have the venom toward Jamie that many posters do, she's taken a big tumble in my eyes, maybe straight to the bottom. I don't blame her for not wanting to present an undercooked dish and basically volunteer for elimination - who would do that? But the fact is that she's been failing consistently and right now looks clearly the worst of the bunch.

I was really starting to like Spike and I didn't think this was a good way to see him go. I'd rather see him just go naturally than to have all of this intrigue and other fingers in his food.

And I was extremely happy to see Carla stick to her guns when everyone was trying to move her away from her dish and to ultimately win with it. Good for her!

But obviously I feel that the over-riding problem with this episode is that we should be given me a competition where everyone must compete.

[paula]

I actually really liked Tre coming into this episode...I was genuinely happy when he won the EC last week and then the QF this week. But watching him after the QF was over yesterday just bugged me, and (as I've been feeling with Jamie), I just can't really root for him the way I'm rooting for several of the others anymore.

By the way, I enjoyed watching the QF challenge a lot, even though, as a challenge, it was idiotic. It's fun to see the chefs just throw up their hands and say, "This is ridiculous," but just laugh and go with it. It reminded me of Hung's epic smurf village.

[ally]

@Jack: I think Jamie made a cake/patty o' stuffing for the quick fire, not a soup?

yay carla!

boo jamie! she's like one of those people you think, if you would just spend as
much time/thought into doing your job as you do into figuring out how to get out of it...

[Bart]

You know, while everyone's jumping on Jamie, I can't really blame her for doing what she did. She KNEW her dish was bad. She KNEW that she'd lose. And she KNEW that if she went up on the line, she'd get eliminated.

Her actions were purely self-motivated and they kept her in the game. For all the talk of Spike being a wily MFer, I think Jamie is the only contestant in Top Chef's history to advance without actually cooking/presenting her dishes to the judges.

There's something to be said for that!

[Anon Man]

matthew, You and Carla ever eaten at Obelisk?(I'm a Washingtonian too.) That's the best gnocchi I've had this side of Italy. I'm wondering if Fabio's compares well to those perfect little pillows.

[El Paso Mark]

So Jaime weasel’s out, again. And grants herself immunity. Awww, her beans weren’t ready? Too bad, so sad. She had the same amount of time (More actually) than everyone else, so tough. What would she have done, what would have been the outcome, if she had to have presented a dish? Four challenges and she hasn’t presented a dish in half of them? What’s wrong with that picture? Okay, okay, so she didn’t actually “Weasel” out when she cut her finger, but she certainly used it to her advantage. As opposed to Carla, et al who have “Soldiered on.” The excuse is she “Panicked” because she cut herself!? Give me a break! She’s covered with tattoo’s for crying out loud! You don’t think those didn’t hurt/draw blood when getting them? I know for a fact they do as I have a fair share myself. Point being I suppose is that she’s really “Gaming” this season. Anyone else think she really doesn’t want to be here? Or that she’s content to skate and game along until further in the season, stepping on the backs of the less fortunate/fallen along the way?

I’m kind of surprised about Richard’s comment to Jaime. That seems really out of character for him. More going on there that got edited out?

Way to go Carla! Hooty Hoo! Hack off a piece of finger, carry on, and then win the EC! Most excellent!

And a word to the wise for the remaining chef’s- Watch out for Angelo (And Antonia). They’re both snakes.

Cheers,

Mark

[vizoroo]

Team Yellow missed the boat on strategy. Obviously Tre should have been last since he had immunity. Spike's Strategy ignored that VERY important fact. Is it possible that Jaimie played the game better than Spike or Angelo? The 2 consumate game players. Hmmmm.

Carla, Carla, Carla!!!

[Skoolie]

Yes, Congrats to Carla on her win and I hope Carla and Matthew have an amazing time in Italy.

This episode really highlighted Carla's personality, dedication, skill, grace and determination. When she fails as something like the QF she is gracious, she is the first one to admit when she messes up. She doesn't hide, or pretend, she doesn't have so much of an ego that she can not see her failures. She's just Carla and that is exactly why I love her so much. Undonete had me cracking up.

It was hard to tell but it looked like Carla cut her finger the same way I did on a meat slicer a few years ago. It's like the corner edge of the finger and the nail. If that is the case you can't get stitches for it. It bleeds forever and you have to keep changing the bandage. I admire her for just going for it and not letting her injury derail her.

In stark contrast we have Jamie who, even though she knows she messed up, doesn't like to admit it and is not a team player. This was a smart move on her part. You could see she knew her dish was the weakest and would have gone home.

Spike let her out fox him when it came to game strategy. Hers was cleary to make it where she wouldn't have to go.
Casey was being a team player by forgoing strategy - she had a good dish but did what does best and made gnocci. Tre had immunity, and Tiffany D. her dish was almost as good as Antonia. So it just so happened Spike had to go.

I was upset not getting to see Mike I's food or see how bad Jamie's dish actually was. I wish they would have at least done a tasting even if it didn't count to the score.

Matthew, Maybe Carla knows a little about Mike's Dish. If it was great I feel bad for him not getting his time to shine and not getting a chance to be considered in the top.

I also agree about Angelo, he has good intentions, he's trying to help, the others need to let him know, they appreciate it but that it's their dish and he needs to let them do it.

I also thought Spike was very gracious. I would have been pissed. If I were him because clearly the worst dish did not go home last night.

I liked Jamie on her season but here all of these little things are adding up.

Big Apple Challenge - Didn't care about her team but was pleased her portion was called out and praised.

Team T-Rex cuts her finger, goes and gets stitches, not totally her fault but her team mate Jen goes home. Seems to just be glad it wasn't her.

Tennis Match - Did not care about her team, when she realized her dish was not done she devised a plan, refused to go first ended last and never had to show. Spike goes home for a dish that was better than hers.

Hmmm is Jamie the black widow this season?

Jamie has a lot of work to do to get back to where she needs to be and if she doesn't cook, doesn't participate next week, I've had it, and so should the judges.

Fabio is playing it smart. He may be a bit of a one trick pony but he's working it to the best of his ability. I had him dead last on my rankings but I'm glad he's sticking around. Maybe he'll be able to prove to his nay sayers that he's a great chef, even though I doubt he'll win in this competition.

Thoroughly enjoyed Carla such a great episode! I just pulled her up in my ranking from 8th to 5th. That made me excited.

oh and does she have a new call, noise she's making this season. It's so of like an over joyed kitty cat/ bird type call. :)

[jordanhc]

I really dont understand a lot of the comments about the best strategy is no strategy and that spike lost because of his strategy. The team did not follow Spike Strategy (and whether you agree with it or not there is logic to it and it makes some sense). If Jamie had gone first and lost, and the team had saved Casey's relatively strong dish they might have added another win and you dont know how it would have unfolded.

More importantly, and excuse my hyperbole, but a challenge like this is almost the definition of strategy. Its a chess match, its two baseball managers putting in pitchers and hitters in the late innings to play matchups. The team that has the 1,2,3,5,7,9,11 (Avg dish=5.42) best dishes could lose to the team with the 4,6,8,10,12,13,14 (avg dish=9.57) because of strategy. If every chef was an unknown quality then yes there would be no real strategy but thats not the case. The team tasted everyone of their own dishes and had a good idea of how to rank them and knew all their opposing chefs. Sure Fabio cooked a good dish and blais wasnt up to usual par but it makes sense to throw a week dish against blais and a good (maybe even average) dish against fabio. The problem was the chefs all had to agree together and weigh self interest, if each team had a coach who chose which dish went when there is a TON of strategy involved. Each team alternated who announced first, you cant say there wouldnt be stragey involved in a match like this.

Sorry if that was long and angry seeming, in life i enjoy stragey games and this was very much one (whether thats good for TC or not is a different matter)

[TxGriff]

Come to think of it, I'm pretty sure Team Yellow's plan was to have Tre plate last. It seems like he only served before Jamie because her food wasn't ready and it was match point, so they had to give it a shot with a ready dish. I'm sure the thinking was taht if Tre's dish won, the score would have been tied, and Jamie's dish either would have been ready and could have potentially won (thus winning the match and keeping them all from elimination) or it would have lost and she would be on the chopping block. So, point being, I think there is a reason Tre wasn't volunteering throughout the rounds. They found themselves in a win or go home situation, and it was clear that there was a change in plan to let Tre plate. Just my take on it.

I agree with jordanhc- this challenge required a *certain* level of strategy. The obvious strategy is just to make good food, but the reality was that they tasted each dish and knew the strengths/weaknesses, and were trying to plate accordingly. I see no problem with some strategical thinking.

I thought Mike was being totally disrespectful when he was openly talking about needing to get his food ready in front of Carla. I didn't get the impression that he was saying it in a "just in case" kind of way. Hopefully this challenge was a wakeup call to the chefs who have been underestimating Carla, Mike included.

[bryanD]

Wow. Just got back since Dom posted the autopsy---I mean, Spike's losing dish photo! Gives me a niacin headache and the runs just looking at it.

Elsewhere in the contest: I found the repeated usage of pork for an training day meal antiquated (and these days, even controversial or unacceptable). Conversely, the absence of a ramen or fo with carbohydrates and a hard-boiled egg. It's practically the only food that is puke-proof in athletics, plus its tasty and (unlike pork loin) stylish. (Or maybe I missed it. Buzzed, etc)

Old fish and old shrimp? Especially old whole fish? With those worms and all? BAD!BAD!BAD! Salmon fillets? Good

[bryanD]

@jordanhc: Well, I agree with you 100%. The chefs on opposing teams had excellent human intelligence on one anothers' capabilities. I would have honed my line-up on the fly by opponent's body language if need be.

[Lon]

Angelo and Tiffani are both Type A control freak types of personalities, at least that's how they come across on the screen. Sort of like the sister-in-law that has to host every family gathering. That trait has gotten them both in trouble in the past.

For example, Tiffani in Season 1 finale got into trouble when she tried to make two of everything. It's been pretty well accepted that if she had concentrated on single versions she could very well have won the season. Angelo keeps tinkering with his food, trying to make it "better" and actually makes it worse. I personally believe his concern over his performance wore him out prematurely in season 7 and contributed to his fade near the end of the show.

It would take a strong personality to stand up to these Type A personalities and I can see how, in the heat of the battle, they can run rampant over a less strong (in personality) chef.

While I was reading all the negative reaction to Jamie, I started thinking of how all these chefs left successful positions to compete in this show. Yes, it was temporary, and yes, the potential rewards are many. But it still takes a strong competitor to walk away from your business to take a 1 in 18 shot at $200,000. In their regular positions they are safe and accepted, if not loved. During Top Chef they are constantly critized and subjected to some pretty intense challenges. And it isn't like they didn't know what they were getting into. Whether I like them, as portrayed on the screen, or not I respect them and what they're trying to do.

[LaLaura]

I loved this episode! I also like the way the show's intro begins in the stew room. It immediately gets my heart pumping and adds to the intensity of the show. Carla, whom I have loved from the beginning, is so freaking awesome. She is cooking her food. Her style. Love it! It's already been said many times, but her grace under pressure is so admirable. Of all the Cheftestants, I want her to cook for me.

[rab01]

A coment on Spike's strategic thinking: Whenever Spike is shown getting engaging in serious gamesmanship, he crashes and burns. Either it gets in the way of his cooking or the elves love irony and just show the times when it backfires.

His thinking was sound here -- in the abstract. But, he forgot the human element that NO ONE is going to be willing to volunteer that their own dish is the weakest on the team. Once that's out there as team strategy, the one who goes first is relying on the team to win or they go home ...

His team's choice to change paths when Jaime's dish wasn't ready was not crazy either -- if the extra time could improve her dish. And, once they got down to her and Tre, their only chance of winning was to win both dishes. Another 15 minutes, and maybe her dish would be servable.

The challenge designer screwed up -- if the objective was to get the worst cook sent home. But, since that's not their objective, the challenge worked really well. It forced interesting team-dynamics, allowed head-to-head matchups with cheering team-mates, and prompted some good cooking. As others have said, this is a game show, not an exercise to find who is objectively the best chef in America.

I didn't think Spike was going to last more than another 2-3 episodes and I don't think Jaime will either so my outrage is a bit dampened. If Jaime pulls a Lisa, that'll be a different story ....

[Wangus]

I'm chiming in with the vocal minority here that actually enjoyed the challenge. The strategy was a great twist. In the end, the team that loses 4 of its head-to-heads lose. Period. So frankly, if you make 7 great dishes: you've got nothing to worry about. But on the other hand, if you're willing to admit to yourself and your team that maybe not all seven of your dishes are culinary masterpieces, you can still give yourself the advantage by playing it smart. In the end, it still came down to food. And, at least for me, as long as there are no stupid restrictions on the food itself then I am a happy camper.

[Wangus]

Oh, and some notes about the episode and some notes about things other posters have said.

Re Jamie: no, it doesn't look good for her right now. However, I can't blame her for not wanting to go when she knows her food is bad. In the end, it's about staying alive, and that's where those instincts took her. She knew that her dish would lose to any other dish. She (and let's be honest here most people in her situation would probably do the same) isn't about to sacrifice herself for the 'good of the team' if she thinks she can sneak out of it completely. Not particularly classy, but not exactly something I'm going to demand that she goes home for. And, though I'm loathe to bring it up again, please don't go about assuming what kind of injuries may or may not scare an individual that you don't even know, even if she does have tattoos. I once had a MMA fighter close his eyes and wince as he got the flu shot.

Re Carla: Yay for the win. Extremely happy for her. However, I'd like to comment on the idea of "fancy food" vs. "fantastic food" that matthew and maybe some others mentioned. I absolutely agree that Carla deserved this win. If her food tasted the best, she should get the win. This challenge had no rules about 'fancy', so just because Dale thought the food should be fancy doesn't make him right. However, in other settings, the theme of the food does carry weight. My dad makes the best dumplings in the world; I could (and have) eaten them until I get literally sick. But I wouldn't be that impressed to have them in a fine dining scenario. They're 'homey', and that's just fine 99% of the time. I think just expect more when I'm supposed to expect more.

Re Tre: I'm in agreement that the team probably (as they should've) decided that Tre should've gone last. The man has immunity; if he goes to the bottom the rest of the losers have a 1 in 3 chance of going home instead. In the end, I think the whole team planning collapsed on them. But I'm actually liking Tre more than I ever did during his regular season.

One more note about the challenge. It seemed a little unfair (if we're to believe the editing) that Padma seemed to consistently ask the Orange team first as to who they were sending out. You'd think they should alternately switch that or give it to the currently behind team.

[JJ]

Really thought it was a terrible episode. Why was the QF holiday-themed (Thanksgiving or X-mas) while the EC was focused on sports and the US Open (which takes place in late August/early September)? I also think any challenge that results in some chefs not having to cook at all is ludicrous. Not only is it unfair in terms of who should be on the bottom and eliminated, but also possibly who won't get considered for the win. (If Carla was chosen to go up last for her team and the team won before she served her food, her soup wouldn't have even been a candidate for the win.) It also potentially creates ill-will towards other contestants, as it did towards Jaimie. Just don't get what the producers were thinking. Really stupidly designed challenge.

As for Spike: I'm entirely OKAY with his elimination. Guess he's not as good a strategist as he thought he was. (Anyway, telling people that the strategy is to put the "worst" dish up first is just asking for trouble.) His attempt to blame others for his lame shrimp was not cool either. Happy to see him go, and happy that Tiffany refused to further perpetuate the Angelo-as-saboteur rumor. Personally, I think it's very irresponsible for the show to keep milking this idea for the "drama."

That's all for now. Congrats to Carla (and Matthew) and happy holidays to everyone!

[dc]

@Wangus: "One more note about the challenge. It seemed a little unfair (if we're to believe the editing) that Padma seemed to consistently ask the Orange team first as to who they were sending out. You'd think they should alternately switch that or give it to the currently behind team."

That's not how I remember it. I remember noticing it was always the team that won the previous round that was first to choose their next round representative. Which makes sense, for fairness, drama and strategy. Maybe for the 1st round they did a coin flip as to who was called first... or they gave the judges the name of 1st fighter on slips of paper (which would be most fair). Maybe I'm misremembering... but that's what how I remember they did it.

[Skoolie]

JJ - I agreed about the last person not getting the chance to show and I noted in my comment that I wish the judges would have just tasted it and given their thoughts. Even if they weren't considered in the running.

I want to believe that the Orange team put Fabio first because he was a wild card, his dish could go either way and that they were using Mike as an anchor in case anything went wrong.

The orange team didn't talk about who's dish was best or worst I think they were able to size up who has been the most consistent and also when faced with time issues such as foam, they altered a little bit.

Spike made a crucial error in speaking when he said figure out who's dish is the worst and put them first because no one wants to go first. Instead of saying who's are most consistent players and who are our wild cards. Automatically Tre should have gone last, he won immunity if he doesn't get to show his dish, it doesn't matter, If he does he could potentially save the team.

If I were on this show and I was working on a team and someone had immunity I would press them to work the disadvantage whatever it may be. If it's brilliant it will win them more motivation, if it's not they still have immunity.

[Kujo]

The QF challenge was goofy. I liked the stuffing theme, but it was just poorly thought out. What was the point of not allowing them to use utensils? What does that prove?

Jamie needs to go ASAP.

Kinda surprised they were only able to get Taylor Dent, who recently retired. Was expecting Andy Roddick.

Carla is entertaining. Sad to see Spike go.

[Wangus]

@DC: this could entirely be true. I'll have to watch more closely the next time around. I just keep remembering the Orange Team saying a name and then Spike repeating that new quickly to his team.

On the other hand, I do recall the Orange team mentioned Dale T 2nd. So it looks like you're probably right.

[gdis]

I agree that there is a strategy and actually the team with Tre on it would have had the upper hand. He should have gone last AND he should have been the one to determine who had the weakest dishes. They should have all agreed that he made the decisions. He doesn't have anything to lose and his motivation will be for his team to win so he has a shot at the win.

[bryanD]

"Sad to see Spike go."---kujo

It's for the best. The incredible number of public appearances Spike has with Colicchio with-or-without Ripert as represented in a web search, was tending to give Top Chef a corny aire. Now that Spike is gone, these public appearances seem less foreboding of ugly upcoming events, ie Spike victory lap or some-such. (And yes, I ACCIDENTALLY came upon these. I'm no masochist. I was simply investigating Dale L's "Colicchio versus Ripert" tidbit. Answer: nada. bupkis. F.U. DALE! :-)

[anne]

I agree with someone earlier who thought the entire strategy was about Blais. That he would be the best dish out (coming out a Blais-ing! Get it? Get it?), and therefore the first, and that no one could possibly beat him, and so they might as well send out a sacrificial lamb.

And, true, with the people who've pointed out that Jamie was just saving her own ass, which really is the whole point. In the long run, she's not supposed to be a team player, she's supposed to avoid getting eliminated. We've seen people sacrifice "being a team player" for their own self-interest before, but that's what really the name of the game is.

I'm still thinking about Carla's soup. And, as a vegetarian, may I just call out a HOOTIE in thanks for her making something I could eat?

[anne]

Oh, and Carla's recipe is up now. I both want to eat it and put on some music, light some candles, and massage myself with it.

[Kathy from Austin]

@timothy, you're right! It was Anita Lo and Jamie was sloooow on the knife skills. Anita had regrets.

I must say, as a Jamie apologist, that we went to Absinthe where the food was wonderful on a night the she was cooking. She also took the time to meet our family (husband, 16-year old son and 11-year-old daughter) which meant a lot to us. The food was magnificent and she spoke glowingly of her fellow cast mates including Stefan. So I give her the benefit of the doubt. Plus, you will not convince me she is not one hell of a chef. Work ethic might be another argument.

Richard gave her a warning last night about her emerging narrative. Wise guy, Blais. Let's see if she heeds it.

Other random points.

*When in the heck did this grown up version of Spike appear? I rather like this dude.

*Go Carla! You can't help but respect her both for her culinary skill and her enthusiasm (which is polar opposite of Jamie's.). This gal has soul and will likely be a fan favorite.

*Antonio is creeping back up--again!

*I am reminded of mid-season with Blais where his talent is noted but not rewarded. Then after the field is cleared he moves in for the kill. Angelo, the opposite. He starts out very strong and fades a little each challenge.

*Angelo may have an advantage, having just come off his season that is giving him a leg us. The "proof in the puddin'" as they say in Texas, is finishing the marathon.

*Don't underestimate Casey. Straightforward and smart.

Random thoughts that may have been discussed more eloquently above.

Thanks all for making this my go to place. Especially you, Dom (and yes, it printed from my browser in B&W, so I am embarrassed about the ask....but thank you kindly for your response.).
xxoo

[Kathy from Austin]

Damn, I hate those double posts. :(

[Kathy from Austin]

Mike Isabella interviewed on Washington Post. No spoilers that I have perceived. Jamie bashing.

#
ax Green alright alright (:
7 hours ago · LikeUnlike
#
Ale Urista Hah, sorry (:
7 hours ago · LikeUnlike
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Max Green about?
7 hours ago · LikeUnlike
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Ale Urista I dunno? Hahh, I'm sweeeepeh.. And my mom isn't going to bed.. >:/
7 hours ago · LikeUnlike
#
Max Green bummer, sorry baby, you can go to bed if youd l

[Kathy from Austin]

Mike Isabella on Wash Post: No spoilers!!

http://live.washingtonpost.com/top-chef-1223.html

[Kathy from Austin]

Ok, guys and gals, holiday mercy for the multiple posts. Will put myself in season quarantine or perhaps ban is in order. Young college son arrived from Boston, large family from throughout midwest.

Made a killer Cassoulet over the last two days, including my first ever duck confit. Whole fam dam showed up tonight who we all love. I think it's going to work, god willing, and keep your fingers crossed.

Begging forgiveness and wishing all a wonderful holiday.

Skulking to deserved obscurity....Kathy from Austin

[Skillet Doux]

No worries on the doubles, Kathy... gotcha covered :-)

[ally]

@Kathy it may be totally texan but is also generally american to say "the proof in the pudding"

however, I love the full saying, which is "the proof of the pudding is in its eating"

which actually makes sense but doesn't sound as good as the short version...

[Danny]

I have to mention how dumb Dale's comments were about Carla's stew. He said that the Open brings in high end people. Even assuming that this is true and that this would make them unable to appreciate Carla's food (which sounded and looked incredible) what difference would it make. The audience at the Open weren't judging or even eating the food. It was the three regular judges, a chef with ecclectic tastes and a useless fifth judge.

I am so thrilled for Carla and Matthew. I have spent a lot of time in Italy and you are in for a treat. Italy is like Thailand to me....you almost have to search out bad food. And go for the hole in the walls. Best meal I had in Italy was near Lake Como. We went down a dirt road and parked in front of a house. Going in back we found tables filled with happy diners, spits loaded with meats and astonishing pastas and sauces. It was pure magic!

[foodiewannabe]

A great win for Carla - skill coupled with real life experience inspired her to make a dish that obviously tasted great and was totally appropiate.
This season is using New York venues in a way that Season 5 didn't (one of the disappointments of that season was it seemed so generic).
With some tweaking (everybody has to present their dish) this kind of head to head challenge would work well. I guess the problem was concocting parameters around tennis scores.
As much as I am enjoying the season so far, ironically don't find myself heavily invested in who stays or goes (with some exceptions). I think, perhaps naively, that the most accomplished, adaptable, grounded four will make it.

[bryanD]

"...ironically don't find myself heavily invested in who stays or goes (with some exceptions)"---foodiewannabe

I think its called Nirvana. (with allowances)
BTW: The upcoming Chinese Dining Hall challenge?
*head rush!*wobbly knees*feeling around for chair*

"....you almost have to search out bad food."---Danny

HAPPINESS IS...a chalkboard "menu" on the outer wall by the entrance. ie. There's this:; there's THIS:; or Go Away!...unless you want beer or wine, then WELCOME!

[vesuvius]

If you're interested, here's the link to Spike's interview with the Chicago Tribune. No spoilers. I have to admit, I was never much of a Spike fan to begin with, and this interview doesn't change my view. He's convinced that his dish was purposely sabotaged because others view him as a threat and saw an opportunity to get rid of him.

http://leisureblogs.chicagotribune.com/thestew/2010/12/top-chef-exit-interview-listen-all-of-yall-its-a-sabotage.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+chicagotribune%2Fthestew+%28Chicago+Tribune+-+The+Stew%29

[rab01]

Thanks for the link -- he's weirdly of two minds about it. First, saying "sabotage" is too strong a word; then saying that Angelo and Tiffany did sabotage it; then claiming that they saw him as a threat; and finally admitting that his shrimp sucked:

"Listen, that dish I made that got me kicked off, I've cooked before and it's a hit. I know it's a good dish. But it got altered a little bit by a couple of contestants and it had the poached shrimp...I've never poached shrimp in my life. I don't know why the hell I did it. There's no flavor, absolutely no flavor happening when you poach shrimp. I usually make that dish with scallops."

That said, his discussion of the strategy was pretty clear -- it sounds like they considered all the angles and then didn't execute it in the face of Jaime's resistance.

[redpoint]

Funny how Spike comes across in that interview: uh, yes, I mean no. Yes, it was sabotage, no that's too strong a word. Casey would have gone home, Casey wanted to go home, Casey didn't volunteer to. Yes, no. Scallops, or was it shrimp? I've done it before, I've never done it before that way.

He's all over the place. I'll bet he cooks like that, too, at least sometimes. I'll also bet that when he says the team spent an hour deciding that the worst dish will go first, it was really five minutes, and when he said they all agreed to the strategy (HIS strategy), doubt they all really owned it, they shook their heads, sure. But nobody really was going to be the sacrificial lamb.

[Dreamboat]

I meant to comment on this earlier, but I go distracted by the holidays.

On the TC site, go look at Rate The Plate. Jamie's dish is described as "Chickpea dish". Really? WTF? As compared to Carla's "African Groundnut Soup with Baked Sweet Potatoes, Adzuki Beans & Peanuts". Even Mike's dish, which was also not served, is called "Slow Cooked Chicken with Pepper and Chorizo Stew, Pickled Onions".

How lame. I don't know if the dishes are named by the chef or the producer. Either way -- How lame!!

[redpoint]

I don't know about that Dreamboat. From the pictures I see a chickpea stew, with some meat on top, and some sauce over all. It's not just a couple of chickpeas. Someone at the Bravo site probably just called it chickpea dish in shorthand. Yes, her attitude is prickly, to say the least, but she has proven she can cook in the past. She was clearly a fine and creative chef in season 5, personality aside. I would be happy to eat her food.

[redpoint]

I would love to see the recipe for Tre's stuffing! I don't see it on the Bravo site.

[redpoint]

Nix that. It's here:

http://www.bravotv.com/foodies/recipes/southwestern-inspired-bread-pudding-with-apple-smoked-bacon-cheddar-bell-pepper-chili-powder

[marjorie]

I think I'm going to do a parenting essay about watching Top Chef with my kids. This show is so full of moral lessons! You could argue that both Spike's and Jamie's behavior offers a lot of kiddie discussion fodder, and NO DOUBT Carla's a great role model -- both in her upbeat attitude AND in the lesson of sticking to your guns when you know you're right and the naysayers are wrong. That's how we want our kids to be.

A very, VERY kind friend forwarded the groundnut soup recipe on Bravo's godawful web site (WHY, Bravo??? WHY???) and DAYUM it looks good, with a clearly complex flavor profile. I LOVE peanut butter but as an enthusiastic but clueless home chef I tend to find that when I cook with it, it takes over every other flavor in the dish. Carla's recipe (with roasted poblanos and roma tomatoes, adzuki beans, mint and parsley and lime as well as the roast sweet potatoes and lots of other elements) sounds so nuanced as well as yum.

[EdT.]

I just got around to posting my "Commentary and semi-random thoughts on the latest episode of Top Chef All-Stars": http://newblog.etee2k.net/2010/12/27/top-chef-all-stars-e4/

Enjoy.

~EdT.

[nomnomnom]

Cool, this blog has spammers now.

Just got around to this one. Seemed a much better episode than I expected. Not sure what it implies. Seems fairly neutral from my perspective. I can't see any reason to raise expectations or lower expectations of anyone as a result.

This one was funny in that we were only a couple episodes away from Top Chef Rule #3 being "When in doubt make a soup". I'm not sure where the Gelee soup thing leaves this.

Tiffani still seems 3-4 spots too high. Was on the top more as a reflection of her team, and the poor effort of Dale than by her own merit. Maybe replace Blais at the top (not sure exactly why he was bumped down if Tiffani continues to have the hand of god holding her up).

This episode also seemed like one that could really bring out the Rolodex of dishes. There weren't any real constraints on the EC. I'm guessing Carla had pre-prepped that dish before like many of what was seen. I haven't really read the comments all that much to see if anyone found dishes on any menus yet. For that reason I'm inclined to discount Carla's performance here.

Next episode over a week away. Been awhile since a skip. Not sure why this week was a skip. Can't be more between the two major holidays.

[Jse91]

Stephan's lollipops were featured last night on "The Best Thing I Ever Ate". Looks like he is doing well. Still wish he was on All Stars.

[Anita Mann]

Jse91, you beat me to the Stefan TV sighting. I too wish he was on All Stars. His comment about fingers snapping off like carrot sticks if you dipped them in the liquid nitrogen was reminiscent of his take-no-prisoners competitive attitude on season 5.

[Steve]

Bummed about Spike. But any slight mistake will kick you out. Looks like bland shrimp lost out to under-seasoned tuna.

1. Angelo
2. Richard
3. Dale T.
4. Tiffani
5. Carla
6. Casey
7. Antonia
8. Mike
9. Jamie
10. Marcel
11. Tre
12. Fabio
13. Tiffany

[Skoolie]

Steve,

I threw Jamie down pretty far just because I felt she deserved some sort of punishment. lol.

I put her 11th and gave Tre the 10th because he did get Immunity and I thought I'd be nice to him and give him a higher spot.

If Jamie can prove herself she'll go back up in my rankings. I've heard so many wonderful things about her food, it's such a shame she isn't cooking it.

[Bart]

Is there a new episode tonight, or is it a rerun?

[Steve]

New episode tonight.

[Polybus]

Suffering from Power Rankings withdrawal, herewith my flawed estimation:

1. Angelo Sosa
2. Richard Blais
3. Marcel Vigneron
4. Tiffani Faison
5. Dale Talde
6. Casey Thompson
7. Antonia Lafaso
8. Carla Hall
9. Tre Wilcox
10. Michael Isabella
11. Jamie Lauren
12. Tiffany Derry
13. Fabio Viviandi

I had to throw Jamie pretty far down the hill. Much as I love her food, I gotta agree with skoolie: she's not cooking it. Too high? Marcel probably. Too low? I dunno, maybe Mike? I don't feel good about it, but there it is.

Happy New Year!

[Polybus]

I got an email from Bravo saying the new episode was next week.

[Steve]

Yeah, Skoolie. Jamie's been cruising through...and probably cost Spike a longer stay. Her attitude is really grating on me. Just bad.

Tre's been all over the place. But is recovering...but still...my gut is saying we need to see more before we can have confidence that he will stay for a while.

[Steve]

Looks like you're right, Polybus. It was originally scheduled to be a new episode tonight...on TV Guide. But looks like they changed it.

[Bart]

I had a feeling. Oh well. My rankings:

1. Angelo Sosa
2. Richard Blais
3. Dale Talde
4. Marcel Vigneron
5. Tiffani Faison
6. Casey Thompson
7. Carla Hall
8. Tre Wilcox
9. Antonia Lofaso
10. Michael Isabella
11. Jamie Lauren
12. Tiffany Derry
13. Fabio Viviandi

[Skoolie]

Since I didn't get my fix of top chef last night I watched the interview with Mike I. and he made some interesting points about the last episode.

He mentions Carla's dish needing time for all the flavors to come together, which is why they put her second to last. The backup plan was that if the flavors didn't have time they had Mike ready to go. It wasn't that no one believed in Carla's dish is was that they were worried about the time issue. It worked out and Mike did not seem bitter at all that he didn't get to show his dish.

Also he mentions that the contestants did taste Jamie's dish and it was still uncooked. He said Spike went home for the 2nd worst dish.

This also got me thinking had things been different and the other team lost instead, and carla's dish didn't have enough time for the flavors to come together. so she was put last, and then not had to go, what would we be thinking. I'd probably be thinking "Whew, Carla just dodged a bullet" She's so well liked I don't think as many people would have a problem with it. That and the fact that Jamie has managed to not cook twice now and has come off a little bratty.

It's also probably a good thing it was spike going. It seems appropriate that he's a gamer and a schemer and this time he was beat at his own game.

Although I will miss him, I liked him a lot better this time around. He's is crafty and that's not always a bad thing.