Top Chef - S8E6 Postmortem

Back online, a little late.

Sorry about the rankings this week, folks. Getting the 'net up and running at the new place took a little longer than anticipated. And smartphones aren't conducive to writing 5000+ words.

A really, really wonderful episode. A great challenge, creative and fun that made for good TV but was still focused on the food and putting the chefs in a position to succeed. Though I can't say I'm thrilled about the result, even if I'm sure I'm in a tiny minority on one of the eliminations.

We've seen in the past that Jamie was better than this, but she sure didn't show it this season. And Tiffani never got going. She's stronger than this performance, and I'm disappointed we didn't get to see her at her best. But such is the nature of the beast.

Discuss!

Comments

[JJ]

My power rankings, for what it's worth. Based on their performance thus far combined with my sense of how deep they can go into the season.
1. Angelo
2. Richard
3. Dale
4. Tiffani - yeah, I know, she probably doesn't desire to be this high but she definitely has the chops to go far and they are definitely going to want some women in the top group. In my view, Tiffani and Antonia seem the likeliest to make it there (although I'm still rooting for Carla, of course)
5. Mike I.
6. Antonia
7. Marcel
8. Carla
9. Tiffany
10. Fabio
11. Tre
12. Jaimie – would probably rank her in the top half in terms of talent, but she has done abysmal this season. Except for her top four placement in the first EC, she has been in the bottom or near the bottom of every challenge that she has competed in. She failed in both the QC and EC last week. For her sake, I hope she bows out soon.

[John Coctostan]

My own would go like this:
1. Richard - I value quantity more than Dom, I guess
2. Dale - gaining wins and momentum
3. Angelo - I don't like seeing those QF bottoms
4. Antonia - had a bottom this week but otherwise consistent
5. Marcel - consistently consistent, I guess
6. Carla - mix of highs and lows
7. Mike - showed nothing until this week
8. Tre - has some wins, but two EC bottoms in a row don't bode well
9. Tiffani - shows a propensity for being in the bottom, but can cook well, too
10. Fabio - ditto
11. Tiffany - shows up well when the challenges limit creativity
12. Jamie - hasn't really shown up

[Steve]

1 Angelo - always in the top in the ECs
2 Dale - on a roll
3 Richard - just off the pace
4 Antonia - consistently good if not winning
5 Carla - please Hootie...get back on track!
6 Fabio - getting into the groove
7 Mike
8 Tiffani - generally no on
9 Marcel - no impact at all
10 Tiffany
11 Tre - all over the place
12 Jamie - her attitude is gonna kill her
13 Tiffany

[nomnomnom]

Most likely to least likely to win IMO.

Richard - I think he's just laying low. No EC in his wheelhouse yet. Results don't apply.
Dale - Seriously undervalued coming in. Seems to be taking the easy ones and obliterating them which is better than...
Angelo - Seems to be rolodexing it in every week, but doing well. It would be difficult for me to see him going out anytime soon.
Mike - Held his own against the best season, and is doing fine now. Also quite underrated going in.
Marcel - His wow dishes, aren't really going over this time around. Seems unmotivated.
Antonia - Solid stuff. Nothing memorable yet. That won't last vs. this crew.
Fabio - His simple execution might actually play well this season. No longer in dead weight territory.
Carla - Cooked one good soup and that's pretty much it. Dead weight.
Tiffany - Seems exhausted already. Not good. Will have a chance to make an impact tonight.
Tre - So inconsistent. Predict gone tonight.
Tiffani - Overhyped to the extreme coming into this season. Complete dead weight and I also see her gone tonight as a major possibility. I hope she doesn't turn into this season's Kelly with her own cheerleader section.
Jamie - ugh

[Bart]

Steve, you have Tiffany twice. Did she get cloned? ;-)

Mine:

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

Hope all is well in Domland. Looking forward to tonight's episode!

[Anon Man]

Maybe Steve was trying to do the "Good X" "Bad X" thing he did a few seasons ago with a contestant who was maddeningly inconsistent.

[rab01]

I wish I had something intelligent to add but since I don't ...

Bart, I agree with every single placement in your rankings. I also think the remaining field breaks down into 3 groups: 1-3 - each are likely finalists; 4-8 - 1 or 2 of the finalists are likely to come from this cluster; 9-12 - really unlikely that any of them make the finals.

With the previews suggesting that the EC is going to focus on fresh-caught fish, the challenge could lead to a decent dish going home because all the chefs have fish recipes in their back-pockets. I predict/fear that Jamie survives again and that Marcel is at risk - the judges this season have several times suggested he's being too bland (but not to his face so he can't adjust).

[Anon Man]

I don't know that I would agree in the "sure thing" "contender" "longshot" breakdown this season. I think any competitor is one bad dish from going good-bye. With the exception of Jamie, who seems mentally out to lunch, I could just as easily see Tre make the finals as I could Angelo make an error of some sort. Even Richard, who exceeded the time limit and was "disqualified", could have found himself ACTUALLY DQ'd, meaning sent packing.

[Kyle]

I don't feel like I'm going on much more than gut with my rankings, but here's what I've got. I also think with a double elimination this week, it'll be someone obvious going home with someone that's viewed as a major threat going home.

1. Dale - He may be winning when he's in his comfort zone, but he seems to be hot.
2. Richard - Hasn't really blown much out of the water, but still seems to be far from the bottom.
3. Angelo - I like what nomnomnom said above, seems like he's rolodexing it in. I think the judges like him too much to kick him out for one bad performance though, so he'd really have to be in a slump to get sent home.
4. Marcel
5. Carla
6. Tiffani
7. Tiffany
8. Antonia
9. Mike I.
10. Fabio
11. Tre
12. Jamie

[timothy]

I am developing a non-hostile, hopefully good natured, internet distaste for nomnomnom's commentary. First he uses rolodex as a verb, and then he calls Carla dead weight. That's just...wrong!

[timothy]

I am in an overly sensitive frame of mind, perhaps because I live in Tucson, perhaps because I just stood in line for four hours to hear the President, and then gave up because I got really hungry. I am not really into battles between people who don't actually know each other. I take back what I just said about nomnomnom. I was trying to be funny, but it didn't really work. I would delete my comment if I knew how to do that. It's just a food show that we all love to watch. I don't mean to pick fights. Ignore my impetuous posting.

[Bart]

It's ok Timothy. nomnomnom is probably fighting a losing battle here - Carla may be the most beloved Top Chef contestant ever. If she's dead weight, then I wanna be drifting alongside her.

Or no wait, that analogy doesn't work. Hmm.

Maybe she's lovely dead weight? *throws hands up in the air* I dunno.

rab01: I agree for the most part. I don't know how likely Angelo/Dale/Richard are as finalists, but they sure look pretty strong right about now. Still, given the unpredictability of this season, I'll only go as far as to say that they'll make the top 8, maybe even top 6. I don't think we'll see all 3 in the finals, though.

[Anon man]

@timothy, Sorry you missed the speech. Tough sledding in AZ the last week. In defense of nomnomnom, who I know only through this blog, I find him to be as thoughtful as any commentator here. Do I agree with him/her all the time? No. But these are thread about a TV show, so I don't get too wound up.

Randomly, my big fear is that Antonia and Jamie go home together. They seem real pal-pal on Twitter and I hope that's because they both now live in L.A., but with 10 minutes to go time, I have this concern that Antonia goes with her.

[timothy]

I agree, Anon man. I have no problem with nomnomnom or anyone else here. It was just a blog-commenting moment. Over. Looking forward to show tonight and more commentary at this site.

[Cousin Sam]

so i've only watched the first two minutes, and while I pretty much agree with the assessment last week that Marcel was *trying* to be funny with his snarky comments last week (albeit failing) - this week on the roof, not so much. the words 'whiny asshat' come to mind...

[Redpoint]

Will be happy to see nice jumps/reaffirmations for Dale, Carla, and Antonia. Perhaps we'll see Richard knocked down a peg or two or three.

[Mann of Sandd]

Matthew, have fun in Amsterdam!

I'm completely shocked about Tiffani and Jamie. Thought it was going to be Jamie and either Marcel or Fabio.

Marcel's white boy rap stance was ridiculous...though it was enlightening to show that Dale has gone through anger management. Wonder if that was a result of his previous stint on the show.

Cheering for Dale to win it all, but Restaurant Wars next week looks like it could be his bugaboo (again). Hoping this was a crafty edit by the Elves.

[paula]

Cousin Sam: He's a whiny asshat because dude was HAMMERED. I'm embarrassed for him. I love Tre's face during that whole faux-gangster monstrosity.

I have two things to say about this episode:

1) CARLAAAAAAA! (Matthew, you SOB. Italy AND Amsterdam?!)

2) Dale took anger management classes! I knew it was that or Prozac.

[Anon man]

@matthew, Congrats to Carla, but don't be offended if I suggest that she should take Antonia with her to Amsterdam. ;)

I thought Marcel was going home. Between the first speaking jinx and then mess of that team, I thought he was history. But then Antonia's two teammates left us. That reminded me: Wasn't her nickname her season the "Black Hand"?

[lb]

So based on this season (including tonight) and my own feelings (gut?) about long term prospects:

1. Angelo (still b/c I don't trust my number 2 to not self implode)
2. Dale (only because I think he's putting a lot of pressure on himself and it may catch up to him at some point)
3. Carla (because when she's on, she is on; plus she was always on my wishlist for final 3 so I'm glad that her win helped me make this move)
4. Richard (because his talent is undeniable even if it isn't fully on display yet)
5. Antonia (because she's been consistently decent to good)
6. Mike I (not doing too bad or too good)
7. Tre (seemed to be carried a bit tonight plus he has highs and lows)
8.Fabio (having some good moments but I am never confident in his abilities as a chef)
9. Marcel (I hate him as a reality tv contestant; should have put him last but know he's talented)
10. Tiffany D (because she hasn't been memorable nor has she had any edit; someone had to be last)

[matthew]

Thanks y'all. I JUST saw the episode and found out about the win and trip to Amsterdam! (Carla had a cooking class tonight, and I discussed the wine pairings.) As you can imagine, I am over the moon and so proud of Carla. I'll be back a little later with some impressions from the episode.

[doktarr]

Yeah, I have to say Marcel lost me with the performance on the roof. I've been willing to give him the benefit of the doubt for all the in-camera stuff, but drunk or not, he was being a dick there, plain and simple.

I'm pretty surprised that Richard put his fate in the hands of a team dish like that. I'd be inclined to slot him at #3 now, with Carla nipping at his heels.

[Cousin Sam]

@ paula - undoubtedly, but you know his inner hoodlum is pretty close to the surface, doesn't take much to bring it out. ;)

too bad about Tiffani, classy exit though. Buh bye Jamie.

GO CARLA!!! Matthew, I can't believe she managed to keep her wins and prizes to herself all these month. She has amazing restraint (even if not in the stew room, which I am totally ok with). I was really impressed with how thoughtfully she considered her resources, she deserved the win).

Interesting that Carla hit right away on the one thing in her own dish that then contributed to Tiffani's downfall - the bloodline.

[ally]

Wow what a way to elevate a lettuce wrap.

Marcel was chugging bombay sapphire gin, so i give him a break. Thing is, when you're an asshat (thanks for bring that one back) then you tend to suffer in group challenges...

Richard? Still doing nothing to earn first place. Carla is looking golden, i doubt she "rolodexed" that one. :)

[Cousin Sam]

and big props to Dale for the anger management this time around ;)

[Skillet Doux]

That dead weight is looking pretty strong there, Nom.

[Dreamboat]

I really like this challenge because if brought the chefs to the food. First fishing and then the farmers market.

And I dislike Marcel. He was a punk in season 2. I had given him the benefit of the doubt and thought he might have grown up. But he is still a punk. And I really did not like how he made Carla feel badly for celebrating her win in the stew room. Thar was not a nice thing to do to such a nice and sensitive person.

Contracts to Carla and matthew! It looks like they are doing a tour thru Europe!!

[Independent George]

Yaaaaaay Carla!!!!

My respect for Fabio increased dramatically in this episode. He played honorably and professionally.

I refuse to say anything further about Marcel not directly related to the food.

[Steve]

So happy for Carla. She should credit Jamie and Tiffani for taking Antonia out of the running.

Tiffani has not been on all season. Sad for her.

Jamie deserved to go. Bad attitude. Tired of it.

Can't wait for restaurant wars!

[Scott]

I have never had a bigger heartache than tonight's episode. If Fabio/Richard/Marcel went home I would've been heartbroken.

[Bart]

Carlaaaaaaaaaa! She really hit it out of the park. I think she needs to be bumped up to 3, and Blais down to 4. Another bottom appearance does not bode well for him. Angelo and Dale made it to the top, so I feel okay with their standing.

Marcel, dude, what the hell, lol? Don't rain on Carla's parade, you party pooper. You're better than that. I think.

Antonia should definitely get a big boost. I thought that was a pretty big reveal by Tom, saying that she could have won that trip to Amsterdam.

I'm very sorry to see Tiffani go. It would have been very poetic and deeply satisfying to see her win the whole thing. After that carnivore challenge, she never seemed able to regain her footing.

I enjoyed this episode a lot.

New rankings:

1. Angelo
2. Dale
3. Carla
4. Antonia
5. Richard
6. Mike I
7. Marcel
7. Tiffany
7. Tre
7. Fabio

Honestly, I can't justify putting any of the bottom four at last place. Good luck at figuring that one out, Dom.

[Kyle]

I have to wonder if Antonia would've really won over Carla if her group was in the top. No doubt she would've been up for the win, but I took Tom's comment as more of what could've happened, not necessarily what would've happened.

[Bill]

One of the things to take into consideration when looking at the stats is that for the past two challenges Antonia has had one of the best, or the best, dish, and because of being on a loser team those her accomplishments will show up poorly in the stats.
In my opinion she has been solid and impressive throughout this competition and should be top three.

[nomnomnom]

I'm still completely not sold on Carla. I'm actually inclined to move her down after this week. She's having a Tre Season 3 type year so far. Cooking stuff well that has no relevance to the long term challenge while others are fine tuning their game.

(Self horn tooting interlude) Do note I had the two off chefs in 11th and 12th in my rankings above. I didn't think they'd kill two off from the same team at the same time. Tiffani should have been gone in the third week anyways. Tom gave her a second chance and she blew it.

I'm wondering if there will be an elimination next week at all. In fact, I wonder if they will have a 5v5 RW and then have two EC and then a 4v4 RW. They are one elimination ahead of schedule right now so there will be a skip in there somewhere.

I think we have next week:

Fabio (FOH) Marcel Blais Mike Tre
vs
Antonia (FOH?) Angelo Tiffany Carla Dale

Looks pretty evenly matched to me.

[Anon Man]

@Kyle and Bill, true, the "what if" game cannot be won. Would Richard have won if he hadn't gone over time? Maybe. Would Antonia have won, also maybe. But in both cases its clear that the person had a well-received/top level dish, but wasn't up for the win for various reasons having to do with the nature of the show. In Antonia's case, its especially brutal from a "numbers" standpoint because she was "in the bottom", but she wasn't going home, and that was clear. This is part of the reason why Dom's "it isn't about the numbers" mantra is valid. Remember the challenge a few years ago where the bottom was the person who made the worst version of a classic dish? You could have the second best dish, lose to the best, and still be "on the bottom".

[paula]

Nom: What would justify moving Carla *down* this week?!

I still worry about both Carla and Antonia going as far as they could, though; both are too easily pressured to take one for the team, and I fear it's going to be their downfall.

Bourdain's blog is hilarious today. And Tom's says point blank: "Antonia's dish was my favorite of the day." So we know she would have gotten at least one vote for the win.

And it was clear that Richard regretted the one dish plan almost instantly, then spent the whole episode micromanaging the hell out of it to make the best of it. Don't expect to see him take one for the team again.

Finally, I think Tiffany D. gets short shrift here. She's better than anyone gives her credit for.

[lb]

I think the teams are:

Marcel (EC), Angelo, Tiffany (FOH), Antonia, and Mike I

Richard, Dale (EC), Fabio (FOH), Carla, and Tre

I gathered this from the promos - apron colors. They also make obvious which team loses.

[Skillet Doux]

Nom... while I realize Season 5 is no Season 8, I kept telling myself the same thing right up until she made the finale. Like I said, I'm not making that mistake twice.

[Anon Man]

Bourdain's blog has reminded me that Antonia's nickname was the Black Hammer, not the Black Hand. That's from Godfather II.

[redpoint]

nomnom, what do you mean, when writing about Carla, by saying "Cooking stuff well that has no relevance to the long term challenge while others are fine tuning their game." ?

Interesting that Richard said he was going to let Marcel think he was the one in control, to the effect of saying, secretly, he would be in control. Something about that reminds me a bit of Dwight Schrute.

[Danielle]

Really sad that the show set up the contestants with just-caught fish and then didn't let them cook and serve it 'til the next day.

[BK]

Perhaps I'm overly sensitive in the immediate aftermath of Tucson, but Bourdain's blog remark about how it's suprising Marcel has made it this far in life without getting a pencil in the neck seems wildly inappropriate given what did happen to Marcel post-Season 2.

[Nikki L]

I feel really bad for defending Marcel last week although the swig from the blurred out bottle of Bombay was some great TV.

I don't think Bourdain was trying to be insensitive or even put two and two together on that. He did have some other gems though:

"Maybe she can sell her prize to Antonia, who one suspects, might enjoy that particular destination more"

and

"We also learned that when Jamie says "I'm excited," it means she's visibly breathing."

[rf]

So i have a quick question. I am from Long Island and have gone fishing many times for both stripe bass and blues, but i have never seen or heard of the technique they were using by inverting and shaking the rods, anyone ever seen that before?

As for the show, props to the elves who brought to the forefront Marcel's douchedome, creating a new villain, the same episode that Jamie gets sent home. I wish i saw that coming because i was convinced Marcel and Tiffani were going home at JT, but instead they pulled a nice switch.

Struggling to figure out if both eliminated dishes were that bad or just easier to pinpoint faults rather than trying to separate the fabio/blais/marcel mess.

[Bill G]

"Struggling to figure out if both eliminated dishes were that bad or just easier to pinpoint faults rather than trying to separate the fabio/blais/marcel mess."

I was wondering the same thing and thought they might send all three guys packing for the way they manipulated the situation.
I seem to recall them busting Marcel on excessive use of foam; wasn't that his first foam addition of this season?

[Scott]

anger management classes can't beat the pressure of restaurant wars, Dale T. meltdown incoming

[Independent George]

S4 is really doing pretty well there.

[Scott]

you know watching the episode, I kind of realize that the judges weren't feeling fabio/marcel/richard's dish. Nobody said it was particularly bad, they just said that it was too many elements in teh dish and it didn't complement each other well. So in the bigger picture, Tiffany's definitely going home. Her fish was close to inedible according to the judges. What's left is Jamie vs the three boys. Jamie's dish was devoid of all flavor and what's left is just an okay piece of fish (no matter how hard she tried, I can't imagine she put a perfect piece of skin on that fish) vs the three boy's mixture of refined dining elements. Jamie was definitely going home.

[Eric]

@Danielle: It appeared, and was mentioned by the contestants and Tom that it was a one day challenge.
If you noticed the elves had them wake up then run to the beach, cook in two hours... then the sun sets??? nah...it's just those pesky elves. I think the Tre family edit either happened the evening before, or the evening after the competition.

@All: You know, after seeing bad chefs skate by on winning teams for so long, I'm actually glad to happen the other way. A chef with a potential winner got screwed by a crummy team.

Tom stated at the end of the dinner that there was a definite least favorite, but that eliminating a second person would be difficult.
So...who was the obvious elimination?

[Naomi]

So...who was the obvious elimination?

From Gail's blog it sounds like Jamie's was their least favorite. Not sure if that was unanimous or not.

[nomnomnom]

Tiffani looked to be the obvious one to me. Jamie seemed to be a makeup call. They were sort of struggling to find reasons to dislike it.

And looking forward to next week always remember if there was a book called "Shady non-eliminations in Top Chef History" Carla's non-elimination in restaurant week her season would probably be #2 on the list. It's one of the things her fanclub here usually glosses over.

And is Bourdain actually going to ever show up again?

[Skillet Doux]

"And looking forward to next week always remember if there was a book called 'Shady non-eliminations in Top Chef History' Carla's non-elimination in restaurant week her season would probably be #2 on the list. It's one of the things her fanclub here usually glosses over."

It's only glossing over if you buy that the shady non-eliminations really were shady. Otherwise, it's just a close call. And take a look at how many finalists/winners over the run of the show have had close calls.

Much as I love her, I'm with you in that I don't think she wins this thing. But she isn't skirting by. She's winning challenges with huge compliments. And no matter what you think her chances are in a finale, there comes a point where you have to respect that and give credit where credit is due. She's made a Top Chef career out of holding her own against chefs who supposedly outclass her. At what point do you acknowledge that there's less luck involved than her detractors would like to admit?

[ally]

Nom, this is the third or fourth insulting comment you've made regarding Carla, who has now won 2 of the individual elimination challenges. Can you explain your substantive problems with Chef Carla? Or is it personal?

[matthew]

@nomnomnom - I struggled with whether I should hit "Post" on this comment, because I don't want to be a viewed as nonobjective homer. After thinking about it, though, I would have come to the same conclusion even if I weren't connected to Carla. And that is...

I have never gotten the impression that people commenting here gloss over or overlook when Carla's gotten tripped up on the show -- this season or during Season 5. Fanclub? Really? That's a bit much don't you think?

Personally, I think it's a little misguided to put too much stock on performances of contestants from their original seasons, and somehow translate that into support for why they will succeed or misfire on All Stars.

As for Bourdain, it appears from the previews that he's on the show next week for RW.

[Nikki L]

I agree with Matthew... a lot of the praise on here is because she seems like a wonderful person but most of the individual posters' rankings still have her in the middle. Sure, that may be higher than you would put her but if it was a real "fanclub" then people would be putting her in the number 1 or 2 spot.

[doktarr]

I feel like this is the first time this season that I can rank the chefs without feeling like I'm just throwing out guesses.

1) Dale - on a pretty hot streak.
2) Angelo - continuing to express a style that can win it all.
3) Richard - still holding on here based on the overall body of work, but he hasn't really knocked a non-team elimination dish out of the park since episode 1.
4) Carla - figuring out how to mold the challenges to her style.
5) Antonia - she's actually nailed a dish four elimination challenges in a row, although it doesn't show up on the stats.
6) Mike I - the middle of the pack is now down to one. I don't see how he can really be anywhere but sixth.
7) Fabio - I don't think he's got a good chance of making the finals, but he's shown more range of late than he had early on.
8) Tiffany - Too inconsistent to last much longer in this field.
9) Tre - ditto.
10) Marcel - some solid quickfire results, but every time he had a chance to think about his dish, he overthinks it. He doesn't seem to be learning from his mistakes and is pretty likely to go home the next time an individual elimination challenge rolls along.

[nomnomnom]

I don't have any objections with Carla personally at all. She just fits the mold like Kelly last year of the chef that can skate through some big errors, and then come up big in the "field trip" episodes. People then erroneously assume that this will carry thru to the critical episodes, and it just doesn't. Eventually you can't just sweet talk at judges table better than Radhika and end up in Top Chef lore. Not this season.

I was a huge Tre cheerleader in his season and now in retrospect see that he was the first one cut in that mold. Season 4 didn't really have a chef to follow this pattern, but one could strain to argue that Kevin was the S6 chef like this.

[rab01]

Nom - Gail states flat out that Jaime had the worst dish of the night and that Tiffani wasn't far behind so I don't think they were really struggling to find fault with it.

But, I have to thank you for the reference to that old Restaurant Wars because my complete lack of memory about it forced me to skim through some Skillet Doux archives -- way fun. With my memory jogged, the only non-elimination worthy of note to me from that episode was Leah's and for that I blamed Radhika's complete failure to do anything useful so ....

I like Carla and love that Matthew posts here but if I'm a fan of anyone, it's Richard -- who is unfortunately not really shining yet. Based on current levels of awesomeness, I think there's a strong case for:
1) Dale
2) Angelo
3) Richard
4) Antonia (T)
4) Carla (T)

Dom --I'd forgotten that you were so high on Jaime during her season too. I think that I really need to try her restauarant sometime because it must have really made an impact on you ;)

[twelden]

3nom - you seem more than willing to dismiss the value of certain performances if they do not meet your (as yet unstated) criteria for a "true" EC win. You have dismissed Carla's two wins, going so far as to say her win this week should actually cause her to drop in the rankings. And you have also diminishged Dale's wins because they purportedly occurred in challenges in which he "should have" done well. Just so the rest of us can be emlightened, what, pray tell, are the 3nom criteria for an EC that should actually count when evaluating the chefs, besides of course any challenge the results of which support your mysterious (numerology-based?) rankings?

[ally]

Nom, by "substantive" I meant, what exactly about her dishes in relation to others' indicates that she isn't cooking delicious food?

[TxGriff]

Nom- I get what you're saying, but I don't think "sweet talking" has ever lured the judges. I think that sometimes when a chef admits their mistakes and gives a composed response about future improvements, it looks better than when a chef with an equally bad dish can't see or admit to their mistakes. In S5, I can't remember what dish Radhika was responsible for, but I do remember very poor FOH service. That's why she went home. I also remember that although Carla struggled that episode, I was most surprised that Leah didn't go home. She served an inedible fish dish. It seemed to be a very close 3 way call, with Radhika standing out the most because there was nothing redemptive about her FOH role. I don't think it was a shady elimination at all.

Also, about Kevin (from S6)- I never got the impression that he made many mistakes, or that he just "skated by" on the whimsy of some challenges. He struck me as a very solid competitor in all regards, and he just had an off night during the finale (very much like Richard or Stefan). Come to think of it, other than Restaurant Wars, what other mistakes did he make? It seems like his only mistakes were occasionally not getting top mentions, and even then, I got the impression that his dishes were good, just not great. The duck mole and his bachelor/bachelorette dish are standing out in my mind.

[TxGriff]

Talk about opening up a can of worms- I just noticed the last several posts in a row are in response to Nom! Moving on...

I keep waiting to be wowed by Richard, and it just isn't quite happening yet. He's been incredibly solid, but to me, Angelo and Dale, possibly Antonia, have the hotter hand. I think if I had to put money down on a finale between those four, I would pick Richard, but those who claim he should be ranked first so far are losing some credibility.

Also, why is it that Fabio keeps finding himself in bromances? Stefan must have been jealous ;-).

[nomnomnom]

Kevin is a very poor example, but probably the best one in a very polarized season like that which exists. I could try to really strain to make the point that he coasted on tougher EC and excelled on easier ones. It would take some major effort like trying to discredit Kelly last year (which took me most of the season.)

Remember Carla is first and foremost a caterer. She is winning catering type challenges which IMO have minimal value in ranking criteria. Last night was one of those, and if it wasn't a team challenge she probably comes in a close second if you buy what Tom said at face value. Caterers don't win this thing. I have her 9th just above Tre at this point.

[TxGriff]

By the way, I'm completely kidding about the bromance comment. I think it's amusing that just because male contestants don't completely ignore each other or fight, they suddenly have "bromances." Which is probably why we will never see Marcel in one. Anyways, humor doesn't always come across on the internet, so just wanted to make that point clear.

Ok, done posting for the day.

[rab01]

TxGriff -- maybe Nom meant S7's Kevin because S6 Kevin won the fine dining challenges (1st episode, Charlie Trotter and Bocuse D'OR come to mind) while Volts won the gimmicky challenges (Air Force and camping).

I am rooting for Richard but I wouldn't bet money on him in the Final either -- unless he's been planning that meal for the past year instead of winging it like last time.

[Skillet Doux]

"It would take some major effort like trying to discredit Kelly last year (which took me most of the season.)"

How does being narrowly eliminated in the penultimate episode qualify as being discredited? It's quite literally almost impossible to come closer to winning without doing it.

Of course, the same could be said of Fabio, who I feel went a lot deeper than he should have. Point is, it's not the opinion I'm thrown by, it's the conviction with which it's presented, as though you see the truth and the rest of us will come around eventually.

[ally]

Nom-

OK so nothing substantive, which I guess means you're trolling. So yeah, I'll move on.

[Anita]

Just out of curiosity, at this point in the season, who would you nominate for the following superlatives. I throw my thoughts out there . . .for what they are worth ;)

Winner Prediction: Angelo
Who I'd Most Like to See Win: Angelo
Chef Whose Food I'd Most Like to Try: Dale
Chef Whose Food I'd Most Like to Eat Daily: Antonia
Chef I'd Most Like to Be Friends With in Real Life: Carla
Chef Whose Food I'd Least Like to Eat: Marcel
Chef I'd Most Like to Meet: Fabio
Chef I'd Most Like to Take a Cooking Lesson From: Richard
Chef Whose Style I Most Think I could emulate: Tre (but seriously, I really couldn't come close because I'm strictly in the above average home chef category . . .but if I had to try, I think he's the one I'd pick to copy because at least I feel like I have clue how he does what he does. Even if my skill level would be ten notches below).

[TxGriff]

Argh- ok sorry, last post. I meant possibly Carla, not Antonia. Although, maybe Antonia as well. Her bottom performances have been deceiving. She's been solid. Definitely above Mike I., Fabio, Tre, Marcel, Tiffany, etc.

[Danielle]

@Eric -- okay, that makes sense. I forgot that part of the announcement. And I did wonder wait, what were they doing the rest of the day two if they were cooking dinner....

Whew.

[Anon Man]

@Anita, you forgot "CILF".

Sorry, couldn't resist that one.

[Skillet Doux]

"Dom --I'd forgotten that you were so high on Jaime during her season too. I think that I really need to try her restauarant sometime because it must have really made an impact on you ;)"

I was actually high on Jamie well before I got the restaurant. In fact, I didn't have dinner there until the week she was eliminated. But I think the degree to which I enjoyed my dinner there (I definitely did!) has been a little inflated over time :-) So here's the post in question:

http://www.skilletdoux.com/2009/02/absinthe-brasserie-bar.html

[Bill G]

RE: Anita
Winner Prediction: Angelo
Who I'd Most Like to See Win: Angelo
Chef Whose Food I'd Most Like to Try: Antonia
Chef Whose Food I'd Most Like to Eat Daily: Antonia
Chef I'd Most Like to Be Friends With in Real Life: Dale
Chef Whose Food I'd Least Like to Eat: Fabio
Chef I'd Most Like to Meet: Richard
Chef I'd Most Like to Take a Cooking Lesson From: Richard
Chef Whose Style I Most Think I could emulate: Antonia

[skoolie]

Yay congrats to Carla! I hope her and Matt have a wonderful time in Amsterdam.

This episode really solidified some things for me.

No, Tiffani will not be able to pull herself up. I kept wondering if we'd see an exit from her soon because she just wasn't hitting those high notes we've seen her hit before.

Also I have Marcel too high in my rankings, and Antonia too low.

The boys had a silly idea to make just one dish and it must have been tough on the judges to figure out that ball of yarn. Who did what, which one deserved to be in the bottom.

Blais could be heading down the Tiffani track if he isn't careful.

Although I am starting to see a bit of a divide between a top, middle, and bottom tier.
In no particular Order, or maybe a little
Top 5
Dale T.
Carla
Angelo
Antonia
Blais

Middle
Mike I.

Bottom 4
Tre
Fabio
Marcel
Tiffany

[Danny]

WTG Carla! What surprised me about this episode was this was the first time I've ever seen Richard "play" Top Chef. The Richard I have always seen before would've said, "I'm here to cook great food". All of a sudden this episode he's thick in the land of strategy. This is not his strong suit.

It is great to see that Tiffani really has grown as a person and I am very happy that she has found a great love. Sadly, TruMarcel has returned with the foam.

[Nikki L]

I really don't like Marcel as a person but he is a talented chef and I'd say at this point he's a MOTPer. He has the skills and creativity and has done fairly well so fair. It's only when he over thinks, over foams, or over dramatizes that he really messes up.

[Anita]

@AnonMan - Lol, and that would be the Italian.

@Bill G - Thx for humoring me. Our answers aren't very far apart to my surprise.

[timothy]

Anita:

Winner Prediction: Dale
Who I'd Most Like To See Win: Carla
Chef Who's Food I'd Most Like To Try: Richard
Chef Who's Food I'd Like To Eat Every Day: Angelo
Chef I'd Most Like To Be Friends With In Real Life: Antonia
Chef Who's Food I'd Least Like To Try: Tre
Chef I'd Most Like To Meet: Carla
Chef I'd Most Like To Take A Cooking Lesson From: Tiffani
Chef Whose Style I Most Think I Could Emulate: Tiffany

[timothy]

Or actually, the cooking lesson is a hard one...maybe Dale T. I would like a "Western" lesson and an Asian lesson.

[skoolie]

Okay Nikki I see your point, I could put Marcel in the middle but then we are very top heavy. Who from the top should be in the middle?

Carla now has two wins, Although Antonia has been steady, Blais has been good, grabbed some wins, but mostly for team efforts

[ROBO-PUNTER]

This episode was worth just for the laughs. Angelo's strange fear of sharks, Team Blais's, uh, unusual fishing style, Fabio/Blais fleeting bromance, and Dale mocking Marcel made for an entertaining episode even beyond the cooking.

Somehow Angelo manages to reveal another weird thing about himself every week. He's growing on me.

[skoolie]

"Somehow Angelo manages to reveal another weird thing about himself every week. He's growing on me. "

This should be a segment - What will Angelo reveal in the next episode?

[gdis]

I've avoided posting for a while but I need to join in this convo

Dom - I'd take the Kelly/Carla 3Nom argument one step farther: You'd have more credibility in feeling validated that Lisa made S4 finale than in feeling validated Kelly proved she was weak by being eliminated in Singapore.

Carla is playing smart by fitting the challenge. She knew wd-40 was not her style but used the ideas to fit it. She took a very smart risk in this challenge. Even in her season she surprised all with her technical skills (didn't she do well in the Le Bernardin challenge?) She's not as overtly serious as the other chefs which may artificially detract from her skills.

I think we all over ranked Dale T coming into the season. Looking back on what he won during his season - he was a strong and smart contender.

My top 3 right now:
Angelo - he's experienced, he has a distinct style, and his only glaring mistakes are in quick fires where he takes risks
Dale T - no huge mistakes and showing creativity while sticking to the challenges
Carla - makes her distinct style fit the challenge

Not far behind:
Richard - solid, smart, experienced. Not as consistent.

[gdis]

Also, I think this may be been discussed before but have you guys read Bourdain's chapter on Top Chef in Medium Raw? His overall point is really good: It's not the most refined or the most creative that wins. You must have those qualities, but you also must be consistent. It's the exact qualities you'd want in an executive chef - someone who can push the boundaries but get it done every night. If you make flaming mistakes every 3 challenges you aren't a top chef. The person who may make some mistakes but is consistently above the rest is the winner. When you get down to the top 3 or 4 you can't skate by on being a "good" chef. You have to take it to the next level. This competition is the perfect weeding out of the consistency, creativity, and technical skills. (Which is the exact reason I'm addicted to it).

[gdis]

correction: under ranked Dale T

[doktarr]

Nikki, Marcel "over thinks, over foams, or over dramatizes" nearly every episode. As I said, he's been good on quickfires, but consistently bad on elimination challenges. We can talk all day about how his food is interesting and could be good, but the results are not there. He's my bet to get eliminated in two weeks (after restaurant wars).

[Wangus]

A quick note: could we please lower the pitchforks and torches on nomx3 a bit here (hyperbole)? If you're debating his opinions (which is what most people are doing) that's one thing, but open snark and aggressiveness is another. Remember, we all love this little niche of Top Chef discussion because it's free of the drama of the rest of the internet.

More relavent things: I really liked this challenge. More than anything, this is the first challenge that I can remember where I've really seen something that has sparked my interest in Carla's food. Don't get me wrong, it's abundantly clear that she's very well trained, executes at a high level, and makes tasty food (not to mention having a super nice persona). However, I can't recall a dish or way of thinking before that made me go "oh *bleep*, that's cool. I gotta try that" This reimagination of a NYC staple really impressed me.

I, like Tom, am surprised that the editors didn't make a bigger a deal of Dale's big catch. 37 pounds! I'm really loving Dale and hope that the preview clip isn't hinting at his second departure as executive chef of restaurant wars.

Because I like Dale, it's been Antonia, and not Dale, who has really surprised me. The peas & carrots dish and now this po'boy (not to mention that she put Old Bay on it ... *swoon*)? One might even consider that shrimp toast an impressive feat considering that it probably is far from her niche. I was never really impressed with her during her season so I'm hesitant to jump her high on the rankings, but it's definitely looking good for the season 4 group (sans Spike, of course).

[pottymouth princess]

The previews of Mike I. going after Marcel at JT next week are in full rotation of Bravo commercial programming now. They're definitely on the losing team. I wonder what Marcel did THIS time?

Dude really needs to stay away from booze and rooftops.

Team AngerManagement Dale! If not him, my dark horse ladies Antonia or Carla...just not Angelo. Not a huge fan of his food and as a character, he creeps me out, but his fear of sharks did lend the episode a great title. :)

The rest are cannon fodder, especially Tiffany D., who hasn't shown me ANYTHING. I'm hoping FOH are responsible for a dish, as was the case in S7. Fabio was seen schmoozing Dana Cowin in the "next week" previews, so I'll lay a wager that he knocks out Top Gnocchi.

[Nsam]

"Point is, it's not the opinion I'm thrown by, it's the conviction with which it's presented, as though you see the truth and the rest of us will come around eventually." Here, here.

@Eric -- I don't see how they could possibly have fit everything into one day, this HAD to have been a 2-day challenge. The drive from Brooklyn (where their apartment is) to Montauk takes them from one end of Long Island to the tip of the other end. A very rough estimate of the drive time is maybe 3 hours. (That's why the producers woke them up so early, to try to beat the traffic, etc.) So 6 hours driving RT, plus shopping at the farmer's market, plus filming with Padma and Tom in front of the Montauk lighthouse, PLUS 5 HOURS FISHING -- that was Day One. Cooking the EC at Water Taxi Beach must have been on Day 2.

[momjamin]

@Danny -- I disagree that Blais has never "played" the game -- he's one of the master thinkers on the show. He doesn't play it in a Spike way, but he's always thinking, taking in data, trying to figure it out. Maybe he's over-thinking this season, but I suggest reading through his blogs from S5 for insight into his thinking process: http://www.bravotv.com/top-chef/blogs/richard-blais, in particular, http://www.bravotv.com/top-chef/blogs/richard-blais/chicken-and-caviar and http://www.bravotv.com/top-chef/blogs/richard-blais/mixing-bowl.

[infinity728]

RE: Anita
Winner Prediction: Angelo
Who I'd Most Like to See Win: Carla, although I'm Team Fabio all the way ;-)
Chef Whose Food I'd Most Like to Try: Marcel
Chef Whose Food I'd Most Like to Eat Daily: Dale T.
Chef I'd Most Like to Be Friends With in Real Life: Carla
Chef Whose Food I'd Least Like to Eat: Mike I.
Chef I'd Most Like to Meet: Fabio
Chef I'd Most Like to Take a Cooking Lesson From: Tiffani
Chef Whose Style I Most Think I could emulate: Tiffani

[ally]

@Wangus: I don't think it's out of bounds to ask someone to explain their minority opinion that someone winning challenges should go down in the rankings. If the answer is "caterers don't win this thing", it speaks for itself.

[Nikki L]

Skoolie - you're right, it does start to look top heavy... I think that's just a result of how strong all of these chefs are!

doktarr - I realized that after I posted it so I went back to check Dom's stats. He had 3 quickfire top mentions (4 including the week after the last rankings) so you're right - it's in quickfires when he doesn't have a chance for that stuff that he does best.

[Bart]

RE: Anita

Winner Prediction: Blais
Who I'd Most Like to See Win: Carla
Chef Whose Food I'd Most Like to Try: Fabio (I'd love to try them all! But it's the Italian in me)
Chef Whose Food I'd Most Like to Eat Daily: Fabio (see above, re: 'it's the Italian in me')
Chef I'd Most Like to Be Friends With in Real Life: Oddly, Marcel. Or Carla. Or Isabella. We Jersey boys gotta stick together.
Chef Whose Food I'd Least Like to Eat: Spike's
Chef I'd Most Like to Meet: Tom Colicchio (yes, I know, cop out, bite me)
Chef I'd Most Like to Take a Cooking Lesson From: Fabio or Isabella
Chef Whose Style I Most Think I could emulate: Antonia (or Fabio)
CILF: Hung (I had to go there, sorry)

[skoolie]

I've been not feeling well and actually feel asleep twice while trying to watch top chef. Finally did.

just a few things I noticed.

* Marcel was drunk, when he was yelling at Dale. I think he was drinking Bombay sapphire gin. He thought he was being hard core but he was silly, almost laughable at times. I thought Tre was going to bust out laughing at him.

* Awwww Carla, Marcel snipped at her for being excited about winning. She shouldn't ever apologize for that.

* I laughed a lot during the fishing scenes.

* Richard changed his mind at the end and should have spoke up and done two dishes but then again only doing one made it so hard for them to figure it out.

* The Jamie baby comment. Hah, and I have a feeling she doesn't realize she's complaining so much.

Oh and can we get a spin off - "The professor and strange little italian immigrant" would be an awesome show!

[Anita]

@Timothy - I like your choices. Dale is definitely my second choice as a winner . . .his food looks amazing. But I just have a gut feel that Angelo, when his back is against the wall, will pull it off.

@Infinity - Interesting that you'd most like to try Marcel's food! I'll admit that I haven't really had the chance to taste anything prepared in the name of molecular gastronomy . . .so maybe I'm just not attracted to that style because I haven't had the opportunity to find out how good it can be.

@Bart - You are too, too funny!!! Thanks for sharing :).

[bryanD]

"A quick note: could we please lower the pitchforks and torches on nomx3 a bit here (hyperbole)?"---Wangus

Speaking for myself, I feel privileged perusing nomnomnom's pronunciamentos shot forth from his pirate empire in the Java Sea.

Open question to Anyone, from earlier in the thread: WHY didn't Matthew know that his wife, Our Carla, won a trip for two to Amsterdam until we, the viewers, did (i.e.Wednesday, 1/12/11)? Huh? Why? (Carla isn't being held incognito in the skullery of Top Chef University until the Reunion Special with the Others, is she? Didn't T.R. and the Progressives outlaw that kind of stuff?)

Re: the episode:
WARNING: uncouth allusion to euthanasia:
Tiffani was "put down"/"put to sleep". She is in a better place now, wrestling a goose with Julia Child.

Marcel: weird rooftop fake-drunk scene. I think I spotted Alfred Hitchcock in one of his cameos behind the potted petunias.

Blais: His patented confused-chicken kountry-kousin head-tilt gambit calculated to inculcate maternal feelings from the disappointed female judges in the midst of the firing squad was HIL-arious!

According to my eerily simple-but-accurate 3-week-old Dead Duck chart Tiffany and Fabio are next. But I like Fabio this year(!) so it might be time for a giant/little giant to fall...Blais/Marcel? Dale? Because the OBVIOUS weaklings getting sent home so regularly is a contravention of reality show conventions...isn't it?

[Wangus]

@ally: you're absolutely right on that. But "OK so nothing substantive, which I guess means you're trolling" is unnecessary in my opinion. Then again, it's not my blog. I'm not (nor can I be) forcing you to change the way you act or post. We're both old time SD commenters, and I have a lot of respect for you, so let's just leave it at that.

And to make this a productive post...

Winner Prediction: Antonia (just to try something different)
Who I'd Most Like to See Win: Dale T.
Chef Whose Food I'd Most Like to Try: Angelo (I've tried others here before)
Chef Whose Food I'd Most Like to Eat Daily: Tiffani
Chef I'd Most Like to Be Friends With in Real Life: Carla (because who wouldn't?)
Chef Whose Food I'd Least Like to Eat: Spike (have had some... not impressed)
Chef I'd Most Like to Meet: Richard (his thought process is fascinating)
Chef I'd Most Like to Take a Cooking Lesson From: Richard (see above)
Chef Whose Style I Most Think I could emulate: Jamie? I often think about making food and then decide not to so we have that in common. (Too mean? And this is coming from a general Jamie non-hater).

[skoolie]

Bryan,

I think it's been Carla's choice not to reveal to Matthew, until the episode airs. It would be fun that way.

But that has to take a lot of will power on Carla's part. I don't think I could do it.

[ally]

@BryanD: You're right, Blais' sheepish reaction shots at judges table are hilarious.

@Wangus: You're right, I should have let it speak for itself. Bad post from me #2 this season. My commenter rankings are going in the toilet.

Speaking of rankings: I have no idea what to think beyond Angelo being on top. But I haven't looked at the numbers. At this point numbers and recipes are the only salvation of a ranker, so I personally can't really come up with one and am grateful for others' rankings. I still think this season is great because really, at any moment, most of these contestants can pull off a great dish, even a brilliant, or creative, or witty dish, or just a great roast chicken for that matter. And any real stinker dishes are dealt with pretty quickly with a PYKAG. By the way, it seems to me that in his blog Tom is putting excess emphasis on "fancy" food not being the most important food for judging.

Anyways, I still can't wait to see what happens. Restaurant wars is looking ugly, and Gail's comment that RW would ruin a sacred place for her doesn't bode well. Regardless, I predict a dearth of foams and grape gastriques from here on out. Perhaps they will go the way of the pea puree. So last season. Or 6 seasons ago.

[Ranhorn]

Am I the only one that missed that Tiffani is a lezbo?

[Skillet Doux]

Ranhorn... with the understanding that the preferred nomenclature is a living, breathing thing that can, to some, be tricky to stay abreast of, I'm pretty sure "Lezbo" passed from the realm of acceptability around the same time as "Chinaman" and "Hottentot."

[Danny]

Two things - I apologize for sounding like I was suggesting that Richard hasn't been involved in strategy before. It's just that this time seemed like the strategy got in the way of the cooking in a way that it hadn't before.

Game shows (I've been on two) and reality shows have very strict contracts. For instance, on the game shows that I was on, I could sell my prizes but I could not advertise in my want ad that I had won them on a game show or I would be fined. Reality shows are even stricter and levy threats of huge penalties if what has happened is revealed to anyone before it airs. Over at ew.com they used to interview the evictees on Survivor who would talk about how hard it was not to let any of their family or friends know what had happened. Don't know how strong the TC rules are but I would not be surprised if they are pretty strongly worded when it comes to revealing what happened before it airs.

[matthew]

@bryanD - skoolie is right. Carla kept me in the dark during Season 5. It was nerve wracking, but exciting to see things unfold from week-to-week. She's bound by a $1,000,000 confidentiality clause. It worked. It was understood that things would be the same with All Stars. Trust me, we talk about, and share, everything, but it hasn't been difficult with Top Chef. I guess, as Carla playfully says,"...and I don't have a million dollars." I must admit during Season 5, I thought to myself, "She's a little too good at this secret thing." :-D

I can't wait for Restaurant Wars. That episode never fails to push people to the limit.

[Anon Man]

As an aside, I've always wondered if contestants on shows tell their spouses, and if they did, what if anything a show could do about it. Spouses can't usually be required to testify against each other, so it would be hard to prove. Same if say, someone "confessed" some sin committed during a show to a priest. Of course, its just kind of musing, since if the person just told the spouse and neither told anyone else, then it wouldn't be known. Its if the spouse tells someone else that the problems start, and if a thrid party can testify that the spouse knew something, then the evidence mounts...

So, in this instance, I endorse Carla's cone of silence on Matthew, so we can enjoy the pleasure of his commentary and the vicarious enjoyment of his upcoming European travels. ;)

[Wangus]

@Anon Man: are you saying Matthew's got a big mouth? (I kid! I kid!)

I do wonder about if there have been any prizes that have a time limit; would they be exempt from the confidentiality clause? The only thing I can think of is Carla's superbowl tickets. Now it's been a couple of seasons ago so I don't remember the details, but I do remember Carla winning Superbowl tickets. Did the show air before the superbowl? How much earlier? Wouldn't you kinda want some time to tell your SO (Matthew in this case) to free up time in the schedule so that you can go? Maybe Matthew can shed some light on this.

Also, like ally, Gail's comment about not wanting to ruin her memories of her wedding venue do not bode well. With (what seems like at first glance) Dale as EC on one side and Antonia as EC on the other ... it looks like I'm well poised to lose a favorite next week. Fingers & toes crossed, people!

[TxGriff]

I just had a thought. Jamie clearly thinks, and she openly stated in the first episode during the QF, that she is a stronger chef than Carla and Fabio. This is now the second time that both Carla and Fabio have outlasted her in this competition. There may or may not be some substance to her claims, and I don't think ones performance on TC always reflects their strength as a chef, but maybe going forward she'll reconsider making such impetuous remarks when her relative success can be clearly measured against those whose talents she is so willing to dismiss.

[bryanD]

@matthew: a muh-muh-muh-million duh-duh-duh-duh-...(?)

...in other newz, if you two don't visit a ""coffee shop"" while in Amsterdam you will surely regret it. (Just buy a beverage and enjoy the cloud.)...No! Wait! (What I am thinking?...) Your wife's a celebrity! So... DON'T accept everything!...(Can I come with?)

Also, re: me, "incognito" should have read incommunicado, but since Our Carla might just be waterboard-proof according to matthew, incognito fits after all. (Just adjust "Top Chef University/skullery" to Carla&Matthews' Place/boob tube:Top Chef fishing ep.

[jh]

I'm still a bit puzzled by the structure of this EC. Other than separating the chefs to go to different boats and grouping the work stations, there was no actual need to put the chefs into groups. They could have easily have had the contestants each be responsible for a single dish, but have them in "groups" in that they would have to share a work space together. The only slightly logical explanation for the original design that I can think of, is that it was a toss up the amount of fish each person caught, and by having the chefs in groups, it pretty much assured each set enough fish to cook for the challenge.

Did anyone else question this, or is it just me?

Not a Jamie fan this season, but Marcel doesn't really bother me. Maybe it's because I view him as a younger brother type that tries to get noticed in a large crowd, while at the same time puts up defenses because he's insecure and is always getting picked on. Or maybe because I still have a 5-year-old sense of humor and snorted at "Hung" for CILF.

[anne]

Dom, my hat's off to you.

[Bart]

jh - I think the challenge was fine. It gave the contestants wiggle room about how they wanted to present their dishes. As you saw, it ran the gamut - one team made one dish, another team made three dishes individually. In both cases, that came back to bite them.

I think it was more of a, "We'll give you these parameters, but let's see what you're made of" type of thing.

So far this season, they've been pretty darn generous when it comes to elimination challenges. By and large, the chefs have the freedom to cook whatever they want, as long as its within some loosely defined parameter.

Nothing like a, "You have $12.47 and five minutes to shop at a 7-11 to make a dish for 600 people! Go!" type of elimination challenge.

The general theme has been, "Ok, today, you get to make something wiiiiith...fish! Go!" or "We'll stick you in a random restaurant. Try to cook something vaguely reminiscent of that restaurant's style. Go!"

[Nsam]

This: "Jamie clearly thinks, and she openly stated in the first episode during the QF, that she is a stronger chef than Carla and Fabio. This is now the second time that both Carla and Fabio have outlasted her in this competition."

Yes! Love it. S5 her excuse was 'Oh, Le Bernardin bores me', blah blah blah. I wonder what her excuse is this time...

[Anon man]

@jh, I haven't really been bothered by Marcel in the past. He's odd, but many of the chefs (and presumably many of us) are odd. We love Carla for the "I flavored it with Love" comment, and Fabio for his turtle and Marcel for his foam obsession and Angelo for his affected nature. But, if you drink good gin out of the bottle without proper treat, well, then, sir, you have gone too far... ;)

[bryanD]

Holy Jamie-cut-finger-cow-eyes-let-me-stay!!!!!!!!

"I shouldn't have been able to go home that night."
"I shouldn't have been able to go home that night."
"I shouldn't have been able to go home that night."
"I shouldn't have been able to go home that night."
"I shouldn't have been able to go home that night."
"I shouldn't have been able to go home that night."
"I shouldn't have been able to go home that night."
"I shouldn't have been able to go home that night."**

The ABSOLUTE WORST, MOST ORWELLIAN use of "able" ever!
(My compliments!)

**Jamie exit interview video.

[jh]

I normally don't watch exit interviews, but bryanD's post piqued my interest. Jamie's logic for the finger cutting incident is baffling. It's a cooking show based on food, and since she didn't cook anything, she shouldn't go home because there was no food to base her ability/performance. That explains her strategy: bad food trumps non-food.

And it worked for the most part...just didn't win her any more fans.

Restaurant wars will be interesting since the format hasn't changed too much from season to season. IIRC, in season 4, didn't Richard and Dale strategize about NOT being executive chefs, but Dale didn't follow through, which resulted in his elimination (and some really bad scallops)?

[Danny]

Thanks Matthew for the confirmation on game show rules. A couple of other rules that apply: You only get the prize if the episode airs. If the episode never airs, you get nothing. This became a particular issue in the 70's when, with the networks releasing 7 to 8 for local stations, the airwaves were flooded with game shows. Many were unceremoniously dropped and the contestants, counting until the days when they get their prizes, ended up getting nothing.

A more pertinent rule to Top Chef has to do with obeying the rules. The biggest winner in the history of Super Password Plus (second place was Diane Amos, the Pine Sol Lady) never got anything even though the show was aired. The contestant had a warrant for his arrest in Alaska so for the show he used a fake name and social security number. They aired the show but he didn't get a penny because he broke the rules. On Top Chef, Carla doesn't have a million dollars to give to Bravo, but if she broke the confidentiality agreement the first thing that would happen is that she wouldn't receive any of her prizes.

Way off the subject, but one of the most interesting subtrefuges is on The Amazing Race (I'm acquaintances with Team Guido). Even after losing the race, the contestants continue to run the legs of the race because most of the Race is done in public places and this way it completely throws off anyone from seeing who is competing and from that guessing where those people are in the standings.

[bryanD]

"I normally don't watch exit interviews, but bryanD's post piqued my interest."---jh

Good! My early-weekend vodka-soaked hystericks shall not have been in vain!

But seriously! Jamie's interview...

*Bleib bei Uns* delusional!

[timothy]

Danny, that's interesting info. Thanks.

[Bart]

Danny - There's also the other bit about contestants having to report their winnings. The most famous example is Richard Hatch not reporting to the IRS about the million dollars he won in the inaugural season of "Survivor."

Yeah, it wasn't like anybody watched THAT show. Whoops.

[Naomi]

Some random thoughts over Saturday morning coffee:

I don't have a singular favorite cheftestant because, as we've already discussed on this blog, there are many chefs to love this season for a variety of reasons.

That said, I've always held the belief that Dale T.'s elimination in his season was far more shocking and premature than Tre's and I've been really pleased to see him doing so well. (As a side note, his crotch-grabbing, locker-punching episodes always made me cringe so I'm thrilled to see the new-and-improved-anger-management Dale!)

I was a Jamie fan in her season and I remember during the reunion episode thinking it was really odd that they put together a Jamie-is-grumpy-and-whiny reel because it wasn't at all the vibe I had gotten from her. This season, of course, it's been her main theme. Not sure what to make of it. I could assume that she displayed a lot more of the same in her season and we just didn't see it. Not sure where I'm going with this. Just some rambling thoughts.

[Lon]

Finally got a chance to read all the comments. As always, lots of good remarks.

I'll add just one more about so-called "shadow non eliminations." As we know, we don't taste the food. Plus, we're responding to what show editors select for us to see. Judges must develop some pretty good reasons for dumping a contestant: taste isn't always measureable. Just because person A has to pack his/her knives, doesn't mean every judge thought that person had the worst dish.

No judge or show staff person ever says explicity (i.e. tonight three judges liked it but one didn't), but I would expect there are lots of split decisions. I know from participating in committee decision making, there are times when someone doesn't 100 percent agree with the majority on close calls but goes along because there wasn't that much difference.

We do know from prior judge's blogs that decisions can take hours.

My point is that there certainly are times when a chef probably should leave, but doesn't because there's someone just a little bit worse. I can remember Tom C. saying one night he would have voted every chef off the show that night.

The whole process is what makes Top Chef so maddening and so attractive at the same time.

[Steve]

A devastating dim sum challenge followed up by what should have been an easy fresh fish one. Prior to restaurant wars, I think we can see clearly now how things are shaping up:

Angelo
Dale T.
Carla

Antonia
Blais
Fabio

Mike
Tiffany

Tre
Marcel

Now if Marcel would leave next round, then we can have a competition w/o any drama.

[Kenny]

A lot of the contenders are looking like they learned some major lessons first time through. Especially Dale in regard to his maturity in general.

That being said, it's difficult to imagine Marcel hanging on too very long. It comes across as if he's hanging on to a persona he developed rather than having an actual personality that's been developed in his life. And ultimately a chef's personhood is what shows up in his or her food.

Also, as to an obvious least favorite dish aside from Jamie's, the elves did a good job of that in juxtaposing Carla's fish-talk with Tiffani's.

Carla did an intelligent and informative analysis of the blue fish and how to work with the blood line, and Tiffani was called out by Tom over the very same thing, about which she was evidently clueless. So, that was obvious.

And Angelo... what ever happened to his Russian bride?

[Dreamboat]

"S5 her excuse was 'Oh, Le Bernardin bores me', blah blah blah. I wonder what her excuse is this time..."

She finished the interview with "whatever, I don't care." That seems to have been her theme for S8.

[timothy]

@Kenny: "It comes across as if he's hanging on to a persona he developed rather than having an actual personality that's been developed in his life. And ultimately a chef's personhood is what shows up in his or her food."

That's a really insightful comment. I think that is really true. It is interesting to think about Tiffani with regards to your perception. I would say that we have been given a lot of evidence that Tiffani is a skilled cook. She seems to have developed a sense of calm and comfort in her relationships that makes her more comfortable with herself and less angry and competitive than she was in season 1. It is interesting in her case that what seems to be the more full development of her personality from seasons 1-8 has actually made her less eager to participate on Top Chef at a super intense level. Or maybe I am misinterpreting her and you. How would you view her participation on the show with regards to your comment about personality? Just curious. In any event, I think she came off well this season, even if she didn't win. She seems like a person who has found some happiness.

[Alamos Road]

Kenny, according to Grub Street (10/19/10), Angelo and his not-mail-order-Russian-bride-to-be decided to "just be friends." So he's back on the market, ladies.

I think the most interesting insight Tiffani had between Season 1 and Season 8 is that, even though this is (in many respects) a cooking competition, it is first and foremost a reality game show; that with all the twists and turns, even the most talented chef can be axed at any time; and that contestants do themselves a grave disservice if they get too invested in any particular outcome. At least, that was my take away from her exit interview.

And that's the lesson I personally feel Richard has yet to learn. He seemed much more joyful in his original season, and now seems intense to the point of desperation. If you can only be happy and fulfilled if you win, you probably shouldn't agree to participate.

[timothy]

@A.R:Yeah, well said. That's one of the reasons Dale looks like a real contender here. He takes the game seriously, but he also seems to be having a sense of fun. Or maybe it has to do with the fact that after what happened last time he was on the show, he may have decided that he has to prove that he can cook while Richard has decided that he has to prove he can win. Cooking well is more in Dale's control that winning is in Richard's control, so Dale is enjoying himself and Richard is playing somewhat defensively.

[mncharm]

Brett Favre has fun out there. Jay Cutler does not.

Yet the Bears are still playing (and better take out the Pack next week).

Point being, I wouldn't read too much into that. I don't want to make excuses for Richard bc he's me favorite to win, but the challenges have not aligned for him. He'll come correct before this is over.

[timothy]

Mncharm: point taken. I was just thinking out loud. You might be right about Richard. And then as soon as I think that, I also think that last year Favre had more fun than Cutler and did a lot better. This year has had to have been no fun for Favre. And more fun for Cutler. And Cutler is a game away from the Super Bowl. But I am just thinking out loud...

[JJ]

Just read a compelling interview with Marcel complaining about getting the a-hole edit and why it isn't justified. See <.">http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/watch_with_kristin/b220472_top_chefs_marcel_vigneron_astonished_by.html">. While I'm not saying we should accept his arguments as THE truth, I do think he makes a number of interesting points that we might keep in mind when watching the show. First, he points out that Tre's comment to the producers ("Marcel is an A-hole") was edited. Second, and more intriguing, he claims that the rooftop scene b/w himself and Dale was the result of the latter bragging about how he catered to the judges for the dim sum challenge (by making only a small # of portions) and won. Marcel states that it was this that set him off and expresses annoyance with the producers for leaving this detail out while emphasizing his tirade. In this context, we might recall the puzzling shot from the dim sum challenge of Dale standing around in the kitchen with seemingly nothing to do.

[Danny]

The problem with Marcel's statement is that they cannot give you an a-hole edit if you don't provide them with ammunition. I don't know everything that was said and wasn't said but there is one thing that I saw that was not a result of editing and that was a true a-hole moment.

Carla came into the stew room excited about winning just as every winner has done on every episode of TC (including Marcel) and he was the one who said something that took away from Carla's happiness and made her feel guilty and awful. That wasn't an a-hole edit....this was someone acting like an a-hole.

I also don't believe it when Marcel says that Bravo promised him a certain type of edit. First off, it doesn't seem that Bravo would have to promise any sort of edit to get Marcel to participate since he seems to have participated any time that TC has asked him to be in something. He is not a difficult "get". Second, if Bravo promised a certain type of edit, then that would imply that Marcel could behave any way that he wanted to and that he would still get a positive, cheery edit.

Obviously editing can greatly influence how we view the people on the show. But editing can't put words in your mouth or dictate your actions. And the reality is that every "reality" show contestant complains about their edit. You don't want to come across as an a-hole, don't make Carla feel bad for winning.

[jh]

I somewhat disagree that editing can't put words in your mouth or dictate your actions. Shirley Sherrod, formally of the USDA, is a prime example if misleading editing. Editing and fabricating story lines have become an art form in the world of "reality" television. The perception that we get of each contestant often determines how we interpret his or her statement. The sound bites and one-liners are often take out of context and spliced together for maximum impact.

First off, Marcel's behavior towards Carla after her win wasn't warranted. But put yourself in his shoes. If you're hot-tempered and in stressful situations where you knew you're on the chopping block in a high stakes game, the last thing you want to hear is someone cheerful. In addition, and I'm speaking as a fan of Carla, Carla seems to be the type of person that shows her emotions (happy or sad), and she comes in celebrating on the more exuberant side. Her actions could be (mis)interpreted as bragging when she comes into the stew room all happy with a little victory dance. Because she realizes that Marcel is upset with the giddiness, feels bad for making Marcel feel bad. Because fan-favorite Carla feels bad, the viewers immediately side with her, making Marcel's actions seem even worse than they are. It's possible that Marcel wasn't even mad at Carla, but at himself, but took out his frustration on her. Not cool, but people, like bosses and significant others, do it all the time.

Misery and happiness love company, just not with each other, which makes for great reality tv.

I wonder if Marcel and Carla kissed an made up afterwards?

[Danny]

I hear what you are saying but the fact is, in the history of TC, this is the one and only time that someone said something to put a damper on a winner's happiness. Somehow everyone else managed to control themselves enough not to do that. Actually it kind of happened once but that involved Lisa whining that that Blais and Stephanie weren't happy that she made the finals and I just can't take that all too seriously.

And yes there is definitely distortion and manipulation. I mentioned that I am acquaintances with Team Guido from TAR who give a great talk they call, "The Camera Never Lies, Editing Tells It's Own Story".

Bottom line is that no one is happy with their edit. I've been interviewed many times both in print, video and film and I've cringed at how it turns out but I also admit to some basic truth in the pieces. When the distortion has been big enough I've been able to get retractions and corrections but I have never asked for one when I felt that the tenor of the piece did not seem fair to me. That's just part of the lumps of the game and Marcel, of all people, should certainly know that by now. I don't for a minute believe that Marcel was promised some type of edit in advance by Bravo. How could they make that promise? How could any one be naive enough to believe that promise? Certainly Marcel must know that part of his appeal (one that I am not enamored with) is his "bad boy" image.

Once I was truly maligned by a reporter with an ulterior motive and a big agenda. I was able to plead my case and with the support of many, retractions and apologies were made by the paper. The reporter tried to make nice nice with me after that. Not for a second did I ever imagine that I would give him another interview. You really feel burned by Bravo? Why in the world do you turn on the oven and step back in?

[ally]

Danny, sorry but imo you put way too much faith in the editing. The one and only time we've seen a reaction like Marcel's in the stew room, yes. The one and only time it happened? Who knows.

All of us have been misrepresented at some time or other. That Marcel, Tre, Jamie or any of the contestants would be surprised about that by now is what is surprising. The elves do their elven things and the rest of us just have to judge or withhold judgement, based on our own sensibilities. I can understand how Marcel has crossed the line for you. But I thank JJ for the link to the article, because it reminds me again that their is a pink elf in the room.

[ri]

After reading through Marcel's interview my opinion of him is still the same. His tone is still very self congratulatory and still lacks a sense of real humility. I felt bad for him in Season 2 for being bullied, but I still don't care for his attitude.

Also, congrats to Carla and Matthew on the trip to Amsterdam! I lived there for a few months and it is a lovely city. Just make sure you go in late spring to early September at the latest! The winter daily sprinkling is not nearly as pleasant for bicycles. Speaking of which, rent bicycles while you are there. It's the best way to explore the city!

[pottymouth princess]

It's getting pretty late and I'm getting worried about rankings again this week.

DYING to see the glacial shifts in the standings. Come ON, Dom. Don't keep a Princess waiting.. :D