Top Chef - S8E10 Power Rankings

Let my dedication to the Power Rankings never be questioned!

This week's edition comes to you from the PICU, where everybody's going to be fine, thanks for your concern. But there are long, sleepless nights where there isn't much to do and staring at a computer screen is better than staring at a medical monitor. Which is kind of conducive to getting Power Rankings done, actually.

The angst level is rising, and given the last three episodes, I'm not entirely unsympathetic. Some feel there hasn't been a "real" challenge since Restaurant Wars, four episodes ago. Others still feel that this season has been particularly bad for challenges. Now, I don't necessarily share either of those sentiments. I don't see what isn't "real" about cooking Italian or upscale/reimagined comfort food (I'll bite my tongue when it comes to the Target commerc-- er... episode), but I can see how it feels like we're a little overdue for a fine dining challenge, or at least something upscale. Still, since we tend to forget just how bad some past season challenges have been, I thought it might be a good time to revisit some of the gems from seasons past:

SEASON ONE

• Ep. 2 - Prepare an erotic-themed dessert for a party at a BDSM shop.
• Ep. 3 - Make monkfish for kids.
• Ep. 4 - Make a microwave reheatable entree for a ladies' luncheon.
• Ep. 6 - Surprise! Knife draw... now you have to finish that other chef's recipe.
• Ep. 8 - Cater a wedding for 100 guest in 16 hours.

SEASON TWO

• Ep. 3 - Update a childhood classic in a firehouse kitchen for TGI Friday's.
• Ep. 4 - Make a sub-500 calorie meal for diabetic kids.
• Ep. 7 - Make breakfast for athletes. After you shop, surprise! It's using fire pits on the beach.

SEASON THREE

• Ep. 1 - Create a surf and turf using exotic proteins.
• Ep. 3 - Make classic comfort food dishes with low cholesterol.
• Ep. 5 - Cater lunch for a Latin daytime drama... surprise! You have half the prep time you planned for.
• Ep. 6 - Make a Bertolli frozen entree.
• Ep. 11 - Make airplane food. No, really.

SEASON FOUR

• Ep. 2 - Draw an animal. Make hors d'oeuvres based on that animal's diet.
• Ep. 3 - Cater a Chicago neighborhood block party. Oh, yeah, and go door to door for your ingredients.
• Ep. 7 - Make a dish based on random combinations of color, emotion and ingredient suggestions from an improv comedy audience.
• Ep. 8 - Feed a family of four on $10.
• Ep. 9 - Cater a wedding in 16 hours. 250 guests this time!
• Ep. 10 - Make a healthy box lunch for Chicago cops.

SEASON FIVE

• Ep. 3 - Cook Thanksgiving dinner for the Foo Fighters outdoors using microwaves and toaster ovens.
• Ep. 4 - Make a dish for a two and a half minute television demonstration.
• Ep. 10 - Top Chef Bowl! Cook regional American cuisine head-to-head against ex-contestants.

SEASON SIX

• Ep. 2 - Make bachelor and bachelorette party appetizers to pair with shooters.
• Ep. 3 - Feed 300 people at an air force base using whatever they have in their kitchen.
• Ep. 5 - Make haute cuisine on a fire pit after camping in a tent overnight.
• Ep. 10 - Cook vegetarian for Natalie Portman and friends.

SEASON SEVEN

• Ep. 2 - Make a low-budget healthy lunch for kids.
• Ep. 4 - Prepare breakfast, then lunch, then dinner for room service, tournament-style.
• Ep. 8 - Make hors d'oeuvres in the style of the country you draw. Hope you draw a good one.
• Ep. 10 - Disguise your dish as another dish.
• Ep. 11 - Operate a baseball stadium concession stand.
• Ep. 12 - Make space food. No, really.

Note that these are all eliminations. No quickfires. And this doesn't even include the BBQ challenges, endless catering challenges, other comfort food challenges, other ethnic food challenges, etc. Point being, I think this notion that this season is somehow exceptional in its elimination challenge composition is a false one. We haven't had a fine dining challenge for a few episodes, it’s true, but that happens every season. What we're getting is, I think, pretty much par for the course.

ADDENDUM : I think Nikki L nails it below:

"So, in summary, maybe it's not the show dropping the ball as much as the chefs? I feel like the level of creativity with the dishes just doesn't match up to what we've seen people do in past crazy challenge, including some contestants that are still on right now."

Though I disagree with the notion that they're "dropping the ball," I think these chefs have had AMPLE opportunity to make the kind of flashier, creative stuff that looks great on TV. That they haven't been cooking that kind of food as much isn't the fault of the challenges. And I wonder if it has as much to do with current restaurant trends as anything else.

If *only* par for the course always involved Muppets. The consipracy-minded among us will fear that the elves are sneakily indoctrinating an entire generation of kids to be Top Chef fans. I'm pretty much okay with that. Especially when it's this entertaining. And a cookie challenge is great for a quickfire. Especially when judged by Cookie Monster (though I wonder who did the actual judging... the Muppeteers? Padma?).

And here's what I'll say about the Target challenge. There are always a few sponsored challenges. It's been seven and a half seasons, and it's time to make peace with that or move on. So with that as a given, they were given a Targetful of equipment and a reasonably well-stocked grocery store and no other restrictions. They weren't asked to make frozen food, they weren't forced to use a specific (often substandard) ingredient, and they weren't forced to go hawking it on the street or a beach. If this is season eight's dumb, gimmicky elimination challenge, I think we got off relatively easy.

I'm not quite working with all of my usual info and notes (and the recipe finder is down, not that it's been a big help this season anyway), but here's what I've got. It's really tight at the top. In honor of Angelo, little goofs mean big moves.

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

Wins

Top

Bottom

1 Dale Quickfires 4 5 2 Last Week: 4 Eliminations 3 6 2 One bad dish, followed by one dumb oops, then *BAM*... double win, right back on top. I have to defend Dale a little bit on two fronts. First, for those who were wondering, the cookie was, in fact, baked. And if the only remaining criticism is that it resembles David Chang's compost cookie (slightly, in that they both include crushed salty snacks), whether or not it was the inspiration for Dale's, I feel pretty comfortable working under the assumption that David Chang didn't pioneer the addition of salty snacks to sweet cookies. As for the grilled cheese, yeah, I'd like to see the chefs winning challenges for something a little more exciting than grilled cheese. But it isn't as though Richard and Antonia were preparing haute cuisine. And as I've said before, anybody who takes a shot at canned tomatoes doesn't know tomatoes. Or at least has never had good ones. In any case, the knock on Dale at this point is that he's been a little inconsistent. But I don't think there's any question he can bring it home if he stays on, he's dominating the scoreboard, and he's coming off a double win. I'm not sure I see the system under which that isn't number one.

2 Richard Quickfires 3 5 1 Last Week: 1 Eliminations 2 5 1 Richard seems to be gaining popularity as the overrated one, and this isn't an easy call, but I don't know that "overrated" is fair unless you're taking the position that he's a clear favorite... which I guess a lot of people are, so perhaps it's fair after all. He seemed to do a nicer job with the elimination challenge this week than most, even if it's hard to get a sense of it since the recipe isn't even internally consistent. The title and picture say "tenderloin" and the recipe says "ribs." Huh? Anyway, you have to say this for him: he always seems to be making somebody's dish great, even if it isn't always his. But I think it's still premature to make a case for Antonia over Richard, and with Carla needing a ding for a stumble, I think number two is right where Richard belongs this week.

3 Antonia Quickfires 1 3 2 Last Week: 5 Eliminations 1 5 4 I said last week that I'd really like to put Antonia higher, and Angelo and Carla just made it easy. But the truth is that this has been a long time coming. Though I took a con position in relation to Dale in last week's comments (a position I stand by), I didn't do it gladly. I said it then, and I'll say it now, she's really outperforming the numbers. And she's now been on top of five consecutive challenges, all of them solo. If she'd managed just one win in the last two episodes, I'd probably even move her up to number two. But I want to give that one more week and see what happens. Though made-to-order eggs for 100 is a ballsy move, I'm perhaps not quite as impressed that she pulled it off as others. One, they're over easy. Two, lest we forget the Lou Mitchell's challenge from Season 4, Antonia's done a lot of eggs to order. And three, they're on a retail electric griddle, which may actually be the ideal cooking implement for over easy eggs. It won't get too hot, it's really easy to maintain temperature, and it's probably nonstick. If you tell me my life depends on cooking 100 perfect over easy eggs and let me choose between a restaurant range and an electric griddle from Target, I pick the electric griddle from Target. But I mention this not to detract, but merely to elucidate. However it was prepared, it was a very smart and fun dish given the situation. Bacon vinaigrette, parmesan cream, a little veg... well done.

4 Carla Quickfires 0 2 3 Last Week: 2 Eliminations 3 6 2 Carla, I'm sticking up for you! Throw me a bone, here! Eek... I'm sure I'm far from the only one who was yelling, "Forget about the f**king linens and go cook your food!" at my TV. In her defense, it sounds as though there was some sort of presentation angle that was later dropped, either in judging or in editing. But even so, food first, food first! You aren't going to be sent home for lack of a tablescape! And please shoot me in the head with a hollow point if I ever use that "word" for anything other than mocking Sandra Lee again! I love Carla, but she reinforced the "why caterers don't win Top Chef" meme a little too strongly this week, and I have to ding her.

5 Mike Quickfires 1 3 3 Last Week: 6 Eliminations 0 2 2 Well, you have to admit, Mike's run to the middle strategy has served him pretty well through two seasons. It's given him the chance to sneak into the finals yet again, which he didn't miss by much in his own season. I'm not sure what there is to say about Mike at this point that hasn't been said. He's a skilled chef, but he hasn't really given us any reason to believe that he can win. The only question at this point is whether he goes down in the next two episodes, or manages to sneak into the finals and keep somebody out who most of us would rather see there. None of which is a knock on him. But barring some very good luck in the next couple of weeks, he's probably gone about as far as he can go.

6 Tiffany Quickfires 0 0 5 Last Week: 7 Eliminations 0 3 5 Then there's Tiffany, who's Exhibit A for why Mike might very well make the finale. It doesn't seem possible that she might survive two more episodes, does it? One thing I hope is that the Tiffany backlash doesn't start. Unless you want to hold the fact that she hasn't intentionally tanked a dish against her (which would be, you know, stupid), it isn't her fault that she's survived longer than some others we’d rather see cooking at this point. Many interpretations have been given to the look on her face after Angelo's elimination. Mine is that she can't believe she's still around while more deserving people are leaving. And before making the comparison, let's please remember that that's the difference between her and Lisa Fernandez. Humility.

7 Angelo Quickfires 0 1 5 Last Week: 3 Eliminations 2 6 2 And so we come to Angelo, whose ouster is really, really unfortunate. I think most of us wanted to see him in the finals, and even those who didn't, I think, would acknowledge that he deserved to be there. But let's not confuse unfortunate with unfair. And let's not pretend there's inconsistency in judging when it comes to salt. Salt level is not a ternary state. It isn't "not enough," "perfect," or "too much." We're talking about degrees here, and the judges have been quite clear. Dale's sandwich was really delicious, just too salty to enjoy properly. Angelo's soup was completely inedible (and plain old baked potato soup, to boot). Also, let's examine the other side of the coin. While Angelo was definitely one of the stronger competitors, he wasn't the unstoppable force of Top Chef cookery that many of his eulogies make him out to be. If not for a really interesting pulled pork, we wouldn't be talking about how this is one of the most notable early exits in Top Chef history, but about how he started well but slowly faded over the course of the season. And that fade would be entirely understandable. I think we've noted it before, but the guy's been doing Top Chef for almost four months straight now (or was, at the time the episode was filmed). He's said elsewhere that he only had about two and a half weeks off between the season seven finale and the start of season eight. And he was coming off significant illness. That's really, really rough and I think you have to commend the guy for hanging in as well as he did. As weird as he was -- and again, I use that word with the utmost affection -- he was a great addition to the show, both from a culinary and personality standpoint. Happy trails, Angelo. Looking forward to seeing what you do in the future.

WARNING : MINOR EPISODE ELEVEN SPOILERS AHEAD

It's been many, many years since I gave up on FoodTV (Molto Mario and Iron Chef excepted), so I've actually never watched Paula Deen. But I know the reputation. And I'm totally okay with a fried food challenge judged by Paula Deen. No matter how appropriate or inappropriate it may be, Richard is going to take a beating from everybody for busting out the LN again. And I love Mike's fried "oysters" idea, even if it seems like it might not be his idea.

The elimination brings back previous chefs to help. I'm sure this was meant to make sure that some favorite personalities had a chance to return for a bit, but unfortunately it just increases the chances that the finals will be non-competitive. We'll see. It's also a catering challenge, though it remains to be seen whether we're talking Pigs and Pinot catering or Chicago block party catering.

Two eliminations to the finals.

Discuss!

Comments

[Scott]

Dom, For me gimmicky challenges has always been a top chef staple. I think the disappointment stems from two things:
1. This is Top Chef Allstars, viewers are expecting challenges that lives up to the cheftestants.
2. I think this Target challenge is particularly insulting because it's a gimmick challenge within the confines of product placement. Many of us viewers LOVE Target and I know Target is trying hard to sell their brand new produce department. However, the challenge itself is literally setting someone up for failure. The lack of sleep, lack of time, and lack of quality ingredients don't really weed out the good chefs from the bad, it just amplifies when a chef might be particularly tired or had a bad day. They already had a sleep-deprived challenge this season, to throw another one in is an outrage, in my opinion.

I love target but I want to see my top chef elevate food, not drop it on the ground.

BTW, was anybody else disturbed that there wasn't a sink near these chefs? not only were their hands not washed but the pots and pans probably weren't either?

I agree w/ the rankings btw. I would only move Carla above Antonia but I certainly hope there isn't one more upset in the making because both Mike and Tiffany do not deserve a spot in the finals.

[LaLaura]

I love, love, love reading this blog and everyone's comments. I've been around since Tim Allen recommended this site in his blog. Carla is without a doubt my favorite chef, and I can easily see why she is so excited about Paula Deen. Paula Deen has never claimed to be a chef, and she is no where near being in a category with Sandra Lee. Paula is not gimmicky, she doesn't try to break food down into cheap, tasteless dishes, she doesn't do tablescapes. She does downhome southern cooking. She is a woman who has built a small empire on her love for food. How can you knock that? So, I am not surprised Carala likes her. They both cook comfort food with love (don't throw stones my way). The difference is that Carla is a chef who can elevate dishes to something special. But, I'm sure she would love to have a legacy like Paula's!

[Angie]

Dom, can't argue with your rankings.

More importantly, though - your trip to the PICU. So good to hear that everyone will be OK!
Family is important . Top Chef, as much as we love it, doesn't compare.

[timothy]

Re Richard's recipe/dish: I am pretty sure he did a duo, ribs (short ribs?) and tenderloin. Not that it matters, but I am thinking that's why the picture and the recipe don't match up.

[ally]

Dom, I know you say you're family is ok, but sounds like you're having a rough 6 months or so.

Thanks for giving us some rankings and food for thought. Maybe it's a welcome distraction.

I cheated and looked at the blog before viewing the episode last week, since I was out of town. Now I can't bear to watch it. I think I know who will be in the final three from watching the opening credits. If so, I'm at least 50% depressed.

[Skillet Doux]

Scott... don't think I like it. I've just made my peace with it, is all. I can be annoyed and move on.

And BTW, I'm not feeling the sleep deprivation angle. Maybe it's because I keep late hours, but I don't see how cooking for three hours from midnight to 3:00 AM is a big deal. This isn't one of the wedding marathons where you're basically going 24 hours straight without rest. It isn't like the museum challenge where you do a tiring challenge, get almost no sleep, and then go immediately into another challenge. It's three hours where you don't have to perform before or after (unless you count defending yourself at JT). It's a third of a restaurant shift for a place that's open late on weekends. I just don't see the timing as that big of a deal. I'm sure they were all ready to die by the time JT was over, but I don't see how it's a big deal to get up for three hours from midnight to 3:00 AM. Or anytime, really.

[paula]

Lots of virtual health vibes to you and your family, Dom. Man, kids and their illnesses--nothing ages a parent faster.

[bryanD]

"BTW, was anybody else disturbed that there wasn't a sink near these chefs? not only were their hands not washed but the pots and pans probably weren't either?"---Scott

OH SNAP! (Can I have your autograph? It's for "my kid"!)

"Two eliminations to the finals."---Skilletdoux

A Final FOUR? kEwL! Good luck, Carla. Good luck, Antonia. Good luck, Dale. Good luck, Richard.

[Alamos Road]

@Scott: Couldn't agree more. And historically, most of the sponsor-driven challenges have been quickfires, where the mischief is better contained.

If Dale wins, they can just change the show's name to Top Stoner and move it to MTV.

[Anon man]

Angelo grew on me. I could really stand him in his season, but he grew on me. Completely affected, but seems to be a gentle person with a fierce fire for cooking.

I've stopped being bothered by product placement. I liked the Sapphire challenge, even if Hung hated it. The quickie rice challenge was a little much, and their are others. The commercialism aside, I actually would prefer that they do something like confine them to a target rather than do a switcheroo on the cooking implements or locale. (Surfing, foo fighters)

One thing about the Target infomercial is the actual ads (with Kevin and Eli) were actually really funny and more memorable. They would have spent their money better if they just doubled their run of those.

Sorry about the little one(s), Dom. Hoping all gets better soon.

[Skillet Doux]

"A Final FOUR? kEwL!"

I don't actually know this for a fact, Bryan. But that's been the format for a long time. Top four contestants go to a different location for a two-part finals. One is eliminated in the first episode, and the remaining three cook in the finale.

I should probably clarify at some point that that's how I use the two words:

Finals = Last two episodes, four contestants.
Finale = Final episode, three contestants.

[Steve]

Dom, I agree with you. The challenges haven't been ridiculous lately; with the exception of the Mizrahi design challenge, which should have included taste as a criteria. Great looking food is wonderful. But it does no good if it doesn't taste as good as it looks.

I still hope for a wild card slot for which Angelo can compete. He managed to compete valiantly and be a front runner despite likely being more physically worn out than the others.

Still not sure if the finale is being taped now or has already been taped. The TV Guide teaser made it sound like it was just filmed.

[vizoroo]

Dom, time for you and your family to get healthy. I recommend a glass of wine with dinner, but probably not appropriate for the little one. :-}

Think your rankings are right on! Let's hope we see 1-4 in the finals.

[Brian]

Hope everyone stays well, Dom.

Season Four is killing it. Too bad Season Six wasn't fully represented for bragging rights. If Kevin and Bryan were there in place of Mike and Tiffany, I think it would be a six way tie for first.

[Steve]

And btw, ICU? If we may ask, what is going on with your family? You said all was well. But this is scary. Can't be pneumonia, since you're now in AZ.

[Skillet Doux]

"And btw, ICU? If we may ask, what is going on with your family? You said all was well. But this is scary. Can't be pneumonia, since you're now in AZ."

Heh, if only it were so! Apparently, Arizona has been such a hotbed of assorted pediatric respiratory issues this winter that some hospitals are shipping kids out of state because there aren't enough beds to go around. This one wasn't pneumonia... that was December... but along the same lines. She still has some recovering to do, but should be able to do the rest safely from home.

I really do appreciate the concern. There hasn't been any single chronic issue, just an endless string of illnesses of various severity. This one being the worst so far. If I hadn't already said it a dozen times this winter, I'd openly hope that maybe this will be the last one for a while :-)

[Nsam]

Glad to hear that, at least, during the long, sleepless nights staring at the computer screen can serve as a distraction from staring at a medical monitor. We certainly enjoy reading your output, as always. Best to you and your family, Dom.

[Sweet Sue]

Best wishes to you and your family.

[EdT.]

"I am pretty sure he did a duo, ribs (short ribs?) and tenderloin."

Yes, but if you read Tony Bourdain's blog, he calls it an "arepa" - and an ugly one, at that. So, I am just confused.

Dom, sorry to hear about the health stuff - definitely wishing you and your family a speedy recovery!

~EdT.

[Bart]

Best wishes to you and your family. Hang in there. It's been said, but I just want to reinforce that we're all in agreement that family comes before Top Chef.

Now, on to the Top Chef...

I like you rankings. No quibbles here. One thing I do sorta disagree with is that I actually enjoyed some of those gimmicky challenges you noted. The thing is, this show is an obstacle course, and sometimes things need to come out of left field to surprise and throw off the contestants.

For example, season 4's improv dish was one I thought that was clever and forced the chefs to be really creative and think outside the box.

Now, I'd be up in arms if they had a gimmicky challenge in the finals (e.g. season 5's final two episodes had too many gimmicks for me), but over the course of the regular season, I don't mind it so much.

Looking forward to tonight!

[BK]

Some interesting back-and-forth on Blais' Twitter page about his use of liquid nitrogen. Not sure the order is correct here, butL

Tweep: Sorry @RichardBlais, but until nitrogen grows on a tree or a bush, it's a gimmick, not an ingredient.

RB: re: my use of nitro. It's an ingredient.Not unlike oil. Actually, about as cold as frying oil is hot, with as many uses. It's not a gimmick.

Tweep: but, it's just like Marcel using foam all of the time. A chef is able to use multiple platforms of cooking methods.

RB: More like always using olive oil. Or always using a sautee pan. Do you ever say, "that guy is always cooking with fire" ?

Tweep: ingredient vs method, no?

RB: when you change texture, do you change flavor? Is toast the same as bread? Whipped cream the same as cream?

[paula]

BK, thanks for posting that Twitter feed. I'm totally going to bust someone soon with "That guy is always cooking with fire." You tell 'em, Richard!

[matthew]

Dom - Best wishes for your daughter's full and speedy recover. IMHO, there is nothing that makes you feel more helpless, and emotionally drained, than to have a sick kid.

I can't argue with the rankings. I believe last week I suggested that Antonia could be ranked higher, and looky here.

Question: Is the ding about caterers because Carla was focused on the table setting? I can't say for certain, but it does appear there was some back story with Carla running around looking for linens. I still think there was some element of table presentation that just fell off. (Otherwise, why was Thomas O'Brien there?) Nevertheless, Carla will be the first to say that she should have turned her attention to her dish sooner. I suspect not finding the salmon tripped her up, and she didn't make the mental break and look for some other protein in the moment. Carla never lets on about what happens behind the scenes, but I get the sense that she was not really running around the store as long as it appeared on the episode.

@BK - I saw at least one of the Tweets by Richard about his use of liquid nitrogen. I didn't see what prompted his response, though, so thanks for posting. Interesting exchange, for sure. I wonder if Richard has been feeling a little taken aback by some of the shots directed his away. I appreciate that he's explaining his use of LG, I just hope that he doesn't get defensive. I think, particularly in social media, one should address criticisms, but not respond to foolishness.

[Skillet Doux]

"Question: Is the ding about caterers because Carla was focused on the table setting?"

Well, the comment is. You know there's the crowd that won't ever take a caterer seriously because too much of their attention is focused in other places. Carla fell into that stereotype a little too easily. But that's not the only reason for the ding in position. Not even the big one. Dale came roaring back and Antonia's been breathing down her neck and had another good week. But if there's an interesting/fun thing to talk about aside from "so-and-so didn't make a very good dish this week" I'll take it to keep it an interesting read. I did try to note that there seemed to be some presentation aspect that was dropped, so there may have been some reason she was as interested in presentation as she seemed to be.

[mncharm]

Best wishes for quick recoveries and continued health, Dom.

I don't see the issue with Richard using nitrogen repeatedly. If it turns out good food, so what?

Of course, one could argue that of late in this TC season, it hasn't...

[matthew]

@LaLaura - I am actually worried about Carla tonight. Without fail, when a challenge is seemingly a perfect fit for a particularly contestant is when the wheels fall off the cart -- often in a big way. We've seen it already this season with Mike and the Italian challenge, Marcel at WD50, Tiffany and the fish butchering. I actually think it's the pressure to do something you're expected to master. It gets in your head. We'll see, but I'm nervous.

[Anon Man]

@matthew, of course, when the expectations are high, there's further to fall. But, she did completely nail the pot pie. She openly hoped for it, got it, and hammered it. It was the Top Chef version of Ruth calling his shot.

I've actually given up predicting the outcome based on the previews. Usually the Elves usual patterns (first person to speak wins or loses, the sad eyes interview mixed in during the show), gives away the outcome within about 15 minutes.

My offering to Paula Deen would be butter-fried butter.

[mncharm]

Butter-fried butter...mmmmm....

[paula]

Matthew, you're ALWAYS nervous. Relax, man! You've got an around-the-world vacation to plan!

[Skoolie]

First off, I hope your family makes a speedy recovery and finally gets healthy and stays healthy.

Secondly about rankings. I had Carla and Antonia tied for the spot. I couldn't decide because Antonia really does deserve the spot, but so does Carla. Carla isn't going to make that mistake again and since it does seem that the tablescape was part of the challenge that was later pulled I couldn't ding Carla too much.

Mike has survived I actually thought he would place exactly the same as on his season but since Angelo went home he has done better on All Stars

Tif - I really like her. She is sweet and humble and she does cook good food, she wouldn't be where she is if she didn't. But she just fails to elevate to the level of some of the other chefs.

Other comments
Matthew - You are worried? Carla seems to love it when she's working in her zone. Case in point - Chicken Pot Pie. My only worry is that she takes on too much. But I feel she'll do well.

Alamos Road - "If Dale wins, they can just change the show's name to Top Stoner and move it to MTV."

LMAO - If Bravo- FoodNetwork or anyone picked up the show "Making Stoner food With Dale" I'd watch it.

[paula]

Aw, hells yeah, Skoolie. But only if Antonia is sitting on a couch on set actually getting stoned, and the camera continually cuts to her heckling Dale and offering enhancements to his dishes. The new Zen Dale on his own would get pretty boring.

[matthew]

Thanks Dom - your explanation syncs with what I thought you meant.

[matthew]

LOL! Yeah...I'm a nervous wreck on Wednesdays. By late afternoon, I must admit that my productivity at work drops off precipitously. Then, I spend the evening trying to distract myself with other things until 10.

I like the suggestion by Alamos Road of Dale doing a stoner cooking show. Maybe Doritos & Dale or Dale's Hash,

I'm laughing at the idea of butter fried butter. Isn't that somewhat the direction Richard appears to be going with fried mayonnaise? Part of me is intrigued, and another part is thinking, "Ewwww!"

[nomnomnom]

First time I think in what? 5 years I think I completely align with Dom's rankings.

I don't really understand the thesis/conclusion of the intro piece though. Some of it seems to contradict itself (but maybe that's the point?. One thing that stands out if you are calling those challenges gimmicky is that they typically happen prior to restaurant wars. We had 3 in a row after restaurant wars and look to have another tonight (TBD). Not only that we have "helper chefs" in the next TWO @%#$^!^$ episodes.

That will be 5 "compromised" episodes in a row after restaurant week. This, in an all-star season is ridiculous.

[Nikki L]

Dom, love the outline of the wacky challenges. I would add the Vegas finger food from Season 1 for good measure too...

Which brings me to my next point. I think the problem isn't necessarily the challenges (since we expect there to be some wackiness each season), but what they are producing.

I look at some of the challenges (specifically, the Vegas bachelor/bachelorette finger food, the improv colors and feelings, exotic surf and turf) and you still see really exciting fine dining. I think the problem with the most recent challenges is that the food hasn't appeared as exciting. Sure, it may taste good, but seeing mussels or grilled cheese (I'm leaving out the chicken pot pie since they were all told explicitly what dish to make) win just doesn't exciting me the way macarons with guacamole or green perplexed tofu (which might I add was by Richard and Dale). Those dishes were new and creative and exciting. While I'm not saying those dishes weren't the best tasting and best executed, as a viewer I'm more interesting in seeing some really forward thinking food.

So, in summary, maybe it's not the show dropping the ball as much as the chefs? I feel like the level of creativity with the dishes just doesn't match up to what we've seen people do in past crazy challenge, including some contestants that are still on right now.

[Skillet Doux]

Nom... you haven't seen any, uh... frogs or locusts or rivers of blood or anything like that lately, have you? :-)

I hope I'm not contradicting myself. I *HATE* that (though I'm not immune, hard as I try).

"One thing that stands out if you are calling those challenges gimmicky is that they typically happen prior to restaurant wars."

Well, some I consider gimmicky, some many consider gimmicky but I don't. I was trying to pick out challenges that would, on the face, seem more ridiculous than, say, the two episodes leading up to this season's Target episode (I don't think either of them were ridiculous, for the record).

Of course the vast majority of the silly challenges have been before Restaurant Wars. The vast majority of *all* regular season episodes have been before Restaurant Wars (48-13). If you take the examples listed above as a definitive list of gimmicky challenges (wasn't my intention), then 46% of the pre-RW episodes have been gimmicky and 31% of the post-RW episodes have been gimmicky. So I'd agree that this list would support the idea pre-RW episodes have tended to be a little more gimmicky, but it's hardly a stark contrast and I certainly wouldn't call the proportion of post-RW gimmicky episodes low.

This is way more pedantic than I ever intended to be. My point is simply that when I see a lot of people complaining that there have been so many gimmicky challenges this season, I really don't think history supports that assertion. I think this season has been pretty much normal in that regard. Or at the very least not *significantly* different.

BTW, since you seem to feel that these are all "compromised" episodes (what's "compromised" about making Italian, exactly?), I'd be really curious to see a full list of what you consider "real" episodes, because I can't imagine there are very many.

[Skillet Doux]

"So, in summary, maybe it's not the show dropping the ball as much as the chefs?

On the nosey. Though I don't consider it dropping the ball, exactly. The chefs have had *AMPLE* opportunity to make flashy, wildly creative stuff that looks interesting on TV. That they haven't made that kind of food isn't the fault of the challenges.

[jh]

In honor of Paula Deen, I shall make this tonight:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/paulas-fried-butter-balls-recipe/index.html

On second thought, I just had a heart attack reading the recipe.

[timothy]

I am interested in this notion that some of the simpler dishes may have been influenced by contemporary trends in the restaurant industry. Does anyone want to elaborate a bit on these trends? In fact, if anyone in this comment thread wanted to do a short, basic summary of recent restaurant trend history, I would love that. Sometimes people will say, "Tuna tartar is so mid-90s" or "Tre's food seems dated," and it will make me wonder about relationships between food and trends. I get all of this, I suppose, but isn't it also true that some food is just good food? Isn't a chicken pot pie always good food if it is made well, or does good food change relative to what the industry is doing at that time? This stuff just interests me because, in general, I like to think about the historical movement of art forms. Before reading this blog, I hadn't even considered that there were food trends, but of course there are. If anyone wants to elaborate on this, I'd be interested in reading your thoughts.

[Anon Man]

@jh, Awesome. I was kidding about butter fried butter. I don't know why I wouldn't have thought she would have tried this. Its no english peas recipe though.

[doktarr]

"If you tell me my life depends on cooking 100 perfect over easy eggs and let me choose between a restaurant range and an electric griddle from Target, I pick the electric griddle from Target."

And that's a great example of the Top Chef maxim: "Take the parameters of the challenge and mold them to your style as a chef". As was Dale's use of the iron, which got much more - probably too much - praise. That's not to say that it wasn't clever, but it wasn't THAT clever.

This was an annoying elimination challenge, but as you say, it's FAR from the worst we've seen. And as I said in the postmortem thread, Angelo went home due to a mistake that is hard to blame on the equipment or the ingredients. (You could reasonably blame it on the short cooking time or the fatigue factor, but those are things that are shared by many other challenges, including many of the fine dining challenges.)

I agree with the rankings - this is the second time this season where they've seemed fairly obvious to me, and those are the only two times we've been in complete accord, so no surprise. I'd like to see the one guy at Media Blend who still has Carla in last place strapped down to an uncomfortable chair and forced to explain why he thinks Carla belongs in that spot.

[gdiss]

I actually think season 6 episode 5 set up way to high expectations. In my opinion, that campfire challenge defined gimmicky challenges. They didn't even know what they would be cooking on! However, the Volts made dishes that looked incredible. Those two and Kevin set the standard that has not been met. (Not even by Richard or Angelo, the two closest in my opinion).

I agree that this is really a case of the chefs dropping the ball big time. You can turn these dishes into fine dining (especially the Jimmy Fallon episode) and still meet the parameters of the challenge.

It's like the disguise episode last season - it was a gimmicky challenge but all the chefs really dropped the ball on it. Now it just continues to happen.

I actually didn't really mind the Target episode - I would have prefferred it within the first 4 or 5 episodes but they had plenty to work with.

[paula]

You know, now that I think about it, I don't think I would have been quite so annoyed with Dale's win last week if he hadn't gotten 25,000 freakin' dollars for it. That, on top of getting $5K for making a stoner cookie (or, if you will, PMS food) that puppets like to eat.

If someone's going to get a sackload of cash, or a car, or a week's vacation in paradise, I want them to really earn it!

[redpoint]

I just went to Momofuku Milk bar to sample David Chang's famous Compost Cookie, thanks to Top Chef this week. It was okay; it was a good, somewhat chewy cookie, very similar to a chocolate chip cookie, but nothing special. I really wanted to be wowed by the salty-sweet equation. It looked nothing like Dale's cookie. If the monsters tasted the salty component, then surely the cookie they ate was nothing like the one I just had.

The pork buns at Momofuku, on the other hand . . . the pork buns of your dreams.

[nomnomnom]

ok, that was poorly formed point (something I'm very rarely not guilty of). RW this season was earlier than normal I was commenting on the location of RW as the set point in this season over the rest of them. Some of the RW have been extremely late. They still have stopped the nonsense challenges well before RW.

[nomnomnom]

I'd also nitpick and say that S6E10 and S5E10 were fairly "real". Both were cooked with only a single (minor) limitation and to a small headcount. Both gave ample opportunity to put something together of note. I'd refer to the similar challenge the MastersS1 did as a comparison for S6E10.

I complained about this in S7 fairly frequently so I tend to agree with the characterization of those episodes, but would even tend to attach that tag to a few more there.

[Skillet Doux]

So Nom, to clarify, based on much of your past writing, I'd like to enumerate what you consider the aspects of a "real" challenge.

• Solo challenge
• Reasonable timeframe
• Normal kitchen facilities
• Reasonable ingredient restrictions
• Served to a reasonable number of people (no catering... large dinner party or smaller)
• Not ethnic-specific
• No possibility for some chefs to be singled out with gotcha parameters (no Chinese for you, Brazilian for me or Chicken for you, duck tongue for me)

Do I have it about right? Anything I missed or that shouldn't be in there?

[jen]

shouldn't it really be Christina Tosi's Compost Cookie? I mean, I'll give David Chang all the credit in the world for Momofuku and those pork buns, but Christina Tosi is the genius behind the recipes and creations of Momofuku Milk Bar.

http://nymag.com/restaurants/features/52411/

to me Dale's cookie looked like a sweet-salty shortbread style cookie, which is nothing like the compost cookie (a chocolate chip-dump cookie), other than the shared salt elements, the textures looked very very different. If I went in expecting a shortbread and got a compost cookie, I'd be pretty surprised.

That said, those compost cookies are things that dreams are made of. Those and her crack pie, dear god, so good!

[bryanD]

@Skilletdoux: Oooo! Whose ever parameters those are you've enumerated, TC should USE them. Of course, with so many contestants at first, a large judging panel indeed would be needed to vote highest and lowest INDEPENDENTLY without fights breaking out or too much time exhausted. Simply, there would be TOO MANY good dished to probably be deemed "reality show"-worthy. Tis a pity.

[Independent George]

At the very least, those would be the ideal parameters once you're down to 8 contestants or fewer - or, the last 4 episodes leading to the finals. I understand it's not practical to have 'everyone vs everyone' individual challenges early in the season, but I feel like the show is best served if the gimmicks diminish continually as the season progresses. Doubly so during an 'All-Stars' season.

[Dreamboat]

Richard made LF mayo on his SyFy pilot cooking show that aired last month. I am not sure if it was filmed before or after TC. In the episode, he made a Sous-vide burger with LF mayo and thise sheet of ketchup (it looked like a slice of red american cheese). The audience liked the ketchup and thought the mayo was cool. They were not fond of the actual burger because it was missing the texture and flavor you get from a grill.

[redpoint]

Sorry for faulty cookie attribution!

[Joanna]

Dom, I actually really like your list of characteristics of a "real" challenge, though I might call them "non-gimmicky" rather than "real." There are only 2 exceptions I'd make:

- A solo challenge is not something I inherently prefer, but I do think that each challenge should require that each chef makes his or her own dish. I liked the setup of restaurant wars better than the fishing challenge this season, for example. Also I'd be perfectly happy if the show never had a "you're all one big team" challenge ever again.

- Regarding "gotcha parameters" - I'm okay with these to a point, and I think that individual requirements have sometimes led to the most creative and interesting food. I keep thinking back to S6 with Kevin's deconstructed mole, or the challenge earlier this season where the chefs split up and went to different restaurants to compete in small groups. The Ma Peche group definitely had a different task than the WD-50 group, but they were both within reason. I do think the carnivore/herbivore museum challenge took this differentiation a little too far though.

[Independent George]

That's an interesting question on food trends.

I don't dine out as often as I wish I used to, but I have noticed a few distinct trends (in Chicago, at least):

1. Small plates instead of traditional courses.
2. Less formal, often casual, atmospheres, even for fine dining
3. House-made charcuterie

As it happens, I'm completely in favor of all three of those trends (though the small plates idea has been taken to some rather extreme lengths at places like this. The food is pretty good, but even the waitstaff finds the whole thing confusing.

I think southeast Asian flavors have also gotten pretty trendy. Where everything was once drizzled in balsamic, now I keep seeing everything being cooked with lemongrass and/or fish sauce.

[doktarr]

Dreamboat,

I saw those SyFy pilots, too, and while they're no longer on my DVR so I can't queue up contradicting language, my memory of why Richard lost that challenge is pretty far removed from yours. My impression was that Richard's sous-vide-then-blowtorched burger got very high marks from the diners for its texture, flavor, and juicyness. If he had just put those patties out and had made the rest of his burger identical to the classic one, he probably would have won. But he had so much other stuff going on (micro greens, gelled ketchup, etc) that it took the overall experience too far out of burger-dom for many of the diners.

The fried mayonnaise was probably the most successful of the nouveau toppings, though.

[Skillet Doux]

Because I'm too impatient to wait for Nom to respond, I'm going to go ahead and make the point.

Here's the spreadsheet.

It's a list of every elimination challenge in the first seven seasons, whether or not it's a "real" challenge according to those parameters, why it isn't if it isn't, and some stats. There are borderline calls, to be sure, but I think I put enough on either side of the fence that they'll hold up to scrutiny. Here's the take home:

Percentage of "real" challenges by season:

1) 25%
2) 36%
3) 25%
4) 17%
5) 33%
6) 25%
7) 33%

And I'll go you one further. Of the regular season eliminations over seven seasons, only 22 have been "real." Two-thirds of those are comprised of Restaurant Wars and the last episode before the finals, which has almost always been a "real" challenge. In short, if you take out the finals (because we're talking about what it takes to get there), and set aside the obvious episode before the finals and Restaurant Wars, only *TWELVE PERCENT* of the remaining challenges have been "real". Restaurant Wars and the final episode of the regular season aside, no season has featured more than two "real" challenges. Season 3 had none.

The point? What makes for a truer test of skill and creativity and what makes for better television is a great discussion (I find it interesting that arguably the most beloved season also featured the lowest number of "real" challenges by percentage). But I think it's important to realize that getting frustrated over there not being enough "real" challenges isn't wishing for what Top Chef used to be, it's wishing for an imaginary Top Chef that never was. To be clear, I'm completely guilty of this... perhaps less so than I used to be. But while some seasons have had some smarter, more interesting challenges, the number of "real" challenges has always been quite low. I suffer no illusions on that point.

[Dreamboat]

@doktarr, I also do not have the show on DVR so I am going on pure memory. And I am sure that I have skewed memory, just because humans have skewed memory. But I think we both agree that the LG mayo was a hit. :)

[jh]

For me, if you have too many "real" challenges that don't really push the chefs with enough constraints, then the show becomes really boring, and you don't get the chance to see the resourcefulness, creativity, and panic that I've come to enjoy. However, when the constraints start bordering on ridiculous and set the chef up to fail (no kitchen utensils, crazy time crunch, etc.) tend to be the challenges I grumble about. However, I am all for no gimmicks for the finales.

[twelden]

Wow, Dom!! I never cease to be impressed with the reason and research you bring to bear to make this blog such an enjoyable experience.

The concept of what is a "true" or "real" TC challenge has definitely been floating around the comments this season (and perhaps past seasons as well), and (taking your conclusion in a different direction) my biggest pet peeve (in the SD world) is when the accomplishments of chefs are dismissed or diminished because they win challenges that don't meet this amorphous idea. While it may be true that some challenges better reflect what chefs are asked to do in the finale, and while it may also be true that there is some corollary between how chefs perform in so-called "true" challenges and how they perform in the finale, I think the fixation with what is a "true" or "real" challenge misses the point, borne out by your research, that TC is essentially a game show where "compromised" or "constrained" or "gimmicky" challenges are the norm rather than the exception. (I am not saying this is good or bad - it just is). And playing the game well has to count for something, otherwise what is the point?

In other words, TC does not only test your ability to "cook the meal of your life" with minimal constraints, just like Jeopardy does not only test the contestants’ abilities to answer one question during Final Jeopardy (an admittedly strained analogy). That is not how this show is designed, and it never has been. Part of winning TC is the ability to survive every contrived gimmick or limitation the elves imagine in order to earn the chance to “cook the meal of your life.” That these chefs manage to do that and still produce food that the judges, for the most part, find satisfying (even at 3 a.m. in a Jersey Target) is commendable and should not, I think, be reflexively dismissed because it doesn't conform to some "ideal" concept of what a challenge should be.

[Independent George]

I'd draw a distinction between levels of 'gimmickry'.

Something like the improv challenge was exceedingly difficult, but not unfair. The chefs were given plenty of time to plan/prepare, a decent budget, and had no bizarre limitations on how to cook other than living up to the theme.

On the other hand, cooking with toaster ovens, suprise trips to a beach bonfire, $100 catering budgets, and 24-hour cooking marathons all leave a bad taste in my mouth. I can't come up with a formal set of criteria on what I'd consider a "real" challenge, other than a general sense of fair play. I don't like surprises, especially when the cooking situation is already iffy to start with (again, the surprise beach party immediately comes to mind; if I recall correctly, one of the better chefs got eliminated then, too).

To apply it to this season, I'd say Rao & Jimmy Fallon were perfectly fair challenges (especially because the chefs were given plenty of time & resources to plan, even if it didn't push the envelope of fine dining). Target, however, was iffier on account of the short time frame to both shop for ingredients and cooking tools. It wasn't the worst challenge, but I think it still falls on the 'bad' side of the equation. If they had portable cooktops set up for them at the start, they could still go sponsor-shopping for cookware & ingredients while giving them an opportunity to succeed.

[JimD]

Great post, IG. I was actually coming here to make somewhat the same point. There have been other gonzo challenges in past seasons that actually worked well.

Top go a step further - wouldn't it have been a much better promo for Target had the chefs been allowed to spend an hour shopping and planning (I could see a few good 'Hey, I didn't know they had this!' type video snippets)? They could have filmed this while the store was still open, similar to how they film the Whole Foods segments. The sleep deprivation aspect simply played a much bigger role in the challenage than it should have.

[Nikki L]

Yea, like I mentioned earlier, it's becoming really clear that the chefs just aren't thinking outside the box enough.

The Jimmy Fallon episode is a perfect example. I can think of 1,000 ways to make an awesome unique burger. There are so many different toppings and types of cheeses and combinations. He could have even tried changing up the fries by doing seasoned fries instead of regular. So many opportunities to be creative! That's why I love Carla's win on this one. She had a chicken pot pie but she made it her own by having a lovely presentation, adding the pea salt and adding the crust on the bottom. She took her own spin on it while keeping it a classic dish.

The chefs just aren't being as creative as they could be. The reason every keeps saying they loved the episode in the 4 restaurants was because the chefs really stepped outside the box there. We know they can all do it, they're just not delivering the level that we expect from them.

[Anon man]

Two comments on the "real" challenge idea. While I think IG gets pretty close to the essence of the issue, I would point out that its not "Best Chef". While we as foodies would love each challenge to be "Make us the best thing ever, and make better than last week's best thing ever.", I don't thing many people would watch that show. So, short of jump out of this plane at 20,000 feet and land with a three course meal made with clouds, we have to accept that sometimes they go too far.

Also, I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss the group/team challenges. Working together is part of cooking, so I've heard. And, while sometimes we feel like a good chef gets dragged into the bottom because of his or her team, I'm having a hard time thinking of a time when a legit contender (an admittedly wishy-washy qualifier) got sent home for someone else's f-up. My recollection everyone owns up to their portion of a dish and if you did the part that they hated, see ya. (See, Jen Briestly and Stephanie and the orange cheese fiasco.)

[Skillet Doux]

Just for the record, I'm not saying I wish all or most of the challenges met these criteria. Though I get frustrated by the more stupid among them, I'm not even sure whether or not I wish more of the challenges met these criteria. I'm just trying to establish what the history of the show has been so it can be discussed as a question of what might theoretically be a more enjoyable show or better contest, not as a mistaken (I believe) argument over how the show has changed.

[nomnomnom]

I'm not saying every single episode should follow a "true" challenge. I like the wacky stuff in small does. This last 3 weeks has been the longest departure from a true challenge this late in a season that I can remember. To some extent you may be cutting me out of wiggle room. I do like a little variety that pushes them to not just pull something off their menu/rolodex. It's a fine line.

Some comments:

Solo challenge - Will issue a pass here for small teams where roles are clearly defined.

Reasonable timeframe - Sure. Though EC are rarely time constrained.

Normal kitchen facilities - Yes. Sometimes the facilities are even too much rather than too little. The hotel style kitchen seems to be a bridge too far sometimes which I don't really understand.

Reasonable ingredient restrictions - This is fairly rare for an EC, but sure. Cost restrictions are more common.
Served to a reasonable number of people (no catering... large dinner party or smaller) - 20-50 seems ok but this is very time dependent

Not ethnic-specific - Or at least let them "bend" the rules a bit here.

No possibility for some chefs to be singled out with gotcha parameters (no Chinese for you, Brazilian for me or Chicken for you, duck tongue for me) - I'll also allow a pass as long as it's not so narrow that you have to peel something out of joy of cooking just to get it by the goalie.

[nomnomnom]

I'm going to take a magnifying glass at S4 after tonight that's for sure.