Top Chef - S8E9 Power Rankings

I must say, one of the things I'm enjoying about this season is that if an episode is a little lackluster from a food standpoint, at least it's highly entertaining. At least that seems to be the case. Of course the food is what it's about here (mostly), and while this wasn't the wildest episode on that count, it wasn't without its charms.

A fun and straightforward quickfire, I thought, that gave the chefs plenty of room to stretch their wings if they were so inclined. In that sense, I guess I'm a little more disappointed with what they came up with than I am with the challenge itself.

Ditto the elimination, though I suspect they were warned not to stray *too* far from the original dish. Though I reject the notion that these challenges aren't showing us much about our chefs. I think there was plenty of room to maneuver on this one. Enough, anyway.

See, this is what happens when I wait until so late to do the rankings. When we have close to 250 comments on the episode, it feels like we've kind of already covered it all. Just wait. Two more seasons and I won't have to write a thing. I'll just post a title and the rankings will magically write themselves via the collective wisdom of Skillet Doux readers. Sweet.

Tough week to call. Really, really tough. Personally, I feel like five of the seven remaining chefs are capable of walking away with it. And nobody wants to run out in front and stay there. I'm already second guessing myself and I haven't even started yet.

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 Richard Quickfires 3 5 0 Last Week: 1 Eliminations 2 4 1 I don't feel especially good about this. I don't feel especially good about putting anybody in the top spot this week, and not because -- like some seasons past -- nobody deserves it. Rather, a bunch of people have looked quite strong, and all recently. I'm just finding it hard to say "this is the one." So I'm punting. And I feel justified in doing so for at least one week because when you look at all of the things that could be considered to distinguish between a crowd of very strong contestants, the one thing that jumps out is bottom appearances. There's a chasm between Richard and the rest of the crowd. When the others screw up, they screw up. When Richard screws up (with the exception of the team fish effort), he lands squarely in the middle, often with praise. Which is exactly what happened this week. Though it wasn't a universally-held opinion, Gail apparently thought Richard's ramen was great. And in the quickfire, he had a brilliantly creative idea that didn't quite land him in the top or bottom. And this is pretty much what constitutes a bad week. I said a few weeks ago that consistency might be especially important this season, and more than anybody else, Richard has it. But if he hangs in the middle again, there are three or four people who could shoot right by him with strong performances.

2 Carla Quickfires 0 2 3 Last Week: 5 Eliminations 3 6 1 One of those people is Carla, who's now the sole owner of the most elimination wins. The knock on Carla, for those who put her lower, seems to be that she's picking up wins in places that aren't as indicative of how she'd perform in the finale. And that may very well be the case. But to that, I say two things. First, as detailed above, the Power Rankings aren't purely predictive. That's a part of it, to be sure, but this is about current awesomeness. And Carla was really awesome. See: Earlier notes about how chefs routinely fail to execute challenges that they should rock. See: Understanding and nailing the challenge at hand. See: Overcoming a time crunch, when a lack of speed is often seen as one of her biggest weaknesses. See: Tom stuffing his face. Point being, to simply say that she got lucky is a big honking cop out. Second, and perhaps most importantly, I'm not so sure the conventional wisdom about what the judges expect from a Top Chef finalist still holds. A few seasons ago, I would have said Carla has no chance (come to think of it, I believe I did say that... and then she kept winning). I had my old adage about the formula for Top Chef success being technical mastery + creativity + a personal, definable style. And I still believe that. And though it was always sort of a given that there had to be some degree of wow factor in there, how doesn't Carla hit that profile? I don't think anybody has questioned her technical mastery since the Le Bernardin episode of season five. She makes her fair share of mistakes, but she's proven time and again that she can execute at a very, very high level. There's no question she rocks a very personal, definable style. In fact, it's frequently wielded as a cudgel against her. Creativity is the only part of the equation where there seems to be debate, and I'm in the camp that believes if your food is awesome, those creative choices need not be showy. And I think the judges have been taking that approach in their comments and judging lately. Does her food just not FEEL like Top Chef winning food to some? Is that really what we're hanging our hat on when we find ourselves hesitant to give her wins the same weight as some others? If anything, I'm starting to think that Top Chef is perfectly primed for a winner like Carla right now. The restaurant industry is certainly trending towards comforting, less showy food. Simplicity is something that Tom preaches constantly, and it's the way he usually works. Recent seasons have brought contestants that were wildly creative and incredibly successful with it, so it isn't as though anybody is going to be performing at a level we've never seen on the show before. So why not give the title to somebody who rocks warm, comforting, soulful flavors with unusual precision and just enough smart creative touches to make the dish hers? A few seasons ago, choke or no choke, I don't think the judges were ready to give the title to a chef like Carla. Now, I have a hunch they'd love to... if she can keep it up.

3 Angelo Quickfires 0 1 4 Last Week: 3 Eliminations 2 6 1 And Tom's reaction to Angelo's pulled pork is a perfect example of how he could easily take the title if he makes the finale. This is a recipe I'm really annoyed is missing. I'd love to see it. Of course, Angelo nailed a personal pet peeve of making really saucy pulled pork, but if you're going to drown pulled pork in sauce, you might as well do it with a sauce that's surprisingly creative and delicious. There's plenty of history behind working coffee into BBQ, and it's been suggested elsewhere (and correctly) that dill works its way into Vietnamese in all kinds of surprising (to us) ways, so you can see where it came from in his brain, but that doesn't make it any less impressive from a creative standpoint. I said Angelo needed a good week to get some momentum going again and hold onto his spot, and he delivered.

4 Dale Quickfires 3 4 2 Last Week: 2 Eliminations 2 5 2 Dale is lower than I'd like him to be, but I just don't have room any higher this week. The argument for keeping him high in the rankings -- and I'd like to emphasize it because I think it's a good one -- is that he's racked up a ton of wins, and based on the blog comments, one gets the impression that he was an "oops, there was salt on the pretzel roll" away from a win and a top appearance this week. The argument for dropping him like a stone is that he's been on the chopping block two weeks running. And while I think that doesn't lend a true sense of how he's been performing, it's tough not to ding somebody for it regardless of the circumstances. Without the broad base of strong competition, he might've hung on near the top. But the hits are just too evenly distributed this season. I wouldn't hesitate to sling him right back to the top spot with a big win or two and a little help from those above him.

5 Antonia Quickfires 1 2 2 Last Week: 4 Eliminations 1 4 4 Two top appearances and she drops a spot. It's crazy, I know, and I'd like to put her higher, but who drops down beneath her? It's the nature of the season that I feel like all of the top five deserve to be top three. I'll say it again, I feel like Antonia has found what I felt she was lacking her last time around. Her fondue was smart and creative. I'm bothered that she needed help with the tongue (especially since she'd just finished talking about how her mother was all about Jewish deli), and I really want to see that recipe, but it sounds like she did a really nice job with the dish. She doesn't have a lot of wins, and she's spent a lot of time on the bottom, but I think she's been a stronger competitor than the numbers suggest.

6 Mike Quickfires 1 3 3 Last Week: 6 Eliminations 0 2 2 And here we get to the two who, though talented chefs, I just don't see as having a shot at winning. Making the finals? Absolutely. But I think it would take an amazing confluence of events for Mike to bring home the title. His fondue seemed like a perfectly nice idea, which leads me to believe that the balance was probably off. And I really don't even have enough information to be speculating like that. Gail praised his sausage and peppers in her blog, which says to me that they most certainly weren't Fenway sausages, because the sausages I had at Fenway sucked. Sorry, Boston. (Your concessions still beat Wrigley. Faint praise.)

7 Tiffany Quickfires 0 0 5 Last Week: 8 Eliminations 0 3 4 Nothing to see here, Tiffany's still the dead woman walking. What's really astounding is that Tiffany has been on the bottom of more than half of the challenges, and nearly half of the eliminations, and has somehow managed to hang around. Even dearly departed Fabio can't boast that kind of record. I don't think she's a bad chef, I just think she's outclassed here, and probably running on fumes. One tangent is that Tiffany's chicken and dumplings has given rise to the same mini-controversy as Tre's risotto. "Who cares if it wasn't 'proper'... did it taste good?" The judges are being called out in some corners for inconsistency. And I agree, they're not consistent. But that's because the challenges aren't consistent. Too traditional for one challenge could be too wild for another, and I don't think it's fair to use their words in one context against them in another context. I say there's no there there. It seems clear that they didn't want the chefs to stray too far from the original dish. Though we don't know for sure, I strongly suspect that this was made clear to the chefs. Even Tiffany seemed to acknowledge that she might get herself in trouble by pushing it too far. Move along. Nothing to see here.

8 Fabio Quickfires 0 1 4 Last Week: 7 Eliminations 0 5 4 It's been suggested that Fabio's Italian focus isn't as big a liability as his cultural disconnect with the judges (Nom? Others?), and I think that's quite astute. I also wonder if it's partly why Elia, though she went far in season two, never quite seemed to connect with the judges. In any case, this is exactly the kind of challenge that could easily trip Fabio. Comfort food is all about expectations, traditions and cultural norms. If you want to elevate a burger, you have to really be in touch with the cultural context to know which aspects you can play with and which aspects are sacrosanct. Fabio didn't understand the dire importance of the texture and juiciness of the patty because that simply isn't a part of his culinary lexicon. So this really was a minefield for him, and it's one where I wonder if the judges might not have been a little understanding... until he blew the cheese sauce. I find Fabio endlessly entertaining. I'm sad to see him go. But it was time.

Three eliminations until the finals? Are they shaking things up this season? Either way, I don't think I've ever been as torn in two directions about whether or not I'm looking forward to next week.

WARNING : MINOR EPISODE TEN SPOILERS AHEAD

Cookies for cookie monster. Awesome beyond words.

Massive time crunch catering challenge at a Target. Rage building.

Three people doing the same thing usually means one of them goes home. And only one of them wouldn't suck.

It's been a season relatively free of the total BS challenges like this. Time to take our medicine.

Discuss!

Comments

[Angie]

Have to agree - any of the top 5 could win it all, and deservedly so. A couple of quick observations regarding the upcoming episode :

The Target tie-in looks to be a minefield of potential problems - hopefully, no one will go home courtesy of having to deal with a gimmicky product placement issue.

Carla and the Muppets - how perfect is that !

And, continuing the Muppets theme; at JT, instead of PPYKAG, will Padma be saying, "One of these things is not like the others" ?

[lb]

I've read that the commercials about this week's show say that the upcoming elimination is surprising or shocking (not quite sure which word was used). That could mean a lot of things but the most obvious conclusion is to look for one of your top five to be dismissed this week.

If I were a betting woman...but I'm not. Too difficult to tell. But there's often some random results in challenges like the Target one.

[Bart]

I kind of like these wacky Target challenges...with the caveat that they happen early in a season. It's nice to see the producers taunt the contestants, "Oh, you like food? You like fancy schmancy things like ovens? Well, guess what, you're not getting either! Go to Target and make me a five-course meal!"

I think those sorts of challenges are hilarious and really test the creativity and ingenuity of the contestants. But again, I much prefer them to happen earlier in the season so that we don't feel pained when a legit contender gets screwed up because he couldn't use a curling iron to make risotto. Or something.

Anyway, I'm speculating on the nature of the Target challenge, but that's what it looks like is going to happen, based on my best guess.

And Muppets = awesome.

Rankings look great. I hope someone passes along your rankings to all the other dopey sites that have Carla at or near the bottom.

I'm looking forward to tonight!

[rab01]

lb - Bravo's promo monkeys have no clue who are the best chefs in the competition nor do they need any basis to claim something is surprising or shocking. It's not like they're going to say "tune in for an entirely predictable elimination." That said, "surprising" could also cover a non-elimination week, which has really been pretty rare throughout the show's run ....

[Alamos Road]

"A few seasons ago, . . . I don't think the judges were ready to give the title to a chef like Carla."

I think the judges were ready, but Carla wasn't. And that's why she succombed to Casey's insistence that she "elevate" her menu -- which was plenty elevated already.

One (of many, but I'll spare us all) quibble with the rankings: Angelo has a better showing than Richard in the Elimination challenges, and on that basis I'd have Carla first and Angelo second. But that's because I assign very little predictive value to the Quickfires (particularly this season's).

[redpoint]

I was going to place Richard 5th in the pack, because his food hasn't made me salivate, and I am completely done with his quick-freezing bag of tricks, which is up there with foam and wheehouses with me at this point BUT Dom makes a great point about Richard's consistency in not screwing up. Thus, he could easily make it into the top 3 . . . but to actually win it, I'd give him 1:3 odds.

[matthew]

Dom - I think you make a great observation about Richard's consistency that really does seem to separate him from the rest. With that said, I think Antonia is probably right up there with him, though. It unnerves me a bit, though, because it's tough to be consistent when you're cooking in different environments from challenge to challenge. Nevertheless, I think it's the ability to think quickly on your feet to adapt to the various cooking environments that helps a chef be successful. I am actually concerned about Carla in this challenge, because she likes to layer flavors (read: it takes her some time to pull things together). Carla actually works very quickly and cleanly, but it's her rather slow development the dish's flavor that often is her undoing on speed challenges. I think that's thing about so-called comfort food that's being prepared on the show. It's not just stuff thrown on a plate. There's a lot going on, but that can work against you when the clock is ticking. That's why I think chefs used to banging out food on the line do better in certain challenges than, say Carla, who usually has time to do prep and develop her dishes over the course of a day or two for a job.

[timothy]

Yeah. I also have some weird nervousness for Carla tonight. Isn't there some precedence for chefs winning one episode, then being eliminated next? Am I remembering correctly or am I thinking of Project Runway? Eventually reality competition shows blend together in my addled brain. But I digress...the rankings look great. I think Antonia is probably too low, but I don't know who she should supplant. I think after tonight we will know more about the top five. Looking forward to the episode with a little trepidation...

[lb]

I agree rab01. The promos are incredibly misleading. But I just noticed on another forum that it was phrased as the elimination is shocking to the other contestants. I've never heard a promo being phrased like that so I am doubting it's veracity. But if it is true, I can really only think of one elimination that would shock the others.

[Skillet Doux]

"Isn't there some precedence for chefs winning one episode, then being eliminated next? Am I remembering correctly or am I thinking of Project Runway?"

Either you're thinking of another show, or it's a false impression. I started taking notes in season four. So in four and a half seasons, it's only happened twice. Arnold won the EC in episode three and went home in episode four last season, and Fabio won the EC in the final regular episode of season five before going down in part one of the finale. Hardly seems like a significant number.

[twelden]

Excellent rankings, Dom, and a very thoughtful discussion of "the Carla controversy". I personally wouldn't rank Richard first. Though I am a Blais fan, he has not really had an individual "wow" moment since E1, when he got DQ'd (though IMO he rightly received significant praise for his overall work in RW), and I do not necessarily feel that consistency is enough to overcome this fact. Query - anyone think that the early timing misstep got inside Richard's admittedly overly-analytical brain and knocked him off his game a bit?

Like almost everyone on this blog, I am nervous and a bit annoyed about what could come out of an episode built around cooking at Target. That said, the tension created by these late-season episodes are one of the main reasons I enjoy TC so much – gimmicky as the EC may be, all of the chefs will face the same obstacles (presumably), and so the pressure is on for them to simply perform. I look forward to seeing which ones seize the moment, and which ones falter.

And, completely unrelated to TC, for the Muppet fans on this blog, do yourself a favor and check out Muppet Wiki (http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Muppet_Wiki). Memories and laughter are guaranteed!!

[matthew]

@twelden - I don't think the timer issue got into Richard's head. I honestly believe Richard looks at Top Chef as a marathon and not a sprint. Hence, his comment last week about Carla's win. He said the only win that counts is the last one. He's a competitor.

You raise a very good point about the EC challenge. Gimmicky or not, everyone is faced with the same obstacles. Chefs can call the limitations or settings BS, but there are always a few that whip up something creative and tasty. Again, I feel this is shaping up to be another race to the bottom episode. I'm nervously awaiting the "shocker."

[Anon Man]

I'm with Matthew and the others that Antonia needs to be higher, and certainly above Dale. I know you're a Dale fan, but I think here, not putting Dale below Antonia (even with the QF win) is kind of a cop out.

Your obit for Fabio is spot on. Fabio looked at a burger as ground meat in a patty, which there are numerous variations worldwide. We look at a burger as ground and slightly rare meat, etc.

As for tonight, the previews do look somewhat bad for team Hootie, but my reading is the previews are teeing up one of the other soup makers to take an exit.

[Skillet Doux]

Anon Man... I'll happily defend Dale over Antonia.

If you're a strict numbers person, it's not even a question. Dale has more than twice as many wins... double the eliminations and triple the quickfires. He has the same amount of bottom appearances for QFs, but has been on the chopping block only half as often.

Quality of wins? Three of Dale's wins were solo, and I think they've all looked like strong dishes. One of Antonia's wins was for the much maligned mussels, and the other was for a group dish... with Dale.

Quality of chopping block appearances? Dale had one clunker, and one salt oops on what everybody seemed to agree was an otherwise strong dish. One of Antonia's was due to her teammates, one might have been, and the other two were technical screwups... overreduced, salty sauce and undercooked frittatas.

Wow factor? Have any of Antonia's dishes elicited the kind of reaction that Dale's ramen did?

Antonia should probably be higher if you're only looking at the last two episodes as a snapshot. And I agree and said so myself, I'd like Antonia to be higher. But unless you take a very hardline "what have you done for me lately" approach, I don't see the argument for putting her ahead of him. I looked at it and looked at it and couldn't figure out who I could justify dropping below her.

Let me turn it on you... in what way has Antonia outperformed Dale that outweighs these factors in his favor?

[nomnomnom]

Target in most places is a fully functional grocery store. I don't think the limitation on ingredients will be an issue more than the equipment. Many would argue you get better product in Target than Whole Foods.

At least this isn't the Paula Deen week. I got her episode confused and figured she'd cross promote her cooking line with target or something else gag worthy. That doesn't appear to be the case here.

[Skillet Doux]

Nom... the only ones I've seen don't do fresh protein or produce. But I understand that's changing? If so, you'd think they'd be promoting the rollout of those that do.

[Nsam]

Oh God, Paula Deen, I'd succeeded in blocking that out of my mind. So we have that crap episode to look forward to, probably pretty soon.

I love TC and, contrary to some of the naysayers about this season, am enjoying this All-Star season a lot. But Paula Deen -- isn't that perilously close to jumping the shark? Or will that officially happen when Rachael Ray shows up on the show?

[mncharm]

Don't know what the Targets in the NYC area are like, but here in Target HQ land we do have fresh meat and produce in the Target stores...although I would not put in on par with Whole Foods. It beats out the discount grocery stores around here, but not the upscale stores.

[bryanD]

I just want see if Bourdain shows up for this episode, and if he does, will he follow in the noble footsteps of Arthur Godfrey, Alfred Hitchcock, Steve Allen, David Letterman, et al, and publicly tweak the sponsor and its synergistic carpetbombing run over women and children and other trusting viewers. OR will Bourdain assume his NoReservations:Cambodia face of gobsmacked cow-eyed silence?
Or will he just bail on Episode 10?

As for the preview: I am assuming that Carla's "curried apple soup and apple slaw" will not contain her whole food offering to the American people since Carla does not strike me as unreasonable, which apples 2-ways IS. I have faith she WILL get that protein she's TALKING about as the smell of Dale's sizzling pepper beef wafts way up there where she is---if not before.
Dale: SAFE. Carla: NOT SAFE.

Carla DOES have Angelo's improvisational spice-throwing proclivities exhibiting themselves in an odd way in previews. So she has THAT going for her!
ANGELO:NOT SAFE

[Alamos Road]

If you're discounting Antonia's "group" wins, shouldn't you do the same for Richard's? 4 out of 5 (2 out of 3 QF and 2 out of 2 elimination) of Richard's wins were group wins.

[Anon Man]

That's a fair defense. I guess that I would base my defense of Antonia as follows: 1) The mussels were not much maligned by those who ate them. 2) Her EC bottoms were: Fritata Team (with Tiffany) RW (Team Marcel), Black Hammer (Jamie and Taffini) and one that escapes me. When she cooks her own thing, then she's been completely consistent and usually near the top. Dale has been all over the map even by himself.

You say it isn't just numbers and it isn't just predictive sense and it isn't just consistency. On numbers, sure I would give Dale the nod. But on consistency and recent trends, I have to give the nod to Antonia.

And, to discount Dale's wins in the ECs a bit: one included the terrible dim sum challenge that was in his wheelh- er, sweet spot, at least compared to the other competitors.

[Cousin Sam]

Dom, back here in your hometown they've been rolling out the produce and protein at Target for a while now. It's at least on par with what you'd get at Jewel or Dominicks. :)

[Independent George]

Yup; I use the one in Uptown, near the Vietnamese grocery stores. The selection is limited, but the quality is actually pretty good, but not great.

[Skillet Doux]

"If you're discounting Antonia's 'group' wins..."

Most definitely not. Just putting the fact up there as a data point to consider. And to reiterate, it's a single group win... with Dale.

[Natalie]

In my part of Georgia, about 1/3 of the local Targets are protein/produce carriers; the oldest has been there maybe 6-7 years. It's not Whole Foods or even a better-than-decent grocery store, but you could work with it.

[Skillet Doux]

Anon Man...

On the mussels, I wrote that poorly. I didn't mean to suggest that the mussels weren't great. I was simply using "much maligned" as an identifier. But the implied point is that if you throw out her group win with Dale, since they were both on the same time and it's difficult to separate the value of their contributions to the dish, her only win in nine episodes is for steamed mussels. A win that, unlike some, I don't deny her for a moment. But as solid as she's been, she's going to need to do a lot more than that. Not to mention which, if you're going to devalue/discount Dale's dim sum win for being in his sweet spot, I think you have to do the same with Antonia's mussels... leaving her with nothing.

On her EC bottoms you mention, I throw out black hammer. We know she had a great dish that could have potentially been a winner. The other two, however, though they were group losses, we know the problems were a direct consequence of her work. She was cooking the fritattas. She was overreducing the sauce. They may have been team losses, but they were unquestionably her mistakes.

If you break out only purely solo challenges -- which I think shortchanges Dale since it rather arbitrarily yanks out three of his top or winning dishes that were solo dishes made while on a team -- then I'd say yes, Antonia has been a little more consistently good, and Dale has been a little more hot and cold (higher peaks, lower valleys). But if that and the fact that she's been a little stronger the last two episodes are the total case for her against Dale in a Power Rankings context, I don't think it's a strong one.

I really don't like arguing against Antonia. I'll say it again, I like her a lot this season and I see her at five and shake my head. But *if* somebody deserves to be lower, I really don't feel it should be Dale. Not this week.

[Anon man]

I don't really disagree with this, Dom. But, I would argue her ragout over-reduction was a direct result of the chaos under Chef Marcel and less about her own failings. Sure, she has to own her own dish, but everyone failed in the Marcel kitchen which almost everyone attributes in no small part to his failings as a leader.

The frittata one, I'll give you. She muffed that and blamed the poor catering oven. But, Dale's Kitchen-Aid pasta looked like something my three year old might do, and he can't really blame the equipment for the dough.

[bryanD]

nomnomnom, mncharm, cousin sam, independent george, natalie! Any Target food shoppers!

Does Target use preservatives on their fresh meats, a'la Homeland/Safeway and Wal-Mart?
You know: the taste is "off"; baking chicken smells like one of those free turkeys-in-lieu-of-bonus; "won't buy meat there again!", etc. Inquiring minds.

[Kenny]

This wacky challenge is one I'd also rather see earlier in a season. But, it's a reality TV show working with sponsors, and not PBS. So it is what it is... may the best chef win! (It's difficult to imagine that happening tonight given the scenario, and there is a lot of talent there to be called the best anyway... I'll just shut up now and go and get ready for the episode.)