Top Chef - S9E7 Last Chance Kitchen

Well, it's still early enough that I don't think anybody has a prayer of making it through the gantlet, But is there anybody (other than Whitney) who didn't want Nyesha to win that one? The moment she and Dakota were eliminated, I envisioned an LCK where Dakota either bowed out or helped Nyesha with hers and plated nothing. It was, perhaps, too much to hope for. And I'm not entirely sure what kind of reaction an offer of help from Dakota would have elicited at that point anyway. But all's well that ends well.

This post was entirely coincidental. I didn't watch LCK until this morning, and I'd actually done the stir fry a couple of days earlier. I am a little disappointed by the wok cookery on display. It's hard to tell from the split second cuts, but it seems as though Whitney was the only one who didn't just use it as a big, round pan. But hey, you've got 30 minutes... get a good dish out however you can. I've never worked with nopales myself, and it's an ingredient that always trips people up, so it's nice to see all three apparently doing a respectable job with it. Though Chuy's response when asked how they handled it was priceless.

Regarding the spoiler blackout on LCK, let's do this... if I can't get my act together to have it posted by noon PST on Friday, go crazy. That'll prod me to get it done on time as well. Having comments in the wrong thread makes me... antsy.

Discuss!

Comments

[Vncntdl]

"is there anybody (other than Whitney) who didn't want Nyesha to win that one?"

Totally agree with you, Dom. LCK seems to have been created especially for such a contestant as Nyesha. Her unfortunate elimination combined with her determination/enthusiasm when she realized that she had another chance, made her an immediate favorite – and unlike Whitney, I can see her going a long way (but perhaps not to the end). Too bad they didn't have this for Top Chef All-Stars – I bet Jen would have lasted for a while (until Angelo took it home).

[Duffy]

Absolutely agree that the LCK makes these "unfair" early eliminations much more tolerable -- and more tolerable to the bounced chef, too. The chefs get a chance, head to head, to show their stuff -- and when finally eliminated, subject to Tom's finicky tongue, it will be exclusively upon his or her head.

[attheapollo]

i love that tom is the only judge for lck. he knows flavors and he knows good technique enough to decipher the better dish between two (or best among three) chefs.

Vncntdl, totally agree that nyesha was made for the lck format. she will consistently execute at a high level, something i'm sure tom is partial to. in order to beat her, her opponent will have to do something above and beyond and i don't think she'll meet anyone until one or two lck challenges before they send the champion back to the main competition.

[Bart]

Thanks for the clarification on LCK spoilers, Dom.

Now that's out of the way: Hooray for Nyesha! I do think expecting Dakota to step aside to give Nyesha a chance is expecting a lot. I mean, yeah, she was responsible for Nyesha getting eliminated, but at the same time, if Nyesha can't beat Dakota 1v1 (or 1v1v1 as the case may be), then maybe her elimination wasn't that far off anyway.

Still, I do expect Nyesha to rock LCK for a little while. Unlike Chuy, who seemed like he could have surged his way into the top 8, Nyesha had the makings of a person who could make a run for the top 5. We'll see how long she can stick around, but I wouldn't be surprised if we see her for a few weeks more.

[*susan*]

I don't know why I have a soft spot for Nyesha, perhaps from watching her on Chef Hunter. No question I admire her quiet determination and insightful comments. So, pleased that she won the LCK.

However, none of the three chefs used a wok in a meaningful way at all. I saw no smoke puffing from the swirled oil. No tossing of ingredients around the very hot wok. I admit, in those circumstances, I wouldn't be trying to learn how to use a wok, but it was somehow a bit disappointing that none of them understood what the wok brought to the table.

There is some irony that the LCK challenge was about an "Asian" cooking vessel following one of the most bizarre and racist tirades we have ever seen on Top Chef.

[anne]

I love that they are continuing to have the peanut gallery, and I hope they keep it up. I would have loved to have more of it this episode--gladly watched another 45 seconds to hear Keith's commentary!

[Duffy]

As several have commented, I look forward to LCK almost as much as the main competition. This is a twist that I hope the Elves keep as a permanent addition, and would recommend to Bravo that they should consider franchising it into a separate spin-off. (Although in future competitions the surprise factor would, of course, be lost.)

[Courtenay]

You know what would be kind of awesome? If they let the Peanut Gallery design some of the LCK challenges.

[Dreamboat]

There is a lot I like about LCK that I like better than TC. There are no product placements, there are no gimmicks. Just the chefs, food, and Tom. And the peanut gallery :)

I get the feeling that LCK was Tom's idea and he insisted on a good bit of control over the challenges. I would not be surprised to see an expanded version (30 minutes) on TV next season.

[Independent George]

There is some irony that the LCK challenge was about an "Asian" cooking vessel following one of the most bizarre and racist tirades we have ever seen on Top Chef.

Hold on a second - let's just nip this Pandora's Box in the can of worms. I don't think anything Heather's said or done is racist in the least. It's narrow-minded and ignorant, yes, but there's a very wide gulf between that and racism, and I think it's terribly unfair to make any such charge due to the gravity of it.

The best analogue I can make is to the way I once viewed Italian food as being stuff drenched in red sauce and covered in a pound of gooey cheese. Not to say anything against red sauce & cheese, but it's a very, very limited view of an incredibly diverse culinary culture. Or, maybe a better comparison is to that chef in S4 who insisted to Rick Bayless that Mexican food was all about street food. It's not racist, it's just ignorant. As a professional chef, she should know better than that, but that's a matter of taste more than anything else.

[Anon Man]

George, an interesting analysis. Your comparison to red sauce Italian and seeing Mexican beyond a taco (although who doesn't love a good taco) are valid. But, there's also a personal attack element in Heather's rants. It might be racially motivated, it might not; who knows. But, there's no question Heather is not nice to Bev. That doesn't make her a racist, of course, it makes her several unflattering words. If she just said "Bev's a nice person but she always cooks 'Asian'", then that could be written off as food ignorance. Similarly, if she said "Bev cooks a wide array of food largely of Asian traditions, but she's slow and I don't think she's real good at it and she's annoying," then it's a professional critique and a personal dispute. But, for some reason, when you combine them all in one package, the "racism" card becomes part of the conversation. That probably isn't fair for some of the reasons you suggest, but it might also be that for her behavior, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

[Libster]

I'm trying here. Heather does not come off well to me and I even thought I did get a hint of racism when I watched the show. Upon further reflection it just isn't possible to gauge that and I'm not going to judge and accuse her.

I'm with George - Ignorant, narrow minded but we really can't tell more than that.

Perhaps she is high strung, and does use the confession edits to rant.

Also my guess is that Asian cuisine is so far away from what she does that she is actually afraid that it could send her home. Sometimes we are comparing apples and oranges.

Combine that with the fact the Both Bev and Heather has exhibited bossy behavior and of course you get bossy.

It doesn't speak well of her especially since we saw how Nyesha and Sarah handled themselves.

Now with that said:

Totally digging LCK, I love the simplicity of the show itself. Tom judging by himself is awesome, he seems to really enjoy it as well. He's always so smiley

[attheapollo]

IG, I want to believe that Heather's remarks didn't have any racial implications, but the condescending tone whenever she comments on Bev always doing "Asian" food is blood-boiling. I understand what you mean by being narrow-minded with "Italian" food or "Mexican" food, but if you had referred to it as "Caucasian" or "Spanish" food, that would be just as problematic.

For now, I'll deem her comments mean, ignorant, and thoughtless. However, she is toeing a fine line.

[doktarr]

I don't read racism into Heather's actions. I see a combination of two things:

1) Ignorance about the diversity of Asian cuisine, which is something we've seen from other chefs on this show. This isn't the first time we've heard the "(s)he only cooks asian" line.

2) CLASSIC dominating, bullying behavior - find the most fragile person around, and go after him or her. Heather is one of those people who needs to have someone to put down - it's just how she operates.

At least that's my read of the situation. We've all known people like that. Heather isn't hard on Bev because she's Korean - she's hard on Bev because it's easy to make Bev cry.

Anyway... LCK. My big disappointment was that we didn't get two survivors and one person eliminated. I would have really liked that - two survivors each round would have increased the chance of a long run.