Top Chef - S9E8 Postmortem

All right, that's it. If the chefs are going back to their roots, so am I. Screw the numbers. It's time to go with the gut and the good old three ingredient recipe to Top Chef success. Time for a reboot.

I can't say it was one of my favorite episodes, but one of the better ones this season and a satisfying end. And... wait... is that... *squint*... a small leader pack starting to separate a bit? It's still a mess at the bottom. But some favorites are starting to emerge. Other than Paul, of course.

A couple of quick housekeeping issues. First, unless I'm mistaken, it looks like there's no episode next week. So the E8 rankings will show up... sometime before the 4th. Second, I'm not going to be able to do the rankings for E10 due to some travel coming up, so let's have a little fun with this. Anybody want to do the rankings for a week? If you're interested, once E9 airs, drop me a little snippet of what you would have written. No need to do the whole thing... maybe an intro and a chef or two. Whatever. I'll pick one I like and turn over the keys for the following week.

Discuss!

Comments

[attheapollo]

QF: way too gimmicky and cutesy, but it did make for some interesting dishes. kudos to the chefs for rolling with the twists.

As for the elimination: ding, dong.

[Canuck]

Hallelujah. So satisfying to see Heather go down.

[Anne]

Poor Dom.

[Anon Man]

And in the frozen land of Mordor, they ate Robin's minstrels. And there was much rejoicing. Commence rejoicing.

I'm drinking and packing for a trip, so I'll leave it at: Sara can feed me a burrata filled squash blossom anytime.

[helaine]

I agree that the quickfire was more annoying than anything - is that really the best that came from the tweets?

I really enjoyed the elimination challenge and it seems like the personal component helped the chefs maximize (as it often has in prior seasons as well). i really wish they had talked more about Ed's dish and what made it so fantastic. I don't doubt that something vegetarian and "straightforward" can be, but i'm hoping the recipe provides some insight into the particulars.

While i'm certainly glad that Heather is gone, i was surprised that they didn't eliminate Grayson. I could have total hindsight bias, but my memory is that past seasons the judges often axed the failure of imagination over the failure of execution. But, i could be totally wrong. it just seemed that, from the edits, Grayson's dish didn't taste particularly good on top of the fact that it was not at all interesting/innovative.

i'm sure no one else is at all interested in how they decide who is driving the cars, but i'm pretty sure Heather and Ty-lor both drove the jaunt to Dallas as well (don't remember the 3rd car). Random and insignificant, I know, but the brain wants to know what the brain wants to know.

Lastly, Ty-lor's "backstory" gets more interesting every week!

Happy holidays to all (at least all who are celebrating a holiday around now)!

[KinderJ]

Some really great food cooked in this ep. So much less drama, so much more food! And yes, Karma really was on a fast spin cycle here...

Oh, and 30K for Paul! Good God! He has already won, what? a quarter of the grand prize? Geebus. I dunno what that car retailed for, but I'm betting its less than 30K... man is a beast! Also good to see Edward really stepping it up. Talk about putting your soul on a plate in the elimination challenge. I could feel that dish through the tv, like the heat off a lightbulb. Touching.

[garik16]

Am I the only one who suspects that this was one of those eliminations where they used this challenge because they wanted to see the chefs impress them after having a very disappointing season so far? (We saw that at one point in season....i think 5, after a Christmas episode). Because this was a really open EC that made for some nice dishes. I got the feeling Paul's dish would've made top 3 except there were numerous top dishes.

[doktarr]

I liked the first two quickfire parameters. The third one was crap, though. C'mon, Tom... you're supposed to pick the good ones.

Nice elimination challenge in every sense, and it sounds like there were two dishes (Paul's and Tylor's) that could have been on the top as well.

Hugh's blog is gold.

[Dreamboat]

This week had some memorable gems. First there is Bev foreshadowing Heather’s demise by talking about Karma. Then there is the nickname of Malibu Chris – LOL. There is TyLor just quietly being a gentlemen – my respect for him as a person is growing leaps and bounds. Patti LeBelle calling Heather’s meat Big Foot, HA!

But my all time favorite is Tom giving Heather the smack down about the pressure cooker. Something like: Beverly used a pressure cooker and she is not here.

I had a feeling that Heather might go down when she said she wanted to make Beef Stroganoff and then bought rib eye. I thought she would do a deconstructed stroganoff or a play on it. But as a chef, she should have known better than to make a strait stroganoff with that cut of meat.

Malibu Chris was once again called out for throwing everything on the plate and hoping something sticks. He needs to get his act together.

Grayson made poor decisions, from the concept of the dish to the quality of the meat.

I am loving Ed right now. He said his dish was basically rice and egg on a plate with vegetables. But it clearly was so much more than that. I would have loved to eat it.

Bev got redemption.

And Sarah now has clearly earned the title of Sausage Queen of Chicago!

[garik16]

Oh best part of the quickfire - Ty-Lor "I gave him the because it adds spice and you can use that with anything." Ed: "Goddamn it Ty-Lor, I can't use this with anything!"

[Kathy from Austin]

Great quickfire, very interesting throwing the monkey wrenches in the tweet requirements.

Once again Paul showed best (bias here). Of all the Chefs he seems to do the finest job of incorporating seemingly disparate ingredients and making them shine as a whole. When we eat at Uchi and Uchiko, it is understood that you compile everything on the plate into a single bite to get the full flavor. It nearly always works to perfection.

Also, I appreciate Paul's demeanor. He demonstrates a quiet leadership and commands the respect of the others in the kitchen and in decision-making. Notice the last challenge with the team choosing the 3 teams for elimination. He began the conversation in the stew room in a very professional way. Also, and to her credit, Sarah was very concerned about Paul's elimination more so than her own. He simply holds respect amongst his peers and judges.

Random thoughts:

I think Grayson is gone, unfortunately. She understands the game, is smart but is simply in over her head from a culinary standpoint.

Ed is ascendant. He has some very good instincts and is a good cook.

Chris MOTO did much better tonight. I hope he has learned his lesson about efforts vs results. I truly have high hopes for him.

Ty-Lor continues to be a team player and someone to watch. Who knew???

Sarah seems like a very decent person as well as a talented chef. Thinking tonight once again how inspired Dom's rankings always are.

Heather: Karma is a bitch.

Beverly is still too fragile for this competition. She will implode, IMO.

I must say that so far I love this season and like the competition and competitors very much.

[Scott]

I'm not going to lie, i was saying to myself, don't get ahead of yourself scott, don't get too excited

THEN IT HAPPENED

[ally]

@Scott - HUH?

Liked this episode. The quickfire probably seemed like a good idea, but it was sort of lame, although the dishes looked generally nice. We actually got to see each of them cooking, so it's true the field is narrow enough for us to see them more clearly.

Instant Karma for Heather - yay!

Mr. Moto still leaves me cold. His quickfire dish was lame. He doesn't seem to season with anything other than salt and pepper. His gimmick for the EC was to make a mini-steak dinner, and the only original part (the sauce) they didn't like.

I think Beverly seems tougher than many others do. I'm rooting for her.

And .. everything that people feared about Grayson seems to be true.

[JohnCoctostan]

At the end I thought that Grayson might go for a lack of execution and imagination. But looking back, Heather's EC dish got the only truly awful comments, including Emeril comparing it to *bad* hotel food.

[Anne]

Also, as the resident vegetarian, I'm thrilled that Ed was on top for a vegetarian dish! A real, complete meal, not the ridiculous sides the chefs made in the Four Horseman season.

[EdT.]

I must say that the ending of this episode was entirely satisfying. I can just imagine how Heather felt when, after hearing Tom mention the fact that Bev used a pressure cooker (for the first time?) and was not at JT, she then had to hear Bev's name being called to the *winning* JT. Now, I just hope that Nyesha gave Heather a good whuppin' in the LCK...

As to the food: I so badly wanted to eat all three of those winning dishes. And, I am so going to make a beeline for the Houston Uchi, as soon as I can after it opens.

~EdT.

[nomnomnom]

Yeah, I was really curious what Dom saw in grayson. I know he I think by default places the off chef(s) as the lowest, but I couldn't think of a good reason to put her any higher than any chef in this competition. She's way overmatched even in this mediocre group of chefs and already has thrown in the towel. The very definition of dead weight.

So they get to actually feature one of Texas' crown jewels next episode. That is a nice change for once this season.

[narshkite]

We love bibimbop in our house and eat it at least once a week (shout out to So Kong Dong Soon in the ATL!). It was a great pleasure to see the dish made so well. Just rice vegetables and eggs indeed. You are too humble Edward.

Loved this elimination! I too was shocked when Heather bought ribeye. For braising? I am an adequte home cook, and even I knew she was doomed when I saw that. Seeing her lose was such a pleasure. She was not just nasty in the last episode. She is the snarky, petulant, gossipy bitch every week. Remember how mean she was about the cooked shrimp (which was a huge issue, but...) she was nasty in a way I have rarely seen since high school. Behavior like that is as much an indicator of incompetence as a chef as not cooking well. Leaders don't whisper in corners and eye people meaningfully as they take out their frustrations over not getting asked to the school dance on others. I got the impression Tom feels the same both due to his Beverly comment re pessure cookers and also since it appeared Grayson should have been chopped on food alone.

[Skillet Doux]

Nom x 3... Not much. But when somebody keeps getting top mention almost every week in a group that's wildly inconsistent, I feel kind of hamstrung.

[Redpoint]

Narshkite, it seemed to me by the judge's comments that Heather's food was much more unpleasant than Grayson's. Tom seems to take seriously the idea that the judging is all about the food, nothing about the drama.

[rab01]

I think Tom liked Heather about as much of the rest us did. His blog is up and he pulls no punches about Heather's dish. He makes it damn clear that it wasn't even close:

"The only reason Grayson didn’t get sent home was that Heather’s dish was so bad. And Heather’s was so bad because she had the wrong cut of meat. You want to braise cuts like shoulders, shanks and bellies, because they have a lot of collagen and connecting tissue that breaks down as it’s braised, creating a rich dish. You don’t want to braise cuts of meat like strip steak or rib eye or tenderloin. Heather could have braised that piece of meat for three days, and it would never have worked. As with Grayson, Heather needed to apply her creativity as a chef to the situation she faced: if she was inspired by her mom’s Beef Stroganoff, she could either have bought the right meat or decided to do a take-off on the Stroganoff using that beef and applying in a new way the flavors found in a Stroganoff, but she didn’t do either, and so what she did do wound up dried out and terrible. Chris J. knew that he had cooked his salmon too hard, but luckily, as with Grayson’s dish, his wasn’t the worst of the worst. Heather’s miserable Stroganoff spared Grayson and Chris the need to pack their knives."

[Bob]

Not sure I buy Beverly's claim that she never used a pressure cooker before the show. Would you go into this competition without practicing with one beforehand? I'd say it's an essential tool for any of these cooking contests where time is such a critical component. Saw an episode of Iron Chef once where Bobby Flay had three of them going.

Still waiting for a chef to crank up a microwave oven. The horror! (Actually, Cordon Bleu probably doesn't have any in its kitchens.)

As a former Wisconsonian, I have to take issue with Grayson over her comments regarding portion size. That's not the reason we're all so fat, but rather, it's because we put dairy products in everything. And, I mean, everything. I took a friend (from California) to Wis for Easter dinner one year, and she noted how every single dish featured a dairy product, (besides butter, of course). Margarine used to be banned in the state, and I had relatives that would make "oleo runs" to Michigan.

Is it just me, or is Emeril getting a bit edgier? Still no Bourdain certainly, but more willing to zing someone than he has been in the past.

[Skillet Doux]

"Not sure I buy Beverly's claim that she never used a pressure cooker before the show. Would you go into this competition without practicing with one beforehand?"

And yet, every single season there's somebody who's baffled by the pressure cooker.

[TxGriff]

I thought this was a very satisfying episode. Good looking (and interesting) food, minimal drama and the least likable contestant was eliminated. Plus, after a slow start, some of the chefs seem to be finding their footing. No complaints.

[Paula]

Getting booted out this early is probably the best thing to happen for Heather's career. Now, instead of continuing to live in the national spotlight as a bully (and adding more fuel to that fire every week), she can theoretically lay low until everyone inevitably forgets about her and loses interest in that drama. I wonder if she'll make the most out of this opportunity.

I like how in the twitter challenge, when told to give another chef an ingredient to incorporate, they all just grabbed whatever and handed it off. Much to the Elves' dismay, I'm sure, no one took the bait and tried to screw over another contestant.

[Libster]

I keep writing comments that error out and don't show up. lets hope this one sticks.

I'm so happy to see some seperation between the top and the rest of the pack. My personal rankings went
Top 3 being Paul, Sarah, Ed and my bottom rankings were Chris J, Chris Crary and Greyson. But at no point did I think Heather would crash and burn this early. and Bev in my rankings just missed the bottom 3 for looking like she's ready to throw in the towel.

I was happy to see Bev get some praise maybe with Heather gone, and a little push from being in the top she will revitalize.

Greyson had a shakey start almost not making it to the top 16. I think her game play and smart decent dishes kept her in the competition and even gave her some praise in a season where so many were playing it too safe. Now that the other chefs are stepping it up the once praised Greyson is still doing what she was doing from the start. She's young and maybe needs a little more growth. I think this competition is good inspiration for her. Even though she may be next to go.

I'm glad Chris J didn't try to make a scupture of his grandma out of a sweet potato.

Loved the Malibu Chris Comment.

[TokenOmnivore]

Enquiring minds want to know: If the shooting was so secret, who were they Twittering with?

While I love me some Miss Patty Labelle, I was also a bit confused why they thought they needed to fly a performer into Austin. I wished they'd taken the opportunity to showcase a local musician. Uh, even though many Austin musicians have been priced out we still have a bunch. And many can cook. Then when it looked like Miss L is a friend of Emeril it make more sense to me.

I'm surprised that Whole Foods didn't get them to push more "store porn" for their flagship store. While the shopping cart escalator is technically cool, the best parts of the store are the food stations. [The winter-time popup ice rink was obviously not present. -- For those outside of Austin, it's rarely below freezing here for more than a day or two at a time. The thought of an outdoor ice rink here is ridiculous. So Whole Foods was crazy enough to make it work.]

All in all, I'm happy that the introduction to Austin focused on the food. Go Paul!

As for the upcoming BBQ challenge, I'm surprised they only needed one ambulance. I'd have guessed more folks would have passed out from the daytime heat. I know my grill didn't get much use this last summer.

[Nigel from Cameroon]

The quikfire was just dumb, but to the show's credit they recognized its contrivance and did not offer immunity.

The Cow is gone, hurray!!

Seems a shame to go to Austin and the best musical-type guest they can come up with is Patti LeBelle. When was the last time she was relevant?

[rab01]

"All right, that's it. If the chefs are going back to their roots, so am I. Screw the numbers."

Dom -- Do you think that the rankings have moved around so much because you started after seeing the first challenge rather than with a pure preseason ranking?
I suspect that Edward would have been in your top 3 if he hadn't been bubbled. Then, the only change to your top-4 would have been Moto Chris sliding out of it, which you would have foreshadowed by a warning as to how unimpressed you personally are with the place.

On a separate note, I don't see the weakness or lack of desire that others see in Beverly. Granted, she is not loud or assertive in team challenges and she had a weird crying moment after the chili challenge ... but she then went on to kick Keith's and Nyesha's butts in the cook-off. She's the same person who is driven enough to write her name as winner of Top Chef and tape that up for all her competitors to see. Plus, the judges flat out love her cooking. With the general level of this competition, she might pack her knives next week but I would not be surprised to see her in the Finals (so long as she avoids being front of house or executive chef for Restaurant Wars).

[EdT.]

"Enquiring minds want to know: If the shooting was so secret, who were they Twittering with?"
-------------

My recollection is that the Top Chef Twitter account put out an inquiry along the lines of "What R Ur suggstns 4 a QuikFire?"

~EdT.

[attheapollo]

I remember the campaign they had earlier this summer regarding this quickfire! They were basically filtering through tweets and shouting out "twists" that the fans wanted to see to the chefs. It's creative and a very modern way to get the fans involved, but it ended up being more annoying than anything.

As for Dom's rankings two weeks from now, safe to say Paul, Sarah, and Ed will occupy the top spots. Chris J. is still my least favorite. He pretty much had the fourth-worst dish, and that was even without his usual fireworks.

[Bob]

More instant karma: check out Bev's recipe for the last EC. Yowsa!

http://www.bravotv.com/foodies/recipes/korean-braised-short-rib-with-edamame-scallion-puree-and-hon-shimeji-mushrooms

Two days to peel and devein shrimp, indeed!

What's next, a complete five-course tasting menu for a QF?

[Bart]

What a great episode. I concur with everyone else that the quickfire was pretty gimmicky... the elimination challenge I loved. I thought it was sweet, and really enjoyed it.

I totally got where Sarah was coming from, when she got emotional talking about her grandparents and cooking. That's how I feel with my mom, and I'm determined to squeeze every last ounce out of cooking knowledge and all those recipes from her. It's a beautiful way to honor someone's memory, and my mom does that with her mother's dishes.

Wowza - Beverly's dish was excellent looking. It was visually stunning. I don't think you can get much higher praise than what Tom said - that there was no unnecessary component. As a writer or film director, people are always told, "You stop editing when removing a single [word/frame] ruins the work." Good on Bev, and maybe she'll fare better without Heather.

Then again, she may have elevated her performance just to get back at Heather. Hate/anger can bring inspiration.

Looking forward to seeing the new rankings!

[jyaaah]

Until the end there, I thought it was actually nice that the Elves remembered Heather and Beverly are real people and talented chefs as opposed to mutually-if-not-evenly culpable caricatures in a tired Bully v. Victim reality TV construct.

Sad to see Heather go so soon, though I appreciate that it was her direct and decisive manner that appealed to me beforehand and it was an apparent lack thereof that got her sent home here. Happy to see Bev do so well because her food always looks unfamiliar to me ... and totally delicious.

Also glad to see Sarah get the win. Beyond that whole Quinceañera episode, she's been painted as gracious, likable, and dedicated. And her food looks (more or less) familiar to me ... and also totally delicious. I do hope the judges don't tire of that continent of Italy, though.

[Duffy]

I do not understand Heather's thinking on this at all. The recipes for stroganoff that I am familiar with call for the meat -- from tenderloin to ground beef -- to be sauteed quickly and then assembled with the other ingredients. The dish is not a braise that needs to by anywhere near a pressure cooker. Braising rib steaks?!? Why ??

Could be the quality was not what should have been expected. Both Heather and Grayson used rib-eyes -- and both wound up with complaints of meat that was tough and full of gristle. They are stuck with buying meat from the designated source -- how much of a problem is this, and is this something that they should have recognized at the time of purchase?

[Skillet Doux]

"Could be the quality was not what should have been expected."

On the nose. Heather's said elsewhere that after searing, it had a weird spongy texture, so she tried to switch to a braise to save it... unsuccessfully. And yes, Grayson had the same issue with the same meat.

[nomnomnom]

Yeah, I did notice they sort of threw whole foods under the bus a bit.

[gilmore]

Glad Heather is gone. Foreshadowed from the top with Beverly's karma comment.

We will find out if Heather is a real pain from how she interacts with those in the elimination house. Seems like they can build real camaraderie there as they are no longer competing with each other. The sole competitor is going against a newcomer.

Ed has always impressed me. Glad he is shining.

Paul and Ed both are coming off as real class acts. Seems like the remaining contestants are all nice people. How nice that the Lisa's of the world are not there.

[Duffy]

"Could be the quality was not what should have been expected."

Are these chefs trying to save money by using "select" grade grocery beef, without realizing the difference between this and choice or prime? I trust my butcher and always buy choice grade beef (restaurant grade prime is seldom available and **very** expensive when it is) and I am not sure I would know if a piece of meat was going to be tough or full of gristle before I cooked it. Should the chefs know this when they select their meat?

Also, the rim of meat around a grocer's rib-eye is full of fat and gristle and does cook up "spongy" -- or at least spongier than the center eye. I leave it on for flavor, but should this rim be trimmed off to just the eye for fine dining? -- especially where quantity is not important? I still don't understand braising to try to cure a "spongyness" texture

[doktarr]

1) Paul
2) Sarah
3) Ed

4) Tylor
5) Bev

6) MotoChris
7) Lindsey
8) Grayson
9) MalibuChris

[Libster]

Dokarr I have the exact same thing except I have Grayson last and Malibu Chris as 8th.

but really either one of 6-9 could be in the basement.

Good job.

[Vncntdl]

Doktarr: Agree with your list, except for symmetry sake I would place Moto Chris in a trio with Tylor and Bev as the middle pack – Moto Chris seems to me to have the chops to stick around, especially if he lays off the gimmicks (which he managed to do, more or less, for one episode; let's see if it lasts). Having said this, I still think positions 4-9 are all vulnerable to elimination – so even though I agree with Grayson and Malibu Chris at the bottom, I wouldn't be terribly surprised if they lasted beyond, for example, Tylor or Bev or Moto Chris or Lindsay.