Well then she should have tasted her food during preparation. Another mark against the liver mousse chick.
I dont think anyone is saying that she wasnt bad, but she wasnt nearly as bad as the hippy dude and his dessert.
I lol’d. She will be gone soon, for sure.
Another good challenge in concept with just terrible results tonight. Sherry chick should have been kicked. There were way too many ways that people were easily screwed over in the challenge.
But seriously, alcohol isn’t completely burned off during cooking, she really should have gone for that.
Not only that, but apparently her chicken was also terrible. IIRC, Tom described it as a “turd on a plate,” or something similar. She’ll be gone soon enough, no doubt.
OK - this is my first time watching Top Chef. Riddle me this:
There have been six competitions before this one. I assume some of the judges have been constant between them. More to the point, I’m guessing that all judges have the same tendencies in terms of what they like and don’t like.
How come none of the competitors have datamined this to come up with some sort of advantage? I’m thinking of taking every comment made by each and every judge, throwing them into one of those word cloud things, maybe attach some positive and negative data to each… Basically get some data-driven analysis of what the judges do and don’t like. From there it seems you can start tailoring your recipes to the judge’s tastes.
I’m watching the latest episode now. Sherry braised chicken thighs for kids? REALLY?
OK - here is me being confused about some rules. I’m assuming this is because I’ve never watched Top Chef before. Can folks clear this up:
- At first, it wasn’t clear to me that the loser would necessarily come from the losing team. e.g. there was no expectation set that this was being judged as a team competition; it seemed like it was going to be entirely based on individual stuff.
- Why did the four “losers” come from two different teams? This seemed to be entirely at odds with what was being said earlier by Kenny, with the whole 50/50 shot at being eliminated if their team lost thing. What gives here?
So far, as someone who’s never watched this show before: I’m kinda not impressed. The cooking is sorta neat (although chicken in a sherry jus for kids? Really?) but it seems like they play pretty fast and loose with the actual rules of the competitions.
The problem is that they don’t know beforehand who will be judging. Some judges (like Tom) are almost always there, but they make frequent use of guest judges as well (in this episode, the White House chef), and often the diners connected with the specific challenge (in this episode, the kids) get a vote as well. So there’s not really any way to know before a given challenge who they will be cooking for.
- At first, it wasn’t clear to me that the loser would necessarily come from the losing team. e.g. there was no expectation set that this was being judged as a team competition; it seemed like it was going to be entirely based on individual stuff.
Elimination is always an individual thing, though in team challenges, they always put entire teams into the losing circle rather than picking and choosing from among all the teams, since teamwork is supposed to be one component of the challenge. But the selection of the actual loser to be eliminated is still an individual thing. If you cooked a good dish as part of a bad team, you may have to endure the losers’ circle, but you won’t get sent home.
- Why did the four “losers” come from two different teams? This seemed to be entirely at odds with what was being said earlier by Kenny, with the whole 50/50 shot at being eliminated if their team lost thing. What gives here?
Because again, elimination is an individual thing, as Tom C. pointed out earlier in that episode. They picked two teams to put in the losers’ circle, and then they narrowed it down to the four worst chefs out of the eight people in the losers’ circle. Two had immunity, so Kenny’s observation was not wrong–being on the team with immunity actually worsens the odds for the chefs without immunity if that team ends up on the bottom. He just didn’t know that they would be selecting two teams to put on the bottom.
it seems like they play pretty fast and loose with the actual rules of the competitions.
They really don’t. Every challenge is different, so some details change from challenge to challenge, but the overall judging methodology is very consistent.
I will attempt to clarify your confusions!
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For team competitions it has always been someone from the losing team gets sent home. Sometimes when it’s a pair competition they even send the pair home. I’m pretty sure that they mentioned that even though it is a team competition, everyone is responsible for at least one dish and therefore will be judged on it. As Tom mentioned, he hates it when everyone on a team “works together” because that means it’s difficult for them to pinpoint someone in particular as the weak link. Team competitions are something that happen a lot in Top Chef because chefs generally have abrasive personalities and are more likely to clash if they are forced to work together. I am indifferent towards them. It’s great to watch four chefs really create something awesome together (like Alex’s team this episode) but it’s also annoying to see food dorks argue about flavor combinations and responsibility.
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This is something they have never (?) done, to my knowledge. It seems like they were mixing things up this episode - it was clear that the contestants were also confused. They almost always have the winners come out first then the losers are sent in, but it was the opposite for this episode. I’m guessing that Tom and the gang felt bad for Kenny and Ed since it really seemed like Angelo and Tracy phoned it in. Angelo even said something like “I cannot answer that” when asked whether he would have made the same dish if he did not have immunity. It seemed pretty obvious to me that actually meant “No”. He was content to coast along and let Kenny and Ed take the fall. They even showed that shot of him saying to Tracy that he doesn’t like Kenny (although who knows when he actually said that - Bravo loves to edit in their drama even if it doesn’t make chronological sense - one season they interwove edits from different episodes to make it seem like there was romance between two of the chefs. If you watched closely though, you could see they were wearing different pajamas within the same two minutes). On top of the Angelo/Tracey thing, both Jacqueline and Amanda’s dishes were just terrible. I’m okay if they keep doing it this way - there have definitely been times in the past where talented chefs get cut because their team lost while bums stick around because they drew the right knife.
Top Chef is always at its best towards the end of the season. The beginning is always a mess of gimmick-y challenges, arguments, and overall silliness. As the numbers begin to dwindle, you can really begin to marvel at some of the things the better chefs make. You can really see the in-depth process of how they make it too - right now there are so many contestants they can really only spend a few moments and a snapshot of the food. Some people don’t even get mentioned at all. The finales have generally been “cook whatever you want that meets these vague guidelines” and are always entertaining. I encourage you to stick with it or maybe miss a couple weeks and jump back in.
Also lol at the way the two losing teams were arguing about who made worse food. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before.
I also wanted to give a shout out to Skillet Doux, a blog which pretty accurately (he had Jacqueline in last this week) ranks the Top Chef contestants and is run by Dominic Armato, who is famous for being the voice of Guybrush Threepwood in the Monkey Island games. It’s a good read and it’s fun to imagine Guybrush’s voice talking about fancy food things like peanut butter mousse and bacon foam.
PS - One last thing you always have to keep in mind is that the Producers have a say in who stays and who goes. If Chef A is a “bad guy” type and is semi-talented, you will probably see them in the finale. I would be very surprised if Angelo does not make it to the end because he is clearly their bad guy this season and - at least for now - a very talented chef. (Although Amanda is giving off bad girl vibes - maybe that’s why she’s stayed today?)
Curse you Ben Sones!
They have somewhat, but a lot of it is common sense. You’d also have to get either the full deliberations, which neither the contestants nor the TV audience is privy to (deliberations can take upwards of 8 hours, during which the chefs sit in the “stew room”, that’s why you see them screwing around and sleeping there so much) None of the regular judges have strong aversions or preferences for particular foods: they’re professionals. But we have learned some things, mostly from Tom:
- It’s always better to do 1 thing well instead of multiple things poorly.
- Never make Gnocchi
- Never make dessert unless you have to
- Ensure everything is seasoned (ie. salted) properly.
Regarding the episode, no real surprises, although the Top Chef’s best friend, bread pudding made an appearance (Bread pudding is a regular guest in the dessert menus. It’s a dessert that a non-pastry chef can put together competently, and handles improvisation better than most baked items)
They did have one loser from a winning team last year, but its really rare.
I was expecting Blondie to get sent home after last week, but her team really threw her under the bus. Sure, it was her decision to add a bucket of sugar to the bananas, but what was she really going to make with what she had? Wasn’t she left with only bananas and milk? It looked like they were in a rush to get through the checkout because of time, had to cut some items, and took half of her idea away. Granted, one could argue that she could have come up with something better, or that she should have stood up for herself… I don’t know.
Sherry braised chicken for kids was pretty ballsy. I’m surprised that wasn’t an immediate ticket home. Try serving that at a public school and see how long it takes for the complaints/lawsuits to come in. Crazy.
ALSO, MOST IMPORTANT…How did Padma not win the “Who would you want to share an apron with?” text poll/survey thing? Tom, 47%, pffffft.
Based on how things were explained at the begining of the challenge I did feel like they adjusted the rules on the fly in this last episode by picking two chefs from each team but it’s not necessarily a decision I disagree with. Angelo and Kenny’s team was the worst but it would have been really unfair to sned home either of them under the circumstances, especially when you had two people on the other team who really made unforgiveable mistakes.
Mousse girl was on borrowed time but she really got thrown under the bus by Amanda. It was bad enough that Amanda served sherry at a school lunch program but the fact that she blew a significant portion of the team’s budget to do so and that her dished sucked anyway was just rediculous.
Adding to CLWheeljack’s comments about playing to the chefs, on of the things I like about the competition is that, over the course of the season, the chef’s versatility is pushed to the limits. Sure there are going to be moments when you can whip out a sandwich you serve on a daily basis at your high-end sandwich shop but the challenges are wide ranging and chefs who aren’t able to mix it up usually go home early. There was the famous scallop incident a couple of seasons ago where one contestant started getting heat because she kept going back to the same well. It’s impossible to anticipat what the judges will be expecting of you over the course of the season aside from consistently excellent food that meets the criteria of the challenge.
Heh. I was posting at the same time.
Dude…it’s on Bravo. Its next to Kathy Griffin, a hair styling competition, and the reality show version of Sex and the City (Real Housewives).
Also, Tom’s adorable.
That was her biggest mistake. Not the 2 lbs of sugar, but not demanding that she get an equal split of the funds. Every season we see at least 1 chef go home because they didn’t stand up for themselves.
ALSO, MOST IMPORTANT…How did Padma not win the “Who would you want to share an apron with?” text poll/survey thing? Tom, 47%, pffffft.
Ahem, BRAVO. I would have put their gay demographics at 25% or so. Looks like I’m 22% off.
Angelo may be the guy to beat still, but I think that what he did in this ep (purposefully serving food way below his ability) has knocked him down a peg. That’s something that a true top chef would never do.
I think her original idea could have been good for this challenge (assuming that she could make the dish without her recipe book). Pudding with chocolate and bananas could be made very rich and tasty without a large amount of sugar, and she could have cut back on the bananas when she found out they were starchy. Left with just the bananas, there really wasn’t much that she could do. Sherry girl really screwed her, and all to make a bad dish using an ingredient that is too expensive for a school lunch, and one that no school board would ever allow.
So on the one hand, I feel like maybe she should have been the one to go home. On the other hand, Pudding Girl shouldn’t have allowed herself to be railroaded like that. She should have been like “I’ll take the chocolate out of my dish if you take the chicken out of yours, bitch.”
That reminds me! Total dick move by that other team to not help Angelo out with his borked equipment. Yes, the guy appears to be kind of a douche, and seems to be the guy to beat, but do you really want to send him home that way? Is that how you want to win, really? I seriously hope that comes back to bite them right on the ass.
Also, this group of contestants seems exceptionally catty. That loser’s circle was all drama. What the hell? It’s the second episode.
Tom’s take on the challenge: