I wouldn’t use this food group for serious food critiquing, and found their appearance on the show humorous.

In view of the fact that other groups enrolled for critiquing over the years included 12-year-old kids, the Miami Elks Club, and general passers-by, I don't think this group was all that out-of-line (as funny as they looked).

aschie30 wrote:Top Chef coming to Chicago next season.

So, what guest chefs will be featured? Definitely Trotter. And Achatz in a session where they ask the chef-contestants to engage in molecular gastronomy. Of course, they'll always insert some NY muckety-mucks in there, because Tom Colicchio has to remind us that NY is the best place on earth.

I would love to see Bin 36 wine guru Brian Duncan as a guest judge! For some reason I can picture him judging a quick-fire.

Last night I was sure that Casey was going to go home considering they wanted to send her home last week but she had won the quick fire.

Me, too. Tom reiterated during the judging that he didn't understand why Casey's chicken and rice came out too dry, so I thought, Casey's dead. But on the other hand, Lia's dish was so ridiculously off-theme and not even executed well, couple that with her phoning it in on the franks and beans challenge, and she just comes off as lazy. I think Casey skirted by because she at least tried to make something that was an interpretation of a Latin-themed dish, but was hampered by timing and execution issues.

Hung has showed himself to be a complete ass when his dishes are criticized. He was basically told that his version of arroz con pollo was a disaster and his response: "Too classic for you?" No, Hung, your dish sucked! I think someone above mentioned that Hung's "technique" was so far above the others, and that may be so, but I always wondered how his food tasted. For someone who seems to have superior technique, it appears that his ability to execute on that technique lags far behind.

I often wonder how much the judges look to previous competitions for judging, if they do Lia won the last competition so wouldn't that put her ahead of Casey? I never read the Judge's blogs on the Bravo website, maybe I should. Lia's dish did look awful last night though.

Hung just thinks he is superior. If someone doesn't like what he puts out they must not "get it". You can tell he is friends with Marcel, he isn't a jackass on quite that level though.

brandon_w wrote:I often wonder how much the judges look to previous competitions for judging, if they do Lia won the last competition so wouldn't that put her ahead of Casey? I never read the Judge's blogs on the Bravo website, maybe I should. Lia's dish did look awful last night though.

On the blogs, the judges maintain that the chefs are judged on a week-to-week basis. However, in reality, as the weeks go by and the judges begin to form an opinion of a contestant, having a good reputation with a judge will inevitably help in the case of close calls. At the same time, if someone is consistently mediocre, then that, too, will resonate in close calls during judging. I think that Lia had two more significantly bad performances than Casey's, which in the case of a close call, is more likely to do her in.

I thought Casey was a sure thing to be ousted. Dry chicken and bad rice -- that's amateurish! But what really interested me last night was the whole "dangerous Hung" in the kitchen thing. He reminds me of an overly busy ferret -- except not quite as clever. He seems to have no idea that there are people around him and when you're boiling things and carrying knives, it just made me clutch the chair to see him whip around. And that pie he made was disgusting looking!!! I mean....he looked at that mess and said, "Oh it'll be fine!"....he has no sense of objectivity about his work which I think is not a quality of a good chef. Good chefs know that they should throw stuff out when it sucks horribly. Granted...he wasn't really in the position to do that but at least the other contestants who were called on the chopping block weren't that surprised to be there -- they instantly knew why or could guess. Hung was just clueless.

I think he's going to self destruct. He just seems to be deteriorating.

And hey -- who knew about our Pal Joey? Of course, the guy is the executive chef at Cafe des Artistes. He must have had some chops...

shannon

I can't put my finger on why, but I'd really like to see CJ win something at some point. Aside from the "tuna casserole" fiasco, he's been solid all around, presentations have been gorgeous and he's kept it together for the most part.

I'm praying that Dale gets it better together, too. Those are my favorites, which of course means they will promptly both be booted off on the next show.

aschie30 wrote:I think that Lia had two more significantly bad performances than Casey's, which in the case of a close call, is more likely to do her in.

Possibly, though Lia was coming off a win while Casey was just saved by immunity. I'm thinking it was because the others' problems had to do with execution and could have been chalked up to the unexpected time crunch, whereas Lia's concept was suspect. Haven't read the blogs yet. In any case, I'm sad to see her go. I think she would have been strong in the awesome ingredient / freeform late rounds if she could've gotten through the more restrictive middle rounds. Not that "Latin flavors" is that restrictive, I suppose, but it's tough if it isn't your thing, especially when you have tasters who can't be fooled when it comes to authenticity.

Our family has a new name for one of the judges:

Gail Umbridge

Dmnkly wrote:

aschie30 wrote:I think that Lia had two more significantly bad performances than Casey's, which in the case of a close call, is more likely to do her in.

Possibly, though Lia was coming off a win while Casey was just saved by immunity. I'm thinking it was because the others' problems had to do with execution and could have been chalked up to the unexpected time crunch, whereas Lia's concept was suspect. Haven't read the blogs yet. In any case, I'm sad to see her go. I think she would have been strong in the awesome ingredient / freeform late rounds if she could've gotten through the more restrictive middle rounds. Not that "Latin flavors" is that restrictive, I suppose, but it's tough if it isn't your thing, especially when you have tasters who can't be fooled when it comes to authenticity.

My feeling is that it is still so early in the competition and I don't think anyone has distinguished him or herself yet. Therefore, I'm not willing to declare Lia to be one of the better chefs in this competition based upon what I've seen even though her shrimp dish was a success. Although Harold opines on his blog his opinion is that Lia is immensely talented, I take his opinions with a grain of salt because I think NY chefs are behind NY chefs (and Lia is a NY chef). (Harold, and Ilan, for that matter, have also been openly rooting for Joey, another NY chef.) Also, Lia works or worked for Jean-Georges -- how much is she riding on his reputation? In any case, I thought she demonstrated little, if any, understanding of Latino food (not that I'm an expert). She also "upscaled" it quite a bit, which only more obscured the dish's connection to Latino food. Like the franks and beans challenge, I think she cut corners, and in a way, was cooking more for her than for her target audience, which in this case were Latino telenovella actors. Something that Tony Bourdain recently criticized Hung for.

I also thought it was interesting that the NY chefs seemed to be less knowledgeable as to Latino food. Were they disadvantaged in that regard? Sara N. made a dish that her former Mexican roommate made when she lived in California. Quite frankly, it sounded like something a young college student would make. Joey, thankfully, gained inspiration from his "Spanish" cooks, who made his dish on occasion. Lia's dish was all wrong in the Latino department. On the other hand, we know Chicago, Texas and California are all strong in Latino flavors. It's sort of nice to see NYC behind the curve on something.

I can't believe Joey got the axe! I really don't recall Hung actually telling Joey that everything needed to be IQF'd - I think Hung set a trap and let Joey walk into it.

Rocco was humble and subdued - much different from his portrayal on The Restaurant where he was modelizing and whining incessantly.

I, too, couldn't believe Joey got axed when Sara Nair is so much less of a cook than Joey. Hung actually told Tom C. he "knew" the secret! (and then proceeded to make mush) I also think Sara Nguyen kind of falls between the cracks.

aschie30 wrote:I can't believe Joey got the axe! I really don't recall Hung actually telling Joey that everything needed to be IQF'd - I think Hung set a trap and let Joey walk into it.

Rocco was humble and subdued - much different from his portrayal on The Restaurant where he was modelizing and whining incessantly.

I thought for SURE Sarah N was going, couldn't believe Joey, who despite his "bulldoggedness" had a lot of heart and some decent talent.

And Rocco... oh Rocco, a face lift? Or just an eye lift?

Eye lift and maybe Botox and perfectly tweezed eyebrows.

The Lovely Donna wrote:Hung actually told Tom C. he "knew" the secret! (and then proceeded to make mush).

That was especially precious considering it was obvious to anyone when looking at a package of Bertolli that everything was IQF. I don't know how Tom kept a straight face when Hung told him that, in hushed tones, no less.

Is it just me, or was the term IQF'd horribly mis represented? My idea of IQF does not occur in the home freezer. I think of chicken breasts being dipped in water and then liquid nitrogen not, put in seperate dishes and frozen over a period of time.

So, if I were to get into a symantics battle over it I'd say that they were practicing an Individually frozen process rather than Individually quick frozen. Call me a geek, but these things bother me.

Flip

Anthony Bourdain certainly sharpened his knife for "Fricassee di Spirito"
in his blog/summary of last night's episode of the "Bertolli Pasta Hour." I wonder how much longer Bravo will let him sub for TC:

http://www.bravotv.com/blog/tomcolicchi ... php?page=1

jbw wrote: I wonder how much longer Bravo will let him sub for TC:

http://www.bravotv.com/blog/tomcolicchi ... php?page=1

As long as everyone keeps sending their friends the link, generating huge traffic spikes for Bravo's site, I bet a looong time.

Tony Bourdain can do no wrong in my opinion. He is ruthless and definitely has his own point of view but man..it's an amusing one.

I was actually very sorry to see Joey go. I think there were some other candidates who deserved it more for last night's fiasco episode -- Sara Nair for one. She should have spoken up for her viewpoint and there is a way to do that without being confrontational -- even with humorless Howie. Man..does that guy EVER crack a smile? He really has no sense of humor at all and I can't imagine working in a kitchen with the guy. Joey, on the other hand, as Mr. Bourdain points out, is a chef at the Cafe des Artistes, a place I've heard wonderful things about -- so he really can't stink too badly.

I think the partnered challenges are very hard for folks who are competing against each other. Especially when you get stuck with someone really dour and rude.

In terms of the product placement...this issue doesn't bug me as much as a lot of you guys -- advertising is something I've been involved with for quite a lot of my career and i'm sure Bravo depends on that sponsorship money to keep this show in cash cow status. Although it was definitely the Bertolli pasta hour as was noted by a previous poster. My issue with the winners was that the pasta they designed was not something that folks in America would buy. The turkey meatball/pesto thing...that would get purchased. In fact it sounds kinda tasty right now.

I'm enjoying this season far more than last season. The cooking is really at a higher level and that's sort of cool to be wondering from week to week who is going to get it. Because most of these guys really know what they're doing.

earthlydesire wrote: humorless Howie. Man..does that guy EVER crack a smile? He really has no sense of humor at all and I can't imagine working in a kitchen with the guy.
I think the partnered challenges are very hard for folks who are competing against each other. Especially when you get stuck with someone really dour and rude.

earthlydesire,

I agree with almost everything that you say, except your projection of what it might be like to work with Howie, who like many of the cheftestants, is young, ambitious and agressive. All we viewers see is a guy with his gameface on. How would you have liked being paired up with Sara and her passive-agressive attitude?

For all we know, Howie might be a nurturing and supportive chef that is a blast to work alongside, one that his crew absolutely loves. ???

ER -- you make a good point and god knows that the editing of this show is very pointed, but honestly, all i can talk about is what i see. And what I see is a guy who seems not to have a sense of humor at all. Especially about himself. Just the way he cut down poor ol' CJ when he made a simple (and not particularly mean) sarcastic remark -- Howie seems to be letting the pressure just squeeze everything out of him. Maybe he is the greatest guy in the world but I don't think that's what America is seeing of him. Even the notorious Marcel had a sense of humor on things -- which went a long way into mitigating how the audience saw him.

Pressure and time can turn you into a diamond -- or it can smush you flat like a pancake on the highway.

earthlydesire wrote:ER -- you make a good point and god knows that the editing of this show is very pointed, but honestly, all i can talk about is what i see. And what I see is a guy who seems not to have a sense of humor at all. Especially about himself. Just the way he cut down poor ol' CJ when he made a simple (and not particularly mean) sarcastic remark -- Howie seems to be letting the pressure just squeeze everything out of him. Maybe he is the greatest guy in the world but I don't think that's what America is seeing of him. Even the notorious Marcel had a sense of humor on things -- which went a long way into mitigating how the audience saw him.

Pressure and time can turn you into a diamond -- or it can smush you flat like a pancake on the highway.

And to add to your very good points made above- body language says a lot - and in that room during that scene, Howie was seated on one side, alone, while everyone else was sitting with Sara Mair and trying to talk Howie out of his funk and ire. What's more, I detected a bit of misogyny in some of his comments re Sara.

Hung outdid himself this week. After discovering that Govind wasn't over the moon for his cauliflower-white chocolate foam ice cream, he declares that he now understands that he was supposed to make ice cream "for the common people."

While I feel bad for Sara N. because she's so young, puh-leaze about the demoralizing speech. Unlike last week, where I thought that Joey's ouster was a bit of a surprise, Sara N. had cut me written all over her face.

And Howie is just an ass.

aschie30 wrote:Hung outdid himself this week. After discovering that Govind wasn't over the moon for his cauliflower-white chocolate foam ice cream, he declares that he now understands that he was supposed to make ice cream "for the common people."

While I feel bad for Sara N. because she's so young, puh-leaze about the demoralizing speech. Unlike last week, where I thought that Joey's ouster was a bit of a surprise, Sara N. had cut me written all over her face.

And Howie is just an ass.

Actually, while there were a few instances during the whining of team B where I thought, "suck it up," the "demoralization" of the women on that team holds water; I imagine great effort is put forth among some female professional chefs to debride themselves of any perceived gender disparities/cultural tropes in a male-dominated kitchen. To then be forced to reverse that paradigm(and perhaps lose power) must be particularly difficult.

I was hoping Howie would go. That whole goombah culture(Joey AND Howie) is so fart.

...and, I was thinking if Sara N.'s buddy hadn't won the quickfire *and* they'd been on the same team he would've brought her energy up to performance level...

...all of which goes to say she should really be able to self-motivate(cleavage and high heels or no)...

still, I liked her...

Christopher Gordon wrote:

aschie30 wrote:Hung outdid himself this week. After discovering that Govind wasn't over the moon for his cauliflower-white chocolate foam ice cream, he declares that he now understands that he was supposed to make ice cream "for the common people."

While I feel bad for Sara N. because she's so young, puh-leaze about the demoralizing speech. Unlike last week, where I thought that Joey's ouster was a bit of a surprise, Sara N. had cut me written all over her face.

And Howie is just an ass.

Actually, while there were a few instances during the whining of team B where I thought, "suck it up," the "demoralization" of the women on that team holds water; I imagine great effort is put forth among some female professional chefs to debride themselves of any perceived gender disparities/cultural tropes in a male-dominated kitchen. To then be forced to reverse that paradigm(and perhaps lose power) must be particularly difficult.

Sure, being a woman in a male-dominated field, I can appreciate that. But to mope and whine and thus to act only more stereotypically female doesn't help her or her cause. Got to adjust. After all, can't flipping burgers in heels and cleavage be empowering?

You know...while I am enjoying this season more than the last one...I have to say that they really weren't thinking too well last night. They actually thought, with all the past episodes of judge trickery to base their experience on, that they were going to get a night off?? They didn't think there'd be some sort of challenge in there at all? Come on!!! It's like watching a bad horror movie and yelling "get out of the house" at the nubile blonde who's about to get axed in the middle of the night. And demoralized Sara just seemed to be sulking because she didn't get to go play -- they should have taken a cue from the other team who looked like they made the best of a bad thing -- have some fun! At least that was my take. Filming costs way too much to give these guys any time off. Although it was nice to see Dale on top for once. And his ice cream really looked good--and god knows it takes something to make Cold Stone ice cream stand out (i find that weird elasticky texture to be offputting)

You're absolutely on the money, aschie -- Howie is an ass. No amount of editing was needed to "punch" that up last night. And it seems to be a major opinion held by all -- none of them want to work with him.

I will admit that I'm starting to really want to see Dale in the final. I doubt that will happen -- we're starting to get down to the very very excellent folks -- the general quality and imagination is so good that they're going to be nitpicking and really watching for mistakes to try and separate the wheat from the chaff. And there's really not a lot of chaff anymore.

I think I literally gasped out loud when Hung made that comment about an ice cream "for the common people". I feel like every episode has yielded some sort of "I'm so above you all" comment from him.

I was really, REALLY hoping Howie would have to pack his knives last night. I'm not sure I can stand one more sweat-soaked, bullying episode with him. True, Sara's comment about being demoralized really killed her credibility, but Howie is also a terrible team player and I get tired of seeing him throw people under the bus.

aschie30...You are so right about what Sara needing to adjust as a woman in a male-dominated field.

With respect to good ol' Howie, I cannot get past the sight of continual rivulets of perspiration that, while he's standing over a saute pan or chopping board, appear to fall directly onto whatever he's preparing....And it seems transparent to me that the network is always "helped" by keeping the troublemaker / lone wolf character in the show as long as possible. Add in some of the fairly obvious selective editing and the producers could make Julia Child look tyrranical if they wanted to.

Please excuse me now, as my Bombay Sapphire G&T is getting a bit warm, so I'm off to my GE Monogram fridge to get some more ice and some Cold Stone Creamery Ice Cream for my son, Evian for my better half, to check on the halibut sous vide (purchased from the Fresh Market chain of grocery stores) in the Gladware plastic tub cooking in the Calpholon pot on the GE Monogram stove, whilst whipping up the sauce (containing Bertolli Extra Virgin Olive Oil) in my Breville blender that I brought home in my Toyota RAV4....

I thought, too, that the choice was between Howie and Sara last night. And I absolutely, 100% believe that the judges made the right choice.

Not salting the burgers and putting ice in a milkshake show how low her skill level really is. I was amazed she lasted this long.

Howie, at least, can cook. I also strongly believe that Howie is probably the most qualified of the remaining crop to run his own kitchen and restaurant, except maybe Tre.

I'm rooting for Tre, personally.