Top Chef Season 8 - All Stars

The all stars for Season 8 have been announced. Great to hear that Dale Levitski will be among them.

Here are the rest of the all-stars: Elia Aboumrad, Season 2; Stephen Asprinio, Season 1; Richard Blais, Season 4; Jennifer Carroll, Season 6; Tiffany Derry, Season 7; Tiffani Faison, Season 1; Carla Hall, Season 5; Mike Isabella, Season 6; Jamie Lauren, Season 5; Antonia Lofaso, Season 4; Spike Mendelsohn, Season 4; Angelo Sosa, Season 7; Dale Talde, Season 4; Casey Thompson, Season 3; Marcel Vigneron, Season 2; Fabio Viviani, Season 5; Tre Wilcox, Season 3.

The season starts December 1. Should be a good one, especially after the train-wreck that was Season 7.

A pretty good group, for sure. Of course, a couple of these folks seem to be more all-annoying than all-star. Still, with the exception of Tre (who went out very early), it seems that most of them finished in the top 5 of their respective seasons. I certainly could be wrong about that but I'm guessing that Dom or one of our more dedicated Top Chef scholars could clarify it.

Looking forward to 12/1.

=R=

Tre finished 8th in Season 3. He was eliminated after the do-over episode of Restaurant Wars (the first attempt of Restaurant Wars was a complete failure for both groups and no one was eliminated). Madonna's brother was a hyper-critical diner during the first episode and was brought in as a consulting interior designer during the second episode. Prior to being eliminated, he had won a few elimination Challenges and was one of the early favorites to be make it to the finale.

This should be a very interesting show. Dale Levitski I can understand bringing back, but Dale Talde? My money's on Richard Blais, but there are probably seven or eight that could win.

I'm hoping this lives up to the hype (...that I've created in my head). I really like all of these contestants, with the exception of the season two folks, but I honestly didn't care for anyone in season two that I can recall.

I'm actually looking forward to Bourdain judging more frequently -- I read a release that said he and Gail would be alternating judging duties.

I like him as a judge -- if you wow him -- he tells you in no uncertain terms and you get the sense that he really fights for the cooks he believes in.

On the other hand -- if you suck -- you walk away completely aware of your suck quotient.

Plus...all of these folks have shown that they really can cook -- so there won't be any mediocre folks hanging on because they got lucky.

And I'm really hoping for a good season after this past season's DC fiasco. It just goes to show you that very little that's good seems to come out of Washington these days.

Sigh.

After the mild failure of Top Chef D.C. and the epic failure of Top Chef Just Desserts, it looks like the franchise is back on their game with All-Stars. The two challenges were actually creative and original. The Quickfire challenge split the Chefs into seven groups, on a team with the Chefs from their seasons, to create a dish that represents the City they shot in. I won't divulge who won, but it was extremely creative and representative. The Elimination challenge was really clever, having the Chefs recreate the dishes that got them eliminated on their first appearances, except making it well this time. You can already see how much of an improvement this show represents to the franchise. Now if they could only get rid of Gail.....

They certainly picked some of the most annoying people, not sure I can stand to watch any further after seeing Fabio's rant to AB. What a bunch of egomaniacs.

LikestoEatout wrote:They certainly picked some of the most annoying people, not sure I can stand to watch any further after seeing Fabio's rant to AB. What a bunch of egomaniacs.

I'm not really a fan of Fabio's (way more style than substance?) but I couldn't really discern if his complaints were legit or not. Sure, no one likes to be criticized but the editing really made it look like AB was being a bit gratuitous in his comments. Still, it is Reality TV, so participants should be prepared to have their dignity stripped.

I was fine with Elia being told to pack her knives. I never really liked her and from what we've seen of her cooking on Top Chef, I didn't think she belonged in any season with the term 'All Star' in its title. It doesn't appear that Stephen is going to be around very long, either.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:

LikestoEatout wrote:They certainly picked some of the most annoying people, not sure I can stand to watch any further after seeing Fabio's rant to AB. What a bunch of egomaniacs.

I'm not really a fan of Fabio's (way more style than substance?) but I couldn't really discern if his complaints were legit or not. Sure, no one likes to be criticized but the editing really made it look like AB was being a bit gratuitous in his comments. Still, it is Reality TV, so participants should be prepared to have their dignity stripped.

I was fine with Elia being told to pack her knives. I never really liked her and from what we've seen of her cooking on Top Chef, I didn't think she belonged in any season with the term 'All Star' in its title. It doesn't appear that Stephen is going to be around very long, either.

=R=

In his blog at bravo.com AB apologized (in his own way) for his treatment of Fabio. I liked it when Fabio told him it's OK to criticize, but not so much when you're embarassing a contestant. FWIW, Fabio is probably a better cook (and restauranteur) than AB, whose career at Les Halles was mediocre.

little500 wrote:FWIW, Fabio is probably a better cook (and restauranteur) than AB, whose career at Les Halles was mediocre.

Having never eaten either of their food, I'd have no idea about this but yes, I get what you mean.

=R=

Ah....i don't know. I think AB is pretty even-handed. When he likes you -- he praises you to the skies. When he doesn't -- he buries you in the ground. And besides...they hired him for the colorful commentary. I've heard Tom say less colorful but much more humilating things to the contestants and nobody's ever called him on it. He can be extremely dismissive. And Toby whatshisface said some mean things too.

These contestants are not the naive newbies to TV that they once were. They are much more savvy and much less likely to take criticism. Elia was more concerned about humilation than losing. They also know how to play the game and have not only their personal experience to help them through it but also the experience of watching 7 other seasons of contestants swim through the same waters. When they filmed the arrival scenes I was amused by how polished and nice they all looked. In other seasons the contestants arrived with minimal makeup, very little polish -- compare the entrance of Jaime the other night with her very unpolished earlier self -- they've all got image consultants now!

I'm actually really looking forward to seeing how this all plays out. Their attitude about the judges seems very different now that they've been through it and probably had many beers with them. It's not the same playing field as it was before. And also -- the winnings are HUGE. But -- they're also not quite at Top Chef Master level -- so we won't get the professionalism that we should be getting as exhibited at the TCM competition. And that was partly due to their charitable contributions instead of playing for themselves

And no matter what, it's nice to have something interesting to watch on Wednesdays -- that Just Desserts show was horrifying. This at least is a bunch of good cooks who've been vetted for major personality disorders.

radiator wrote:I won't divulge who won...

For future reference, the rules of the road are that you are free to comment on who won and lost episodes that have aired. Sometimes winners and losers are leaked out before an episode airs and it is not appropriate to post that information here.

Darren72 wrote:

radiator wrote:I won't divulge who won...

For future reference, the rules of the road are that you are free to comment on who won and lost episodes that have aired. Sometimes winners and losers are leaked out before an episode airs and it is not appropriate to post that information here.

Thanks, Darren. I glossed right over that.

=R=

AB chimes in as the Simon Cowell of Top Chef. I like the quirkiness. I'm still disappointed though that Elia was sent packing. Her looks would have kept me from casting her off.

Saw a note dale Levitski is serving a dish from the competition each Wednesday at Sprout and then folks are watching each episode at the bar next door to Sprout - sounds like fun and my visit to Sprout wascquite wonderful!

ronnie_suburban wrote:

Darren72 wrote:

radiator wrote:I won't divulge who won...

For future reference, the rules of the road are that you are free to comment on who won and lost episodes that have aired. Sometimes winners and losers are leaked out before an episode airs and it is not appropriate to post that information here.

Thanks, Darren. I glossed right over that.

=R=

Got it. I've seen in the past where people haven't watched episodes, but still read the posts and were grateful for the results not being divulged. I'll probably still wait a day or two before I post out of courtesy.

radiator wrote:Got it. I've seen in the past where people haven't watched episodes, but still read the posts and were grateful for the results not being divulged. I'll probably still wait a day or two before I post out of courtesy.

Very generous of you. Though I've always wondered if those who complain about discussion of the most recent episode of Top Chef in a Top Chef thread also record the Superbowl and then get adamant that ESPN shouldn't report the score for a few days.

The episode was repeated the next day and will probably be shown a few more times before the next new one on Wednesday.

I enjoyed this show immensely, mostly because I've watched nearly all of the chef-testants in their previous seasons, so the character development part of the show is already done. They also got some good personalities and some good cooks. (and some who are both).

I'm impressed with the level of folks they got to come back and think the show should be fantastic.

Also very glad to see Elia go, as she was such an annoying drama queen and also her food generally was lame and uninspiring. In short, this was a dream episode for me.

I was most taken with how much time the contestants had for this challenge. Three hours to prep and two hours to cook a single dish is an eternity in Top Chefistan, and I suspect longer than most of the contestants had to make the dish that sent them home the first time (excluding those who bowed out in the finals). I suppose they gave the extra time to make sure the chefs had ample opportunity to improve the previous failure. For those who did not, it makes it all the more glaring.

I enjoyed Elia's run in Season 2, mostly because she seemed to be cooking well beyond her years at that time. She seemed to belie her own desire for a more mature competition this time around by losing it upon elimination (humiliated? really?) and her unflattering post-show finger-pointing. But if her dish was bland and not properly cooked, that seems more than enough to get sent home when you had this much time to work.

I like Bourdain, but he came across as over the top in this edit. He was almost in Toby-it's-been-3-minutes-better-insert-a-witticism territory. Make insightful comments about the food, Tony, not your colonoscopy, and we'll all do just fine.

What exactly is so cunning about making frozen scallops into ceviche?

How can any veteran of this show be surprised when they found out that other chefs were listening to their comments? Especially after Tom devlishly told them that they could comment...or not? Just nonsense.

Besides making ramen noodles. I pretty much have no idea from the show exactly what Angelo's winning dish was all about. Richard's exclusion seems fair as he went over the time. Interesting to note that another chef dropped dime on him to the producers, but hey, it's a competition and he took too long. Works for me.

Fabio papergate aside, this was a pretty entertaining first episode and I look forward to some good cooking this season.

gastro gnome wrote:Besides making ramen noodles. I pretty much have no idea from the show exactly what Angelo's winning dish was all about.

Hand cut ramen with a little chili oil worked in, pork belly braised in a ton of hoisin, soy, sugar and sesame oil, mushrooms pickled simply in sugar and rice vinegar, and a watermelon foam that was sweetened and then whipped with no fewer than three industrial thickeners. The watermelon is the aspect that intrigues me, really. Odd pairing that apparently works.

gastro gnome wrote:Richard's exclusion seems fair as he went over the time. Interesting to note that another chef dropped dime on him to the producers, but hey, it's a competition and he took too long. Works for me.

Ten bucks says it's revealed that Tiffani ratted him out. She got into it with Lee Anne in season one for the exact same thing. It would be kind of hilarious.

Wow. After tonight's episode, which I will not discuss in detail because I understand about DVR'ing, all I can say is the anger that's apparent in these cast members is intense. Seriously. It makes you wonder why, except maybe for money, did any of these folks agree to do it again?

Seriously.

It's making for good TV though.

Just what I was thinking. WOW.

As was mentioned a few times above, there is no problem discussing who went home once it airs. Anyone clicking on this thread knows what it might contain.

So I'll say it. Jen deserved to go home. It wasn't quite Top Chef Just Desserts' "crying for mommy" awful, but Jen's JT appearance was a train wreck. Arguing with Tom about whether a dish was bland? It ain't gonna save you. It was stand-up to see how she defended her partner (and apparently Jamie said she was supportive). But her strident hostility was nearly cover-my-eyes awkward. Her dish had two components. It sounds like both of them had problems. Game over.

Anyway, people can debate whether Jamie got off easy by ducking out of the kitchen. Right now, she doesn't look like a team player, but you can't send her home for an unsuccessful dish that she did little to make.

I really liked this episode and actually thought they showed more cooking than they typically do. They also were able to get across some of the problem-solving that the chefs used to attack the Quickfire and the Elimination Challenge, which I appreciated.

I thought the Brontosaurus (not a real dinosaur) vs Tyrannosaurus choice was clever. Tom told them exactly what they would get, but Tiffani heard what she wanted to hear. Being angry about it after the fact is sour grapes.

So much for the cushy 5 hours prep/cooking time, hello up-all-night, ingredient-limited cooking challenge. Yeah, Top Chef challenges really haven't changed much this season after all.

Lastly, I do hope we've seen the last of the mostly men versus mostly women.

Great episode - but not much I'd want to eat and surely not Jen's dish ...looked awful.

My God, what a travesty! Why? Why? Just when this looked like it was going to be a spectacular season they go and do this. It was completely unfair and undeserved! Why bring Katie Lee Joel back?

radiator wrote:My God, what a travesty! Why? Why? Just when this looked like it was going to be a spectacular season they go and do this. It was completely unfair and undeserved! Why bring Katie Lee Joel back?

So what did you think was "unfair and undeserved"?

Ha! Love the snark about Katie Lee. TOTALLY agree. Lee Majors has more personality than she does...

And I also completely agree that Jen deserved to go home.

I sort of feel like they've all decided that they didn't play the game well enough and were kowtowed by the judges the first time around and that this time -- they're not going to take it!

I find it fascinating...

Oh -- and almost everything they made was so not breakfasty. Especially for kids.

And can Fabio do ANYTHING other than pasta?

As much as it pains me to say it, Jen clearly deserved to go home. There was no other fair choice. And having said that, I felt like her judge's table performance was flat-out nuts. Twitchy as hell. maybe that last hit of No-Doz wasn't such a hot idea.

The other thing that really struck me about the Judges Table/ Stew Room portion of the 'sode was when Jen admitted her strategy to cook for the judges, not for the audience (which is probably how you justify cooking pork belly for kids for breakfast).

Or, more to the point, cook food better than your bending of the rules and you'll be fine. I think this is what all smart competitors have been doing all along. Obviously, that equation didn't work out for Jen this time, but it was refreshing to hear a competitor just come out and say it. It's a pragmatic, yet cynical view expressed by a seasoned cheftestant who came back to win by learning from her mistakes.

I have to say that I do respect the hell out of that.