New Season of Top Chef

The new season on Bravo begins again on June 6th..Chicago has one contender, Dale Levitski formerly of La Tache and Trio Atelier. Should be fun..

I'm super excited that the season kicks off with a Top Chef Season one vs. Top Chef Season 2 Battle Royale.

Oh Donna- you made my day! TiVO is getting fired up tonight!

Any comments on the Season 1 v. Season 2 Throwdown from last night?

My two cents: Stephen is still as smug as ever, and while Harold is the standout from his team, I think there's so much more talent in Season 2.

And the saffron foam... c'mon. Classic.

In the previews of the third season, local boy Dale Levitski was virtually invisible, while others were much more heavily featured. I'm guessing Dale won't last long in season three.

Is it just me or is there always a serious underrepresentation of Chicago chefs on these cooking competition shows?

Any theories?

Maybe the restaurant scene in Chicago is such that any truly talented young chefs would be too busy working at alinea, avenues, trotter's, blackbird, etc to have time to go on a reality show, especially one as worthless to their career as Top Chef.

I always felt season 2 had much more talent than season 1, but many people disagree.

In regards to the showdown, it was interesting that the head-to-head course featuring the season 1 & 2 winners was the one that the judges were least impressed with (although I would have eaten Harold's dish, for sure).

Another aspect that I liked was that the judges, Tom especially, let their opinions of the chefs show a little bit more. You saw glimpses of what they thought of the chefs as people, as contestants, etc rather than just what was on the plate.

i like the inclusion of Ted Allen (TV's Queer Eye rep) as a regular judge this year. He's a likeable guy and a former Chicago resident! He's got a good sense of humor unlike Ms. Gail Simmons of Food & Wine magazine, someone who I believe is in the marketing department and not their editorial department, a factoid they very carefully avoid discussing.

Plus Ted's done all of those Iron Chef judgings...so if he's got the cojones to face up against Jeffrey Steingarten, he can do anything!

earthlydesire wrote:i like the inclusion of Ted Allen (TV's Queer Eye rep) as a regular judge this year. He's a likeable guy and a former Chicago resident! He's got a good sense of humor unlike Ms. Gail Simmons of Food & Wine magazine, someone who I believe is in the marketing department and not their editorial department, a factoid they very carefully avoid discussing.

Plus Ted's done all of those Iron Chef judgings...so if he's got the cojones to face up against Jeffrey Steingarten, he can do anything!

He's my favorite Queer Eye guy by a looooooooong shot. He seems to play himself and not some misapprehended cultural stereotype. And I *do* like that he bristles against Steingarten's occasional over-the-top assyness.

earthlydesire wrote:i like the inclusion of Ted Allen (TV's Queer Eye rep) as a regular judge this year. He's a likeable guy and a former Chicago resident! He's got a good sense of humor unlike Ms. Gail Simmons of Food & Wine magazine, someone who I believe is in the marketing department and not their editorial department, a factoid they very carefully avoid discussing.

Me, too. A good move on the producer's part. Ted Allen is sweet to Gail Simmons' sour.

Is it just me, or did Tiffany finish the strongest amongst these finalists?

I just hope this "one hand behind your back" type of bulls**t isn't what we have to look forward to in season three. Season two was bad enough. It really needs to stop.

Dmnkly wrote:I just hope this "one hand behind your back" type of bulls**t isn't what we have to look forward to in season three. Season two was bad enough. It really needs to stop.

Yeah, I agree, that was lame. I get it, it was to facilitate teamwork, but that type of a challenge is soooo Survivor.

earthlydesire wrote: Ms. Gail Simmons of Food & Wine magazine, someone who I believe is in the marketing department and not their editorial department, a factoid they very carefully avoid discussing.

This, as I have mentioned before, is my larges issue with Top Chef. While I certainly find the caliber of cooking higher and concepts better than in Hell's Kitchen, the unappologetic marketing and product placement in TC drive me nuts after a while. Is it truely necissary to mention the brand of every bit of equipment, hotel, and ingriedent three times per episode? I get that they have to keep the sponsers happy but sometimes I feel like I'm watching an hour long ad rather than a actuall show. Sorry /rant off.

In Gail's defense, she learned from the best: she was Jeffrey Steingarten's research assistant for many years at Vogue, and helped him with "It Must Have Been Something I Ate".

But yes, her job at Food and Wine is organizing the special events and promotions, like the Aspen event, the Top Chef tie-in, etc. It's very much like having Simon Cowell on American Idol - he's an A&R man, the guy who knows what will and won't sell, and how to make money, not a music critic.

I didn't really mean to cause a "Gail Simmons Smackdown" here. I just find her criticisms to be sort of odd and a bit mean spirited sometimes. Tom Colicchio's opinion is actually always interesting and very down to earth, which is what you'd expect from a great New York chef. She's sort of the Nina Garcia of Top Chef and frankly, I'd like to smack Nina Garcia every once in awhile too.

<sorry...i'm in withdrawal from Project Runway, the best of these contest reality type shows but it is, of course, a non culinary show.>

Chris Gordon -- as to your comment about the QE dudes...i agree. Although Tom what's his face can come and do my apartment ANYTIME he wants.

Back to our original programming...

Anybody catch it last night? I was relieved that Dale didn't go (I thought he might based upon the previews), although, for awhile, it looked like he might. What I don't understand is how Howie didn't get eliminated even though he didn't complete the assignment. In a moment of twisted logic, Gail decides that Howie should stay because his first dish was fantastic, and she "had to think" that his second dish was, too. Huh? That doesn't make any sense! Maybe his second dish sucked, which is why it didn't make it onto the plate!! Given that there were no elimination consequences for not completing an assignment, contestants are now free to strategically allocate all of their time and creative energy on one part of the dish, wow the judges on that one part, make the judges think that you're a genius, and had it not been for that darn clock, the omitted portion would have been just as good. (If only Clay employed that strategy and left off his inedible chops, he might have eked by as well.) Of course, I wouldn't recommend this in the final weeks, but hey, it worked for Howie this early on!

It seemed like Tom was pretty tough on Dale. Gail thought his alligator was tough, but no mention was made of his other dish. And was Dale's amuse bouche really bad enough to land him in the bottom three? It seemed like some of those amuses were inedible.

The professional chef in my house was amazed that Howie wasn't eliminated also. I'm amazed that someone like Clay actually made it to Top Chef....IMHO. I suspect that's why they threw him into the mix to get rid of him fast. I thought Bourdain was tougher on everyone than the regulars. I also felt sorry for the boar chops that Lia was frenching, so did Tom C I think, based on his comments to her.

The dueling fauxhawks are amusing in a pathetically-anachronistic way...tho' D.L. in Redeye(I don't actually read it...it ends up in the s/o's briefcase occasionally) calls his a "mo-hawk"...um(take it from someone who grew up in the mid-70's/early-80's...that ain't a mo-hawk.

Hairstyles aside

It's good to see a culinary battle where the contestants have a achieved a modicum of professional experience.

I was a little worried after the southern boy got cut(and post-his mentioning that his dad(?) committed suicide) that they were going to append this TC episode with a "this show dedicated to the memory of..." tag.

---

um...I gather it was Bourdain who got them to keep the guy who didn't finish his dish. Bourdain took notice when the guy quoted part of one of his books back to him and appreciated the chutzpah.

This group of chefs -- overall -- looks vastly better than both of the previous two seasons.

I'd venture to guess that the final four from this season could out-cook the final four of each of the other two seasons, combined.

And I think they should make tony bourdain the permanent guest judge, rather than Ted Allen.

Or maybe have bourdain, allen, and jeffrey steingarten all at the same table.

gleam wrote:This group of chefs -- overall -- looks vastly better than both of the previous two seasons.

I'd venture to guess that the final four from this season could out-cook the final four of each of the other two seasons, combined.

And I think they should make tony bourdain the permanent guest judge, rather than Ted Allen.

Or maybe have bourdain, allen, and jeffrey steingarten all at the same table.

Agreed.

That's why Bourdain was so good for this challenge: he has the whole exotic eats thing, but, on the other hand, his true interest rests with simple ingredients prepared thoughtfully...

see: The Les Halles cookbook and numerous rants

You think Howie calling out Bourdain by quoting Kitchen Confidential had anything to do with his staying?

gmonkey wrote:You think Howie calling out Bourdain by quoting Kitchen Confidential had anything to do with his staying?

that's what I mention above...he dug it

Christopher Gordon wrote:

gmonkey wrote:You think Howie calling out Bourdain by quoting Kitchen Confidential had anything to do with his staying?

that's what I mention above...he dug it

Oops, my apologies. Anything below a double-dash I assume is a signature!

But I'd have to agree that the caliber of talent is only getting better, if not weirder. Although I do remember seeing the season preview shots and seeing the girls in bikins getting into hottubs and thinking "Please don't let this turn into the Real Word: Las Vegas!" Don't dumb it down, Bravo! Please!

gmonkey wrote:

Christopher Gordon wrote:

gmonkey wrote:You think Howie calling out Bourdain by quoting Kitchen Confidential had anything to do with his staying?

that's what I mention above...he dug it

Oops, my apologies. Anything below a double-dash I assume is a signature!

But I'd have to agree that the caliber of talent is only getting better, if not weirder. Although I do remember seeing the season preview shots and seeing the girls in bikins getting into hottubs and thinking "Please don't let this turn into the Real Word: Las Vegas!" Don't dumb it down, Bravo! Please!

I know. More food! Less extracurricular activities.

I do remember seeing the season preview shots and seeing the girls in bikins getting into hottubs and thinking "Please don't let this turn into the Real Word: Las Vegas!"

I dunno - watching Bonnie on Hell's Kitchen walk around in her short-shorts might have been the best part of the episode...

whiskeybent wrote:

I do remember seeing the season preview shots and seeing the girls in bikins getting into hottubs and thinking "Please don't let this turn into the Real Word: Las Vegas!"

I dunno - watching Bonnie on Hell's Kitchen walk around in her short-shorts might have been the best part of the episode...

In that case I look forward to Dale putting the moves on the other gay-ish cook on the new season of TC.

this season's crop does look promising. there are a couple chefs in there that appear to have serious chops. that guy hung from guy savoy vegas and the woman from jean-georges are both exec sous. anyone who makes it to exec sous in a restaurant like that knows what they are doing and can handle pressure. this show is play-time compared to working in restaurants like that.

i predicted clay would be the first to go at the beginning of the episode. he just seemed so green. like a deer in headlights.

i thought dumping clay over the two guys who left components off of their plates was appropriate. collicchio summed it up well; it wasn't a problem with execution or time management with clay, it was a problem with lack of knowledge, lack of ability, lack of technique. that's indicative of a much larger deficiency.

and i thought howie's quoting of KC back to bourdain was genius and ballsy. and it was on point.

i predict hung will be the top chef this season.

Anybody watch it last night? I could not believe how terriblesome of the comfort food looked. CJ actually made tuna casserole that was worse than the original!

I have to say, I have been consistently amused by Micah's nose-turned-up comments with her wicked witch voice and manner of speaking, and for that alone, I will miss her. "I hear Americans eat ket-chup with their meatloaf . . . " "I hear Americans eat meat-loaf with gravy and I would ne-ver eat such a thing . . . Looks like it should be very ea-sy to improve upon . . ."

I cannot believe the slop that was served last night. CJ's tuna casserole looked like it came from the bottom of a dirty fish tank. The underdone chicken with the cat barf sauce was equally as disgusting- Nair from Jamaica didn't know what chicken ala king was so why did she pick it? As for Lia, Jean-Georges may be reconsidering her employment.

BTW someone should tell Micah they're still casting for "Wicked"