aschie30 wrote:
Ahhh . . . that must be next season's "Fresh Market" where they do all their pre-elimination challenge shopping.

So... that must mean their "Top Chef Kitchen Sponsored By GE/Kenmore/Sears" must be in relatively close Rav-4 distance.

gmonkey wrote:

aschie30 wrote:
Ahhh . . . that must be next season's "Fresh Market" where they do all their pre-elimination challenge shopping.

So... that must mean their "Top Chef Kitchen Sponsored By GE/Kenmore/Sears" must be in relatively close Rav-4 distance.

Parking is a nightmare at that Whole Foods. Maybe they should have focused on corporate sponsorship from Flash Cab.

Our recollections are the same; I think that cjkrautk's post is a bit of an oversimplification of the judging. Also, as I said above, the judges were initially critical of the entire flavoring of Casey's dish. And if Eric Ripert claims that it's black and blue, then it is (which is much more than a slight undercooking). I also recall that Brian's dish was well-liked by the cowboys and I don't think the judges had an issue with it except for the chaotic nature of the ingredients and the fact that he refused to choose which blue cheese should accompany the dish.

Not to quibble to much (because, like someone pointed out, we weren't there to taste the dish), but the tone of Tom's blog seems to downplay extreme rawness:

"Casey’s dish didn’t have that problem. As mentioned earlier, she gave the tomato butter an innovative twist by smoking it. Somehow that felt (and tasted) right in that setting, and against that protein. As Eric pointed out, the sauce actually elevated the entire dish. Both of us felt, however, that she had undercooked her meat -- it was certainly edible, but would have benefited from some more time on the fire."

"Black and blue" would suggest to me that it's really underdone, where he says, "edible." I'm certainly not going bring Eric Ripert's palate into question, though I would suggest that on the whole, as I mentioned, raw-er game meats are more palatable than raised meats of the same rawness. We saw last week that Sara got booted because of undercooking something (chicken) and had this been anything but a game meat, no delightfully smoky sauce woulda saved Casey.

I absolutely agree with what others have suggested, though: contestants' track records (and, possibly, future potential) were used to keep Hung and Casey in and leave Brian hanging.

Call me a cynic, I found Hung's soulful, loving memories to be less than convincing. Based on his past comments and actions, I think he was just trying to sell himself with the "right" responses. He started the elim challenge complaining about the elk and the challenge and then he beamed that he "loved it" at the judges' table.

I also thought the show was edited to make Brian's dish not bad enough to be the loser, though I didn't think he'd get this far so his bump was a little anticlimactic.

Completely OT, I used to live at Aldine & Broadway and I'm SOOOO jealous that there's a whole foods at Halsted and Waveland now. LOL

The location is interesting. I would have assumed that they would have had the contestants camp out in one of the Michigan Ave. hotels, which would make the Whole Foods on Clark (Dearborn?) the one to use. As I noted in a prior post, as a married guy at times I get the impression that much of the programming on Bravo, including at times this show, is not really aimed at my demographic.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I never thought that black and blue meant inedible. I thought it was just a way to cook a steak (doneness) without an implied value judgment. Some people even order it this way in restaurants...

One of my colleagues at work lives across the street from the Top Chef house in Roscoe Village and reported that there was quite the interesting Christmas set up on the house (reindeer, sled, lights) which they shot, presumably for cut-aways. They have since been removed.

And the other night, as she was putting her son to bed, she saw the contestants filing into the house, one by one, as cameras rolled.

Not to beat a dead horse, but in my viewing the latest episode tonight, like everytime but tonight more than ever, it seemed that when Brian chatted up the camera for his "confessional" segment, describing his feelings as the episode went along, I was in fact watching a live-action taping of the old computer game Oregon Trail, and as if Brian, pasty-faced, baggy-eyed, and sickly sweaty, was concussed with a particularly bad bout of dysentery.
And sure enough, though he successfully forded many a river and shot many an elimination squirrel over the course of the season, his name was engraved at last on the Top Chef tombstone.
While I can delight in Dale staying, I will delight even more in watching no more the likes of the crypt keeper offering me my choice of cheeses for his whiskey river ghoulash.

More news on the new Chicago Season of Top Chef!

http://leisureblogs.chicagotribune.com/ ... ilmin.html

You know....i like to think of myself as not that obsessed with pop culture -- I enjoy it and talk about it but of course I would never get EXCITED about it..but I must admit to feeling a desire to go haunt that Whole Foods and to just keep my eyes peeled in general. I want to taste some Top Chef cuisine!!!

Correct me if I'm wrong but I never thought that black and blue meant inedible. I thought it was just a way to cook a steak (doneness) without an implied value judgment.

Correct. If you order your steak (or elk/elque(?)) done "bleu" in a French restaurant, no one will blink an eye. You'll just get a very rare steak (or elk/elque(?)).

earthlydesire wrote:More news on the new Chicago Season of Top Chef!

http://leisureblogs.chicagotribune.com/ ... ilmin.html

You know....i like to think of myself as not that obsessed with pop culture -- I enjoy it and talk about it but of course I would never get EXCITED about it..but I must admit to feeling a desire to go haunt that Whole Foods and to just keep my eyes peeled in general. I want to taste some Top Chef cuisine!!!

Thanks for posting the link/update, I find the whole thing to be a real blast! I'd love to "happen" to be there when they are looking for samplers!

I too witnessed filming at Whole Foods (Halsted) this morning. There were signs on the door explaining that by entering you consent to being filmed, etc. They also specifically do not name the show--there's something on the sign like "Magical Elves--TC-4". I didn't get it until I saw several persons in chef's jackets that say "Top Chef" outside the store about to go in. If you watch the show and see a woman on the sidewalk trying to cram groceries into a double jogging stroller, that's me...

Holly of Uptown wrote:If you watch the show and see a woman on the sidewalk trying to cram groceries into a double jogging stroller, that's me...

And I was the woman with the baby in the sling, slowly backing away from the meat counter when I realized that I was standing right next to one of the contestants. Said contestant had a camera aimed right at him and a boom hovering over his head. At least my baby wasn't crying!

-gtigrl

Queijo wrote:One of my colleagues at work lives across the street from the Top Chef house in Roscoe Village...

I live in Roscoe Village and would love ot know where the house is! Where street does she live on?

rober wrote:Considering that Ferran Adrià, Thomas Keller, Daniel Boulud, and Heston Blumenthal will be cooking dishes at Trotter's on Oct. 7th for a $5,000/person charity event (from Dish) one would think that a couple of them might have some part in the Top Chef Finale airing live in Chicago a few days before...hmmm...

Isn't it interesting that Alice Waters is also in town? Wouldn't she be a perfect part of a star-studded finale? And wouldn't Waters be the perfect judge of the reported Farmer's Market challenge? The current season isn't even over, and I already can't wait for the next one!

Can someone clear something up for me?
At the end of the episode, we saw a preview of the second part of the finale, which included the likes of Todd English and I forget who else. They were very clearly in Aspen (due to the background of trees and mountains).
So, is this Wednesday's "finale," the preface to the "live" version shot in Chicago?
Or is Wednesday's sort of an "air the first pre-taped part" and then cut to the live part in Chicago sort of deal?

ParkerS wrote:Can someone clear something up for me?
At the end of the episode, we saw a preview of the second part of the finale, which included the likes of Todd English and I forget who else. They were very clearly in Aspen (due to the background of trees and mountains).
So, is this Wednesday's "finale," the preface to the "live" version shot in Chicago?
Or is Wednesday's sort of an "air the first pre-taped part" and then cut to the live part in Chicago sort of deal?

On Wednesday's episode they'll show the last showdown between Casey, Dale and Hung, judges tables and deliberations, and likely some teasing "One of you will be the Iron Chef."

And then they'll cut to a live broadcast from Chicago.

gmonkey wrote:"One of you will be the Iron Chef."

Really? That's quite a promotion!

aschie30 wrote:

gmonkey wrote:"One of you will be the Iron Chef."

Really? That's quite a promotion!

Oops. Sorry. Between the excitement of the Top Chef finale and the The Next Iron Chef, I'm getting the two mixed.

gmonkey wrote:

aschie30 wrote:

gmonkey wrote:"One of you will be the Iron Chef."

Really? That's quite a promotion!

Oops. Sorry. Between the excitement of the Top Chef finale and the The Next Iron Chef, I'm getting the two mixed.

I hear ya. I'd take the title of Top Chef over Iron Chef anyday, if only just for the $100K from the "Glad Family of Products."

Tonight's the night! I'm trying to think of someplace post-finale to find celebrating Top Chef-ers, but since I don't even know where the finale is, it's hard to imagine. Like I said upthread, if Bourdain is in town he's a known afficionado of Matchbox, but other than that... I got nothin'.

Oh, and this was on Chicagoist:

http://chicagoist.com/2007/10/02/dale_levitski.php

Fingers crossed for Dale.

Thanks for the link to the interview with Dale.

3:30pm: chatted with Ted Allen at Starbucks on Ontario near Lake Shore. Refused to give me any inside scoop about tonight, but was quite pleasant. Few minutes later: Dale, Hung, Casey leaving W in casual clothes, getting into a silver car. Each was carrying what looked like formal attire.

Kennyz wrote:3:30pm: chatted with Ted Allen at Starbucks on Ontario near Lake Shore. Refused to give me any inside scoop about tonight, but was quite pleasant. Few minutes later: Dale, Hung, Casey leaving W in casual clothes, getting into a silver car. Each was carrying what looked like formal attire.

LTHer comes through again with the scoop. I have to admit, I'm a little worried about the formal attire - this ain't a ball, dammit.

Other vital tidbits: Casey got to ride shotgun. Ted ordered a tall "black". Cashier said "huh?" He repeated "tall black" and then placed a call on his cell phone to Damian. The cashier looked annoyed.

I thought Casey and Dale both looked nervous and a bit zoned out, whereas Hung was smiling, chipper, and chatty.

here is what padma had to say on 4:30 NBC5 news snippet about top chef (mostly quotes, but may have a few paraphrases):

-"very exciting to air live" for 1st time in 'top chef' history

-basically has known the winner for some time, as final challenge was done in aspen & judged; the winner was "very clear & deserved to win" -- which is scary knowing the bit about hung being so chatty/confident, but who knows?

-"1st time ever in chicago"; enjoying "walking around downtown"; has eaten at some "fabulous restarants, vermillion, table 52, blackbird" and she can't believe she had never set foot in chicago & thanked Bravo (ha!) for sending her here....

gotta love that girl, she knows how to keep those sponsors happy!

miss ellen

It sounds like the finale may be filming at Ina's. In today's Trib food section at the end of the article about Dale, it said at an "upscale diner in the west loop that does breakfast, lunch and dinner?? Just a guess

The Lovely Donna wrote:It sounds like the finale may be filming at Ina's. In today's Trib food section at the end of the article about Dale, it said at an "upscale diner in the west loop that does breakfast, lunch and dinner?? Just a guess

...did Aigres Doux ever get it's front bakery together?

The Lovely Donna wrote:It sounds like the finale may be filming at Ina's. In today's Trib food section at the end of the article about Dale, it said at an "upscale diner in the west loop that does breakfast, lunch and dinner?? Just a guess

Columbia Chronicle: You’re in the process of opening your own restaurant. What’s happening with it?

Dale Levitski: I’m going to kind of do an upscale diner: breakfast, lunch and dinner open seven days a week. I’m going to take American classics and have fun with them. [The restaurant] is going to be west of the Loop.

and from the trib:

A victory certainly would boost name recognition for his plans to open a restaurant, which he has been working on with partners. But win or not, the achievement of making the finale is a success in itself, and will likely translate into a career boost. Although Levitski will not yet reveal the name nor its location, he did say it will be an upscale diner west of the Loop serving breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week.

So I think that's not where they're filming... and it'd have to be somewhere big. Is the Calphalon Culinary Center still open? They're a sponsor.... although it's probably too small.

Also, my prediction is Hung. In the first two seasons, the eventual winner was also the winner of the first Elimination challenge. In this season, sadly, that can't happen (Tre is gone), but Hung was in the top group for that first challenge. Plus, I think he's likely to pull out all the stops for this final competition, and he's so technically excellent that I think he'll really dominate if there are no stupid restrictions.