Christopher Gordon wrote:...it was kinda sorta humorous when the camera stuck on a table of these peroxided and sparkling attendees in order to record one offering, "if it were me...someone from Team Earth would get the boot..."

and her dining companion replendent in the latest David Lynch's Dune House Corrino drag turns to her and, restraining herself from snapping her fingers in a Z while stifling a laugh, smirks, "...oh no you didn't!")

at least this is the way I prefer to remember it

Oh, I know, that got a laugh at my house, too. The wit of that one.

GardenofEatin wrote:And jaybo, I don't think it's a fair characterization to say that she deliberately sabotaged her teammates. First of all, that just isn't logical. She had immunity, so it's not like it was her or them. In fact, both of her teammates were fairly weak competitors, so it wasn't even in her best interest to get rid of them at this point. Second of all, she didn't object to the soup out of spite--she really seemed to think that soup wouldn't be enough to wow them. I tend to agree. Even though the judges implied that a good soup is the test of a chef, they have in the past dinged cheftestants for doing soup on the grounds that it was too simple and not impressive enough.

GardenofEatin, I stand by my belief that Antonia sabotaged her teammates. She was absolutely adamant about not wanting to do soup. She steered the team in the carpaccio direction. Yet when it came to making the dish, all she did was prep the vegetables. Are you kidding me?!

If her intent was truly to make the best dish possible, she should have taken a much more active hand in creating it. Otherwise, she should have let Spike and/or Zoi sink or swim with their own ideas.

The look on her face at judges' table next to Spike and Zoi said it all. She couldn't have cared less if either of them took the fall. Antonia stabbed her teammates in the back and got away with it. Spike called her out on it and took heat for it. Like them or hate them, at least the others are up front about who they are. Antonia is a wolf in sheep's clothing.

jaybo wrote:

GardenofEatin wrote:And jaybo, I don't think it's a fair characterization to say that she deliberately sabotaged her teammates. First of all, that just isn't logical. She had immunity, so it's not like it was her or them. In fact, both of her teammates were fairly weak competitors, so it wasn't even in her best interest to get rid of them at this point. Second of all, she didn't object to the soup out of spite--she really seemed to think that soup wouldn't be enough to wow them. I tend to agree. Even though the judges implied that a good soup is the test of a chef, they have in the past dinged cheftestants for doing soup on the grounds that it was too simple and not impressive enough.

GardenofEatin, I stand by my belief that Antonia sabotaged her teammates. She was absolutely adamant about not wanting to do soup. She steered the team in the carpaccio direction. Yet when it came to making the dish, all she did was prep the vegetables. Are you kidding me?!

If her intent was truly to make the best dish possible, she should have taken a much more active hand in creating it. Otherwise, she should have let Spike and/or Zoi sink or swim with their own ideas.

The look on her face at judges' table next to Spike and Zoi said it all. She couldn't have cared less if either of them took the fall. Antonia stabbed her teammates in the back and got away with it. Spike called her out on it and took heat for it. Like them or hate them, at least the others are up front about who they are. Antonia is a wolf in sheep's clothing.

If I may speak for GardenofEatin(and myself...hopefully)...regardless of Antonia's perceived intentions...she did say that she'd make soup...I'm not sure how you can disavow the physical utterance...

JLenart: I take umbrage with the hoary argument that profanity=ignorance...that's a huge cop-out...-you- may not "like" certain language but your misapprehension doesn't lesson it's vigor, impact, or necessity. Now...I think profanity can be misused...esp. when it's debrided of poetry, when it's performed as a vehicle for ridiculous concepts such as machismo or tribalism(see: Andrew and Spike)...but those poor hipster-cankered souls just lend stark contrast to the possibilities/the flash points of the inflammatory.

Christopher Gordon wrote: If I may speak for GardenofEatin(and myself...hopefully)...regardless of Antonia's perceived intentions...she did say that she'd make soup...I'm not sure how you can disavow the physical utterance...

I'm not disavowing anything. She did say she'd make soup - begrudgingly, after doing all she could to dissuade her teammates from doing so. The problem I had with what she did is she almost browbeat the others into making the kind of dish SHE wanted, yet when it came to execution, she did as little as she possibly could have. If she had not had immunity, I'm sure she would have done a lot more than basic prep work. If her intention was to defer to the others during the cooking process, she should have deferred to them in the creative process, as well.

Regarding the prevalence of profanity, I'll chalk it up to Dale Levitski Syndrome. Levitski dominated face time during the second half of last season, partially through the occasional use of expletives. I think this is mainly a bandwagon problem. The cheftestants saw Levitski use profanity and get significant camera time, so I think some of them see using foul language as a means of getting on the air. It's worked, but it definitely has gone overboard and needs to be curtailed in future seasons.

JLenart wrote:

brandon_w wrote:I have no problem with the language. The show airs at 9pm, that's primetime, not Saturday morning. By the time I was old enough to be allowed to stay up watching TV at 9pm, none of these words were new to me.

Using profanity shows ones inability to communicate on an adult level. Occasional use of a profane word for humor works, while not lowering one to the gutteral utterances of animals.

I find the profanity this season to be over the top. Perhaps its a producers choice or through the encouragement of the producers that people are talking like this but it's ridiculous because its over the top.

Believe me it's not over the top profanity compared to some of the restaurants I've been in, both FOH and BOH.

jaybo wrote:The problem I had with what she did is she almost browbeat the others into making the kind of dish SHE wanted, yet when it came to execution, she did as little as she possibly could have. If she had not had immunity, I'm sure she would have done a lot more than basic prep work. If her intention was to defer to the others during the cooking process, she should have deferred to them in the creative process, as well.

Fully agree.

But there is a way to characterize her actions that is more benign than sabotage. In the cooking process, her personal narrative could have been: "Look, I've got immunity anyway, it would be selfish of me (and gilding the lily) to try to be the star of this challenge. I should back off a bit and let my teammates excel, to make sure that both of them survive to see another week, just as I have."

riddlemay wrote:

jaybo wrote:The problem I had with what she did is she almost browbeat the others into making the kind of dish SHE wanted, yet when it came to execution, she did as little as she possibly could have. If she had not had immunity, I'm sure she would have done a lot more than basic prep work. If her intention was to defer to the others during the cooking process, she should have deferred to them in the creative process, as well.

Fully agree.

But there is a way to characterize her actions that is more benign than sabotage. In the cooking process, her personal narrative could have been: "Look, I've got immunity anyway, it would be selfish of me (and gilding the lily) to try to be the star of this challenge. I should back off a bit and let my teammates excel, to make sure that both of them survive to see another week, just as I have."

I agree. She very well may have been trying to give them enough rope to hang themselves, but it's equally plausible that she felt she should take a backseat with immunity. And I agree, if it was a Machiavellian tactic, it was a stupid one, as she ended up knocking off one of the weaker contestants and saving Richard. Besides which, what were the components? Sliced beef, an aioli and the mushrooms. Somebody was going to be limited to prep work only. It just wasn't that complicated of a dish.

Putting aside all the personal drama (which I could not be less interested in),

If I were a judge and I saw faux caviar again, I think I'd kick that guy off.

Also, I've had about enough of Mr. Fauxhawk bragging about his sous vide abilities. It's a technique, not a specialty. You know how to do it, congratulations.

I actually felt embarassed for Andrew when I saw he was whipping out the tapioca caviar AGAIN. I mean, seriously, is he trying to make himself seem like a one-trick pony to the judges? Because that is how he's coming across.

Christopher Gordon wrote:JLenart: I take umbrage with the hoary argument that profanity=ignorance...that's a huge cop-out...-you- may not "like" certain language but your misapprehension doesn't lesson it's vigor, impact, or necessity. Now...I think profanity can be misused...esp. when it's debrided of poetry, when it's performed as a vehicle for ridiculous concepts such as machismo or tribalism(see: Andrew and Spike)...but those poor hipster-cankered souls just lend stark contrast to the possibilities/the flash points of the inflammatory.

Well %$##^** You then.



OK maybe I was being a bit high brow there. But I still feel like there's a bit too much of it on this season of Top Chef. Just my opinion.

JLenart wrote:OK maybe I was being a bit high borw there. But I still feel like there's a bit too much of it on this season of Top Chef. Just my opinion.

It's also Tom Colicchio's:

That said, I have to agree that the gutter language has been excessive. One of my biggest thrills has been meeting kids of all ages who tell me that Top Chef has induced them to try new foods, or get into the kitchen and start cooking. It bums me out to think that parents might decide to restrict their kids from watching because of the chefs’ language. Admittedly, we cooks are a special, salty breed -- more longshoremen than naval officers, if you catch my drift. But I learned fairly early in my career that making my mark as a chef would require me to do more than just cook -- like interacting with the public and the press. In short, I cleaned up my act. The chefs in our competition would be wise to do the same, and hold their food and their demeanor to a high standard. To the extent that I am able, I will ask the producers to stay on the chefs about this in subsequent seasons. In the meantime, to the parents out there, my apologies.

Mr. Colicchio is a little disingenuous. They film hours of footage for each show. If the producers didn't want to show the bad language, they wouldn't show it.

I agree it's a little out of hand this year.

rickster wrote:Mr. Colicchio is a little disingenuous. They film hours of footage for each show. If the producers didn't want to show the bad language, they wouldn't show it.

I agree it's a little out of hand this year.

Tom is making the same point. Perhaps I should have included the paragraph that immediately precedes the one above:

... I want to put in my two cents about one thing -- the language on the show. I’m flattered that people think I have enough input over the production and editing to impact this. In reality, we spend about six weeks shooting the show, during which time the judges are in a state of semi-isolation, kept from interacting with the chefs except in our kitchen walk-throughs and the Judges’ Table. The "talking-head" interviews you see are filmed away from us and then woven later into the episode by the editorial staff. I see those interviews when you do -- when I watch the show. And you can be sure the chefs are on their best behavior when I stroll the kitchen, (though I wouldn’t be surprised if they are swearing at my back, as I move on through.)

That said, I have to agree that the gutter language has been excessive....

I think it is clear that the producers are the ones who decide what footage is used.

The creative geniuses at Bleeding Heart Bakery on Belmont and Damen are doing a weekly tribute to the weekly winning food. This week it was an amazing dark chocolate cupcake with heat and a tiny shrimp on top. I think some of the them had a fake fondant bacon flower on them. They were fabulous. In honor of the "Fire" team. The heat was slow at first and then heightened. It was truly enjoyable. Last weeks was a white chocolate wasabi cupcake. I can't wait to see what this weeks will be.

There is a picture of the cupcakes on flikr
http://flickr.com/photos/thebleedinghea ... 534913438/

Word on the street is that Paul Kahan is going to judge the upcoming grill-off challenge at Soldier Field! Maybe we're in for some seasonal-organic tailgating--can't wait!

My cable is down. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Paul looks like he could use some sleep.

mhill95149 wrote:Paul looks like he could use some sleep.

my thoughts exactly...poor Paul!

...way to go Spike for calling out Koren; I could be wrong, but is there lesbian nepotism at work? It's not unheard of...

Just how bad does Nikki have to be to get sent home? I'm not defending Ryan's dish, but Nikki's been making a lot of mistakes all season and then tonight a no-effort dish that she ran out of? I thought for sure she was a gonner after - what is it now - her third or fourth or fifth bad dish. She's not even an interesting character so I can't quite understand why they are keeping her around.

Hellodali wrote:Just how bad does Nikki have to be to get sent home? I'm not defending Ryan's dish, but Nikki's been making a lot of mistakes all season and then tonight a no-effort dish that she ran out of? I thought for sure she was a gonner after - what is it now - her third or fourth or fifth bad dish. She's not even an interesting character so I can't quite understand why they are keeping her around.

I couldn't agree more. I was pretty surprised to see her squeak by yet again. I could not believe that serving store-bought sausage from WF wasn't an automatic ticket home. For now, I'll have to comfort myself with the relatively secure thought that she has absolutely no chance of winning.

I was disappointed to see Mark nearly cut. I mean, based on what we saw, it wouldn't have been egregious if he'd gone home but I was rooting for him because he was the only person who chose charcoal over gas. Too bad he didn't get the results he was looking for.

As a life-long Bears fan and season-ticket holder, it was definitely fun to see Fridge, Richard Dent and Gale Sayers tasting the food. I was at that game too, but no one asked me to join in

=R=

The series is progressing to the point where I can't wait to see several folks go home. If I was to wager, I'd say to look for Stephanie, Richard and (possibly) Spike (I know, I know - but he's good for drama) in the final three.

ronnie_suburban wrote:

Hellodali wrote:Just how bad does Nikki have to be to get sent home? I'm not defending Ryan's dish, but Nikki's been making a lot of mistakes all season and then tonight a no-effort dish that she ran out of? I thought for sure she was a gonner after - what is it now - her third or fourth or fifth bad dish. She's not even an interesting character so I can't quite understand why they are keeping her around.

I couldn't agree more. I was pretty surprised to see her squeak by yet again. I could not believe that serving store-bought sausage from WF wasn't an automatic ticket home. For now, I'll have to comfort myself with the relatively secure thought that she has absolutely no chance of winning.

Nikki stayed because Ryan is an idiot (I think that Rocco said during episode 1 that "it wasn't only Ryan's gnocchi that were dense"). He actually convinced the judges through his long-winded "defense" that he was worse than Nikki! There was a moment during Ryan's diatribe when the camera flashed on Nikki and she gave this giggle of relief, as if she knew right then that Ryan just saved her another week. Good tv.

It was cool to see all the Bear legends out there trying the food (and I'm a Packers fan).

Dale's ribs looked awesome. I can't say I have ever thought of trying to do a tandoori style grilled rib. I might look into that recipe though for something to try this summer.

I don't like Ryan, but at least he made all of his food. Really, a sausage and pepper sandwich? I mean that's something I would make for myself when I don't want to do much cooking.

I'd agree that I think Stephanie and Richard will be in the final three, but I don't think Spike will be. I'd have to say right now, that Antonia would be my other choice for top three. I'd like to see Mark there, but he seems really on, or really off, and it will probably cost him. I was rooting for Mark and his charcoal too.

Hellodali wrote:Just how bad does Nikki have to be to get sent home?

I was surprised too. I thought she was finally a goner. But in his guest chef interview, Kahan said the decision for the loser wasn't close at all. Ryan's must've been pretty awful.

I think Nikki's time will be up very soon. Serving store-bought sausages with grilled onions & peppers? Are you kidding?

However, I'm glad to see Ryan go. What an idiot. Also, Bayless metioned in his interview that he did remember Ryan coming through the Topolobampo kitchen and that the folks there didn't care for him much. Hmmm, I wonder why? And also, Ryan mentioned he was in Daniel Boulud's kitchen for 2 days and "it wasn't his style." Hmmm...maybe you couldn't hack it in Daniel's kitchen?

Glad to see Dale get a win. Ribs are great tailgating grub and his tandoori-ish ribs looked delicious.

Nikki is so overdue for the boot. It seems to me (if I recall correctly) that she has skated through several elimination rounds despite not really doing that much. She always seems to take the easy way out (like not making her own sausage -- which, frankly folks, really doesn't take that much time) -- and she has this annoying habit of always including a "little drink" to dress up her messes.

I think our final three will be Stephanie, Richard and Dale. Spike needs to be drug off by the hat police as soon as possible but Nikki...Nikki needs to go already. She's not doing the work. How could you NOT have enough peppers and onions for the judges? That's a rookie mistake, fit for a first elimination round. And I've had that WF sausage -- it's decent at best -- certainly not worthy of a show to find out who is the best chef in all the land. Nikki just strikes me as always being a day late and a dollar short on things -- she miscalculates (the mushrooms that looked like dog turds, the mac and cheese that was drier than the Sahara on a hot summer day, etc.) And i can't stand her hairdo.

But that's beside the point.

Go Stephanie!

Shananon

I think our final three will be Stephanie, Richard and Dale.

I really think Andrew could end up in one of those final spots, and I think it could happen at the expense of Richard. I get the feeling that Richard thinks he's above the competition and he's just here to get some press - part of me really wants to see him go home before the last episode. He was certainly close with his mushy sous-vide salmon. I predict another similar hubris-based error in the future. (Then again, I thought messy-table Mark was done for last night. So what do I know.)

Also, hard for all of us "show more Chicago" folks in the Peanut Gallery to fault this particular episode. Looks like it would have been a great game to go to! Great food, Bears greats, and early season football! And they couldn't have timed this show better - airing it on a night where the temp is still nice and temperate into the evening. Perfect grilling weather. Anyone got an extra Weber laying around they don't need? I, sadly, am grill-free and am fiending for some good charcoal-fired meat action.

whiskeybent wrote:

I think our final three will be Stephanie, Richard and Dale.

I really think Andrew could end up in one of those final spots, and I think it could happen at the expense of Richard. I get the feeling that Richard thinks he's above the competition and he's just here to get some press - part of me really wants to see him go home before the last episode.

Ahhh, I don't think that's fair. The guy's been generally great (the salmon being a glaring exception), he clearly understands what he's doing and he's not going to be easily rattled. Even though he wasn't voted top three by the tailgaters, Gail seemed to imply in her blog that she thought he belonged there, so you can chalk up another week with him among the top performers. I think that salmon mishap is exactly the kick in the ass he needed to keep him sharp the rest of the way out. He knows how close he was to going home early and I bet he isn't going to lose focus like that again.

Richard, Stephanie and Dale are the easy picks for top three. I think the big question is who rounds out the finals (I presume it'll be a four person final again). Other than Nikki, I think that fourth spot is wide open. Some are more likely to make it than others, to be sure, but I think everybody other than Nikki has a path to the finals at this point.

Christopher Gordon wrote:...way to go Spike for calling out Koren; I could be wrong, but is there lesbian nepotism at work? It's not unheard of...

I kind of felt like that quick fire was "rigged," as if the producers quite clearly wanted the "Avenge the elimination of Zoi!!!" storyline to go forward. When Padma took a bite of Jennifer's dish and started raving about it before Koren could react, I knew that one would win. Maybe not rigged, but the seeds were definitely planted there.

whiskeybent wrote:Also, hard for all of us "show more Chicago" folks in the Peanut Gallery to fault this particular episode.

Agreed there. I did think Koren Grieveson an interesting choice. She has just been named a top new chef by Food & Wine, but had not been at the time of filming, and really isn't all that well known outside of Chicago; she certainly does not have the cachet or name recognition of the previous quick fire judges. My totally uninformed speculation is that Kahan had a conflict that would not allow him to tape the quick fire, so he suggested her (who runs one of his restaurants) instead.

Also, those beer choices were pretty boring and weak. I see that almost all (and probably all) are A-B brands (and I believe A-B is a sponsor), so I guess that explains it.

When I saw the quickfire challange I had to get up and get a beer. Made mt thirsty.