Top Chef Season 6: Las Vegas

The sixth season of Top Chef will begin on Wednesday, August 26. Let the complaining about judges, contestants, challenges, etc. begin!
The list of contestants is posted on the Top Chef website, http://www.bravotv.com/top-chef

My rooting interest will be with Eve Aranoff, the owner/chef of Eve in Ann Arbor, MI. I haven't been to A2 in a few years, but back then Eve was by far my favorite restaurant in town.

Let me be the first to complain. Seventeen contestants?! At least none of them are culinary students. No Chicagoans, so that makes it a lot less interesting. Several proteges in the field; two from Jose Andres and one from Eric Ripert. Quite a few Atlantans (is that the right word?) in it as well.

They made the unfortunate decision to keep Toby Young as one of the judges. IMO, Jay Rayner from Top Chef Masters would have been a better choice. Ted Allen was sorely missed last season, and Young was a sorry replacement.

Last season was terrible; they lost me as a regular viewer. I'd love for this season to bring me back into the fold, but nothing seems particularly interesting.

I can't believe they kept Toby Young. That's just awful.

I was just reading Natalie Portman was going to be a guest on Top Chef this season, wh knew she was a foodie.

NP's also a vegan, and an aninmal rights activist. Here's hoping she's not a judge on the "best hamburger" challenge. By the way, she was also a guest judge on Project Runway, so there might be some sort of hidden Bravo connection there.

jbw wrote:NP's also a vegan, and an aninmal rights activist. Here's hoping she's not a judge on the "best hamburger" challenge. By the way, she was also a guest judge on Project Runway, so there might be some sort of hidden Bravo connection there.

In that case, I'm guessing that there will be a vegan challenge with a mini-spiel by Padma and Natalie about animal rights.

I'm not sure Padma will be giving any sort of animal rights spiel after making this

I've eaten at Zaytinya a number of times. OK food, not sure I'd call it anything special, but it lives in a neighborhood of mediocrity, so it makes it shine a bit more.

"The U.N. weapons inspectors were looking in the wrong place in the run up to the Iraq war. Because I have found the weapons of mass destruction, and they are in this bowl."

- Toby Young

He may obnoxious but Toby Young (even on crack with a head injury) knows more about food than Ted Allen ever will. I agree that Jay Raynor would have been a better choice.

Too bad about there being no Chicago contestants this time around. That does take a bit of the luster off the whole affair.

=R=

I'll grant that Toby Young is more knowledgeable about food than Ted Allen, but Ted comes across so much better on television. I get the feeling that Toby writes three or four zingers for each episode and then strains to fit them into the conversation.

He may obnoxious but Toby Young (even on crack with a head injury) knows more about food than Ted Allen ever will.

And this rather extreme statement is based on what?

sundevilpeg wrote:

He may obnoxious but Toby Young (even on crack with a head injury) knows more about food than Ted Allen ever will.

And this rather extreme statement is based on what?

The fact that Ted is frequently ill-informed when it comes to food, cooking and the science behind them. Hey Ted, searing meat doesn't keep the juices in (just one example).

=R=

Well, Eve certainly didn't impress last night. I hope she improves.

Dmnkly - good call on the first to go. Jennifer is my early pick for a lock in the finale.

I only caught it towards the end and was puzzled by the chile rellenos with seitan. I just thought "Seitan? Why would you make something with seitan unless unless you're forced to?"

Darren72 wrote:Well, Eve certainly didn't impress last night. I hope she improves.

Is that her name? I thought it was Rosanna Arquette making a career change.

If I hear that tall blond from Philly, whose food everyone liked, say "CevEETCH" one more time this season, I will jump through the screen and strangle her.

From Alan Sepinwall's take on the season opener:

... at the TV critics press tour a few weeks ago, I asked Simmons if perhaps she had offered some advice to her new colleague that might make him less irritating. And she suggested that Young had watched himself on the show and didn't like what he saw.

"I actually think it was a combo of a lot of things," she said of his obvious difficulty fitting in. "He hadn't seen a lot of the show before he came to do it, and I think there's just a British humor that, quite frankly, people might not have gotten. It was edited a certain way. I think he is definitely softened for this season. (He still has) his really tough quips and quibbles, but that's also his personality, and he's a really funny guy."

So... we'll see? Maybe he'll learn a zinger or two from Wolfgang, who was hilarious last night, IMO.

aschie30 wrote:

Darren72 wrote:Well, Eve certainly didn't impress last night. I hope she improves.

Is that her name? I thought it was Rosanna Arquette making a career change.

My family and I had a very good meal at Eve about a year ago, met Eve, and even bought her book, so I cringed at the comments directed at her.

Kennyz wrote:If I hear that tall blond from Philly, whose food everyone liked, say "CevEETCH" one more time this season, I will jump through the screen and strangle her.

The person screaming at the TV along with you, Kenny? That was me.

Kennyz wrote:If I hear that tall blond from Philly, whose food everyone liked, say "CevEETCH" one more time this season, I will jump through the screen and strangle her.

It wasn't a "hate hate hate" moment, just an eyebrow-raiser. I figured from her pronunciation, she was making Sicilian Sushi.

But a raw prep with clams is not what I'd have picked with those stakes. New England chowder might have been tough in that time (to get the potatoes cooked), but a Manhattan-style broth poured around concassee tomato and a stack of fried clams would have been nummy.

Just watched the first episode and I'm generally excited about what this season has to offer.

Also I let out a hearty "wow!" when they showed a clip of Joel Robuchon as a judge in a future episode. It's stuff like this that really makes me love this show.

EvA wrote:

Kennyz wrote:If I hear that tall blond from Philly, whose food everyone liked, say "CevEETCH" one more time this season, I will jump through the screen and strangle her.

The person screaming at the TV along with you, Kenny? That was me.

Bourdain can't pronounce Achatz or bruschetta right (he's actually gone both ways on the latter), so I tend to cut the newbies some slack. Of course, if they post here and screw up the grammar, I reserve the right to be chastised by LAZ for correcting them obstreperously.

Darren72 wrote:
Well, Eve certainly didn't impress last night. I hope she improves.

Is that her name? I thought it was Rosanna Arquette making a career change.

Or Mary Sue Milliken, heavily drugged. . .

Re: the kooky ceviche pronunciation, blame her boss, Eric Ripert. That's how it comes out with his cute little French accent, and I assume that she, as a faithful disciple, isn't about to correct his pronunciation. Forgivable, given the circumstances.

So I'm going to do the "I am woman, hear me roar" chant. Can someone hit Michael Isabella over the head with a side of beef for me please? Can you say chauvenist pig? I know that the restaurant business is heavily male, but give me a break. His comments regarding the female contestants really got under my skin. I'm sure he didn't know that Jennifer Carrol worked for Eric Ripert when he made his snide little comments. I'm so glad she wiped the floor with him.

O.K., I'm done. Food wise, it looks like it's going to be a pretty good season.

So I'm going to do the "I am woman, hear me roar" chant. Can someone hit Michael Isabella over the head with a side of beef for me please? Can you say chauvenist pig? I know that the restaurant business is heavily male, but give me a break. His comments regarding the female contestants really got under my skin. I'm sure he didn't know that Jennifer Carrol worked for Eric Ripert when he made his snide little comments. I'm so glad she wiped the floor with him.

Don't forget the guy (we didn't see his face, just heard him off camera) who said to Jennifer, "oh, you must be a pastry chef" when they were introduced.

rickster wrote:

So I'm going to do the "I am woman, hear me roar" chant. Can someone hit Michael Isabella over the head with a side of beef for me please? Can you say chauvenist pig? I know that the restaurant business is heavily male, but give me a break. His comments regarding the female contestants really got under my skin. I'm sure he didn't know that Jennifer Carrol worked for Eric Ripert when he made his snide little comments. I'm so glad she wiped the floor with him.

Don't forget the guy (we didn't see his face, just heard him off camera) who said to Jennifer, "oh, you must be a pastry chef" when they were introduced.

Is Jennifer the one from Philly? If so, I think this is reasonable. She deserves whatever she gets.

rickster wrote:

So I'm going to do the "I am woman, hear me roar" chant. Can someone hit Michael Isabella over the head with a side of beef for me please? Can you say chauvenist pig? I know that the restaurant business is heavily male, but give me a break. His comments regarding the female contestants really got under my skin. I'm sure he didn't know that Jennifer Carrol worked for Eric Ripert when he made his snide little comments. I'm so glad she wiped the floor with him.

Don't forget the guy (we didn't see his face, just heard him off camera) who said to Jennifer, "oh, you must be a pastry chef" when they were introduced.

Wasn't this the guy who wore the red scarf?

Is Jennifer the one from Philly? If so, I think this is reasonable. She deserves whatever she gets.

Yes, she's the same one who works for Ripert and can't pronounce ceviche

rickster wrote:

Is Jennifer the one from Philly? If so, I think this is reasonable. She deserves whatever she gets.

Yes, she's the same one who works for Ripert and can't pronounce ceviche

If she has a bona fide speech impediment that prevents her from pronouncing the final syllable of words, I take it all back. But the way she says "s'veeetch" sounds more like blatant, insulting disregard for the language: "I'm a tough girl from Philly and I'll say it however I wanna say it, you scumbag." I just can't believe that a professional chef, who's clearly made this dish before, has never been told how it's pronounced, and can't make the tiny effort to add an "ay" to the end a word.