I think she's in the next episode.

Whenever *that* may be. Imagine my surprise seeing Isaac Mizrahi's new show in its place on Bravo tonight. Boooo!

sundevilpeg wrote:

I think she's in the next episode.

Whenever *that* may be. Imagine my surprise seeing Isaac Mizrahi's new show in its place on Bravo tonight. Boooo!

A bunch of us were surprised by no episode tonight. I'm not going to suggest that Bravo pulled a bait-and-switch to boost the god-awful ratings of their Project Runway replacement, but, well, I'm just sayin'...

I'm pretty sure at the end of last week's episode, at the beginning of the "coming attractions" they said "in two weeks".

jesteinf wrote:I'm pretty sure at the end of last week's episode, at the beginning of the "coming attractions" they said "in two weeks".

But not completely sure, I noticed. It would appear that my conspiracy theory is gaining some momentum.

Is there any conceivable way Bayless doesn't run away with this thing?

I Do It Daily wrote:Is there any conceivable way Bayless doesn't run away with this thing?

Yes, if Hubert Keller or Anita Lo (or any of the other finalists) beat him. He's not exactly going up against a bunch of amateur hacks.

Yes, if Hubert Keller or Anita Lo (or any of the other finalists) beat him. He's not exactly going up against a bunch of amateur hacks.

But it's Bayless, he's on another plane of existence. God created man in Bayless' image.

This show isn't getting a lot of conversation, I think that says something.

This show isn't getting a lot of conversation, I think that says something.

True. it makes me think that for all the complaining about the artificial drama on a show like the regular Top Chef, that's really what people want to see, even if they won't admit it, rather than a straightforward competition.

I thought this week's episode was the most entertaining yet.

brandon_w wrote:This show isn't getting a lot of conversation, I think that says something.

I'm not sure what it says. I like the show, but I can see that it wouldn't engender much discussion. It's different groups of well-known chefs doing some cooking challenges for charity. They can all cook and they all have well-established careers, so there's nothing to lose. They're all basically friendly and having a good time. The food generally looks good.

What's to discuss?

brandon_w wrote:This show isn't getting a lot of conversation, I think that says something.

It's on in the middle of summer. Is anyone watching tv?

eatchicago wrote:What's to discuss?

You could discuss the same things as the regular Top Chef show - why would you pick that ingredient? Why didn't they prepare this instead? I think so and so is going to win.

The only difference is that there may be people out there who think they can do as well if not better than some of the "regular" Top Chef contestants. My guess is that very few people feel like they should be second guessing the "Masters."

I think its interesting to see how well some of these guys do in competitions like this, especially compared to the regular Top Chef contestants. There doesn't seem to be too many misses. If there are, then the judges aren't being overly critical. I think if you're in a position of power (judges) over the regular contestants, then you feel as if you can openly criticize their dishes to their face. If those particular contestants happen to be "masters" and have achieved as much, if not more than the judges and probably have more knowledge on the various food topics; then whats there to criticize?

Actually, the masters could openly criticize the judges for a change - that would be a great show. I could just see it now - "what? you didn't appreciate my smoked dessert? have you ever been to Sweden/Scandinavia before? Perhaps you aren't familiar with the flavor profiles or how to fully appreciate the dish..."

Actually, I am a little surprised by when they do miss, they really miss. Moonen did not even put out a plate for the quickfire! If that was a regular Top Chef competitor, that chef would've been crucified for his mistake. Same goes for Besh. They would've questioned why he wasn't even able to send out a fully cooked plain egg in the time allotted.

I enjoy the Masters series more than the regular Top Chef series. I'm just not joining in the discussion of it here because it says "spoilers" right there in the title of the thread.

The thread is already up to three pages, the same number as Meat Head Burgers. And fast food chains are among the most popular thing going here lately.

I am enjoying the show because of the cooking and the (relatively) relaxed and friendly atmosphere between the competitors. There is no dramatic arc to the show--how can there be with only two competitions in one hour--but the cooking is interesting.

One thing I've noticed is that the chef who wins the Elimination Challenge wins the competition. That might be because the chefs are pretty closely matched and the few extra stars the elimination winner receives are enough to put him or her over the top at the end. Or maybe the winning chef grasps how to do these challenges from the get-go.

I was a little disappointed by last night's show:

First of all, aside from the lack-of-plate on one Quickfire, I didn't feel like the Swedish guy got the contest at all -- in the regular Top Chef he'd have been scored very low for not providing a fried shrimp in any form. The fish balls instead of sticks -- how hard would it have been to make them a little more log-shaped?

The real disappointment, though, is the perennial "top caterer" contest. Especially with these exec-chef types, what are they doing asking them to do solo catering jobs? At least in the regular top chef, many of these are team tasks.

That being said, Chiarello definitely had the edge: his books and show are all about party food, the ability to make a bunch of finger food for a large number of people is much more in his core competency set than the others'.

One other note: Does anyone know who makes the plasticware they were using to serve? The square cups and turned-up triangular plates were beautiful for buffet service. Most of my cocktail parties are served on trays, but it would be nice to put out small plates every once in a while.

It's my favorite part of the show when one guy always really blows it during the quickfire. This weeks being the worst. I think they just get so wrapped up in trying to make something amazing that they completely forget about the time contraint. He wasn't even close with his corndogs this week.

I'm pretty sure that Moonen won the Elimination Challenge this week, but could not overcome the Zero stars from the quick fire to beat out Chiarello.

brandon_w wrote:I'm pretty sure that Moonen won the Elimination Challenge this week, but could not overcome the Zero stars from the quick fire to beat out Chiarello.

You are correct.

I'm really enjoying this show. But I feel bad enough wasting time actually watching tv, that it's hard to justify spending even more time talking about it on-line.

=R=

JoelF wrote:
One other note: Does anyone know who makes the plasticware they were using to serve? The square cups and turned-up triangular plates were beautiful for buffet service. Most of my cocktail parties are served on trays, but it would be nice to put out small plates every once in a while.

Joel,

JB Prince http://www.jbprince.com/

brandon_w wrote:I'm pretty sure that Moonen won the Elimination Challenge this week, but could not overcome the Zero stars from the quick fire to beat out Chiarello.

You're right

Even though I look forward to watching the TC-Masters show, I don't find it as compelling as the original TC. Mostly, I think, it has to do with the OTC contestants are looking to make their futures, so to speak, whereas the masters have already established their bona fides; they have less at stake with winning vs. losing. For many of the OTC contestants, performing on the show is their Big Break. Lives can change. That being said, I really do enjoy seeing the masters at work in the same conditions as OTC contestants. Being able to compare how each group performs under similar conditions gives some needed perspective on the talent level of OTC contestants, and, well, it's always cool seeing all the neat food they plate.

P.S. I just thought of something I meant to mention: I hate the guest judges they've been having for the quickfire challenges. The choices they've been making, it kind of cheapens the contest. They should either be using other food critics, or even better, using the OTC contestants that were top performers on those particular quickfire challenges as the guest judges.

Katie wrote:I enjoy the Masters series more than the regular Top Chef series. I'm just not joining in the discussion of it here because it says "spoilers" right there in the title of the thread.

for the 3rd (or 4th time), as stated on the first page, I put the "spoilers" in the title to tell people not to read the thread if they have NOT watched that week's episode. There are no spoilers regarding the winners of the challenges, weekly episode or overall series.

tem wrote:I put the "spoilers" in the title to tell people not to read the thread if they have NOT watched that week's episode. There are no spoilers regarding the winners of the challenges, weekly episode or overall series.

A suggestion: editing the parenthetical in the title to something like "with episode results" might clear that up. Many people read "spoilers" to mean results that haven't aired yet, as opposed to results from an episode that's already been shown but may still be stashed away on any given person's DVR.

Crap. Gail sighting.

I've found the last few episodes to be quite boring, actually.

Last night's wasn't all bad. I wasn't surprised to hear that Roy Yamaguchi was rusty as he's got an empire to look after and probably hasn't worked a line in years.

The finale should be fun to watch w/ two Chicago chefs in the final 5.

Chicago Expat wrote:Crap. Gail sighting.

What exactly is it about her that is so unpleasant? I can't put my finger on the reason, but I had that same response.

Actually, I found last night to be a little annoying in its cameraderie: sure, they're all best buds, and they want to let them cook, but if they've got to choose seven out of eleven ingredients, I'd make at least six of the ingredients "Chopped"-style spoilers: an unusual fruit, a stinky cheese when the protein is all seafood, Strawberry Quik, etc. Have some fun!

But at least we've got two Chicagoans in the finals, huh? We can't even get one in the regular Top Chef season 6, but there are enough masters here that we've got a third of the medal heat!

DML wrote:

Chicago Expat wrote:Crap. Gail sighting.

What exactly is it about her that is so unpleasant? I can't put my finger on the reason, but I had that same response.

When I eat something really really delicious, whether it's dining out or something my mad-genius wife concocts in the kitchen, it really hits me in my heart. There is a genuine visceral artfulness to a finely cooked meal that reminds me that joyful surprising moments can manifest with each subsequent heartbeat. When Gail talks about food, it sounds to me like a donkey braying about good oats in a carefully crafted soundbite meant to maximize her q-rating. That, and she just rubs me the wrong way.

JoelF wrote:Actually, I found last night to be a little annoying in its cameraderie: sure, they're all best buds, and they want to let them cook, but if they've got to choose seven out of eleven ingredients, I'd make at least six of the ingredients "Chopped"-style spoilers: an unusual fruit, a stinky cheese when the protein is all seafood, Strawberry Quik, etc. Have some fun!

But at least we've got two Chicagoans in the finals, huh? We can't even get one in the regular Top Chef season 6, but there are enough masters here that we've got a third of the medal heat!

Y'know, I actually found the camaraderie rather refreshing. Even the part about the ingredients. That being said, I can understand why others, like yourself, would be down on that. This whole Masters series is just so nuanced compared to the original Top Chef that small things like that can create great divides between the viewing audience. I enjoyed last night's episode more than the others (actually, I still haven't seen one; somehow I keep missing the re-runs), but overall, I'm itching to see some of the OTC from Vegas. I did really get a kick out of how the chefs struggled to find stuff in the grocery store and work some of kitchen implements, as well as their own good humor towards their acts of futility. I also like how one of the chefs used to work for one of the others (sorry, I really suck at name recall and I'm too lazy to google them right now).
Cheers.

Expat,

The rest of the eps have been great with the camaraderie, I just felt this last one was too much of a love fest. Perhaps it was just that the "Mystery Box" was a poor choice for a contest when there is that much cooperation.