Claudia Greco
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Posts posted by Claudia Greco
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Let's hear it for the one-armed bandit, Dave! I feel bad that Kevin was dragged down by Amanda on at least three stations, but for sheer will, battling through injury and adversity - and, yeah, being a damn good cook - Dave deserved the win.
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No bolsters? Oh. Dear. God.
Glad Suzanne finally got the heave-ho, and I knew Tennille was going to be next. I'm rooting for Dave, but I'd like to see Ariel in the final. We'll see if Kev makes his move tomorrow night, like a snake in the grass. He seems to be about the stategizing. Ariel and Dave seem to be about the cooking.
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Worse - how about when Gordon just about went fetal on the floor the other week? The last known instance of him going fetal was when he was a young chef, training under Marco Pierre White, who "bollocked" him so badly Gordo crumpled to the floor, crying, and muttering that he couldn't do this, he couldn't do this . . . this most recent "fetal" wasn't quite as bad (or as fetal!), but you could see Gordon was definitely buckling in disgust - I would say he was NOT in his happy place (!)
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Well, yeah, Tom called Toby out on it because Toby couldn't get his brain around why a double L in Spanish is pronounced "y" - hence, "pie-EH-yah." And, in response to an earlier post last week, yes, "llama" should be pronounced "yah-ma", not lah-ma (as in "Llama 1-800-" - "Call 1-800-"), even though native English speakers almost always mess that up. So maybe the furry little Andean ungulate technically SHOULD be a yah-ma, not a lah-ma, but I doubt we'll get the whole of the English-speaking world to change, at this point . . . ("Yo mama, yah-ma!") (Fed up Preuvian posters, feel free to jump in (!))
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Oh, man, the only chef with a decent service on last night's ep was the chef who only has one hand - poor Ariel! I hate to see her struggle. I think she's a much better chef than her last few services show . . . and Kevin need not be so critical. After all, he messed up the entire batch of risotto to start with.
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Oh, I thought it was Top Ceviche (!!) Enough ceviche. Enough scallops. And I hope they give tartares and carpaccio a rest, too.
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Oh, I agree, Toby was being pointedly obtuse, which is why I enjoyed the smackback. I would love to see Gail back every week, but maybe she has some scheduling issues, and Jay Rayner would be great, too. We can only yearn for Bourdain - I think he'd be glad to judge again, if invited, but they want him to blog, too, and he will not blog for Top Chef since they have bannered, advertising-supported blog pages. (They didn't always, back in the day.) That's why he refused to blog so, consequently, that's why he hasn't been back to judge. And Top Chef has been a little less lustrous for it. ("Your dish, while Flinstonian in execution . . ." and "He [Mike] is like the son I never had - the love child of Charles Manson and Betty Crocker . . ." I miss those bon mots!)
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I don't hate Toby - he's really just your typical snarky Brit food crit. (Food criticism in Britain is more gossip columnist/mosh pit - not like the more analytical, objective and (by comparison) restrained food criticism we are accustomed to here). That aside, I was cheering to see Michelle pin his ears back by correctly pointing out that paella is, indeed, pronounced pie-EH-ya (not pie-EL-la, or as Gordon Ramsay used to say, "PY-lah"), that you do pronounce Barcelona with the slight lisp on the "c" (especially if you happen to be Castilian or taught to speak Castilian Spanish), and that, basically, since she's from Miami, she has a far better grasp of Spanish than Toby ever would. I went to British schools all my life, and I can honestly tell you that no Brit can actually correctly pronounce any word from any language other than English, no matter how fluent they might be in the other language. (Gordo's chronic mangling of "risotto" ("rizz-OTTO") always gives me apoplexy.) (Oh, and yes, while paella is Valencian in origin and there are many subsequent regional variations to it (and outside of Spain, too, like in Puerto Rico) . . .
Ron's wasn't one of them! (Poor Ron! Hadn't a CLUE, had he?)
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Can we still "kick people to the curb"? (!!)
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That was Sam Talbot, who looked certain to win until he did a ceviche in the Hawaiian elimination challenge. It wasn't like everybody had ceviche'd the competition to death at that point, but Tom Collicchio kicked him off the island in that final three, which allowed for the legendary Ilan-Marcel denouement, because "he didn't actually COOK anything." Never mind that at no time was it stated that actual flame must be used in the preparation of the challenge dishes; and never mind that Hawaiian "ceviche" - poke - is a cornerstone of Hawai'ian cuisine; Tom kicked Sam to the curb . . . unfairly, I thought.
However, I agree there has been WAY too much ceviche in recent seasons (especially this one), and that it's a bad, bad idea, both for a ranch challenge, as well as for the fact that I don't think raw seafood is a good idea in 100+ degree heat. Did nobody learn from Anita Lo's disasterous raw bar on the shadeless rooftop during the pool party challenge in Top Chef Masters? Ai, yai, yai, muchachos! Worse, ceviche has been a cop-out for the chefs, when they don't know what else to produce. A cool dish in a hot environment? No. Not if your sea food starts turning in the heat. I love ceviche, but I'm sick of seeing that, tartares and capaccio of anything. Be one with the fire pit, I say.
Having vented about all that, I was sure Robin was going home for her truly repulsive shrimp - but I guess Mattin's half completely-raw, half completely-cooked ceviche really was worse. Saw Tom go toss (not actually spit) his ou in the bushes, so I guess salmonella trumps merely revolting every time . . . (!)
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OoooOOohhh, I got you now. It's just a glitch in her ordering system! Yeah, she should have no problem mailing you a shirt outside of the US if you email her directly. I couldn't think why else Beth wouldn't ship outside the US, unless there was something physically or trchologically preventing her from doing so. Good luck with the chef jacket "monogramming".
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Nope. But if you want Beth to send it to me and I'll send it on to you, you can email me at bukigreco@aol.com. I'm in NY, she knows me and has sent me Ts before, so I'll just have you pay for the shipping to you when I get it from her. It's a drag, I know, but Beth must have her reasons for not doing non-US shipping (mainly, I think, because she's a one-woman operation with a baby and step-toddler, a private chef AND Tony's right hand man, and she probably can't get to FedEx half the time (!!))
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She doesn't ship outside the US? Well, you can always have her ship it to me (I'm in NY) and I'll ship it you, once I know what the postage is. You cannot use his Tony's logo - it's copyright protected.
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OK, I'm going crazy tryi ng to find a pea shoot foam recipe to duplicate a stunning dish I had in Nanaimo, BC. Any bright ideas from any fellow foamers?
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Or maybe Gail actually speaks some French? I know she's Canadian, but I think she's of the English-speaking folk, not the Quebecois - still, it's possible that Gail might actually understand French? C'est possible . . .
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Sacre Bleu! The French chef tanks in a French culinary challenge, both in the quickfire AND the elimination challenges! Mon Dieu!
Glad to see the Voltagglia Brothers franchise is still doing well - both brothers in the top 2. It's hard to discern a winner, but I'm still thinking the gnome-like Kevin Gillespie, Jennifer and Michael V. are the ones to watch.
Poor Ashley! She's a better cook, I think, than her most recent challenges indicate, but she seems to be coming apart at the seams a bit. Hope she pulls it together. I agree with her - had I been required to cook for these french heavyweights - especially Robuchon - I'd want to throw up, too.
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At this point I am rooting for Dave to take it, he really has hung in there. But I am ready for PTSD guy to go, he is getting on my nerves.
We will see who goes home tonight... (here in about 15 minutes)
Looks like you got your wish. Looks like Suzanne is just skatin' by, by the skin of her teeth . . .
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At this point I am rooting for Dave to take it, he really has hung in there. But I am ready for PTSD guy to go, he is getting on my nerves.
We will see who goes home tonight... (here in about 15 minutes)
Looks like you got your wish. Looks like Suzanne is just skatin' by, by the skin of her teeth . . .
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At this point I am rooting for Dave to take it, he really has hung in there. But I am ready for PTSD guy to go, he is getting on my nerves.
We will see who goes home tonight... (here in about 15 minutes)
Looks like you got your wish. Looks like Suzanne is just skatin' by, by the skin of her teeth . . .
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I truly admire the guy with the broken wrist (Dave), who not only seems like he can actually cook, but is totally a team player and a pro. I'm keeping an eye on Kevin, too - and let's not forget Ariel. I think Suzanne, good or not, will get kicked off the island, and none of the other three women are strong enough cooks (or wily enough strategists) to survive the usual HK machinations.
Does anybody know whatever happened to Heather, from a few seasos ago? Did she ever get her own restaurant?
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I think Jesse will be the next to go. Jennifer, Kevin, Bryan and Michael - all strong contenders. Two James Beard nominees and a chef who works under Ripert MUST be treated seriously!
I agree. I had to roll my eyes and laugh when Jesse started to cry in front of the judges.
I think the men vs women idea is lame.
And I think whining about a possible challenge (we're in Vegas so there has to be a wedding challenge and I'm gonna hate it cuz I can't get married!") is lame.
Right. I agree it must bum out the gay cheftestants to have to cook for a ceremony in which they cannot participate, but as a chef, it's about the food, the event, the challenge. Ashley (?) could've pretended it was for HER wedding - that had a lot of men attending.
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Very relieved that Robert is gone. Whereas I had a lot of empathy last season and he cooked better, his return for this season has been characterized by bragadoccio, ranting and slagging his fellow contestants - even while he has been cooking subpar. Maybe Andy is a loser (I certainly thing he'll be going home next) - but Robert wasn't exactly stellar, just on the basis of his cooking. (Besides, I think the guy's gonna die if he doesn't drop about 200 lbs. soon. How many times do you have to be run to the hospital before you get a clue that your body can't handle the demands you're putting on it?)
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I think Jesse will be the next to go. Jennifer, Kevin, Bryan and Michael - all strong contenders. Two James Beard nominees and a chef who works under Ripert MUST be treated seriously!
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Indeed, wonderfully fun! Please don't get too pissed off at us, Jay - we're Yanks. We love a good conspiracy theory. Especially when it involves polenta (!)
Top Chef: Season 6 – Las Vegas
in Food Media & Arts
Posted
The best comment, IMHO, was Dana Corwin's crack about Laurene's rillette being "catfood" - I was so sure that was a chef-eliminating decision right there. But, no. I guess the judges finally decided that Ash would never grasp how to put flavors together or put out the dish he actually originally intended. Robin? Still hanging on - amazing! You get the sense that everybody just wants her gone not because she's a threat (and not because she's obviously not), but simply because she's annoying the crap out of all of them (except maybe the V Brothers.)