malarkey

I'd say nope, because Rami would have chosen some fugly color that clashed with her skin tone.

Sticking to my guns on this one. ← I think Steph will win. Unless she blows it big time (and I don't think she will) there has to be some pressure--conscious or unconscious--to have a female winner. So all things being equal I think she would get the nod. But she is talented enough anyway to take the win, so my money's on her! ← It also wouldn't surprise me to see Stephanie win a couple more challenges and then Richard win the final. She's already won a trip, kitchen appliances, etc etc... I'd love it if she won the final. It definitely will be down to her and Richard. They are easily the best chefs on the show.

I think this was one of the best shows of the season. LOVE restaurant wars! The right person went home, ab-so-fucking-lutely. This was Dale's chance, he was at the helm, he was in control. He should have risen above Lisa's grouching and pulled the team together. But he didn't. And his behavior in front of the judge's panel was pathetic.

is this the same peeps as the one in Portland?

excellent!

absolutely. when I saw this topic float to the top, that's the first ad I had in my mind. Yeah, sure Pizza Hut's pasta tastes so good dozens of people wouldn't know the difference. Sure.

Nikki finally makes something decent and gets to stay; at least she earned it this time. I don't know what was up with Steph. that's two weeks in a row she's blown it. I noticed Gail said about her dish: "it's a sign of a restaurant chef that never cooks at home" ~ I'm glad she's getting another chance.

Not only that, but Richard and Dale didn't whine (or at least we didn't see them whining) about getting tofu as an ingredient. Bet Lisa would have blown that one off too.

Actually, they could braise polish sausage in white wine. If they didn't like the beer angle, why not? Why didn't they take the ingredient and elevate it? That would have earned some points. Now I'm inspired to try this at home It came down to which dish the judges thought tasted the best, and that won over who followed the rules. I was sweating for Stephanie, and I'm glad it wasn't her that went. She seems to suffer in the team challenges, and shines when she's on her own. She wasn't comfortable with that bread going out like that. She let Jennifer drive when she shouldn't have. And Nikki survives yet another week. Only because she was paired with Mark.

From the site: BIO: Nikki operates 24 Prince Restaurant in New York City as the chef and co-owner. Trained for many years in back of house and in front of house operations with great chefs like Jean-Georges, Shaun Doty and Anne Quatrano, Nikki believes a great chef must understand how to run a business as well as possess outstanding cooking skills. She is also a certified sommelier with extensive wine knowledge. Nikki loves not being restricted to any one particular cuisine and experiments with flavors and ingredients from all over the world. She considers growing up in New York to be the best culinary education one can obtain and says her family and friends constantly tease her about how passionate she is about food. Her future plans are to expand her restaurant group with several new concepts. Then why the hell does she always do italian food?!?

yeah... that's right. Obviously not much. Did she have a tomato sauce to go with the sausages? She made some sort of cocktail sauce to go with the shrimp, too. Surely she knows she's next in line. Surely she knows she's lucky to still be there.

oh-oh! This makes me happy, as it's close to my workplace!

That whole yelling thing at the end was really disjointed. I think they desparately wanted to air it, and couldn't figure out where to put it. Why the F was he yelling? They WON the challenge, as a team. Yes, Lisa's a whiner, but it was her idea to do Asian, and Dale was fighting that all the way.

omg, Big Night was the first thing in my head when they said that. They could have made bolognese LOL "my uncle makes a bolognese..." Spike had never heard of LWFC. When Manuel said that I thought "quail in rose petal sauce!!" Ryan is officially bugging me now. The kiwi totally saved his butt on this one.

I second this suggestion. Portlandfood.org is a very comprehensive source for all things Portland. You are gonnna love it there!

Third! I think Art of the Table would work great for that type of gathering.

Wow, sorry to hear you are no longer at Porcella, but man, I know about that work-life balance stuff and it can get ugly. Best of luck wherever you find yourself, Noah.

oh good god. that is ON my short list.

Agreed, the mushroom soup rocks. A lot of their stuff is really pretty good. Really like the enchiladas, both the veggie and the cheese, and like the indian entrees too. I once sent them an email thanking them for making such good frozen food. They sent me a TON of coupons, lots of them were freebies too.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Indeed. This is a fabulous lead-in to the holidays! What stands out for me is the warmth, camaraderie, and celebration with which this has been written. And, IMHO, that's what the holidays should be ALL about.

I'm with kiliki on this. Part of it is they now have a whole hour to fill, whereas CT was only a half-hour. It still seems like they struggle for content to fill up that time. I liked the part with Ariane Daguin, and the segment on foie gras. Loved the opening of the champagne!

oh yay!! This is great you guys!! So looking forward to all your posts & pictures!

Sounds like a winner!

Let us not forget Boat St Café... It's worth one of your casual stops.