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Top Chef Holiday Special


KristiB50

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I saw a commercial during Project Runway. It airs 12/6 and I'm sure there will be multiple reruns.

Past contestants battle with holiday food. I hope Marcel gets an immersion circulator :smile:

The episode will feature Stephen Aspirinio and Tiffani Faison from Season One; Betty Fraser, Marcel Vigneron, and Josie Smith-Malave from Season Two; and Chris "CJ" Jacobson, Tre Wilcox, and Sandee Birdsong from Season Three

Anyway, it HAS to be better than the craptastic Iron Chef America Holiday show with Paula Deen, Cat Cora, Tyler Florence and Robert Irvine. :blink:

***shudders at memory***

Edited by KristiB50 (log)
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Anyway, it HAS to be better than the craptastic Iron Chef America Holiday show with Paula Deen, Cat Cora, Tyler Florence and Robert Irvine.  :blink: 

***shudders at memory***

...that bouche de noel was embarrassing.

Looking forward to the Top Chefers showing their style!

"Gourmandise is not unbecoming to women: it suits the delicacy of their organs and recompenses them for some pleasures they cannot enjoy, and for some evils to which they are doomed." Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

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I saw a commercial during Project Runway. It airs 12/6 and I'm sure there will be multiple reruns.

Past contestants battle with holiday food. I hope Marcel gets an immersion circulator  :smile:

The episode will feature Stephen Aspirinio and Tiffani Faison from Season One; Betty Fraser, Marcel Vigneron, and Josie Smith-Malave from Season Two; and Chris "CJ" Jacobson, Tre Wilcox, and Sandee Birdsong from Season Three

Anyway, it HAS to be better than the craptastic Iron Chef America Holiday show with Paula Deen, Cat Cora, Tyler Florence and Robert Irvine.  :blink: 

***shudders at memory***

Cool.. I'll watch it just for Tre. Finally got to meet him two weekends ago.

Jeff Meeker, aka "jsmeeker"

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There wasn't a pastry made during the holiday special that any foodie couldn't make or even possibly make better. There was absolutely no innovation. If anything the show highlighted what has become of FN. I'm half-surprised that instead of Kevin Brauch announcing they didn't replace him with Guy Fieri so that he could (inbetween tanning sessions) run over to Tyler Florence and proclaim, "That's money! Boy this egg nog ice cream puts the egg in egggsstaticl!"

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Did anyone watch?

I thought it was pretty good. I can't believe I am going to say this but it was nice to see Tiffani win, i think she is a talented cook. It was also nice to see everyone getting along and none of the BS drama. Glad Tre made it far and got some props. I think he kind of got screwed by the "surprise challenge" I think I would have just said..."you know what, you can just keep your books and your painful patronization to yourselves"

Interesting that Tiffani has her own shop opening soon and in LA. When she put out that desert I immediately thought of the Butterscotch Bundino at Pizzeria Mozza.

"A man's got to believe in something...I believe I'll have another drink." -W.C. Fields

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I was really happy to see Tiffany win. She's got major cooking chops and always wowed me with her dishes. Very, very creative and she likes to take chances. Except the leftovers themed final dish, which was a good call.

Tre had a great showing. It was great to see him cook. He was let go entirely too early on TC.

Is it me or is Marcel morphing into Wolverine?

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Is it me or is Marcel morphing into Wolverine?

Well, he DID mention something about his new chef's knives being made of adamantium. :biggrin:

I watched it on Wednesday when they showed the entire episode as a "sneak peak" late in the evening. I thought that was kind of strange, like when Bravo did a sneak-peak of Tim Gunn's show before the season began and the same episode also served as the season finale this week. Anyway, I was happy to catch it a day early, and overall nothing blew me away but I was still ecstatic to see a Top Chef episode that wasn't a rerun (and they can only fit so much interpersonal drama and intrigue into 90 minutes). I was pulling for Tre or CJ, but I do agree that Tiffani did a good job. I'm curious if they'll have her butterscotch recipe on the Bravo site......that did sound pretty tasty.

Jerry

Kansas City, Mo.

Unsaved Loved Ones

My eG Food Blog- 2011

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I was really hoping for a "reveal" of the Top Chef 4 premiere date sometime during the show, but all they kept saying was that it was coming in 2008. There's some modeling competition coming up after Project Runway, and who knows what else will come first. But I hope it won't be too long before it airs! Hopefully sometime in the Spring.

In other unrelated news.. Found out runner-up Dale Levitski is now dating Project Runway 4 contestant Jack Mackrenoth: Link here.

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I just watched it. I'm a little bummed Tre didn't win, but he had a strong showing.

Congrats to Tiffani. Top Chef 3 is the only season i have seen, so I wasn't familiar with her. But she is obviously a talented chef.

Jeff Meeker, aka "jsmeeker"

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i liked the special more than I thought I would- Would like to have seen Dave from season 1 as a part of it though. While home in bed with a cold, I caught the marathon of season 2... Shudder- I had forgotten just how annoying that season was. Will wait hopefully for season 4.

ksoss

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i liked the special more than I thought I would- Would like to have seen Dave from season 1 as a part of it though.  While home in bed with a cold, I caught the marathon of season 2... Shudder- I had forgotten just how annoying that season was.  Will wait hopefully for season 4.

Season 4 has to be great.t's being flmed in Chicago.

I have this weird thought. It seems the vibe of whatever city the show has been filmed in is reflected in the show, especially regarding the way everyone acted toward one another.

San Fran had a eclectic group of truly talented people. Accpting of one another even if you didn't "like" them.

LA was superfical and selfish and the best person didn't win. All Hollywood like.

Miami was laid back and everyone got along.

Chicago should be fun and upbeat.

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I have this weird thought. It seems the vibe of whatever city the show has been filmed in is reflected in the show, especially regarding the way everyone acted toward one another.

San Fran had a eclectic group of truly talented people. Accpting of one another even if you didn't "like" them.

LA was superfical and selfish and the best person didn't win. All Hollywood like.

Miami was laid back and everyone got along.

Chicago should be fun and upbeat.

Interesting theory, but I think it really just boils down to the cheftestants. I tend to think "superficial" and plastic when I think of Miami (well, South Beach specifically) rather than laid back.

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I liked the holiday show better than the regular Top Chef competition shows because it focused more on the food and cooking rather than the personality conflicts and dramatic elements we've come to expect on Top Chef.

Sure, there was some pale drama thrown in-lost yeast, dry turkey and Marcel's use of high school grammar, but for the most part I liked the creativity and execution behind the dishes.

I think all the chefs are creative and talented. But now the chefs venture out into the world of restaurant cooking-a world I see as far different than the world of reality show cooking.

My advice applies to both worlds-keep your dishes simple, don't 'fussy-up' a dish with irrelevant ingredients and garnishes, use the best products for each dish and remember you're now serving customers who are paying for your food, listen to what your customers tell you. The customer is a different type of judge than Judge Padma, Judge Ted Allen or Judge Tom Collichio.

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