Top Chef Season 4

[Swicks]

I still don't understand cutting Manuel when the judges primary criticisms seemed, at least to me, had to do with the idea and execution of the dish, both of which seemed to come primarily from Spike, he took the lead and should have been let go. I understand their reasoning in criticizing Manuel but not enough to cut him over Spike.

Ditto on the person who said Spike makes better TV.

Manuel seemed like such a classy guy too. He has taken an interesting road from being the head guy at Babbo to To Chef to Dos Caminos (which it was reported that he is gone from as well), I wish him all the best.

[kathryn sossen]

I was on Bravo this morning- Is Padma writing her own blogs drunk or high? Is no one editing her writing....I don't remember her blogs from last season being quite so ill written.

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The written blog is simply a literal transcript of her video blog, hence the somewhat strange delivery. Can't fault her for that.

All in all, a very classy episode. Good looking food. It was unfortunate to see Manuel go when he's probably more talented than a good number of the remaining cheftestatnts. And Blais continues to be a baller.

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thanks for the info- makes more sense now

[arbeck]

I wonder if the reason for maunel's departure had more to do with his contributions to the team. The sea bass and the pickle were the two worst elements of the dish, and that's what he did.

[handmc]

It appears, at least from Padma's blog, that the judges are tiring of those who take a back seat and try to coast to the next round.

Ryan's, short lived, stints at these high end restaurants makes me think that he just does not have what it takes. He may be brilliant, don't know, never met him, but he comes off as dim.

I wish K-fed would just leave already. He is a hack. That hat is bugging the hell out of me.

Zoi = David only female. She cries at the drop of a hat but appears to lack the flashs of brilliance that brought David to the finals.

Andrew for all his wacky behavior appears to have real talent. I hope he can control himself long enough to show his real ability.

[jsmeeker]

I was also excited about the white chocolate, mostly because my favorite restaurant in town here recently introduced a "scallops with white chocolate dill sauce" starter. I was nervous at first, but it was fantastic. I think it'is really one of those combinations one has to try before dissing.

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Seriously? Isn't that the same combo someone did on "Hells Kitchen"??

[arbeck]

I was also excited about the white chocolate, mostly because my favorite restaurant in town here recently introduced a "scallops with white chocolate dill sauce" starter. I was nervous at first, but it was fantastic. I think it'is really one of those combinations one has to try before dissing.

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Seriously? Isn't that the same combo someone did on "Hells Kitchen"??

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When I heard white chocolate and caviar on hells kitchen I got excited. When I heard raw scallop, raw venison, raw egg, and caper; I got disgusted.

Strange flavor pairings are a tricky business. The goal is to find items that have a lot of flavor compounds in common. White chocolate and caviar do. Also, the sweetness of the chocolate is tempered by the saltiness of the eggs. The problem with the chef (and I use that term loosely) on Hell's kitchen is that he tried to do to much. Lobster and white chocolate actually pair fairly well, so the scallop may have worked (though butter poached would be better than raw), but the venison would do nothing but clash. Venison actually pairs fairly well with a dark bitter chocolate, not a white chocolate. The caper and the raw egg seemed only to be there because they are in many tartars, not because they would add anything.

For more information on how white chocolate can pair:

http://shopping.guardian.co.uk/food/story/0,,708751,00.html

http://hungryinhogtown.typepad.com/hungry_..._high_frid.html

http://www.playingwithfireandwater.com/foo...-8-white-c.html

http://khymos.org/pairings.php

[malarkey]

I'm a film buff so I really liked this challenge. Although I probably would have gone with a foodie movie like Big Night. 

Poor Manuel didn't stand a chance. He should have pushed harder for Like Water for Chocolate.

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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.

[nliedel]

I stand adjusted. After re-watching it today, without anyone screaming in my ear that they can't sleep cause there are monsters about, I would not be surprised if the entire line was not applauding their little heats out when Ryan was, booted, quite, encouraged with the force of killer bees behind the executive chef to pack his knives and get the heck out of whatever kitchen he parked his booty in. New Zealand, or new England, indeed.

I am humiliated to say I know this, but the mess on Hell's Kitchen was, raw scallops, capers, caviar and white chocolate. I could buy the caviar, or even the scallops and white choclate. When you toss the capers in there...not even if I was pregnant with a litter.

I would not stand a chance against even the worst of Top Chef. I bet I can take most of the folks on Hell's Kitchen in a cook off. If only because I know how to cook my signature dish.

[Claudia Greco]

I'm a film buff so I really liked this challenge. Although I probably would have gone with a foodie movie like Big Night. 

Poor Manuel didn't stand a chance. He should have pushed harder for Like Water for Chocolate.

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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.

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How About Babette's Feast? Chocolat? Or even Godfather I - all that Italian food, plus: "Leave the gun. Take the cannolis". Lots of dessert inspiration in there. Big Night? Bolognese, risotto, sure - OK, maybe not the big timbale piece de resistance. Or how about food inspired by Ratatoulle? Duh!

Dumb and Dumberer Ryan insinuates MARK is a dumb Kiwi? Pretty freaking funny. Ryan is looking dumber by the week, as well as . . . u8hhh . . . not a team player. How many resturants has he now not "been a good fit" in? Three, so far? Butthead.

[Kevin72]

I was yelling at the TV when the pair that wound up with Il Postino were brainstorming Italian movies that could go with their food choice. It was pure agony.

[rconnelly]

Ryan has to be next. He's useless in spite of the fact that he's "been cooking since I was 11 years old".

[shengcai]

I was yelling at the TV when the pair that wound up with Il Postino were brainstorming Italian movies that could go with their food choice.  It was pure agony.

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At first, I thought that it was rather disingenuous of them to come up with a dish first and then to choose an appropriate movie to 'inspire' that dish. But pretty much everyone else did that, except the Willy Wonka group. So I think it worked out well in the end, since the people who abided by the spirit of the challenge produced a killer opener for the meal. Then I tried to do the same exercise in my head and realized that it's really hard to find inspiration when your course for the dinner is fixed. I cut them some slack after I found myself doing the same thing.

[Swicks]

I was yelling at the TV when the pair that wound up with Il Postino were brainstorming Italian movies that could go with their food choice.  It was pure agony.

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So true...

How could you not know "Big Night" or "Goodfellas" or at the very least "the Godfather"

[KristiB50]

I was yelling at the TV when the pair that wound up with Il Postino were brainstorming Italian movies that could go with their food choice.  It was pure agony.

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So true...

How could you not know ... "the Godfather"

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They coulda sliced their garlic with a razor blade

I did the same thing you did Shengcai. Then I realized a Forrest Gump chocolate and shrimp dish might be too obvious.

[Slamdunkpro]

They coulda sliced their garlic with a razor blade 

I think that was Goodfellas

[Siouxsie]

Being from the Philly area, I'd love to see someone take "Rocky" and do something that involved pounding and tenderizing meat! Another idea would be to do something like a truffle omelet for "Breakfast at Tiffany's" or something similarly witty with a very high end ingredient...maybe caviar as diamonds somehow, with something in there to symbolize the "mean reds" that Holly Golightly talks about.

That said, they didn't have a lot of time, it seemed, to brainstorm, so I'm not offended at the obvious connections. The losing dish was a bit too obvious and uncreative, though.

Overall, I liked the idea of the challenge. It reminded me of one of my favorites from TC2: the Seven Deadly Sins dinner party!

[cathrynapple]

Yeah, all of there movie choices were so lame. There are so many beautiful films with great food ideas in them. And the last course? They could've done a chile and bitter chocolate thing and made it really sexy and spicy. Instead there was no dessert and bland lamb.

[Loosecanon Dolph]

As for whoever asked if Alinea(Grant Achatz) would be involved in this Top Chef I was wondering that as soon as I heard it was Chicago, as well as Charlie Trotter, I really hope we see both of them this season.

Manuel was just a weak competitor. I think (despite the fact that Spike obviously sucked at the elimination challenge) the judges take into account both peoples past history on the show and Spike was ahead of Manuel in the pack, as for both of them and their resumes I think they are pretty weak, Ryan as well obviously. I don't think andrew is as bad as everyone else does (despite the aioli/mayo thing which I think was really weird) but I think he'll mess up one challenge and go down. What's all this about him being on meth? Does anyone have an extrapolation on that rumor? It's gonna be Dale and Richard in the end, its gotta be, I think they are both more talented and experienced than anyone else. Unfortunately I don't think that any female contestant besides Stephanie has any chops, I haven't really seen Zoi's partners food but she's gonna get in trouble always sticking up for Zoi's weakness. Nikki? Is she still on the show, c'mon? Velveta Mac and Cheese? She said Mac and cheese was one of her signature dishes(which is a really odd statement), wouldn't she know well enough to PUT DOWN THE VELVEETA. And make something that would taste good and fresh. Gross, this years chef's are lacking.

Ilan: Yeah there are some videos of him on youtube getting interviewed after winning top chef and he is really cocky about the whole thing, he's a nobody, but I do wonder if he ever got his restaurant off the ground, Tiffany too.

[KristiB50]

They coulda sliced their garlic with a razor blade 

I think that was Goodfellas

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D'oh! You're right!

I just watched again and had to freeze the frame of Zoi's face when Richard said he won. She had daggers coming out her eyes!

[Vinotas]

I have to say, last night's episode was one of the strongest in a long time. I loved having Daniel Boulud, I think he added gravitas and a sense of professionalism to the show. And I loved the film critic saying he liked the food even if the judges were being critical.

No great loss seeing Manuel go, I don't think he added much to the show (on a side note, he apparently also lost his gig in NYC a few weeks ago). Spike seems to have taken fashion and acting lessons from K-Fed, though.

Ryan needs to get his ass handed to him in a hurry. He's just so annoyingly stupid.

On a side note, I would have LOVED to taste the first course dish, it sounded really cool.

Cheers!

[Tess]

At first, I thought that it was rather disingenuous of them to come up with a dish first and then to choose an appropriate movie to 'inspire' that dish. But pretty much everyone else did that, except the Willy Wonka group.

I thought the dish based on The Christmas Story came fairly organically out of the movie.

I lived it when Richard (the contestant, not Richard Roeper) said, "It's a comedy, I think." He is so cute.

[Claudia Greco]

They could've used Moonstruck, too, as inspiration. I'm still trying to work out the food inspiration in Dumb and Dumberer, but I have to admit, I unfortunately missed that stellar bit of film history.

[Darcie B]

After watching this episode again, I wonder if the death of the handheld smoker for Richard/Dale/Andrew didn't work to their advantage. I keep thinking to myself 'plastic wrap on a plate does not look like fine dining.' If I paid a lot for a meal and someone served me something with wrap on the plate, I would not be impressed.

A clear glass dome over the food would be a different story. But plastic wrap? I wonder what Daniel Boulud would have to say about that. Or am I totally off base?

[nliedel]

A clear glass dome over the food would be a different story. But plastic wrap? I wonder what Daniel Boulud would have to say about that. Or am I totally off base?

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don't they get, "snaps" for using the Glad stuff? I'm pretty sure Tom does the booty shake every time someone showcases a product. "Andrew, next time hold the beer so we can see the label, or pack your knives..."

Seriously, it's the face-time for product placement game. I would think they were told to use the products whenever possible. Although I may never know that for sure.

[Claudia Greco]

A clear glass dome over the food would be a different story. But plastic wrap? I wonder what Daniel Boulud would have to say about that. Or am I totally off base?

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don't they get, "snaps" for using the Glad stuff? I'm pretty sure Tom does the booty shake every time someone showcases a product. "Andrew, next time hold the beer so we can see the label, or pack your knives..."

Seriously, it's the face-time for product placement game. I would think they were told to use the products whenever possible. Although I may never know that for sure.

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I think, more importantly, there's only so many times Richard can smoke and wrap a dish before it gets tired. One more time, and I think tast dog won't hunt anymore.