Top Chef Season 5

[KristiB50]

I wonder if the producers are trying to put subliminal messages in our head.

If I were the restaurant owner I'd be a little mortified. How hard is it to add a space and a capital "L"?

[Tim Dolan]

Finally, Jeff's nickname should be "Silver Spoons" or "The Ricker." He looks exactly like a young Rick Schroeder playing Rick Stratton.

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Great, great call.

[Reignking]

I misread it, too.

My first post started this topic off, when I caught this Today Show one morning; in it, Jeff's roll had sumac. I can't recall that being mentioned once last night.

This show really needs to be 90 minutes. There is too much being edited out. For example, last week's loser Richard actually made a good dish (sweet potatoes) but that was never shown so that we would think he was a total buffoon and deserved to go. On the contrary, he expected the guy who couldn't roast potatoes to leave because he didn't do one thing right.

[gfweb]

How do you know about the sweet potatoes?

[Kevin72]

I think the sweet potatoes were mentioned on one of the judges' blogs.

Lots of irksome stuff flying around last night. Leah complaining to the, um camera, about not being good on television . . . ? But then, rather than pointing that out to her, Padma saying instead that "you may have to" seemed odd and not at all fitting.

Tom complaining that NY guy was playing too broad and schticky for the cameras. Tom: Emeril, Paula Dean, Rachel Ray, and Guy Fieri would like a word with you.

And Rocco DiSpirito of all people complaining about someone's lack of professionalism on camera!

[Reignking]

How do you know about the sweet potatoes?

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Last week's loser blog on Bravo's web site (can't find it now, as it has been replaced by this week's loser's blog).

[Doodad]

Finally, Jeff's nickname should be "Silver Spoons" or "The Ricker." He looks exactly like a young Rick Schroeder playing Rick Stratton.

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He looks like the aussie character in House.

[FoodMan]

Creme Brulee??? Really man?? He definitely wanted to go home. It takes a minute to caramelize the sugar on top alone!

These chefs also act as if they've never heard of an Amuse Bouhe before!! Most of them made a course. Fabio made a good sized dessert for heaven's sake. Jeff did him one better with TWO courses . That just bugs me. Kudos to Leah, she sure deserved it. Then Fabio even has the balls to complain about losing because he did not make "toast with bull**** eggs on top".

[Reignking]

Thanks for the reminder about the boneheaded move Jeff made. That was incredibly dumb. What a di lido head (chef).

Edited December 4, 2008 by Reignking (log)

[rickster]

I thought this was a terrible episode. They are competing for "Top Chef" not "The next Food Network Star". I couldn't figure out the basis for judging the elimination challenge - how did they weigh not finishing the challenge on time vs. making a poor dish? For example, the duck egg was undercooked because the contestant pulled the egg off to make the time limit. But it looked like a number of contestants didn't finish on time at all. Why weren't they at judge's table? I also couldn't figure out the point of surprising the 3 finalists with the 2am wake up call. Why not just tell them in advance they would have to cook for the Today show?

[TAPrice]

I thought this was a terrible episode. They are competing for "Top Chef" not "The next Food Network Star".

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I actually thought it was a good challenge. Having some basic TV chops and being able to do a short cooking demo seems like a basic skill for almost any chef who wants to advance their career.

Sure, they may never be on the Today show, but I bet there are few chefs of any stature who haven't done a quick demo on a local show. It's free publicity, who could say no? Do it well, and it's lots of free publicity.

[gfweb]

nobody got dumped for bad performance, only bad food.

[C_Ruark]

I thought this was a terrible episode. They are competing for "Top Chef" not "The next Food Network Star"...

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Give the producers a little credit. Rocco as judge was a brilliant move.

[junehl]

One thing that irked me is that they never explained why Kathie Lee spit out Jeff's dish. If it was just bad that day or if she just wasn't used to the flavors in the dish.

[skipper10]

One thing that irked me is that they never explained why Kathie Lee spit out Jeff's dish.  If it was just bad that day or if she just wasn't used to the flavors in the dish.

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Didn't one of the contestants question the credentials of the Today Show "judges" to choose the winner? I too wonder whether Kathie Lee's reaction to Jeff's dish is simply a reflection of her unsophisticated taste in food, and not a reflection on Jeff's dish at all... I would be very much surprised to learn that the TC judges would have selected an offensive tasting dish for the "gourmets" of the Today Show.

[Chris Hennes]

One thing that irked me is that they never explained why Kathie Lee spit out Jeff's dish.  If it was just bad that day or if she just wasn't used to the flavors in the dish.

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Didn't one of the contestants question the credentials of the Today Show "judges" to choose the winner? I too wonder whether Kathie Lee's reaction to Jeff's dish is simply a reflection of her unsophisticated taste in food, and not a reflection on Jeff's dish at all... I would be very much surprised to learn that the TC judges would have selected an offensive tasting dish for the "gourmets" of the Today Show.

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I think it would have been far worse to let them choose a loser: the winner is of little consequence. A bit of publicity this morning when they were on again, but otherwise, who cares? The only episode the winner matters in is the last one.

I'm glad they did this challenge early in the season, when there are still plenty of people who have little purpose being there other than as foils for the real talent. It would have been a shame to see one of the talented chefs eliminated because they couldn't handle a short TV spot, but I don't mind it at this stage in the game. He showed extremely poor judgement, and was going to wind up going home shortly anyway.

I sometimes have to remind myself in these things that they are head-to-head challenges: all the contestants have the same limitations placed on them, so it hardly matters whether the challenges are realistic or whatnot. Of course being asked to cook Thanksgiving dinner in toaster ovens and microwaves in the rain is crazy. The good chefs pulled it off anyway. Same with this week: maybe doing a 2.5 minute TV spot is not that realistic, but if you kept your cool and made smart decisions you got through it. At this stage you can still play to not lose, rather than to win.

[hsm]

I thought this was a terrible episode. They are competing for "Top Chef" not "The next Food Network Star"...

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Give the producers a little credit. Rocco as judge was a brilliant move.

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Magical Elves, indeed. Maybe the hardest I have ever laughed at any episode.

This week's knife-packer got the loser's edit from the get-go. Maybe it's stress that prevents some from hearing the details of a challenge - or ego that says doing something Unexpected will get them more points than doing something well. Have they not seen this show?

[RAHiggins1]

Finally, Jeff's nickname should be "Silver Spoons" or "The Ricker." He looks exactly like a young Rick Schroeder playing Rick Stratton.

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Great, great call.

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To be honest, I didn't even know Owen Wilson could cook.

[gfweb]

This week's knife-packer got the loser's edit from the get-go. Maybe it's stress that prevents some from hearing the details of a challenge - or ego that says doing something Unexpected will get them more points than doing something well. Have they not seen this show?

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Many of these guys are young and short on life-experience. I expect dumb choices, esp from young men who still have that sense that they are bullet-proof. Over the years how many of them have acted like they are in a frat house?

Edited December 5, 2008 by gfweb (log)

[Tsulli1]

One thing that irked me is that they never explained why Kathie Lee spit out Jeff's dish.  If it was just bad that day or if she just wasn't used to the flavors in the dish.

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Didn't one of the contestants question the credentials of the Today Show "judges" to choose the winner? I too wonder whether Kathie Lee's reaction to Jeff's dish is simply a reflection of her unsophisticated taste in food, and not a reflection on Jeff's dish at all... I would be very much surprised to learn that the TC judges would have selected an offensive tasting dish for the "gourmets" of the Today Show.

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It was Jeff who said his food was going to be "judged at 6AM by a group of women with unsophisticated palates." I can't tell due to the magic of editing, but I wonder if the interviews with the contestants are done before or after the competitions.

[rconnelly]

One thing that irked me is that they never explained why Kathie Lee spit out Jeff's dish.  If it was just bad that day or if she just wasn't used to the flavors in the dish.

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She spit it out because she is an ditz. She could've done it with a bit more subtlety, but that is not her style.

[Kevin72]

One thing that irked me is that they never explained why Kathie Lee spit out Jeff's dish.  If it was just bad that day or if she just wasn't used to the flavors in the dish.

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She spit it out because she is an ditz. She could've done it with a bit more subtlety, but that is not her style.

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Yeah, as mentioned above, I find it a little odd that there would be such a gulf between the three judges finding it one of the best three items prepared and it being so unpalatable to everyone else that it had to be spat out. Completely classless.

[Tri2Cook]

I'm at work when it airs so I usually end up downloading it and watching it on saturday mornings. I have to avoid this discussion until I do so I'm always a few days behind. I'm not overly enjoying this season so far. There's nobody doing anything that keeps me wondering what they're going to do next week. Very little push and intelligent risk taking. Everybody seems to have the gameplan to skate as far as they can and hope to survive to the end. I hope someone is going to show some fire at some point. I also hope it hasn't got to the point that we're going to get the stove top stuffing and chicken of the sea tuna finale.

[gingerbeer]

Jeff's dish looked pretty good, I wonder why she spit it out - surely she must have tried unusual food in her lifetime?

Also, watermelon + feta + tomatoes were good, but... it wasn't exactly original or exciting. Arianne kind of annoys me.

[D. B. Brown]

One thing that irked me is that they never explained why Kathie Lee spit out Jeff's dish.  If it was just bad that day or if she just wasn't used to the flavors in the dish.

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She spit it out because she is an ditz. She could've done it with a bit more subtlety, but that is not her style.

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Yeah, as mentioned above, I find it a little odd that there would be such a gulf between the three judges finding it one of the best three items prepared and it being so unpalatable to everyone else that it had to be spat out. Completely classless.

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Totally, unimaginably classless. Especially when you consider that this is may have been the highlight of an aspiring young chef's career. . . and she chooses to SPIT OUT his carefully prepared offering on national television.