Top Chef: Season 6 – Las Vegas

[rickster]

I think the editing was not at all clear on why Jen was sent home. In the broadcast, one of Jen's dishes was criticized as being too salty, one of Bryan's as being underseasoned, Michael had the runny egg and Kevin had the stringy beef. I thought the criticism was pretty balanced. Jen admittedly did not get praised as much as the other chefs. I would have concluded from the episode based on Tom's questioning that Jen got sent home because she confited the duck instead of grilling it as she planned and got marked down for not managing the grill properly. But then you read the blog and it indicates that both her dishes were substantially oversalted and Tom praises her for switching gears on the the duck preparation.

[oakapple]

I think the editing was not at all clear on why Jen was sent home. In the broadcast, one of Jen's dishes was criticized as being too salty, one of Bryan's as being underseasoned, Michael had the runny egg and Kevin had the stringy beef. I thought the criticism was pretty balanced. Jen admittedly did not get praised as much as the other chefs.

Doesn't that explain it? In a challenge where all of the chefs made little mistakes, but no one failed completely, someone has to be lowest. If she "did not get praised as much as the other chefs," there's your answer.

Obviously, in a blog, Colicchio and Simmons have the opportunity to give additional reasons that weren't accommodated in the 1½ minutes allotted to the final segment at the end of the show. But clearly, from what you saw on TV, there were ample reasons for her to be the one eliminated, in an admittedly close race.

Edited December 3, 2009 by oakapple (log)

[SauceRobert]

Totally apropos of nothing...but Gail's décolletage set a new standard. Even my girlfriend (without prompting from me) commented on it.

I commend you sir for finding an appropriate way to voice this... I absolutely agree, but did not want to say anything so as to sound like a dirty old man!

On another note, some people might not like Mike V's attitude, but he is a young and eager chef and there are not too many chefs that have made it very far by being humble. You just dont see that side of a lot of them as they hide it from the public eye, but go into their kitchens and see how they are. I'm not saying he should be a jerk (as he has been) but his talent is at a very high level for his age... and what has top chef really been about? who is the best ever? or who is the best up and coming chef? I believe the latter. They made Top Chef Masters for a reason...

[KristiB50]

I-a straight female-also noticed Gail's ample cleavage and Padma's dominatrix maternity dress with red boots. Sexy mama!

I wonder if they also took past performance into account as I think Jen went as far as she could go.

***edited for typo****

Edited December 4, 2009 by KristiB50 (log)

[oakapple]

I wonder if they also took past performance into account as I think Jen went as far as she could go.

They claim they don't; but over and over again, whenever it was at all close, it seemed the chef with the worst cumulative performance was the one sent home. I think Robin was the only chef who persisted conspicuously longer than she deserved to be there.

[Mussina]

I may be wrong but we replayed next's week's preview in slow motion and I think (maybe) one can tell who won by looking at the direction of Padma's eyes when she announces "you are top chef". Kevin was on the right, Michael in the middle and Bryan on the left. I don't want to say in case I am right and spoil things . . .

[Doodad]

I noticed the same thing and mentioned it to my wife.

[Tri2Cook]

Finally watched the episode today. This is the first episode I've watched where I was glad more information was available (the judges blogs) because, based on what was shown in the episode and assuming it's true that judging is based on that challenge only, I would have insisted Jennifer was robbed. The edit did not point in her direction at all. "The goat cheese was a little salty" was the only criticism aired in the episode. So I'm happy Chef Colicchio went more in depth with the story in his blog. Now I'd kinda like to see Michael do well just because I'm tired of seeing people stick there nose in the air and call perfectly valid cooking techniques "tricks" and "gimmicks" but my gut feeling is that Bryan will have the right blend of Michael's creativity and Kevin's restraint and focus on flavor to pull off the win.

[dscott]

I may be wrong but we replayed next's week's preview in slow motion and I think (maybe) one can tell who won by looking at the direction of Padma's eyes when she announces "you are top chef". Kevin was on the right, Michael in the middle and Bryan on the left. I don't want to say in case I am right and spoil things . . .

That's how it looked. But maybe they're playing us.

[et alors]

from Tom's blog "We always try to comment both on what we like about a dish and what we don’t like, and the editors used what we liked about the duck dish (and the ensuing conversation about ducks of that region) to keep from revealing half-way through the program who would be going home. " That about sums that question up. The program is edited to provide teh most suspense, period.

I was surprised to see Bryan pull it out this episode. He's tripped over his own feet several times, not as badly as Jen, but certainly badly enough for me to rate him 3rd/4th... this is a pleasant way to up the suspense for the finale. I am glad it's not a simplisitc old school cooking vs. new.

Speaking of, Micheal V's comment about cooking with fresh ingredients in this challenge would change how he cooks knocked me over. Where has he been cooking, the frozen arctic tundra? Never eaten a tomato warm off the vine, snacked on english peas in the farmer's market, grilled up some corn in august? jeez louise. Dude, produce always trump agar. And I'm a molecular gastronomy fanboy... er, girl.

[dscott]

More fuel to the fire:

From the Baltimore Sun (via Eater):

Michael Voltaggio said their mother can't wait for it to be over.

"She probably would have preferred to see us both go home a long time ago and not have to go through this," he said.

Said Bryan: "She knows, obviously, only one of us will win."

True enough, if you discount the possibility that neither Voltaggio wins and the prize goes to Gillespie.

Did Bryan mean to say, "only one of us can win"? Or was that a slip?Baltimore Sun

Edited December 7, 2009 by dscott (log)

[oakapple]

The program is edited to provide teh most suspense, period.

Not really true — as is often the case when someone ends with "period." I would say, in most episodes, by the time the judges announce their decision, it is seldom a surprise.

[et alors]

Apologies; I'm not usually that didactic. Period doesn't need spelling out.

Still, I do think they edit to create the most suspense... when the material is there to do so. In this case they may have swung a little too far, creating a misleading impression. Ideally we'd be excited, uncertain, then satisfied with the result. They edited in too much "ropey" commentary and not enough "salty" commentary...

Edited December 8, 2009 by et alors (log)

[skipper10]

I have just logged on to Washington's Post's Food section chat and discovered that Voltaggio brothers preempted the regular WP staff and are answering questions about Top Chef. They will be there for the rest of the hour, till 1pm

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2009/12/08/DI2009120801553.html

[skipper10]

Voltaggio brothers WILL be answering questions about TOP CHEF today, Wednesday, Dec 9/09 from 1pm to 2pm at:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2009/12/08/DI2009120801553.html

Edited December 9, 2009 by skipper10 (log)

[hungryCAT]

First off, Jen should not be dismissed (i didnt like her at first, but now shes growing on me. she had an attitude at first)

At the beginning of this season, I seem to remember her saying something about how she was SO tough as nails, that she made other chefs cry in the kitchen.

I find that hard to believe!

[Tri2Cook]

At the beginning of this season, I seem to remember her saying something about how she was SO tough as nails, that she made other chefs cry in the kitchen.

I find that hard to believe!

I don't find that hard to believe at all. In the restaurant where she works, she's in her domain where she's in charge. In the real restaurant world, if something is wrong then you fix it. On Top Chef, if something is wrong then you will go home unless someone elses is more wrong than yours. Also, most of the stuff they make them do on Top Chef bears no resemblance to what she would be doing in the restaurant other than good food is supposed to be the result. Taking people out of their comfort zone is a great way to shake their confidence.

[SauceRobert]

First off, Jen should not be dismissed (i didnt like her at first, but now shes growing on me. she had an attitude at first)

At the beginning of this season, I seem to remember her saying something about how she was SO tough as nails, that she made other chefs cry in the kitchen.

I find that hard to believe!

Do you remember the episode at Nellis air force base? she seemed to have no trouble telling everyone what to do!

and I have to second what Tri2Cook said, she wasnt in charge of people on top chef so she had to be one with all of them. being tough as nails (almost no one really is) does not mean you have to have a bad attitude or be mean to people. It really just means you can handle your own. Considering she made it to the final 4, id say she hit the nail right on the head!(bad pun totally intended)

[tan319]

The "production " decisions behind the the show are becoming very "Truman Show-esqe

It was very obvious the two brothers who are good looking and try to be "cutting edge" battling Kevin the slow cooker ( who I hope wins) was thought to be better TV to some producer then a woman running a restaurant for one of the most respected chefs in the country.

Tattoo boy with the underdone 140c egg should have been booted, don't you think?

Christ, that was just on TCM two months ago?

140 c for an hour?

The Alinea/Stupak ganache was pushing it too, IMO.

Sorry to be all cynical about it but when someone like Tyler Florence is chewing on some ones butt, Tom C. and the Napa guy, ugh, I just start thinking " make some of these guys do this for 13 weeks" and see who's left standing.

Jen, I thought you and Kevin are the best cooks on the damned show!

Jen, you wuz robbed and Kevin, kick some butt!

Good luck to the two brothers too ...

[IndyRob]

Jen has been an enigma to me. As if there's a large part of herself that she hides (or perhaps that the editors did). She did shine running the kitchen at the AFB which I thought could serve her well. Of course, having immunity had to remove a lot of the pressure.

But perhaps being a great sous-chef (or even chef) is different than being a great Top Cheftestant. You have to get through a lot of crazy individual and team challenges before you can show what you can do as a true chef (in the chief sense). Perhaps a great sous chef isn't supposed to be creative with food, but with people in order to crank out dish after dish - one just like the one before it.

In my mind, Harold remains the quintessential Top Chef. Able to win the individual and team challenges while inspiring a loyalty among his peers that served him well in the end. By contrast, Tiffany was - well I'll stop short of saying sabotaged - but was not supported to the fullest by her team.

I suspect we may see this play out again. Robin, for instance, could well be back. I think Jen would be able to make good use of her, while others still in might just find her a harmful distraction.

Unfortunately, we won't get to see Jen compete again. But I think some of her strengths may show themselves missing amongst some of the finalists.

[David Ross]

Just finished watching Finale "2" and saw Michael win. While our discussion will definately go deeper in the coming days, my short version of what I viewed--Kevin made some uncharacteristic mistakes in terms of technique and couldn't bring it up enough to win; Bryan was more technically correct but his flavors were somewhat average, (pretty on the plate just nothing memorable): Michael the rebel with a cause who reached out further and won, (although he clearly allowed the cake in his dessert course to be over-baked).

Personally I was disappointed in all three of the Chefs and their final dishes. I expected more. After what I would say was the most talented field of Chefs so far, the efforts in the final, final show seemed flat overall.

[Reignking]

Note to Atlanta chefs in Top Chef finales:

Don't cook pork belly.

[The Food Doc]

I agree that the dishes served last night were not memorable nor innovative. Kevin clearly did not rise to the occasion: other than his first course, the output from his kitchen was middling at best. Bryan V played it safe, and it showed: technically proficient yet average looking dishes. Michael V also played it safe, but allowed some hints of creativity to creep into his cooking process, and for that, he was named Top Chef. I am not a fan of Michael V (I so wanted Kevin to win) but he was the better of the three last night.

[Reignking]

I live in Atlanta, but apparently this local trend has not died, either:

Banana scallop.

[MattyC]

Fan of Mike V from the start as everyone annoyingly notices around here. I'm happy he won, and felt something like this would happen. Kevin was strong throughout, but in the final you can't always count on that, I mean look at Blais back in season 4. Strong during the season but just couldn't quite get there once the end hit. I think a lot of people got annoyed with Mike's comments and somehow that translated into not wanting him to win - but honestly, he had the skill and creativity to pull it off.

I do agree though that the final was flat. I was really hoping for more, but I guess the theme of the night was play it safe - which I actually don't have a problem with.