Top Chef

[Grub]

If you guys haven't seen it, Lee Anne's blog is very illuminative.  Scroll down particularly for the part about the psych test, which had me guffawing at work.

Chef Wong

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Hah, that's some excellent, aggrevated writing. She needs to break her text up with a few more paragraphs here and there, though. But damn funny. "...reaffirm that someone at Bravo is getting blowjobs from..." Oh boy, oh boy. Wahahaha!

[jgm]

Lee Anne's blog is a delight. And as I suspected, she confirms that a lot of stuff went down that didn't make it onto the tube. Probably explains some of Dave's tears. He's just sick of Tiffani.

How come none of the TC chefs are eGullet members? Maybe we need to find some of them and correct that. I'd love to see Lee Anne and others weigh in on some of our topics.

[divalasvegas]

And how much do I love Dave's shirt in the next episode!!!  

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I so want an "I'm not your bitch, Bitch!" T-shirt!

Do they sell merchandise for Top Chef like they did for Project Runway? If they do I'll be first on line for one of these.

Edit: I checked and they do have Top Chef merchandise, but no "Bitch" T-shirts. Just aprons and oven mitts and other tame stuff. Very boring. We need to start a write in campaign for the Bitch shirts!

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you could do one pretty easily on cafe press.

while you're at it, make a t-shirt telling katie to pack her knives and go home. what a complete waste of space (and this opinion was recently reinforced after reading her and her partner's bio on their lame website).

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Actually I think you were being overly kind with your description of their website as lame carpetbagger. They even have the nerve to raid the tomb of poor long dead Epicurus as somehow orchestrating their reunion from the great beyond.

I think the line they chose to sum up their "philosophy" says it all:

Eat well, live lightly, be love.

WTF???

Katie and Partner's Website

Edited May 5, 2006 by divalasvegas (log)

[I_call_the_duck]

How come none of the TC chefs are eGullet members?  Maybe we need to find some of them and correct that.  I'd love to see Lee Anne and others weigh in on some of our topics.

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I was wondering that myself. A few episodes ago, when Stephen was looking for fantastic chocolate recipes, I was thinking to myself, “why doesn’t he just go on egullet? He’ll get a million suggestions.” I can see his post now. “I’m a sommelier who needs an innovative dessert that will go great with wine…” Speaking of which, I agree with Holly. The irony was too much. I would have loved to see him pontificate on that wine in front of the chefs, especially John Shafer.

OK, that said, I’m sad to see Lee Anne go. She was my favorite, and I loved her blog.

Tiffani unfortunately, falls into the “women have to be bitches to get ahead” category. The fact that she never admits that she’s wrong gets my goat.

My vote goes out for Harold. I like Dave, but I think he needs to learn to keep a calm head in situations. Also, isn’t this the second time he forgot to salt his food?

Eat well, live lightly, be love.  WTF??? 

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Me fail English? That’s unpossible! (Ralph Wiggum) That website almost made me lose my breakfast. Gag.

[brooklyncook]

"We, ourselves strive to consume a diet that is both healthy and pleasing to the taste buds, while taking into consideration where every ingredient comes from."

And now, go recreate some junk food for the quickfire challenge.

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Hey, here's a question: what's the point of the quickfire challenge if there's no reward? Did anyone notice ANY real reference to the QC at the judges' table?

Perhaps a couple of bottles of Shafer wine to take away after the overall contest would have made the contest more competitive.

[Tess]

Perhaps a couple of bottles of Shafer wine to take away after the overall contest would have made the contest more competitive.

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I think TC's blog said that Harold got a bottle of Shafer for winning the quick-fire.

[chezcherie]

Me fail English?  That’s unpossible!  (Ralph Wiggum)  That website almost made me lose my breakfast.  Gag.

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according to their awful and embarrassing website, both women have degrees, one in creative writing and one in english and journalism.

oh, the humanity....!

[Katie Nell]

And how much do I love Dave's shirt in the next episode!!!  

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I so want an "I'm not your bitch, Bitch!" T-shirt!

Do they sell merchandise for Top Chef like they did for Project Runway? If they do I'll be first on line for one of these.

Edit: I checked and they do have Top Chef merchandise, but no "Bitch" T-shirts. Just aprons and oven mitts and other tame stuff. Very boring. We need to start a write in campaign for the Bitch shirts!

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Yes, yes! I would buy one too!

[divalasvegas]

Me fail English?  That’s unpossible!  (Ralph Wiggum)  That website almost made me lose my breakfast.  Gag.

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according to their awful and embarrassing website, both women have degrees, one in creative writing and one in english and journalism.

oh, the humanity....!

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Educational backgrounds that they have obviously put to good use in their reinterpretation/deconstruction of what most of us would call a "poached" egg.

Morning Hash with "Dropped" Egg

Actually, the hash part sounds pretty good, but as for the instructions for a dropped egg, again I say WTF???

[Philanthrophobe]

"We, ourselves strive to consume a diet that is both healthy and pleasing to the taste buds, while taking into consideration where every ingredient comes from."

And now, go recreate some junk food for the quickfire challenge.

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Yeah: here's your can of Veg-All. Good luck. Now go ha-ome.

[LindaJ]

If you guys haven't seen it, Lee Anne's blog is very illuminative.  Scroll down particularly for the part about the psych test, which had me guffawing at work.

Chef Wong

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Oh my. How Bourdain of her. I liked her on the show, but now I love her and would buy her drinks anytime.

[Dani Mc]

I'm not able to get to Chef Wong's blog. Friendster says the addy provided in the link upthread doesn't exist.

little help?

[Grub]

I'm not able to get to Chef Wong's blog.  Friendster says the addy provided in the link upthread doesn't exist.

little help?

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You're right... The link is no longer active. I must admit I was surprised about that blog, since afaik, reality show contestants are normally required to keep mum until the last episode of the show is broadcast.

[chezcherie]

I'm not able to get to Chef Wong's blog.  Friendster says the addy provided in the link upthread doesn't exist.

little help?

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stephen's blog disppeared for a few days after he was voted off the island, but is back up now, so perhaps lee anns will make a come-back. i'm very sad to see her go, as she was one of my faves, and tiffani is not.

[johnder]

Stephen updated his blog with Episode 8 where he was kicked off. While he did acknowledge that the spoons were his own fault, he ends up saying he wasn't going to sacrifice his ethics for $100k and which is why it was ultimately kicked off.

http://stephenasprinio.com/

john

[jm chen]

Stephen's blog does nothing to improve my opinion of him. Wow.

Can't wait for tonight's reunion show!

[jgm]

Stephen's "ethics" are a smokescreen. Ethics, my ass. He should have been in the kitchen, working to do the best with what they had to work with.

This guy needs to learn some leadership.

A friend of mine, in her e-mail signature, writes "Just because no one understands you, doesn't mean you're an artist." I've never seen that better applied than here. Stephen doesn't know how to get along with other people, so he doesn't even try, and covers it up with the need to use his so-called expertise in another area.

[KatieLoeb]

I've never seen that better applied than here. Stephen doesn't know how to get along with other people, so he doesn't even try, and covers it up with the need to use his so-called expertise in another area.

The phrase I use for this malady is "social quadriplegic".

Odd for someone in the "hospitality" industry to suffer from it so acutely and still get as far along as Stephen seems to have.

Really looking forward to the reunion. It should be revealing.

[The Apostate]

This might be my favourite show so far.

Best line: Harold, "So you told her 'I'm not your bitch, bitch'?

Dave, "Yeah, Bravo already holds the licence'

[KatieLoeb]

I watched this. I was actually hoping that when Ken and Stephen got into it they could have killed each other off in one fell swoop and saved all of us a lot of grief.

Tiffani should be competing for an Oscar against Meryl Streep. Her mock indignation at being named "most controversial" was making me want to hurl. It's funny how words come back to haunt you. Her big "I'm not here to make friends, I'm here to win" speech has proven to be oddly prescient. She has no friends and little respect from her comrades and she's brought it entirely on herself.

Sometimes we're all lucky enough to see the karmic balance of the world be re-aligned and balanced before our very eyes.

[Grub]

Just saw the reunion show. There was no cooking involved -- just an ackward, ardeous trainwreck.

Lee Anne was depicted as far more laid back, than the impression I got from her blog -- I guess they had more than enough agression and bickering from the other members. I say "depicted" because I figure Bravo probably takes some creative license in the editing process...

Dave explained that he had never cried in the kitchen. Then he proceeded to tear up. I'm wondering, what the hell are they doing to him on this show to make him cry, if he normally doesn't do it?

Andrea's health-nut image was solidified further... She's just the very personification of Julia Child's quip, "I just hate health food" -- not that I hate health food, but I do hate people who proselytize it. They're like religious zealots. It bugs me that Stephen was browbeaten so much for daring to educate people about food -- but nothing was ever said about Ms. "Eat this, it'll make you take a great, big wonderful dump."

Now, Stephen seemed to do a complete 180, when they showed some behind-the-scene footage of his half hour spat with Candice where he belittled her for using cookie cutters. Mr Sommelier was on a huge charm offensive, appologizing over that one, and even drinking wine straight out of the bottle. Candice didn't appologize for calling him a douchebag or whatever she called him.

Something odd happened when Stephen apoligized -- Kenneth (the angry Irish dude) started laughing. Then something even more peculiar happened -- Stephen got completley bent out of shape over it. This is where that whole "Oh yeah, wutcha gonna do about it?!" shoving thing happened. It didn't make too much sense from the footage. It seemed as if Kenneth didn't think Stephen's apology was sincere, and that this really upset Stephen.

They brought up the tasting-with-your-finger thing with Kenneth again, and I must say I've got some sympathy for the guy on that one... What had actually caused the uproar wasn't that Kenneth tasted with his finger -- it was that he DARED to call the allmighty celebrity chef Keller on the issue afterwards: Keller had admonished him on this, claiming they'd have to throw the sauce out and start over again. Kenneth asked him if he really HAD done so, and that got Keller's, and the Bravo crew's collective knickers in a pinch.

This taboo about questioning the allmighty Chef bugs the hell out of me. I'm an engineer; we question everything. I wonder what the world would be like today, if engineers worked like that?

Finally, there was of course Tiffany. I guess this was supposed to be the "karma's a bitch"-episode. She got into it with a few -- especially Dave, but also Miguel. Dave was given a T shirt with "I'm not your bitch, bitch!" on it, that Tiffany actually tried to take away from him. Miguel's "You're a snake... Sssss!" segment was shown again. The poor girl eventually ran off to cry some. It didn't seem to get her any sympathy. I can understand it. The expression that came to my mind was (if you pardon me), "I wouldn't piss in your mouth if your teeth were on fire."

As far as a winner, out of the three, I think Harold seems like a completely obvious choice. I'm probably not a good judge of their culinary skills, but Dave doesn't seem to be on the same level as Harold or Tiffany. Tiffany just seems like a genuinely bad person. If the idea is, that a Chef should be some kind of an evil genius/asshole savant, I guess she's the obvious choice.

[FabulousFoodBabe]

I hope this is slightly on-topic: Does anyone else out there find it odd that a 24year old is a "sommelier?"

[jgm]

Andrea's health-nut image was solidified further... She's just the very personification of Julia Child's quip, "I just hate health food" -- not that I hate health food, but I do hate people who proselytize it. They're like religious zealots. It bugs me that Stephen was browbeaten so much for daring to educate people about food -- but nothing was ever said about Ms. "Eat this, it'll make you take a great, big wonderful dump."

You raise a very good point here. I guess the difference might have been that Andrea was more encouraging and gentle, and Stephen came across as the Wine and Food God Who Has Come to Bless Us With His Knowledge.

Now, Stephen seemed to do a complete 180, when they showed some behind-the-scene footage of his half hour spat with Candice where he belittled her for using cookie cutters. Mr Sommelier was on a huge charm offensive, appologizing over that one, and even drinking wine straight out of the bottle. Candice didn't appologize for calling him a douchebag or whatever she called him.

I hate to admit it, but Stephen turned my opinion of him around a little bit when he apologized to her. I hope he learned from that footage, and saw just how obnoxious he was. He actually showed a glimmer of humanity. More of that, and I'll change my prediction that he won't go too far.

They brought up the tasting-with-your-finger thing with Kenneth again, and I must say I've got some sympathy for the guy on that one... What had actually caused the uproar wasn't that Kenneth tasted with his finger -- it was that he DARED to call the allmighty celebrity chef Keller on the issue afterwards: Keller had admonished him on this, claiming they'd have to throw the sauce out and start over again. Kenneth asked him if he really HAD done so, and that got Keller's, and the Bravo crew's collective knickers in a pinch.

This taboo about questioning the allmighty Chef bugs the hell out of me. I'm an engineer; we question everything. I wonder what the world would be like today, if engineers worked like that?

The last time engineers failed to question, the Challenger blew up.

Fortunately, things are less critical in the food world. But there is a bit of the "Emperor's New Clothes" stuff going on here. There's no doubt in my mind that there's a lot of tasting by the dipping of fingers going on out there. If it's a clean finger, and the pot will continue to be heated... I still don't like it, but it's not so bad. It's probably one of the industry's dirty little secrets. This scene reminded me a lot of that scene in the Wizard of Oz where they discover just who the Wizard really is. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. . .

As far as a winner, out of the three, I think Harold seems like a completely obvious choice. I'm probably not a good judge of their culinary skills, but Dave doesn't seem to be on the same level as Harold or Tiffany. Tiffany just seems like a genuinely bad person. If the idea is, that a Chef should be some kind of an evil genius/asshole savant, I guess she's the obvious choice.

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Ditto.

[zilla369]

I always knew Stephen was a human being. And I love that while everyone else got all gussied up for the reunion show, he wore a t-shirt and jeans.

Man, was Lisa drunk or what? How long do the producers at Bravo leave them in a room with a full bar before they start filming? Same thing happened during the last Project Runway reunion show.

Tiffani's remorse or nausea or whatever seemed completely contrived. I'm not even sure if she knew which one she was trying to fake.

And I'm with Grub on the sauce-tasting thing. We never, ever, did hear Chef Keller say they actually re-made the sauce. Ken Lee seems like an asshole in the first degree, but he sort of had a point in that finger-tasting goes on in high-end kitchens a LOT. Besides, if you watch carefully (well, as much as editing will allow), he tasted with his finger but did not put the finger back in. Which is why you never heard the chef confirm that the sauce was thrown out. It was practically entrapment! He told him to taste the sauce!

I'm bummed about the finale now that LeAnn is gone. Harold, while he has skills, is one of those snooty line cooks that thinks they're above anything mundane. "I don't cook for kids." "I don't do gas station food." Well, you sure as hell signed up for a reality show! Whiner.

I suspect Tiffani of turning off burners and turning down ovens. I noticed she didn't protest too loudly when she was backhandedly accused of it - my theory is that she was afraid there was footage in existence of her doing exactly that. I hope one of the other two mans up and turns her fire off or oven down during the final. I'd laugh so hard.

Dave seems like a nice guy, but he obviously has next to zero experience working in a kitchen with a lot of other people. He moves too frenetically, he expends so much energy walking in circles and talking to himself. He'd never be able to lead a kitchen full of cooks.

I hope they bring back LeeAnn or Stephen as a surprise in the finals - but I'm probably not going to get my wish.

[cocoagirl]

I have always liked Steven - although I have not always liked how he handleld himself in the challenges. I think he is super smart but has a lot of growing to do- and I think he will. Very likeable last night. Just the fact that he showed up in jeans after all his suits shows that he is always thinking- keeping people on their toes. I just like that in a creative person.

That being said I found the Reunion show oddly unsatisfying.