81 replies to this topic

[TWoP Nikita]

From Zap2it:

The Masters compete in a blindfolded relay race; teams are challenged to cater a wedding out of mobile kitchens.

[fascfoo]

Carmen got hosed by baldie's bland taste buds.

[carmelized]

This was a great episode! Normally, I dislike team challenges, but both the QF and EC challenges made for some great food. The scores for the losing team were mostly high, which showed how well they did overall. For the first time this season, I'm really looking forward to watching thris episode again.

[buttersister]

It was nice to see Tony defend Carmen, fwiw, which turned out to be, not much. And here's to Carmen for taking accountability
instead of playing victim. Although the editor monkeys had me going there for a second with the comments about Marcus' mushy beef
(the civilians, as predicted, loved it) with too sweet sauce.

Loved Jodi's risk taking - a good bet when you can deliver fabulous-tasting food and, as always, Obi Wan Waxman is a pleasure to watch.

[diorella78]

Love love love Waxman.

Predictibly annoying couple and their food choices (religion aside) but both teams did well.

I agree with Carmen going...yes she was organizing the team, but haven't they all learned not putting much out there will almost always get the "this tastes nice but what did you doooo in all that time?" judge offing?

Liked the episode overall.

[Rozzie]

Was the bride wearing her wedding dress? 'Cause it was not a good look - I kept waiting for her boobs to land on the table. /end juvenile comment.

[kenyaj]

I know it's probably editing, but it's odd that at judge's table, the judges focused so much on Marcus's beef, and didn't mention his appetizers, which they raved over.

Anyway, sorry to see Carmen go, especially since the judges liked both of her dishes and disliked Rick's mixed grill and Susan's cake so much. It just reminds me why I hate the protection that group challenges provide sometimes.

Forgot to add, I love Obi Wan, and Susar is a fucking machine!

Edited by kenyaj, May 5, 2010 @ 10:45 PM.

[biakbiak]

I know it's probably editing, but it's odd that at judge's table, the judges focused so much on Marcus's beef, and didn't mention his appetizers, which they raved over.

I am pretty sure it was for the "suspense," I knew as soon as not just the judges but the crowd raved over his apps that Carmen was going home because people don't rave over the organizers/behind the scenes people. I didn't necessarily have a problem with it because I do think one of the reasons she fell easily without complaint into that role is because she was afraid to do her dishes/style of cooking. And I say afraid because quite frankly she could have translated a lot of her cooking into another meat because PR cuisine is not all spicy; it was a perfect counterpoint to Jody attempting the lamb. That said I was sort of confused by the groom not wanting pork because he was Jewish but no mention was made of the lobster and crab, I mean I realize that people can be fairly loose with various religious dietary and drinking restrictions but it just was so odd.

Jonathan continues to rule (and shout out to the editor with their freeze frame of "his look" that Rick described when he figures it out!) That said that was the shitty looking cake.

Susur's croquembouche was gorgeous, it reminded me of Martha Stewarts meticulous one compared to Julia Child's jacked one on a show they did together. I also loved his declaring he would do okay with carrot cake because he had eaten some hippie carrot cake in BC. That entire segment cracked my ass up.

Edited by biakbiak, May 5, 2010 @ 11:32 PM.

[MsLark]

That sucked. I am not loving this season and it's only the second one. Why did they pick a non-foodie, palate-challenged wedding couple? Couldn't they have found a couple that was a little more adventurous as far as food is concerned? Eight excellent chefs cooking for them and he wants boring and bland. Ass.

No way Carmen should have gone home before nasty semolina cake or mushy meat. Clearly, this is not Top Chef Masters, it's Top Cook. A chef runs the kitchen, which is exactly what Carmen did. Not happy with the direction this show is going. Next season can only get worse. Stupid Elves.

[VanillaBear85]

I love Susur. He makes me laugh and 19.5 stars?! That is crazy.

and shout out to the editor with their freeze frame of "his look" that Rick described when he figures it out!)

This had me laughing far too hard and far too long. I loved that moment.

[biakbiak]

No way Carmen should have gone home before nasty semolina cake or mushy meat.

But both Marcus and Susan shined in multiple dishes, but Carmen only made the crabcake which while good/great wasn't anything special.

Also, why I love that Jody's lamb dish won, I really wanted to eat Jonathan's roast chicken because to get not only critics but normal people to RAVE about a roast chicken, than that is some fine freaking cooking.

Edited by biakbiak, May 5, 2010 @ 11:33 PM.

[sloopster]

This is why I don't like group challenges: that cake with the fruit plastered all over it was shameful, and that's just based on how it looked.

I'm also mad at Bravo editing comments to make relevant voice-overs: Lisa did NOT say "I'm so tired I'm going to need therapy" she said "I'm so tired, and I don't want this groom's cake to get broken, if it does I'm going to need therapy." I just saw the episode today and there were lots of examples of how tired people were, they didn't have to LIE.

I guess the apps made up for the mushy meat. I was really surprised Carmen got such low scores, 2 stars?!? Her food was good, she just did behind-the-scene things instead of producing another dish. And I was glad her teammates pointed that out, it was a nice moment.

Bride should've thought twice about the dress. It would've been perfect if she was breast-feeding.

I loved the little stories the chefs told about their weddings.

[comosedice]

No way Carmen should have gone home before nasty semolina cake or mushy meat.

Mushy meat according to some of the judges. The guests gave it 4.5 stars and one guest/the groom said it was melting in his mouth and he looked like he was enjoying the heck out of it. Who should the chefs be cooking to please?

[tisha]

I love Susur too. He's the shit. I don't love Marcus, and he was the chef I knew most about going into this season. He seems exceptionally confident for someone so young. I understand he's very talented, but sheesh. Bring it down a notch.

The groom's wishes were, frankly, stupid. No pork because he's Jewish, but they can make crab cakes, lobster roll, and shrimp? Does not compute. I mean, I understand that pork is a fetish object in a certain way among not-especially-observant Jews, but you're breaking every other kosher law, so why not break them all?

That bride's dress was SO not a good look. Yes, you have enormous boobs, sweetie. Now put them away.

[biakbiak]

I don't love Marcus, and he was the chef I knew most about going into this season. He seems exceptionally confident for someone so young.

Marcus is 40. I mean I am not saying he doesn't have an ego but he has been on the culinary radar for over 16-18 years, I mean he might be younger than the other finalists but he hardly is some non-deserving novice. Also, his wife is CRAZY GORGEOUS. Seriously!

[swankie]

Was the bride wearing her wedding dress? 'Cause it was not a good look - I kept waiting for her boobs to land on the table. /end juvenile comment.

I know right? She must have ordered those from the Heidi Montag Super Duper Megaboobs catalogue.
I about died when Susan was describing that berry covered fiasco they called a wedding cake and the camera panned to the judges and they all had that WTF look on their faces in dead silence.

[Charis]

The groom's wishes were, frankly, stupid. No pork because he's Jewish, but they can make crab cakes, lobster roll, and shrimp? Does not compute. I mean, I understand that pork is a fetish object in a certain way among not-especially-observant Jews, but you're breaking every other kosher law, so why not break them all?

It may be less an observance of kashrut and more a taste thing -- I didn't grow up keeping kosher, but I very seldom ate pork and find that, aside from breakfast meats, I can't usually eat more than a few bites of it. It's something in the flavour, I think. (There's also instances of less-observant Jews not necessarily equating kashrut with anything but mixing meat and milk and eschewing pork; I've known a good number who never really registered things like the fact that shellfish are proscribed.)
... for whatever that's worth.

[carmelized]

Carmen got hosed by baldie's bland taste buds.

I don't see how. If anything, she got hosed by being on a team, but not by one judge.

[RescueMom]

I do think one of the reasons she fell easily without complaint into that role is because she was afraid to do her dishes/style of cooking. And I say afraid because quite frankly she could have translated a lot of her cooking into another meat because PR cuisine is not all spicy; it was a perfect counterpoint to Jody attempting the lamb.

biakbiak, this is what I was thinking. Part of Top Chef is to be thrown out of your comfort zone and adjust, and it didn't seem like Carmen was able to do that as well as some of the others. As much as I was hoping Marcus would go home, I thought it was fair. And Marcus did move up a teensy bit in my eyes for jumping in (along with Tony) to defend how important Carmen's role was. But in the end, she didn't cook much - and aside from the judges' issues with Marcus' beef the diners loved it and his other dishes were apparently outstanding.

I found myself rooting for the blue team - I really like Jonathan and Jody. But holy over-achievers Batman - how the heck did Susur make all of those impressive desserts in 12 hours with no recipes? I am in awe of him after last week and this week. He must be incredibly smart & organized, have mad skillz, AND incredible talent to make so much good food both weeks. I know the judges weren't overly impressed with some of the desserts this week, but Susur isn't a pastry chef and last week they were blown away by everything (and this week nothing seemed to be bad, just not the best they've ever had). He and Jonathan are like polar opposites and both appear to be immensely talented. I'd love to see both in the finals at this point.

[Fukui San]

Must. Go. To. Toronto. Those desserts. My God. George Takei rocks!

Also must go to Rialto which is in my neck of the woods. Jody Adams is doing pretty well and seems to have a saucy personality to boot. Good that she did Bananas Fosters right on the first try, but I think it's just bananas, sugar, butter, and rum flambéed. If you had to try to make a dessert blind, Bananas Foster would be a good choice.

Yay for the relay Quickfire. That's so much fun, although it's funny that their dishes resembled one another so much.

Man, could they find a blander couple foodwise? It's almost a shame that you've gathered 8 world class chefs and told them that "I like meat and potatoes". The red team did what they could to put out interesting food, mostly by doing things the groom didn't ask for.

Oh, sad wedding cake. Sorry, bride. If the Blue team lost, Feniger would have been toast.

I liked Carmen, but could she have done something else? A mofongo or fried plantains of some sort? A tamale? Stewed beef?

So far it looks like Susur Lee and Jody Adams might be frontrunners. For some reason I think Marcus Samuelson might make it to the end as well. He might have the stamina that some of the other, older chefs lack.

[MsLark]

Who should the chefs be cooking to please?

On this show, it's clearly the judges. They have 3 votes, guests have 1.

[biakbiak]

t may be less an observance of kashrut and more a taste thing

But by adding the religious reason it made it sort of forbidden. Which made his acceptance of shellfish weird to the point that I thought they were going to get dinged. But if he presented it "because I am Jewish and was raised not eating a lot of pork, I don't really know much about it or even like the taste of pork." I don't think Carmen would have been so freaked out and assumed she just couldn't do pork of any kind. I mean the reason I am fine with her offing is I thought it was a bullshit excuse pork/spicy are a big part of PR cuisine but they aren't the end all be all, but I think she basically froze after the initial meeting and thought since she wouldn't be a standout she would fade into the background and support her team.

I don't believe that Jody would have made her crowd/judging pleasing dish if the Bride had expressed some religious stance against lamb; Jody just assumed correctly that the reason the bride objected to lamb was that she just never had really well prepared lamb! However, I doubt she would have attempted it if the bride had said her religion prohibited it.

Edited by biakbiak, May 6, 2010 @ 5:56 AM.

[fascfoo]

Also, as others have mentioned, that wedding dress was really something else. I could barely concentrate on the words coming out of her mouth as I kept thinking those things were going to bust out at any moment.

[JTMacc99]

Oh my God! Susur is Amy's dad from Futurama. Tell me this dialogue would make perfect sense:

Fry: "This carrot cake is delicious!"
Mr. Wong: "I got recipe from hippies in British Columbia!"

Overall, I really enjoyed this episode. It was typical TCM, in that it was just degrees of who was slightly less awesome when they are sending somebody home. I'm glad Rick's team won, as he is entertaining, but had a bad day. Also, Jody (Jodi?) is pretty awesome.

[JodithGrace]

What amused me was that the groom said, "I'm a meat and potatoes guy," and the bride said, "I like French and Chinese." so of course both teams want the Bride! But then when they actually presented her with anything actually French or Chinese, she was "Nah, not so much." No seafood, no pork no lamb..she was actually worse than the groom!

I don't understand Carmen's fear of doing her own cooking. I cook from an Hispanic cookbook, "Daisy Cooks!" all the time. She has a butterflied marinated chicken cooked under a brick that is just wonderful, and great potatoes cooked in adobo tomato sauce, which I make frequently. So it isn't all pork, though there are some great pork recipes. Even my Rick Bayless cookbook says that all of his Mexican pork dishes can be done with chicken.

I have a lot of Jewish friends and their food fetishes are confusing, at times. I am not referring to the ones who keep Kosher, that's a different story entirely. I'm talking about my semi to non-observant friends who don't eat pork or ham, but love bacon and cheeseburgers. Who won't eat shellfish, but will eat shrimp. It's all a matter of what you grew up with or how far you want to rebel. The buffet clearly wasn't Kosher in any way, except for the lack of pork.

I was amazed at Susar and all those desserts. I don't understand Susan Feneger taking on the wedding cake, when she clearly hated the whole thought of it. That was one pathetic cake.

I cracked up at Rick Noonen actually hiding when they were cutting the cake because he was so embarrassed by it. That so would have been me, too.

I thought it was a fun episode with lots of suspense.

[rebl rn]

See, I think "meat and potatoes" is much more exciting and challenging thing for Top Chef Master caliber chefs to make. I believe it was Jay who said simple food doesn't have to be boring food. To make a simple thing well - like Jonathan's roast chicken - is probably one of the hardest things for a chef to do, imo. You can't dazzle with "smoke and mirrors", you just have to really know how to cook. I don't think any chef's failure at the challenge is because of the plebian tastes of the customer.

[FemaleViewer]

Carmen got hosed by baldie's bland taste buds.

I don't see how. If anything, she got hosed by being on a team, but not by one judge.

I think "baldie" refers to the grooms taste buds restricting her from making her deliciously awesome spice rubbed pork belly or some other equally spicy porky dish. It wasn't the team's fault they did not prevent her from coming up with an additional savory dish.

I don't eat pork or shellfish either for that matter and I would like to think a chef competing for TCM could adapt.

[MeeMaw]

So far it looks like Susur Lee and Jody Adams might be frontrunners

They have both been a revelation to me, having never heard of either one of them. I think people expected great things from Susur, since his reputation preceded him, but Jody seems to have been less well known and, therefore, more of a surpise with her expertise.

For some reason I think Marcus Samuelson might make it to the end as well.

God, I hope not. He's arrogance is completely off-putting to me, even if he is a great chef. Give me a Hubert Keller-like humility any day.

[ThreeDimen]

The whole time I was watching I kept thinking of that poor bride who is going to want to change her name and move out of the country when she sees how she looked in that dress. This is what the trend towards revealing wedding dresses has wrought.

[jamaraz]

I absolutely love Susser. He is so bad ass that I am dying to try his restaurant. As far as the groom goes, I would never have pork at a wedding. I'm not religious but that would be a slap in the face to my relatives - even if they knew the wedding wasn't kosher. It's like you were going out of your way to flaunt you weren't kosher.