103 replies to this topic

[TWoP Nikita]

From Zap2it:

A surprising twist challenges the 15 remaining chefs.

This thread will open at 11:01pm EST on November 14th.

[SilentMinority]

Whenever I see “Bart Vandelae” I automatically translate to “George Costanza”.

I cannot express how much I hate the “twist”. I despise reality competitions where they bring back returnees to play with first-timers (I’m looking at you, Survivor and Big Brother, not that I watch much of the latter anymore). It always seems like such an unlevel playing field, tonight’s results notwithstanding. And for cripes’ sakes, not Stefan again. He is such an ass, and yet good enough that I’ll be shocked if he isn’t with us every damn episode. He’s gotta be the favorite to win the whole thing, especially since the other 2 returnees were mid-level chefs their seasons. I’m almost ready to concede the title to him already and write this off as a worse season than last.

Yeah, what a great idea. Not.

Micah’s cockiness was offputting. Hyper McScreechy is going to get old yesterday. One of the nicest people left first.

Bah. Bah, I say.

[toolegittoquit]

True shame he went home. He seemed very promising. LOVED the winner, good for her!

[berenjena]

So the nice guy who overcooked his fish packs his knives, but the veteran who overcooks his quail stays?

This thing was edited to bits and smacks of producer involvement and reality drama.

Bah. Bah indeed!

ETA: glad Kimiko got the win. I was so distracted by the unsavoury twist I forgot. I think I might try poaching with chili oil this Friday . Delicious with some coconut riice. THAT is why I watch. To be inspired, I only abide the drama.

Edited by berenjena, Nov 14, 2012 @ 11:28 PM.

[avecsans]

I was sorry to see Jeffrey go first. He seemed like a nice guy.

If I were the new contestants I would hate having the 3 former contestants return. Mostly because I would get sick of hearing about their old times on the show. People who do that at work are a bore and I hate listening to them.

I still don't know most of the names but I get annoyed with people who wear their glasses anywhere but where they were meant to be (Fieri!) so the most hated chef in Dallas bugged me tonight. And he wears that title as a badge of honor, doesn't he?

What's with all the hair hanging down in the food? Ex-Pellegrino and the red head are the worst offenders.

Tom seemed subdued. I wondered if he didn't like being in the Space Needle, either.

I am really liking Emeril as a judge. He seems more comfortable than he did last season.

[Puds38]

I like Last Chance Kitchen, but I call BS on bringing back Josie, Stefan & CJ. Put them on and All Star or second chance season. These chefs humped to get on the show and to have them compete with chefs who already know the ropes is unfair. Additionally since the so called season vets still managed to get in the bottom, someone from that team should have been the ones to go. I have to admit when I Emeril asked when he fired his fish, I knew he was doomed. Unless it's a fatty fish it's never going to take a long time to cook and you really do need to add in carry over cooking.

On a shallow note, Josie looks really good. I'm not sure if she lost weight, grew er hair out, has better makeup or any combo of the 3, but she looked great.

[WickedTuna]

Hyper McScreechy is going to get old yesterday. One of the nicest people left first.

I thought they'd let Charo into the competition. It was worse than nails on a blackboard.

I couldn't believe they brought back those 3 from other seasons. I actually said what the fuck outloud. And the words of wisdom from them are already getting old. I want to know who the hell picked Josie and CJ? Was everyone else busy?

John needs to get his glasses off his forehead. I just wanna reach into the TV and knock them off.

Did Josie say 'Dave's cherry emulsion sucks'? Who the hell is Dave?

I really like Chef Douglas. Why can't he be a judge instead of Puck? Probably too nice.

[Bzemom]

Didn't Padma date CJ? I remember her cooing to him in several specials.

[voiceover]

Eh, I thought Stefan was a dick until the finals of his season; then he won me over. The bastard.
I admit that seeing the old 3 will be the only reason I'll tune in, which I guess makes me their target audience. In that case, I'd like CJ cooking shirtless next ep, please.

[Tess23]

My daughter and I had dinner at The Yard in Santa Monica a year or so ago when CJ was still there. The food was great but the best show was CJ himself schmoozing and flirting with two women at their table throughout dinner. Mucho ladies man. Will be interesting to see if sparks still fly with Padma this season. Tom seems calmer and happier than his nasty Texas self. Maybe it really was his back hurting pre-surgery.

[TiffanyNichelle]

Jeffrey, no! I liked him. I'm already over Carla. She can go next week. All that running around and talking, it would drive me crazy.

I don't like the returning chef. That's what All Stars is for.

[Catronia]

I don't mind returning chefs (and I lurve Stefan), but I'm concerned about this season. Will it be all seafood and fish? Because that would be repetitive and boring (much like the all steak and bbq Texas season). I'm glad they let team returning chefs off the hook, because at least they didn't do fish. I'm sorry chef cute and nice is gone, though, and Carla is promising to be unbearable.

[TryingHarder]

I am really liking Emeril as a judge. He seems more comfortable than he did last season.

Emeril is a great judge. But, I always laugh when the judges have on their stern faces. Emeril has such a hard time with a serious face and it looks so hard for him to do.

[Umbrella Maker]

I'm actually somewhat okay with the twist. It should be interesting to see what happens. Not sure if they'd go far, but it's a lot better than skiing and shooting for your food or some of the other ridiculous challenges they put the cheftestants through in the finale. To be fair, I didn't see Seasons 2 and 3 of Top Chef so i'm not entirely familiar with Josie and CJ. I do know Stefan and I don't really hate him as much as others do. He would've been a much better winner than Hosea, that's for sure.

Too early for me to give my likes and dislikes. John (the jackass from Dallas) is a little bit on the douchebag side but he didn't seem entirely terrible. And Carla Pellegrino was insanely annoying and not even in the likable way. I find myself really liking Kuniko but it's still early. She seems very humble and a good chef. Sorry to see Jeffrey go though. Wish he could've stuck around.

[Vermicious Knid]

Was that a chef or a hobbit?

[garbagebag]

LOL, the first thing I noticed was how many different accents I was hearing. The diversity is big plus.

On the down side, not loving the fact that previous contestants are back. Josie and CJ, sure no biggie. But the runner-up to arguably the most undeserving winner in Top Chef history? Come on.

[Arline]

Noooo! I was looking forward to seeing Jeffrey cook, and he loses in a team challenge in the first round? Balls. I was hoping that giant 'veteran' who could not grasp the dimensions of quail would get PYKAG'd.

"He has an accent, he looks like a thumb, and he's an evil villain." Yea. I liked the anger and indignation upon seeing the old contestants. That sucks.

[larapu2000]

I really like Chef Douglas. Why can't he be a judge instead of Puck? Probably too nice.

I loved him, too! He seemed shocked by their pickiness. I'm really glad he was, though, it shows that the quality of the cheftestants is high this season! Yay!

I'm already sick of the returning cast members and them blathering on about how their experience doesn't help them, and how the stew room sucks, blah blah blah. Especially from Josie. She was one of the first 4 or 5 eliminated from the worst season ever. I give her one more week. "Global soul food?" She's the worst.

Gah, I'm annoyed that the Belgian chef might not be a good chef, and I was so looking forward to that tall drink of Flemish water on my screen for a long time.

[ElectricBoogalo]

Whenever I see “Bart Vandelae” I automatically translate to “George Costanza”.

Mr. EB started rooting for him last week just so he could yell, "ART VANDELAY!" every time this guy's name was on the screen.

I was sad to see Jeffrey go, mostly because he seemed like a nice guy but partly because someone posted last week that they were looking forward to headlines like "Jew butchers a pig!" and "Jew wins Top Chef!" Mr. EB jokingly said at the beginning of this episode, "Jew first eliminated - is Top Chef anti semitic?" and I immediately said, "DON'T JINX HIM!" When Jeffrey was eliminated, I smacked Mr. EB and said, "Look what you did!" On a shallow note, Jeffrey was part of the eye candy on this show so of course I'm sad to see that go too, but he seemed to do well in the soup challenge last week so I was hoping to see him cook some good stuff this season.

HATE having the three returning cheftestsants. That's what the All Stars season is for. Please go away!

I was surprised that the jerky Dallas chef with the annoying glasses on his head was so gracious about giving credit to Kimiko but then I remembered it's easy to be nice when you have immunity. We'll see how long that lasts. I understand needing glasses, but we already have Guy Fieri and his stupid backwards sunglasses from hell all over the Food Network and fatty hater Alex Perry with his sunglasses permanently bolted to the top of his head on Project Runway Australia. I don't need this Dallas guy joining the list.

Carla needs to STFU. The constantly yelling and noise making is so annoying. I know most kitchens aren't quiet libraries, but running around making random noises while cooking is distracting and inconsiderate. I hope someone else starts yelling obscene song lyrics at top volume just to counter her stupid ass. And what kind of chef cuts herself while putting her hand inside her knife bag? No, seriously, I'm not a chef so is this something that happens all the time or is she just a clumsy ditzy careless dumbass? I'm willing to spend the $5 to buy her a handband so she can get her fucking hair out of her face. You know someone is going to find one of her long hairs in their food at some point.

That all female group looked like hell and only because Carla was in it. The other two women seem like competent chefs so far but Carla is an interrupter who also likes to talk over people so there was really no hope for communication. She's apparently also bossy too. Knowing Bravo/Top Chef, that means I'll be stuck watching her antics for most of the season because they love the drama of it all.

I'm really glad Kimiko won. She did well in both the quickfire and the elimination challenge, so yay for her! Thank goodness the other guy on her team (Solomon?) noticed her chili oil was burning. I missed part of that so I'm not sure what happened. Did she just wander off and forget about it?

[austentatious]

Carla, with her stringy hair and incessant yammering, can go next. I have to mute her scenes since she makes me nervous. I can imagine how the two chefs working with her felt. Perhaps when they finally get to cook individually she'll calm the heck down.
There's still that stringy hair though.

[arc]

Carla is insufferable already. I'd agree with her that teammates need to stay in contact and in sync, but that can't happen if she's just going nonstop (with no new information, just repeating herself) and not giving anyone else any room to talk. I don't get the impression she's ever voluntarily listened to anyone else talk.

The way it looked to me, Stefan overcooked the quail breasts in the pan, but Jeffrey both overcooked his fish and started it way too early, so it had even more time to suffer under the heat lamps. Seriously, it's five servings to be served 47 minutes after they first start cooking. How the hell did he think starting it (?) with over half an hour to go before sending it out was a good idea? And why didn't his teammates stop him? Heat lamps? Really?

Tom writes:

The terms "overcooked" or "overseasoned" are never the end of the story in and of themselves -- whether they are a deal-breaker that will get a person sent home is always a matter of degree: the dish could be slightly overcooked or overseasoned... or it could be hammered. Stefan's quail was somewhat overcooked; Jeffrey's halibut was hammered.

[cooksdelight]

If John is going to wear his glasses on his forehead like a forgetful grandma all the time, I will be FFing him a lot. And does anyone else get the impression they will be in these colored apron teams for a while? It seems to be production's lazy way of not having 18 dishes to taste.

I also agree that this will be the season of seafood and Asian-inspired dishes, given Seattle's cornered the market on both. I had some of the best sushi and Chinese dinners when visiting there.

[JTMacc99]

Was that a chef or a hobbit?

Hee! I said almost the same thing. Seems like a nice guy.

I was immediately down on the returning chefs idea. Although I didn't pick up on this show until season 4, so two of them are new to me which makes it less troubling.

However, I warmed up a great deal to the idea when Josie was sharing her experience with the new group over wine at the new place. I got the feeling that most of the contestants were soaking up the knowledge, and it might have been a bit of a good thing for them.

[SilentMinority]

No, seriously, I'm not a chef so is this something that happens all the time or is she just a clumsy ditzy careless dumbass? I'm willing to spend the $5 to buy her a handband so she can get her fucking hair out of her face.

I'll double your offer if you can get her to wear it about 6 inches lower on her face.

The way it looked to me, Stefan overcooked the quail breasts in the pan, but Jeffrey both overcooked his fish and started it way too early, so it had even more time to suffer under the heat lamps. Seriously, it's five servings to be served 47 minutes after they first start cooking. How the hell did he think starting it (?) with over half an hour to go before sending it out was a good idea? And why didn't his teammates stop him? Heat lamps? Really?

I thought he said "13" minutes, not "30" minutes. Still too early, but depending on when he planned to plate it, not quite so egregious -- had he kept it on the heat less time and let it rest more, it might have had a prayer. Cooking it fully on both sides before even taking it off killed it.

[VirginiBound]

but I'm concerned about this season. Will it be all seafood and fish?

I wouldn't be surprised if they do something with Mario Batali's dad, who owns Salumi in Seattle, that according to Anthony Bourdain, and the large line that forms outside for lunch everyday is incredible. But then again, he opened up the business as something to do for his retirement, and he all but said he is happy they are busy, but doesn't want to get too busy, which he feels can be the kiss of death for quality.

[shura]

Noooo! I was looking forward to seeing Jeffrey cook, and he loses in a team challenge in the first round? Balls.

To be fair, his loss had nothing to do with this being a team challenge. He lost entirely because of what he did, the team had almost nothing to do with it. It was clearly between him and Stefan, either decision would have been fine with me.

And what kind of chef cuts herself while putting her hand inside her knife bag? No, seriously, I'm not a chef so is this something that happens all the time or is she just a clumsy ditzy careless dumbass?

I know! If that's something that happens to her regularly, how does she still have fingers? I hope she has people to operate her garbage disposal.

How can you have "too much dill"? Was Stefan trying to emulate last season's Coliccio's hatred of arugula?

[proserpina65]

How can you have "too much dill"?

I suppose it's possible that the flavor of the dill overwhelmed the other ingredients in that dish. Of course, I adore dill, so for me, no such thing as too much.

[urbanmilkwoman]

Nooo, not the beautiful gay man! This blows. I will be bitter all season.

[joanne3482]

I wouldn't be surprised if they do something with Mario Batali's dad, who owns Salumi in Seattle, that according to Anthony Bourdain, and the large line that forms outside for lunch everyday is incredible. But then again, he opened up the business as something to do for his retirement, and he all but said he is happy they are busy, but doesn't want to get too busy, which he feels can be the kiss of death for quality.

A line does form, but part of that is because he only makes X amount of food for lunch and when he runs out he runs out. It is also a cured meat shop and has had contests for cured meat so I wouldn't be surprised if they do hit that up for either ingredients or perhaps curing their own meat.

[TheRealJanBrady]

Shut up, oldsters.

Did Dallas jackass say he chose the Japanese girl for his team because she was Japanese, so she might have good knife skills? I think I rewound to make sure he was really making that stereotype? That said, he worked with her very well and was way respectful of his team, so that was nice to see.