HappyDancex2

Bummer the quick fire winner didn’t get immunity. Laura getting the selfish edit…from throwing back her first recipe card for tartar sauce and then hogging the budget for her 1.5 dishes for the “experience.” I’m sure it wasn’t as cutthroat as it seemed but that was an unlikeable edit. Every week I become less impressed with this group though. There aren’t any drama whores (dang did I say that?), villains, look at meeeeees, stellar savants, modern masters….I’m not intrigued by the dishes. Katsu…..big deal. They make more innovative food on Guys Grocery Games. And certainly a lot of katsu.

I get it. You can name your fear whatever you’d like but you are essentially choosing therapy in the form of highly pressured situations involving other people. If she does well then she can be all smiles and gracious but when it goes wrong she is bursting into tears, telling someone to not touch her foot, leave her alone, shutting down etc. She’s electing to challenge her anxiety by food competitions which is fine but doesn’t excuse her behavior when it goes wrong imo. Many people have fear of failure or not being enough. And only one person is going to get the title of TC. isn’t the opportunity to compete it’s own victory? This is still a very prized show for chefs!

Kalina seemed like she was on the verge of a breakdown….her histrionic vibrations were not pleasant to watch. I want to call her focused but I feel like her need to win…or maybe not lose, is unhealthy. Alisha was gone the second she made her losing dish again and it only slightly better. Kaleena took a huge risk. I would have plated one protein and two sauces on that dishware LOL i visibly grimaced at the strawberry sauce. Good for him for making that work.

I had a Duh moment where a friend of mine who is a top chef fan, is from Wisconsin and currently lives in Seattle. Last time I visited her house I had a kcup of coffee that was amazing considering I don’t drink coffee. It was cinnamon hazelnut. She comes and visits me a couple of weeks ago and I ask her to bring some and I will buy a Keurig lol. Brand? Door County. i excitedly text her and say “did you even realize it was door county coffee during the episode?…”. And she was like Um Yeah…I went to Door County and discovered it. I lived in Wisconsin. So in addition to cherries, they make some bitchin coffee. Maybe a coffee challenge coming up!

I think many have noticed how much Michelle identifies being the BBQ fire pit master however she’s only been doing it for the last 6 years. She makes it seem like she was born Michelle Weber Traeger. She seems way qualified to be here without all of the asterisks and in front of a crowd or the judges is all rizz.

They were both so in their heads parsing the details of the potential dish to death that I became annoyed and said “who cares let’s just move on” and yet the editors didn’t LOL. It was like “it’s land and water but not sea but a lake but then your circle has to be bigger but not bigger like a lake but more like the sea but with aquachile which is more like using bottled water except it’s tap water kind of like lake water which is not like the sea….” and then they didn’t want to talk about their concepts at the house that night. Thank goodness!! In the end Tom said her dish was so bad it was like a culinary student pretending to make a fancy dish and it was aquachile with shrimp which is a huge insult IMO. There just isn’t a lot to mess up there. And kaleena’s edit of her self announcing all of her bad decisions along the way was also painful. It’s as though she swallowed a delusional pill and we got to hear her thoughts.

I actually love these artsy interpretive challenges and while I love a good backstory I think they just need to focus on yummy tasting food, not dots and pyramids and shapes. So many of the dishes this season seem so….creatively unappetizing. I’m not sure if the descriptor for pistachio powder as “reminds me of my grandma who smoked a lot” sounds all that appetizing either. Mmmmm cigarette ash? mannys pasta flowers looked thick and dense as he was forming them. Like flower pierogis LOL

Buddha was probably thinking he could come back thru LCK and wipe the floor with this cast while holding his twins.

I love the fact that Jet and Antonia studied together to get better on this show! The margins for points is so thin…maneet’s use of the randomizer is just so naturally on point. Maneet’s nickname”dancing spice queen” comes from the way the Indian spices she uses bloom in a pan, particularly when heated in oil as the spices tend to pop and jump around like they are dancing in the pan. At least that’s how Guy describes it.

I still team jet but would have been happy with any of the 4. Seeing Antonia cry after her loss made me tear up…that’s what makes this show so good. I’m glad to see them all so invested. I like Britt too…she’s got that nice blend of cocky badass while still being humble and respectful of her opportunity. Maneet is just a baller….results don’t lie.

It’s hard for me to get behind a guy who gets in from LCK since he’s not subject to 5 weeks of the regular competition. If he loses before that then the actual cheftestants will never know he existed which would seem odd. They would be out plotting their own plot twist. He’s schroedingers chef LOL. I finally got caught up on LCK to come here to find out what happened with the initial Hat chef only to find out it’s still a mystery….so intriguing! kenny did teach me something….i didn’t realize you could grill those rice papers into pizza! The whole concept seemed similar to a dosa with the egg spread…but leaving the egg raw was another signature Kenny move of lack of attention to detail. He could have torched it or griddled it instead of worrying about more toppings….raw egg on rice paper seems kind of another mushy gross mess. He went from flexing about bodying up chefs and taking them down to…Meh, it was a great experience and I’m proud of myself.

Rasika to Manny in car “what’s your backup plan?” Manny “I don’t have one” …which would have been the foreshadowing moment except Tom was visibly put out with Kenny not putting aside relish for the judges plates. I had to agree because it just showed a lack of focus in the context of this show. He’s served cabbage cores to the judges already so he was on thin ice. also, frying rice paper in the quick fire and the elimination challenge isn’t creative. Those chips would have been rapidly soggifying LOL in heat and humidity and not the sturdiest foil to wet crab salad even on a good day.

Could someone tell me what the comedian said when they were judging Danny’s dish that garnered such a big laugh? I was unable to hear it. TIA

Paul Bartolotta was a delightful and super charming judge. He has a twinkle in his eye and a jovial yet professional presence. I loved his edit. He seemed kind and lighthearted towards the cheftestants in a way that was pleasing to me. Normally the judges wow me with their knowledge and perspectives and for the most part have that Gotta put on my Judge hat (no pun intended) that can dampen the twinkle. Wouldn’t mind seeing Paul back for the finale! I’m interested in his restaurants now. If anyone rewatches, on the 3 chef cook off when Tom asks Chef TrashAgain what he found in the wax wrap he says “fucking shrimp Tom” and Paul mouths “fucking shrimp” and laughs. Don’t know why that cracked me up. I’m easily amused.

Agreed a zillion percent. Not to mention this show is formulaic in it’s challenges in you have shop time, couple hours of prep time and then finishing the next day. You will cook and serve for the masses. You need to have technique driven ideas that are flexible enough to make a dish shine no matter the curveball. i think the hardest urge to fight is the need to impress the judges with something they haven’t seen before. The bbq pit master chef who won and chef Hat both proclaimed their disdain for making pasta. But the winner decided to make what she knew and make it well…versus Chef Trash Again decided to make a potato cake with offal marscapone Calabrian chili sexy ragu and a bunch of dots cuz Pasta Ain’t Mah Thing.

It’s ironic because I had Beat Bobby Flay on in the background yesterday and she popped up there. When I heard her name I thought “didn’t I just see you on Chopped??” She’s making the food competition rounds for sure. Oh and she did indeed, BBF I was less offended by David’s hat and glasses look and more peeved by his incessant use of the word “sexy.” Kristen’s comment of the episode was “the old run it underwater trick” in her delightful deadpan voice. She was awesome. David dumped about a cup of salt into that small pan of butter. He was totally on tilt.

My guess for a mid market city would have been Cleveland Ohio. Easy theme based trips to Rock HOF and pro football HOF which always film easily on camera. Vibrant food scene with caliber chefs that own multiple restaurants in the city. We can obviously trot out Michael Symon and his tree of chefs (maybe not Jon Sawyer at least back in Cleveland anyway) but plenty who have made appearance on cooking competitions. Obvious polish boy, sausages, pierogis as featured foods not to mention the West Side Market vibes. The city itself is set up for those kitschy challenges that look great on TV, it’s on a Great Lake so there could be waterfront challenges using lake fish like perch and walleye. There is a restaurant that rehabs and trains former prison inmates. interesting twists could be an hour south of Cleveland is the very contrasting Amish country. So much cheese and furniture. Nary electricity to be found or sugar in those berry pies until the credit card machine avails. Would have loved to see Padma there! An hour west is very much farmland, German influence, Farmer Jones whole area which is renowned through out the restaurants in the country. I smell a micro green challenge LOL. Northern Ohio can be very diverse and would make interesting albeit formulaic TV.

Liver of all kinds is just…..offal. I’ll see myself out.

Buddha’s food looks a lot like Eric Ripert (clutches pearls)….that whole fussy genre doesn’t make it for me anymore. I’ve kicked Fancy Fussy Pants cuisine and modernist multi course upside down balloons lets eat nitro ice cream smashed right on the table cuisine to the back burner. I guess I got tired of leaving the restaurant a whole lot lighter in cash but still craving a slice of pizza that might feel like a mouthful of food 😂 I did catch Tom C’s little comment to Buddha on the kitchen walkthrough that he probably wouldn’t be doing a third TC. Not sure how we were supposed to take that but I took it as Buddha was already too good for this format. Unless he truly took a whizz in the soup it was his to lose. His sheer amount in his technique bag is pretty impressive. I think the only thing that stood out wonky to me about Buddha is the way he stands. He seems like he already has a lot of back problems and his feet are almost super ducked out. I noticed in the stand lines he’s often standing askew like his feet were screwed in too tight. I think working on a line has messed with his neck alignment. Egoscue could really help. He’s too young.

Sara had time to cut into 2 liver pieces. I would have flung that puppy across the room into a fryer at that point!!! Pretty much something would have been better than nothing…there was no time for the salamander. I still want to try that cake!

The most surprising thing for me tonight was the fact that we have to assume Buddha has given a lot of thought to this final menu and his explanation didn’t sell me. I got the idea of bringing his countries back to himself but his menu didn’t seem cohesive to me. It also didn’t seem enticing, which was odd because Buddha generally has showy and powerful dishes. I was afraid he was going to get overtaken and he almost did by Sara. Liver is harder to cook than sweetbreads lol and maybe the creaminess of sweetbreads would have cut that cookie butter flavor down a bit. Tom showed a lot of great personality and I love the interaction between he and Gabri. I finally feel like we got a rounder edit of his personality and whimsy. Gabris food has looked like too many ingredients to me all season but this menu looked enticing to me. I’m so happy for him and he’s very easy to watch and root for. Loved Padmas outfit and Tom’s coat.

Dammit Sara!!!!!!!!!!

I think recreating the journey of Padma would be a mistake. Ethnic model who grows into the role of food judge? Replacing her uniqueness would be such a challenge. I guess it depends on how many seasons they think they have left. Hiring in the vein of professional host seems better than professional chef to me. Like a Ted Allen type. Maybe for a season just do a series of guest hosts to see what vibes on set and on TV and they can get a feel of what matters. But pass of the pykag to Gail and see if she has the right tone to be doing that as well.

What did surprise me was during the wall challenge that Gabri reacted with such frustration and Buddha actually took it in stride and was laughing. Buddha had the bruh kid so I was thrilled at how little he knew about food in general. And why was Buddha using words like “lardons” when the kid doesn’t know a leek is?! gabri “pine nuts. Put in pie nuts!” suni “what??” gabri “oh just put in whatever you want” 😂😂😂 wish we could see the unedited full footage of that one!

Imagine this season with Gabri and Dawn paired up for every challenge. Frenetic energy of non finishers each round! His pure emotion has me on his side now…they kept him in for so long my annoyance has turned to admiration. He is easy to watch now because he’s so true to himself. For him the difference of his food being showcased and winning and his actual cooking which is scattered and time hindered…is basically having a chef above him like Buddha keeping him on task. At least in this format. I can’t see a situation where Buddha doesn’t win but I’d be thrilled to see Sara take it. Would have loved to see Ali make it to the finale so he could have the chance to have Amar as his sous lol. The comments by the guest judge really seemed to resonate about the mushroom steak and croquette just not being amazing enough for the semifinal. Sure did meet the brief though.