HappyDancex2

You laugh but the finale locale is Mexico and the presenting sponsor is Taco Bell! Can't get more ironic or autentico than that! (not a spoiler, unless it turns out to be true LOL)

Tom's argument was why use bottled sriracha when fresh chilies were available. His comment not mine. Tom was snarky this episode. Else it was edited that way LOL Nilou (sp?) was still grousing at judges table on how when the judges make a suggestion (make it more filipino) then the cheftestants should listen because they know what they are talking about. I think somehow that whole storyline got messy IMO. Why they were harping on the Adrienne making something based on Thrilla in Manilla when Sara got to say Lightning triggered her memories of getting veggies off the vine to save from a storm is beyond me. Even when they showed Tom and Nilou walking up to Adrienne during the prep they were the ones that brought it up, not her. I think her original thought WAS the heat. Either we didn't see the entire story or they were crabby at her. I agree with your line of thinking! I mean they are adding bacon HIDDEN VALLEY RANCH salad dressing (add trademark here) to add smokiness to dishes. Hypocritical much?!!! I mean I personally don't care either way but let's at least have an even snarky playing field for all of the cheftestants!

Tom "It's so nice to see that you are putting out your best food as we get to the end of the season." Chicken breast with 2 sauces Pickled tomatoes, cucumbers with salmon Bread pudding with carmel corn Also children. With children. Crying. Mention children. Dumpling in tomato sauce Short ribs with bottled hot sauce\ Lukewarm soup with raw scallops

I found it more annoying that chef's were required to be able to cook regional cuisine with any semblance of authenticity. I guess this is the by product of the new "food with a story" generation. Even if she had gone there, doesn't mean you can cook the food. Nor should you in my opinion. Why can't you listen to a story, feel something and then relate it back to one of your authentic memories and cook your own food?

Kelsey has grown on me this season but I have this weird feeling that she is skating by because of her constant "I left my 9 month old son" for this which then morphs into "your kid someday will see what a strong woman you are" "women can do anything" narrative. Well that and the fact that the cheftestants kind of suck this season LOL

I agree. Tom acts like he's over this whole thing. They could use some fresh blood tbh. Tom and Padma are kind of the faces of TC but Tom doesn't really have anything left to say and Padma is just amusing herself by her makeup and wardrobe choices now. It's like the entire show is a parody of itself. We've all accepted Hidden Valley Ranch as a normalized partner of the show on the same level as Terlato wines. KFC chicken challenge warranted barely a snicker from all of us....just exasperated sighs. I will also say that it was ironic that they were talking about having opinions or something and that not everybody needed to agree but they had to be tolerant of all opinions etc. and then flashed to Tom with a half hearted nod. Serious LOL on that one. Tom is pretty intolerant of anyone who differs in opinion from him. He barely does the "we should agree to disagree" thing in a cooking environment. His conviction is admirable but boy does he come off as dismissive most of the time. I enjoy his severely edited TV persona a lot more....more past than present.

I was floored that he constructed a dish needing duck. Fresh duck is not standard in Whole Foods, frozen is. Unless he mistakenly remembered a special some week when they were shopping? That store is not close to being large enough to being stocked with fresh duck. Whole Foods is pretty generic in it’s protein offerings. He did kind of capture Ali’s loss. It looked like sadness on a plate.

Oh this for sure. Does Art need this intro in any way shape or form??? Not to mention it seems so dated. It’s not like it’s the only thing he’s done and he’s had to ride that to make a living doing the judging circuit. Eric won because of a well crafted story and because he’s being judged against dishes like bread pudding, pickled cucumbers and chicken with 2 sauces. They loved Sara’s story as well. I feel like if I were dropped into Top Chef Estonia and made oatmeal with crushed Wheaties and fresh fruit topping and told some story about how in America it’s the warming food of the people.....breakfast of champions, magically reduces cholesterol (LOL) it would be the same thing. Even better if I could rip it open from a package. It feels like next week the quick fire is going to be a fried chicken challenge using hidden valley ranch.

Padma’s hair was very pretty tonight. She does simple so well. The rest is always such a question mark for me. japanese grandmother? I missed that tidbit along the way....I don’t see Asian in him. Pretty wild. I’m tired of the fried chicken this season. It’s good but we’ve seen enough variation of it already. Sad to see Art get so heavy again. Did he get the full surgery? I went to his restaurant in Chicago and it was super delicious. And he was back there barking LOL.

If you don't give judges pickled crap for their acidity cravings and cutting the richness of dishes then you will get dinged for it. It's so odd to see how contrast is a MUST now in food.....god forbid if something doesn't have texture or crunchiness...acid, salt, heat.....basically anything that contrasts the main note of the food. I remember early episodes of Iron Chef (the Japanese version) and the food had to be spectacularly underseasoned to let the nuance come through. It was considered an art. Morimoto did interviews where he said he had to change his flavor profiles for an American palate or he wouldn't win at all. Felt like Sara's QF was scripted....and her pickled starter course seemed like an odd choice for a win. I really thought we'd hit a new low there in terms of overall talent of this year's chefs. If this indicative of the groups we have left then this show is winding down. Sara also doesn't this weird thing with her lips protruding in a buck tooth kind of way when she gets nervous and pleased with herself. I find her entire affect fake. I think it's smart to make obscure foods where there aren't many comparisons LOL. When I saw him make the dish I was excited that he used grain free flours. Chewy.

Cmon...you just couldn’t let me wonder for one more day if it was going to be Sara proclaiming her latest epic greatest skill and then getting the epic greatest boot for it????? The literal isn’t nearly as snarkalicious!!!!!! Oh and if you are a gal then add a Mama in there with a slight southern twang. If you are a guy then no mama for you.

OMG I just saw that the next episode title is "The Greatest." BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAHA. I feel Sara trolled now by the Top Chef editors.

Ugh really? Thank goodness I've never heard this in the workplace....just in passing on TV shows. I think for some people it comes off as very natural....or maybe it's the situation! I can only imagine someone who I didn't know very well or had zero chance of seeing again who forgot my name addressing me in this way.....in passing LOL!!!!!! It's not really endearing. I'm nobody's mama. I think it's odd.

All true. But I was talking about her talking to her peers or the crowd. She just went with the whole bullying aspect when she thought that some ribbing over a box mix was taken too far. I'm not letting my peers pretend that blending a waffle mix is the end all be all. The implication of homemade versus well executed or even transformed? Well at least she had her chance. As an aside I think it's really the worst of all worlds because I'll bet the whole foods mix is pretty good and she just messed up the cook on the waffles anyway LOL. Chefs are notoriously horrible about measuring so if she just dumped the flour with the liquid and eyeballed it she got funky batter. Had your words come from Tom I would just agree. You didn't like my waffles. Maybe they were too soft for you? I wanted contrast to my extra awesome super crispy chicken. Maybe I should have edited the whole dish down to my awesome chicken and skipped the waffle. I spent a lot of time on the chicken. As it were, Michelle picked the worst dish to make given the time constraints. She was doomed from the beginning. Thus Sara escapes again. Can't wait to hear what she is an expert on this week.

I agree Colton has done a decent job. I thought he would be much much worse but he's doing a good job at fulfilling the role he signed up for. I mean he wanted to do this so at least we are seeing the fruits of his labor. Arie in contrast was far more boring IMO. I never saw Arie the first time so I didn't get the full scope of why he was there the second time. But I will agree that even as a newer viewer to this franchise that the whole thing seems really fake and producer driven. I can see the producer plant to stir up stuff, just to keep it interesting. But when so many of the contestants now have no other goals other than to be the next bachelor or bachelorette or to pump up their Instagram followers so they can get another gig or become a social media influencer, it drops the entire premise of the this show which is to fall in love and get MARRIED. This isn't travel the world and then find a boyfriend. I'm never believing they are letting themselves seriously fall in love. Has this show been produced in other countries where they cast regular people and not just telegenic people? I would think the quest to actually find love would be quite interesting. I really am not offended if the girls are not blonde or a size 2 or are in that meaty range of attractiveness. If anything to find people with charisma and real personalities to actually root for (or against) would be great as well......and one would think MUCH better TV.

Are your biscuits 100%? Cuz my bisquicks are 100% LOL

Yes. Cuz man....I have never been able to make a box mix not taste like a box mix....or eaten a dessert that really was so good that you couldn't tell. A few people will say "you won't believe this!" but there is always that weird softness. It's like they want the cake to be soooooooooooo moist that they are willing for it to not crumb....EVER. LOL

She's got such a big mouth and ego she should have just defended herself. She could have said part of Top Chef is making things in time constraints. You buy a curry powder or garam masala....you didn't toast and make your own. You buy dried pasta sometimes....you don't make it from scratch. You alter tomato sauce when you don't have time to develop deep flavors or stew the canned taste of the tomatoes out. We've been shown repeatedly how the chefs will ask the butchers for help breaking down and preprepping their stuff. Specific to her she should have said "do you need to be some kind of culinary genius to blend flours and rising agents? Don't act like you are Jacques Pepin because you mixed your own waffle mix. GTFOOH" I would have actually respected her for that LOL

I started reading this thread and forgot to mention I have no idea who Katie is. 24 hours later I still can't recall her. Sad. I think Demi has a really annoying baby voice. I'm glad Colton sent her home. I didn't believe her tears or profession of love. It seemed too calculated to get to the end so she could become the next Bachelorette. I also found the fact that she kept referring to her mom as "mommy" as disingenuous and rather grating. I'm not sure why. I'm sure plenty of adults call their moms mommy but her vocal affect made it seem even more juvenile. And fake.

Your hair has a maximum length it will grow to?? Really?? I've never heard that before. I have lazy hair because I hate wasting time in a salon and I'm an athlete who lives in a pony tail. I usually like my hair at shoulder length but haven't had it cut in 3 years and it's down my back. Once it hits my waist it gets super annoying because you start sitting on it. My balayage has grown out and I keep putting off making an appointment LOL I've tried clip in extensions to put color in my head and they are super heavy. Could never wear them IRL, only for fun events. I'm sure woven in extensions are easier and/or lighter?

I thought for sure Kirpa wasn’t going to get her date rose. They had that same awkward silence that Never Been Kissed date had...bland comments about pretty scenery and how incredible the locale was. But then I realized based on the formula that he still had to keep some easy eliminations coming up. Pretty much all the ethnic girls stay in the beginning but there wasn’t a chance he was going to pick them. Even Heather has to see that she is the blonde on the outs now. Enjoy the free vacation.

Sara escapes again. Who laughed when she said she made the best....

I can't wait to see the changes. The concept is really neat. I agree with the person upthread who said Wayne Brady. Or heck any of the improv guys...their voices morph. I can handle Nicole because she hasn't said too much. I thought her dress was cool LOL. Jenny has gotten the overbearing cotton headed ninnymuggin edit. Way too much screen time, awkward dancing, stupid guesses....and we have the pleasure of her non comments which again, is basically because editing hates her and has decided to make her the loon of the group. If we need a token blonde please recast. In many Asian countries the TV judges to "variety shows" are often actors or comedians but they are mostly regular looking people who are hired to keep the show going and making funny comments. So the talent entertains the audience and then the judges entertain the audience. I've noticed the trend in American TV is to cast spokesmodel type judges....usually a blonde judge or ethnic judge. And the women look like they spend 4 hours in hair and makeup. But then again Asian countries are more homogeneous so there isn't a need for the blonde haired Asian judge or an alt ethnic judge. I guess I watch a lot sports shows and it always stands out to me that the women are painfully thin, wearing dresses and heels and are perfectly coiffed and the men can be overweight and throw on a suit. I wasn't aware of the things that happened to Ricki Lake. It seemed like a cathartic experience for her which was nice. Robin and Ken are ok. They seem into the guessing and are doing it in a way that isn't offending to the potential reveals. This is a skill since you can't really blurt out what you are really thinking. I think they should have Snoop as a judge....or a contestant! More Snoop. I wonder if they could make this a single episode kind of series so it could go into syndication later. Basically eliminate everyone in an episode so there can be a winner whose money goes to charity? Then there could be an all rapper edition, all beauty queen edition, boy band members, athletes, Olympic medalists....the concept could be stretched and then people only commit a week or so to learn and tape the episode since they'd have to learn at least 4 songs.

I'll do a cheers to that.

Nope. There seems to be a lot of backstory of why she kept so many men at arm's length during dates to not even let it get to a simple kissing stage. Anyone who claims they didn't feel it should happen should examine why they are bailing so fast or why they continued to pick dud after dud after dud in life. In high school I could see this as a function of never getting comfortable with interpersonal relationships. But once in college or out in the real world? Nah. And the other oddity is that she decided that a reality show pitted against so many other women WAS the ideal format and when she was "feeling" it to let it happen? Puleeze. She barely knew Colton and was ready to let him share her in a way that she never let anyone else....like the guy she was supposedly dating for 8 months? This screams complete lack of commitment. Deep down she knows he isn't the one and she's probably happy with that. Finally she could try that kissing stuff without having it mean more than it needs to be....except she forgot that no dude she was dating was planning on marrying her after kissing her. I find it strange that they all slumber party the fact that they are all having these amazing experiences with the guy they want as their future spouse. I'd be jealous and livid. Why am I sitting around clapping and cooing over the fact that you just had an amazing date with my husband? Not gonna happen.