chiaros
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Posts posted by chiaros
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6 hours ago, NowVoyager said:
It's a mystery! Well attended & critically acclaimed.... Maybe he opened too many restaurants in a short period of time to be able to keep his eyes on the financing? It's a shame...
At least one article commented that one of his casual places was NOT as filled as had been hoped for, and that it was even somewhat empty. As for the "too many restaurants" - that may well be. He doesn't actually own outright any of the restaurants and the respective businesses, from what I read, and it therefore stands to reason that it is his financiers and backers who decide whether to continue to finance him or not, one speculates.** No doubt rent is a big part of the overall financial picture, of course, if the location itself is not owned by one of the principals. The first article I cited earlier touched upon possible "insufficient profit" and suggested difficulties with cash flow (like the reported 3-months-in-arrears payments to suppliers?) as well as the guess that his investors for those closed restaurants decided they did not want to "toss good money after bad". So the article says.
In this regard I might point out that various Top Chef alumni have done well and prospered, in high rent areas, butwhere they concentrated on just one (or two) restaurants - like Michael Voltaggio in LA, or even Nick Elmi in Philly, PA, the scene of the Kevin Sbraga imbroglio.
** Not the same exact situation, but it is worthwhile to recall that Kwame Onwuachi (see earlier in this thread) also had the rug pulled out from underneath him when his investors decided they could no longer carry his costs.
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3 hours ago, emcmac87 said:
Anyone know what happened to all of Kevin Sbraga's restaurants closing?
https://billypenn.com/2017/01/22/what-shut-down-sbraga-and-the-fat-ham/
Fat Ham at King of Prussia remains open, it seems.
http://www.phillymag.com/foobooz/2017/01/17/sbraga-closed-fat-ham/
There was also an IRS lien against Sbraga but he says that has been paid but "people wonder, too" so to speak.
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12 hours ago, Blonde Gator said:
Also mostly sweet selections
Hmm. As others here have mentioned, dim sum comprises very largely savory dishes. Is it possible you were only offered sweet things, and they somehow didn't bring the savory stuff out to you to choose (if they were doing cart service)? Alternatively, many places use a check-off ordering menu form rather than carts, and some may not have pictures on the order chits; so if you were in such a place perhaps you managed to check off mostly the sweet items? Perhaps you *might* be one who is very sensitive to sugar - and since many Chinese (and also Chinese-influenced/SE Asian) dishes often have sugar added into the savory dishes - to balance out the taste profiles, NOT to make them sweet - you might have perceived all/most of the dishes to be "sweet" if you do have this sensitivity? Just wondering. It might be worth pointing out that - by and large - many Chinese folks do not have much of a sweet tooth (there are exceptions, of course), and desserts do not occupy an entire obsessive and large part of the cuisine in the way this does in Western cuisine. Which is why "Chinese Desserts" are not thought of highly by Western folks, especially USAmerican folks, who largely (but not universally) have PROMINENT likings for sweet stuff.**
** Which is also why Thai cuisine in USAmerica is frequently made so sweet, where the chili-hotness has been dialed back so the tastes are completely out of whack.
Here's a pic of a modest not-that-long-ago dim sum brunch I had:
L-R: Deep-fried taro puffs w/ a pork mixture filling (蜂巢炸芋角), bamboo shoots & pork rolled up w/ bean curd skin & w/ oyster sauce (蠔油鮮竹卷), shrimp dumplings (蝦餃), shrimp & pork dumplings w/ mung bean threads laced on top (針尖蝦燒賣), deep-fried-then-stewed/steamed chicken feet w/ special sauce (醬汁蒸鳳爪). No sweet dishes.
(p.s. The Chinese names are a bit more flowery and don't exactly correspond with the English descriptions of the actual stuff in it that I give)
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34 minutes ago, wings707 said:
It shows all of their pictures but there is no way to vote. I missed when the voting starts if it was announced. Am I missing something?
Underneath each cheftestant's picture is a VOTE button. Click on that.
However, you need to log in with Facebook, or with your phone number.
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5 hours ago, dleighg said:
I thought that just meant there's culling of the "fan favorite" competition. Sort of like playoffs.
1 hour ago, Jobiska said:That was my interpretation as well--that it will be down to 8, or 4, or something next.
Yes. In past seasons those who got the most votes in a certain time period (I'm not sure what exactly these were) then "went on" and the rest (the low-scorers) were dropped from the "Table of Candidates". The weeded-out panel then were voted on, and so on. I can't remember if their previous votes were carried forward or not.
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Dim sum is Chinese brunch, especially on weekends, but it is often served daily at specialized restaurants straddling the wee early morning hours to just after (or just before) lunchtime.
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2 hours ago, essexjan said:
For creativity Sheldon should have won, although Shirley's description of her mix of pot stickers and cheeseburgers was canny and played exactly into the brief.
Shirley tends to bullshit the judges a lot of the time IMO. Or suck up to Tom's ideas of "heart". In any case, her cheeseburger dumplings are neither creative nor new; it has been done before and in miscellaneous variations. I mentioned this in a previous post. (Three examples - just three... http://noteatingoutinny.com/2010/01/04/cheeseburger-dumplings/ ; http://fox13now.com/2015/08/04/philly-cheesesteak-pot-stickers-with-cheese-sauce-08-04-15/ ; https://www.tysonfoodservice.com/recipes/beef-and-gorgonzola-potstickers) In any case standard minced beef dumplings with or without various add-ins are well-known in E Asian cuisine, and it was odd in that sense that the judges made a big deal of her dumplings.
ETA: Here's another quick search... https://www.google.com/search?q=chinese+"beef+and+cheese"+dumplings
Even Sheldon's dish has similarities (as others have also said) with existing concoctions - including Chicken Waffle Tenders.
There's very little in cookery nowadays that is truly innovative or really creative, and "parallel evolution" of similar/identical dishes or techniques no longer holds true as it might have in previous centuries when the instant-media-internet world did not yet exist. And to come up with a new, creative dish in the time it took to drive to Whole Foods, as others have also said, is not feasible.
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Well, the preview of the next episode of TC (with just 4 cheftestants left in the main competition), shown at the end of the "shrimp boats" episode, shows Brooke crying at Judge's Table. Perhaps this is where the TH of her saying she should never have come back fits in? It suggests that she is the next to go.
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I think Sheldon should have won. I don't recall complaints about his dish but rather compliments instead. Shirley's beef dumplings aren't that creative** (there are beef and beef-mixture dumplings and potstickers aplenty, all well-known in E Asian cuisine) and wasn't it faulted for slightly dry beef by one of the judges, too?
Brooke should have gone to LCK. Her dish looked disgusting. I would have eaten Sylva's dish over hers anytime, whether it was or was not a frittata or just scrambled eggs and fish.
I thought John T's dish looked fine. Ditto the plating, and apparently all the components were cooked well and the whole thing tasted just fine. Octopus for brunch/breakfast? Sure, why not? I don't think there is anything that cannot be eaten at any time of the day or night and do not subscribe to the view that there HAS to be foods that can ONLY be eaten for the morning meal, or a meal around mid-morning or close to noon; and other foods ONLY eaten in the evening or at night and so on. Hmm, I'm thinking of making a pot of bak kut teh now for a morning meal...haven't had some for maybe a month...
I do find it curious that there is so much John-Hate on this forum. I don't see the excessively vile attributes ascribed to him by some.
** ETA: And, a 5-second Google search for "beef and cheese potstickers" turns up more than 2 million results, with these on the first page: This, this, this. And so on.
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34 minutes ago, cooksdelight said:
Once again, Brooke skates on through even though she didn't adhere to the challenge. Last week, she failed to cook a dish that was a memory of her childhood. This week, she fails to follow instructions and do a creative combo of brunch and lunch.
Who does she have dirt on?
^^^ This.
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18 hours ago, Princess Sparkle said:
I think the last one was for Texas actually, because I remember Andy Cohen asking Sarah about saying "Fuck you!" to a judge after losing in the finale, and she lost her shit and denyed it. Which made me laugh, because based on Emeril and Tom's reactions to her denial, she definitely said it to one of them. But I can't remember a reunion after that, so maybe they figured they couldn't top that.
I wish they'd bring them back though, because I always enjoyed them. Plus, with no judges blogs, it would be an opportunity to find out the judges thoughts on their decisions throughout the season.
Yes, TC Texas was the last one they did a reunion for. And yes, Sarah Grueneberg was reported to have cursed at Emeril LaGasse. It was said by some that Sarah G shifted into "Wah, Wah, I'm the Victim" mode when questioned on this by Andy Cohen, who was the "lead host" of that reunion; and that Tom C and Emeril L were both recognizant of this having happened and were discomfited by this being raised in the reunion. The reunion also included various sorts of stuff, other than the revisit of the "Mean Girls" versus "Beverly Kim", but the latter was the driving force of much of the viewer and reunion attention - and was unpleasant to watch. Heather Terhune simply refused to apologize to Beverly Kim and bluntly stated that she said what she said and that it was what she believed to be true, at least at the time. It was also commented upon by some folks (in blogs and recaps) that Gail Simmons seemed quite shocked that Heather T was so unrepentant about her behavior. The EW recap I posted above gives a precis of this reunion without being complete about what went on.
I somewhat suspect that TPTB decided after this "reunion" that future ones should be avoided.
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20 hours ago, cooksdelight said:
Has anyone heard any news about Paul, updates on his recent arrest and drug issues?
http://www.eater.com/2017/1/4/14166784/paul-qui-kuneho-austin
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1 hour ago, MajorWoody said:
Sylva seems like a legitimate contender for the finale, a nice guy to boot, and a great cook. But am I the only one who noticed in his talking heads, where they cut back to him several times while he had on a purple tshirt, his mustache was gone in one of the middle TH's, yet he had the same shirt on. My guess is for some reason they added it after the season, and made sure he wore the same shirt. My wife didn't believe me, so I played it back and there was no doubt he was clean shaven in the middle TH. Wonder what that was all about.
In fact. thinking about past seasons, I recall that some cheftestants in some THs had different hairstyles and facial appearances (let alone clothes) like being tanned vs non-tanned. These were, IIRC, especially noticeable in seasons where the finales were held months after the end of the "first part", but these THs were sprinkled into the season throughout the episodes, again IIRC.
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10 minutes ago, wings707 said:
That was not an enjoyable QF. The pantry must have been very limited if they both chose the same ingredients. No salt and oil at their stations was a nasty trick. Did anyone think that Emily would win even with salt? :^)
You mean LCK.
The "oil and salt" thing I don't really regard as a "trick" - it *is* part of the ingredients list of anything one cooks - and many times I cook something without any added oil (like starting with some form of meat with sufficient fat on it, so I "brown" it and render out the fat); or salt, when I know something I am adding will be quite salty on its own --- and so on and so forth.
As for cooking something with just a few ingredients – that is not so difficult a proposition. Y'know, one of the most glorious of tomato sauces for pasta is Marcella Hazan's tomato sauce - it's just tomatoes (The original instructions say CANNED, at that, although it says San Marzano, if possible), butter, onion, salt. That's it. I've done it with ripe in-season tomatoes rather than the canned San Marzano stuff, and it is just as glorious if not even better.
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7 hours ago, essexjan said:
Okay, so maybe I missed something but the very clear brief from the judges was to create a dish inspired by a memory from the chef's own childhood. Everyone did that, and talked about the memory that inspired the dish - except Brooke. Didn't she say "I make crepes for my son every weekend so I'm going to make Crepe Eggs Benedict"? There was no reference back to a childhood memory for her; I think she had probably got this recipe in her repertoire and wheeled it out at the first opportunity she could in order to shoe-horn it into the challenge.
I also thought she was a cow for mocking Sheldon's accent. I know she's being set up for the win, but damn, I hate that b!tch.
At last, Emily has gone, way past her sell-by date. I think I'd have really enjoyed that cake, but it looked a mess. I think Shirley is struggling too - although she does have an ability to bounce right back from a bad week. I'm very glad John had a good dish too. Sheldon's food looked amazing. I'm sure the lollipops Sylva made were delicious, but after seeing how bad they looked at one stage, I'm not sure I'd have fancied eating them later on when they were all fancy-fied.
My final three are Sylva, Sheldon and Brooke. I'd love to see either of the guys win, but I think it won't happen. The judges love Brooke.
I "second" the assessment of Brooke Williamson. She had a certain condescending superiority attitude in her first season, which isn't as bad this time round, but her comments to Sheldon about "termos" slides right into that supercilious attitude she has towards others (and Sheldon IMO especially in their first season). And yes, it does seem the judges (from what is shown) seem to allow her latitude which is not afforded to others. Oh, no doubt she is talented and creates many interesting dishes – but that is now "merely" one of various things considered about contestants on a reality TV show.
Shirley continues to suck up to what she (largely correctly) perceives as the judges' proclivities about dishes and stories.
I'd also tentatively agree with the same final three you mention. Either of the guys winning would be nice. As for Brooke, we still have to see where the "Talking Head" (seen in previous/early promotional snippets) of Brooke shedding tears while declaring that she "should never have come back" fits in.
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7 hours ago, rawrali said:
Sheldon's restaurant Tin Roof was one of the highlights of my Maui trip. It's just a tiny little lunch shack with maybe four seats (we ate in our car) but the food was superb (and we got a glance at Sheldon in the back!). Highly recommend the mochiko chicken, add an egg and a "dime bag."
Someone else mentioned Star Noodle but my understanding is that he is no longer affiliated with that restauarant. I do hope he opens another fine dining restaurant soon. He was supposed to be reopening his restauarant Migrant in a new location but it's been awhile and I haven't heard any updates on it.
Yes, from what I understand Tin Roof is his only restaurant at the moment. See here too.
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Regarding various posts about John Tesar talking about his "Change" - I made a comment about this on another thread, which I believe is still true.
The "Talking Heads", I believe, also are records of cheftestants' responses at least in part to questions that the "interviewer" puts directly to the cheftestants. We never hear the questions; while the snippets of these "Talking Heads" are inserted here and there.
(Look also at the way the cheftestants appear in many of these "Talking Heads" (TH). Sometimes they have different clothes on, sometimes they have different facial characteristics, sometimes even within the SAME "Talking Head" snippet. This last episode had a "contiguous" TH of Sylva where he has 1) a mustache and 2) no mustache; within seconds of a "continuous" TH. They DID make him have the same T-shirt on, though. :-) )
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A well-deserved win for Sylva.
Glad John Tesar got his cooking back on track.
Pleased Sheldon is staying with his own cooking and not attempt to do what is not in his heart as he tried to do in his previous season (as he briefly commented on) when he was pushed to do so by snide sarcasm from Brooke and Tom Colicchio's sneers about not pushing one's envelope.
Hilarious that Shirley Chung could not identify anchovy paste and even gagged on it.**
Bye Emily.
** Just a side-note, a lightly sarcastic commentary, if you will :-) ... Beijingers have some strong-flavored stuff in their cuisine including fermented stuff like fermented tofu but not fermented fish, heh. Anhui and Guangdong folks would snigger at her. Folks of Chinese ancestry but in SE Asia would laugh at her for this.
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The application agreements don't mention anything about payments (SAG or otherwise) in all the thousands of words in the 20 pages of it. Would such things - i.e. something along the lines of "if selected to appear, you will also receive xxx" be expected to be in such "agreements" normally?
If they are truly being paid by SAG every time an episode airs, that is, in my mind, further evidence that the show is just a Reality TeeVee Game Show.
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I think the discussions regarding John Tesar fall into the realm of "Never The Twain Shall Meet" territory. Those who afford him some latitude (like me) and those who think the worst of him in any circumstance possible shall never agree. So be it.
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My understanding is that this is John Tesar's SECOND appearance on Top Chef. Not third.
They all even alluded to this when Padma L needled him about getting to Restaurant Wars and John replied that he had waited 4 years to do so because he was eliminated before the show got to that point in his first appearance on this Reality TV Show.
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1 hour ago, cooksdelight said:
And guess who's helping....
Heh. Why not?
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2 hours ago, whydoiwatchtv said:
While Katsuji is an ass, John is extremely passive aggressive and frankly, I'm sick of hearing about the "New John" and all he had to do to overcome being a complete dick. I give him credit for addressing his problems but just shut it already and let your actions speak for themselves.
Here's where I think the editors are playing games with us (amongst many other games they play). Most of the"New John" blah-blah has been in "Talking Heads", I think, and I imagine these were recorded in one or two sessions separate from the show episodes as it progressed in real time. (If I am wrong about this, please correct me) Then...the editors sprinkle in snippets from these "Talking Heads" (as they do with all other cheftestants) into each episode as it suits their purposes.
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S14.E10: Shrimp Boats and Hat Ladies
in Top Chef
· Edited by chiaros
Heh. :-) OK, suppose Shirley's thingies were square-shaped and a little flatter? https://www.google.com/search?q="beef+and+cheese+ravioli"+tomato+sauce ;-) :-D (In fact, they don't even need to be square or flat - they could be round and squat, but if you thought of them in an Italian frame of mind - her stuff is pretty much like what that google search illustrates, and I can't imagine that she has never eaten ravioli with a meat & cheese filling and with a tomato sauce. One does not even need to invoke "Chinese dumplings" with a cheeseburger filling, as one of the links I gave earlier called the same things she made and by the same name. As I mentioned earlier, she bullshits the judges a lot.)
Oh, the differences between ravioli, dumplings, wontons,** potstickers, jiaozi, etc etc are held to be real by practitioners of the respective cuisines - but what I am getting at is that the concept of a beef and cheese filling, or a meat-plus-add-in filling, in a flour-based rolled-out pastry, is not novel or unique. They are variations of each other. (The spicing/taste profiles may often be of more relevance in clear demarcations between them.)
** and Hong Kong style vs Mainland style "wontons" and definitions thereof are also an area of heated discussion amongst some. Even the Chinese characters used for the two styles are completely different.