ProudMary

You're right; my mistake. I was just so blown away by Stephanie's ingredient identification abilities (again!) that I forgot about the cooking element of the challenge. 😶 Melissa's dish looked so good.

LCK Part 1: As I said in the episode thread, when you're told to PYKAG, not just once, but twice in the same competition, you should stay eliminated. Bye Karen. LCK Part 2: Malarkey's crazy to try to serve updated risotto to Tom and expect a win out of it. Skillet risotto, not stirred and with broth added at the end? Yeah, that was NEVER gonna win. Kevin's seafood risotto looked amazing! I loved that Kevin picked Bryan V. to go up against in challenge 2. As long as he won the first challenge against Malarkey, he could afford to take a loss in the middle challenge and give both himself and Bryan the chance to go head to head against each other as they both have wanted, possibly their only opportunity to do so, but I'm still hoping that challenge was a preview of the finals. Although Bryan had the winning soup, I really wish I could try Kevin's stinky soup. That looked yummy to me. I didn't think Gregory's rice dumplings showcased the dough enough and I don't think Tom thought so either. Kevin took the risk that he wouldn't have enough time for his cornbread topper to bake and was, I believe, properly rewarded with the win when it turned out well. I wanted to eat that too! I'm delighted that Kevin's back in the competition.

No Karen, you were not "sent home for a good dish." Your dish clearly had major flaws both in the actual grilling of the duck and also in the (lack of) precision with which it was cut and precision is a major component of a Kaiseki meal. I haven't watched LCK yet, but in my book, when you are eliminated two times in the same competition, you should stay eliminated. I really didn't care for the way Padma threw some shade at JT at the noted Kaiseki chef when she said that even though she got a small piece of crab shell in Melissa's dish, she ate it all because it was so delicious. Maybe it was just the way the editors wanted it to appear but the chef didn't seem to appreciate Padma's comment. Based on what we saw when everyone was eating, it seemed that the chef was the only diner who had gotten a piece of crab shell in her dish, but then to later find out that Padma's dish had shell in it also makes you wonder how many others may have gotten some in their dish also. Considering that they said Melissa's custard hadn't fully set, she actually had two major issues with her dish. I'm glad she lived to cook another day and that they sent Karen packing. Stephanie certainly had a big night, winning both the QF and the EC. I'm very happy for her.

I don't see why they wouldn't allow the winner to take the trip to Tokyo for the Olympics in 2021.

Definitely! Padma: It's time to let the games begin. Stephanie: What have we been doing? 😄

IIRC, Stephanie crushed the blind test in her original season too. I love the blind taste test challenges!

I think Bravo should just let it die. Even before all this week's news hit, none of the show's story lines seemed organic any longer; everything felt contrived and completely fake. Stick a fork in it. The only incarnation of this franchise that I'd like to see more of is Southern Charm: New Orleans. JMHO.

IIRC, this scenario was from a season before the debut of LCK, but I remember that they somehow brought back Jeff McInnis (blonde chef from Miami) just before the finale episodes and he had to win the elimination challenge in order to make it to the finale. He did well, but didn't win the EC, so he didn't make the finale. Anyway, that's another scenario from a past season. Who knows what they're going to do this time. 😕

Truer words were never spoken! Anyway, I see that Patricia has tweeted that she, Michael and Whitney will "be around." So, I guess it won't completely be the Shep, Craig and Austen show.

I just re-watched the final minute of LCK. This is Tom's actual quote: "Kevin, you have one more chef to beat before you get the opportunity to get back into the competition." Sounds like, one more actual LCK challenge and then perhaps something like a sudden-death quickfire in the main competition? Just a guess.

How the hell could Lee Anne, who worked behind the scenes at Top Chef for several seasons and was WELL aware of past oven shenanigans, NOT double-check the settings on the oven??? Mental error, indeed. I knew Lee Anne was gone as soon as the camera shot lingered on the oven's settings panel. Well, at least here the zip lining and tree climbing was purely recreational. The cheftestants didn't have to climb trees to obtain ingredients or zip-line to find potential cooking sites. I'm looking at you, Top Chef Texas!

Well, if Bravo does what they should and fires Kathryn, leaving Madison, Danni (as friend of) and maybe, Eliza as the only female cast members, Austen, Shep and Craig would pretty much have their own show anyway! 😅

Perhaps this could go in the media thread, but some viewers might prefer to be surprised when Patton Oswalt returns in Season 7, so I'm putting it here in the spoiler thread. https://www.cinemablend.com/television/2496108/agents-of-shield-is-bringing-back-fan-favorite-as-new-character-for-final-season

Lee Anne wanted to make another flavor of ice cream, but Gregory insisted that it had to be rum raisin.

I hope Bravo fires her. It would mean the end of the series but let's face it: This show's been done for a while. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/amphtml/krystieyandoli/bravo-southern-charm-kathryn-dennis-monkey-emoji?__twitter_impression=true From the article: "Bravo’s “Southern Charm” Star Kathryn Dennis Apologized After People Called Her Racist For DM'ing A Monkey Emoji To A Black Woman Kathryn Dennis DM'd the emoji to Charleston activist and radio host Mika Gadsden when defending a local business owner who is organizing a Trump parade."

That was the point of my post. I was going to add, "So, I think he's doing just fine. 😉 " but thought it would be overkill. Guess I was wrong. 😞

When you bring up Presumed Innocent, my mind goes immediately to John Spencer. I have to admit I don't even remember Bradley Whitford being in the movie. It's been a long time since I've seen it. Oops! 😶 Great, now forgotten film. Brian Dennehy was great in everything he did. Also, what is this Season 5 you speak of? 🤔

Kwame Onwuachi is up for his second consecutive James Beard award this year, albeit in the writing division, for his book, Notes From A Young Black Chef. In 2019, he won the award for Rising Culinary Star.

I've begun a re-watch of the first season; I'm through episodes 1 & 2. A few comments upon re-watching: Stefano deserves sympathy from no one. It was adolescent Stefano who physically assaulted young Lila (she, around 9 years old; Stefano probably about 13) out on the street for--in his mind--making his little brother Alfonso look foolish by answering correctly when the boys were brought into the girls' classroom at school for the contest. He repeatedly slapped her in the face and also threw both Lenu and Lila to the ground when Lenu attempted to stop him from harming Lila. Adult Stefano's violent behavior is just a continuation of what he had already exhibited towards Lila as a teenager. Also, just as a reminder: It was Enzo who hit young Lila in the head with a rock! So much for these men who "love" her. Lastly, it was Elena whom Nino told he wanted to marry when he grew up, not Lila. He also asked her to be his girlfriend at the same time on the stairs in their (shared) apartment building. While she said nothing to him in response, she walked back into her apartment with a huge smile on her face. IMO, adult Nino in S3, will once again break Elena's heart as he uses her as a conduit to see if there's a way he can safely re-connect with Lila. I'm afraid that Elena will throw away what she has with Pietro. I hope I'm wrong.

This RW was different in that the judges viewed the restaurants as belonging to Gregory and Kevin. They weren't only the Executive Chefs. Each restaurant was theirs. Open Table was the sponsor for an overall $40,000 prize to the winning RW team. Stephanie won $10,000. All four chefs had a lot to be happy about with that victory!

I think this year's RW was viewed a bit differently by the judges because Kevin and Gregory weren't just the Executive Chefs this time. The restaurants belonged to them. They were viewed more as Chef/Proprietors than as just one of the team members, who took on the EC role. I do think Kevin made an error in judgment by not going out to present the restaurant's signature dish to the judges.

Well, there are Vietnamese restaurants with the name Pho King. Of course, they may just have another reason for naming the restaurant after their signature dish. 😉

There absolutely had been a post in the spoiler thread indicating that not only was Gregory's team the losing team but that Gregory himself was PYKAG'd. The second the episode ended, I headed for the spoiler thread to make a comment and that post was gone.

I'd guess they didn't name an individual winner because the $40,000 prize for winning RW was being given to the winning team per Padma's original instructions.

I have never been so anxious during LCK! Kevin Gillespie is my very favorite chef over all 17 Top Chef seasons. I absolutely want him back in the main competition. The main competition is almost going to take a back seat for me until I know if KG is back in or not! Nini's dish seemed to have very layered flavors. and looked very tasty. I was really worried there especially when Tom said that Kevin's corn wasn't warm enough. I exhaled mightily when Tom gave the win to Kevin.