ProudMary

Kevin Gillespie has written a Facebook post on his own racism. It is embedded here, but if you have difficulty seeing it in full, clicking on it will take you directly to it on FB.

When Champagne Padma was describing the parameters of the elimination challenge, she said they would be cooking for chefs who had worked at Michael's and ALSO for a panel of editors and writers from Food and Wine magazine.

From Variety: HBO-Max Acquires Streaming Rights to Young Sheldon

It's on You Tube:

I didn't think it would be possible, but I actually felt bad for Malarkey. I can't blame him for freaking out that his plates didn't make it to the judges' table. How come Gail got a plate? Then the judges told him that the fact that the plates never made it to them made no difference in the way they judged him. That's crazy. How could one plate provide enough of each component to feed all four? Did each of the judges actually get to taste the components that supposedly didn't work together? If this truly was producer shenanigans, shame on them for doing something like this in the lead-up to the finale. It was quite surprising that there are five cheftestants going to the finale. I doubt I'm the only viewer who was expecting the final four to be Bryan, Kevin, Melissa and Gregory. That they decided to take five judges to Italy and that Stephanie is a finalist, is a great bonus. She has been cooking brilliantly the past couple of episodes. From the shallow end of the pool: Roy Yamaguchi is extremely attractive! I've eaten at one of his restaurants, and it was one of my favorite dining experiences, but I don't remember ever having seen him before. I'd say that Eric Ripert is still #1 on my "Sexy Chefs" list, but Roy just made his way to my #2 slot. On to Tuscany!

I'm wondering why they specifically showed us--via a subtitle--Stephanie's check-out from Whole Foods where the cashier said "I'll put it all in one." So far we haven't seen anything missing.

Bravo has all of the Last Chance Kitchen episodes up on You Tube, and over in the LCK thread, our fellow forum member @RealityCheck has posted YT links for easy access to each individual episode. Here is the direct link to that post: https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/107631-season-17-last-chance-kitchen-and-what-would-tom-do/?do=findComment&comment=6144868

If I may make a suggestion to those Top Chef viewers who do not regularly watch Last Chance Kitchen, do yourself a favor and watch LCK's finale episode for this season. No spoilers, but the producers have done something very different this season and I think that viewers of the regular competition will be missing some important information if they haven't watched LCK. Also, unlike most previous seasons, those of us who've watched LCK are already aware of the final outcome of LCK. It is a lengthier episode than most, clocking in at 29:04. For easier access, here is a You Tube link to the series finale. I'm not embedding the link, just sharing, so there's no screen cap showing. https://youtu.be/5Ku1f4nbzf8

@RealityCheck That's very helpful. I wasn't aware that Bravo had the episodes up on You Tube. Thanks for taking the time to compile all the direct links.

I absolutely thought Malarkey did it deliberately just to get under Bryan's skin. Looked like it worked too.

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."