snarktini

I've been watching Melissa King's mini-show on Hulu and I just adore her. Such a thoughtful, quiet energy. I'm impressed that she's figured out a way to make a living as a chef without the restaurant grind.

I've only read a couple of them so take my opinion for what it's worth, but this is where I don't connect with the show. It feels dark and somber and sad, lacking any warmth and coziness. The villagers are two dimensional. I'm finishing because I am a completionist with a lot of spare time, but I am not enjoying it.

I wrote that unclearly, sorry! It wasn't bleeped, I just literally couldn't understand what he was saying! I'm usually good with accents but this one word was getting by me.

When Kevin said "As a (x)" he wasn't allowed to dress up as anything scary, then repeated it about his friend...I had to pull up CC to see what the (x) was. The answer? Christian! I assumed it was religious but expected specific denomination or faith, not just "a Christian". Because while some families/churches have issues with Halloween, most of the folks I know do not have any religious objections to dressing as a zombie.

He said the value was not in their ability to buy products, it's how their data could be packaged and sold. Things he said included: he was looking for the most gullible / desperate (which makes them good scam targets), that this health data would reveal their biggest weakness and fears (for better scam targeting) that and that their financial desperation could be sold to financial type people (who would presumably prey on them).

That makes me feel better, thank you!

I continue to binge the seasons. Wonder what I was doing during season 13 because I clearly wasn't paying attention! I had ZERO memory of Jeremy, the winner. Not his face, not his stories, not his food. Kept waiting for him to go out because I was so sure he wasn't the winner! Other chefs stuck with me so I know I watched it. One lone thing that did jog my memory was him telling his daughter that second is the first loser, so maybe I just flushed him from my memory banks at that point. Season 14 was good IMO. The "rookies" had a really tough lift -- these were not simply returning chefs, they were finalists and near-finalists. No Josies in this group. It felt super lopsided. I was rooting for Jim and Sylva. I just love Sheldon -- there's never been a cheftestant I've liked as much as him. He has a sweetness and humility that is special. He also won serious points in my book for recognizing his wife's voice in the challenge where they had to cook with a loved one without knowing/seeing who it was. He got it right off, and the others remained totally clueless. It breaks my heart to hear so many chefs talk about how they hope being on Top Chef will finally make their parents proud and/or accepting of their career. Gah. At least it worked out for Shirley -- it was tear-inducing when Shirley's mom asked how to say she was proud of her, in English. It seemed like such a healing process for Shirley. (But my god, her volume/pitch...) Brooke has a brutal inner critic -- she was convinced that coming in 2nd disappointed her family and friends and that she had to win to make them proud. Oh, Brooke. You were disappointed in yourself, but they were not disappointed in you.

Seems like he has the perspective of someone who lived through the 77 blackout! Where did Alice go?! (In the story.) Mabel's memory gap apparently includes this -- it's not just the subway incident that's missing, it's also what led to it. Or she's just not talking about it, which seems unlikely. Wondering what happens when she regains that memory, will that sub-plot pick back up? i had to read this a few times because I was so sure you meant to say that middle-aged and OLDER wanted the longer episodes -- it's so commonly stated that it's the "kids these days" who have no attention span lol Really, really out of character, it's not believable he jumped to that despite his desperation for a boyfriend. He did say he'd come back for the cat later, so he was seeing it as a temporary rehoming with his coworker.

Growing up my family often used that term about gluey food so to me it's totally normal! We're from Ohio primarily, if that matters. As lovely as the humans are this season, seems like a higher number of gimmicky challenges than usual. They came out of the gate with illusion cakes then 3D biscuit toys and bread sculptures and now glass domes. Not a fan of the forced construction challenges. It's a lot like salted caramel, as miso is pretty salty, with a little more umami undertone. Yeah that seems definite. The reference to "gold wrappers" was the clincher.

Having rewatched, I honestly don't find Nate's arc believable. They've written in his growing insecurities and lashing out, his cruelty and pettiness. I see that. But the explosion at the end and tearing up the Believe sign...I don't buy THIS level of anger and entitlement. They all "believe" in his play, stick with his play, and win with his play, and that's when he tears up the sign and explodes? I don't get it. It doesn't feel like a real person to me. It pains me to see Keeley not take two weeks with Roy. She's launching a business that she will be putting first for the foreseeable future, so a small break before starting would have made sense for both of them. However, they wrote it so she was already a week in -- and presumably has deals/contacts already in the pipeline she can't disappear on --so it's baked into the story that the ship has sailed. The bigger issue to me is she doesn't WANT to. As the founder of a company that barely exists yet, she could have waited a month to dig in. She just doesn't want to. She'd rather get to work. That's her choice, but if I were Roy I'd wonder where I fit. Roy and Beard being communication soul mates cracks me up. They get each other.

And that someone was his "little sister". He played the game and won fair and square officially and yet...this win gets an asterisk in my mind. Have we ever seen the judges invite someone to forego their immunity before? Pepin asked him to his face if he thought it was right, and behind his back Colicchio wished he would fall on his sword to avoid that elimination. At least once in the past they've even argued against giving up immunity so there was something different in their minds here. (I think they did accept an immunity resignation once tho?) This was arguably the biggest save in immunity history. He had *terrible* dishes and sent home someone with *great* dishes because they happened to be on his team. Someone he was close to and said he'd look out for. I can't say what I'd have done; I'm not going to claim I would have definitely taken the high road and forfeited my rightfully won advantage in a competition with a big prize. But I would never have felt good about it. He seemed so anxious and miserable much of the time. Watching this season was such a blast from the past. (And I probably shared the same sentiment on the boards when this first aired!) When I was little, we visited New Orleans a number of times and my parents were foodies. I would have eaten at Commander's Palace during the Paul Prudhomme and Emeril years -- of course I was too young to know or care about big name chefs. I remember waiting in line to go to the restaurant Prudhomme opened after he left, and I had barbecued shrimp so it was fun seeing Emeril serve that to the cheftestants. It's such a special city. That the contestant from Galatoire's was a bit of a jerk was a bummer, that was our favorite restaurant so I wanted him to be awesome. I can handle his rudeness. Don't like it, but it's a character he plays. What I hated was how every criticism had to be conveyed as a simile. He couldn't just say normal things. Everything was a soundbite.

Previous ties, but possibly not current ones? It's not crystal clear from this, but it sure sounds like signing up for this show means breaking with FN: https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/alton-brown-iron-chef-netflix-why-not-on-food-network-1235295792/

Wow, I can't believe I even entertained the idea that Reginald kept Klaus from entering the portal to save him. Even though it was clear Dad absolutely sucked. Have I learned nothing?! But like the kids, it was hard to believe he really was that irredeemable. He meant what he said -- Klaus was inconvenient and underfoot and therefore couldn't join their reindeer games. I might have thought that he'd want everyone in the tunnel as more bodies = more likely that 7 would survive to be the bells? But I guess Klaus didn't have an active fighting skills. What would have happened if Allison hadn't stopped him? They still managed to reboot, without killing them all with the blue light. So why was Reginald keeping them all hooked up to it? How was Ray in this timeline?! Obviously some sort of HEA wish fulfillment there, but unclear how some people were winners and some weren't.

Even though I knew Reggie was up to no good (in general) and lying to Luther (in that moment), DAMN did not expect cold blooded murder. OTOH, I did expect that the co-conspirator was Allison. Her total reversal was highly suspicious from word 1. I had counted that there were 8 kids (including Lila), and since there were "7 bells" I wondered which one would be sidelined. I didn't think to also subtract Dad from that number. Poor Klaus! Was Reggie actually trying to save him because they had bonded? I kinda think so. Either that or his being immortal would mess with whatever this trap/situation is. ETA: There was no direct indication that they needed exactly 7 people for 7 bells but since there were that many actual kids left I was thinking there might be a connection there?

The wedding festivities were fun! I really enjoyed them coming together (mostly) like that.

It was baffling, wasn't it? After they arrived in the present Allison kept saying she needed to get to Claire and no one figured out she would (almost certainly) not exist in this new timeline. And every time they say something like "no it's OUR house"...no, actually it's not. They are extremely slow to pick up on the implications of being in an alternate timeline! Really liking this season, though. It is holding together much better.

Okay, made it through S8 All Stars. Some chefs showed laudable growth in their repeat appearance (S1 Tiffani, Dale T) and some did themselves no favors (Jen, Jamie). I loathe Mike Isabella and while I'm glad he lost I'm deeply disappointed he didn't lose to a woman. His head might have exploded. I probably have to stop bingeing these seasons because delusional male egos are grating on my nerves.

Just finished rewatching the Las Vegas season and wondered what happened to Mattin, the young Basque chef who owned a restaurant in San Francisco. (I happen to live just over the bridge, and like Basque food.) Right after TC he sold his restaurant and planned to open... a fitness center? And now he's a realtor in Portland! Apparently his passions changed course.

I took the talk about "soul" in a different way. (Can't speak to "background"; I don't remember hearing it but many contestants have gotten pigeonholed into their culture/nationality so it may have happened and I missed it.) It was a consistent critique that his food was technically perfect and harmonious but just lacking that little bit of extra spark, including guest judges who knew little about him. Which I found particularly interesting coming from Eric Ripert because that's what I thought of the food at Le Bernardin! Objectively, it was lovely. Good flavors, incredible presentation, well crafted. But it didn't "sing" for me -- no visceral OMG reaction, I didn't crave it or remember it. Whereas eating at one of Daniel Boulud's the very same day I couldn't stop going back for more and talking about it. In the last couple of episodes we saw him talk more about what food means to him and showing humanity/passion. If I'd seen that footage earlier I might have liked him better. Editing monkeys at work? Again, he totally deserved to win. Just have an allergy to that kind of hard-edged arrogance. Yeah, I liked Dale a lot but he was 100% out of line there. This wasn't help plating which competitors are not even required to do. The point of the test was to reverse engineer the dish. Sharing would be ridiculous.

S3 Dale Levitski was a mellow sweetheart! I liked and remembered him. Opposite of S4 Dale. Started S4 tonight :) Jen Biesty is a friend of a friend, hers is one of the only Top Chef restaurants I've ever eaten at.

Okay, I did Season 3 next because I do not ever need to see S2 or Ilan again. I forgot how much I rooted against Hung! A talented and deserving winner but I just wanted his arrogance checked. He couldn't even hear that his dish might not have been the best regardless what the judges said. One thing I sided with him on was not helping his competition. There was a moment near the end of the season when CJ asked him "are you finished?" hoping Hung would volunteer to help, but he didn't actually ask. So Hung didn't help. I think he has it right, in a kitchen you're on one team so you jump in but there's 100K on the line here. His overall attitude was not good so I also see why it grated.

Pretty sure I'm in the right episode thread... Why would Mickey be so surprised that Jerry's murder might be connected to the incredibly high profile murder case he was working on? Especially with his files stolen / hidden. That would have been one of my first guesses! Well played on the misdirect with dude getting run over. They set up the scene so you think the young cop is going to screw up, then you think he might be saved by the phone call, then BAM plowed by a minivan. Suspension of disbelief and all that, but are we really supposed to believe Mickey is handling this case without a legal team? Armed, like Perry Mason, with only an investigator and an assistant? Come on, son. I'm finding this very bingeable - light, good characters, easy to follow. I'm having a stressful week so this is good.

I'm rewatching S1 right now and WOW. Many chefs are not up to par, their first dishes were awful. Katie Lee is so wooden and sounds like she's shouting. Tom has a soul patch lol. Too many stunt challenges. But working the line at Fleur de Lys...what an amazing challenge. Stephen is so much worse than I remember, mostly because my brain can't compute how anyone could be THAT delusional and arrogant. Defending slow service in Restaurant Wars as an "educational experience". What a glass bowl. Looking back Tiffani has said she has regrets and has changed. Has Stephen even acknowledged anything similar? I lived in San Francisco at this time. Shout out to shopping at the Berkeley Bowl! A couple of moments, notably the street food and Junior League challenges, it seemed like the show/chefs thought San Francisco was Hicksville. This is a high end food town and has been for a long time. Seared ahi was a bad choice because the dish wasn't good street food (hard to eat and who trusts rare street cart fish) not because the Mission is filled with limited palates. (I was thankful the guest judge pointed out how trite tuna and avocado was at that point on the west coast.) The women of the Junior League did not need Stephen to explain banana leaves FFS. Glad we got some reaction shots to that.

I remember Ashleigh citing Leah Chase specifically as a namesake matriarch

Yes, I think it's just a syntax flip. Can't speak for Danish, but in languages like French you usually say years not age -- "I have 25 years" not "I am 25" or "at 25 years" not "at age 25". With that in mind, we went to Europe the same year makes total sense.