Kwame: Frozen waffles? 'nuff said. It's a shame because he is a great chef and he has a very broad range of experience. He cooks a wide variety of cuisines and he is constantly looking to learn new techniques and flavors. Sad to see him go. He is a Blerd and has a tough childhood story, but he seems very sincere and likeable and I cannot wait for his new restaurant to open in DC. And he has very little ego.
Carl: I think he had a great concept. Casual Lebanese can be reproduced and his signature dish looked delicious. Any concept with soups and stews is good for fast casual because you can make large batches from recipes and keep churning them out all day long. Add in gyros and bake your own breads and it's a hit. Carl shows a real range of talents and cuisines. He may be a little weird (quirky maybe?) but he is really enthusiastic and he definitely passes the "have a beer with him" test.
Jeremy: Baja Fresh already does a reasonably good fish taco. And they already have traction, although they have had severe financial problems and had to close a lot of stores. They expanded way too quickly and had to really slash costs to stay alive. And why on earth use pork belly instead of fish?
Also, his bro-dude is a little annoying. I think he is pretty talented and he has a broad range of experiences and cuisines so I would not count him out.
Marjorie: I think a lot of people are giving her a bum rap. I think most of the anti-Isaac talk is prodded by the producers and used to make her look bad. And she is correct in that Isaac, while a terrific chef, is limited to Cajun style and MEAT. Marjorie is a pastry chef (don't forget that dessert is almost always the ticket to PYKAG) and has a really broad range of cuisines. She adapts well to different challenges and seems to be pretty solid.
I think her use of assigning difficult partners to the other contestants was spot on. That showed me a great depth of strategy because she sabotaged two of the best chefs remaining: Jeremy got the gay dude who clearly doesn't like him and his bro-titude and Kwame got Philip, who clearly talks a better plate than he produces.
Finally, her fast casual pasta place could be mass produced. Five kinds of homemade pasta, five different sauces and your choice of sausage or meatballs. Handmade pasta would require some specialization, but you could train people who to do it. And endless options to try different sauces periodically.
She probably deserved the win here, particularly since she didn't just make a wimpy red sauce but really went upscale with the tuna dish. It would have been easy to overcook that tuna and dry it out, so it was a pretty big gamble.
Isaac: I love, love, love his personality. Next time I am in N.O. you can bet I am heading to his place. Someone compared him to Carla and I couldn't agree more. He has a wonderful, sunny, quirky outlook on life and you would enjoy working with him. He would shine with his own cooking show or as a fill-in on the Chew. BUT, he is limited to one style of cooking and that is eventually going to catch up with him. I think he is far more talented than Jamie, but eventually he becomes this season's victim of "it's Top Chef, not Top Scallop."
His fast casual Cajun would likely be successful, since you could easily add red beans, jambalaya and a few other classics to the to go menu. Everything over rice and with either biscuits or corn bread. What's not to like?
Amar: kind of a dark horse. Early on I thought he might be kind of limited, then he blew away the classic French food. He keeps coming up with new surprises and he seems to be able to move among many different cuisines. He may sneak his way into the finals.
I liked his Dominican chicken concept. Sure, there are some places out there already, but there is no real dominant chain in this space yet. Really good flavors and the chefs raved about his sauces. The only suggestion I would have is that he just move to leg or breast instead of shredding the chicken since it would be more consistent and easier to manage this in a working kitchen.
