Totale

That jarhead who came in second last night really rubbed me the wrong way somehow, I thought he'd be out in the first round after he served meatball-en-creme-brulee. Both women got screwed from my vantage point, a kafte is 100% a meatball even if it's not loaded with filler like some Italian versions, and in the entree round only the girl made an actual tasty meatball which I thought was the challenge. I now skip right ahead to the announcement of the ingredients for the first round and then skip over all of the stew room and post stew room contestant discussion and THs and somehow I still end up having to hear about their hopes and dreams and families and upbringing, none of which holds any interest for me. But like xax I think it's mostly inertia to me at this point.

I too was surprised Kaila was cut, I could see Tammara coming but totally thought K would be in the final. I'll miss her goggle-eyed Ritzy Bryan stare, and now I'll just make my way through the final uncaring. I've been shocked when nervous Eric made it through any week so far so they'll continue to unhinge me by having him win.

This is done for now, until the Dead rise again, right? I think in their down time everyone in the production should be strapped into chairs like Alex in "A Clockwork Orange" and forced to watch every episode of "Pawn Stars" and all 20 "Storage Wars" franchises over and over until they're cured of the notion that rational humans who could be convinced to enjoy this show want to see anything other than cool stuff walking through the door and being explained and commented on.

They said they were welcoming back the English guy, but I didn't remember him, was he Mr. Planet Hollywood? There are apparently a lot of these, but nowhere near me. Weird concept for a restaurant, anyway. So no business dinners for traveling singletons, and if my wife's at her lodge meeting I should stay away, right? Even if we were going out together we'd never go there, we always get different entrees and appetizers and share. The gay guy was trying way too hard (give it up, Boo, you're not fooling anyone), and I wasn't sure whether the older lady was Chinese or Korean. I was surprised the diners supposedly chose the veg entree first, maybe more people off the street do like zucchini noodles than like panchetta or sausage in some world I haven't visited yet. Maybe it's the same world Emeril lives in where he's never microwaved a potato and the concept seemed utterly foreign (try it, Em, it works). It'll be a drag to be a prep cook at buca whatever today, having to spend all day rolling out potatoes to make gnocchi when they could just be using the prepackaged ones like Jacques Pepin does.

I could, all I could think of was Dennis Quaid (who played Jerry Lee, not Buddy).

Looks like they're bringing in Joe Bastardbitch for a week to fill that role. Desparation casting. But at least they're going to knock off two next week and shorten it up.

All in NY or Jersey. Probably the minimum they could get away with under contract. The winner's 6 ounces of tenderloin is now "steak", I seem to remember him putting in full artichoke hearts and actual spinach which became "spinach artichoke dip", and the sandwich went from grinder/sub style to a trendy brioche. But other than that it's just the same.

By the by, what the hell were they drinking at the judges table? It looked like pureed pumpkin poured straight from the can. I didn't see anyone sip it.

They got the dough with Outback, I think it was only Sammy Hagar (and somebody above said maybe PHollywood?) that didn't give it out. I'd like to have the contestants discuss the dish and the realities of restaurant cooking and pricing with Emiril before they go to it, and make them stick to a budget to hit a specific menu price (although we don't need to see them shop). I'd be happy if they left out the first sacrificial challenge ("Brand Knowkedge", really?) and spent the time on that instead.

Yeah, I like shrimp and steak but not on a sandwich, and sweet steak sauce isn't appealing to me. I also like steak and artichokes, but again not on the same sandwich. I suspect it will be sirloin or something rather than tenderloin when it hits the menu. I would have gone for the blue cheese and crispy fried onions version, myself, but I'm man enough to choose blue cheese. This time it was "participating" Outbacks rather than everywhere, is it a franchise (so they couldn't push it on individually managed Outbacks)? Never heard of next week's victim restaurant.

The pace of this version is slowing for me. I liked it more in the beginning, before Alvin took his happy pills and started complimenting people. I'll hang on until the end but the food and situations don't seem compelling and I'm waiting for it to be over.

I enjoyed the game. Playing at home I got Malcolm X, but wondered if 550 would have been accepted, since he was born Malcolm Little and I don't think the change to X was done legally (I believe he did legally change to el-Shabazz or whatever it was later on). EDIT: duh, 1050

I hope Sterling noticed Uzo Abuda in the room, since he's basing his act on her character in OITNB. Jennifer who's never had Indian food knew to (and how to) use curry leaves in her dish, even though from the screen shot in the recap they apparently weren't on the board? Was the pantry/spice cabinet open? I thought only the ingredients on the board could be used in the dish.

I thought there was something fishy about the whole "plating in the dirt" kerfluffle and whether it had anything to do with off flavors in Stacy's dish. It reminded me of The Mystery of the Pea Puree, they never said she served the judges dirt, but they certainly implied it. FWIW, I've never seen smoked clams on an NE menu, or for that matter anywhere except the little dusty tins in the just off date code discount food store next to the kippers. Weren't they all plating in the dirt to some extent? I didn't see any brightly lit tables. I think they needed something to hang Stacy's departure on, and she'd said how she likes a clean kitchen which is probably why she brought it up at the table, and editing did the rest. I suspect if there were any off flavors in her dish it was more likely the result of smoking which is not an exact science. Not too broken up because it really did look like she was about over it, but I'd hate if the editing did anything that hurt her reputation. This game is not for everyone.

Well, yes to the first, anyway.

I probably said it before but when I hear "Supply Chain Specialist" I think Gus Fring. Surprised there were so many TS's I knew, I guess it's because I'm old. I would have gone down in flames at FJ, though, and never would have thought not to bet at all.

I forgot to record KJ's Friday appearance but that was apparently all the easy questions and he faces the hard ones today, so I'll get to see those. I haven't heard, is he playing for some charity, or does he get to keep the dough?

It's the only one featured so far that I've ever eaten at, anyway, although that was once on a trip because again there's none near Hooterville where I live. There was one in a mall that died that was closer, but I could get to one within 50 miles if I tried. I guess they have to make a "new" steak sandwich which should be a challenge.

I don't remember anyone on Aaron's team being appointed "team leader". Gregory took it on himself for the other team, kinda, but this wasn't Restaurant Wars and teams or not (as acknowledged) they were all in it for themselves, and all any chef really had to beat was one other member of their own team.

No $500 for the losers like every other episode? Why is Hagar such a cheap-ass? And who made him the Red Rocker? I thought that was Tom Morello. Why did the shrimp salad guy cook his shrimp the day before, anyway? Shrimp cooks in like a minute. Glad he threw out the rotten ones that had been sitting in the goo all night. The winner was obvious although her dish was uninspriing - they can fix the sauces for her, and a cheeseburger quesadilla isn't going to cut it this side of a food truck. Or an airport, which is where it looks like Sammy finds most of his captive customers in the continental US.

He tried, but he should have shut it. Once he told the judges he'd just served them the equivalent of instant coffee they couldn't say anything good about it. If he hadn't mentioned it, they might have said "the dish wasn't that good, but the dashi saved it".

Katie was making not just chocolate cake but Imperial Stout chocolate cake which sounded a lot more interesting to me. A well made imperial stout can be delicious, and some (like Brooklyn Brewery's Black Chocolate Stout) can make you swear you're tasting chocolate while they're actually using nothing but carefully selected and prepared malts and hops. I don't bake but if I did I might try to pull one off. I was amazed that Mei got enough strip steak to serve 100 guests plus the judges for her $200. There was only a sliver of meat on the plate, but I guess a doll-sized portion of properly cooked meat trumps a portion of crap you can actually taste. Still, I wonder since she was cutting it that small if she might not have gotten away with top sirloin or spare ribs or something. Tom should have responded to Gregory at JT with "Who asked you?" You're already safe, sit back and shut up.

It was interesting to see that both Santos and Alex apparently cut themselves during the appetizer round, with no drama or loud calls for medics. Maybe they just didn't want to show their "pros" as being as fallible as the everyday noodniks they invite in. I wonder if they stopped the clock.

What Arthur doesn't do (at least not much) is visibly panic and make wild guesses, which I saw too much of from the other two last night.

You mean Danvers ;)