Blonde Gator

I'm not a Redditer, but I'd bet there's an answer there. Anyone checked that yet?

@chiaros Thanks for the screen shots with Mustache Joe & Adrienne. I missed that. I really have no problem with the finalists at this point, and I am sure now that it's Joe Flamm coming back. We have a few younger and emerging chefs (Joe S., Carrie, Adrienne), and more established, older and experienced chefs who already have their culinary vision firmly in place. I'll be happy for any of them to win. My darkhorse is Adrienne. I almost saw the lightbulb over her head go off this episode. She knows she's an excellent technical chef, but heretofore she was really presenting her mentors' dishes, with subtle variations. But we saw her take the "Colorado" part of the challenge, and think it through, adding her own particular strength (cooking perfect fish), making a yummy meat sauce pairing, and edit it to create her own vision. IMO, any of the top three this week could have won the challenge. Joe S. has always had the vision, but he's finally taken the criticism to heart...he has a full toolbag of techniques, but has issues with self-editing. I also like him because he seems to be a team guy when challenges call for that....the lone wolves like Katsuji and Claudette just annoy me, not everything is about "YOU!". Along with Joe S.'s learning to self-edit his dishes, he needs to self-edit his mouth. I like that he's an optimist, but sheesh, he needs to get real! I hope he outgrows his hipster personna. He's likeable without it, and I suspect he hides behind it due to some sort of insecurity. Carrie has always been one of the most inventive chefs of the season, and she's got some skills. She just didn't have any confidence. I didn't care for her initially because I thought the perky, sweet, and nice personna was a put-on, but can handwave that as editing early on. It's become apparent that she has a huge heart, and is just a really nice person. I hope she can prove that sometimes the good guys (and girls) CAN finish first. Chris is a great chef, and has a unique culinary perspective. He does best when he sticks to his own food....and he seems to have trouble matching his narrative about what "inspires him" to his story when he gets a little bit away from his own unique POV. I admire him so for battling his personal demons, and for never, ever trying to toss the competition under the bus. He oozes integrity. Having said that, though, his only real flaw is that he's not a natural leader, for all of his other great qualities. I don't know how the judges are supposed to quantify that, since they supposedly only judge the dishes in front of them. Joe Flamm is one of those "thinkers" I'm usually raving about. He's not put up hardly any really bad dishes, except for the dish that sent him packing in the Sudden Death QF. It may have been the exhaustion of Restaurant Wars, because he's been cooking like a madman in LCK. He's pretty much got the whole package, IMO, leader, kind, good POV, etc. Plus I have always had a thing about "bear" guys. LOL. I suppose I'd guess he's my favorite. I always look forward to this time in the season, when we've gotten to know the individual chefs fairly well, and TC puts on some non-gimmicky challenges, where we get to see the chefs cook some of their own food, within general parameters like "how being here has influenced you". I hated that one season when one of the finalists had to cook something to hark back to Morimoto's childhood....that kind of "parameter" isn't fair to all of the chefs, IMO. Here's to hoping they keep it both challenging and fair from here to the Season Finale. Bon Appetit!

There's a new update about Chef Fati on the Bravo site: http://www.bravotv.com/the-daily-dish/top-chef-season-15-contestant-fatima-ali-cancer-free It's fantastic that her Top Chef "family" continues to support her recovery. Wishing her Godspeed.

Your post made me think.....as you say, if he "really wanted to make a difference", by coming up with something like "spray on skin".....he could self-fund his research. Either as a stand-alone, vanity project, or in conjunction with the contest he funded....and without participating in that project. I did enjoy the vibe of "excitement" amongst the staff....kind of like Grey's of old with the interns competing (no running in the hall!!!!!). Adds a bit of fun and optimism. But I hope this contest doesn't take over the direction of the rest of the season....I guess we shall see.

Unfortunately, these are the days of TMI. If you've ever looked at Social Media, it seems as though there is nothing worth keeping private any longer. I think it comes down to such feelings of entitlement that there are no longer any filters...about anything. It is what it is, perhaps the pendulum will swing again and privacy will once again become a valuable commodity. As for Stache Joe, he's still a decent chef, and his "hook" is the hipster thing. Sigh.

I KNOW who he is. My point was he shouldn't be in Gail's seat.....and he's totally not necessary on this show, either!

No, when the hack attack happened, Meredith was in surgery and drained "Glasses", aka "Blood Bank" dry during surgery.....he was hanging on an IV pole as he was drained dry, and fell on the floor. I got the feeling that Owen's intern was hinting that he could hack the polymer needed for Owen's project, remember, he has MAD hacking skills, as evidenced during the same episode Blood Bank crashed on the floor.

Correct on the first. "Nerdy" is either "Glasses", but a.k.a. "Blood Bank".

Oh my, a twofer this week. I am pulling for Joe Flamm.....I think his dish looked the best. I hate it when we have to wait a week to see who actually wins, but I know who I'd have picked. Should be a great finale! Anyone have any idea why the finale is going to be in Telluride and not a destination farther away? I suppose this finale took place immediately after the regular competition, which is not what they usually have done in the past...or am I mistaken? Anyway, excited, I think the finalists are all fine, not one that I'd be unhappy to see win, so it's all good!

Is anyone else sick to death of Katherine Avery pushing her every desire off on Jackson? Sheesh, I wish they'd stop with the meddling Mom B.S. If she wants to do a project, fine. But Jackson is a grown man, and has ideas of his own (after all, HE conceived and funded this competition so he could actually DO some of the things, medically, he wanted to pursue)!!! Sweet of Webber to learn to Tango. He's such a charmer. I liked the Webber/Maggie moments, too. Maybe TPTB have been reading here and decided they need to make Maggie more human and not such a caricature of the goofy over-achiever. I liked Maggie better this episode.

First, I TOTALLY agree....where's Gail? That fat person in her seat with the white glasses on is just terrible. Although truly, he didn't annoy me with his comments, but WE NEED GAIL! Carrie just totally won me over this episode. I think the reason most of us didn't care for her was that all season, she just seemed to cheery and optimistic, in a fake sort of way. But after hearing her back story with her dad, and hearing her describe her own experience growing in her POV throughout the season was fantastic. Go Carrie! It was also wonderful to see Adrienne finally figure it out, and I thought the production of all of her little bits and bytes told the story very well. We all know she's a fantastic technician, but you could almost see the pieces fall into place in her head as she envisioned where she was going...and it was telling to me, at least, that she told Padma "I believe I've finally found my path". NOT that she'd figured it out, but that she was on the way. Great stuff. Sorry Bruce, and Chris, too.....these two both lost their ways by NOT cooking their own food and trying to make their "stories" fit their dish. Always the wrong approach, IMO. I know Mustache Joe is not a favorite here, but he CAN cook, and he also is a thinker. I like that. I'm sure everyone here is sick of me saying one of the main keys to this competition is decision making...but I'd point out that once again, Joe S. received the memo, and reads it every day.

Actually, that makes perfect sense.

Proving once again that Carrie gets kudos for her ask of Bruce to be EC. Good decision making, again, produces the win....keep the reservations relatively light until service has been smoothed out.

I enjoy mostly species and primary hybrids myself. Here's a fair representation of what I grow. Alas, I've never bred orchids, (never really wanted to), but did try, and fail, at pollinating my vanilla. And then in a major catastrophe, my yard guy totally WHACKED the bush that my vine was growing in. I just grabbed that picture of the interwebs to show non-orchid people what vanilla looks like. Mine was a bit greener, pretty. I used to purchase vanilla online from a site called Beano. It was very reasonable, about $1 per, for Tahitian and Mexican. Last time I looked, it was $7 per. Seems there's a worldwide vanilla shortage these days. Gack. So we're no longer making 2-pod vanilla ice cream these days, but I could win a TC episode with it....nothing but cream, half & half, a bit of sugar, and vanilla. Divine! Would you say vanilla is a spice? Because it's not a flower. I really dislike flower garnishes etc. as shown in this challenge. There has to be a reason for it.....it really bugs me to see dendrobiums on a plate. I know they're edible, but why? LOL, next time my maxilaria tenufolia blooms, I may have to give it a chomp to see if it tastes as good as it smells (for the non-orchid types, it smells like Hawaiian Tropic suntan oil)!!! I'd have much rather seen a challenge with some offbeat herbs and spices.....which would have been right up the wicked witch's (Claudette) alley. Mexico has some unusual ones. EDIT: Mods, I'll stay on topic, but inasmuch as TC is somewhat educational, I thought it might be useful for the members to see what vanilla really looks like, since it's a "flower".

Vanilla is the seed pod of an orchid....where the orchid flower has been fertilized. Here's a picture of both the flowers, and you can see the green long seeds as well (they look like green beans). There is, of course, a process to dry the seeds. Vanilla is one of the only "vining" orchids, and is very easy to grow here in Florida. I've had them flower, but have never been able to get them to set seed pods.

Just remember, take LOTS of pictures of your dining adventures to share!

And that's when Katsuji steered him to the escamole, which are difficult for an experienced Mexican chef. IIRC, Katsuji did make the candy rim for the "combo" (hey, another booze pairing challenge) of Tequila and a dish at the Tequila factory party, though. I really liked Doug....and also that season's finale. Remember the artist/chef pairing? I wanted that painting that Gregory's partner did (the farm worker) so badly! I've never been to that particular city in Mexico (and sadly probably never shall go, what with the situation in Mexico these days).....but I am a huge fan of Mexico, and have been many times. In fact, we wanted to move to Puerto Escondido a couple of years ago. And no, I've not tried either escamole or the Oaxacan crickets. But I managed to founder on Mole Negro de Oaxaca after eating it for three days in a row! It was worth it, too.

That worked against Doug in Mexico when he drew Katsuji. I don't want to see another Mexico finale, too soon.

As much as I hated seeing Fatima go.....her final Exit Interview was one of the best ever. Reflective, introspective, focused on what she'd learned, and totally not bitter. She is such a lovely person, I wish her all the best. Whoever posted earlier about her cancer perhaps slowing her down during filming is correct, IMO. As young and as energetic as she was when this was filmed, you could visibly see her getting exhausted during her challenges. I'd imagine she wasn't feeling well and just pushing through it, and not really thinking about why. Because who would imagine that in one's 20's?

Spidey, I grow orchids and it bugs me to death to think that someone would put my beauties on their plates. Leave the flowers on the plants, please.

That may JUST be it!!! Carrie is just a happy person. Why do we have to hate her for it? There's nothing mean about her happiness, nor evil....Carrie is just that "shiny, happy person" who annoys us all to death! Upon some (sadly to say) retrospection, I have huge respect for her. HUGE! As annoying as she may be.....she is a lovely woman, sure in her own shoes, and cares about everyone else around her. I'm sure there are people who would denigrate her for that. But NOT me! Carrie is certainly not my favorite chef. But she's a fighter, in a good way. She never puts anyone else down to follow her own vision. She powered through the camp-out episode, and many other episodes as well. Are we so jaded that we can't appreciate someone who is just a happy camper?

Ah, based on QUALIFICATIONS, so it wasn't sexism. Gosh, how refreshing! (Sorry, not picking on you, I'm just so over all of the agenda pushing on a cooking show. I want cooking, not politics). Thank you for a perfect and obvious explanation.

Maybe it was just the edit? Hard to say.

AND.....if you're going to compete in a show like Top Chef, it would make sense to revisit all of one's sous chef basic skills. This show has always demanded one be able to demonstrate really basic cooking skills, it was stupid and arrogant to downplay "old school", both in being in the "precision challenge", and being on-the-spot as an expediter. Old school, for certain functions, is the right way for a reason. Not to mention every season's mis-en-place QF challenge. I find the attitude of "I don't do that anymore" to be talking the talk, but not being able to walk the walk. IOW....arrogant and loserville.