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Werehauzen

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  1. Eater also had an article on it yesterday that I think was a little more thorogh: https://austin.eater.com/2021/7/2/22559953/top-chef-winner-gabe-erales-comedor-fired-harassment-controversy But I'm still a little confused. So he's married and has a baby with his wife, but this "consensual sexual relationship" with the woman whose hours he cut and possibly harassed in some way was an extra-marital affair? In the finale—which I actually watched just now after having read this article before—Gabe makes a comment about how the prize money will help his family. Then there is a cut to a photo of him with a woman (presumbly his wife?) and a young baby, maybe a year-and-a-half old. I was caught off guard in that moment, because I had already read the Eater article yesterday afternoon, before watching the finale, and I didn't realize Gabe was married. So, before filming Top Chef, he had an extra-marital affair with an employee, then went and filmed Top Chef, won, and came back and "harassed" this woman, all the while claiming on the Top Chef finale how much he loves his family (wife and a young baby)??? He's seeming more and more classy as the details emerge.
  2. If you're not going to invite Marcel to be a judge this season, then let's please not have to watch a child like Kwame be unpleasant in my home on my TV. We don't want his vibes in here. I don't want Marcel, either. That's the point. Kwame, stay at home and throw a tantrum with your toys. We don't want to see it while the adults interract.
  3. About Kwame, I actually see his obnoxious behaviour having more to do with his personal failures, and maybe some level of youthful immaturity, one hopes. Does anyone rememember when he was funded by BIG-money restauranteurs to open a tasting-menu restaurant in DC, shortly after his first season on Top Chef? It failed terribly, and they made desparate moves to change the menu in the two weeks before it closed, less than a couple months after it opened. It was one of the worst big-money failures on a new chef in modern history. And he tried to walk it off in the press like he was a black man being made to cook the white man's food. Nothing on his menu ever read that way. He was a liar and an insecure loser. And I think that is the same annoying personality we're being forced to see as a judge this season on Top Chef. He straight-up has an axe to grind, and it's totally unfounded.
  4. Dawn was responsible for sinking her team during Restaurant Wars. She is the classic example of someone who survived by fucking her team in that particular challenge. Since the beginning, she whined and moaned like she was a victim. Episode 1. Episode 3. Ugly behavior. She stayed afloat by hook or by crook from the very beginning. All of a sudden, she acts all cutesy, people forget that she is a villain. I'll admit that she impressed me with her palate in the "black box" challenge. But she is a classic schemer. I personally wasn't a huge fan of Sarah on a personal level, but she clearly showed talent. Dawn specifically sunk Sarah in Restaurant Wars. When Dawn isn't whining, she's busy telling you what an inspiration she is. I have known numerous people like Dawn in my life, and they are perpetual victims. That's the trope. She's almost like the Nicholas Elmi of this season. Top Chef is a lot more friendly now than it was back then in Season 11. But Dawn is a fraud, and she backstabs just like Elmi did—only with a sad smile and a victim's story. If you don't see it, you're not reading the personalities. She's garbage. Mark my word, nobody will have heard of her or remember her name in the cuinary world in five years. Just like Nicholas Elmi. He beat Nina Compton in the finale, and I ate at one of her restaurants in New Orleans two years ago. It was excellent, and they love her in New Orleans. When was the last time you read Nicholas Elmi's name mentioned in a meaningful sentence about food? Isn't he contantly being booted out of Philly restaurants? I seem to recall reading about more than a few restaurants looking for a new chef to replace him. Dawn, works at the Houston outpost of Uchi, a lame Austin-based attempt at high-end sushi. It is faintly related to good sushi, but more so to a moneyed Texas steakhouse. Dawn, do what's safe and stay at Uchi.
  5. At the judges table, while empathizing with Maria, Kristen said that she got booted off her season (before she rocked through Last Chance Kitchen and won the whole season, obliterating Brooke in the finale) because she struggled with self-worth. I actually decided to just recently rewatch that season (Season 10) because I think it is one of the best. But when Kristen got booted off—at least the way it was edited—it totally seemed like it was almost entirely Josie's fault in Restaurant Wars, and that because Josie had no spine whatsoever, she fully threw Kristen under the bus. But Kristen, meanwhile, seemed to have the highest level of integrity I've ever seen from any contestant on Top Chef and refused to play the same game Josie was trying to goad Kristen into, and she refused to bad mouth Josie, even though Josie was a complete shit-show. And so Kristen got booted off. I didn't get any sense that Kristen was plagued by self-worth issues. Rather, she kicked ass up and down, all over the place, and went undefeated in Last Chance Kitchen, and then wiped the floor with Brooke in the finale. All of that displayed a really confident chef to me, or so I thought. I of course understand that highly successful people are often plagued by massive internal self-doubt and feelings of unworthiness. But I didn't think that was the reason Kristen got kicked off in Season 10. Does anyone else remember Season 10 and have any idea what Kristen was talking about this past Thursday night?
  6. I saw that episode. It's fairly predictable on that show when they get a capable chef to cook something as specific as tempura against Flay—of course Flay will lose. Nakajima was also on the short-lived Iron Chef Gauntlet. He was a solid contender, I think on the season where Stephanie Izard won (deservedly). They guy may genuinely be shy, but he's a pretty boy who seems to have no compunction about having his face projected onto TVs around the country on numerous competition shows. I'm really not trying to knock him, and certainly not his cooking skills. I like him, and I think he has a really good chance at winning this season.
  7. I wasn't aware of what you were referrring to, so I did a little bit of Google searching. The main thing I found was an Eater article citing him being fired for "repeated violations" at an Austin restaurant. And then there was a reddit link about him maybe being a repeat sexual harasser in the kitchen. If this has already been discussed in this chain or elsewhere, and I'm just being a clueless idiot, please forgive me. But I would expect Top Chef to be really wary of taking on a chef with a record of questionable behavior. The show has become increasingly PC (understandably so), partially in the wake of the recent revelations and changes in the industry in the last several years. And more so, in light of the whole Paul Qui fiasco. I would imagine Top Chef would want to stay way the hell away from anyone who might further taint their brand in that way.
  8. Thank you for posting this. It has been bothersome to read some people's post saying things like, "why would I eat tofu dishes when there are so many non-tofu dishes for me to try?" or "tofu tastes like nothing." Frankly, I know that most white Americans only know tofu primarily in the context of a meat supplement. Some of them may have tried things like "tofu hot dogs" or the like--the idea that tofu is a meat replacement. And of course, when people try to use tofu in the way one might otherwise use meat, it usually is not very good or totally sucks. I would hate to sound stuck-up with my perspective, since I have had the luxury to spend a year living in and traveling around Japan, about 9 years ago. I was already a fan of tofu-centric dishes like Mapo Tofu (which I also ate all over Japan and East Asia), but when I was in Japan, I was always excited and often caught off guard by the tofu courses during kaiseki meals. Tofu, along with many other ingredients you can't even find in America, is a total art form in Japan. One of my most memorable meals was in Kyoto at a Michelin-starred restaurant that served a multicourse meal of all house-made tofu dishes. It was incredible and totally memorable. I will say that, in East Asia, tofu has a more earthy flavor to me than tofu I taste in America. I don't know why that is. I have never heard an explanation for that, though I have heard other people voice the same opinion, that tofu tastes different in the East. I have never gone deep down the rabbit hole of Stinky Tofu in China, though I have tried some. I'm not knowledgeable enough to comment with any authority, although I have tasted some that had sort of a "cheesy" quality, in the way a steak that has been dry-aged for a long time has a sort of "cheesy" funk.
  9. Please don't take this explanation as me being snooty. I thought I'd fill in a small blank in what you said. Soondubu Jjigae more specifically translates to "Soft Tofu Stew" or "Silken Tofu." The Dubu in Soondubu (순두부) is "tofu," and the Soon refers specifically to the fact that it is is "soft" or "silken." And Jjigae (찌개) refers more specifically to a "stew" rather than a soup, which is more like a 국 or 국물. It's a great dish! Lots of comforting flavor and texture without being inherently oily or fatty. How cool that you make your own!
  10. Really? You don't think Sarah's smile is super forced and fake? You don't think it's odd how she rarely ends a sentence without the far-strethed-out smile and the laugh?
  11. I agree so strongly with what you said about Sarah. Does she ever end a sentence without that forced, super-fake smile and a laugh? I think she's actually probably got a real screw loose, because she seems to use that smile and cutesy laugh as a mask, so nobody can see how insecure she is. If she was a 14-year-old, I'd just say, "puberty's tough." But for an adult to act like that, it's bizarre. She's also alluded before about "accepting herself," without giving any insight about what that means. I might actually feel bad for her if she weren't so insanely annoying. Her smile and laugh have been like nails on a chalkboard to me since the end of the first episode. I listened to the Pack Your Knives podcast at one point, and they mentioned how bubbly and fun Sarah is, and it made me wonder, does nobody see how insane and annoying she is? I've wondered if I'm in the minority thinking she's incredibly unpleasant.
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