Tournament Of Champions - General Discussion

[Peper81]

On 3/14/2022 at 6:15 PM, Ohmo said:

That was great, especially Antonia's reaction, followed by Justin W.'s comment!

I must admit, I started watching "Parts Unknown" right after Anthony Bourdain died.   He was friends with Eric Ripert, and Eric appeared several times on Parts Unknown.  I like watching food competition shows, but I'm not fully aware of the chef scene.  Needless to say, I did not fully understand or appreciate Eric's status as a chef.  For a long time he was "the guy who was on Anthony Bourdain's show."

I now understand how incorrect I was.

Eric and Anthony were actually filming an episode when Anthony died.  If I remember correctly, Eric found him...  https://time.com/5306636/eric-ripert-statement-anthony-bourdain-death/

One of my favorite memories of watching "Parts Unknown" with them is when Anthony said something about people coming up to him and thinking he was Eric Ripert and he'd tell them in a (terrible) French accent that all the fish was canned.  It was hilarious and Eric got a big laugh out of it.  They were awesome to watch together. 

Back on topic, I liked this last episode.  It had more funny moments to me.  I didn't care for Guy calling those two chefs GOATS.  In what world are they GOATS.  They might be really good but there's no way they are GOATS.  I am happy to see so many TC people, though. It's fun to see so many familiar faces and it does speak to how good some of those people are.

[srpturtle80]

Finally had a chance to catch up on the first 3 episodes while I was home sick today…

First… NOOOOOOOOOOOO Darnell!!! 😭😭

Was very shocked to see Antonia lose. I like her and was hoping she would put that mustache dude out to the curb lol. 
And I felt terrible for Amanda and the fact that she advanced by default. I’m not very familiar with Madison but he definitely seemed off. 
 

Next episode it’s time for my very favorite…. Let’s go, Jet!!!!

[Ohmo]

TOC III, spoilers, me
 

Spoiler

 

Absolute shots from Eric Ripert in Battles 1 and 4!

"What was the chef doing with the cookie cutter, they had 30 minutes, were they taking a walk" and "why are we talking about the egg"?

Battle #1: Christian did (and should) have lost.  He forgot his parsley sauce.  I think he should have lost by more than one point.

Battle #2: I have no problems with Einat winning, but this is the first time I'd heard or seen Michael.  He seems like a very nice man, and I want to see him cook again.

Battle #3: I prefer Chris to Elizabeth.  She comes off as cocky to me, and I would have rather eaten Chris's dish.

Battle #4: Carlos started out cocky, but I thought he evened out as he cooked.  Jet's dish looked fun to eat, and I'm glad he advanced

 

 

[emmawoodhouse]

A few questions under the spoiler.

Spoiler

Who is Michael in #2? 

#3 I assume Faulkner won? 

#4 What did Ripert say? You promised something juicy. 😁

 

[Ohmo]

24 minutes ago, emmawoodhouse said:

A few questions under the spoiler.

  Hide contents

Who is Michael in #2? 

#3 I assume Faulkner won? 

#4 What did Ripert say? You promised something juicy. 😁

 

Answers:
 

Spoiler

 

1) I'm going to spell his last name incorrectly.  It begins with a P, and he's Greek.  Psiakis?  He has a beard.

2) Yes...unfortunately.  She's not a fave of mine.

3) Eric said the things I put in quotes.  They might not be exact, but they're close.  They really stood out to me because I've not typically heard Eric be that direct.  He was essentially saying the chef who used the cookie cutter wasted time and could have used it another way.  It was a randomizer item. The cookie cutter was on the plate with a sauce.  When the cookie cutter was lifted up, the sauce spilled into the food.

The comment about the egg was because the chef used an egg, and the judges were all talking about it.  However, the radomizer item was actually bacon.  Eric wanted more focus to be on the bacon.

Maybe I oversold it a bit, but the comments stood out to me.  Eric still sounded pleasant, but he seemed genuinely, I don't know, miffed?

 

 

[emmawoodhouse]

Thanks! 

[MerBearHou]

Elizabeth Faulkner is borderline rude to Simon.  She is giving him next to NOTHING in her responses and he’s supposed to provide info to the judges on her dishes.  Don’t you do that to Simon, Elizabeth…

Didn’t like her before tonight and that has not changed.

Edited March 21, 2022 by MerBearHou

[susannot]

Watching Chef Tila chop that onion gave me a thrill down my spine.  Wow!!

[Grizzly]

This show is so frustrating, the chef I root for hardly ever wins. Eric was a bit snarky tonight, he might have a future in this.

[MerBearHou]

37 minutes ago, Grizzly said:

This show is so frustrating, the chef I root for hardly ever wins. Eric was a bit snarky tonight, he might have a future in this.

You and me both.  Except for Jet and Tobias, rarely does the chef I root for advance.  Eric is very “by the rule of the randomizer” which I like.  I can’t believe Christian didn’t lose by more than 1 point.  I loved when he said I’ll see you back here in 364 days.  

[mlp]

Christian should have lost by more than one point because he didn't serve a required ingredient.  Elizabeth should have lost because her lamb was RAAAAAAAAAAAW.  I didn't understand either decision.  

I was holding my breath waiting for the winner of Jet's round.  Thank goodness!!!  His crepe looked really tasty to me.  I could have guessed that Carlos trained with Malarkey.  He was practically a mini-me.  

[Stardancer Supreme]

Thankfully Tobias took out the Hamboni.  Sir, the sauce was right in front of you.  I could see if it was on a counter behind you.  Guess we will see him in TOC IV.

"Does it look like I am concerned?"  I loves Einat Admony!

I still don't feel it for Elizabeth Faulkner. As accomplished as she is, she should do well in TOC. Clearly the third time was the charm!  I wanted to eat Chris Cosentino's dish though.

Jet Tila is Bae.  That would not be my perfect egg, to be honest.  Bye Chef Carlos! Better luck next TOC.  I don't see how Elizabeth Faulkner can beat Jet Tila next round.

The judges panel was awesome this week, 

Now I want a steak.

[buttersister]

On 3/17/2022 at 8:16 AM, Peper81 said:

n what world are they GOATS

In Flavortown? Guy feels the need to talk a lot--increases the risk of BS coming out, as it does, frequently.

It's still making me laugh whenever chefs lose their mind seeing Eric Ripert. Yeah, I can't believe he's on this show, either, hope he's making a bundle. Stood next to him waiting for a light to change several years ago, those eyes are gorgeous. And he can cook. 

[GaT]

How did Christopher Petroni not get disqualified? Madison was disqualified for not getting all the items on the plate, why wasn't Christopher?

[candall]

Well, I regret that *I* was never standing next to Eric Ripert at a stoplight.  What a dreamboat.

I think they edited out a significant part of Chef Ripert's critique of the "Bacon" dish, though.  He began, "Why is everyone talking about the egg when the Randomizer ingredient is bacon?"  Then I think he probably proceeded to point out that the dish only had some chopped bacon bits and was definitely bacon-deficient.  As Bobby Flay would say, "You failed to make bacon the star of your dish."

 

Then I drifted off during the endless commercials and when I woke up, I deleted.  Ack!  I didn't see the final judging!  Come back, Jet!

I did get to see that cocky dude enter the arena and signal to the audience that they needed to applaud more for him.  Yikes, who does that?  Is he an unlikeable high school basketball jock?

 

1 hour ago, GaT said:

How did Christopher Petroni not get disqualified? Madison was disqualified for not getting all the items on the plate, why wasn't Christopher?

Petroni had a composed dish with his randomizer sauce missing.  Madison Cowan barely had anything on his plate at all--he was missing three of his four components.  He was racing across the kitchen with a pan burning the flesh off his hands when the timer went off.

And Petroni only lost his competition by one point, but he was severely penalized for missing that Randomizer ingredient.  His second score--Use of the Randomizer--was less than half of the 30 possible points, I think.  (I had premature deleting, but I always pause and look at the scores.)  

[GaT]

33 minutes ago, candall said:

Petroni had a composed dish with his randomizer sauce missing.  Madison Cowan barely had anything on his plate at all--he was missing three of his four components.  He was racing across the kitchen with a pan burning the flesh off his hands when the timer went off.

And Petroni only lost his competition by one point, but he was severely penalized for missing that Randomizer ingredient.  His second score--Use of the Randomizer--was less than half of the 30 possible points, I think.  (I had premature deleting, but I always pause and look at the scores.)  

Unless the rule is if you're missing more than one randomizer ingredient you get disqualified, then missing one ingredient or missing three ingredients should have the same consequence.

[Maverick]

 Falkner definitely seems to have some social awkwardness, based just on what I've seen of her on these competition shows.  So I was  kinda glad she was finally the bride instead of a bridesmaid, even though she's not a fav.  I generally like Cosentino (especially since, unlike Guy, he finally grew up and stopped bleaching his hair) but last night he was kind of a dick.  He basically called Lorena Garcia unrefined because she dared to make a negative comment about his dish and he made some other rude comment during judging.   He wasn't as bad as some of the other chefs have been during this, but he didn't take some of the criticism well.  I don't know how much is producer prodding vs. the chef's real attitude that would usually be toned down, but I end up liking the chef's less more often than not after seeing them on this show.  

[cameron]

Love me some Eric Ripert.

[Rammchick]

When they all came out in the very first episode, I thought, "Who is that guy with the beard??"  Hard to believe that was Michael Psilakis under there.  For those who've watched Chopped, you've seen him on there as a judge, you just don't realize it because of how he looks now.  

As for Chris Cosentino, I was in the "No thanks" camp for a long time, thanks to Next Iron Chef and that show he did with Aaron Sanchez (was it something like City to City?).  But he was so very humble on Top Chef Masters that I did a 180.  And he can cook,  As for Elizabeth Faulkner, all I ever think of when I see her is the hideous showpiece she made on a Food Network baking show many moons ago.  It was so awful and she was so delusional.  Haven't liked her much since.

Edited March 21, 2022 by Rammchick

[sugarbaker design]

8 hours ago, Stardancer Supreme said:

"Does it look like I am concerned?"  I loves Einat Admony!

My heart grew two sizes too big when I heard that line!

[FormerMod-a1]

Madison also kept plating after time was called.  So he left out 3 of the randomizer items (veg, equipment, and style/type) and then went over the 4th (time) by keeping plating after time was up.

[Ohmo]

10 hours ago, Stardancer Supreme said:

I still don't feel it for Elizabeth Faulkner.

She reminds me of Christa.  I try to give Elizabeth the benefit of the doubt because women get crap for being confident whereas men are celebrated for it, but I just don't like her.  She gives the impression of "I am here" when she walks into a room.

And I could not remember Tobias' name!  I also think Christian should have lost by more than one point.  I think not following the radomizer should be an automatic deduction.

[Ohmo]

9 hours ago, GaT said:

How did Christopher Petroni not get disqualified? Madison was disqualified for not getting all the items on the plate, why wasn't Christopher?

Madison and Petroni are apples and oranges to me.  Madison didn't have a complete dish.  Petroni's dish was complete, but it lacked a radomizer item.  As I recall, there was barely anything on Madison's plates to judge. I wouldn't DQ a chef like Patroni, but I'd impose an automatic deduction.

[bad things are bad]

Psilakis looked like a homeless hopster. Not a fan

[potatoradio]

4 hours ago, Rammchick said:

When they all came out in the very first episode, I thought, "Who is that guy with the beard??"  Hard to believe that was Michael Psilakis under there.  For those who've watched Chopped, you've seen him on there as a judge, you just don't realize it because of how he looks now.  

As for Chris Cosentino, I was in the "No thanks" camp for a long time, thanks to Next Iron Chef and that show he did with Aaron Sanchez (was it something like City to City?).  But he was so very humble on Top Chef Masters that I did a 180.  And he can cook,  As for Elizabeth Faulkner, all I ever think of when I see her is the hideous showpiece she made on a Food Network baking show many moons ago.  It was so awful and she was so delusional.  Haven't liked her much since.

Was that the croquembouche she insisted on making for a wedding challenge while the bride begged and pleaded for, you know, a cake? Totally the defining EF moment for me, too, and not a good one. 

I think I remember the Sanchez/Consentino show, too. It involved a lot of shots of both of them running around in a panic. 

And yeah, Psilakis? It's OK to come down off the mountain now and be among people.

I am hoping for a Maneet/Jet final, but there are a number of others I like and others I like to root against and they could do way worse than Guy for a host, so I'm really happy this show stuck around. 

 

[candall]

I think the rule probably is the same for everyone--you neglect a randomizer element and you get to sit in your trailer and let the cameras watch you squirm while the judges tsk-tsk your mistake.

However, it was gracious and kind to let Cowan off the hook with a DQ.  Were they going to put his nearly empty plate in front of the judges and then announce that one chef had scored an 87 and had bested the other chef by, uh, 87 points?   That would have been cruel.

 

The chefs all seem so pleased that Judge So & So "is eating my food!"  Freitag made a dish that looked fantastic and it all went straight into the garbage.  I felt bad for her as well as for Cowan.

[Rammchick]

22 minutes ago, potatoradio said:

Was that the croquembouche she insisted on making for a wedding challenge while the bride begged and pleaded for, you know, a cake? Totally the defining EF moment for me, too, and not a good one. 

No, this one I'm thinking of was on the old Food Network Challenge show.  She made what looked like a graffiti'd abandoned cave, or somesuch.

[Bastet]

About half of this episodes cheftestants were people I don't "know", so I was only rooting for Elizabeth Faulkner and Jet Tila.  Based on her competition history, she'll have a tough time against him next round, but I've had her food and it was delicious, so if she can keep it in gear it could be a close match.

I was really rooting for Jet after about two minutes of his competitor; that dude was annoying af.

Einat Admony looked and sounded vaguely familiar, so I must have seen her episode of Beat Bobby Flay.

Michael Psilakis I've seen several times, but not looking like Osama bin Laden, so it took me a while to recognize him (I was in and out of the room and didn't hear him introduced).

[HyeChaps]

Long ago, Psikakis and Symon had a resemblance to each other. I remember they did an Iron Chef America together. Symon won

[Ohmo]

26 minutes ago, candall said:

Freitag made a dish that looked fantastic and it all went straight into the garbage.  I felt bad for her as well as for Cowan.

I don't think it did.  At least I remember Guy saying something like "This will be the first time I get to eat."  It would be nice if Guy, Justin, and Symon got to eat Amanda's food.  Maybe that's what happened instead of throwing three plates of food away.

[Eliza422]

4 hours ago, Ohmo said:

Madison and Petroni are apples and oranges to me.  Madison didn't have a complete dish.  Petroni's dish was complete, but it lacked a radomizer item.  As I recall, there was barely anything on Madison's plates to judge. I wouldn't DQ a chef like Patroni, but I'd impose an automatic deduction.

I was also wondering why he didn't get DQ'd, but I'm almost positive during the judging it was mentioned that the ingredient was in another way on the dish. He didn't get his sauce on which majorly featured it, but I believe it was somewhere else.

Now I'm going to have to go back and rewatch to make sure.

[Eliza422]

On 3/14/2022 at 10:36 AM, roughing it said:

I'm not a Top Chef watcher, so I don't know of any of these contestants.

I don't think I've ever seen Marcel or Elizabeth Faulkner win a competition.

With the "known" names losing, it definitely comes down to the blind judging.  When they do competitions with their faces there (and not just Antonia and Darnell, but all of the "name" chefs) their food is judged but the judges also know whose dish it belongs to.  So I believe they win based not only on the food but on their name as well.  Which gives them a false sense of ego.  Look at Iron Chef America - very rarely did the Iron Chef lose.  Had it been completely blind judging though, would it have been the same result?

This is one thing I truly appreciate is the blind judging. I just know that if it wasn't there wouldn't be so many "upsets", that women wouldn't have won the first 2 series (in fact frankly dominated TC until now), that all the usual Food Network darlings would have been in the final. I'm not saying it would have been a conscious choice, but that is the whole point of unconscious bias - you don't know it's happening! [and I won't even touch the whole producer interference aspect of it all]

 I wish all "talent" type competitions were blind judged all the time, I think it's the only way it's truly fair.

A great example of this sort of thing is the study of how female musicians end up getting many more jobs when there are blind auditions:

https://www.theguardian.com/women-in-leadership/2013/oct/14/blind-auditions-orchestras-gender-bias

 

[GaT]

1 hour ago, Eliza422 said:

I was also wondering why he didn't get DQ'd, but I'm almost positive during the judging it was mentioned that the ingredient was in another way on the dish. He didn't get his sauce on which majorly featured it, but I believe it was somewhere else.

Now I'm going to have to go back and rewatch to make sure.

Let us know if you figure it out, if it was on the dish in some other way, then of course he's good.

[Rammchick]

2 hours ago, Bastet said:

Einat Admony looked and sounded vaguely familiar, so I must have seen her episode of Beat Bobby Flay.

I don't know if you watch Chopped, but she's also been on that (and the show I know her from).

[Eliza422]

1 hour ago, GaT said:

Let us know if you figure it out, if it was on the dish in some other way, then of course he's good.

Nope, I was wrong - the parsley was only in the sauce. I think then he should have been DQ'd. Now I want to know why he wasn't.

 

eta: I was just reading something about Darnell leaving off a randomizer in a previous season and not being disqualified? I don't remember that.
I think the rules should be more clearly laid out. What exactly was the Madison DQ'd for - missing ingredients or plating after time?

Edited March 21, 2022 by Eliza422

[Catfi9ht]

I didn't know either of the judges from the first round tonight, but I dug the bearded guy's vibe and thought he looked like Davy Jones from the Pirates of the Caribbean movie so that was cracking me up too.

Agree that Petroni's dish should not have been judged. On top of that, I was insulted for Tobias on the one point difference.

The show spent several minutes on why Madison's plate could not be judged, integrity, etc., and two short lines by Justin about the missing randomizer ingredient. NONE of the judges commented about the missing randomizer ingredient, only that the sauce would have pulled the dish together.

Something seems fishy to me.

I like Jet's personality, but I've always been "meh" about his food, which is weird because Asian food is my comfort food. However, tonight was the first time I thought his food looked amazing.

I'm not really invested in a single chef, but I like lots of new people going forward and lots of upsets. I like how this season is going so far except for the Petroni mistake.

[Darian]

I went back and watched. Madison burnt his hands getting the meat on the plates, and he did plate over time, but he was disqualified for not getting required elements on the plate. Guy didn't say it was for continuing to plate or give any other reason than not getting all the Randomizer elements on the plate. Now, the judging might have been humiliating with almost nothing on the plates, but it doesn't sit right with me that Madison is to date the only chef ever to be DQ'd and it was so hyped and it's a distinction I am sure he didn't want and no one (supposedly, but Guy, it's your damn show) wanted him to go out like that. I checked Twitter and he's ok (people were worried about him and his health) and upbeat, but if the rule that you miss an element and you're out, it should be consistent. 

I have a pretty strong aversion to any abundance of facial hair while cooking but I still like Michael Psilakis, who, yep, I remember as bald and shaven. 

[Grumpbump]

4 hours ago, HyeChaps said:

Long ago, Psikakis and Symon had a resemblance to each other. I remember they did an Iron Chef America together. Symon won

Oh my gosh bless you.  I really thought it was Michael Symon and I couldn't figure out what personal trauma he had been through to look like this.  I just googled Psilakis and Symon and now I am fully informed.

 

 

[BryroseA]

Question for all you chef-y people. In last week’s episode when Joe Sasto made a jus to go with his dish, it looked like he cut cubes of flank steak, deep fried them, then simmered them in a pan with (maybe?) some chicken stock and aromatics. The next thing we saw was the finished jus. Did he blend everything and strain it (can you blend…beef???) or just use the beef to flavor the stock? Enquiring minds who love flank steak and jus want to know. 

[toodywoody]

Why wasn't Christian disqualified.  The one guy was disqualified 2 weeks ago because something didn't make it onto his plate. I call complete bs on Christian not being disqualified, they didn't even taste the other guys plate when he got disqualified 

 

[buttersister]

Quote

Long ago, Psikakis and Symon had a resemblance to each other. I remember they did an Iron Chef America together. Symon won

Iirc, in the olden-tyme-days of FN, the two of them had a daytime cooking show. Psikakis featured Greek cooking and Symon, Eastern European (even though he's also part Greek). They looked super similar. Now Symon looks good and Psikakis looks like one of those aging guys who pulls a hat over his bald or balding head and grows facial hair to appear relevant. Glad he's gone. But not as glad as that Clap For Me guy, who I didn't recognize, don't know and would prefer to keep it that way.

[dleighg]

22 hours ago, Bastet said:

I was really rooting for Jet after about two minutes of his competitor; that dude was annoying af.

 

I agree- he was so LOUD. And what kind of idiot thinks that putting a piece of puff pastry into a vertical toaster is EVER going to work. Of course it just slumps down into the bottom!

And how about that thing with the waffle bowl maker? "What tool do you absolutely NOT want to get?"

And that's where the randomizer "randomly" lands? Somehow, someway, that's not the way it happened IMHO.

[pdlinda]

10 minutes ago, dleighg said:

And that's where the randomizer "randomly" lands? Somehow, someway, that's not the way it happened IMHO.

My belief in the "randomness" of the selections COLLAPSED when that happened!!   I now view the show as "staged".

[dewelar]

7 minutes ago, pdlinda said:

My belief in the "randomness" of the selections COLLAPSED when that happened!!   I now view the show as "staged".

I still remember last season when I noted that Justin Warner was (I think literally) always the one presenting the underdog's dish. I forgot to track that this season :) .

As far as the randomizer bit...I'm willing to grant that Guy probably asks everyone which items they don't want to get, and they only show it when it actually comes up. I wouldn't be surprised if it was otherwise, though -- although I don't think it would take away from the show if that was the case since, unlike my example above, it doesn't affect the judging, which is really the main thing that keeps things at least somewhat honest.

Edited March 22, 2022 by dewelar
Clarify

[Mondrianyone]

32 minutes ago, dleighg said:

And what kind of idiot thinks that putting a piece of puff pastry into a vertical toaster is EVER going to work. Of course it just slumps down into the bottom!

The kind of idiot who doesn't think to set the toaster on its side. I'm betting that would have worked. But probably not well enough to get him a win.

[roughing it]

1 hour ago, dleighg said:

"What tool do you absolutely NOT want to get?"

And that's where the randomizer "randomly" lands? Somehow, someway, that's not the way it happened IMHO.

I call shenanigans.  This happened a couple of times in previous seasons too.  Chefs who do their homework should now know that when Guy asks that, they need to reverse psychology and tell him what they DO want 😉

[pdlinda]

1 hour ago, dewelar said:

it doesn't affect the judging, which is really the main thing that keeps things at least somewhat honest.

In my mind, it detracts from the authenticity of the show.

When you state that it doesn't interfere with the "judging", I begin to wonder (please indulge my paranoia😊).

I enjoy the show and the chefs performing at their ultimate level so I will continue to watch it for those reasons, disregarding any producer-driven tactics to try and impact the outcome.

[Guest]

As far as the randomizer magically landing on what the chef said they didn't want, I would equate it to when Survivor shows a lot of talking heads of people saying "we just have to keep So-and-So from winning immunity" and then So-and-So wins immunity. They have a whole range of responses to use, and then they choose to the show the ones that best relate to the ultimate outcome. It doesn't mean they rigged the challenge for So-and-So.

I'm sure Guy asks the chefs what they don't want many more times than they actually show. Because if it doesn't land on what they say, there's no reason to show it. I don't know how many choices are actually on the randomizer for each category, but I don't think it's very many. So the odds are pretty good that it would land on what a chef said a few times. And when it does, everyone's so hyped up by Guy/the general atmosphere that they all go "ohhhhh!!!!", so the editors put that footage in.

Short version: it's selective editing for storytelling purposes, but I don't think it's rigged.

[Bastet]

3 minutes ago, tracyscott76 said:

Short version: it's selective editing for storytelling purposes, but I don't think it's rigged.

Same here.

2 hours ago, dewelar said:

I still remember last season when I noted that Justin Warner was (I think literally) always the one presenting the underdog's dish. I forgot to track that this season :) .

While watching one episode - I believe last week's - I remembered that being mentioned and paid attention to it; of that episode's match-ups, Justin presented the lower-seeded chef's dish in three, and the higher-seeded chef's dish in one. 

[schnauzergirl]

It's perverse, I know, but I would love to see Carlos Anthony vs. Brian Malarkey.  Who would out-shenanigan the other????