S17.E06: Get Your Phil

[Iseut]

Add me to the "L.A. Phil? What? Get off my lawn!" crowd.  Especially on a cooking show... when Padma first said it, I thought "L.A. Fill," that it was some sort of food showcase.

That said,  I enjoyed the partnership and thought Gustavo Dudamel was absolutely delightful. 

Even if Eric limits himself a bit with his West African cuisine, I think it's more important to him to showcase it to a broader audience.  He may not show enough versatility to win the title, but his appearances on the show are highlighting African cuisine to millions of people,  which is a much bigger win. 

Edited April 25, 2020 by Iseut

[PamelaMaeSnap]

On 4/24/2020 at 8:13 AM, AttackTurtle said:

Thank God Sheldon is not on this season because I couldn’t handle Kevin, Gregory and Sheldon competing against each other

LOVE this ... I admit I don't really remember Kevin well enough to have developed a deep consuming Top Chef love for him, but I'd rank Gregory and Sheldon as my two all-time TC favorites!!!

[dewelar]

13 hours ago, Vermicious Knid said:

What exactly is the difference between an orchestra and a philharmonic?

A philharmonic is pretty much just a full-size orchestra -- the term is used to differentiate it from smaller types of orchestra. More here.

[albarino]

17 hours ago, catrice2 said:

I like Eric, but I get sick of his hearing about his culinary perspective.  It is great but don't pigeon hole yourself. 

I understand him wanting to showcase his culinary heritage but it always gets him in trouble.  Either he can't cook it or it just sucks.  I don't mean this meanly.  We don't eat poi here because it doesn't taste good.  Eric, take note.  Your dishes get you in the bottom because the judges don't like them.

[NurseGiGi]

On 4/23/2020 at 10:08 PM, Thumper said:

Malarkey seems like such a showman and playing to the camera, but I’m glad he and Leanne worked out okay.  For her benefit.

He is constantly playing to the camera and gets on my last nerve. So since I don't like him he will probably make it to the end.

[Nordly Beaumont]

3 hours ago, Iseut said:

Add me to the "L.A. Phil? What? Get off my lawn!" crowd.  Especially on a cooking show... when Padma first said it, I thought "L.A. Fill," that it was some sort of food showcase.

I expected Phil Rosenthal ("Somebody Feed Phil") to be on the show.

[MerBearHou]

2 hours ago, LucindaWalsh said:

Were we supposed to get cabbage from the interior of building? I didn't even get french fries until it was pointed out. Is the building themed towards food or was that a heavy handed make it work tie in? I thought the seat coverings were horrible, the color and pattern.

Totally with you here!  I did NOT see cabbage, barely saw french fries (once they were pointed out), and I thought those seats were heinous gaudy.  I laughed when they said how beautiful the interior was — maybe TV doesn’t do it justice???

[dleighg]

2 minutes ago, MerBearHou said:

 I laughed when they said how beautiful the interior was — maybe TV doesn’t do it justice???

I agree about the interior (particularly the seats) but I thought the exterior was beautiful. I'd only seen limited angles of the building up until then (car commercials, I think). I know Gehry is an acquired taste, but I like it.

[hula-la]

3 hours ago, albarino said:

I understand him wanting to showcase his culinary heritage but it always gets him in trouble.  Either he can't cook it or it just sucks.  I don't mean this meanly.  We don't eat poi here because it doesn't taste good.  Eric, take note.  Your dishes get you in the bottom because the judges don't like them.

Showcasing his culinary heritage got him to the finals in his season, so I think the judges like his food.  There are lots of commenters here complaining about Eric consistently using West African cuisine as his inspiration, but those same commenters aren't complaining about Leanne or Melissa using their Chinese cuisine, or Nini with her Vietnamese. 

Edited April 25, 2020 by hula-la
I forgot about Melissa.

[dleighg]

3 minutes ago, hula-la said:

There are lots of commenters here complaining about Eric consistently using West African cuisine as his inspiration, but those same commenters aren't complaining about Leanne or Melissa using their Chinese cuisine, or Nini with her Vietnamese.

Yeah I think that's right. Personally his food doesn't sound all that appealing to me (no doubt because the flavors are unfamiliar) but I'm not tasting, and if the judges like it-- that's all that matters.

[MerBearHou]

1 hour ago, dleighg said:

I agree about the interior (particularly the seats) but I thought the exterior was beautiful. I'd only seen limited angles of the building up until then (car commercials, I think). I know Gehry is an acquired taste, but I like it.

I loved the super interesting exterior and am a Gehry fan too!  The interior was such a shame IMO.  

[caitmcg]

5 hours ago, albarino said:

I understand him wanting to showcase his culinary heritage but it always gets him in trouble.  Either he can't cook it or it just sucks.  I don't mean this meanly.  We don't eat poi here because it doesn't taste good.  Eric, take note.  Your dishes get you in the bottom because the judges don't like them.

I’m not sure I understand the reference to poi. That’s not something Eric has attempted to cook to my knowledge, and anyway, it’s Hawaiian.

[Rammchick]

3 hours ago, Nordly Beaumont said:

I expected Phil Rosenthal ("Somebody Feed Phil") to be on the show.

Me too, and to tell the truth, I was kind of disappointed to find out it wasn't him they were referring to!

[AttackTurtle]

6 hours ago, PamelaMaeSnap said:

LOVE this ... I admit I don't really remember Kevin well enough to have developed a deep consuming Top Chef love for him, but I'd rank Gregory and Sheldon as my two all-time TC favorites!!!

Kevin was super strong in a crazy talented season, but he was always kind, humble and apparently he is crazy intelligent (the judges have commented that his intelligence is above and beyond).  
Gregory just seems like such a wonderful person.  

[Mrs. P.]

IIRC, Kevin was accepted to some very prestigious school - MIT or Harvard, maybe - and turned the college down because he wanted to cook. So yes, he is highly intelligent.

Edited April 26, 2020 by Mrs. P.

[Ashforth]

7 hours ago, albarino said:

I understand him wanting to showcase his culinary heritage but it always gets him in trouble.  Either he can't cook it or it just sucks.  I don't mean this meanly.  We don't eat poi here because it doesn't taste good.  Eric, take note.  Your dishes get you in the bottom because the judges don't like them.

I don't think that's a fair assessment. Eric has made a lot of dishes that the judges loved. Only a couple really fell flat. I recall the one last season that was "gritty," which seemed to the texture the dish is supposed to have, but the judges found offputting.

The level of talent of the chefs in this season is so high. At this point, very small things are putting chefs on the bottom.

4 hours ago, hula-la said:

Showcasing his culinary heritage got him to the finals in his season, so I think the judges like his food.  There are lots of commenters here complaining about Eric consistently using West African cuisine as his inspiration, but those same commenters aren't complaining about Leanne or Melissa using their Chinese cuisine, or Nini with her Vietnamese. 

For me, that's because they aren't making a big deal of announcing it and putting themselves in the role of educator, which I find a bit condescending. For example, when Melissa made Bánh Xèo (and yes, I know she isn't Vietnamese) she just said, "I made Bánh Xèo" without any backstory or explanation of what it is. Eric could say, "I made Mafe" and allow the judges (or whomever is eating the food) ask questions if they want to know more about it. And, by the way, I found a Mafe recipe on food.com that was posted in 2005, along with a lot of other recipes on other sites, so perhaps people aren't as ignorant as Eric seems to think they are. 

I'm going to try to refrain from posting on this specific topic anymore, because I respect everyone's opinions and I'm not trying to argue a position or say that anyone is wrong. Just wanted to try to clarify my feelings as much as I can. For the record, I like Eric and think he's an excellent chef and why this one things drives me up the wall is still something of a mystery to me, because for Pete's sake, I like Malarky.🤔

Edited April 26, 2020 by Ashforth

[albarino]

2 hours ago, caitmcg said:

I’m not sure I understand the reference to poi. That’s not something Eric has attempted to cook to my knowledge, and anyway, it’s Hawaiian.

Perhaps I was too subtle.  My point is that some native dishes are an acquired taste, poi being one of them.  It is interesting to me how the American palate evolves; kim chi used to be a joke (we had/have lots of GIs stationed in S. Korea) and now we love it.  There are lots of other examples (hummus, gojugang, etc.) and my point is he wants to use his west African influences and it almost got him and Brian V. sent home.   Maybe he is ahead of the culinary curve?

Eric can play Top Chef however he wants; I can critique him however I want.  All good.

[pinguina]

The Disney building is truly beautiful to me - with its lines and curves.  There are stairs on the outside so you can walk to the top and enjoy a really nice view of the city.  

Regarding "native" dishes - people sometimes have trouble eating menudo, pozole, and cows' brains; I think all three are an acquired taste (as well as tamales for some people).  To be honest the cow's brains kind of freak me out - but I still enjoyed when my mom and aunts would cook them. 

[caitmcg]

16 minutes ago, albarino said:

Perhaps I was too subtle.  My point is that some native dishes are an acquired taste, poi being one of them.  It is interesting to me how the American palate evolves; kim chi used to be a joke (we had/have lots of GIs stationed in S. Korea) and now we love it.  There are lots of other examples (hummus, gojugang, etc.) and my point is he wants to use his west African influences and it almost got him and Brian V. sent home.   Maybe he is ahead of the culinary curve?

Eric can play Top Chef however he wants; I can critique him however I want.  All good.

Okay. None of us can taste the food, so we’re all going by our impressions, and although Eric has landed in the bottom three twice so far, he’s also been in the top three three times, so I’m not convinced his approach is serving him that badly this season. I didn’t see Melissa's original season, but it’s pretty clear she’s the one to watch. (And for clarity, I certainly am not critiquing anyone’s right to/style of critiquing.)

[Eolivet]

I didn't mind Nini, but I can't stand Karen, so I was happy with the result. Especially with the "best friend" shenanigans. You pick to work with your "best friend" instead of someone with compatible flavor combinations, you should go home. This is Top Chef, not the seventh grade.

Although when I saw Kevin and Melissa paired up, I was like "is there any way they don't win this?" Two most talented chefs there, for my money, though Gregory is not far behind. Bryan Voltaggio is a sentimental favorite, though he's given me "fallen angel at final 4" vibes, like on Survivor. Doesn't seem to have it this year.

I say this every week, but I remain pleasantly surprised how many of the oldschoolers are still around. Survivor this is not.

[catrice2]

12 hours ago, Domenicholas said:

I don't really mind Eric choosing to always showcase West African cuisine. The culinary world is so Eurocentric that being able to observed the cuisines of different cultures is fascinating. It would be akin to saying that chefs showcasing French cuisine and technique are being repetitive.

To be clear on this show I don't like anyone doing it, whether it is comfort food, barbeque, French, Asian, etc.  The show is about being a well rounded cook that is able to adapt to different challenges, not about showing us your culinary viewpoint.   If that was what any of them wanted they should have competed on the Next Food Network Star...and accompanied it with their "stories."  I am sure they all do it, but for whatever reason they seem to edit the show to make it seem that is all he talks about.   I get sick of Malarkey ( and I can't be bothered to worry if I spelled it correctly) with his comedic take on everything too. 

I actually like Eric, as well as Gregory  and Melissa and several of the other chefs.  I don't dislike anyone. I don't eat meat, so I doubt I would eat most of their food or go to many of their restaurants.  Clearly he was a fan, producer, Padma or Tom favorite or he wouldn't have been asked back.  I also think he is talented, but no one needs to be seen as a one trick pony on this show and that goes for all of them. 

Edited April 26, 2020 by catrice2

[roctavia]

1 hour ago, catrice2 said:

 

I actually like Eric, as well as Gregory  and Melissa and several of the other chefs.  I don't dislike anyone. I don't eat meat, so I doubt I would eat most of their food or go to many of their restaurants.  Clearly he was a fan, producer, Padma or Tom favorite or he wouldn't have been asked back.  I also think he is talented, but no one needs to be seen as a one trick pony on this show and that goes for all of them. 

All that comes to mind is "This is Top Chef, not Top Scallop!" I miss Fabio!

[Yeah No]

49 minutes ago, catrice2 said:

To be clear on this show I don't like anyone doing it, whether it is comfort food, barbeque, French, Asian, etc.  The show is about being a well rounded cook that is able to adapt to different challenges, not about showing us your culinary viewpoint.   If that was what any of them wanted they should have competed on the Next Food Network Star...and accompanied it with their "stories."  I am sure they all do it, but for whatever reason they seem to edit the show to make it seem that is all he talks about.   I get sick of Malarkey ( and I can't be bothered to worry if I spelled it correctly) with his comedic take on everything too. 

I actually like Eric, as well as Gregory  and Melissa and several of the other chefs.  I don't dislike anyone. I don't eat meat, so I doubt I would eat most of their food or go to many of their restaurants.  Clearly he was a fan, producer, Padma or Tom favorite or he wouldn't have been asked back.  I also think he is talented, but no one needs to be seen as a one trick pony on this show and that goes for all of them. 

I like Eric too, and I think he's an excellent chef, but I also couldn't agree with you more.  In fact I thought Top Chef used to encourage chefs to go outside their comfort zones and show how they could adapt to cooking styles other than their own.  Remember the words of Fabio when he said, "This is not Top Scallop", LOL.  I think in recent years the show has gone in the direction of the old "Food Network Star" in which they actually pushed people coming from one particular ethnic cuisine to cook from that one perspective in pretty much every challenge, like they had some duty to celebrate the cuisine of their dead ancestors or something.  I actually think that the challenges on Top Chef have been redesigned to make that easier for them to achieve. 

In fact, the bias now seems to be working against chefs that have a broader range or mainly cook what is considered non-specific/culture-free food.  This works against people without a strong ethnic or regional identity that have adapted many styles into their repertoire.  I get it that they want to celebrate ethnic cuisines, and I think they should, but these days it seems to me like certain cuisines get more encouragement than others.  The more exotic and different the cuisine is from "traditional European/American fare", the more it is encouraged.  Interestingly, this actually includes Southern American cooking, because it is very specific to one region and was not considered a part of traditional American fare, but its own animal for a very long time in that most of the American public not from the South was not aware of a lot of the food until relatively recently.  It's like anything that has only come into the common American food-consciousness within the last 25 years is favored over whatever was broadly popular before that. Anything that is still considered exotic or "new" is prized above all.

Just my own subjective perceptions.  I don't expect everyone to agree.

[Yeah No]

On 4/24/2020 at 11:18 PM, Vermicious Knid said:

What exactly is the difference between an orchestra and a philharmonic?

I like this explanation.  Clear as mud, LOL?

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/52912/what’s-difference-orchestra-symphony-and-philharmonic

9 hours ago, Nordly Beaumont said:

I expected Phil Rosenthal ("Somebody Feed Phil") to be on the show.

I thought they were referring to another local celebrity like that deceased food critic, and their popular name among the locals was "LA Phil", LOL.

On 4/23/2020 at 11:29 PM, Grundoon59 said:

So pleased to see Lee Anne near the top.  You could just see the relief on her face.  She and Malarkey kind of reminded me of myself and a college roommate - everyone who knew us thought we would crash and burn but we worked out our issues and stayed together for two years. 

I feel like the show didn't completely explain their relationship until this episode.  When Malarkey said that they "knew each other for years" it explained to me why they were fighting like brother and sister and why they weren't mortal enemies or anything like we might have assumed if not for this.

38 minutes ago, roctavia said:

All that comes to mind is "This is Top Chef, not Top Scallop!" I miss Fabio!

Haha, it appears that we were having that same thought at the same time!

[TexasTiffany]

7 hours ago, roctavia said:

All that comes to mind is "This is Top Chef, not Top Scallop!" I miss Fabio!

For English being his second language (or maybe 3rd), Fabio has a way with English that his charm and humor shine through. I miss him, too. 

[AttackTurtle]

45 minutes ago, TexasTiffany said:

For English being his second language (or maybe 3rd), Fabio has a way with English that his charm and humor shine through. I miss him, too. 

Fabio won me over with his pet turtle, which they showed him taking out for a walk.

12 hours ago, Mrs. P. said:

IIRC, Kevin was accepted to some very prestigious school - MIT or Harvard, maybe - and turned the college down because he wanted to cook. So yes, he is highly intelligent.

He got into MIT and had serious guilt about it because I don’t think anyone in his family had attended college before him.   

[nanners84]

Anybody else crack up when Padma and QF judge approached Malarkey’s table and were jolted by his “Imagine if you will!” explanation for why he didn’t have flour? Followed by Padme’s WTF look? 

[nutella fitzgerald]

I looked up Nini’s age after all of her “I’m the baby, I don’t know about CD players, give me my bottle!” and is she really 32?! Girl, please. You’re older than the Czech Republic.

[dleighg]

1 minute ago, nutella fitzgerald said:

I don’t know about CD players

Yeah, my daughter is 26 and I'm pretty sure she knows what a CD player is.

[Yeah No]

1 hour ago, nutella fitzgerald said:

I looked up Nini’s age after all of her “I’m the baby, I don’t know about CD players, give me my bottle!” and is she really 32?! Girl, please. You’re older than the Czech Republic.

Yeah, Nini officially annoys me more than Karen does.  Both of them together?  Yikes!

[ProudMary]

23 hours ago, AttackTurtle said:

Kevin was super strong in a crazy talented season, but he was always kind, humble and apparently he is crazy intelligent (the judges have commented that his intelligence is above and beyond).  
Gregory just seems like such a wonderful person.  

When Padma, Gail and Tom were on  "Watch What Happens Live" with Andy Cohen immediately after this season's first episode aired, Padma was asked about which cheftestant (all-time) was her crush, amd she specifically mentioned Kevin because of his level of intelligence.

11 hours ago, TexasTiffany said:

For English being his second language (or maybe 3rd), Fabio has a way with English that his charm and humor shine through. I miss him, too. 

 "We can serve monkey ass in empty clam shell and we would still win." 😂

 

 

It was very surprising  to me that neither Bryan nor Eric thought about slicing the pork the way Tom mentioned. Halve it and then cut thicker slices so larger portions of the pork would have been lacquered. There was so little of the yummy-sounding lacquer on the pork slices that most bites of the pork would have been bland. It would have made it fairly simple to highlight the lacquer.

As my very favorite vegetable falls into the bitter category, I was disappointed that no one with bitter as their flavor profile chose broccoli rabe (rapini) for their dish. Bryan and Eric dressed their pork with "bitter greens" but I don't think we were ever told which greens they actually used.  Anyway, broccoli rabe is more Mediterranean than West African so it wouldn't have been the best fit for that dish. It was just the first food I thought of when I heard bitter. Personal preference.

Padma looked especially gorgeous in this episode!

[Rammchick]

3 hours ago, ProudMary said:

As my very favorite vegetable falls into the bitter category, I was disappointed that no one with bitter as their flavor profile chose broccoli rabe (rapini) for their dish. Bryan and Eric dressed their pork with "bitter greens" but I don't think we were ever told which greens they actually used.  Anyway, broccoli rabe is more Mediterranean than West African so it wouldn't have been the best fit for that dish. It was just the first food I thought of when I heard bitter. Personal preference.

Padma looked especially gorgeous in this episode!

What you said brought to mind the roast pork sandwiches with broccoli rabe from DiNic's in Philadelphia.

[Rai]

I don't have a problem with how Nini dresses, that she and Karen enjoyed working together, and that Eric is passionate about showcasing an underrepresented cuisine. I also have never been a fan of Gregory, but I can't deny he's talented.

[Rambler]

On 4/25/2020 at 5:34 PM, Ashforth said:

For me, that's because they aren't making a big deal of announcing it and putting themselves in the role of educator, which I find a bit condescending. For example, when Melissa made Bánh Xèo (and yes, I know she isn't Vietnamese) she just said, "I made Bánh Xèo" without any backstory or explanation of what it is. Eric could say, "I made Mafe" and allow the judges (or whomever is eating the food) ask questions if they want to know more about it. And, by the way, I found a Mafe recipe on food.com that was posted in 2005, along with a lot of other recipes on other sites, so perhaps people aren't as ignorant as Eric seems to think they are. 

Keep in mind that it isn't Eric's fault if he sounded condescending here. I have zero doubts that both Melissa and Eric where asked in their interviews with the producers to explain what each of their dishes were, but it was the editors decision to air Eric's explanation and not Melissa's.

[FinnishViewer]

Quote

For example, when Melissa made Bánh Xèo (and yes, I know she isn't Vietnamese) she just said, "I made Bánh Xèo" without any backstory or explanation of what it is

I think you mixed Melissa with Nini? Nini made Bánh Xèo.

[carrps]

On 4/24/2020 at 6:04 PM, Bastet said:

"L.A. Phil" is what the Los Angeles Philharmonic started calling itself several years ago.  I'm used to it now, but it did bug me for a bit for it to be official (it had always been common to hear it referred to that way, but it wasn't branded that way until semi-recently).

Yeah, it's been casually called the LA Phil for years and years. I didn't know they made it "official." I guess it sounds weird if you're from somewhere else and never heard the phrase before.

 

On 4/25/2020 at 11:22 AM, LucindaWalsh said:

Were we supposed to get cabbage from the interior of building? I didn't even get french fries until it was pointed out. 

The first time I went to a concert shortly after it opened, my friends and I all spontaneously  said the sound thingies looked like french fries. I'm not surprised it became the name for them. Oh, and we went to the same restaurant for dinner that they used for the elimination round. It's right across the street, so it's super convenient.

 

On 4/25/2020 at 1:36 PM, dleighg said:

I agree about the interior (particularly the seats) but I thought the exterior was beautiful. I'd only seen limited angles of the building up until then (car commercials, I think). I know Gehry is an acquired taste, but I like it.

I love it, but I always loved the Bilbao Guggenheim. Actually, the Disney Concert Hall was designed a long time before the Bilbao, but the dang concert hall committee was so conservative, it took them decades to approve the design. I'm so happy they did. The way it captures the light and reflects it is so beautiful. My only quibble is that what used to be on the site was the rickety old parking structure for jurors. It was really convenient to the Hall of Justice, so I missed it when I'd have jury duty downtown.

Oh, and I don't remember the upholstery on the seats at all. The light is more subdued when you're there for a concert. Maybe the TV lights made it appear brighter? Because honestly it wasn't garish at all in person.

 

 

[Ashforth]

9 hours ago, FinnishViewer said:

I think you mixed Melissa with Nini? Nini made Bánh Xèo.

You're right, it was Nini. This quarantine is getting to me.

Edited April 30, 2020 by Ashforth