S17.E07: Pitch Perfect

[FormerMod-a1]

Quote

The chefs are challenged to a taco throwdown for Danny Trejo; for the Quickfire, the only sharp tool they can use is a machete; the only way to make it to Restaurant Wars is to survive this week's qualifying challenge.

Original air date: April 30, 2020

[Bastet]

Yay for Karen being the one to come back from LCK, especially because the look on her face when she found out it was happening right after her elimination was announced was hilariously unenthusiastic.  I don’t normally watch LCK, but I’ll have to go watch that one, because “Where I’m from they call me Chef, too” to them being called “girls” was one of the many reasons I like her.  Yes, Karen!

The QF was fun; I like how much fun they had with the machetes (although a few of them made me nervous with them).  I like Danny Trejo’s activism, although I have not tried his tacos (there are so many here, and I most often cook my own, so it takes a while to try all the ones I’m interested in).  I wanted Melissa’s and Karen’s tacos the most, but I’d happily (after taking the bananas out of Kevin's) devour everything but Gregory’s and Eric’s - and Eric's I'd just tear some of the tortilla off to make balanced bites.

The Spare Room – where they “spontaneously” went bowling to take a break from their planning – is someplace I take visitors when they want to go somewhere in Hollywood.  Someday friends will be able to travel again.

I like this way of doing Restaurant Wars and hope they stick with it.

Kevin’s pitch was fantastic; he really got the concept across.  I didn’t drool over the food (just a matter of personal preference), but he did, by far, the best job of communicating his vision.  Gregory did a good job with it, too, and his food looked great.  It seemed obvious they would be the restaurants for RW.  (But while Melissa’s concept wasn’t as fully realized as those two, she had the food I most wanted to eat.)

I knew from jump Stephanie was going to be lucky to get immunity; she doesn’t even aspire to open a restaurant, so she doesn’t think about all the things you have to think about to pitch the concept for one.  And I figured her being at a loss was going to result in putting out blah food.  (I still felt a little sorry for her hearing the judges and saying, “They’re laughing pretty hard; I think I’m going to stick to being a private chef.”)

I love Eric’s fundamental concept (which he didn’t get beyond step one of in the finale last year, and which I wanted to see the rest of), of exploring the trajectory of the slave trade’s influence on cuisine around the world, but he didn’t sell the details at all and, as he said, fell on his face with the food itself (unlike last time, when he was knocked out in a close race in the first round of the finale, IIRC).  This was a really disappointing showing for him, and I'm curious how he'll do in LCK.

Lee Anne’s concept is less interesting and more common than his, but it could be developed, and, bottom line, her food was executed better.  This was another no-brainer choice, from what they showed us.

[IndyMischa]

"Where are you having dinner?"

 "Oh, this great new place, named for the Atlantic slave trade!"

 WHUT? Major record scratch.

[ProudMary]

I would definitely check out a chicken restaurant called "Fluster Clucks." Do it Kevin! 😅

[MerBearHou]

4 minutes ago, IndyMischa said:

"Where are you having dinner?"

 "Oh, this great new place, named for the Atlantic slave trade!"

 WHUT? Major record scratch.

I know... whut??  I’m such a fan of very earnest Eric but that was not a winning concept.  It’s obviously so dear to his heart and I so respect that, but he couldn’t really explain his high-low concept and his food did not wow the judges.  I was bummed that Stephanie had immunity because she would’ve gone if she hadn’t.  I don’t mind Stephanie but to me, she’s just kind of there — I keep forgetting she’s even on the show and that’s not good.

Padma has zero sense of humor when Malarkey speaks — it’s like she’s already made up her mind.  Tom listens and enjoys him.

Melissa’s plates were beautiful and I loved her description of her grandmother, Sabrina.

Again, I heart Brian V’s great laugh which I heard often in tonight’s episode.

[Thumper]

So glad Malarkey did not win. He is such a huckster.  I don’t believe him.

[Cotypubby]

Eric, “Middle Passage”? WTF!? You want people to go to your restaurant, not turn them off by the name calling up images of slaves shackled by the hundreds.  
 

How about let’s open a kosher restaurant and name it Auschwitz? 🙄

[TexasTiffany]

Lee Anne's like a cat this season. She's got a few lives left. 

[catrice2]

I rest my case.  There should not be immunity in the All Stars or the Masters in my opinion. 

I would totally find something vegetarian to eat at a restaurant with Gregory. 

Bryan's idea of accessible and mine clearly conflict. 

Melissa's food is so beautiful all the time that I would go back to meat to eat some of her food.  She also explains everything so elegantly in every challenge. 

Although I feel like they should do something to shake up Restaurant Wars....or replace it with something else....I don't think it was a fair challenge.  Not every chef has opened or aspires to open a restaurant so they would not necessarily have those skills.  They should have a working idea of how a restaurant works and how to be an executive chef, but not the pitch, etc.   People like Kevin and Malarkey went into this challenge with an advantage.  

They telegraphed that Eric was leaving in the quickfire.....

2 minutes ago, TexasTiffany said:

Lee Anne's like a cat this season. She's got a few lives left. 

I am exhausted with watching her struggle....

[TexasTiffany]

1 hour ago, Bastet said:

I knew from jump Stephanie was going to be lucky to get immunity; she doesn’t even aspire to open a restaurant, so she doesn’t think about all the things you have to think about to pitch the concept for one.  And I figured her being at a loss was going to result in putting out blah food.  (I still felt a little sorry for her hearing the judges and saying, “They’re laughing pretty hard; I think I’m going to stick to being a private chef.”)

I felt bad for Stephanie. She was really out of her element and she looked exasperated. 

I did think it was cute that she named her restaurant after her dog Lucy, and made a schnitzel.  I'm imagining all sorts of cute dogs.

schnauzer schnitzel

Edited May 1, 2020 by TexasTiffany

[Fukui San]

Karen's dim sum concept amused me as I wrote a comedy sketch about a white hipster chef opening an American dim sum restaurant. However her dishes looked far better than when they had a disastrous dim sum challenge in All Stars 1. I've eaten Karen's upscale Asian food at Myers & Chang in Boston, and it's pretty good though a dressed up version of Asian food for non-Asian people.

I looked up "Restaurant Slave Trade" as I remembered a white chef who I thought had opened a restaurant based on the slave trade to online derision, and I came across this article in the NY Times about Eric presenting his menu on the slave trade through food sponsored and hosted by Tom Colicchio. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/17/dining/top-chef-eric-adjepong-west-african-food.html

As a special menu/lecture I think it'd be fascinating and the food looks great. As an ongoing restaurant, who knows? He certainly didn't execute how he wanted to tonight.

BTW, the news item I was thinking about was the person who themed her restaurant around British Colonialism, not slavery. https://pdx.eater.com/2016/4/8/11387094/controversial-colonial-themed-restaurant-gives-in-to-protestors

[Msample]

Voltaggio needs to get his head out of his ass. $50-65 check average is “more accessible”???

I was kind of hoping Malarkey would win if only to see him piss off whoever was unfortunate enough to help run his RW concept.

[MerBearHou]

3 minutes ago, Fukui San said:

I looked up "Restaurant Slave Trade" as I remembered a white chef who I thought had opened a restaurant based on the slave trade to online derision, and I came across this article in the NY Times about Eric presenting his menu on the slave trade through food sponsored and hosted by Tom Colicchio. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/17/dining/top-chef-eric-adjepong-west-african-food.html

I absolutely loved reading that article.  So pleased to see that Tom gave Eric a wonderful platform to finish his West African meal and share it with others back in 2019.  That had to mean the world to Eric.  Well done, Tom.  

Fun to see Stephanie Izard again tonight!  

[ProudMary]

Even though he went first and we hadn't seen any others pitch their concept, it was evident that Kevin's concept would be one of the two that would be picked to move on to Restaurant Wars. Not only did he have a precise vision, allowing him to answer the judge's questions with certainty and specificity, but he executed his vision deliciously with the dishes he cooked and presented.

Gregory tells us that he's in the process of opening a Haitian restaurant. Judge Stephanie Izard tells the cheftestants that she's aware that many of them have opened restaurants in the past, so don't just go back to the same well again--not her exact words, but that was the gist--yet Gregory's concept is: A Haitian restaurant! 

 

[buttersister]

Quote

Padma has zero sense of humor when Malarkey speaks — it’s like she’s already made up her mind.

I’m with Padma.

Big fan of Stephanie and have eaten at all her Chicago restaurants. She and the Boka guy were perfect judges for this episode. Still, sorry about Eric’s bad day in the kitchen. 

I like Bryan, I rooted for him in his first season. But he’s so far off his game, can’t tell if there’s a 180 coming or if he’ll just be gone really soon. 

[Quilt Fairy]

2 hours ago, ProudMary said:

I would definitely check out a chicken restaurant called "Fluster Clucks." Do it Kevin! 😅

It reminded me of a fast food chain in Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum novels called "Cluck in a Bucket".

2 hours ago, Cotypubby said:

Eric, “Middle Passage”? WTF!? You want people to go to your restaurant, not turn them off by the name calling up images of slaves shackled by the hundreds.  
 

How about let’s open a kosher restaurant and name it Auschwitz? 🙄

For some reason, when I hear "middle passage" I think of a vagina. 

[chabelisaywow]

None of them really know who Danny Trejo is. 

When they opened up the crate..... it was like crickets.

I could see that.  Danny Trejo is very versatile - his taco restaurants, while "healthy" - probably a little too low brow for these chefs. They all have a tinge of pretension to me.

Malarkey in the car with Voltaggio and Kevin.  Like the hanger on with the cool kids.  If he is one of the most established chefs - WTF with the Shrek concept?! bye, girl. Bye.

 

Edited May 1, 2020 by chabelisaywow

[Bastet]

3 hours ago, MerBearHou said:

Padma has zero sense of humor when Malarkey speaks

Neither do I, because his sense of humor does not align with mine.  I don't dislike him, but I never find him even 10 percent as funny as he's aiming for. 

2 hours ago, Msample said:

Voltaggio needs to get his head out of his ass. $50-65 check average is “more accessible”???

I laughed when the judges basically said he's incapable of doing "accessible" food.  I suspect he felt like if he just pitched "fine dining" they'd want to know what distinguishes it, so went for his version of a twist.  But fine dining is what he does, very well, so put up on the mood board and include in the pitch the things that get people to drop large wads of cash in his real restaurants, hyping how his sample dishes differ from those on offer in similar restaurants, in pitching this hypothetical one.  I still think, despite his talent, he'd have been middle of the road in this challenge, though.

[caitmcg]

33 minutes ago, chabelisaywow said:

Malarkey in the car with Voltaggio and Kevin.  Like the hanger on with the cool kids.  If he is one of the most established chefs - WTF with the Shrek concept?! bye, girl. Bye.

As they pointed out, he’s all about selling concepts and he’s a showman. So he thinks up a concept and sells investors on it. His concept wasn’t Shrek, Shrek was the shtick he used to sell Baja Asian. And he did a successful job of thinking through and selling it, which is why they put him in the top despite not loving the actual execution of the dishes the way they did the other three.

That said…

3 hours ago, MerBearHou said:

Padma has zero sense of humor when Malarkey speaks — it’s like she’s already made up her mind

I’m with her.

[PhoneCop]

3 hours ago, MerBearHou said:

Again, I heart Brian V’s great laugh which I heard often in tonight’s episode.

I have a weird sense of humor and think it'd be kind of funny to have Bryan's laugh as my ringtone. I work from home—pandemic or no pandemic—so it's not like I have to worry about freaking out people most of the time anyway.

Eric will always be one of my favorites, so I'm sorry he whiffed it on this one. Although I do have to laugh at the irony of Stephanie winning immunity and that arguably causing someone else to be eliminated, since that's what happened to her in her original season.

[Kimmykun]

How many times is Lee Anne going to circle the drain before she finally goes down it? It's just painful at this point to watch her struggle week after week.

4 hours ago, MerBearHou said:

Padma has zero sense of humor when Malarkey speaks — it’s like she’s already made up her mind. 

Same here. I find the man utterly insufferable. 

[AttackTurtle]

My problem with Stephanie is that she is widely remembered for having gotten the boot when she cooked great food, b/c the guy who cooked crap had immunity. Last night she had a terrible concept, made crap food, and showed zero interest in the task....and gets to stay.  Time to put the “Stephanie got screwed” story to bed.  She is way out of her element this season.

Leanne needs to remember that the judges are very familiar with Hawaiian cuisine done right....by Sheldon.  
 

I’m going to be very disappointed if the winner is not Kevin, Melissa, or Gregory, because they’re all leaving everyone in the dust.  Go Kevin!

I know Malarkey rubs people the wrong way, but he’s been far more successful than Voltaggio outside of the show.   Given the choice for restaurant wars, I’d want to work for Kevin, Malarkey or Gregory.  All three have been very successful in running restaurants.  Voltaggio has been a disaster.  
 

My girl Stephanie looked great last night and I was very happy to see that the chefs genuinely hold her in high regard.

 

Edited May 1, 2020 by AttackTurtle

[Ashforth]

16 hours ago, IndyMischa said:

"Where are you having dinner?"

 "Oh, this great new place, named for the Atlantic slave trade!"

 WHUT? Major record scratch.

Welcome to Middle Passage! I'll just shackle you to your chair so we can get started. There we go! We'll begin with an Amuse Bouche of Let Me Enlighten Your Uneducated Ass, and then move on to a delicious West African-inspired entree served with a complimentary side of horror and sorrow for the people who were kidnapped, enslaved, and shipped to the Americas. Enjoy!

Edited May 1, 2020 by Ashforth

[laprin]

8 hours ago, Msample said:

Voltaggio needs to get his head out of his ass. $50-65 check average is “more accessible”???

Average check refers to the whole table. That is quite reasonable for a table, which usually consists of at least 2 people. That’s two people for lunch where I live. 

[dleighg]

1 hour ago, Ashforth said:

Welcome to Middle Passage! I'll just shackle you to your chair so we can get started.

OMG! He even included "copper" as a color on his mood board, to represent the ACTUAL SHACKLES. Talk about a mood killer....

And yeah, Bryan V does high end food. He needs to own it. I've been to Volt. He would just need to say how he'd do Volt 2.0. 

[Ashforth]

9 hours ago, Msample said:

Voltaggio needs to get his head out of his ass. $50-65 check average is “more accessible”???

My thought is that Bryan V is accustomed to the traditional fine dining space where per person costs can be $200 or much more, so in his perspective, $50-65 (which I assumed was per person) is more accessible. Unfortunately, his food and approach seem a bit dated and out of touch to me. Sad, because I like him and I think his food mostly looks delicious, but I don't know that it's what people are looking for these days.

[rhygirl720]

Musings and rankings:

Kevin: Total Boss! great food, great concept, totally professional.

Gregory: Taking his heritage and creating delicious food! Love his personality too!

Melissa:" Michelin star talent " no need to say more

Karen: "they call me chef" go go go! 

Malarky: insufferable and tiring but he sold that concept! 

Bryan V: Total Dad laugh! Great chef but seriously underwhelming!

Eric: I know he was eliminated ! boo ! but he has better  cooking chops than he has shown! Needs to take a page out of Gregory's/s book

Lee-Anne: interesting concept but poor execution. Totally out  of her league here.

Stephanie: can cook tacos . Immunity saved her. Outclassed here in every way.

 

[Angeleyes]

Judge Kevin Boehm lost his mom in March and then had to furlough 1800 employees the next day. 
https://www.esquire.com/food-drink/restaurants/a32160915/kevin-boehm-saving-restaurant-industry-covid/

 

I was convinced that the judges were going to rescind Stephanie’s immunity. It seems like given how serious this show takes the restaurant wars challenge that doing that bad on the pitch should have superseded a decent taco. Immunity should not have been an option this week. 

The bottom 3 have all been struggling for a while and it really would have been fine for all of them to get cut this week. 

[joanne3482]

10 hours ago, catrice2 said:

Although I feel like they should do something to shake up Restaurant Wars....or replace it with something else....I don't think it was a fair challenge.  Not every chef has opened or aspires to open a restaurant so they would not necessarily have those skills.  They should have a working idea of how a restaurant works and how to be an executive chef, but not the pitch, etc.   People like Kevin and Malarkey went into this challenge with an advantage.  

For no logical reason at all, I thought this was going to just be a 2 parter without an elimination in the middle at all. So I was surprised they did do an elimination.  I guess their view is that a "Top Chef" wants his/her own space. But I do agree that there were some who definitely had the advantage. 

I was a little confused about the "How many restaurants have you opened" discussion. I'm sure they're not running all those restaurants, so what does it actually mean that Malarky opened 19 restaurants in the last X years? In my head I kept thinking that must mean he shut some of them down too, so that's not good. 

[dleighg]

2 minutes ago, rhygirl720 said:

Kevin: Total Boss! great food, great concept, totally professional.

I guess I'm the only one who wasn't sold on either his concept or his dish. Country Captain as the name of a restaurant that holds zero appeal to me (note that as a person who has lived only in the NYC metro area and California, I've never heard of the dish). The name of the restaurant reminds me of Cracker Barrel. (duck)

And even though I was actually paying attention, I don't really have a sense of what this restaurant is going to serve. I mean "Southern" is not a new concept. How is his different?

 

4 minutes ago, joanne3482 said:

so what does it actually mean that Malarky opened 19 restaurants in the last X years? In my head I kept thinking that must mean he shut some of them down too, so that's not good. 

Nah, he sells them. He's gotten rich that way.

[rhygirl720]

7 minutes ago, dleighg said:

I guess I'm the only one who wasn't sold on either his concept or his dish. Country Captain as the name of a restaurant that holds zero appeal to me (note that as a person who has lived only in the NYC metro area and California, I've never heard of the dish). The name of the restaurant reminds me of Cracker Barrel. (duck)

And even though I was actually paying attention, I don't really have a sense of what this restaurant is going to serve. I mean "Southern" is not a new concept. How is his different?

 

While elevated Southern cooking is not a new concept, Kevin executed his vision flawlessly per the judges. Great food will always be in style. He also had a clear vision that he communicated and the all judges seemed to think so. I'm New England born and bred and really not much for fried chicken or Cracker Barrel, however I would go to one of Kevin's restaurant if given the chance. 

[Rai]

I admit, although I've been rooting for Eric and his passion for West African food, I felt a concept built around showcasing the slave trade seemed like a tough sell. When he phrased it as "the African diaspora through food," I definitely found that more appealing, but honestly, it feels like a pretty way to say "slave trade." I enjoy being challenged politically, and yet, I can't help but default to a reaction of "who needs a big serving of guilt with every meal?" to his concept. (But then again, there are potential customers who would see it as an honoring of their roots, not guilt, so I gotta stop centering my reaction, I guess. But it is a lot to wrap my head around.)

So. Difficult to get on board with that concept. BUT. In a similar vein, I'm a little uncomfortable with Kevin's concept being one of the winners, since a Southern restaurant inspired by the spice trade (at least the European era, which I assume Kevin was referencing) evokes colonialism at best, and also could fall into slave trade territory, only from the slavers' perspective, which. Gross. I can't help but wonder how Eric thought about that. This may be entirely too much thematic analysis of restaurant concepts, but to further illustrate my point, Columbus was part of this spice trade era and emblematic of it. In short, it just feels like problematic territory.
 

Quote

 

Quote

Voltaggio needs to get his head out of his ass. $50-65 check average is “more accessible”???

My thought is that Bryan V is accustomed to the traditional fine dining space where per person costs can be $200 or much more, so in his perspective, $50-65 (which I assumed was per person) is more accessible. Unfortunately, his food and approach seem a bit dated and out of touch to me. Sad, because I like him and I think his food mostly looks delicious, but I don't know that it's what people are looking for these days.

 

Yeah, maybe it's just living in New York and being used to outrageous prices, but $50-65 per person for a nice dinner out sounds great to me. That said, of the more high-end choices, it was Melissa's that appealed the most to me. I was really surprised when she didn't win one of the spots.

Edited May 1, 2020 by Rai

[Totale]

I didn't like the pitch concept at all, it reminds me of something they would do on Food Network Star.

Kevin's team has pole position in Restaurant Wars.  Whoever is on his team can come up with a Southern dish that's in their, ahem, comfort zone.  Gregory is going to have to teach his team to cook Haitian.

[Fukui San]

I think I've come to the conclusion that Restaurant Wars is about 90% Logistical Planning and Problem Solving, 10% Culinary Inspiration. I don't remember offhand an instance in which both or all of the restaurants executed dishes and service in a timely fashion and the judges decided solely on issues of taste, though I'm sure it's happened at least a few times.

[Yeah No]

11 hours ago, MerBearHou said:

I know... whut??  I’m such a fan of very earnest Eric but that was not a winning concept.  It’s obviously so dear to his heart and I so respect that, but he couldn’t really explain his high-low concept and his food did not wow the judges.

The problem with Eric is that he was so far into his head and feeling the pressure of the competition that he tried too hard to relate everything to his greater mission, and thus missed the point entirely that food is not just about representing a cause but about pleasing its audience.

11 hours ago, catrice2 said:

Although I feel like they should do something to shake up Restaurant Wars....or replace it with something else....I don't think it was a fair challenge.  Not every chef has opened or aspires to open a restaurant so they would not necessarily have those skills.  They should have a working idea of how a restaurant works and how to be an executive chef, but not the pitch, etc.   People like Kevin and Malarkey went into this challenge with an advantage.  

I think that they all have advantages in different challenges, just not all in the same challenge, which I think is fair.  I'm no huckster by far but I think I could summon up the ability to pitch an idea to an audience, and that's way outside my normal comfort zone.  Being a chef is a creative occupation and requires thinking creatively about one's craft.  I'd imagine that even if a chef never wanted to open up a restaurant they'd at least fantasize about what their restaurant, if they ever opened one, would be like.  Heck even I've fantasized about that and I'm just a home cook with no desire to own or operate a restaurant.  So I definitely think a really good chef worthy of the title of "Top Chef" should be able to do that even if it's not something they actually would do in the real world.  Or at least they should have the desire to do it.  Stephanie showed zero interest in the concept whatsoever.

11 hours ago, Msample said:

I was kind of hoping Malarkey would win if only to see him piss off whoever was unfortunate enough to help run his RW concept.

Yeah, I've obviously been watching reality TV way too long because I'd watch that for the train wreck value.  Plus even though as annoying as monkeys on crack, Malarkey fascinates me - as long as he's safely far away from me on a TV screen and I can turn him off any time I want, LOL.

8 hours ago, caitmcg said:

As they pointed out, he’s all about selling concepts and he’s a showman. So he thinks up a concept and sells investors on it. His concept wasn’t Shrek, Shrek was the shtick he used to sell Baja Asian. And he did a successful job of thinking through and selling it, which is why they put him in the top despite not loving the actual execution of the dishes the way they did the other three.

I actually thought that was brilliant of Malarkey.  Like I say, he fascinates me in the way watching reality TV fascinates me.  I find it alternately fascinating and repulsive.  Which makes it a little bit irresistable.  

1 hour ago, rhygirl720 said:

While elevated Southern cooking is not a new concept, Kevin executed his vision flawlessly per the judges. Great food will always be in style. He also had a clear vision that he communicated and the all judges seemed to think so. I'm New England born and bred and really not much for fried chicken or Cracker Barrel, however I would go to one of Kevin's restaurant if given the chance. 

I wasn't wow-ed by Kevin's concept either but it was well thought out.  I think he was putting a spin on southern in a way my northeastern heart could learn from and appreciate - in moderation.  

I wish Voltaggio's food was "in style" these days or he might not be losing his mojo right now.  I tend to wonder how much knowing that he's not doing something that's considered "fresh" or current by the judges is making him lose his spark and focus.

 

[snarktini]

13 hours ago, TexasTiffany said:

schnauzer schnitzel

Recently I was at a local German restaurant and the specials menu had snapper --  "schnapper schnitzel". Based on the wordplay alone I could not resist getting that. It was delicious! I love shnitzel, prepared and seasoned properly.

But...is schnitzel a good dish to represent modern American?

13 hours ago, Fukui San said:

Karen's dim sum concept amused me as I wrote a comedy sketch about a white hipster chef opening an American dim sum restaurant. However her dishes looked far better than when they had a disastrous dim sum challenge in All Stars 1. I've eaten Karen's upscale Asian food at Myers & Chang in Boston, and it's pretty good though a dressed up version of Asian food for non-Asian people.

She thought it was a good concept because it hadn't been done in RW before. True! And I love dim sum. But creating lots of fiddly little dishes, some dumplings presumably, also sounds like a lot to ask of your RW team. Also thought it was odd that of her two representative dishes, one was a small plate and one was a large plate. While it's normal at a dim sum place to have both, a big plate doesn't feel like it embodies the concept. I'm nitpicking though.

11 hours ago, chabelisaywow said:

None of them really know who Danny Trejo is.

When Lee Anne gushed that she was a huge fan and watched "all his movies"...I thought that was a bit odd. Trejo has appeared in a million things, I don't think of "Danny Trejo movies" as in he was the star. Or am I off base? The machetes were delightful. Loved Brian using if for fine knife work.

3 hours ago, joanne3482 said:

I was a little confused about the "How many restaurants have you opened" discussion. I'm sure they're not running all those restaurants, so what does it actually mean that Malarky opened 19 restaurants in the last X years? In my head I kept thinking that must mean he shut some of them down too, so that's not good. 

As dleighd said, he sells them. Tom confirmed that at the judges table, linking Malarkey's pitch to his success opening and selling 15 restaurants. That was really helpful for me to understand it -- they are opening but not running some or all of them. I definitely wondered how many of their 5/10/19 restaurants are operating and thriving. That's a much better measure of success than "how many have you opened?"

[Lovecat]

13 hours ago, Fukui San said:

Karen's dim sum concept amused me as I wrote a comedy sketch about a white hipster chef opening an American dim sum restaurant. However her dishes looked far better than when they had a disastrous dim sum challenge in All Stars 1.

I half expected Tom to start twitching when the words "dim sum" were uttered.  I'm surprised he hasn't banned their use altogether, to avoid triggering his PTSD.  I think the only time we've seen him angrier was in the wake of S2's Shavegate.

[MerBearHou]

2 hours ago, Yeah No said:

The problem with Eric is that he was so far into his head and feeling the pressure of the competition that he tried too hard to relate everything to his greater mission, and thus missed the point entirely that food is not just about representing a cause but about pleasing its audience.

So right.  Like it or not, ya gotta play the game to win.  Eric was mostly playing his own game within his own lane and it finally sent him packing.  I like him so much and wish him VERY well.

[meep.meep]

4 hours ago, Ashforth said:

My thought is that Bryan V is accustomed to the traditional fine dining space where per person costs can be $200 or much more, so in his perspective, $50-65 (which I assumed was per person) is more accessible. Unfortunately, his food and approach seem a bit dated and out of touch to me. Sad, because I like him and I think his food mostly looks delicious, but I don't know that it's what people are looking for these days.

They may not have appreciated his pitch, but those two dishes he put out were the most beautiful things shown all season.  Too bad we can't taste things.

I hate Restaurant Wars.  It always seems to take out someone I want to see go farther.

If you want to see Tom angry - check out the year they did so badly that they had to repeat Restaurant Wars.

[Fostersmom]

14 hours ago, Cotypubby said:

Eric, “Middle Passage”? WTF!? You want people to go to your restaurant, not turn them off by the name calling up images of slaves shackled by the hundreds.  
 

How about let’s open a kosher restaurant and name it Auschwitz? 🙄

Like I said after the last episode, he's got to stop letting his food vision dictate his every move. In theory, this should have been the perfect challenge for him out of all of them. He's shoehorned his culinary dream into every dish, even those where it didn't fit, but this should have been his time to create the dishes he wanted to create, in the way he wanted to create them, with the history he wanted to. His dishes looked horrible, I don't even understand how his duck could both look so bloody and yet so dry at the same time. I would imagine none of the judges were going to call him out for thinking people wanted to be reminded of slavery while having dinner, but I can guarantee if he ever it to open such restaurant, 90% of the write ups will mention it. His vision would have been just as complete without the colors big those of shackles. And yeah, my first thought was it was liken to a Jewish deli opening and the back story is how the owners grandparents had to come to America to flee the Nazis. 

13 hours ago, Msample said:

Voltaggio needs to get his head out of his ass. $50-65 check average is “more accessible”???

I was kind of hoping Malarkey would win if only to see him piss off whoever was unfortunate enough to help run his RW concept.

The more this season progresses, the more I'm beginning to see why Bryan's restaurants haven't been huge successes. What might have worked 15 years ago isn't going to cut it anymore. He seems stuck in the past where he shined. It's great he had previous success, but he needs to keep growing with the times. His food and ideas seem dated and almost lazy now. 

I actually though Malarky was going to win one of the spots. His food looked fresh and clean, the concept was right for the times, and the restaurant backer guy (is that what his is, I can't remember), liked the idea and target customer. Honestly, out of all of them, I do think his idea was the one that actually could easily open in the outside world. 

Edited May 1, 2020 by Fostersmom

[seltzer3]

13 hours ago, Fukui San said:

Karen's dim sum concept amused me as I wrote a comedy sketch about a white hipster chef opening an American dim sum restaurant. However her dishes looked far better than when they had a disastrous dim sum challenge in All Stars 1. I've eaten Karen's upscale Asian food at Myers & Chang in Boston, and it's pretty good though a dressed up version of Asian food for non-Asian people.

I looked up "Restaurant Slave Trade" as I remembered a white chef who I thought had opened a restaurant based on the slave trade to online derision, and I came across this article in the NY Times about Eric presenting his menu on the slave trade through food sponsored and hosted by Tom Colicchio. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/17/dining/top-chef-eric-adjepong-west-african-food.html

As a special menu/lecture I think it'd be fascinating and the food looks great. As an ongoing restaurant, who knows? He certainly didn't execute how he wanted to tonight.

BTW, the news item I was thinking about was the person who themed her restaurant around British Colonialism, not slavery. https://pdx.eater.com/2016/4/8/11387094/controversial-colonial-themed-restaurant-gives-in-to-protestors

Also Karen should be lucky that her restaurant wasn't picked for restaurant wars.  That would be a trainwreck on so many levels.  To do a dimsum carts rolling around, and expedite?  (Especially when the waiters in Top Chef recently have been pretty bad).  That would be an absolute nightmare (especially remembering when Top Chef had a massive fail in the dimsum challenge in All-Stars.  Tom was almost pushing for Karen to picked just because it would be entertaining to see all of them pushing carts.

I really feel for Eric, when he struggled with between comfort vs upscale.  There aren't many African restaurants that are "upscale", and I think certain ethnic cuisines really struggle to be respected and prestigious in the culinary world.  So I kind of where Eric was coming from.  But do agree with everyone the name is terrible.

I get LeeAnne's food wasn't great.  But I didn't understand why her concept wasn't considered "unique", especially when Malarkey and others didn't seem all that unique either (Asian/Latino fusion for millenials, yay?) and Brian's wasn't that unique either.

[CrazyInAlabama]

My understanding is some of the chefs (like Blais) just consult with the restaurant, and help develop the concept, menu, etc.    They aren't owners, and don't even stay long, they just advise.   They might have concepts of their own they launch, and resell later, but a lot don't really have their own place. 

Edited May 1, 2020 by CrazyInAlabama

[carrps]

4 hours ago, dleighg said:

I guess I'm the only one who wasn't sold on either his concept or his dish. Country Captain as the name of a restaurant that holds zero appeal to me (note that as a person who has lived only in the NYC metro area and California, I've never heard of the dish). The name of the restaurant reminds me of Cracker Barrel. (duck)

And even though I was actually paying attention, I don't really have a sense of what this restaurant is going to serve. I mean "Southern" is not a new concept. How is his different?

Yeah, this was me, but I've heard of Country Captain, and every time I've heard it described it's sounded disgusting to me. I'm so over southern cooking, too. It's o.k., but not all that. Based on Kevin's presentation, I wouldn't go to that restaurant.

I did want to go to Melissa's. Her grandma sounds like a hoot.

As a woman of a certain age, when I heard Malarkey say he was pitching his restaurant to Millennials, I pictured something trendy and loud with borderline crappy food -- more concept than taste. I thought "o.k. good way to alienate half your potential customer base." But I guess he knows his market.

On edit: after reading that article on the "colonial" restaurant, I had to laugh. She changed to name to BORC, which if pronounced as a word, means vomit in some slang.

 

Edited May 1, 2020 by carrps
Added comment

[meep.meep]

6 minutes ago, carrps said:

 

As a woman of a certain age, when I heard Malarkey say he was pitching his restaurant to Millennials, I pictured something trendy and loud with borderline crappy food -- more concept than taste. I thought "o.k. good way to alienate half your potential customer base." But I guess he knows his market.

 

I thought kale in everything.  They do love their kale.

Kevin's pitched concept was only marginally better than the fried chicken one he mentioned earlier.  And who really cares what the average price is at a "restaurant" where nobody is going to pay for their meal?  It could have been in Schrute bucks.

 

[Adeejay]

12 hours ago, buttersister said:

I like Bryan, I rooted for him in his first season. But he’s so far off his game, can’t tell if there’s a 180 coming or if he’ll just be gone really soon. 

I am rooting for Bryan too, but so far, he isn't doing very well.  Hopefully, he will be able to turn it around. 

[chabelisaywow]

Quote

I like Bryan, I rooted for him in his first season. But he’s so far off his game, can’t tell if there’s a 180 coming or if he’ll just be gone really soon. 

I felt he got cheated his first season - by of all people, the douchey Voltaggio.

He really has not found success since then - his restaurants don't seem to have much luck. 

The douchey Voltaggio was on Grocery Games this week and he looked like a heroin addict.

[Rammchick]

5 hours ago, joanne3482 said:

For no logical reason at all, I thought this was going to just be a 2 parter without an elimination in the middle at all. So I was surprised they did do an elimination.  I guess their view is that a "Top Chef" wants his/her own space. But I do agree that there were some who definitely had the advantage. 

Because they brought back Karen, they had an odd number of people.  So someone had to be eliminated before going into Restaurant Wars.

[seltzer3]

1 hour ago, meep.meep said:

I thought kale in everything.  They do love their kale.

Kevin's pitched concept was only marginally better than the fried chicken one he mentioned earlier.  And who really cares what the average price is at a "restaurant" where nobody is going to pay for their meal?  It could have been in Schrute bucks.

 

I feel like Malarkey seemed to be merging millenials/hipsters which is kind of offensive.

It would be hilarious, if next week people were paying with monopoly dollars.

Also, the idea of being asked how many customers would be seated is a stupid question as well.  Because they are obviously not going to follow the # of customers, to be fair for both teams.

That would be pretty awesome to game the system.
Padma: "How many people will be in your restaurant."
Contestant: "Actually only one person can be walked into the restaurant.  And we will have 20 minute breaks, between each person."

 

 

Edited May 1, 2020 by seltzer3

[dleighg]

Just now, seltzer3 said:

I feel like Malarkey seemed to be merging millenials/hipsters which is kind of offensive.

Yeah, by now most of millenials are married with kids. The youngest ones are mid-twenties. The oldest are pushing 40! I think they are destined to always be those annoying teenagers/college students in popular mythology. 

Quote

... 1981 to 1996 a widely accepted defining range for the generation.

 

[Ashforth]

5 hours ago, Rai said:

In a similar vein, I'm a little uncomfortable with Kevin's concept being one of the winners, since a Southern restaurant inspired by the spice trade (at least the European era, which I assume Kevin was referencing) evokes colonialism at best, and also could fall into slave trade territory, only from the slavers' perspective, which. Gross. I can't help but wonder how Eric thought about that. This may be entirely too much thematic analysis of restaurant concepts, but to further illustrate my point, Columbus was part of this spice trade era and emblematic of it. In short, it just feels like problematic territory.

I'm born, raised and live in Texas and I've never heard of the dish called Country Captain. I looked online and yes, it's a chicken curry dish, so that gives Kevin some credibility. I know from the show that Kevin and Eric are friends, but I thought that the restaurant concept of Country Captain based on the spice trade seemed like a subtle way for Kevin to backstab Eric. As a practical matter, if we have to parse out political issues relating to every kind of food... oh, I don't even know how to end this sentence. We might just never eat.

I have to hand it to Kevin, though, that he did chicken breasts that weren't dried out. His family-style pot looked great. Didn't he do a fabulous-looking family-style dish in the awful beach-fire challenge that disappointed the judges with its flavors? 

2 hours ago, meep.meep said:

I hate Restaurant Wars.  It always seems to take out someone I want to see go farther.

Restaurant Wars has always been my least favorite of Top Chef challenges, and I've always been baffled as to why it gets so much love. I hate team challenges in what is supposed to be an individual competition. That's why I was HAPPY that Melissa's concept wasn't chosen. Her food seems so delicate and beautiful and personal, I would hate to see it decimated in the hurley-burley bullshit of the frenzy that is Restaurant Wars.

Edited May 1, 2020 by Ashforth
It's good to get the names right