S17.E08: Restaurant Wars

[FormerMod-a1]

Quote

It's Restaurant Wars and this season Padma takes all the limitations off the table as the chefs can make as much food as they want and shop wherever they choose; two chefs are given 48 hours to pick their teams and create the restaurants.

Original air date: May 7, 2020

[tribeca]

What did Gregory say when the asked him why he choose Brian M?  I went back a few times and could never make it out.  

[VintageJ]

Quote

What did Gregory say when the asked him why he choose Brian M?  I went back a few times and could never make it out

Someone asked that in the live thread.  The answer was he would be front of house.

Edited May 8, 2020 by VintageJ

[susannot]

Gregory wanted him to do front of house.   A good decision!!

 

I admire tremendously Kevin's decision to say the captain goes down with the ship, and to not throw any of his other teammates under the bus.  He is truly a gentleman and a great guy.

[Bastet]

10 minutes ago, tribeca said:

What did Gregory say when the asked him why he choose Brian M?  I went back a few times and could never make it out.

I had to pop over to the Live Chat thread while this was airing to ask the same thing - it was that Malarkey would be front of the house.

I LOL at Padma’s “May I ask why?” when Gregory picked Malarkey as his first choice.  (Wanting him for FOH makes sense, but “Um, what?” was my instinctive reaction, too.)  

I also may have done a little clap for more Stephanie Izard; I really like her.                           

I like the free reign, and numerous shopping options they got this time, but until producers start hiring trained service staff, Restaurant Wars is never going to be a truly great challenge.  And they should have more help setting up the dining room.

It would clearly all be food I'd be happy to have the chance to try, but neither cuisine is near the top of my favorites list, so I wasn’t particularly excited by either menu like I have been in some previous RWs.  At least in the prep stage – once I started seeing the food, I really wanted to eat at Kann.  And they were the clear winners, at least from what was aired.

Before I get to the food, I must say I loved Stephanie stepping in and saying it would be more helpful if she expedited; Lee Anne wasn’t going to get very good results with her style of dealing with the staff.

Kann:  I wasn’t sure if the menu blurb was going to be overdone, but I was pleased to see it come out well. 

First: On the whole (I don’t much care for plantains), I think I’d have really enjoyed this course.

Second:  The fish looked terrific.  I don’t like rice and beans, but I love chicken thighs.  So I’d have been pleased with this course, too.

Third: I wasn’t excited by the dessert, but I have perhaps less affection for sweet than the average person.

The Country Captain:  Those menus did look ‘80s (and, I know this was in a talking head, not on the menu, but “the plantation South” makes me uncomfortable, not hungry, Kevin), and it just didn’t come together – problems on every level, and some of them inherent to deciding to do family style in a challenge in which customers (eating for free and wanting to be on TV) linger too long even when they have courses designed to keep them moving.  Kevin was the right one to go.

First:  The canapes looked good, but I agree with Tom that none of it screamed “southern”.

Second:  While, as I said, I love chicken thighs, this country captain dish doesn’t really do it for me.  And, really, the only side I particularly wanted was Karen’s – but, apparently, it wasn’t very good.  This is all just personal taste; I don’t particularly like several of the ingredients used in the umpteen sides.

Third:  I hate bananas, but if it was made with something I liked, it would have been visually appealing.  It was rather big for something everyone was getting an individual serving of, though.

[susannot]

Kevin's banana pudding won in Season 6 and apparently it is a winner in his restaurant so I can see why he used it.  

[AttackTurtle]

I hate Restaurant Wars!  We seem to always lose a great chef....come on now!  We’re supposed to be happy with Stephanie, Leanne, etc... still in it and Kevin gone! 
I’m really hoping that Kevin cleans house in Last Chance Kitchen.  
Setting aside my bitterness about Kevin leaving way too soon....Gregory did a great job.  

[hendersonrocks]

Quote

I admire tremendously Kevin's decision to say the captain goes down with the ship, and to not throw any of his other teammates under the bus. 

It was a metaphor that actually worked well in this instance. I appreciated him taking the high road, and he obviously comes out looking better for it since it was almost certain he would be going home anyways. 

I thoroughly enjoyed that Gregory's team of misfits kicked ass even though it's past time for LeeAnn and Malarkey to both be gone. I thoroughly enjoyed Stephanie just getting shit done tonight and being the cool head they needed during service. Gregory did a fantastic job making his vision clear to everyone who walked in the door and setting clear expectations for all on his team. 

Gregory and Melissa are the ones to beat, no doubt. I think Bryan Voltaggio probably slides into the third spot with Kevin's departure.

[catrice2]

I eat crow. I said it would not be Kevin....and I was wrong!   I don't think, however, there is any way they won't let him "fight back" from Last Chance kitchen. 

C

[tribeca]

Sorry I had no idea there was a live thread. 
Really liked Kevin.  Was worried for Bryan B.  He had so little airtime but when he was on it seemed he was saying what was wrong.

Karen didn’t do a good job at front of the house and her dish was bad.  Surprised she stayed. 

[Dawn]

I hate to see Kevin leave this early, especially before some of the weaker ones (yes, like Stephanie, LeeAnne), but I think in this case it was absolutely the right call. He aimed too high, and really needed to edit -- and ask for more feedback and input from his very talented and experienced teammates. (They all seemed to understand that they were taking on way too much.)

I'll wish him luck in LCK. 

[avecsans]

I am very happy that Gregory’s team won, but unless I missed it, there was not an overall winner. Strange. Also strange was Kevin being eliminated with no discussion. Good for him for falling on his sword, and I fully expect him to be back at the end; however, he must stop talking about the “plantation south” as if it were anything other than an abomination.

 I don’t like that such mediocre chefs as Malarkey, Leeann and Karen are still in at this point.  And they are all super annoying in their own ways.  I was so worried when Gregory took Malarkey over Melissa. I thought he should have picked her first, because Kevin would not have picked him.  I’m glad it worked out.

Stephanie Izard is still my very favorite cheftestant and she is a great judge.

[catrice2]

I'm always interested in chefs like Kevin and both Brian/Bryan?'s who come back after being on here once, or multiple times.  All three have successful restaurants and have benefited from being on television and gaining exposure.  Do they really need the title of being Top Chef?  Hasn't Spike? ( I think that is who I am thinking of) done relatively well?  I think he came back once ( that I can remember) but at some point don't you think you stop chasing the title? For those that are private chefs or don't have their own restaurants or are trying to open one I get it, for the others I don't.  A lot of the "Top Chefs" have gone on to fail at opening their restaurants so what does it mean?  Some of them maybe should not have even opened one. Is that the only measure of how great a chef you are?  

[Msample]

Why was Padma wearing what looked like a dog collar???

kudos for Kevin falling on the sword; it was either him or Karen going home.

[catrice2]

4 minutes ago, avecsans said:

I am very happy that Gregory’s team won, but unless I missed it, there was not an overall winner. Strange. Also strange was Kevin being eliminated with no discussion. Good for him for falling on his sword, and I fully expect him to be back at the end; however, he must stop talking about the “plantation south” as if it were anything other than an abomination.

 I don’t like that such mediocre chefs as Malarkey, Leeann and Karen are still in at this point.  And they are all super annoying in their own ways.  I was so worried when Gregory took Malarkey over Melissa. I thought he should have picked her first, because Kevin would not have picked him.  I’m glad it worked out.

Stephanie Izard is still my very favorite cheftestant and she is a great judge.

Maybe they are, but I think it is difficult to think anyone is mediocre at this point.  Editing, etc. plays so much as does just someone having a bad day, or someone just having a better day. I think they are all talented in their own way and maybe even in their own specialty. I think time constraints and little "twists" make everything super complicated and some are not able to execute or handle change as well as others.  

[Irlandesa]

It was smart for Kevin to take responsibility but ultimately what did his restaurant in was his choice to do so many dishes.

I didn't think it was crazy for Eric to select Malarkey first given his experience in opening restaurants and showmanship.  It was a smart strategy.  I think too often folks in restaurant wars think their first pick needs to be the best remaining chef available or who they like the most when in reality the first pick should either be the best chef who is not a restaurant lead or the best front of house that is not a restaurant lead.  So unless Gregory was going to do FOH himself, picking the person he thought would be best FOH was wise.  I don't know that there would have been a guarantee that Malarkey would have been around had he picked Melissa.

It was nice to see that the people weren't wining about being FOH in this episode. Both FOHs took it in stride and pride to do that job. 

I have to rewatch the episode because I read something (which I probably misinterpreted) that made me think it was Gregory's team who was going to lose so it was a bit of a cognitive dissonance that his team did pretty well while Kevin's was a bit off the rails.

I was fine with Kevin going.  As I ranted in the live thread, I thought his anger over having the same place settings as Gregory's restaurant was just ridiculous. And I'm a little tired of the "the food of my grandmother" schtick.  It's fine for one's first go at Top Chef but by the second, I'd rather they not. 

 

[MerBearHou]

On Gregory’s team, I honestly thought that Stephanie rocked back of the house and Malarkey rocked front of the house.  They were both very cool under pressure and it made a great difference.  

[ProudMary]

7 minutes ago, avecsans said:

I am very happy that Gregory’s team won, but unless I missed it, there was not an overall winner. Strange.

I'd guess they didn't name an individual winner because the $40,000 prize for winning RW was being given to the winning team per Padma's original instructions.

[roctavia]

Kevin seemed really short tempered this week, maybe it was just more focus on him and it's clearly a high stress role, but he just seemed to be barking orders during the challenge and even sounded angry during a lot of the judging. I do think it was the right decision for him to go home, this was his vision and his decision to do way too many dishes for one course. 

I do think the dish thing at the store was an honest mistake, I get being a little irritated, but they really seemed to up the drama over something pretty insignificant "Hey, that was actually our place setting we just set up with the guy, you might want to look for something else"   Or did they both end up using the same dishes? I was distracted by the food and not looking at the plates for Kann. 

Gregory's team seemed to have a better flow with their food for the prep and service. I expected Malarky would have no issues with front of the house. 

I am surprised there was such an obvious fail for the 2nd restaurant, usually it's a little closer that you aren't sure which team will be the winner... Gregory's food looked and sounded more appealing to me. 

[catrice2]

1 minute ago, Irlandesa said:

It was smart for Kevin to take responsibility but ultimately what did his restaurant in was his choice to do so many dishes.

I didn't think it was crazy for Eric to select Malarkey first given his experience in opening restaurants and showmanship.  It was a smart strategy.  I think too often folks in restaurant wars think their first pick needs to be the best remaining chef available or who they like the most when in reality the first pick should either be the best chef who is not a restaurant lead or the best front of house that is not a restaurant lead.  So unless Gregory was going to do FOH himself, picking the person he thought would be best FOH was wise.  I don't know that there would have been a guarantee that Malarkey would have been around had he picked Melissa.

It was nice to see that the people weren't wining about being FOH in this episode. Both FOHs took it in stride and pride to do that job. 

I have to rewatch the episode because I read something (which I probably misinterpreted) that made me think it was Gregory's team who was going to lose so it was a bit of a cognitive dissonance that his team did pretty well while Kevin's was a bit off the rails.

I was fine with Kevin going.  As I ranted in the live thread, I thought his anger over having the same place settings as Gregory's restaurant was just ridiculous. And I'm a little tired of the "the food of my grandmother" schtick.  It's fine for one's first go at Top Chef but by the second, I'd rather they not. 

 

Last week they showed previews of Gregory's team going rather smoothly and the other team not. I was worried that it was a fakeout.  Although both teams had problems, the preview was fairly accurate about who was struggling. I just think Gregory did a better job of making sure everyone understood his vision and for the most part he seemed to be super supportive and calm and thankful.  I am sure Kevin was too, it just wasn't edited that way. 

[ProudMary]

2 minutes ago, Irlandesa said:

I have to rewatch the episode because I read something (which I probably misinterpreted) that made me think it was Gregory's team who was going to lose so it was a bit of a cognitive dissonance that his team did pretty well while Kevin's was a bit off the rails.

 

 

There absolutely had been a post in the spoiler thread indicating that not only was Gregory's team the losing team but that Gregory himself was PYKAG'd. The second the episode ended, I headed for the spoiler thread to make a comment and that post was gone.

[Tess23]

26 minutes ago, avecsans said:

 

Quote

 I don’t like that such mediocre chefs as Malarkey, Leeann and Karen are still in at this point.

 

Karen is a James Beard award winner. Hardly mediocre.

Edited May 8, 2020 by Tess23

[Fostersmom]

7 minutes ago, MerBearHou said:

On Gregory’s team, I honestly thought that Stephanie rocked back of the house and Malarkey rocked front of the house.  They were both very cool under pressure and it made a great difference.  

Stephanie really stepped up when she suggested she should expedite. LeeAnn was melting down and very easily could have tanked the whole thing. Malarkey was a genius pick. They always bitch about having to be front of the house and still have to get their dishes done. Malarkey didn't say a word about it, got his shit done, and actually got his wait staff almost doing decent. Pus, he knows how to work a room like no other. Unlike Karen who instantly tried to throw Melissa under the bus and told a customer she was sorry they had to wait "so friggen long". So friggen long? Tacky. I'm just glad she didn't wear a sleeveless dress this time. I remember bitching about her dress last time, no one wants to see your armpits while at dinner. 

[buttersister]

Gregory was top chef tonight. He got the best FOH, had a clear vision that he communicated to everyone, cooked his ass off and made food so delicious the judges didn’t miss the oxtails like they thought they would. He had to be kvelling when Tom said he wanted to go to Haiti. Kudos, dude.

Big shoutout to MALARKEY, he did his dish and put together that restaurant without a whine (I have to imagine they would have shown it if he did). 

[MerBearHou]

10 minutes ago, Fostersmom said:

Malarkey didn't say a word about it, got his shit done, and actually got his wait staff almost doing decent.

Malarkey also didn’t berate or lose it even in the slightest with the two women who were at the front door and struggling a bit with seating — unlike LeeAnne who was so rude and belittling to the staff in the back.

Way to go, Stephanie, for stepping up when she saw LeeAnne about to blow it for everyone.

Another point for Malarkey’s manner tonight was how calm he was in the back when he was encouraging Gregory to get the fish out — Gregory was frazzled and needed more time to present the fish he envisioned.  Malarkey was just right in his measured response with Gregory, I thought.  He let him know there was a time crunch but still backed off to let Gregory finish properly.  And that sure paid off for Gregory and the team.

Edited May 8, 2020 by MerBearHou

[dgpolo]

3 minutes ago, buttersister said:

Big shoutout to MALARKEY, he did his dish and put together that restaurant without a whine (I have to imagine they would have shown it if he did). 

I agree. Last week I knew out of everybody he would be the best FOH. The best ones I remember have all had that 'gift of gab' going for them.

[Ashforth]

Gregory's choice to not do the oxtail again was so smart - if it had not lived up to the memory the judges had of the first time, it could have really hurt him. 

That's part of what happened to Kevin - his centerpiece dish, the Country Captain, was not nearly as good as when he made it for the pitch. He also refused to edit his menu despite the obvious misgivings of Bryan V and Melissa. If you're going to choose the arguably highest caliber chefs remaining in the competition to form your team, why not listen to them?

That being said, if it is possible to simultaneously take the high road while going down with the ship, Kevin did it. That was a class act.

[JD5166]

55 minutes ago, AttackTurtle said:

I hate Restaurant Wars!  We seem to always lose a great chef....come on now!  We’re supposed to be happy with Stephanie, Leanne, etc... still in it and Kevin gone! 
I’m really hoping that Kevin cleans house in Last Chance Kitchen.  
Setting aside my bitterness about Kevin leaving way too soon....Gregory did a great job.  

Love his honorable stepping up, tho! I doubt we've seen the last of him. 

[CoyoteBlue]

39 minutes ago, roctavia said:

Kevin seemed really short tempered this week, maybe it was just more focus on him and it's clearly a high stress role, but he just seemed to be barking orders during the challenge and even sounded angry during a lot of the judging. 

13 minutes ago, Ashforth said:

He also refused to edit his menu despite the obvious misgivings of Bryan V and Melissa. If you're going to choose the arguably highest caliber chefs remaining in the competition to form your team, why not listen to them?

Yeah, before he took the high road, it sounded like he was trying to say his team was making bad choices and he should have "stepped in" (and I know it's probably just editing, but twice when Kevin was saying that, Bryan gave different, subtle "I'm sorry, what?" looks.). But we know Melissa and Bryan both tried on camera to get him to dial back. 

You know what's better than being the "captain that didn't jump in the lifeboat", Kev? Being the captain that didn't get his ship sunk. Still, good luck with LCK, sir. 

 

[Bastet]

In praising Stephanie for stepping in to expedite, I forgot to also note the great feedback she got for the salt cod patties -- I love how she asked Gregory for the origin and tradition of the dish and then executed it perfectly based on that feedback. 

She's not as imaginative or ambitious as many of the chefs left, but she makes terrific food other than when she's totally out of her depth; when she knows what she is supposed to be doing - either because she's confident in her own take on a challenge or she's made herself comfortable with parameters filtered down to her through a teammate positioned above her in a group challenge - she nails it. 

She's inconsistent and hesitant enough when she doesn't that, in how this challenge is played and with this caliber of competition, she's not a true contender for winner.  But she's great.  If I wanted to employ a personal chef and she lived in L.A. instead of San Francisco, I'd hire her in a heartbeat.  (I'd also just invite her out for drinks and conversation regardless; I really dig her personality as well as her food.)

[mlp]

1 hour ago, Fostersmom said:

Unlike Karen who instantly tried to throw Melissa under the bus and told a customer she was sorry they had to wait "so friggen long". So friggen long? Tacky. I'm just glad she didn't wear a sleeveless dress this time. I remember bitching about her dress last time, no one wants to see your armpits while at dinner. 

I have never liked Karen so I was hoping she'd be eliminated because her dishes weren't good and neither was her attitude but I have to agree that Kevin was the right choice despite hating to see him go.  I didn't understand Kevin's menu.  Fancy appetizers and curried chicken aren't things I'd ever associate with country cooking.  

I like Brian M. even though he is exhausting.  He did a great job.  One of the best things that team did was have the wait staff sample the dishes.  That way they felt like part of the team and, importantly, they knew what they were serving.  I noticed that Brian thanked them at the end too.  The contrast with Karen's attitude and behavior was, um, interesting.

I like Bryan V. but I think I'm on team Gregory for the win.

[CraftyHazel]

I know that Kevin really did sink his own ship, but Karen as FOH, dropping food off of plates, spilling wine on customers, and generally acting like a petulant bitch didn’t set well with me, either.  Of course, I haven’t ever liked her, so that may be coloring my perception.

And I like Malarkey.  I know he’s a schmoozer and a cornball, and I don’t really care.  He won’t win, and really, he doesn’t deserve to...but he’s fun while he lasts.  
I prefer his personality to someone like Karen’s.

I’d love Kevin to come back from LCK, and I want him and Gregory in the finale.

[Quilt Fairy]

I don't quite understand the physical set-up.  Why were the kitchens outside in a tent?

[GaT]

How long have they been doing restaurant wars? And they still can't get competent wait staff? I doubt it, at this point it has to be a deliberate choice to hire staff that always has problems understanding what they're supposed to do. 

[SemiCharmedLife]

Wow!  I really thought that Gregory had an uphill battle, with his chefs not knowing about Haitian cuisine, and getting second choice on selecting his team, but they worked well together and pulled it off!

I'm a little surprised that Karen wasn't up for elimination, along with Kevin, since her dish was the judges least favorite and FOH was pretty abysmal.  Kevin decided to take full responsibility for how things went and the judges just went for it.  We may see him kill it in LCK.

[Makenna]

1 hour ago, Quilt Fairy said:

I don't quite understand the physical set-up.  Why were the kitchens outside in a tent?

The kitchens have always been outside in separate tents during Restaurant Wars. It's because the pop up restaurants the chefs create are never in actual formal restaurant/dining establishments but are rather created in empty warehouse/office spaces seeing as they are only meant to be temporary. 

[TwopLurker]

Leanne got redemption for the wedding cake that sent her home in her first season!

Gregory’s team exemplified everything I love about Top Chef, hyper competent cooking with a nice morale all around. Stephanie won’t win this season but she is such a joy to watch and feels so real and honest. Add me to the crowd that would like to shoot the shit with her over several glasses of wine.

Kevin really sunk his team, interesting that we didn’t see Bryan V voicing any of his very valid concerns to Kevin. 
 

Eric’s season and focus on his Middle Passage concept have really soured me on “southern cooking” on this show. Eric has really honed in on exactly who these recipes were taken from and cooked by and I wish he could have articulated his concept better last episode.

[Ellee]

Karen fully expected to get blamed for everything.  Probably rightly so in a normal season.   I didn’t like her comment about how everyone was supposed to help her with her dish.  The way it was said.  She lost points with me there.  
 

Kevin said and did exactly what one would expect him to say.  
 

I always wonder how these people can ‘leave their world’ for this length of time without there being situations that make it necessary for them to make a choice on the competition or real life.  This episode seemed that way to me.  

 

[AttackTurtle]

7 hours ago, JD5166 said:

Love his honorable stepping up, tho! I doubt we've seen the last of him. 

That was the least shocking thing on the episode.   That’s always how Kevin has behaved.  I get why he got the boot (I’d rather have seen Karen go), but I just hate Restaurant Wars.

And Leanne not cool this episode.  Good for Stephanie for putting the kabash to that behavior.  
 

Gregory picking Malarkey was super smart.   Love him or hate him (I actually like him), he’s been crazy successful opening restaurants.   He also knew that the win for them likely meant the ouster of a huge threat.  (Hopefully not for long). 

[gorgy]

Can we stop with the front of the house position in restaurant wars? It's the one thing that creates unnecessary drama all the time. Bring in professionals, or celebrities, or even past Cheftestants. I'm sure Malarkey would love the screen time every season. Unless there some small bistro or a server is out sick, no real restaurant has one of the line cooks also running the floor. Why don't we have somebody cleaning dishes or doing coat check while we're at it?

[Fukui San]

I think I'd structure Restaurant Wars in this way: Each team gets to hire specialists. The show provides some that they interview and decide to take on or not. So maybe you can hire a FOH person or a sous chef.  If you have a Fabio or Brian Malarkey who can rock the FOH you can take the sous chef who will just do the scut work for you.  If you hire the FOH and they fail, you are still responsible for that failure, so it's important to hire someone good. It more closely reflects how it happens in real life.

[Ashforth]

 

18 minutes ago, AttackTurtle said:

Gregory picking Malarkey was super smart.   Love him or hate him (I actually like him), he’s been crazy successful opening restaurants.   He also knew that the win for them likely meant the ouster of a huge threat.  (Hopefully not for long). 

It's easy to assume when watching that the "pick your team" decisions are made somewhat on the fly, but it seems pretty clear that Gregory and Malarkey strategized that move together, specifically to get the three biggest threats on one team in hope of picking one off. Gregory seems like such a sweet, earnest guy that one may not expect him to be a calculating competitor, but yes, hey, you go Gregory!

And Malarkey was nothing less than brilliant as FOH. 

[Rai]

As a longtime Top Chef viewer, I'm actually pretty amused that Malarkey was picked to be FOH when on his season, he was really not great at it. But fortunately for his hide in that season, it was really the food that did in the team, so he got a pass (and showed improvement from their "soft opening" night on a previous episode). I'm always going to appreciate a cheftestant who shows improvement from one season to another, so good job on being way better this time around, dude. But he didn't start out a natural.

And speaking of past FOH, I really do love Karen, but she was not at her best in this episode. In fact, she conveniently glossed over the fact that on her season, Marjorie actually trained the staff for her because Karen was running behind on her food. So she didn't necessarily rock it as hard as she thought she did then, although once she got in the dining room, she was good. Unlike this episode. YIKES. I cringed a lot.

AND. Speaking of CRINGE. Last week, I was uncomfortable with Kevin evoking the spice trade for his inspiration, given how easily that references colonialism and slavery. This week, he straight up called it "plantation cooking," which is such a yikes in this day and age. I just would not advise calling out that influence at all. And again, it calls into question the optics of booting Eric's concept that openly acknowledges the slave influence on American cuisine in favor of promoting a while guy's "plantation cooking" concept. "Grandma's house"? Okay. "Plantation cooking"? God no. Please do not.

Edited May 10, 2020 by Rai
To clarify Malarkey's separate FOH outings.

[rhygirl720]

musings and rankings:

Gregory: he really impressed me last night! His vision was executed to near perfection, every detail created the vibe he was looking for,  He made a genius choice with Malarky. Judges loved the food. Total class act!

Malarky: Great FOS ! Cool under pressure! Judges liked his dish. Did everything that was asked of him and did it very well.

Stephanie: Judges loved her dish and the way she handled Leanne's meltdown was exemplary. Also handled the pressure very well.

Bryan V, Melissa: both handled their role very well. Both expressed concern over Kevin's execution (validly) Ultimately both just kept their heads down and cooked. I loved watching both of them prep in the kitchen!

Leanne: Judges liked her dessert and her salad...so kudos to her.other than her meltdown she did a good job.

Karen: total disaster! She just didn't have a handle on the FOS and her dish was not well done.

Kevin: painful to watch last night. He took on too  much and he was frazzled and it showed. Disappointed in his choices, from décor to menu. Went out with class.

Quote

 

 

[FormerMod-a1]

I like Kevin, and hope he comes back via Last Chance Kitchen, but he was the right choice to go home.  Almost everything that went wrong was due to his vision - from the excessive numbers of sides/dishes, to lack of cohesion in the food, to the decor.  Yeah, some of the food wasn't great (Karen's mushrooms) but that would have easily been rectified with fewer dishes and therefore being able to perfect each one better.  Those canapes should have either been handed out by waiters with big trays (as the judges suggested) or made into real appetizers.  Aside from the mushrooms, it sounds like the food tasted good, it just didn't go well together.  And while, yes, his chicken wasn't as good as last week, it sounds like it was still good.  So, overall, I do think it was tasty food, but too much of a mish mash.  Again, that could have been rectified with fewer dishes since they could have focused more and thought it out more.  All that said, even though this was Kevin's vision, I don't know that it materialized the way he envisioned.  

[khyber]

9 hours ago, dgpolo said:

I agree. Last week I knew out of everybody he would be the best FOH. The best ones I remember have all had that 'gift of gab' going for them.

Like Fabio.

[absolutelyido]

I know Country Captain is the name of a dish, but it still seems like such a bad name for a restaurant to me. It sounds like the kind of place where pre-prepared food comes out of the freezer and is just heated up in the kitchen.

[lh25]

9 hours ago, GaT said:

How long have they been doing restaurant wars? And they still can't get competent wait staff? I doubt it, at this point it has to be a deliberate choice to hire staff that always has problems understanding what they're supposed to do. 

That's my theory at this point.  To test how well the FOH deals with it.  

I'm not a fan of RW.  I want it to be about each chef making their dish, I'm not even much a fan of team challenges.

Edited May 8, 2020 by lh25
"n" and "m" are different letters...

[VintageJ]

First, let me just say that I loved the way they all got to pitch a restaurant and the top two got to open their restaurants. I hope they keep that.

Now I love Kevin and adore Gregory so I knew it would be hard on me this week.  But Kevin, my Love, the idea of plantation cooking does nothing for me.  Like, at all.  Now Grandma’s house, yes.  Plantation, no.  A big no.  He and Eric almost have the same concept, just from different views.  Can you imagine if they both won and got to do their restaurants?  Why are we eating the same foods in both restaurants?  Anyway, ...

Besides having way too many dishes, it seemed like his concept was a little confusing at first.  My grandmother never, not once, brought a plate of cutesy, “cheffy” canapés to the table.  It almost makes me think the judges went to the restaurants in the opposite order when Tom spoke about the fact that Gregory didn’t try to chef it up in his restaurant.  And I could barely keep up with all of the dishes. But I love that Kevin took all of the blame at judges table and went out in the best way possible.  I’m sure he’ll rock it in LCK.

Gregory choosing Malarkey was inspired. And he rocked it.  He set up the restaurant, was very good with the wait staff and when Gregory was stressed over the fish, he knew to not push and just gently guided him.  I loved his running commentary about keeping calm and not letting the diners become aware of any chaos in the kitchen.  It really showed his strengths and he rose up in my eyes, even though I never had anything against him.

And even though I already like Stephanie, she rose a couple of levels in my eyes.  As LeeAnn said, she was a sea of calm during the storm. I loved how she was all like “Oh no, we will NOT talk to the wait staff like that” and helped calm the situation. You could see LeeAnn was surprised, I think, that she was assertive and kind of pissed.  But, to her credit, LeeAnn didn’t let it throw her off and she put her head down and just made an awesome salad and dessert.  

Gregory, I would go to your restaurant in a heartbeat.  I understood Gregory when he didn’t want to make the same thing twice.  Thankfully, his dishes made the judges not miss the oxtails at all.  When they first started eating and the table was quiet, I was thinking the food must be good because no one is talking, they’re just eating.  And when Tom said that Gregory’s felt like an actual restaurant, that sealed the deal.

All in all, I enjoyed this RW.

 

Edited May 8, 2020 by VintageJ
Because I forgot to add

[Fukui San]

31 minutes ago, absolutelyido said:

I know Country Captain is the name of a dish, but it still seems like such a bad name for a restaurant to me. It sounds like the kind of place where pre-prepared food comes out of the freezer and is just heated up in the kitchen.

Just hearing the name "Country Captain Restaurant", I would assume that it's some sort of Southern seafood restaurant.