S17.E08: Restaurant Wars

[Fostersmom]

21 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.

Naming a restaurant after a dish just doesn't make sense. Has anyone ever gone to a restaurant named after one particular dish? Not even Red Lobster is an actual dish and Subway and Burger King are general categories of food. The name also didn't match the decor at all.... unless Kevin's grandma is living in a tacky 80's night club. Was there pink neon lighting? 

I can't believe Kevin never even went out to the judges table once and I can't believe the judges never mentioned it. If anything, that was a big indication to the judges how in the weeds he was. 

 

[CrazyInAlabama]

I was shocked at Plategate, and Kevin flying off the handle like that.   My guess is the plate place has plenty of stock to supply both restaurants, so that was over the top to react like that.   I suspect Kevin is still recovering, and easier to anger these days.   I suspect that was the real Kevin, and not the person he's been pretending to be this season. 

I loved everything Gregory's team did, and how they worked as a team.   I loved the decor, the menu, and that fact that even when things weren't going great, they charged ahead and got through it.   I hope that Gregory does get to open his Haitian concept restaurant, and it will be a total success. 

I cringed at the "Plantation Cooking" remark too.    Calling it Southern was good enough, but Plantation was not appropriate.     

I hated the decor in Kevin's restaurant, maybe the Golden Girls theme was what his grandmother liked, but I hated it, and more importantly, so did the judges.    

 

Edited May 14, 2020 by CrazyInAlabama

[dleighg]

11 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.

except I do remember one FOH a few seasons back having TOO much gift for gab; I can't recall who it was, other than the person was female. Maybe Tiffany Derry?

[dleighg]

25 minutes ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

I was shocked at Plategate, and Kevin flying off the handle like that.   My guess is the plate place has plenty of stock to supply both restaurants, so that was over the top to react like that. 

It seems to me that Brian took the plates off the wall and just happened to choose the same ones-- no "stealing" going on. And to react like that? Who cares if some of the plates are the same?

[HurricaneVal]

Gregory straight up owned Restaurant Wars last night, and was a pleasure to watch.  I usually don't like the RW episode, because usually both teams end up in the weeds like Kevin's and it is a total disaster.  Gregory must have spent all the time since his season strategizing how he would do his RW if he ever had the opportunity.  Gregory didn't pick a culinary team, Gregory picked a restaurant team.  From the moment he picked Malarky right off the bat, I saw that he was picking for the role, not for the cooking. 

Some folks upthread were talking that Gregory chose the way he did to put the heavy hitters on the other team as a deep strategy so as to force one of the stronger competitors to go home.  I don't really think that was the reason--though it was a nice bonus.  I think Gregory carefully chose his team to be the lower key chefs left in the comp, and the ones with less ego--with the glaring exception of Malarky, for whom he had other plans.  Because his food was so specific in cuisine, he needed chefs who would execute his vision without trying to "chef it up" with their own personal spin.

He managed that kitchen, and was on top of everything.  He kept all the chefs working with just the right touch of leadership and authority and they stayed focused.  He pretty much completely left the front of the house to Malarky, which he knew would satisfy Malarky's huge ego and controlling tendencies.  He kept Malarky tamed.  That in and of itself was an amazing feat of toddler wrangling.

Well done.  Did it seem to you that the judges were surprised?  I think they're used to the train wreck that is their usual experience during Restaurant Wars.  They had a completely normal dining experience at Gregory's restaurant.  Then going to Kevin's.....they had the typical Restaurant Wars experience.

[FormerMod-a1]

It looked to me like Kevin's team finalized their plates, then they showed Malarky walking over and taking one of the same and saying "these are it for us".  But I'm not going to watch again because I don't think Kevin's reaction was a big deal nor them both having the same   I can see being annoyed, they are trying to create distinct dining experiences and with the judges going to Gregory's place first it would look like Kevin copied them when that wasn't it.  And, when in the moment of picking out designs he couldn't see what they were doing, so being done and looking up and seeing them walk over and say "we want these" I can see how it'd look suspicious.  And now it's taken me longer to think and type about this than it took to air the short little bickering segment. 

[lh25]

2 minutes ago, aquarian1 said:

It looked to me like Kevin's team finalized their plates, then they showed Malarky walking over and taking one of the same and saying "these are it for us". 

To me, it looked like Malarky thought the plates were part of a store display, and didn't realize the other team had set it up.  I'm not going back to check either 🙂

[slaterain]

I generally enjoy Restaurant Wars and also enjoyed this one - I think there is something interesting to see them work more as an actual restaurant and handle the two seating pressure. I also think it really shows the collaboration that can make restaurants so successful. So I of course enjoyed this ep. i really liked them having the pitches to determine the concept for the restaurant. That helped avoid some of the initial craziness. 

Regarding plategate - Malarkey actually picked up the plate from the other team's display as opposed to grabbing one from the stock which was shitty imo. Did it warrant the full-blown  anger - not really. An eye roll and a dude as you took the plate back if you were still building the placesetting. But I think they were done. Kevin seemed to put a lot of pressure on himself to make it his full dream and the stress really destroyed his calm that we have seen in other eps. Who cares if you use the same basic white plate!!! No one will notice. 

Gregory and his team did an amazing job! I want to try everything there and definitely will go to his restaurant whenever he finally gets it going. Kevin's had absolutely no appeal to me. So I do think the right person went home. But Karen was a close second - this would have been a good double elimination ep. She was a mess. 

My one wish on restaurant wars is that they would at least all have time to pitch in putting tables together and getting the restaurant setup the day before separate from prep/cooking time. There is no reason one person should be tasked with all those things. I do think previous seasons where the team split up training the staff while each had time to cook was a better method to balance the setup. 

 

[CrazyInAlabama]

I think that Kevin's group selected the plates, and stacked them on a table.   Then Malarkey came over and selected the same ones, then Kevin yelled at him.    If that was the biggest spat they could find to air, then it wasn't much at all.     

Leanne's dust up was significant, but settled quickly and efficiently too, so not too much fighting for RW. 

I really liked the plates everyone chose too.     

I really would like to taste the friend plantains, they looked tasty, and everyone was raving about them.  

I really hated Kevin's reference to Plantation Cooking.    He should have known better. 

The show should have arranged to have the tables put together, and chairs unwrapped.    I think in previous years they did do that.  Or it might vary by the supply company.      

Also, they always seem to hire the least skilled wait staff, which is an accomplishment in L.A. with all of the out of work actors waiting tables.         It could also be that they staff wasn't trained well enough on table numbers, and how to manage the ticket turn in.  

Edited May 8, 2020 by CrazyInAlabama

[dleighg]

Yeah I did bother to go back and look; I had thought Brian picked the plate(s) off the display wall, but I see that he picked it up off the table RIGHT NEXT TO THE DISPLAY WALL. I really don't think he knew it was the other teams choices-- he just saw them sitting there.

[hula-la]

50 minutes ago, dleighg said:

except I do remember one FOH a few seasons back having TOO much gift for gab; I can't recall who it was, other than the person was female. Maybe Tiffany Derry?

I remember Stephen in Season 1? who went on and on about the wine. As a Canadian, I'm sad that we have no (legal) way to watch previous seasons of Top Chef. I would love to go back and watch old episodes.

Chalk me up as yet another person who was so impressed with Gregory's restaurant.  @HurricaneVal was spot on when she said he picked a restaurant team. When he first picked Malarkey, I hesitated for a second, then remembered his history with opening restaurants. Smart, smart decision, and it was a joy to watch his restaurant function. Also, kudos to Gregory, who along with Karen, was nominated for James Beard awards this week.

[politichick]

46 minutes ago, HurricaneVal said:

Gregory straight up owned Restaurant Wars last night, and was a pleasure to watch.  I usually don't like the RW episode, because usually both teams end up in the weeds like Kevin's and it is a total disaster.  Gregory must have spent all the time since his season strategizing how he would do his RW if he ever had the opportunity.  Gregory didn't pick a culinary team, Gregory picked a restaurant team.  From the moment he picked Malarky right off the bat, I saw that he was picking for the role, not for the cooking. 

Some folks upthread were talking that Gregory chose the way he did to put the heavy hitters on the other team as a deep strategy so as to force one of the stronger competitors to go home.  I don't really think that was the reason--though it was a nice bonus.  I think Gregory carefully chose his team to be the lower key chefs left in the comp, and the ones with less ego--with the glaring exception of Malarky, for whom he had other plans.  Because his food was so specific in cuisine, he needed chefs who would execute his vision without trying to "chef it up" with their own personal spin.

He managed that kitchen, and was on top of everything.  He kept all the chefs working with just the right touch of leadership and authority and they stayed focused.  He pretty much completely left the front of the house to Malarky, which he knew would satisfy Malarky's huge ego and controlling tendencies.  He kept Malarky tamed.  That in and of itself was an amazing feat of toddler wrangling.

Well done.  Did it seem to you that the judges were surprised?  I think they're used to the train wreck that is their usual experience during Restaurant Wars.  They had a completely normal dining experience at Gregory's restaurant.  Then going to Kevin's.....they had the typical Restaurant Wars experience.

Excellent post. At first, when Gregory chose his team, I was, like, WTF? And then I got it. He was extremely strategic, a pleasant leader, tasted everything. It was masterful. I don't want to go to Haiti like Tom, but I definitely want to explore the cuisine more, which God willing, I will be able to do if I ever get to exit my social distancing from my childhood home and return to work in WDC, where I have a Haitian colleague who frequents Haitian restaurants. Hell, I wish Gregory would open up a restaurant there as Middle Passage Eric was supposed to but is likely on hold because of the pandemic.

Leeann escapes again. Her expression when Stephanie said she wanted to expedite was golden. She should have jumped for joy. I'm glad Stephanie stepped up. She was, like, no, no, no. This shit show will not continue,

[dleighg]

2 hours 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

It makes me think of something like a shore restaurant that serves up lots of fried seafood and burgers. Not a chain, but it might as well be since you know what's on the menu before you set foot in the place.

[hendersonrocks]

Quote

I can't believe Kevin never even went out to the judges table once and I can't believe the judges never mentioned it. If anything, that was a big indication to the judges how in the weeds he was. 

They did mention it, and Tom specifically said it was a sign of how in the weeds he was! Immediately after they showed Karen asking Kevin if he wanted to come out w/ the dessert to talk with them and he basically said he wanted to but couldn't without everything falling further apart. (Unless I hallucinated that entire clip...).

[buttersister]

No hallucinating, that’s what happened.

Kevin, for the future, I see you loved your grandma. That’s nice. You know what’s not nice? Plantation cooking. For a seemingly sensitive guy, your lack of awareness is a little hard to take.

I’ll second the motion for this being a double elimination. Karen was a hot mess on all fronts—and she knew it.

[jette]

Karen just seems sour much of the time. And defensive. All she did in RW was cook mushrooms badly and drop things. This does not inspire me to ever visit her, James Beard nominee/winner or not. 

[caitmcg]

1 hour ago, HurricaneVal said:

Well done.  Did it seem to you that the judges were surprised?  I think they're used to the train wreck that is their usual experience during Restaurant Wars.  They had a completely normal dining experience at Gregory's restaurant.  Then

It wasn’t quite that smooth, because they were there an hour and in that time had only been served the first course, when editing had made a point of letting us know they had allotted 90 minutes for the whole meal, as the woman at the host stand confirmed with Padma. You’d be pretty annoyed with that delay at an actual restaurant. Which is not to say that it didn’t run a lot more smoothly than Kevin's, to be sure.

[dewelar]

25 minutes ago, buttersister said:

I’ll second the motion for this being a double elimination. Karen was a hot mess on all fronts—and she knew it.

Now THAT would have been a feat -- taken out by two double eliminations in the same season!

[dleighg]

I don't really see the appeal of serving family style at the Country Captain-- I mean I know the feel he wanted, but it seemed to lead to a whole lot of tables crowded with dishes and passing stuff around (much like Thanksgiving-- but hey that's only once a year!) Why not plate the same dishes nicely per person (subtracting one or two probably) to have a more calm experience for the diner? And yeah, just saying it's your grandmother's recipe is not a sure way to sell it to me. Some grandmothers were better cooks than others. I'd rather hear that you, as a chef, have take all that's great in this seasonally focused cooking, and used your technique and experience to make it even better.

[Quilt Fairy]

1 hour ago, dleighg said:

Yeah I did bother to go back and look; I had thought Brian picked the plate(s) off the display wall, but I see that he picked it up off the table RIGHT NEXT TO THE DISPLAY WALL. I really don't think he knew it was the other teams choices-- he just saw them sitting there.

Yeah, that's what happened.  I don't know if the plates were arranged as a place setting or not, but there was certainly no sign on them saying "These are Kevin's - DO NOT TOUCH AND DO NOT THINK OF USING THEM IN YOUR RESTAURANT!"  Kevin's reaction was way over the top and frankly, gave me some indication of how things were going to go in his restaurant.  

Malarkey was great as FOH.  He talked to a lot of people but didn't seem to be overly schmoozing as some other FOHs have been.  And every time Tom asked him how things were going he was always "Things are going smoothly, Tom, everyone's very calm, very Zen." 

Edited May 8, 2020 by Quilt Fairy

[dleighg]

Does anyone quite understand the point the judges were making about the canape course at the Country Captain? I didn't understand what they thought the team should have done, or not done. Was it that they were individually plated? Or too substantial?

[jrzy]

1 hour ago, buttersister said:

No hallucinating, that’s what happened.

Kevin, for the future, I see you loved your grandma. That’s nice. You know what’s not nice? Plantation cooking. For a seemingly sensitive guy, your lack of awareness is a little hard to take.

I’ll second the motion for this being a double elimination. Karen was a hot mess on all fronts—and she knew it.

I replayed him saying Plantation cooking because I thought I heard wrong,  I don't think it means what he thinks it means, but it was pretty insensitive.  He did the right thing though by taking the bullet for the team,  I think Karen should have put herself up for elimination as well.

 

[HurricaneVal]

I think they were commenting that they didn't really fit the theme of the restaurant, too fancy for "country" food.  They were very Brian V. style fancy.

[BlackberryJam]

4 minutes ago, dleighg said:

Does anyone quite understand the point the judges were making about the canape course at the Country Captain? I didn't understand what they thought the team should have done, or not done. Was it that they were individually plated? Or too substantial?

I think that it was a tiny bit of food, oddly plated and then they had to wait for their main course which was a ton of food done family style. It seemed like a disconnect. 

[ProudMary]

3 hours ago, Fostersmom said:

Naming a restaurant after a dish just doesn't make sense. Has anyone ever gone to a restaurant named after one particular dish? Not even Red Lobster is an actual dish and Subway and Burger King are general categories of food.

Well, there are Vietnamese restaurants with the name Pho King. Of course, they may just have another reason for naming the restaurant after their signature dish. 😉

[seltzer3]

Was a bit scared that Melissa was going to go for a bit.  Everyone kept piling tasks on her.

I feel that Kevin should have made the shrimp and grits the 2nd entree, and then paired down the side dishes.  The amuse bouche is a strange touch, because that's not really "family style".  

 

[Fukui San]

If you think about it, there are many restaurants named after a single dish that doesn't reflect it's entire menu. Most houses of Pizza or Houses of Pho. The Cheesecake Factory. Dunkin' Donuts. I know a restaurant called "Wings Cafe". Shake Shack, etc.

[lh25]

1 hour ago, Quilt Fairy said:

Kevin's reaction was way over the top and frankly, gave me some indication of how things were going to go in his restaurant.  

I think at least part of that was him being ambivalent about being one of those in charge of the restaurant.  In the scene in the kitchen of the house early on, I think he said something about it.

[carrps]

15 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

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. 

Yeah, this. It almost annoys me as much "I always cook with love." Blergh. Also, he couldn't get the same bottle of curry spice? If this is a homemade dish elevated, I'd fully expect him to have his own spice blend. Just adding jarred spices is about on a par with making grandma's green beans with Campbell Cream of Mushroom soup.

Kevin was just all wrong for me this episode. It's a lot of pressure, yes, but he is the one who upped the level of pressure, so no sympathy from me. None of his food sounded good. I HATE banana pudding. So, if I'd gotten "assigned" to Country Captain, I'd not have been pleased. 90% of that loss was on Kevin. I also didn't like him being a pissy b*tch in Pottery Barn, or wherever they were.

Kann looked fun, and the food sounded delicious. Gregory made it a bit risky with eliminating the oxtail dish, but it paid off. I wanted that fish dish NOW.

 

1 hour ago, HurricaneVal said:

I think they were commenting that they didn't really fit the theme of the restaurant, too fancy for "country" food.  They were very Brian V. style fancy.

That whole restaurant was 1980s fancy. It was dated and fussy. I could almost smell the stale pot pourri.

 

[carrps]

4 minutes ago, PoshSprinkles said:

Or don’t require the front of the house to make a dish. Just let them manage the restaurant. It’s stressful enough to run things without worrying that someone is messing up the dish you’re responsible for. 

Yeah, everybody was ragging on Karen, but she was FOH and she was assigned two dishes. She could have been less "Karen" about it, but that was a fault of Kevin's billion plate concept.

[Irlandesa]

1 hour ago, dleighg said:

I don't really see the appeal of serving family style at the Country Captain-- I mean I know the feel he wanted, but it seemed to lead to a whole lot of tables crowded with dishes and passing stuff around (much like Thanksgiving-- but hey that's only once a year!) Why not plate the same dishes nicely per person (subtracting one or two probably) to have a more calm experience for the diner?

I don't remember in detail Restaurant Wars of the past but they did talk about fewer rules this time and it seemed like, since both restaurants chose family style, everyone was served everything.  There didn't seem to be ticketing issues we've had in the past where the restaurants gave diners the option of choosing their apps and entrees. 

[VintageJ]

56 minutes ago, PoshSprinkles said:

Or don’t require the front of the house to make a dish. Just let them manage the restaurant. It’s stressful enough to run things without worrying that someone is messing up the dish you’re responsible for. 

Or just make a great soup.  You can start/do it the night before, let it develop flavors overnight and simply heat the next day.  Then, someone only has to garnish or plate your dish.  Never understood why they seem to make it so hard.

[CrazyInAlabama]

21 hours ago, dleighg said:

Does anyone quite understand the point the judges were making about the canape course at the Country Captain? I didn't understand what they thought the team should have done, or not done. Was it that they were individually plated? Or too substantial?

I think the judges, especially Tom, thought the canapes were just generic, and nothing that went with the restaurant theme.     I think they also said they were nothing special in either taste or appearance.  They really looked bland on TV.  

Actually, to me the canapes looked like the ones that were popular years ago.  A little pimento cheese on toast, or fried green tomatoes would be so much better, and would fit the theme.  

Edited May 9, 2020 by CrazyInAlabama

[Ashforth]

3 hours ago, dleighg said:

Does anyone quite understand the point the judges were making about the canape course at the Country Captain? I didn't understand what they thought the team should have done, or not done. Was it that they were individually plated? Or too substantial?

I think the point was that they were just plopped onto a plate (to the extent that they could slide right off onto the floor while being carried to the table) and had no relationship to each other or to the theme of the restaurant. And maybe didn't taste too impressive.

@CrazyInAlabama we shared a brain on this LOL.

2 hours ago, carrps said:

Also, he couldn't get the same bottle of curry spice? If this is a homemade dish elevated, I'd fully expect him to have his own spice blend. Just adding jarred spices is about on a par with making grandma's green beans with Campbell Cream of Mushroom soup.

 

I was startled by that as well. I can make a quite tasty curry-flavored dish with curry powder I buy at the grocery store, but I sure wouldn't expect to build a restaurant around it.

Edited May 8, 2020 by Ashforth

[FormerMod-a1]

The judges suggested that the canapes would have been better served en-masse - with the waiters walking the room with large platters for the guests to take one, like you see at banquets and catered affairs.  In addition to that, they did not fir the theme of the restaurant or really "go with" the rest of the food.

[Miss chi chi]

I agree with everything @HurricaneVal Said about Gregory owning this RW. I was terrified for him when he picked his team and thought he royally screwed up. He's my fav so I was pretty scared, but he knew exactly what he was doing! 

Im not a Makarkey fan but I don't think he knew those plates were Kevin's. There were place settings on every table.

Did Kevin's grandma grow up on a plantation? 😁😜

 

 

Edited May 8, 2020 by Miss chi chi

[rozen]

Wow, I think that's the first restaurant wars with such diametrically opposed approaches to running their pop-up. Both had homey, family-oriented spiels for their cuisine, and Gregory stuck with that while Kevin tried to "chef it up".

I think Gregory was smart to avoid the gunners, who would want and demand to heavily influence his dishes. While a lot of The Country Captain's failures landed on Kevin, I bet a lot of the lack of cohesion came from having him, Bryan V and Melissa all in the same kitchen. If you lined up all 12 (!!) dishes, I think we could accurately guess who cooked what. In contrast, Team Kann was sending out food that looked like Gregory's alone.

Karen was...flustered. But Kevin was a shit expediter, and you can't exactly come down hard on your own team leader for making everyone refire dishes over and over because he can't count. Especially as FOH. Imo, Karen was also valid in being pissed that her mushroom dish was clearly neglected. No one else was told their dish was literal garbage, and while Karen may not be top tier on Top Chef, the woman is an accomplished and respected chef.

I don't think being blunt and honest is a bad FOH strategy. Malarkey's tap dancing was impressive, but if I'd been sitting for 40 min w/o a snack in sight I'd rather have Karen come by and pour me a drink while being empathetic.

Stephanie was excellent, but I suspect having Leanne play bad cop for the first part of service helped a bit. I'm happy Leanne's two dishes were successful, that rum raisin pineapple side down cake looked amazing!

[snarktini]

22 hours ago, hendersonrocks said:

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.

12 hours ago, aquarian1 said:

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, it was a standup move to take responsibility but, dude, there was no lifeboat to jump in. He was responsible for most of what went wrong. No one sabotaged or undermined him. Kevin's always been a fav for me, but this was right.

I think the worst part of having too many dishes went beyond execution -- when I saw all those little blobs of food on the judge's plates, it felt like such an uncurated experience. It would be too much to taste & take in. You can't really enjoy any one thing when you're tasting 12 all stacked together.

22 hours ago, tribeca said:

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

Karen was definitely next in line for the chopping block but her contribution to their downfall was not as great as Kevin's.

22 hours ago, Ashforth said:

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?

Especially since he made a point in a talking head to say he wanted his team to feel like they owned part of the concept and had a hand in developing the food! But then I don't think he really listened.

As a counterpoint, when the judges said the winning restaurant showed the team came together cohesively to create a menu...I thought nah, that was all Gregory. He created that menu top to bottom and they backed his play.

19 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. 

It almost has to be deliberate. The most generous read is they are indifferent. It's not like you can't find waiters with SAG cards. As many of us say every year, I wish they'd just give them a little more time to prep and train FOH.

 

[ProudMary]

7 hours ago, PoshSprinkles said:

I don’t remember that really happening in past RW. 🤔 The EC is normally too busy expediting and getting food out to cavort with the judges .

I think this year's RW was viewed a bit differently by the judges because Kevin and Gregory weren't just the Executive Chefs this time. The restaurants belonged to them. They were viewed more as Chef/Proprietors than as just one of the team members, who took on the EC role. I do think Kevin made an error in judgment by not going out to present the restaurant's signature dish to the judges. 

[Vermicious Knid]

I thought it's been mentioned in past seasons the servers are actually from a casting agency. It wouldn't surprise me if they were also instructed to play dumb, as every single RW features waitstaff screwups.

Not familiar at all with Haitian cooking, but I don't think I can eat any of it. Hate fish and seafood, and while I like a little kick hell to the no on scotch bonnets. It all looked good though! Sadly, family style meals will probably not be a good idea for the next year.

[absolutelyido]

Don't the customers usually rate the restaurants and determine the winner, or at least their input is taken into consideration? I don't believe that the judges even mentioned what the customers thought of each restaurant, did they? The judges just announced the restaurant they chose as the winner. 

[Bastet]

1 hour ago, absolutelyido said:

Don't the customers usually rate the restaurants and determine the winner, or at least their input is taken into consideration?

Yes, the other diners rate the restaurants - and that indeed happened this time around, per an article in the Media thread from one of those diners - and general reception has occasionally been mentioned at JT, although it was always clear it was just something to bolster the judges' praise/criticism, not anything that would dissuade them from a vote they were leaning towards (e.g. if something popular with the masses was not up to their standards).  In situations like this, where one restaurant was so clear a winner they didn't even attempt to edit in suspense, it makes sense we saw the usual snippets of diner feedback during the episode, but their cumulative feedback wasn't a point of discussion worth airing, even if it was had.

[caitmcg]

1 hour ago, Bastet said:

Yes, the other diners rate the restaurants - and that indeed happened this time around, per an article in the Media thread from one of those diners - and general reception has occasionally been mentioned at JT, although it was always clear it was just something to bolster the judges' praise/criticism, not anything that would dissuade them from a vote they were leaning towards (e.g. if something popular with the masses was not up to their standards).  In situations like this, where one restaurant was so clear a winner they didn't even attempt to edit in suspense, it makes sense we saw the usual snippets of diner feedback during the episode, but their cumulative feedback wasn't a point of discussion worth airing, even if it was had.

Yeah, the one thing that was mentioned at JT was Padma telling Lee Anne that her dessert was loved by the diners. 

[dleighg]

6 hours ago, snarktini said:

I think the worst part of having too many dishes went beyond execution -- when I saw all those little blobs of food on the judge's plates, it felt like such an uncurated experience. It would be too much to taste & take in. You can't really enjoy any one thing when you're tasting 12 all stacked together.

I totally agree. It was more like potluck thanksgiving. Which is a thing, but is not a "dining experience."

[Yeah No]

On 5/8/2020 at 9:01 AM, Rai said:

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, 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, dude. But he didn't start out a natural.

I actually think Malarkey has come a long way.  He did a great job at FOH and didn't make it all about him.  I think that went against a lot of people's expectations of him who see him as narcissistic.  But this is evidence that he is not and has a level of maturity that a lot of people don't give him much credit for.

Quote

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.

Yeah, I cringe to think I defended Kevin last week but after hearing him talk about "Plantation cooking", he completely lost me.  Unless he was going to give credit to the African American slaves that invented a lot of those recipes, just no.  And even then it would be a little uncomfortable, even more uncomfortable than Eric's restaurant concept.  I have never been a Kevin fan because he has always struck me as being a little too self absorbed, and this episode only confirmed that impression.  I think he did the right thing in falling on his sword at JT but in this episode he revealed cracks in his facade that I knew were there all along.  The fact that he doesn't seem to be aware of how waxing sentimental about "plantation cooking" feels to the rest of the world IMO speaks volumes about him that aren't very flattering.  Just saying.

On 5/8/2020 at 11:11 AM, Fostersmom said:

I can't believe Kevin never even went out to the judges table once and I can't believe the judges never mentioned it. If anything, that was a big indication to the judges how in the weeds he was. 

It didn't just show how in the weeds he was, but again it showed a lack of awareness of how NOT going out there would look to the judges, or even to the diners or anyone watching.  As was said by someone else, this was more than just "Restaurant Wars", it was like it was HIS restaurant.  He should have known that not going out there for even a few minutes was the wrong thing to do under any circumstances.

On 5/8/2020 at 11:18 AM, CrazyInAlabama said:

I was shocked at Plategate, and Kevin flying off the handle like that.   My guess is the plate place has plenty of stock to supply both restaurants, so that was over the top to react like that.   I suspect Kevin is still recovering, and easier to anger these days.

On 5/8/2020 at 11:45 AM, dleighg said:

It seems to me that Brian took the plates off the wall and just happened to choose the same ones-- no "stealing" going on. And to react like that? Who cares if some of the plates are the same?

I agree about the plates 100%.  I don't think Malarkey took them knowingly and who cares if they use the same plates?  They're ONLY PLATES, KEVIN.  Plus they were generic enough so who cared?  That was not a good look for Kevin but I'm not going to make excuses for him.  If he bit off more than he could chew and was testy about it as a result, that was on him.  But quite honestly, I wasn't surprised at him flying off the handle like that.  I have never seen in him what others have loved and could easily see him being self absorbed like a petulant artist that just has to have everything conform to his vision of things and gets so tightly wound that he could come unglued accusing someone of stealing his ideas or whatever.  Plus, I give Malarkey more credit than to knowingly steal someone else's choice of plates.  Obviously even Kevin doesn't give him enough credit to be beyond that, which is sad.

Now mind you, by contrast I think Bryan V. is a total sweetie inside and out and I could never see him barking at anyone like that (I hope I don't get proven wrong, LOL).

On 5/8/2020 at 11:46 AM, HurricaneVal said:

He managed that kitchen, and was on top of everything.  He kept all the chefs working with just the right touch of leadership and authority and they stayed focused.  He pretty much completely left the front of the house to Malarky, which he knew would satisfy Malarky's huge ego and controlling tendencies.  He kept Malarky tamed.  That in and of itself was an amazing feat of toddler wrangling.

Haha, I can see that - it was a wise decision to keep Malarkey in line by using his skills in the best way possible.  I have a friend and handyman like that - I have to keep him occupied in ways that utilize his skills effectively and don't allow his ADD to push him off the rails.  But I do tend to give Malarkey at least SOME credit for controlling himself.

21 hours ago, Fukui San said:

If you think about it, there are many restaurants named after a single dish that doesn't reflect it's entire menu. Most houses of Pizza or Houses of Pho. The Cheesecake Factory. Dunkin' Donuts. I know a restaurant called "Wings Cafe". Shake Shack, etc.

Or an accompaniment - Cracker Barrel.......😁

Which for some reason reminds me of "Country Captain", LOL.

18 hours ago, Ashforth said:

I was startled by that as well. I can make a quite tasty curry-flavored dish with curry powder I buy at the grocery store, but I sure wouldn't expect to build a restaurant around it.

Or rely on it to win "Restaurant Wars" on "Top Chef".

Edited May 9, 2020 by Yeah No

[Ashforth]

23 hours ago, slaterain said:

My one wish on restaurant wars is that they would at least all have time to pitch in putting tables together and getting the restaurant setup the day before separate from prep/cooking time. There is no reason one person should be tasked with all those things. I do think previous seasons where the team split up training the staff while each had time to cook was a better method to balance the setup. 

That's an editing cheat for drama - there is no way that Malarkey or Karen had to set up all of the tables, chairs, tablecloths and place settings solo. Directing it? Sure. But we could clearly see painters and a scissor lift. They have the servers. There is a crew that sets up the dining rooms.

16 hours ago, rozen said:

I think Gregory was smart to avoid the gunners, who would want and demand to heavily influence his dishes. While a lot of The Country Captain's failures landed on Kevin, I bet a lot of the lack of cohesion came from having him, Bryan V and Melissa all in the same kitchen. If you lined up all 12 (!!) dishes, I think we could accurately guess who cooked what. In contrast, Team Kann was sending out food that looked like Gregory's alone.

I don't know, again we have to rely on the editing, but I didn't see anything to indicate that Bryan V or Melissa demanded to put their stamp on Kevin's vision. They looked like loyal, very hard-working soldiers to me. If he said, "I want a shrimp & grits-type dish, but different: run with it!" then that's on him. As far as I could tell, Kevin chose the dishes for his 12-dish menu.

It wasn't anything like the clip they showed that illustrated previous RWs in which each chef on the "team" was insisting on his or her own vision, resulting in menu mish-mashes like "Asian-Mexican-Pasta-Modern Steakhouse-Family Style Fine dining" (yes, I made that up, but you get the picture).

10 hours ago, Bastet said:

Yes, the other diners rate the restaurants - and that indeed happened this time around, per an article in the Media thread from one of those diners 

That article is so interesting! I won't quote it here because is that kosher? I also  found another that I'll post in the Media thread. It sounds like both writers dined at the same restaurant.

[Ashforth]

5 minutes ago, LucindaWalsh said:

I have only gotten half way through your post but I had to stop and tell you that I have been waiting all season for someone to make me stop internally saying "can't you guys see that Kevin is a hidden jerk?? He is that dude!" So I am glad that you are out there seeing what I see.

He pulled the heartstrings with his "I nearly died" story and that made him seem pretty sympathetic to me. I'm actually going to re-watch this episode because it was so full of moments. 

I have always intensely disliked RW but the way they did it this year won me over. I wish it had been a three-part arc (pitches, ramp-up to opening, the actual meal service). I could go for that.

[PamelaMaeSnap]

On 5/8/2020 at 11:11 AM, Fostersmom said:

I can't believe Kevin never even went out to the judges table once and I can't believe the judges never mentioned it.

They absolutely did call him out on it ... and while watching, I admit, Mr. Snappy and I could not remember if Gregory had gone out to the table but he's Gregory and he's awesome (not being sarcastic, I am his No. 1 fan) so I'm guessing he did. 

[PamelaMaeSnap]

22 hours ago, dleighg said:

And yeah, just saying it's your grandmother's recipe is not a sure way to sell it to me. Some grandmothers were better cooks than others.

No joke. This whole concept had me and Mr. Snappy gasping for breath, we were laughing so hard, as we imagined the menu at a restaurant that featured our respective grandmothers' specialties. Not a place anyone would want to go, trust me. 

Also, not only could I not pronounce "Country Captain" (it kept coming out "Crunchy Captain") but it reminded me way too much of "Cracker Barrel" ... 

During the previous episode, I wondered how it would look if Kevin's Plantation-Style cooking went up against Eric's Middle Passage in Restaurant Wars ... 

 

[seltzer3]

26 minutes ago, PamelaMaeSnap said:

They absolutely did call him out on it ... and while watching, I admit, Mr. Snappy and I could not remember if Gregory had gone out to the table but he's Gregory and he's awesome (not being sarcastic, I am his No. 1 fan) so I'm guessing he did. 

This is kind of weird, but is that expected in restaurant wars?  In past restaurant wars the executive chef never went out in the front.