S17.E13: Parma

[biakbiak]

2 hours ago, Brookside said:

Never eaten there.  Though I do agree that Chain Food Restaurant Wars sounds fun.

In the second season they had a challenge to design a new menu item for TGIFriday’s and most people hated jt.

[rhygirl720]

I'm glad Kevin made a statement, I always liked Kevin up until restaurant wars and then his return from LCK . Some of his comments have left me cold and I certainly found his edit interesting. 

I'm the one who brought up Olive Garden and my point was not that there is anything wrong with Olive Garden per say although personally I prefer non chain restaurants in general and Italian specifically but I don't eat at PF Changs or Red Lobster for that matter. My point was that pasta e fagioli,  is pretty well known dish and  most Italians grew  up eating their Grandmas version so if you are going to cook it in Italy for Italian chefs you better bring it. I don't necessarily think it's the best choice to highlight parmesan either.

 

[Bastet]

I was distracted by my cat last week and didn't see Kevin spooning a heap of grated parm into everyone's bowls at the table, so I just cracked up watching the repeat.  Tom's reaction  is as great as y'all said it was.

[seacliffsal]

I was surprised by the comments about lack of texture in Bryan's fish dish.  When is there an expectation for "texture" and when is it acceptable for a dish to not have texture?  Melissa's first course did not appear to have "texture" and was not criticized.  I have had many fabulous meals and fish dishes throughout my life and not all of them have had a texture element.  Both of the criticisms he received contained concepts that I find hard to really understand-lack of passion and lack of texture.

Very glad that Kevin had to pack his bags and am looking forward to the finale.  Hope they all do well and that nobody has insurmountable difficulties.  However, I saw Leanne in the previews and was disappointed-producers: Leanne, like "fetch," is not going to happen...

[buttersister]

Two things I missed last week. QF challenge judge tells Bryan he used too much garlic. EC judge? Pesto didn’t have enough garlic!

And as bad as Kevin’s “soul” cooking sounded after Bryan’s hit, ultimately it was an FU to the judges. I cooked my meal my way and that’s all that counts for me. Arreviderci, asshole.

Edited June 19, 2020 by buttersister

[Vermicious Knid]

Unconscious or implicit bias. People often can say they are non-racist without realizing they are acting on deeply ingrained stereotypes, absorbed from the world around us at a young age.

Las Vegas newspaper does an annual Best of Las Vegas for pretty much everything, with one winner chosen by readers and one by the paper's critics. They changed the criteria a few years ago because the readers consistently voted Olive Garden as best Italian, and PF Chang for best Chinese. 🙄( Also, because it's Las Vegas, one of the categories is best plastic surgeon for breast augmentations.)

[Brookside]

On 6/12/2020 at 3:35 PM, PamelaMaeSnap said:

It's NOT irrational because the last two episodes of TC -- post final LCK -- have had a little teaser or whatever it's called in the lower left-hand part of the screen about there being another LCK ... I assume they've just forgotten to take it off, or else they're going to spring someone on us at the last minute. I can only hope if that's the case it's Gregory. 

 

Gregory's back was causing him a boatload of pain.  He got treatment while still in Italy, but left to go home a few days after he lost, presumably to get treatment from his regular practitioners.  I just hope he had a lot of painkillers to get him through that long flight.  (Maybe airline Kevin was able to get him upgraded to first.)

On 6/12/2020 at 7:05 PM, Fostersmom said:

I noticed the LCK tag in the corner too. Seriously, if Kevin walks back in next week I'm going to lose my mind.

 

This.  Especially since he (to me) has the most pretentious sounding voice.

17 hours ago, Ashforth said:

 

Who among us has not enjoyed a Cheddar Bay Biscuit at Red Lobster? Would it be so wrong for a TC cheftestant to take that and "elevate" it? If that's wrong, I don't want to be right. 😁

Not me.  Never eaten there.  Though I do agree that Chain Food Restaurant sounds fun.

Shut up Leanne (in the car at the beginning).  Suggestions are fine if asked for, but she was trying to set Melissa's menu.  Guess who didn't make final three?  Guess who won the whole thing?  Not you, Leanne.

[Yeah No]

8 hours ago, Vermicious Knid said:

Unconscious or implicit bias. People often can say they are non-racist without realizing they are acting on deeply ingrained stereotypes, absorbed from the world around us at a young age.

I've heard of this - I found this statement in the article interesting, especially the part I italicized:

Quote

Moreover, participants are less likely to shoot armed whites at all than to shoot armed blacks, and are more likely to shoot unarmed blacks than unarmed whites, the studies show.

Researchers have documented implicit bias in both blacks and whites. The 2002 study "revealed equivalent levels of bias among both African American and white participants" during the shooter task, the researchers wrote in the study.

Clearly, based on the above, this unconscious bias, while related to racism is not identical to racism if that makes any sense.  Plus unlike full-on racism it is unintentional like Kevin is IMO.  He's just a cluless guy.

[carrps]

On 6/18/2020 at 4:20 PM, RemoteControlFreak said:

It's unclear that this Facebook post has anything to do with his glorifying slave plantations in his restaurant concepts.  It appears to be a requisite response to current events and BLM.

I don't think Kevin has any idea that his cooking and restaurants serve to squarely identify and glorify all that is reprehensible about the American South -- from slavery, to plantation life, to restaurants that serve large portions of bad food,  to irresponsible gun culture, to faux [fill in ethnicity] cuisine.  For god's sake, he even named his first restaurant "Gunshow," describing that one of his fondest childhood memories was attending gunshows with his dad. He even calls the employees, "hired guns." (https://gunshowatl.com/)

If he's not racist, he's certainly tone deaf. 

So it was completely on brand for him to show up in Italy, speak of himself in the third person, act like he discovered pasta e fagioli, and then serve his dishes with a tableside application of a mound of parmesan. It's probably just what he has his hired guns do at Gunshow Atlanta. 

Whoa. When I heard he had a restaurant called Gunshow, I thought it referred to that obnoxious guy thing about biceps display, but this is.....different. Don't think I'd be interested in a place that referenced places that are crawling with SovCits and Boogaloo Bois. Ick.

[CrazyInAlabama]

All I could think of when I read the description of the "Gunshow" restaurant is the emphasis on table side preparation (they did the cocktails right at your table on a rolling cart), and wonder if he ran around dumping fresh grated cheese on everything then too.       

That is such a ridiculous reason to name a restaurant.   If he wanted to honor his family, or his dad, then name it after them.    Another tone deaf statement by him.   The restaurant really sounds a lot like the Country Captain concept with communal dining.      

Edited June 20, 2020 by CrazyInAlabama

[geauxaway]

On 6/18/2020 at 8:01 AM, Ashforth said:

Who among us has not enjoyed a Cheddar Bay Biscuit at Red Lobster? Would it be so wrong for a TC cheftestant to take that and "elevate" it? If that's wrong, I don't want to be right. 😁

I love you.

[caitmcg]

On 6/19/2020 at 6:14 PM, carrps said:

Whoa. When I heard he had a restaurant called Gunshow, I thought it referred to that obnoxious guy thing about biceps display, but this is.....different. Don't think I'd be interested in a place that referenced places that are crawling with SovCits and Boogaloo Bois. Ick.

Sure, but it’s not as if he’s alone in his tone-deafness. I mean, when I came of age in the ‘80s in Northern California (have you heard, we’re the land of fruits and nuts), there were outposts of the the chain Sambo's around, and the last existing one (in Santa Barbara, CA) has only now just agreed to change its name and branding. So Kevin, apparently not consciously realizing  it, was acting as a good 'ol boy from the south. I certainly don’t admire it, but he’s one of plenty of not-exactly-woke folks who are just now waking up to their positions in our ignoble system, long overdue. So perhaps it’s PR on his his part, but if these people start thinking about it more… 

[carrps]

16 hours ago, caitmcg said:

Sure, but it’s not as if he’s alone in his tone-deafness. I mean, when I came of age in the ‘80s in Northern California (have you heard, we’re the land of fruits and nuts), there were outposts of the the chain Sambo's around, and the last existing one (in Santa Barbara, CA) has only now just agreed to change its name and branding. So Kevin, apparently not consciously realizing  it, was acting as a good 'ol boy from the south. I certainly don’t admire it, but he’s one of plenty of not-exactly-woke folks who are just now waking up to their positions in our ignoble system, long overdue. So perhaps it’s PR on his his part, but if these people start thinking about it more… 

I was actually in a Sambo's when I was a little kid. I think it was in Nevada, though (we were on vacation and looking for a cheap place to eat).

I wish folks would think about it more.

[RemoteControlFreak]

On 6/19/2020 at 3:01 AM, Brookside said:

Gregory's back was causing him a boatload of pain.  He got treatment while still in Italy, but left to go home a few days after he lost, presumably to get treatment from his regular practitioners.  I just hope he had a lot of painkillers to get him through that long flight.  (Maybe airline Kevin was able to get him upgraded to first.)

But Gregory was at the final judge’s table where Melissa was named Top Chef. Did he fly back to the US after he lost and then come back to Italy just to stand on the side during final judging? All indications are that he stayed in Italy through the finale but just wasn’t well enough to be a sous chef. 

Edited June 21, 2020 by RemoteControlFreak

[Yeah No]

On 6/18/2020 at 9:01 AM, Ashforth said:

Who among us has not enjoyed a Cheddar Bay Biscuit at Red Lobster? Would it be so wrong for a TC cheftestant to take that and "elevate" it? If that's wrong, I don't want to be right. 😁

Nothing wrong with elevating a chain restaurant dish, if that's what Kevin actually did, which given the judges' reaction is NOT what he did, and his misstep only highlighted his cluelessness or "tone deaf-ness" concerning his perhaps unintended glorification of certain aspects of southern culture that are cringeworthy at best.

Edited June 22, 2020 by Yeah No

[Yeah No]

On 6/20/2020 at 10:28 PM, caitmcg said:

Sure, but it’s not as if he’s alone in his tone-deafness. I mean, when I came of age in the ‘80s in Northern California (have you heard, we’re the land of fruits and nuts), there were outposts of the the chain Sambo's around, and the last existing one (in Santa Barbara, CA) has only now just agreed to change its name and branding. So Kevin, apparently not consciously realizing  it, was acting as a good 'ol boy from the south. I certainly don’t admire it, but he’s one of plenty of not-exactly-woke folks who are just now waking up to their positions in our ignoble system, long overdue. So perhaps it’s PR on his his part, but if these people start thinking about it more… 

I agree with you.  It has always shocked this native New Yorker that any of these things existed even back then as it would be unthinkable in the Northeast.  I remember seeing Sambo's myself out West over 30 years ago but that was then.  Kevin unconsciously acting like a good ol' boy is very outdated for someone his age and it shocks me that there are still such "un-woke" young people walking around anywhere in this country.

[RemoteControlFreak]

On 6/20/2020 at 10:28 PM, caitmcg said:

Sure, but it’s not as if he’s alone in his tone-deafness. I mean, when I came of age in the ‘80s in Northern California (have you heard, we’re the land of fruits and nuts), there were outposts of the the chain Sambo's around, and the last existing one (in Santa Barbara, CA) has only now just agreed to change its name and branding. So Kevin, apparently not consciously realizing  it, was acting as a good 'ol boy from the south. I certainly don’t admire it, but he’s one of plenty of not-exactly-woke folks who are just now waking up to their positions in our ignoble system, long overdue. So perhaps it’s PR on his his part, but if these people start thinking about it more… 

None of this excuses anything that Kevin said or did, from coming up with restaurants (real and conceptual) that glorify gun culture and slavery, to issuing a weird mea culpa apology after the BLM uprising on June 2020.

It doesn't matter that other people think this way or act from these beliefs, either now or in past years, in the southern US or in northern California.

It's a very dangerous step to start excusing someone's bad behavior because other people engage in the same behavior.  Kevin had a very public platform on a popular reality television show and he used it to reveal his antiquated thinking that reinforces the worst stereotypes of the American south.

[caitmcg]

8 hours ago, Yeah No said:

Kevin unconsciously acting like a good ol' boy is very outdated for someone his age and it shocks me that there are still such "un-woke" young people walking around anywhere in this country

Unfortunately, I think there are probably plenty of them. It’s easy for those of us in the Northeast and West Coast to live in a bit of a bubble that’s not so reflective of the rest of the country. When you consider that things like plantation weddings are still a big business, and that plantation tours typically haven’t even mentioned the enslaved people who made plantations possible, at least until recently, it kind of brings things into focus. 

2 minutes ago, RemoteControlFreak said:

It's a very dangerous step to start excusing someone's bad behavior because other people engage in the same behavior.  Kevin had a very public platform on a popular reality television show and he used it to reveal his antiquated thinking that reinforces the worst stereotypes of the American south.

I wasn’t excusing Kevin for being culturally insensitive and thoughtless, or trafficking in harmful stereotypes. I was saying there is context, however offensive many of us may find it. I’m not suggesting that Kevin, or any of the plethora of people and businesses thinking the same way, shouldn’t be held to account, just noting that until the present moment, most have not been moved to think beyond it or even make self-serving public statements. 
 
(There was certainly nothing else like Sambo’s that I saw in California in the ‘70s or ‘80s or since, and it stood out for that reason.)

[sATL]

On 6/11/2020 at 11:05 PM, aquarian1 said:

Also,  Bryan, I'll comfort you.  😄 

yeeeeesss laaawwwdd !!! any time.... just call me, and I will be there... no questions asked...

to quote the Jackson 5 1970 melody - 

"I'll reach out my hand to you
I'll have faith in all you do
Just call my name and I'll be there (I'll be there).."

Edited June 22, 2020 by sATL

[gingerella]

I think Kevin's attitude bit him in the ass this season. He always seemed to have this sense of entitlement, like it was a given that of course he would win this season because he is so super special.

Also, I just checked out his ATL restaurant site and laughed - there's a dude on the home page bragging about how chefs come to serve you tableside and you can tell them 'yes I want this, no I don't want that', and then on the actual page with the menu it says this:

You are a guest in our home, and we have prepared for you what we love. As is such, due to the nature of our service dishes cannot be altered. Consuming raw or undercooked meats, poultry, seafood, shellfish. Or eggs may increase your risk of foodborne illness.

Which is it Kev?

[Yeah No]

15 hours ago, gingerella said:

I think Kevin's attitude bit him in the ass this season. He always seemed to have this sense of entitlement, like it was a given that of course he would win this season because he is so super special.

After thinking about who Kevin reminds me of, it suddenly came to me:

Sheldon Cooper.

Brilliant guy from the South who could have gone to MIT.

Full of himself with sense of entitlement.  Thinks he's special.

Socially tone deaf, especially when it comes to people of other races.  Makes cringe inducing racially insensitive/offensive associations and references.

Anyone who's watched enough "Big Bang Theory" will get it!

[gingerella]

9 hours ago, Yeah No said:

After thinking about who Kevin reminds me of, it suddenly came to me:

Sheldon Cooper.

Brilliant guy from the South who could have gone to MIT.

Full of himself with sense of entitlement.  Thinks he's special.

Socially tone deaf, especially when it comes to people of other races.  Makes cringe inducing racially insensitive/offensive associations and references.

Anyone who's watched enough "Big Bang Theory" will get it!

I was a an avid viewer of BBT, but I don't see Sheldon Cooper in Kevin. I just see someone who thinks very highly of himself. Sheldon Cooper, the character, was very Aspergers-ish. Kevin just comes across to me as conceited. Sheldon Cooper was a savant, Kevin is no savant, IMO.

Edited June 23, 2020 by gingerella

[Yeah No]

27 minutes ago, gingerella said:

I was a an avid viewer of BBT, but I don't see Sheldon Cooper in Kevin. I just see someone who thinks very highly of himself. Sheldon Cooper, the character, was very Aspergers-ish. Kevin just comes across to me as conceited. Sheldon Cooper was a savant, Kevin is no savant, IMO.

I went to a high school with a lot of Sheldons and Amys (The Bronx HS of Science) so I have more than a passing idea of what they're like.  Not all people with Aspergers are savants but they can have some qualities in common with Sheldon to varying degrees.  Even I have some Sheldon-esque characteristics although nowhere near what I see in Kevin.  I used the Sheldon analogy because of the similarities I see in him with Kevin, which I still think deserved to be mentioned.  People have been calling him "tone deaf".  It's that cluelessness of not understanding how what he does or says looks to other people that I think Kevin has in common with Sheldon. He's obviously very intelligent since he got into MIT, so there is that too.  In fact he was the only kid from his HS to get into MIT in like almost ever.  So that's probably one reason he is full of himself and thinks he's so special.  Then again, Sheldon is like that too.

Edited June 23, 2020 by Yeah No

[heavysnaxx]

On 6/12/2020 at 6:44 PM, Quilt Fairy said:

When the guest judge told Bryan that the P-R has salt crystals in it and by foaming it he eliminated those crystals, I thought, "That's a technical error which he probably only made because it's the first time he's made this dish and won't make again." 

But it was hardly Bryan's first time eating and handling P-R. It's a well-known, exhaustively celebrated product. Hell, I'm just a home cook/Big Hungry Girl and I know all about the crystals. They're a prized feature; getting rid of them is like a gem-cutter getting rid of facets in a diamond. Presumably my knowledge of aged hard cheeses isn't greater than a TCM contestant's!

On 6/13/2020 at 8:34 AM, Ashforth said:

I think foams were a fad whose wow factor is long gone. They're no longer innovative, that's for sure. Maybe a frico of the parmesan could have helped Bryan's texture problem.

I was heartily amused when Kevin made his long, long journey around the table to make reach after intrusive reach to heap massive amounts of his soul Kraft grated Parmesan cheese onto each dish. Tom's attempts to keep from bursting into laughter were hilarious, Padma looked annoyed, and the rest of the judges seemed be wondering wtf is happening? It was Top Chef gold.

A frico is such a good idea! For texture, yes, and for a layer of an intensified P-R flavor.

Kevin's never-ending Parmesan bowl was giving me a massive early 90s flashback. A server was circling my family's table with a yard-long pepper mill, chanting, "Alittlefreshlygroundpepper?" That poor server. There were 10 of us and by the time he got to #5 we were...ready to just get on with the eating.

Edited June 28, 2020 by heavysnaxx

[FinnishViewer]

Did anyone else got a giggle out of Kevin not needing a hairnet, because he doesn't have hair, when they were walking around in the ham making place?

[Ashforth]

6 hours ago, FinnishViewer said:

Did anyone else got a giggle out of Kevin not needing a hairnet, because he doesn't have hair, when they were walking around in the ham making place?

Why do none of the cheftestants ever seem to wear a beardnet? I know they exist, I've seen men wearing them in professional food environments. I've never been a fan of abundant facial hair, and in fairness, I think many of the male and female cheftestants on TC should wear hats or hairnets (but they don't) (example" Leanne with her long ponytail hanging over her shoulder while she cooks). I just don't want head hair or beard hair or hair from any other source in my food - it's one of the things that is so gross to me that it literally makes me feel nauseated. For some reason, I seem to be a magnet for hair in my food from take-out restaurants (not fast food, "real" food). Why? WHYYYYYYYYY?

Edited June 30, 2020 by Ashforth

[Vermicious Knid]

Why don't they ever wear any gloves either? Even when they're serving to the public and it's required by the Health Department, they almost never do it.

[biakbiak]

33 minutes ago, Vermicious Knid said:

Why don't they ever wear any gloves either? Even when they're serving to the public and it's required by the Health Department, they almost never do it.

Pre pandemic few places mandated using gloves when serving to the public as long as you had a program/training and equipment for regular hand washing because study after study Has shown that gloves often cause more contamination. California where this season took place repealed it’s glove requirement (which was very brief) years ago.

 

 

Edited July 2, 2020 by biakbiak

[RemoteControlFreak]

On 6/23/2020 at 8:35 AM, Yeah No said:

After thinking about who Kevin reminds me of, it suddenly came to me:

Sheldon Cooper.

Brilliant guy from the South who could have gone to MIT.

Full of himself with sense of entitlement.  Thinks he's special.

Socially tone deaf, especially when it comes to people of other races.  Makes cringe inducing racially insensitive/offensive associations and references.

Anyone who's watched enough "Big Bang Theory" will get it!

I’ve watched a lot of The Big Bang Theory and see nothing similar between Kevin Gillespie and the fictional Sheldon Cooper. 

[bosawks]

I could watch the judges at the table roll their eyes at Kevin as he dumps pre-grated Parmesan on their plates

All.Damn.Day

[PamelaMaeSnap]

On 6/30/2020 at 3:29 AM, FinnishViewer said:

Did anyone else got a giggle out of Kevin not needing a hairnet, because he doesn't have hair, when they were walking around in the ham making place?

BUT THAT BEARD needed a few nets of its own! 

Sorry ... Mr. Snappy and I JUST (literally, an hour ago) finished our quarantine-inspired watch of every TC episode from S1 through the end of S17 (one a day) -- we started last June, just after the airing of the finale, to accompany living room lunch hour -- and I really enjoyed this season the most of any of them. 

And while I never liked Kevin to start with, this time around I absolutely detested him. Along with his being unbearably smug and self-entitled, he was so humorless. And while I don't think I'd noticed it as much the first (two) time(s) around, his facial resemblance to his precious pork is remarkable. 

I was thrilled (again) by the F3, and by Melissa's win ... if Gregory couldn't win (my all-time favorite cheftestant), then I was glad it was Melissa. And in retrospect, it would have really sucked if having LeeAnne as a sous had been her undoing, since obviously had he been healthy Gregory would have been her sous since he's her best friend and roommate. 

I cannot wait for S18 to air (ditto Amateurs) ... talk about a lineup of my favorite chefs (and not a Kevin to be found). 

Also, while obviously this is very much up in the air, we were supposed to go to Basque Country last summer for a foodie vacation and obviously that was 86'd, and now we're trying to reschedule (even if it has to be canceled/re-rescheduled) with our airline and hotel credits, but watching this season has made us think very hard about expanding from two to three weeks and adding in Italy ... Mr. Snappy will be officially retired after this spring, and we had to put off selling our house and moving across the country for another year, so why not live it up while/if we can? Want to go to those cheese caves, please.