Season 18: Last Chance Kitchen

[FormerMod-a1]

Discuss Last Chance Kitchen here, and here only.

[stewedsquash]

Come on Roscoe! Beat Sasha!

 

[The Solution]

At the end, both dishes looked really good, but I would seriously order Roscoe's dish in a restaurant. Spent part of my childhood in Savannah, so the boiled peanuts get me every time.

[buttersister]

Sad about Roscoe, I would love to have seen what else he would have made. Low country, yum. But Sasha's dish impressed Tom like few have done. There are going to be some great battles here this season.

[dleighg]

One thing I hate about all of these shows is (what I assume) the producers forcing the chefs to "chat" about what they are making to one another. I'm sure they would really really rather just work.

Edited April 9, 2021 by dleighg

[Fukui San]

“This was just shockingly good!”

”Thanks, Tom!”

”I’m just so surprised.”

”OK.”

”Really, I’m stunned that you made something that good.”

”You can stop any time now.” 

[stewedsquash]

@Fukui San I usually just peek here to see who won and don't watch LCK. But your cliff notes make me want to start watching. 

I am still kind of bummed that Roscoe won't be back. He is such an interesting person. 

[Cheyanne11]

This exchange cracked me up:

Roscoe: "How'd the challenge go?"
 

Sasha: "I'm here, dawg, so not great."

 

[Thumper]

I dislike the whole concept of LCK.

Is it something I have to watch online?  If so, no thank you.

But the comments here are entertaining!

[tljgator]

14 minutes ago, Thumper said:

Is it something I have to watch online?

I watch it on OnDemand -- shows up the day after the show airs (but is listed under "Last Chance Kitchen" as a separate show, not under Top Chef).

[emmawoodhouse]

3 hours ago, Thumper said:

I dislike the whole concept of LCK.

Is it something I have to watch online?  If so, no thank you.

But the comments here are entertaining!

It's easy to watch on the Bravo website. 😊

[dvr devotee]

I watch it on Hulu, right after I watch the episode (I don't watch live, usually within the next three days after airing.)

[CrazyInAlabama]

Sasha continues on, Brittany is out.     It really is easy to watch on the Bravo website.   However, you can't fast forward.   The one pot only idea was interesting.    

[FinnishViewer]

I also found them on Youtube

[Nordly Beaumont]

Brittanny is that girl in the teen movies that takes off her glasses, lets down her hair and all of a sudden is prettier than you realized! 

I was kind of hoping Sasha could pull it off, but she just went in too early to make it to the end, I guess. At least she can hang with her bestie in the peanut gallery now.

[The Solution]

44 minutes ago, Nordly Beaumont said:

Brittanny is that girl in the teen movies that takes off her glasses, lets down her hair and all of a sudden is prettier than you realized! 

I was just going to say that it's shallow and sexist, but Brittanny looked lovely tonight!

Again, both dishes looked great and I'm happy to see Kiki get another shot (even though I'm sad to see Sasha's road come to an end).

This is some group of contestants this season!

 

 

[stewedsquash]

I finished all three LCK (a first for me) and it was better than I thought it would be. I am glad it is a quick view. I still don't like there being a LCK, at all, never have, never will. Second chances are cool in real life but not in competitions. 

I agree, I did a double take when I saw Brittanny. I don't know if it was her or that dress that I liked the most.

It took me a bit to figure it out but wow, Sasha has some Miley Cyrus voice going on. 

My go to reflex is barf anytime raw seafood or meat is brought up as a food option. 

This is the second time during this season that I found myself wishing Tom still blogged about the episodes. I want to know more about why the oyster dish that Sasha cooked blew Tom away. 

 

Edited April 23, 2021 by stewedsquash

[Leeds]

When Gregory and Kwame were on and they were tasting, all I wanted to do was ask Gregory how his back is these days as he was bending way down to taste.

[dleighg]

It didn't surprise me that Sasha lost this round. The seafood was DROWNING in that sauce. Kiki must have been very skillful to use habeneros successfully there. 

[NowVoyager]

Wayment. Did Sasha (?) drop something on the floor, a pepper maybe, say: "Oh, no. I dropped it," pick it up and put it on her cutting board!? They cut away, so it wasn't shown that she used it, but 🤢

[stewedsquash]

I saw that also. I also wondered if Kiki wiped off the equipment that she dropped on the floor. 

I have liked Kiki since the beginning and wish that she had not been pykag'd so soon. I also found myself liking Sasha more, via LCK and wish she had not been pykag'd so soon. 

This is going to be a tough season for me to start watching LCK because I don't dislike anyone yet.

[Cheyanne11]

Giving the entire challenge was basically to mock Kiki's failure in the EC, I'm glad she won. 

[dleighg]

6 hours ago, Cheyanne11 said:

Giving the entire challenge was basically to mock Kiki's failure in the EC, I'm glad she won

They pretty much always do some sort of riff on the failure of latest kicked-off person. I don't think they were being especially mean to Kiki.

[candall]

Sasha and Kiki were both ten times more gracious than I would have been.  TWENTY MINUTES to complete the challenge, with a curveball "raw protein" requirement, and they had to deal with Gregory and Kwame buzzing around, asking questions, all up in their space and their business?  Rude.

 

I really dislike that part of Beat Bobby Flay and I hate that the Chopped judges have started getting up to poke around the contestant area.  Sit your ass down, Amanda.

P.S.  My "smart" tv has YouTube and I watch LCK that way.

[caitmcg]

2 hours ago, candall said:

Sasha and Kiki were both ten times more gracious than I would have been.  TWENTY MINUTES to complete the challenge, with a curveball "raw protein" requirement, and they had to deal with Gregory and Kwame buzzing around, asking questions, all up in their space and their business?  Rude.

Gregory and Kwame weren’t in that episode, they were in the previous one. It was just Tom approaching Sasha and Kiki as they cooked (and Tom judging), and Roscoe and Tiffany talking to them/asking questions from the sidelines.

[candall]

33 minutes ago, caitmcg said:

Gregory and Kwame weren’t in that episode, they were in the previous one. It was just Tom approaching Sasha and Kiki as they cooked (and Tom judging), and Roscoe and Tiffany talking to them/asking questions from the sidelines.

Right you are! 

I had watched those two episodes back to back, so I pulled them up again and reviewed.  Turns out it's more accurate to say that everyone bugs the poor stressed out chefs constantly.  Gregory is standing right at Brittany's shoulder giving her advice about channeling her nervous energy while she's trying to figure out how to order her ingredients in her one pot.  Then in the next episode, Brittany is yammering at Sasha about what she's going to cook and whether she's going to be using lots of peppers--while Sasha is clearly focused on scanning the shelves looking for some elusive ingredient.  Tom meanders into the shot and also has a few questions that can't wait twenty minutes.  YAHHHHHH!!   😱

 

These chefs are awfully good sports about the distractions being lobbed their direction, so much better than I would ever be.  : )

Edited April 28, 2021 by candall

[dleighg]

6 hours ago, caitmcg said:

and Roscoe and Tiffany

who is Tiffany? I think that's another show :)  Brittanny.

[caitmcg]

12 hours ago, dleighg said:

who is Tiffany? I think that's another show :)  Brittanny.

Right you are. Two names I’m always liable to mix up. 

[The Solution]

The right person won again. LCK and Top Chef in general are just not Kiki's venue.

 

[StrictTime]

Who on earth drizzles liquid over fried chicken? Gross. What a cop-out move, Kiki.

[Fukui San]

I didn’t understand this chicken challenge when they did it last season. There’s no advantage to either chef to bid up the difficulty. 

[dleighg]

Yeah, I am seriously not a fan of Jamie and her annoying sound effects but Kiki really copped out on this. Especially the liver-- that has a very distinct taste that you need to highlight in the finished dish. And when she said she was frying the foot with the thigh my immediate thought was, there's a drumstick in between you know. That's when she realized she had a drumstick, not a thigh.

[seltzer3]

Kiki was a bit of a mess.  Poor Jamie, was trying to do a normal challenge, then Kiki decides to add chicken feet to the whole ordeal.  Also for Kiki to put 3 of the 5 ingredients into the stock seems like a total copout.

[BlackberryJam]

I felt like Kiki was throwing in the towel with this one. 

I also hate the Name That Tune aspect of LCK, although I love Tom’s stupid puns.

[NowVoyager]

Last Chance Kitchen was 2 episodes this time. I watched them in inverse order, so I was confused for a bit. Not sure how I feel about someone losing twice going back into the competition.

[SailorGirl]

A little bit of a change up this week -- Nelson ended up bowing out of the competition because of his knee -- they showed him being wheeled through either a hospital or medical center. He said he was withdrawing to protect himself for his family, restaurant, etc. It was the right call but had to be tough. Good on him for recognizing that a knee blow-out could mess up his business even more than COVID already has. 

So the FIRST LCK competition was Tater Tot Tebow and the Noise Maker. They had an eggs and rice challenge and Noise Maker won. They usually don't announce who is back in the competition and wait for the big reveal so something was clearly up.

Because Nelson withdrew, they had an extra spot so they did a face-off for the five eliminated chefs.

Tater Tot Tebow did NOT make it back in -- Toni Collette Twin won and is also back in. 

So the cheering for the returning chef was actually for two returning chefs.

Edited May 7, 2021 by SailorGirl

[CrazyInAlabama]

I felt sorry for Nelson, but he made the right decision.    Jamie coming back makes me happy.   However, Brittany, Gabriel, Rodney, Kiki, and the one who looked like Toni Collette, Sasha (I simply couldn't remember her name) competing against each other for another chance to go back on the show.    I'm so glad Gabriel is gone, at least since he's from Portland, he can just Uber home.   So Gabriel did a salad?    

Congratulations to Jamie, and Sasha. 

[Nordly Beaumont]

I love when Tom calls Melissa "King" - they seem to have a fun relationship.

[catrice2]

Yeah!!!

[Fukui San]

OK, I rewatched the beginning of the 2nd LCK episode since something someone said gave me the feeling that I understood the format incorrectly.

I had thought at first was that both of the two chefs that won these LCK episodes would both walk into the Top Chef kitchen next week.

What I now think, since Tom told the five chefs in the second episode that what they're fighting for is "a shot at a comeback", is that that chef will be the LCK champion next week, not in the Top Chef main competition. I think this is made clearer at the end of the episode than the first part.

[caitmcg]

1 hour ago, Fukui San said:

OK, I rewatched the beginning of the 2nd LCK episode since something someone said gave me the feeling that I understood the format incorrectly.

I had thought at first was that both of the two chefs that won these LCK episodes would both walk into the Top Chef kitchen next week.

What I now think, since Tom told the five chefs in the second episode that what they're fighting for is "a shot at a comeback", is that that chef will be the LCK champion next week, not in the Top Chef main competition. I think this is made clearer at the end of the episode than the first part.

Right. So Jamie’s back in the main competition next week, but they’ll still have LCK running till closer to the end, and whoever gets PYAG’d in the next TC episode will complete against Sasha in LCK. 

Had Nelson not bowed out, I assume they’d have had a three-way cookoff between Jamie, Gabriel, and Nelson, but I’m not clear on who next week’s PYKAG would have been competing against, maybe both losers from this week?

Jamie must have really been in her element competing with Gabriel for the comeback spot, because there were zero sound effects this week, just cooking and speaking with words. 

[CrazyInAlabama]

 

I located the preview, and I guess Sasha is now the competition in the LCK next week.    I saw Jamie in the TC kitchen.   

Edited May 7, 2021 by CrazyInAlabama

[Yeah No]

I was very happy to see Sasha getting the recognition she deserves and that she's living to cook another day, at least here on LCK.  Her food must be very good to get all those backhanded compliments from Tom, LOL.  He acts like he didn't think she had it in her to be that good.  She's a beast in the kitchen.  I admire her energy and positivity.

[dleighg]

So I'm officially confused, probably because I watched the "latest episode" and only got the jungle-cook-off and wondered where Jamie was. So what was the ORIGINAL plan for LCK, before Nelson dropped out?

[WendyM]

Yeah, I watch on the Bravo website and I've been spoiled by their screenshots in the past, so I "blur" my eyes a little while I'm looking for both Top Chef and LCK each week...this time it said "Watch the latest episode," of LCK so I did. And that had Jamie winning against Gabriel. And I thought that was it until I came here. So thanks for the heads-up, everyone! I also didn't understand that Sasha is back as LCK champ, so thanks again!

[biakbiak]

2 hours ago, dleighg said:

So I'm officially confused, probably because I watched the "latest episode" and only got the jungle-cook-off and wondered where Jamie was. So what was the ORIGINAL plan for LCK, before Nelson dropped out?

I think it was poorly explained that it was supposed to be Nelson/Gabriel/Jaime one of those people gets back into the show (Jaimie) and then the two people left did the person to be in last kitchen for the next person and the rest can be released but because it was only Gabriel they suggested that was why. I am just glad Gabriel is gone!

Edited May 7, 2021 by biakbiak

[dleighg]

10 hours ago, caitmcg said:

Jamie must have really been in her element competing with Gabriel for the comeback spot, because there were zero sound effects this week, just cooking and speaking with words

I noticed that as well. Please let her keep that up on her return!

And speaking of Jamie-- what was it she said about the "Asian way to make fried rice - stick your finger in it" ????

[caitmcg]

21 minutes ago, dleighg said:

I noticed that as well. Please let her keep that up on her return!

And speaking of Jamie-- what was it she said about the "Asian way to make fried rice - stick your finger in it" ????

She was talking about steaming rice from the get-go, not fried rice. A very typical East Asian way to judge the water-to-rice ratio is put the rice in the pot or rice cooker bowl and put your index finger in so the tip just touches the rice, then you add water to the level of your first knuckle. I’m not Asian, but my ex is Chinese-American and that is how he was taught to make rice. It seems to work, no matter whose finger it is. You could see Melissa nodding along as Jamie said it. 

[xaxat]

So Gabriel got "eliminated" three straight times in short order?

That's got to hurt.

I felt bad for Nelson. I don't think he was one of the top tier chefs, but that was an unfortunate way to go out. 

[mlp]

I knew Gabriel had done himself in as soon as he said the word "salad."  Shoot, even I know that Tom wants to see people cook something, not assemble.  You'd think Gabriel would have known that.  I did feel a bit sorry for him because it must be embarrassing to be local and get eliminated fairly early.