Season 18: Last Chance Kitchen

[caitmcg]

12 hours ago, dleighg said:

I hated seeing Sasha pat the porcini powder on the raw meat, and then put her fingers back into the jar of powder to get more! No double dipping after touching raw meat!

And it’s not as if the TC kitchen is lacking in little dishes in which she could decant some before she started seasoning the steak.

Speaking of steak, both Sasha's and Sara's steak “courses” were far too large pieces to fit the one-perfect-bite criterion of the challenge.

[jcbrown]

On 5/21/2021 at 6:46 PM, caitmcg said:

Speaking of steak, both Sasha's and Sara's steak “courses” were far too large pieces to fit the one-perfect-bite criterion of the challenge.

Sara's came closer, at least. That said, I noted that Sara actually used just the spoons and Sasha had larger (still small) dishes for her second and third courses. I didn't think the challenge was explained very well, since I thought Tom said you had to plate in the spoons but clearly that was not a rule.

But I'm quibbling. I am enjoying this season a lot and I don't like seeing any of the remaining chefs PYKAG.

[The Solution]

I really thought that Chris' dish was more appealing and thoughtful this time.

[buttersister]

I agree with Sara, Chris should have gone last week instead of her. Good revenge.

[ALittleShelfish]

Where are you guys watching this?  I have checked Comcast on-demand and they usually post it almost a week after the fact.   I finally caught last week's LCK on the Bravo app on, I think it finally showed up for me on like Tuesday.  Maybe online it's more immediate? My laptop is five thousand years old so it doesn't enjoy streaming shows.  

*fine. i'll buy a new computer.  arm sufficiently twisted.*

[Msample]

I just watch it on the Bravo website.

[argrow]

I usually find it easiest to watch it on YouTube.

Edited May 28, 2021 by argrow

[mlp]

I always watch it on the Bravo site and never have had a problem with it.

This episode should have been called Product Placement Kitchen - although I didn't mind the BMW tie-in.  It was something different but probably nerve-wracking for the chefs.

I suspect that Sara would have got the win unless she did something so awful that Tom couldn't let it pass.  Chris seemed like a nice guy but he hadn't done anything to impress since the beginning and had had more than his share of failures.  Sara OTOH had been coming on strong.

[Fukui San]

Yes, Holy Product Placement there! But Portland being Portland Tom probably should’ve rode a bike around the track. Also, there’s a race track in Portland?! Huh.  

[HighQueenEB]

1 hour ago, Fukui San said:

Yes, Holy Product Placement there! But Portland being Portland Tom probably should’ve rode a bike around the track. Also, there’s a race track in Portland?! Huh.  

LOL!  Yup, PIR (Portland International Raceway) is in North Portland, in an area now called Delta Park which was formerly known as Vanport - which has a fascinating history itself.  My paternal grandparents lived there after WWII before it flooded (luckily they weren't home when the flood happened).   

[CrazyInAlabama]

I watched LCK this week right after the regular episode on the Bravo website.     If Chris would have won, I would have fallen off the couch in shock.   

However, last week it just didn't want to run for me, for at least a couple of days after the TC episode ran.   There was something strange going on with the internet on a lot of sites last week, and most seem to have been fixed.   

[fenwic]

3 hours ago, ALittleShelfish said:

Where are you guys watching this?  I have checked Comcast on-demand and they usually post it almost a week after the fact.   I finally caught last week's LCK on the Bravo app on, I think it finally showed up for me on like Tuesday.  Maybe online it's more immediate? My laptop is five thousand years old so it doesn't enjoy streaming shows.  

*fine. i'll buy a new computer.  arm sufficiently twisted.*

YouTube.  I watch TC an hour or so after it airs, and then LCK is already up on Bravo’s YT channel.

[bosawks]

I also like YouTube.

It’s easy to use and and is typically up shortly after the episode airs.

[LeighLeigh]

We don’t get it in Canada. Used to be on Food Network Canada’s website. Now we have to wait for it to appear on Top Chef World’s website. 

[dleighg]

18 hours ago, The Solution said:

I really thought that Chris' dish was more appealing and thoughtful this time

I did as well, but still would have been mad if he'd beaten Sara. He has been circling the drain for a long time. I'll accept the notion that "weird and interesting" won out over "nicely done." The car thing was silly, but, whatever. 

[CatWarmer]

I don’t usually watch LCK but did watch this one (on the  Bravo website).  I wanted to give Richard Blais a shout out.  I gather it was his first time there?  He seemed polite and helpful and concerned for the chefs.  

[The Solution]

Oh. I forgot to say ~ Blais, don't quit your day job!

This is the new enlightened me.

 

[Leeds]

On 5/27/2021 at 11:09 PM, HighQueenEB said:

LOL!  Yup, PIR (Portland International Raceway) is in North Portland, in an area now called Delta Park which was formerly known as Vanport - which has a fascinating history itself.  My paternal grandparents lived there after WWII before it flooded (luckily they weren't home when the flood happened).   

The pretty sure that wasn't the PIR since it was very windy, narrow, and surrounded by mature trees.  The caption said something about Mt. Hood Territory, but googling that gave me nothing.

[Iseut]

Sara wasn't wrong that she deserved to stay in the competition longer than Chris,  but it was still a little jarring to see her say it outright in the TH like that.  Definitely dropped her "I'm just a quirky chef and can't believe you like me hee heeee!" veneer in that moment!

Edited May 29, 2021 by Iseut

[stewedsquash]

I agree @Iseut . If Chris should have gone last week (from EC), who does Sara think should have gone this week, if not her? I am not criticizing her her saying the quiet part out loud, just curious. 

 

[emmawoodhouse]

8 hours ago, Leeds said:

The pretty sure that wasn't the PIR since it was very windy, narrow, and surrounded by mature trees.  The caption said something about Mt. Hood Territory, but googling that gave me nothing.

It was only what, 10 minutes from where they were filming? How close are they to Mt. Hood?

[Leeds]

4 minutes ago, emmawoodhouse said:

It was only what, 10 minutes from where they were filming? How close are they to Mt. Hood?

They only said that they have as long to cook as it took for ten laps (plus five minutes?), not that the two would occur simultaneously.  I assume they filmed Tom at some convenient time and then replayed the tape as the chefs cooked.

The Mt Hood Wilderness is very large, but that track could easily be an hour outside the Portland city limits.

 

[emmawoodhouse]

LOL, stupid me, I fell for the driving/cooking simultaneously that was delivered by the show. Should have known that Tom was filmed prior to the cook. 

[Harry24]

9 hours ago, Iseut said:

Definitely dropped her "I'm just a quirky chef and can't believe you like me hee heeee!" veneer in that moment!

I liked her better for that, actually.  In addition, I suspect I would like her a LOT more if she cut back the laughter at least 80%.  Clearly she’s super talented, but her constant laughing in the THs distracts me so much.  And I feel as though it makes it hard for us as audience to get a sense of who she actually is.

[7-Zark-7]

Chris: "I'm going to continue to fight and get back into the competition."

Me: "Nobody wants that, Chris."

[Corgi-ears]

I guess we should be grateful that this episode of Top BMW Chef wasn't: "the only heat source you'll have, chefs is...the car engine!"  

[CrazyInAlabama]

There used to be a cookbook for that, called "Manifold Destiny".   You put the dish in foil, on top of the engine, and later you had lunch.   Don't give Tom C. any ideas about that though. 

[caitmcg]

2 hours ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

There used to be a cookbook for that, called "Manifold Destiny".   You put the dish in foil, on top of the engine, and later you had lunch.   Don't give Tom C. any ideas about that though. 

I remember discovering it in my college bookstore 30 years ago. I bought it as a gift for a friend (who didn’t even have a car, but I knew he’d get a kick out of it, which he did). Anyway, it’s still in print and available.

[Leeds]

7 hours ago, caitmcg said:

I remember discovering it in my college bookstore 30 years ago. I bought it as a gift for a friend (who didn’t even have a car, but I knew he’d get a kick out of it, which he did). Anyway, it’s still in print and available.

Sounds like the kind of thing Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers, would enjoy!

[ALittleShelfish]

On 5/28/2021 at 2:57 AM, fenwic said:

YouTube.  I watch TC an hour or so after it airs, and then LCK is already up on Bravo’s YT channel.

Thank you so much!  I don't know why i never think of YouTube as carrying actual shows, but I know it does.  Thank you, I'm thrilled to not have to wait a week anymore lol

[HighQueenEB]

On 5/29/2021 at 5:37 AM, Leeds said:

The pretty sure that wasn't the PIR since it was very windy, narrow, and surrounded by mature trees.  The caption said something about Mt. Hood Territory, but googling that gave me nothing.

Could be SkiBowl.  They have a "raceway" as part of the summer adventure park.  I don't watch LCK so I don't know what Tom was driving but that's the only place that I can think of that would fit the bill.

On 5/29/2021 at 2:21 PM, emmawoodhouse said:

It was only what, 10 minutes from where they were filming? How close are they to Mt. Hood?

Not close.  I think their filming studio was located near the airport based on the various "driving to and from" shots that have looked very similar to I-205 north of the junction with I-84 (but I'm too lazy to google any exterior pics of the Whole Foods they're using to try and place it, lol).  If that assumption and Tom was "racing" at SkiBowl are both correct, then he was at least an hour away.

[caitmcg]

1 hour ago, HighQueenEB said:

Could be SkiBowl.  They have a "raceway" as part of the summer adventure park.  I don't watch LCK so I don't know what Tom was driving but that's the only place that I can think of that would fit the bill.

He was driving a BMW, of course. The usual product placement. 

[Leeds]

1 hour ago, HighQueenEB said:

Could be SkiBowl.  They have a "raceway" as part of the summer adventure park.  I don't watch LCK so I don't know what Tom was driving but that's the only place that I can think of that would fit the bill.

 

I think you're probably right about SkiBowl.  I thought of that then dismissed it because I think it's generally for kids and go-carts.  I wasn't thinking they could use it just for one regular sized BMW!  It would also fit the, I believe made-up, "Mt Hood Territory", which would then encompass the whole commercial enterprise

(BMW BMW BMW BMW BMW BMW BMW . . . . . . . . . . . . . .)

[Spaceman Spiff]

On 5/27/2021 at 10:09 PM, ALittleShelfish said:

Where are you guys watching this?  I have checked Comcast on-demand and they usually post it almost a week after the fact.   I finally caught last week's LCK on the Bravo app on, I think it finally showed up for me on like Tuesday.  Maybe online it's more immediate? My laptop is five thousand years old so it doesn't enjoy streaming shows.  

*fine. i'll buy a new computer.  arm sufficiently twisted.*

It usually shows up for me 3 days after, so I can pull it up on Sunday's on Comcast on-demand.

[HighQueenEB]

14 hours ago, Leeds said:

I think you're probably right about SkiBowl.  I thought of that then dismissed it because I think it's generally for kids and go-carts.  I wasn't thinking they could use it just for one regular sized BMW!  It would also fit the, I believe made-up, "Mt Hood Territory", which would then encompass the whole commercial enterprise

(BMW BMW BMW BMW BMW BMW BMW . . . . . . . . . . . . . .)

LOL!  Yes, the whole "Mt Hood Territory" is definitely not a regional designation I've ever heard anyone use like we say "the Gorge" or "Willamette Valley" or "the Coast".  

[carrps]

On 5/29/2021 at 9:46 PM, CrazyInAlabama said:

There used to be a cookbook for that, called "Manifold Destiny".   You put the dish in foil, on top of the engine, and later you had lunch.   Don't give Tom C. any ideas about that though. 

Car-B-Que. No fans of the old Wings sitcom?

 

[Iseut]

2 hours ago, carrps said:

Car-B-Que. No fans of the old Wings sitcom?

 

It's a honey of a product!

[Thumper]

I don’t watch LCK, but in the preview, there was one woman chef who I don’t even remember!  😃

[buttersister]

Byron rose to the occasion, but bye, Byron.

[SailorGirl]

that was a bit . . . convoluted of a second challenge?? 

Poor Byron. 

For those who don't/can't watch it, this was another two-challenge LCK.

Challenge 1: Byron went up against Sarah doing bento boxes and he won. Sarah is out. 

Challenge 2: The five chefs who are still in the main competition came into the LCK. They each got a box to fill with 10 ingredients that Byron would be making meals of. Of the five boxes, he picked 3 and cooked against those chefs (for example, Jamie created box 2 - he picked box 2, so he and Jamie cooked against each other). 

Byron had to go up against three chefs. He went up against Gabe first and lost; then Maria and won; then Jamie and lost, so he is out.

So the top five remains a top five. 

 

[Nordly Beaumont]

I hope Byron got to just sit and maybe have a glass of wine after all that! Poor guy was so poo'd!

I'm just glad Sarah lost. I didn't feel one way or another about her at first, but now I can't stand her "I'm so weeeeird and quirrrrky" act.

[Irlandesa]

48 minutes ago, SailorGirl said:

that was a bit . . . convoluted of a second challenge?? 

Thank you for the description.  I feel bad for poor Byron even though he wasn't a fave of mine to win.

But the second challenge sounds familiar. I'm not a regular LCK viewer but it strikes me that one season I did watch, they did a challenge like this but perhaps less complicated.  It was more straight up--here's an ingredient, pick a chef. 

[CayennePepper]

12 minutes ago, Irlandesa said:

Thank you for the description.  I feel bad for poor Byron even though he wasn't a fave of mine to win.

But the second challenge sounds familiar. I'm not a regular LCK viewer but it strikes me that one season I did watch, they did a challenge like this but perhaps less complicated.  It was more straight up--here's an ingredient, pick a chef. 

Yeah. They did a similar LCK finale challenge last year and Kevin (he won 2 out of the 3 rounds) ended up returning to the competition (I bolded the winner of each round): 

Round 1: Kevin vs Brian 

Round 2: Kevin vs Bryan 

Round 3: Kevin vs Gregory 

Edited June 4, 2021 by CayennePepper

[mlp]

Byron was one of my favorites and I hated seeing him go through all that only to end up losing.  I'm glad he beat Maria though.  She's just nasty.

[Fukui San]

I was surprised that no one exclaimed to Sasha "You're still HERE?" seeing as she was eliminated in episode 2 and I don't think anyone had reason to know she was still there.

Like Jamie but the exuberant celebration as Byron got eliminated was a bit much.

I thought there was a preview of LCK which showed Sarah in her T-shirt mumbling "Fuck my life" with all the other eliminated chefs also cooking in their civilian clothes and I was waiting throughout for some twist where everyone would have to cook somehow. But that never came. So that confused me.

[LeighLeigh]

7 hours ago, mlp said:

Byron was one of my favorites and I hated seeing him go through all that only to end up losing.  I'm glad he beat Maria though.  She's just nasty.

I love Maria. 

[Werehauzen]

12 hours ago, Nordly Beaumont said:

I hope Byron got to just sit and maybe have a glass of wine after all that! Poor guy was so poo'd!

I'm just glad Sarah lost. I didn't feel one way or another about her at first, but now I can't stand her "I'm so weeeeird and quirrrrky" act.

I agree so strongly with what you said about Sarah. Does she ever end a sentence without that forced, super-fake smile and a laugh? I think she's actually probably got a real screw loose, because she seems to use that smile and cutesy laugh as a mask, so nobody can see how insecure she is. If she was a 14-year-old, I'd just say, "puberty's tough." But for an adult to act like that, it's bizarre. She's also alluded before about "accepting herself," without giving any insight about what that means. I might actually feel bad for her if she weren't so insanely annoying. Her smile and laugh have been like nails on a chalkboard to me since the end of the first episode. 

I listened to the Pack Your Knives podcast at one point, and they mentioned how bubbly and fun Sarah is, and it made me wonder, does nobody see how insane and annoying she is? I've wondered if I'm in the minority thinking she's incredibly unpleasant.

[carrps]

I like Sarah and Maria.

[Rammchick]

10 hours ago, Fukui San said:

I thought there was a preview of LCK which showed Sarah in her T-shirt mumbling "Fuck my life" with all the other eliminated chefs also cooking in their civilian clothes and I was waiting throughout for some twist where everyone would have to cook somehow. But that never came. So that confused me.

I'm glad I wasn't the only one.  It was a shot from the blood challenge, where everyone cooked, but the way it was presented was very confusing.

[LeighLeigh]

55 minutes ago, Werehauzen said:

I agree so strongly with what you said about Sarah. Does she ever end a sentence without that forced, super-fake smile and a laugh? I think she's actually probably got a real screw loose, because she seems to use that smile and cutesy laugh as a mask, so nobody can see how insecure she is. If she was a 14-year-old, I'd just say, "puberty's tough." But for an adult to act like that, it's bizarre. She's also alluded before about "accepting herself," without giving any insight about what that means. I might actually feel bad for her if she weren't so insanely annoying. Her smile and laugh have been like nails on a chalkboard to me since the end of the first episode. 

I listened to the Pack Your Knives podcast at one point, and they mentioned how bubbly and fun Sarah is, and it made me wonder, does nobody see how insane and annoying she is? I've wondered if I'm in the minority thinking she's incredibly unpleasant.

I love Sarah. 

32 minutes ago, carrps said:

I like Sarah and Maria.

I love them, too.