S18.E08: Restaurant Wars

[FormerMod-a1]

Quote

The eight remaining chefs split into teams and are tasked with creating a Chef's Table restaurant concept, where they must serve a seven-course, high-end tasting menu to the judges and all-star panel.

Original air date: May 20, 2021

[Bastet]

I like the Chef’s Table twist on Restaurant Wars, and like that for this challenge they got to go pick out their own ingredients rather than ordering online.

I feel like we saw more of the brainstorming process this time, and I enjoyed it.

Kokoson’s service had me drooling!  There was not a single bite of food I didn’t want to eat.  What a great compliment for Tom to say they raised the bar for every Restaurant Wars to come.  I’m so happy for Maria getting the win; it’s nice to see service be the thing that puts someone over the top in RW instead of sending them home.

I have, for some reason, been tickled my whole life by getting a hot towel on an airplane, so I liked that touch by Penny.  And it’s a nice idea to immediately hand an amuse bouche to chef’s table diners, but that thing was too big.  Add in their lack of interaction with the judges, totally missing the point of a chef’s table, and I knew they couldn’t win no matter how good the food.

And once it got going, it became clear the “non-strategy strategy” was a mistake, because it was a collection of dishes rather than a progressive meal.  And some of those dishes weren’t what they should have been to boot.

Dawn’s two dishes had me wanting to crawl through the screen to get to them, though.  Gabe’s octopus was very inviting, too.  And Chris’s dessert was quite interesting; I suspect I’d be like Padma, not expecting to like it and winding up loving it. 

But you can’t keep screwing up pasta!  I thought it should have been Chris eliminated, or maybe Gabe, and find myself a bit annoyed that it was Sara.  I know, I know – I don’t taste the food, and it’s not based on cumulative performance (in which case Chris would be the obvious selection).  But still; emotionally, I share the “What? No, you’re not” reaction of the others when she said she was the one going home.

I guess it's that all three had one dish they liked and one they didn't, but they liked the hits by Gabe and Chris a little more than they liked her hit.  Because I don't think they disliked her miss more than their misses. I hope she comes back from LCK.

[The Solution]

Wow! I was so happy to see Maria get the win finally! Every single thing Team Kokoson put out I wanted to eat then and there, but still it was nice to see Maria get the win. Even after she was stressing about getting the restaurant set, she did say that almost out of thin air everything did come together.

I was also really surprised to see Sara get the PYKAG. Dawn's dishes looked amazing as always, so I knew it wouldn't be her, but I thought Gabe and Chris's gaffes were each worse than Sara's. Hopefully Sara comes back from LCK.

Quote of the series: "This dish is like a Grateful Dead concert - it needs more acid."  Tom Colicchio for the win.

[MerBearStare]

12 minutes ago, Bastet said:

But you can’t keep screwing up pasta!  I thought it should have been Chris eliminated, or maybe Gabe, and find myself a bit annoyed that it was Sara.  I know, I know – I don’t taste the food, and it’s not based on cumulative performance (in which case Chris would be the obvious selection).  But still; emotionally, I share the “What? No, you’re not” reaction of the others when she said she was the one going home.

The non-cumulative judging is the thing I hate most about Top Chef (and Project Runway). Like I don't think it should always be cumulative, but if the bottom three is made up of two consistently strong competitors, Sara and Gabe, and one consistently weak one, Chris, the consistently weak one should go. Especially this far in the competition. We all know Chris isn't going to win, but I really think Sara could have (and of course she still could with LCK).

[Mr. Miner]

How did Dale get this judge gig? The guy took sixth place both times he was on TC.

[Macbeth]

When the show focused on Maria - and then she was front of house - I was like noooooooo!

But I am very happy she won. And her team kicked ass!  Yes.

[catrice2]

5 minutes ago, Mr. Miner said:

How did Dale get this judge gig? The guy took sixth place both times he was on TC.

During COVID it could have come down who was willing and able to do it.  They had to stay in a bubble and some other chefs were fighting to keep their places open or taking care of the opportunity to be with family.  Maybe others didn't want to take the risk. 

Personally I think the entire team should have went home for not having anyone act as host/hostess/front of house.  I mean?!! 

As for Chris going, I believe they liked Chris' dish except for the pasta and really liked his final dish.  At the end of the day, they have said several times in the past that it is about what happens on that challenge and not what happened on the last one or even three or four.   I am not a big Chris supporter, but to me it was evident is was Gabe or Sara. 

 

[jackjill89]

Dawn is proving to be an incredible chef and her food looks soooo good, but boy was she frustrating this episode. It would have driven me insane that she didn't know how she was handling her dishes until last minute. That team failed on so many levels. How in the world did they think this would work with the only thread being the use of seafood? It's like when they do a team challenge on Project Runway and think if every garment has a flash of a certain color it's enough to make it cohesive collection.

I liked Sara, but that halibut looked gross. 

On the other hand, I'm not a Maria fan, but she sold me tonight. She delivered. I loved how that team worked together. Their dishes looked fantastic. 

[laprin]

42 minutes ago, Bastet said:

I like the Chef’s Table twist on Restaurant Wars, and like that for this challenge they got to go pick out their own ingredients rather than ordering online.

I feel like we saw more of the brainstorming process this time, and I enjoyed it.

I agree. I hope they keep this format. Because they didn’t have to grind out 100 dishes, they had more time to focus on the food. I liked seeing them taste each other’s dishes and give feedback. We don’t get that when their scrambling to plate dishes. 

[buttersister]

I’ve never wanted to eat a meal more on this show than Kokosan’s. Brilliant concept, Shota. Masterful teamwork, team. The fun team? Sure, you know what else? The no prima donna team. Congrats to them all! 
 

Edited May 21, 2021 by buttersister

[Lassus]

Restaurant Wars continues to be my least favorite episode of Top Chef.  I would LOVE them to turn this on its head at some point and make restaurant wars a week-long challenge of actual perfection, instead of an idiotic sprint.  No restaurant starts like this, and I feel like this challenge proves almost nothing about anything.

Fight me.  ;-)

 

[heckkitty]

Ugh. They said multiple times that the problem with Penny was communication. To me, that lands pretty squarely on Dawn. I like her, but still. When they liked her food so much, I knew she’d stay & then I figured Sara as a goner. Loved Kokoson’s food; it looked great. If Maria hadn’t killed or the way she did, I could have seen Shota taking it for that idea. 

[Irlandesa]

13 minutes ago, heckkitty said:

They said multiple times that the problem with Penny was communication. To me, that lands pretty squarely on Dawn.

I know it was mentioned that Dawn wasn't completely sharing what she was doing but I think the communication issues started right at the beginning in the planning stages.  That was on all of them.  I think they looked at each other and saw chefs who, for the most part (maybe not Chris), were being praised in this competition.  They thought they could coast. 

It's frustrating because it's a mistake we see time and time again in Restaurant Wars. 

Edited May 21, 2021 by Irlandesa

[Thumper]

I enjoyed seeing “fun” Maria tonight.  She did a great job.  Congrats to their team.

Love the Chef’s Table concept for Restaurant Wars so much better.

Sorry to see Sara go.    Not sure if Dawn’s inability to say what she was going to make affected the decision for that group. And I think Dawn is great.

[Quilt Fairy]

27 minutes ago, Thumper said:

Not sure if Dawn’s inability to say what she was going to make affected the decision for that group.

It certainly seemed that way.  Dawn creating her dishes on the fly seemed to throw off any chance of the group coming together as a team.  She was basically in a silo operating on her own. 

Kokoson was working so well from the inception that there was really no tension in this episode.  I would have been shocked if they hadn't won. 

[Bastet]

21 minutes ago, Thumper said:

Not sure if Dawn’s inability to say what she was going to make affected the decision for that group.

I don't think so, other than Sara having a different idea of what she was following with one course.  Team Penny's lack of cohesive progression went far beyond Dawn being late in finalizing her dishes (in fact, I think because she was safe for producing, by leaps and bounds, the best food of the team, the editors played up her delayed communication for suspense before ultimately admitting via JT footage that she was never a consideration for elimination).

She could have told her team from jump exactly what two delicious courses she was going to do and they'd have still been a mess in that it was a sequence of dishes rather than a meal, there was no interaction with the guests, there was the "all hands on deck" each course "non-strategy strategy" rather than dedicating anyone to any of the necessary tasks.

[catrice2]

1 hour ago, Lassus said:

Restaurant Wars continues to be my least favorite episode of Top Chef.  I would LOVE them to turn this on its head at some point and make restaurant wars a week-long challenge of actual perfection, instead of an idiotic sprint.  No restaurant starts like this, and I feel like this challenge proves almost nothing about anything.

Fight me.  ;-)

 

No, I've never liked Restaurant Wars. 

[Msample]

Dawn  may have been a poor communicator, and she got an edit that implied she’d serve a poor dish, but knocked them both out of the park. The key thing is though the judges only saw the service, not the prep.

it was painful watching Penny basically ignore the table while they huddled around each dish as it was plated.

[catrice2]

18 minutes ago, Bastet said:

I don't think so, other than Sara having a different idea of what she was following with one course.  Team Penny's lack of cohesive progression went far beyond Dawn being late in finalizing her dishes (in fact, I think because she was safe for producing, by leaps and bounds, the best food of the team, the editors played up her delayed communication for suspense before ultimately admitting via JT footage that she was never a consideration for elimination).

She could have told her team from jump exactly what two delicious courses she was going to do and they'd have still been a mess in that it was a sequence of dishes rather than a meal, there was no interaction with the guests, there was the "all hands on deck" each course "non-strategy strategy" rather than dedicating anyone to any of the necessary tasks.

They always have to create a "bad guy" for audience to talk about.  Editing is what makes these shows. It is so frustrating because people believe what is chopped up and presented in one hour  as gospel for things that probably took at least two days and are sorely missing context and entire conversations. 

 

1 minute ago, Msample said:

Dawn  may have been a poor communicator, and she got an edit that implied she’d serve a poor dish, but knocked them both out of the park. The key thing is though the judges only saw the service, not the prep.

it was painful watching Penny basically ignore the table while they huddled around each dish as it was plated.

I'll bet that even with that, they probably did interact a little, but for dramatic effect even that little was left out. I would find it hard to believe that no one topped up their drinks at least once

[Phebemarie]

I'm beginning to wonder if The Oregonian is signaling who is eliminated each week.  At least this week and last, their feature story has focused on the chef who gets eliminated.  

A nice feature story about Sara was in Wednesday's edition.

https://www.oregonlive.com/tv/2021/05/top-chef-portlands-sara-hauman-on-self-confidence-yogurt-and-the-importance-of-little-fish.html

I thought the set-up for chef's table wasn't really great for the introverts on the Penny team.

[MoonMountain]

2 hours ago, Lassus said:

Restaurant Wars continues to be my least favorite episode of Top Chef.  I would LOVE them to turn this on its head at some point and make restaurant wars a week-long challenge of actual perfection, instead of an idiotic sprint.  No restaurant starts like this, and I feel like this challenge proves almost nothing about anything.

Fight me.  ;-)

 

You’re absolutely right. I’ve opened 6 restaurants, and usually their projected opening is delayed, sometimes multiple times. I’ve never opened one that was scrambling to put everything together and still finalizing the menu on opening day. Lol. 

[biakbiak]

1 hour ago, MoonMountain said:

No restaurant starts like this,

I mean no restaurant starts in a week either so that to me seems just as arbitrary an amount of time. None of the challenges are anything like what happens in real life, hell all of them end on something that would never happen in real life, an absolute hard time finish, so I don’t really get the frequent complaints about restaurant wars not being “real”.

 

Edited May 21, 2021 by biakbiak

[Fukui San]

I'm willing to hear other candidates, but I think Kokoson might be the greatest Restaurant Wars meal of the entire franchise. I just... Yes, I want everything, please. Shota's knowledge of the Kaiseki course just gave everything a structure, even giving a reason for Maria's tongue's sandwich to be where it was. 

I like Dawn but that was maddening! I was shocked that the dish she settled on seemingly at the last moment was one of the best of the night. To put it in sports terms, she was the basketball player scoring 40 points but their team loses. 

Of the people on the Penny team, I think Gabe would have been the best to be "front of house" as he has kind of a shy charm to him. Sara was a stressball, Dawn was all gameface, and Chris is kind of a non-entity. (Of course, we've heard of bad stuff about Gabe out of the context of the show, but still.)

After two entire seven course meals, Dale asked for more ice cream. Between that and Amar licking a plate clean, are these alumni judges... getting enough to eat? 

The Chef's Table concept worked well. I wouldn't mind future seasons doing this either in addition or in replacement of Restaurant Wars. Sara was my crush but she didn't handle this specific pressure well at all.

[TiffanyNichelle]

Chris really should have gone but I knew early on that Sarah was going to be eliminated. You could just feel it from the editing. I'm happy Maria did well because she was kind of annoying me for a while and I just wanted her to get a win already so we could move on. I like Dawn but she really just put her head down and worked on her dishes to make them shine. Even though it was a team competition, she worked it solo, imo. If her dishes had failed I think she would have been up with Sarah for elimination because they really seem to want to keep Chris. But, imo, Dawn didn't hurt the team with how she worked because they had a ton of other issues but she sure didn't help.

I like this change to Restaurant Wars. If they want to keep this for future seasons or make it a Top Chef All Stars, I wouldn't be mad.

[Tdoc72]

4 hours ago, laprin said:

I agree. I hope they keep this format. Because they didn’t have to grind out 100 dishes, they had more time to focus on the food. I liked seeing them taste each other’s dishes and give feedback. We don’t get that when their scrambling to plate dishes. 

Yes, I liked it too.  I thought it was interesting and I like when I can sit and watch them cook (Fun fact: My favorite place to watch is the Waffle House!) But I thought it was kind of unfair to compare it to other RW because they didn’t have to make 100 dishes, set up an entire restaurant, or deal with servers. They had to make 8-10 plates and it seemed everyone was getting a lot of help from the other teammates. 

[weixiaobao]

6 hours ago, Mr. Miner said:

How did Dale get this judge gig? The guy took sixth place both times he was on TC.

Dale was arguably one of the forefront runners of both very competitive seasons that he was on.  He was definitely top 3 in season 4 with Antonia Lofaso (love her) behind him, Richard, and Stephanie.  Would you be happier if Lisa F (or Mike I) from that season be on there since she is runner up and even beat Richard Blais in the finale?  In season 8, he kinda pretty dominating.  Had probably the most wins of everyone before he got eliminated 6 solo wins and 1 team win.  Not sure if he would be the strongest 3 in that competition.  I would argue that he is, but there can be a good counter argument against that.  I think despite his own inconsistency in that season which landed him on the bottom, of the final 6.  I would say he is stronger than Carla (love her), Tiffany, and Mike I (who was pretty average until after Dale I got eliminated).  He also had more wins than I would say all of them except to maybe Richard that season.  So that is a very weird criticism that you have.  Especially with this episode where people are highlighting about placement and cumulative performance.

Edited May 21, 2021 by weixiaobao

[biakbiak]

2 minutes ago, weixiaobao said:

Dale was arguably one of the forefront runners

Not to mention his Bodega concept for the “pop-up” restaurant wars on All-Stars is one of my favorite concepts ever on this show and it allowed everyone on his team to shine.

[weixiaobao]

5 hours ago, Lassus said:

Restaurant Wars continues to be my least favorite episode of Top Chef.  I would LOVE them to turn this on its head at some point and make restaurant wars a week-long challenge of actual perfection, instead of an idiotic sprint.  No restaurant starts like this, and I feel like this challenge proves almost nothing about anything.

Fight me.  ;-)

okay, shot fire.  You should not apply to be a showrunner.  What you advocating for is a gigantic budget for renting, shooting, manpower, food, scheduling for a one hour episode.  May as well just toss the whole Restaurant War episode in the trash.  I think you are looking for like Kitchen's Nightmare or something.  Or a documentary of some kind.  The reason why Restaurant War is absurd, it is because tv is absurd on its face.  Look at other competitions.  People hanging out on an Island and do weird stuffs and call it Survivor.  It made for tv.  The stresses bring out drama, which some folks like it (I am indifference). 

5 hours ago, heckkitty said:

Ugh. They said multiple times that the problem with Penny was communication. To me, that lands pretty squarely on Dawn. I like her, but still. When they liked her food so much, I knew she’d stay & then I figured Sara as a goner. Loved Kokoson’s food; it looked great. If Maria hadn’t killed or the way she did, I could have seen Shota taking it for that idea. 

I kinda agree.  But the whole team set it up to fail.  They decided as a team to just do their own things.  Didn't have a cohesive plan.  And to be fair, by that rule, then whether they fall or not should squarely land on the individual.  Because if they ignore the teammate and just dish out the best dish that they could make.  Then they wouldn't be going home.  I like Sarah.  But had she just chunk out two strong dishes irregardless then she wouldn't going home.  In fact Dawn's two dishes were the only thing that put the entire team on the map of even able to compete with the other team.  The only comforting thing about Sara going home is that Brian Marlakey was so wrong, wrong, wrong about his smug prediction.  I gonna miss her and Shota interaction with each others.  Shota just lost his best bud Avishar and now his best girl, Sara.

As for Chris vs Sara, I think he making the best dish on that team save him.  He got a bad dish, and a really good dish.  Sara got an okay dish, and a bad dish.  So that is why she went home.  Gabe had a bad dish that isn't part of the 7 courses (that save him a bit), and his other dish was okay.  So many introverts on that team, I think Gabe was probably the only person who possibly could interact well with the guests. 

@biakbiak- I like that restaurant war episode for the team selection process between Dale vs Marcel.  But to be honest s18 probably had my favorite restaurant war concept.  My gosh, every single dishes on the winning team looks like art.  Outside of Maria's dish, probably because of the bread that she used, but I am sure it taste great.  I grow up on Banh Mi, but boy I love Mexican Tortas.  Cabeza Tortas is my favorite, but Lengua Tortas ain't half bad.

Edited May 21, 2021 by weixiaobao

[CrazyInAlabama]

I think once the quarantine rules open up a little, that there will be more interaction for a chef's table concept. 

I liked the way this episode played out, but I was surprised at how disorganized Team Penny was.     

[biakbiak]

One thing I thought was interesting is that budget wasn’t really any concern, they could not only do decor but buy so much quality food ingredients  before even crossing the threshold of Whole Foods. Team Penny left nearly $1000 on the table and that was after they bought essential oils for the hand towels but it wasn’t brought up at judges table because it didn’t impact anything they were trying to do. So basically a very generous budget is what I would like to see them takeaway from this restaurant wars!

Edited May 21, 2021 by biakbiak

[FinnishViewer]

4 hours ago, weixiaobao said:

The only comforting thing about Sara going home is that Brian Marlakey was so wrong, wrong, wrong about his smug prediction

Sara could still come back via LCK and win the competition.

[susannot]

7 hours ago, Fukui San said:

I'm willing to hear other candidates, but I think Kokoson might be the greatest Restaurant Wars meal of the entire franchise. I just... Yes, I want everything, please. Shota's knowledge of the Kaiseki course just gave everything a structure, even giving a reason for Maria's tongue's sandwich to be where it was. 

I like Dawn but that was maddening! I was shocked that the dish she settled on seemingly at the last moment was one of the best of the night. To put it in sports terms, she was the basketball player scoring 40 points but their team loses. 

Of the people on the Penny team, I think Gabe would have been the best to be "front of house" as he has kind of a shy charm to him. Sara was a stressball, Dawn was all gameface, and Chris is kind of a non-entity. (Of course, we've heard of bad stuff about Gabe out of the context of the show, but still.)

After two entire seven course meals, Dale asked for more ice cream. Between that and Amar licking a plate clean, are these alumni judges... getting enough to eat? 

The Chef's Table concept worked well. I wouldn't mind future seasons doing this either in addition or in replacement of Restaurant Wars. Sara was my crush but she didn't handle this specific pressure well at all.

What bad stuff have we heard about Gabe?

[dleighg]

11 hours ago, jackjill89 said:

I liked Sara, but that halibut looked gross.

I've liked her, but honestly I think she needed to go home for serving something that looked like a baby spit up on it. 

 

3 hours ago, biakbiak said:

that was after they bought essential oils

that worried me at the store-- I didn't catch what he wanted it for-- of course they can't cook with it, so I wondered whether they were going to use them in a scented-atomizer-thing, which I remember a big criticism of vanilla-scented candles in a previous restaurant wars. I guess it worked with the hand towels as it's just a transitory thing.

[Yeah No]

8 hours ago, Phebemarie said:

I thought the set-up for chef's table wasn't really great for the introverts on the Penny team.

I thought the same thing.  I also wondered how much the editing made them look worse.  Of course that wasn't their only issue, though.  As much as I was rooting for team Penny, Kokosan blew me away.  I really don't care for Maria but she proved herself on this episode as worthy of being there.

I thought it was accidentally ironic that everyone I'm rooting for was on team Penny.  Dawn is amazing and her food didn't disappoint this week either.  That team's main problem was that they were going to fail no matter what they did because Kokosan was truly exceptional.  So I felt like the editing was nitpicking and exaggerating with Penny's food and performance.  They did have weaker cohesiveness to their menu, though, that's for sure, so that was really played up in the judging.

11 minutes ago, FinnishViewer said:

Sara could still come back via LCK and win the competition.

I think Sara is the dark horse this season.  The last time I said that about someone they won.  That said, I doubt she will win, LOL.  I'm rooting for anyone on team Penny including her, though.  I would be happy if any one of them won.  On the other team the only person I like that much is Byron.

[Lassus]

8 hours ago, Phebemarie said:

I thought the set-up for chef's table wasn't really great for the introverts on the Penny team.

Yes.  I thought it was somewhat unfair that the Penny team was docked for not being more outgoing.  I mean, they had other issues with timing and cohesion, but the flip of the coin put all of the shy people on the SAME TEAM.

[biakbiak]

19 minutes ago, Lassus said:

Yes.  I thought it was somewhat unfair that the Penny team was docked for not being more outgoing.  I mean, they had other issues with timing and cohesion, but the flip of the coin put all of the shy people on the SAME TEAM.

Where is the narrative coming that they were all shy? They have all been outgoing and engaging  in other challenges. The only person I remember explicitly stating they felt awkward with the “being on display” was Jamie and Maria was nervous due to her failures  but they both kicked ass in the challenge.

Edited May 21, 2021 by biakbiak

[LennieBriscoe]

What, exactly, was the purpose of buying non-food items? To pretend this episode was somehow still a restaurant challenge?

 

[GiandujaPie]

I knew the Penny team was going to lose as soon as they decided they were not going to have anyone responsible for FOH duties such as bussing and refilling water glasses and drinks. Maria being tasked to do that for Kokosan  also gave her the opportunity to schmooze and play host to the dinner. When Penny decided they would all just monitor stuff like that and take care of it as needed, I knew there was going to be multiple times when the judges/diners would feel neglected and ignored and it would take away from the whole chef's table concept. 

Kokosan being able to follow a kaiseki menu pattern was also super smart and I liked how many of the dishes were a collaboration among the chefs. I would totally love to go have a meal there. 

[bosawks]

I would've enjoyed it if Kris and Maria switched sides.

She either would've beat communication out of them or just plain beat them.

Edited May 21, 2021 by bosawks

[Lassus]

1 hour ago, biakbiak said:

Where is the narrative coming that they were all shy? They have all been outgoing and engaging  in other challenges.

I have to disagree.  Perhaps I could have used "quiet" instead of "shy", but Sara and Chris are certainly less outgoing than Shota and Maria, and even Gabe's personality is more subdued than, say, Jamie.

I mean, the judges themselves noticed it was like a tomb in team Penny's restaurant.  

Edited May 21, 2021 by Lassus

[stewedsquash]

I like Dawn and think she cooks excellent food and I also think she is the reason that Penny never quite jelled. She has a method that works for her, zero in on herself and keep the others out of her head space/plan. That was what she did with Gabriel in the ribs/watermelon meal (not going to rehash that, but it is an example of what I am talking about). The judges asked, when they were eating and brought it up at judges table, why are we getting these two broths right after each other, this one should have been before the last one and also there should have been another offering between them. That was Dawn and Chris's offerings. Also, they thought that Gabe and Dawn's first two offerings should have been switched, Dawn first, Gabe second.  And I think the reason behind that (food not seeming to flow in an order) was they made the order of presentation during discussions,  Dawn would not (could not?) tell them what she was making so they did not have time to say, even the next day before the menus were printed up, Let's change the order of the presentation or let me change up my food just a bit. I also think that she consciously or unconsciously decided that she was not doing FOH I also think it was a cop out on her part to just say the communication between them wasn't there (paraphrasing) and not clarify that it was her lack of telling them what she was doing that wasn't communicated. The others, and she herself, were all so timid in not wanting to give reasons for what happened. She timidly threw them out, but they didn't respond in kind by throwing her out.

Dawn has been shown to cook such good food but I don't think she is a good team player, which is what was called for here. She wasn't the only reason for the downfalls, but she played a pretty big part in it. 

I am going to re-watch before posting some more thoughts, about this team and the almost perfect storm of the other team.

Edited May 21, 2021 by stewedsquash
grammar, probably missed some more

[seltzer3]

I'm not going to lie, if I was a contestant I would probably prefer regular restaurant wars than this one.  I would feel so awkward cooking, while people are like 3 feet away from me commenting my every move, and every interaction that I had with a teammate.  This would be such a hard challenge for an introvert.

I feel that the losing team failed, because they didn't really have designated roles either.  There was no "front of the house"  (Maria) or a back of the house (Shota).

I also thought that the fact they decided to spent  the first 30 minutes on decorating was a pretty bad idea.  Since certain courses would require braising, or making broth and you would need that extra 30 minutes.

 

[akr]

They could have managed a more relaxed, intimate, or educational style. I don't know that this small group setting requires you to be quite so gregarious; you can just tell them what you're doing & why, answer questions, and make sire everyone has what they need.

It seemed Sara, at least, was aware that having no particular theme beyond seafood, no plan for progression, & no designated responsibility for any aspect of service, were likely to be major problems, but she wasn't able to successfully stand up to Gabe on these issues, and I don't remember that anyone else even tried.

I suppose no one wanted that role for themselves, so they didn't push it. 

[stewedsquash]

On 5/21/2021 at 1:29 AM, Fukui San said:

After two entire seven course meals, Dale asked for more ice cream. Between that and Amar licking a plate clean, are these alumni judges... getting enough to eat? 

 

I just know that Tom, Padma, and Gail are thinking Never again, never again. Producers, don't ever again let these lowbrow chefs be in our esteemed judging presence.

eta I had to clarify in a subsequent post that I am dissing the esteemed judges, not the guest judges. I am being snarky towards Tom Padma and Gail

 

Edited May 22, 2021 by stewedsquash
when you think you are clear and clearly you ain't

[Nordly Beaumont]

The Penny team did fine when they did interact with the judges, they just needed to make an effort to do more of it. But they were not working as a team. They just kept their heads down and focused on their own dishes with no thought or concern as to what anyone else was doing or not doing. 

I like that when Tom asked how a sandwich fits into a kaiseki meal, Shota had a good answer ("Technically, it's more of a braise"). It shows that they thought it all through.

That one pot meal had motion - it was beautiful.

[blixie]

Quote

The non-cumulative judging is the thing I hate most about Top Chef (and Project Runway). 

What bothers me more is they arbitrarily argue that they don't judge cumulatively, aka, sometimes it's clear they are favoring a chef who has done better over time (Avishar v. Chris, Chris had more highs of the two), and then in this situation they cut Sarah even though Gabe has been on a three episode bummer of serving food they didn't like.

I don't even really like Sarah but I thought it should have been Gabe, I think it came down to the fact that in Seafood restaurant, her best dish was just the skin of the fish, and Gabe actually cooked octopus, bitter octopus but he cooked the actual fish. I also think Gabe kind of guided them to their doom with the generalized lets do fish "concept" AND by arguing they could all do their own thing, and that all hands on deck for FOTH meant no one was going to take responsibility for it, that always pisses the judges off, service is a huge piece of Restaurant Wars, and you can't win if you blow it off.  Maria took the challenge based more on that than her very food contributions.

I also would like to know what we are supposed to know about Gabe being a dick outside the show?

I absolutely loved the moment when Jamie was like "Do you cook your rice, like BOOP?" to Shota who was like I don't make that sound, I say WOOP. It was also hilarious when Kristen couldn't stop laughing at Jamies dish explanation via noises. That hot pot they made looked bomb and I'm not even super into big pots of seafood. 

As far as Dawn goes she absolutely fucked them all over but only in as much as they set themselves up for it, and I like her and her food, and I think had she taken a leadership role they would have had better ideas/organization. I will say this is one of the funniest seasons of Top Chef in the way almost every body keeps going hard on the things that they struggle with: Avishar and the rice, Chris and Pasta, Maria and Shrimp which she is allergic to! Chris has fucked up past a couple of times and the team is like seems like your a good fit for the pasta course. LOL.

[Nordly Beaumont]

8 minutes ago, blixie said:

I also would like to know what we are supposed to know about Gabe being a dick outside the show?

If you google Gabe Erales Comedor, you should be able to find articles. Not a lot of details though.

10 minutes ago, blixie said:

I absolutely loved the moment when Jamie was like "Do you cook your rice, like BOOP?" to Shota who was like I don't make that sound, I say WOOP.

Me too!

[Fukui San]

2 hours ago, susannot said:

What bad stuff have we heard about Gabe?

Fired from his job in December for what is said to be Sexual Harassment. 

[meep.meep]

41 minutes ago, stewedsquash said:

I just know that Tom, Padma, and Gail are thinking Never again, never again. Producers, don't ever again let these lowbrow chefs be in our esteemed judging presence.

Those low brow chefs have infinitely more knowledge of what it takes to actually be a chef than Padma and Gail who have never done so.  Dale Talde had multiple successful restaurants running at one point.  Ahmar has opened at least one.  Padma has written a cookbook and Gail has worked in food journalism.  I don't mind having actual chefs as part of the judging panel.

You could see this week's results telegraphed from miles away.  Kokosan had a great concept with kaiseki courses, they worked well together, Maria handled FOH like a pro, and by working on the dishes collaboratively, no one could be called out as solely responsible if a dish failed.

Penny had individual dishes and the two the judges disliked the most were both from Sara.  Too bad for her.

[dleighg]

I don't think it affected the result in any way, but one would think that the judges would not be as eager to eat a second multi-course meal.