S18.E12: The Cheesier the Better

[biakbiak]

1 minute ago, Mr. Miner said:

Again, How did Dale get this judging gig? He finished 6th both times he was on TC.

Got a lot of people, including Tom and critics, loving his restaurants.

[ChicagoMe]

Fish and cheese? Are we all forgetting McDonald's fish burger - served with a slice of cheese. Yum!
What's with Dale going off the rails over a missing plate item? Is that seriously all it takes to upset him? How does he cope in a high pressure kitchen?

Edited June 18, 2021 by ChicagoMe

[blixie]

 

Quote

if she a) weren't cooking food that the judges really wanted to eat or b) there's someone who puts out food the judges like less.

Except in this case the show has emphasized over and over for years it's about plate v. plate and in this case the only judge to make any favorable comments on Dawn's dish while eating in this episode was Ed Lee. No one seemed to really care for Dawn's dish this time and even Lee seemed to concede that she only made one good but still flawed component: her grainy cheese sauce. It could be they did enjoy her plate, but it did not at all read that way to me on screen, while at the table. Also it just looked sad, a sad sad version of a cheese steak. 

Jamie's dish got positive comments about her execution of almost ever component including the fish (they said the sesame sauce wasn't cheesy, not bad), and was eliminated for good food, fully plated, but poorly composed and conceptualized. I am not mad at it, but if I were Jamie, I might have been, she just seemed emotionally done with the whole process of competing though, and I think the two dishes were probably close enough for different reasons that throwing it to Dawn over Jamie  still makes sense. To me as Ed Lee said when Jamie leaned into "her" food she was outstanding, but when she let the challenges divert/distract her from her food she had issues. In any case I think if Dawn wins she will be utterly deserving (she is leading in top three finishes, Shota is actually third), and I don't see Shota as some next level can't lose dominator. I still remember that terrible grey-black corn dog. He's a had at least a few of those kinds of mental lapses of not only conception, but execution, I think some of his bigger misses have luckily been in quick fires rather than in eliminations.

[dleighg]

9 hours ago, Leeds said:

And while we're about it, the word is gougère, not grougère or gruyère, despite what several people on tonight's show seem to think.

somewhat hilariously, the captioning gods spelled it gruyère all 50 or so times it was mentioned! (Can't remember if they included the accent). I was so confused as I thought this was a cheddar challenge, until I realized what they were misspelling (and often mis-pronouncing).

What a sad statement of Dawn's dish - "If you're going to reference a cheesesteak, it needs to taste as delicious as a cheesesteak!" Having gone to college in the Philadelphia area, I agree that a cheesesteak is god's gift to stomachs. 

Somehow Padma's breathless "We're going to ...... the coast" doesn't quite rank with Italy, Singapore, Macau LOL. And what do you want to bet that the producers told the chefs "We built that damn fire for you-- go sit around it." The chefs looked kind of cold and miserable.

[Leeds]

12 minutes ago, dleighg said:

Somehow Padma's breathless "We're going to ...... the coast" doesn't quite rank with Italy, Singapore, Macau LOL. And what do you want to bet that the producers told the chefs "We built that damn fire for you-- go sit around it." The chefs looked kind of cold and miserable.

I was very excited when I first went to the Oregon coast because, as a Western European, after all the build up by my Oregonian in-laws and friends, I was expecting a sparsely populated Mediterranean-type beach.  It was certainly beautiful, and practically deserted, but my dreams of a balmy day on the beach with a couple of pleasant swims were cruelly dashed.

[blixie]

Yeah it might not be as exciting as foreign country/city, but the Oregon coast is wild and stunning and still a nice change up from being in Portland proper, my favorite little spot on the coast is the stretch between Yahachts (where I had the most amazing tomato and onion preserves) and Depoe Bay (great whale sighting at the right time of year) Seal Rock and Devil's Punchbowl are highlights. My brother lives in Newport which is little artist enclave, and seems to be where the sea lions that abandoned SF Fisherman's Wharf now come to hang out en masse. I laughed very hard the first time I went there and saw all the deadly serious BEWARE KILLER LOGS signs, a real and serious thing to be sure, but also very funny in the reading. 

 

[Ms Blue Jay]

8 hours ago, Quilt Fairy said:

I love sweet and savory together, and I put thinly sliced apple into my grilled cheese sandwiches.  And it also - in my mind at least - makes it count as a serving of fruit!

A local restaurant here serves their grilled cheese sandwiches with fig jam.  MMmmmmm.

[Leeds]

24 minutes ago, blixie said:

Yeah it might not be as exciting as foreign country/city, but the Oregon coast is wild and stunning and still a nice change up from being in Portland proper, my favorite little spot on the coast is the stretch between Yahachts (where I had the most amazing tomato and onion preserves) and Depoe Bay (great whale sighting at the right time of year) Seal Rock and Devil's Punchbowl are highlights. My brother lives in Newport which is little artist enclave, and seems to be where the sea lions that abandoned SF Fisherman's Wharf now come to hang out en masse. I laughed very hard the first time I went there and saw all the deadly serious BEWARE KILLER LOGS signs, a real and serious thing to be sure, but also very funny in the reading. 

 

Tidal Raves at Depoe Bay is my favourite lunch spot on a day trip to the coast.  Good food and a fantastic view over the gorgeous little bay, and, yes, the chance to see whales.  I just googled them to see whether they survived the pandemic - thankfully they did.

I see the forecast for Portland on Monday is 99 F (say what?), so I may have to escape west.

Here's a handy guide to this season's locations:

https://www.foodandwine.com/travel/top-chef-portland-locations

 

[stewedsquash]

9 hours ago, Rammchick said:

Filet o'fish with cheese, anyone?

I'm just watching Jamie at her Black Sheep restaurant in the Vegas episode of the Netflix show, "Fresh, Fried and Crispy".

Not only did you beat me to the Mickey D's delight that proves yes, fish and cheese go together but you have given me that nudge I needed to go ahead and watch Fresh Fried and Crispy tonight. 

Dawn has completely lost me with this episode and I hope it is now down to Shota and Gabe final two, Shota wins it all.  Next season there should be a Jamie's QF Win Rule: You can't borrow a QF advantage and then blame that borrowed advantage at judges table. Not cool Dawn. 

This is the second time Gabe has come up with a fruit element that wowed the judges. If it had not been a cheese challenge, I think he would have been put in top two with Shota, instead of top of the three bottom. 

 

[cameron]

9 hours ago, Rammchick said:

Filet o'fish with cheese, anyone?

I'm just watching Jamie at her Black Sheep restaurant in the Vegas episode of the Netflix show, "Fresh, Fried and Crispy".

Was going to mention that about McDonald's fish sandwich.  Guess that combination doesn't bother all the people who buy that sandwich, me included.

[Leeds]

Incidentally, one of the BMW ads horrifies me.  It's the one where the passenger is getting a "chair" massage.  I watched it thinking I couldn't imagine anything more distracting to a driver than someone next to me writhing and groaning.  But it got worse when I googled the ad and discovered the driver's seat can also deliver a massage.  How can this possibly be legal?  Add a cell phone call and there's no way this doesn't end in disaster.

[Irlandesa]

5 hours ago, JD5166 said:

I was a lot put off at the “Jamie was helping men plate” comment. Like it wasn’t her fault for forgetting something. Disappointing because I’ve enjoyed this season so much and how they all really seem to like each other and help each other out. It’s refreshing there has been no blame gaming. 

But I don't think that was throwing her under the bus or making it Jamie's fault. I think she was explaining there were two sets of eyes on it instead of just one and she was really surprised a component was left off one of the dishes.  We've had instances where it seems like chefs blamed other chefs who were helping.  I didn't get the sense that was what Dawn was trying to do at all.  Neither did Jamie because she jumped right in to back Dawn up.

1 hour ago, blixie said:

Except in this case the show has emphasized over and over for years it's about plate v. plate and in this case the only judge to make any favorable comments on Dawn's dish while eating in this episode was Ed Lee.

Gail said she loved the cheesiness of Dawn's dish.  Another judge (who I don't know) said that in terms of flavor and cheesiness her dish was really punchy.  Ed raved out the dish. People close to him nodded. Another one said that the gougere was really delicious.  Gail reiterated that at the judge's table.

If Dawn keeps placing high even when she forgets to put everything on everyone's plate, that tells me she might be the best chef there because eliminating someone over forgetting a component is eliminating someone over anything but the quality of the food. Hell, if Dawn can make it to the finale and manages to put complete dishes out, I see no reason why she wouldn't win.

6 hours ago, biakbiak said:

Another reason why they failed were at least four shitty dishes:

Yep.  The other team all executed their dishes well and it was a brilliant concept.  Progression isn't the reason Penny lost. 

1 hour ago, dleighg said:

the captioning gods spelled it gruyère all 50 or so times it was mentioned! (Can't remember if they included the accent).

I think they did include the accent.  I think even Tom called it a gruyere that I started wondering if there was some alternative name for a gougere I wasn't aware of.

1 hour ago, dleighg said:

Somehow Padma's breathless "We're going to ...... the coast" doesn't quite rank with Italy, Singapore, Macau LOL. And what do you want to bet that the producers told the chefs "We built that damn fire for you-- go sit around it." The chefs looked kind of cold and miserable.

I couldn't help but think back to the time they went to Italy and took a tour of the Parmesan cheese factor.  That was amazing and such a romantic experience.  Tillamook didn't quite hold that same mystique. 

Edited June 18, 2021 by Irlandesa

[dleighg]

1 minute ago, stewedsquash said:

This is the second time Gabe has come up with a fruit element that wowed the judges.

that was an interesting process he did to keep the apple's texture firm. I believe he called it "nixtamalization" which I had heard of, but only in relation to making masa. I couldn't find any reference to this process in a minute or so of searching OTHER than in relation to masa. So cutting edge indeed!

[stewedsquash]

9 hours ago, biakbiak said:

One can listen to Michael Phelps talk about his deep insecurities and depression and  realize that Olympic success has literally nothing to do with insecurities. A ton of accomplished athletes and highly successful people suffer from them, to dismiss their feelings because of what they have accomplished isn’t helpful. 

 

There was no dismissing of feelings by the other poster. 

[biakbiak]

49 minutes ago, stewedsquash said:

There was no dismissing of feelings by the other poster. 

I assume it wasn’t intended but the post that I quoted did suggest because she was an Olympian,  Dawn shouldn’t  feel what she expressed and that was what I responded to and suggesting that she should dismiss her insecurities because of what she has done is harmful. Saying  what will us mortals think is harmful on both sides. You can not agree but that was what the post I quoted stated. Acknowledging that mental health issues exist regardless of accomplishments is hugely important. Casually dismissing them does a ton of harm. Pointing out that such language  when casually expressed  can be harmful does not.

Edited June 18, 2021 by biakbiak

[stewedsquash]

8 hours ago, PackYourKnives said:

And the reason I brought it up, was because the main redeeming quality of Dawn's edit so far has been her experience as a POC. Nothing wrong with that whatsoever, but at this point it's absolutely fishy as hell she survived yet ANOTHER elimination for rule violations. 

I don't think she has had the POC edit. She has been shown as a strong woman who messes up plating but they haven't showcased the color of her skin. I am not wording this very well but I just disagree that she is being presented based on her skin color. She is being showcased as a talented chef, in my opinion.

I do wonder though about the missing components angle (you have mentioned it in several posts/threads) seemingly being a non factor in judging Dawn (Dale being the angriest, ha! He wasn't wrong about it but I don't think it was based on why are we letting the black lady slide, it was about Come on Dawn, get yourself together, you are too good to be making these mistakes over and over) It makes me keep commenting that I wish Tom still blogged. 

Edited June 18, 2021 by stewedsquash

[biakbiak]

The person who seemed most upset about the missing ingredient on her plate was Brooke not only because she didn’t get to taste the by all accounts delightful gougeres but verklempt that Dawn might be eliminated because of it.  
 

[lovinbob]

15 hours ago, buttersister said:

I love Ed Lee.

I seriously LOVE Ed Lee. He's so low key, no nonsense, and funny. Love to see him back on Top Chef. 

[laprin]

11 hours ago, Leeds said:

What's CPT?

It’s a stereotype that many black people, like myself, wish would die a slow death. 

[jackjill89]

I kept hearing "gruyere" and kept thinking that they were only supposed to use cheddar, and isn't gruyere a type of cheese and not a dish? Took me a bit to figure this out. 

Jamie grew on me a bit and was less irritating as time went on, but her dish sounded gross. I don't necessarily subscribe to the 
"no fish with cheese rule" but the fish, bok choy and cheese sauce? Yuck. 

Shota FTW. I'm not a Gabe fan, has nothing with what happened post-show. He's a very competent chef and comes up with some ingenious ideas, but he does nothing for me. Dawn is obviously skilled, but she is not cut out for serious competition. I've liked Shota from the beginning and I hope he takes it. 

[Rai]

Really disappointed to see posts insinuating that if Dawn wins, it's only because she's Black. I would be surprised if she won because of her time management issues. But she HAS won or placed in the top often because she is a baller chef. I think it's Gabe's game to lose, I'd prefer Shota to win over Gabe because of the issues raised over Gabe, and my dream is Dawn wins, but she seems like a distant third right now in terms of her inability to complete challenges. When she gets it all together though, her food has clearly been on par with the top cheftestants this season and to insinuate otherwise is gross. Sensitivity issues didn't save Roscoe or Kiki or Nelson. It is about the food ultimately. Diminishing Dawn's talent with comments like it's only because BLM was a hot issue at the time is exactly the kind of hurdle she has faced in her career. She clearly has the talent to win. She just needs to sharpen the tools to ensure a win, and maybe she's not quite there yet. But I could be surprised!

In that vein, I actually can't believe Nina agreed to come on the show given that she was ROBBED of the title in Season 11. I said what I said! I've been so thrilled for her success since Top Chef, none of which really did seem connected to the show. Though I love Top Chef, I would've totally understood if she just torched that bridge as hard as possible. ROBBED.

Dale getting bitchy about Dawn leaving off a component was finally a flash of the Dale I know and...know. He's correct to point it out, but man, did he get pissy about it.

I love the idea of doing five different techniques to cheese, but cheddar seems really difficult to work with in that regard. Admittedly, I'm not a huge fan of that particular cheese. I get corporate sponsorships are a thing that they have to incorporate, but Tillamook Cheddar just seems more appropriate for a Quickfire, that's all. That said, I bet Shota's dish was DOPE.

[SemiCharmedLife]

17 hours ago, biakbiak said:

Random thought I love that Dawn’s knife kit is a backpack!

If yours is a random thought, mine is a middle-of-the-night insane random thought:

As the chef-testants are PYKAGing, it is their last chance of screen time to wow us.  I'm surprised none of them have done something more interesting with their knife packing, so I thought of a few ideas:

1.  A huge round, powerful magnet, as a backpack.  When the chef turns around, the knives are attracted onto the "knife-net" in a flurry of flying steel.

2.  A giant "knife-cushion" which resembles the classic tomato* pin cushion.  The chef gingerly places the knives in pre-formed slots and then carries the monstrosity away.  

3. A guitar case fitted with bumpy foam with cut-outs where each knife goes (ala gun cases I've seen in movies). 

 

* Also goes along with the cooking theme.

 

 

Edited June 18, 2021 by SemiCharmedLife
grammar

[MerBearHou]

37 minutes ago, jackjill89 said:

I kept hearing "gruyere" and kept thinking that they were only supposed to use cheddar, and isn't gruyere a type of cheese and not a dish? Took me a bit to figure this out. 

My captions said "gruyere" every single time so I was confused too.  I said to my daughter that they keep mispronouncing Gruyere and how odd for a group of chefs to do so.  I wasn't familiar with a gougere but am now.

[dleighg]

12 minutes ago, Rai said:

Diminishing Dawn's talent with comments like it's only because BLM was a hot issue at the time is exactly the kind of hurdle she has faced in her career.

totally. As a woman who went to grad school in Electrical Engineering (back when dinosaurs ruled the earth) I got comments like "oh you'll get into great schools because they are looking for more women." Nah, maybe it was cause my grades and GRE scores were pretty damn good. It can be infuriating.

[The Solution]

1 hour ago, laprin said:

It’s a stereotype that many black people, like myself, wish would die a slow death. 

And one that I'm ashamed to have mentioned again.

[Fukui San]

I want a future challenge to be to make a dish which pairs fish with cheese. Make sure Tom is judging along with some Italian chefs.

[JenMcSnark]

12 hours ago, Quilt Fairy said:

I love sweet and savory together, and I put thinly sliced apple into my grilled cheese sandwiches.  And it also - in my mind at least - makes it count as a serving of fruit!

There is a food truck near me (at least there was pre-pandemic) that serves the most delicious apple, brie, and nut grilled cheese!  To die for. 

[Totale]

3 hours ago, cameron said:

Was going to mention that about McDonald's fish sandwich.  Guess that combination doesn't bother all the people who buy that sandwich, me included.

Perhaps I was forming my refined Top Chef level palate back in the 1970s when I first had one of those and thought "That cheese doesn't belong there. Yuck!"  But I never picked up the taste for runny eggs or undercooked meat, so maybe not.

When Dawn was recruiting Jamie to help her plate we were both asking why didn't she ask one of the guys who had already presented.

[JenMcSnark]

11 hours ago, PackYourKnives said:

She's left a component off her dish FOUR times for the judges. That's absolutely ridiculous. Top Chef is not cumulative - at this point she's getting by just because she's cooked good food previously. 

 

I'll wait to hold judgment, but this will be the height of hypocrisy if Gabe goes home next week for a missing tortilla despite this being the FORTH time Dawn has disregarded the rules. 

 

And the reason I brought it up, was because the main redeeming quality of Dawn's edit so far has been her experience as a POC. Nothing wrong with that whatsoever, but at this point it's absolutely fishy as hell she survived yet ANOTHER elimination for rule violations. 

I'm fine with her in 2nd, but this is Shota's to win. Of course, if Shota absolutely chokes like Richard Blais in Chicago then yes Dawn should win, but anything close and I will be very suspect. 

(Assuming of course there's no way Gabe makes it to F2 or has a chance to win) 

You just ruined your own argument.  "She's left a component off her dish FOUR times for the judges." and "Top Chef is not cumulative - at this point she's getting by just because she's cooked good food previously."

If Top Chef is not cumulative, then they are only judging Dawn on the dish she puts out in each, single episode.  And in their minds, her dish(es) was/were not the worst dish of the challenge even without the missing ingredient.  For all we know, they may have said "okay, everyone, you cannot count the [missing component] in tonight's judging."  

The only requirement is that you plate the number required for the judges.  If you miss stuff on some or all, they can still judge for meeting the challenge and quality. I trust that they are doing just so. 

And saying "And the reason I brought it up, was because the main redeeming quality of Dawn's edit so far has been her experience as a POC." is really not true at all.  She has cooked very good food in almost every episode, missing components or not.  For me, that's the "most redeeming quality of Dawn's edit". 

Except she doesn't need redeeming.  

[Ellee]

2 minutes ago, Totale said:

When Dawn was recruiting Jamie to help her plate we were both asking why didn't she ask one of the guys who had already presented.

I wondered that also.  And Jamie doesn’t seem the kind that would say no no matter what. 
 

And I’m not picking on anyone here but ... did anyone else wonder why when Dawn tasted her cheese sauce and looked quizzical at Jamie and Jamie said ‘sesame’, Dawn just said ‘oh, I get that.’?  I see all sides but I wanted Dawn to help Jamie as crazy as that sounds even if they are down to 4.  
 

I must be seeing something wrong. 

[dleighg]

14 minutes ago, Totale said:

When Dawn was recruiting Jamie to help her plate we were both asking why didn't she ask one of the guys who had already presented

really good point. Maybe the guys were exiled somewhere else so they don't get in the way?

[PackYourKnives]

13 minutes ago, JenMcSnark said:

You just ruined your own argument.  "She's left a component off her dish FOUR times for the judges." and "Top Chef is not cumulative - at this point she's getting by just because she's cooked good food previously."

If Top Chef is not cumulative, then they are only judging Dawn on the dish she puts out in each, single episode.  And in their minds, her dish(es) was/were not the worst dish of the challenge even without the missing ingredient.  For all we know, they may have said "okay, everyone, you cannot count the [missing component] in tonight's judging."  

The only requirement is that you plate the number required for the judges.  If you miss stuff on some or all, they can still judge for meeting the challenge and quality. I trust that they are doing just so. 

And saying "And the reason I brought it up, was because the main redeeming quality of Dawn's edit so far has been her experience as a POC." is really not true at all.  She has cooked very good food in almost every episode, missing components or not.  For me, that's the "most redeeming quality of Dawn's edit". 

Except she doesn't need redeeming.  

FOUR TIMES she should have gone home and would have on older seasons for NOT FOLLOWING THE RULES OF THE SHOW. Do you see how Chopped works? Or how old seasons of Top Chef works? That's a MAJOR issue, but particularly in the last two episodes. 

 

And there have been a few times particularly the Pan African challenge where Shota clearly should have won based on the judges comments (And Britney should not have gone home) but for reasons stated Dawn "won" that challenge and Britney went home instead. Same with the RW challenge, but that was not a Dawn issue.. 

 

Dawn's a very good cook, the issue is not with her but the PRODUCERS and JUDGES.

 

The decision today was absolutely ridiculous and you can tell by the reaction outside of just Primetime what everyone thinks. 

What grinds my gears is they placed such an emphasis on this episode about her being discriminated against working in restaurants being a woman and POC, and how she wants to be the first POC woman chef (nothing wrong with that, just like Gabe wanting to be first Mexican chef).

 

Well, luckily for her the pendulum has swung in the total opposite direction. Tonight's decision was a robbery judges purely off other aspects...

[JenMcSnark]

6 minutes ago, PackYourKnives said:

FOUR TIMES she should have gone home and would have on older seasons for NOT FOLLOWING THE RULES OF THE SHOW. Do you see how Chopped works? Or how old seasons of Top Chef works? That's a MAJOR issue, but particularly in the last two episodes. 

 

And there have been a few times particularly the Pan African challenge where Shota clearly should have won based on the judges comments (And Britney should not have gone home) but for reasons stated Dawn "won" that challenge and Britney went home instead. Same with the RW challenge, but that was not a Dawn issue.. 

 

Dawn's a very good cook, the issue is not with her but the PRODUCERS and JUDGES.

 

The decision today was absolutely ridiculous and you can tell by the reaction outside of just Primetime what everyone thinks. 

What grinds my gears is they placed such an emphasis on this episode about her being discriminated against working in restaurants being a woman and POC, and how she wants to be the first POC woman chef (nothing wrong with that, just like Gabe wanting to be first Mexican chef).

 

Well, luckily for her the pendulum has swung in the total opposite direction. Tonight's decision was a robbery judges purely off other aspects...

Please stop yelling. 

And please show me where this is a "rule of the show" that each plate has to have every single component exactly the same.  It is a mistake to not get everything on every plate, yes. 

But the only rule as I understand it is that each judge must have a plate in order for the chef to not be disqualified.  If the chef doesn't put the same basic dish on each plate, that might be an issue.  But if it's obviously the same dish with one or even more components missing, I do not believe that breaks any rules.  It is poor time management and attention to detail, but it is still a qualifying plate and can be then judged on how it meets the challenge and on its quality, etc. 

I do not understand your references to Chopped.  I am watching and commenting on Top Chef, not Chopped.  I have never watched that show.  References to it in this context are meaningless. 

[buttersister]

1 hour ago, Rai said:

I actually can't believe Nina agreed to come on the show given that she was ROBBED of the title in Season 11. I said what I said! I've been so thrilled for her success since Top Chef, none of which really did seem connected to the show. Though I love Top Chef, I would've totally understood if she just torched that bridge as hard as possible. ROBBED.

Nina's revenge is living (what looks like) a great life. Always happy to see her on my TV, hope she's around next week or on the finale. Where I'm hoping for a Shota Dawn F2. Because, while they each make pressure-induced mistakes, their food is consistently judged as delicious. Including Dawn's "best bite" gougére.

Yeah, Padma loves Gabe's sauces. And maybe the missing tortilla is an editing-monkey trick, but also? If  the others' dishes are more delicious, Gabe be gone.

My Ed Lee love goes back maybe 20 years (?!), seeing him at a demo he did at Green City Market. He was knowledgeable, enthusiastic, friendly (if a little shy), and made a sweet corn risotto using the cobs to make stock, blitzing the cooked corn instead of using butter, and topping it with a little crispy Tasso ham. I still make it (without the ham, although the crispy, salty component is great;-) I own Smoke & Pickles and on the very off chance I find myself in Louisville, I'd head to 610 Magnolia.

[Ms Blue Jay]

I thought of another "Fish and Cheese" dish!  Crab Linguine from Jesse Tyler Ferguson's cookbook. I enjoyed this one.

https://www.startribune.com/sunday-supper-crab-linguine-with-herbed-bread-crumbs/600044093/

[Irlandesa]

30 minutes ago, Ellee said:

Dawn tasted her cheese sauce and looked quizzical at Jamie and Jamie said ‘sesame’, Dawn just said ‘oh, I get that.’?  I see all sides but I wanted Dawn to help Jamie as crazy as that sounds even if they are down to 4.  

I'm confused.  Was it that Jamie wanted to know if the sesame came through?  Because didn't the judges say that it did?  That might have been a detriment to Jamie's sauce in a cheese challenge but I don't think it was unhelpful to confirm whether or not a taste came through. 

48 minutes ago, JenMcSnark said:

There is a food truck near me (at least there was pre-pandemic) that serves the most delicious apple, brie, and nut grilled cheese!  To die for. 

I like what Gabe did in this challenge when he pickled his apple.  I have had apples in sandwiches sometimes that get lost flavor-wise.  They provide a nice crunch but almost end up being like jicama up against a strong cheese and sometimes meat.  Pickling would highlight the flavor by giving it more strength.  But fruit and cheddar can be so delicious.  One of my favorite paninis is a ham, cheddar and apricot jam concoction my local grocery store makes.  There, the fruit is punched up with sugar instead of acid and sugar.  I love pickled onions on my sandwiches.  I might have to try fruit. 

[SemiCharmedLife]

1 hour ago, Fukui San said:

I want a future challenge to be to make a dish which pairs fish with cheese. Make sure Tom is judging along with some Italian chefs.

If there were any additional LCK episodes left, I'm sure it would be one!

[dleighg]

2 minutes ago, Irlandesa said:

I'm confused.  Was it that Jamie wanted to know if the sesame came through?  Because didn't the judges say that it did?  That might have been a detriment to Jamie's sauce in a cheese challenge but I don't think it was unhelpful to confirm whether or not a taste came through

I think Jamie just asked Dawn to taste it. Dawn said "strangely, it kind of tastes like peanut butter." Then Jamie said "I used tahini." So I don't think the sesame was necessarily SUPPOSED to be a forward flavor (but obviously it was).

[blixie]

Quote

Then Jamie said "I used tahini." 

I thought it was funny because first she said "I just used cheese." ...... "....and sesame paste." Like sesame is such a strong flavor whether tahini or just the oil I know because my brain refused to see that the recipe called for 1 1/2 tsp of sesame oil and read it as 1 1/2 tbsp. I knew that  had to be wrong but only scalled it back to ONE tablespoon. Hella sesame overload. 

 

Quote

But the only rule as I understand it is that each judge must have a plate in order for the chef to not be disqualified. 

Which Dawn also managed to do (because of the blood UGH) and was disqualified from her round of the Tofu challenge, even though her food was the best that time. In the early seasons though it was for sure a bigger deal, the judging is for sure being easier on this Covid group than it ever has been IMO, which I think is reasonable and understandable. But Dale has been making this observation all season, he brought up how one challenge they had to turn out 100 plates (which they have generally always helped out for that exact reasons) while this group was struggling to put out a third or a fourth as many.

Edited June 18, 2021 by blixie

[hula-la]

47 minutes ago, Ellee said:

I wondered that also.  And Jamie doesn’t seem the kind that would say no no matter what. 
 

And I’m not picking on anyone here but ... did anyone else wonder why when Dawn tasted her cheese sauce and looked quizzical at Jamie and Jamie said ‘sesame’, Dawn just said ‘oh, I get that.’?  I see all sides but I wanted Dawn to help Jamie as crazy as that sounds even if they are down to 4.  
 

I must be seeing something wrong. 

I watched the Canadian edit (our episodes are shorter than yours, so slightly different editing). Dawn asked Jamie to help, and asked if that would impact her ability to finish her (Jamie's) plates. When Dawn tasted Jamie's cheese sauce, she made a comment about tasting something different (I can't remember what she said), then Jamie said "sesame".

All these comments about whether or not Dawn "deserves" to be there, and her" focusing on her Blackness in order to win" is exactly why 2020/2021 happened.

[Suzn]

So, if Dawn wins, it will be for the wrong reasons?  Yes, she has left a component off the plate more than once.  I consider that less of a crime than bad food and her food has been consistently good.  I'm hoping she wins and even more that a win is not diminished by attributing it to other than her cooking.

[Fukui San]

37 minutes ago, PackYourKnives said:

FOUR TIMES she should have gone home and would have on older seasons for NOT FOLLOWING THE RULES OF THE SHOW. Do you see how Chopped works? Or how old seasons of Top Chef works? That's a MAJOR issue, but particularly in the last two episodes. 

Calm down, dude.

This week was the first instance of Dawn not meeting the proscribed challenge which went unpunished. The other times she missed components that weren't necessarily requirements of the challenge but would have improved her dish. If her unsauced chicken that first time was good enough to keep her out of the bottom, as it was, then it's literally no harm, no foul. The Red Eye Gravy would have improved the dish, but wasn't a required element to the challenge. Even in Chopped which you cite if the required ingredients are A, B, C & D and a chef creates a sauce that doesn't use any of those but neglects to put it on each plate, that isn't an automatic DQ. I'm sure if we delved into every episode of the 30 seasons of Chopped we could find times that not having a required element didn't result in a DQ.

In the Tofu Challenge, the round in which Dawn was one dish short she was DQ'ed that round despite probably having the best dish of the three.

In this episode, on one dish Dawn only had cheese four ways on one of the judges dishes. If the judges chose to enforce that with an elimination that would have been fine with me. But they decided Jamie's sins were worse, and that's also fine with me. 

[blixie]

Quote

 

There was no dismissing of feelings by the other poster. 

I assume it wasn’t intended but the post that I quoted did suggest 

I literally said my comments were NOT meant to dismiss her LEGITIMATE feelings of insecurity and her experiences as a black woman working in kitchens. It's the first sentence.  I was only trying to better understand myself, the way insecurity is for everybody. But I know the racism/sexism can be unbelievably undermining to even confident successful people, so I should have been more clear it was about my own relative struggle with insecurity, not that her struggles weren't valid and understandable.

[albarino]

If Dawn wins, she wins.  She has been given many breaks in this Top Chef competition.  No question.

I think cheddar cheese would be a difficult cheese  to work with.  I'm not a chef or even a very god cook but it seems pretty oily or something.  I think I'd rather have and eat fresh mozzarella or Camembert or something.  With cheddar, my mind goes to an omelet and nachos.  That is all I got.

[dleighg]

13 minutes ago, albarino said:

I think cheddar cheese would be a difficult cheese  to work with.  I'm not a chef or even a very god cook but it seems pretty oily or something.

I agree. A "dish" which my family made when I was a kid was melted cheddar, in a bowl LOL. It's actually kind of yummy, but man does it excrete a LOT of oil. So it was smart that a couple of chefs used that oil as one of the components. But personally, while I like cheddar, I don't think I'd want to eat 4 meals of it! And Tillamook-- given that they are a MASSIVE operation (tons per day as we were told)-- I don't think it's a super high end ingredient, right?

[JBurg58]

15 hours ago, Rammchick said:

Filet o'fish with cheese, anyone?

I'm just watching Jamie at her Black Sheep restaurant in the Vegas episode of the Netflix show, "Fresh, Fried and Crispy".

I love that stupid sandwich!

[LBS]

30 minutes ago, dleighg said:

I agree. A "dish" which my family made when I was a kid was melted cheddar, in a bowl LOL. 

Ummm are we related?  Because that’s a dish my siblings and I ate on the regular.  😂. 
I’m loving this season.  I have no problem with any of the remaining 3 winning based on what we’ve been shown.  If Dawn wins, it’s because she outcooked them.  No outside conspiracy.

[dleighg]

1 minute ago, LBS said:

Ummm are we related?  Because that’s a dish my siblings and I ate on the regular.

My parents hailed from the Pittsburgh area. No idea if that's where the idea came from!

[LennieBriscoe]

2 hours ago, JenMcSnark said:

Please stop yelling. 

And please show me where this is a "rule of the show" that each plate has to have every single component exactly the same.  It is a mistake to not get everything on every plate, yes. 

But the only rule as I understand it is that each judge must have a plate in order for the chef to not be disqualified.  If the chef doesn't put the same basic dish on each plate, that might be an issue.  But if it's obviously the same dish with one or even more components missing, I do not believe that breaks any rules.  It is poor time management and attention to detail, but it is still a qualifying plate and can be then judged on how it meets the challenge and on its quality, etc. 

I do not understand your references to Chopped.  I am watching and commenting on Top Chef, not Chopped.  I have never watched that show.  References to it in this context are meaningless. 

Funny, I can read bolded capital letters in my normal head voice. 

Dawn was 100% trying to (at the least) share the plating blame with Jamie, simply by mentioning her. IMO. Plus making this plating omission error four times?! Please! 

Moreover, Tom told Dawn that 3/5 of her cheese techniques were sauces. 60% = Scant variety. 

But I guess ultimately, fish just "doesn't go" with cheese!  Or tahini. 

Gabe's and Shota's ideas, techniques, and finished products were the most sophisticated, as has been true throughout. I'll be gobsmacked if neither man wins. 

 

Edited June 18, 2021 by LennieBriscoe

[Macbeth]

4 hours ago, Rai said:

Really disappointed to see posts insinuating that if Dawn wins, it's only because she's Black. I would be surprised if she won because of her time management issues. But she HAS won or placed in the top often because she is a baller chef. I think it's Gabe's game to lose, I'd prefer Shota to win over Gabe because of the issues raised over Gabe, and my dream is Dawn wins, but she seems like a distant third right now in terms of her inability to complete challenges. When she gets it all together though, her food has clearly been on par with the top cheftestants this season and to insinuate otherwise is gross. Sensitivity issues didn't save Roscoe or Kiki or Nelson. It is about the food ultimately. Diminishing Dawn's talent with comments like it's only because BLM was a hot issue at the time is exactly the kind of hurdle she has faced in her career. She clearly has the talent to win. She just needs to sharpen the tools to ensure a win, and maybe she's not quite there yet. But I could be surprised!

 

I agree with you.  Dawn has been putting out stellar dishes.