S19.E08: Restaurant Wars

[CrazyInAlabama]

1 hour ago, caitmcg said:

I’ll never understand people who come on competition shows like TC without boning up on them beforehand. Especially now, with so many seasons behind TC. So he made all these bone-headed FOH errors, in contrast to Buddha, who'd watched and absorbed lessons from RW and used them from his and his team’s advantage.

Definitely interesting about his claimed agreement that Luke's fish was initially over-seasoned.

I agree with you.   Why does anyone come on this show without watching other season's Restaurant Wars, to figure out what is right, and what went wrong.    Jackson didn't do that, and look what happened.     I think any contestant that wants to do well on RW should have a restaurant idea in mind, know what the roles are for the successful restaurants, and even if they don't have a lead role, know how to be a team player. 

[mlp]

Humorous but accurate recap:

https://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/2022/04/top-chef-houston-restaurant-wars-recap/?fbclid=IwAR0aUKhFnV-ueMnSNCPU7y_kvHcfB7nghEWopHyDRWe8QHxiEUq8HxdA9ww

Jackson may never live it down.

[Leeds]

2 hours ago, mlp said:

Humorous but accurate recap:

https://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/2022/04/top-chef-houston-restaurant-wars-recap/?fbclid=IwAR0aUKhFnV-ueMnSNCPU7y_kvHcfB7nghEWopHyDRWe8QHxiEUq8HxdA9ww

Jackson may never live it down.

Saying arrogant dickish things like this (from the article) aren't going to help his cause:

"None of the chefs there specialized in Italian cuisine, almost none of them even knew how to properly make pasta".

[Morrissey]

No one will ever top front of the house Sarah (?) from Top Chef New Orleans looking frazzled and overwhelmed the entire time and not explaining a single dish - except her own where she went into great detail.  

But Jackson is a close second. And telling someone their dish is over-seasoned when he doesn't have a sense of smell or taste is shady as hell. I'm glad he was eliminated. 

[CrazyInAlabama]

12 hours ago, mlp said:

Humorous but accurate recap:

https://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/2022/04/top-chef-houston-restaurant-wars-recap/?fbclid=IwAR0aUKhFnV-ueMnSNCPU7y_kvHcfB7nghEWopHyDRWe8QHxiEUq8HxdA9ww

Jackson may never live it down.

I loved this recap!   It was so accurate, and funny. 

In the article comments, there's a link at an article claiming Jackson's sense of taste and smell are almost all back.    He did say his taste was returning during a talking head, I think an episode or two before this one.  

Hiding his smell/taste issue wasn't a dick move, but tasting items for other chefs, and commenting on the seasoning was a rotten thing to do. 

[Ms Blue Jay]

20 hours ago, bravofan27 said:

Dmarr ALWAYS looks like he is being scolded. I don't like the way he folds his arms in front of him, cocks his head, and scowls. I don't think it's cute-- I think it's immature and annoying.

Just me. 

Demarr has very different body language than what I am used to.  I've always noticed it.  But I realized it's just something for me to get over and used to.   I've never met someone like that who wasn't a kid.  It's kind of fascinating.

Edited April 24, 2022 by Ms Blue Jay

[Leeds]

Those were terrible names for their restaurants.

"Where do you want to go for dinner?"

"No name."(sic)

"You don't have any preference?"

"No name."

"How about Asian fusion?"

"No name."Etc, etc.

And as for Matriarc, my inner editor would spend the entire evening looking around for the missing h and being irrationally irritated that I couldn't find it.

[dgpolo]

15 minutes ago, Leeds said:

And as for Matriarc, my inner editor would spend the entire evening looking around for the missing h and being irrationally irritated that I couldn't find it.

Yes, I don't see any reason for that except to be 'different', if there had been a reason that 'arc' was part of their story, then maybe but there wasn't.

[sweetandsour]

Jackson Jackson Jackson.  Oh, brother.

It could have been the editing that gave this vibe, but it was like Jackson was at some social event and an ex also happened to be there.  So he makes a big show out of being so jovial and so involved with other people, and he's having such a social butterfly great time, that by the time he bumps in to the ex, it's like, "oh wow, I didn't see you there, I was so busy - oh, wait a sec - I see yet another friend I absolutely have to say hello to, see you later if I get some downtime?"  Lather, rinse, repeat, for every set of dishes served.

His judgment on its own was appalling.  And then early on, Evelyn has a server go get him - and he knows he's being summoned for a reason - when she tells him that she heard the judges say hospitality was bad - and he still continues to avoid them like the plague.  What on earth possessed him to actively disregard something he had already been told by someone who could hear the judges?

I super laughed when he said at Judges' Table that he thought Luke's fish was over seasoned.  It wasn't even at the prompting of an open question - "What did you think of the fish?" without knowing what the judges thought.  They clearly established they thought the fish was bland, but Jackson still charges in anyway saying, "no, I think the opposite."

Oh, but I do wish that he had, once his elimination was announced, walked forward and handed the judges a handwritten sign that said, "Goodbye Judges."

[connieinnc]

One more thing about Jackson and RW that I don't recall being discussed in this thread is that he did a similar thing with the servers that he did with the judges. Let them get the dishes, but have no description. I believe the one server even questioned that (to the other servers). So he got it half correct, let the servers taste all the dishes, but nothing more. 

[yourdreamer]

During the judges’ table, Tom told Ashleigh about how he could tell Leah Chase inspired it. Of course, they showed Jae shooting eye daggers at her during that mention. Did Ashleigh say that was her inspiration? Or was that just to mess with the ladies? 

[seltzer3]

Yeah Jackson totally deserved to ago.  His front of house was probably one of the worst (I think Laurine from season 6 was the hands down the worst performance for FOH).  Both of them did the whole, let's dump plates and run away from the judges instead of explaining the dishes.

The "family style" was a huge fail.  Because the dishes weren't really family style at all.

Luke is really on borrowed time.  Its really weird that for someone who has a high pedigree seems to lack versatility.  He was unfamiliar with Indian food, and in restaurant war he's unfamiliar with South East food.  I get that everyone has their strengths and weakness, but the fact he seemed befuddled with curry is really surprising to me.

[snarktini]

53 minutes ago, yourdreamer said:

During the judges’ table, Tom told Ashleigh about how he could tell Leah Chase inspired it. Of course, they showed Jae shooting eye daggers at her during that mention. Did Ashleigh say that was her inspiration? Or was that just to mess with the ladies? 

I remember Ashleigh citing Leah Chase specifically as a namesake matriarch

[bravofan27]

1 hour ago, sweetandsour said:

Jackson Jackson Jackson.  Oh, brother.

It could have been the editing that gave this vibe, but it was like Jackson was at some social event and an ex also happened to be there.  So he makes a big show out of being so jovial and so involved with other people, and he's having such a social butterfly great time, that by the time he bumps in to the ex, it's like, "oh wow, I didn't see you there, I was so busy - oh, wait a sec - I see yet another friend I absolutely have to say hello to, see you later if I get some downtime?"  Lather, rinse, repeat, for every set of dishes served.

 

YES! Did he hook up with Padma or something? Maybe Tiffany? LOL. Regardless, his concerted efforts to avoid the judges was bizarre. 

40 minutes ago, seltzer3 said:

Yeah Jackson totally deserved to ago.  His front of house was probably one of the worst (I think Laurine from season 6 was the hands down the worst performance for FOH).  Both of them did the whole, let's dump plates and run away from the judges instead of explaining the dishes.

The "family style" was a huge fail.  Because the dishes weren't really family style at all.

Luke is really on borrowed time.  Its really weird that for someone who has a high pedigree seems to lack versatility.  He was unfamiliar with Indian food, and in restaurant war he's unfamiliar with South East food.  I get that everyone has their strengths and weakness, but the fact he seemed befuddled with curry is really surprising to me.

Everything about Luke is weird. 

[buttersister]

Quote

And as for Matriarc, my inner editor would spend the entire evening looking around for the missing h and being irrationally irritated that I couldn't find it.

FWIW, as an editor, I got over it as someone mentioned it was a design element (old fashioned homage/modern twist?).

I'm also surprised a bit by Luke, formerly of noma. My guess is that the competitive aspect isn't in his wheelhouse--he may have been recruited or naive, thinking that putting your head down and cooking would be enough. It's not, the clock and other chefs are elements that can't be ignored. When other chefs told Luke his fish was under-seasoned and one guy said the opposite, it's interesting he went with Jackson.

Not sure why Evelyn's curry didn't cut it, she was in there tasting. Everyone has an off day. (ETA: heh, maybe it needed more salt;-)

I'm visiting Virtue one of these days, Demarr!

Edited April 25, 2022 by buttersister

[Nordly Beaumont]

20 minutes ago, buttersister said:

 

I'm also surprised a bit by Luke, formerly of noma. My guess is that the competitive aspect isn't in his wheelhouse--he may have been recruited or naive, thinking that putting your head down and cooking would be enough. It's not, the clock and other chefs are elements that can't be ignored. When other chefs told Luke his fish was under-seasoned and one guy said the opposite, it's interesting he went with Jackson

You're right, Luke was recruited (recommended by Shota) . I think that not having to go through the audition process may have hurt him. Going into it, he didn't put in the same amount of thought that someone creating videos of what they can cook would.

I also think that cooking at noma for seven (eight?) years hasn't done him any favors either. The noma food is so unusual (from the little I found on Google) and he seems to be locked into that little box. Understandable, I think, after that many years - but it doesn't work for this competition.

[marybennet]

2 hours ago, snarktini said:

3 hours ago, yourdreamer said:

Did Ashleigh say that was her inspiration? Or was that just to mess with the ladies? 

I remember Ashleigh citing Leah Chase specifically as a namesake matriarch

I also think Leah Chase was particularly known for her restaurant’s gumbo z’herbes, so every time you make a green gumbo, which Ashleigh did, you’re a little bit invoking her.

[PhoneCop]

Re: Luke—yeah, I'd say that all tracks. I love seeing how the contestants do when they have to get creative on the fly (hole-in-the-ground cake!) and that part just seems beyond him. Which is a shame, but I really have no idea of who he is as a chef beyond Worked at Noma and it's pretty late in the game for that. I can't imagine him escaping the knife more than one round, if that—he has the weakest/vaguest edit of everyone remaining anyway—and the format and pressure of LCK will probably squash him like a grape, unless he pulls something out on pure technique.

Speaking of, I wonder when the LCK winner will return this time. Seems like it's usually F4 but has been as early as F6, I think? And we're already down to seven.

[bravofan27]

I think Luke's performance speaks more for NOMA than for Luke.

[FinnishViewer]

4 hours ago, PhoneCop said:

Speaking of, I wonder when the LCK winner will return this time. Seems like it's usually F4

Ashleigh just got back a couple of episodes ago, so I think it might a couple more before there's someone coming back from LCK.

[Morrissey]

I was very excited to see what Luke would cook and have been nothing but disappointed. I wonder if he might be someone who is good at executing other people's vision, but hasn't had the time to develop his own signature. 

[dleighg]

10 hours ago, seltzer3 said:

Luke is really on borrowed time.  Its really weird that for someone who has a high pedigree seems to lack versatility.  He was unfamiliar with Indian food, and in restaurant war he's unfamiliar with South East food. 

 

7 hours ago, bravofan27 said:

I think Luke's performance speaks more for NOMA than for Luke

Since NOMA only serves food found within 15 and a half yards of its front door (slight exaggeration), I think lack of versatility makes perfect sense. That's why Gail's comment about "Thailand via a stay in Copenhagen" made so much sense to me!

[MartyQui]

22 hours ago, Leeds said:

Where do you want to go for dinner?"

"No name."(sic)

"You don't have any preference?"

"No name."

We actually had a restaurant in Boston called The No Name.  It's lack of a name was it's name! :)

[HurricaneVal]

We have a swanky martini bar in our town that just has a number for its name.  Mr. HV and I can never remember what the name of the place is, so we refer to it as "Area 51" and for some reason everyone gets it when we tell them we'll meet them there.  Nobody remembers the real name of the place, but we all know it is a number.  We could probably just as easily call it "Room 222" and our friends would know.

Man, they used to have the best caprese appetizer there.  Not any more, someone in the kitchen caught on they were way under priced.  But rather than raise the price on the menu, they just 86'd it.  I'm serious, it was a platter of six huge slabs of fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, chiffonade of basil and stripes of balsamic for $7.95--an app that size would run you at least $25 in the city. 

[nokat]

22 hours ago, sweetandsour said:

It could have been the editing that gave this vibe, but it was like Jackson was at some social event and an ex also happened to be there.  So he makes a big show out of being so jovial and so involved with other people, and he's having such a social butterfly great time, that by the time he bumps in to the ex, it's like, "oh wow, I didn't see you there, I was so busy

That was some brilliant and hilarious writing. You nailed it, because it was just weird.

[seltzer3]

I will say one thing I liked about this restaurant wars, was that it seemed like the waiters were actual waiters.  The past couple seasons like season 14-17.  It felt like they purposely hired actors as waiters (because they became more and more incompetent).

So Jackson getting booted it was really apparent he messed up.

[SemiCharmedLife]

On 4/23/2022 at 9:08 PM, mlp said:

Humorous but accurate recap:

https://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/2022/04/top-chef-houston-restaurant-wars-recap/?fbclid=IwAR0aUKhFnV-ueMnSNCPU7y_kvHcfB7nghEWopHyDRWe8QHxiEUq8HxdA9ww

Jackson may never live it down.

Thanks for sharing that link- the article was hilarious!

[Nordly Beaumont]

 I laughed when, after setting up the tables, Buddha told the servers "Don't come from behind. It's too creepy."

[questionfear]

21 hours ago, MartyQui said:

We actually had a restaurant in Boston called The No Name.  It's lack of a name was it's name! :)

It's also the name of the tastiest dish at Grasshopper in Allston. 

[Ms Blue Jay]

22 hours ago, Nordly Beaumont said:

 I laughed when, after setting up the tables, Buddha told the servers "Don't come from behind. It's too creepy."

lol that reminds me of being back in the office.  A friend would always "approach from the front" and sometimes even wave as approaching because I would always scream being jump-scared.

[nokat]

5 minutes ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

lol that reminds me of being back in the office.  A friend would always "approach from the front" and sometimes even wave as approaching because I would always scream being jump-scared.

Having someone's arm reach over your shoulder though. I jump easily.

[awaken]

On 4/22/2022 at 12:50 PM, dleighg said:

I like Damarr (and would love to know what exactly is "carrot caramel") but he has a very strange mannerism of always sort of pointing his head down and then raising his eyes up from that position. 

Yes, his habit of keeping his head angled down is so apparent to me!  The beard emphasizes it all the more!

[dleighg]

On 4/22/2022 at 12:50 PM, dleighg said:

I like Damarr (and would love to know what exactly is "carrot caramel")

I was so intrigued by carrot caramel that I found a recipe on the web, and made a delicious carrot cake. The caramel was frankly "not great" so the rest of the cake is getting a cream cheese frosting. I imagine Damarr's must have been a different recipe LOL.

[MMLEsq]

On 4/21/2022 at 11:57 PM, Ms Blue Jay said:

Were there no menus?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?  I am HORRIFIED that Jackson's team refused to tell the chefs what they were eating. 

Gail pointed to a piece of paper when she stopped Jackson and asked him to explain who cooked what.  He really blew it though.  Explaining the dishes could possibly make a difference.  I know that they say you eat first with your eyes, but you could probably make a case for eating first with your ears, if the dishes are described in a way that makes them sound very tempting.

On 4/22/2022 at 1:38 AM, vb68 said:

Ashleigh's green gumbo looked yummy. But I still think Buddha deserved the win.  His FOH was impeccable and for Tom to say he made the best bread ever on TC is really something. I think he's way out in front of everyone, but they are trying not to make it too obvious.

I agree -- the only dish that the judges didn't seem 100% sold on at Matriarc (grrrr... the missing H) was the salmon dish.  And, while she was calm, it seemed like she maybe could have found a way to help get the salmon dishes out more quickly when there was clearly a lag in service.

On 4/22/2022 at 8:46 AM, lgprimes said:

I honestly wonder if the producers whispered on the judges’ ears not to eliminate Luke. They (or at least Jackson) could have had a lawsuit in their hands.

A lawsuit on what grounds?  Whether it's ethical or not, a chef relying on other people's opinions about your dish is on the chef and no one else.  No one forced Luke to take Jackson's advice -- which actually ran counter to the advice of the other two teammates.  

On 4/22/2022 at 10:04 AM, dgpolo said:

I was wondering a bit about that. Was there a reason Ashleigh couldn't help Damarr plater -her- salmon? it seemed like she was looking for something to do to appear 'busy' to the judges while they were waiting, could she not have plated for a minute or two?

I thought the same thing....she was essentially standing around watching while he plated HER dish.  

On 4/22/2022 at 12:50 PM, dleighg said:

I like Damarr (and would love to know what exactly is "carrot caramel") but he has a very strange mannerism of always sort of pointing his head down and then raising his eyes up from that position. 

Princess Diana was famous for that pose (head down, looking up).

On 4/22/2022 at 3:10 PM, seacliffsal said:

And, I know I'm old...., BUT I want words to be spelled correctly-"matriarc" will never look right to me and it's the kind of thing upon which I will fixate (yes, I know).  However, that isn't even much of a criticism when compared to all that went right with that team.

🙋‍♀️  Another old person here.  There didn't seem to be any reason for dropping the H other than to misspell the word purposely (which is not a good enough reason, in my book).

On 4/23/2022 at 1:16 PM, Yeah No said:

What I will simply not believe is that it did not come out at the judges table since Jackson revealed it to his team right before the judging.  He also revealed it at the worst possible moment, right before the judging when others could use it against him and tell the judges if their team wound up on the bottom.  

But he waited until after they had all had a chance to make their case in front of the judges.  He told them when the judges were deliberating, so it was pretty much too late at that point for the others to use it against him with the judges.

[marybennet]

7 hours ago, MMLEsq said:

On 4/22/2022 at 2:10 PM, seacliffsal said:

And, I know I'm old...., BUT I want words to be spelled correctly-"matriarc" will never look right to me and it's the kind of thing upon which I will fixate (yes, I know).  However, that isn't even much of a criticism when compared to all that went right with that team.

🙋‍♀️  Another old person here.  There didn't seem to be any reason for dropping the H other than to misspell the word purposely (which is not a good enough reason, in my book).

Also old and fond of correct spelling. But I think you misspell like that so that you don’t stumble into another business having the same name or, in real life, not being able to get the domain name for your website. It’s a variation on the weird spellings of tv character names sometimes (used to be done on soap operas a lot) so that a character whose evil twin did something strange wouldn’t be confused with an ordinary person who might sue. 

[bosawks]

On 4/24/2022 at 12:08 AM, mlp said:

Humorous but accurate recap:

https://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/2022/04/top-chef-houston-restaurant-wars-recap/?fbclid=IwAR0aUKhFnV-ueMnSNCPU7y_kvHcfB7nghEWopHyDRWe8QHxiEUq8HxdA9ww

Jackson may never live it down.

I felt like this is what I deserved after my positive Jackson post the episode before....

[Captain Asshat]

We finally caught up on three episodes last night. Whew! I haven't watched TC in years, but I tuned in to this season, because I'm a native Houstonian. I absolutely love seeing my city showcased, and I'm so glad to see them showing the positives, including all the local chefs who make incredible food here. I keep watching for people and places. In the RW episode, I noticed that they staged it back at The POST, which is where they staged the Night Market episode. The POST is an awesome venue of creative spaces, food court and other kiosks, and the open area where RW took place. The place gets its name, because it used to the main Houston post office and, in some areas, you can see remnants of its previous incarnation.

If you noticed one of the restaurant patrons wearing a cowboy hat and shirt? That's Gonzo247, one of Houston's best known street artists. He runs Aerosol Warfare, which promotes street art as a valid art form, and he's behind a number of murals in Houston. Since he created all the graffiti style artwork in the TC set, I'm surprised the show didn't identify him. I'm a huge fan of street art, so I was geeking out when I saw him.

[Tango64]

1 hour ago, Captain Asshat said:

If you noticed one of the restaurant patrons wearing a cowboy hat and shirt? That's Gonzo247, one of Houston's best known street artists. He runs Aerosol Warfare, which promotes street art as a valid art form, and he's behind a number of murals in Houston. Since he created all the graffiti style artwork in the TC set, I'm surprised the show didn't identify him. I'm a huge fan of street art, so I was geeking out when I saw him.

Oh, I wondered who that was because it stood out to me that a man was wearing a cowboy hat at a nice seated dinner. That's tacky in my book, but I guess renowned artists get a pass on those things for the sake of style and their trademark identity. 

(Still wouldn't like it at my table, though.)

[CrazyInAlabama]

Lots of men don't remove cowboy hats, for virtually any occasion.   

I'm watching Restaurant Wars on the marathon leading up to the finale, and I'm even more irritated at Jackson.   The look on Luke's face when Jackson said he had no sense of taste, and Luke almost went home for underseasoning, was interesting.     I'm glad Jackson was the one going home. 

Knowing what was going to happen let me concentrate more on Jackson, and his awful front of house.    That dessert of his (that was his dessert, right?), was ghastly.    

[snarktini]

On 4/22/2022 at 2:08 PM, caitmcg said:

Yeah, he still did a shit job of it, but she tried, even making sure he delivered the dessert course in person.

When she walked out and asked "did you 'spiel' them?", meaning did he explain the dessert, he automatically replied yes even though he hadn't! And even with that prompt he STILL didn't say more than a few words. Weird.

He seemed anxious, like he was afraid of or avoiding the judges. It's like his whole brain short-circuited. He got fixated on something and plum forgot how to do a job I'm pretty sure he knows how to do.

On 4/23/2022 at 10:16 AM, Yeah No said:

He also revealed it at the worst possible moment, right before the judging when others could use it against him and tell the judges if their team wound up on the bottom.

On 4/23/2022 at 4:22 PM, GeorgiaRai said:

Jackson screwed up, but I liked him before... and still like him! I found this interview really interesting.

Top Chef Jackson talks dumb restaurant wars loss

The interview backs up the only way his confession made sense to me -- he was sure he was going home and felt like he had to get it out. (Maybe because he knew they'd find out when it aired, and wanted to get ahead of that reveal.) I don't fault him for holding this info back to this point in the competition, but he owed it to them at the beginning of RW to come clean. Doing it when he did was (IMO) the worst of all worlds. Especially since his ability to taste (or not taste) their food was not a big factor in why they lost.