S19.E10: Dinner in Zero Gravity

[dgpolo]

41 minutes ago, bravofan27 said:

Dmarr was

Sorry! sorry, I really don't mean anything bad but I've seen Damarr's name spelled so many different ways in this thread and this one just made me laugh!🤣😍☺️

[Tango64]

1 hour ago, bravofan27 said:

I'm not sure if I am getting you 100%, but if you are saying that Ashleigh really was practical about the challenge, then I COMPLETELY AGREE. Okay, her fish was chunky and not well seasoned. Whatever, She made food that made sense for people on space. It's easy to tweak seasoning.

For whatever reason, I am thinking that Luke would have suffered immensely in this challenge. Dmarr was clearly intimidated, as was Jae. Buddha and Nick really seemed to be really into the challenge.

Yes, I actually admired her attempting to really follow the theme. It just seems that is not rewarded. 

Maybe if she’d done that and the dish was delicious, she would have earned major points. But I think taste trumps theme every time. 

[stewedsquash]

7 hours ago, Quilt Fairy said:

Whatever cut of meat Jae got at the store, I distinctly remember her saying as she sliced it that it wasn't the traditional cut for the dish, but she was going to slice it super-thin and hope for the best.  She didn't use that as an excuse at JT, but I do remember that one line. 

I went back and what she said was that rice was traditionally used for the bulgogi and she didn't want to make mushy rice so she used barley instead to give it texture. I think her downfall with the meat was that while it is sliced thinly what she was shown doing was more of a shaving of the meat. I don't know if it was her knife or that she didn't do a proper freezing of it (she mentioned freezing it in order to thinly slice it) but she was having trouble from the beginning in the slicing part. She also mentioned that it was traditionally cooked in a beefy broth which wouldn't work for the challenge so she used parsnips as a thickener. Shaved beef with creamy parsnips would probably for sure be really off in the texture department which is what Melissa said was wrong with the dish, the texture of the meat was mush. 

5 hours ago, dleighg said:

I forget what kind of rice he was doing but the bag looked familiar (like something I use); some sort of Jasmine or Basmati I think? I cook it  all the time. A quick rinse in a strainer; sometime later (15 or 20 minutes usually, but sometimes more) I put it with 1.5x water, some salt and butter, cook 15 minutes covered. Turn off the heat for 5-10 minutes. It's always perfect! This is not hard.

I do a one cup rice to two cups of water and it works every single time using your same cooking method. Plus, isn't this the second time that Damarr has used a chicken and chicken liver dish? I get what he was saying about saving his really great meal for the finale but for sure he has more than chicken/chicken livers in his bag of tricks? He admitted he had chef's block and seemed to be not finding inspiration at all during this challenge. 

I really hope that it is a Buddha and Nick finale. I think Damarr should make it to final three but I would rather he come back in an all star season and win then. And Evelyn is cool and all but she has been one note-ish with her food to me. 

Claudette- I remember vaguely that she was not a nice person on her season and then I was Huh? Padma you are giving her a very warm goodbye embrace? Has Padma ever hugged a quickfire judge before? 

 

[ALittleShelfish]

22 hours ago, emmawoodhouse said:

For anyone familiar with Demarr....what ace does he have up his sleeve? Will the upcoming challenges allow for him to cook his food?

I wonder if this is setting up a twist... he gets to semis/finals and cooks the meal of his life that is true to his style of food and we hear Padma and Gail wax poetic about "this is what you should have been cooking for us all along!"  I don't think they've used that storyline yet, so there's time. 🤷‍♀️

[Sd601]

40 minutes ago, stewedsquash said:

I really hope that it is a Buddha and Nick finale. I think Damarr should make it to final three but I would rather he come back in an all star season and win then. And Evelyn is cool and all but she has been one note-ish with her food to me. 

 

You know, I agree with this. I think Damarr and Buddha have been the most inventive. They’ve both had a couple of misses (Damarr most recently), but I love both their creations. I hope it’s these two, with maybe Evelyn as a third. Nick’s food looks delicious but doesn’t seem inventive or unique. Yes, I’d probably most prefer to eat Nick’s food, so perhaps many would prefer his win. However, Buddha is just fascinating and is my favorite, although kind of like Shota last season (whom I LOVED), I don’t understand or want to eat his food. But I trust food critics, and his food is almost always universally praised. Buddha mentioned his wife, and after stalking them on Instagram, it seems they’ve been together since their teens, over 10yrs. Love that. Buddha seems incredibly talented, out-of-the-box creative, and super sweet. Yeah I don’t really want to eat his food (gasp), but I’m rooting for him 🤷‍♀️ 

[Steph Sometimes]

15 hours ago, dleighg said:

I was surprised that Budha's pavlova didn't get dinged. Isn't pavlova REALLY crumbly?

His dessert had so many little pieces of things in addition to the ball that I was sure someone had to say something about it. 

Evelyn looks like she's a good hugger. 

Add me to the group who didn't realize Nick had won so much money. 

I laughed when Tom said something about how they had to dig deep. That's Probst's line. And then I think I heard him say something grammatically cringey like "most spiciest." I didn't remember what it was exactly. Did anyone else catch it?

[South]

While most of the offerings have looked tasty and some have appeared fabulous, I too, feel there is something missing this season.  Buddha is the only one who presents consistently innovative dishes, at least in appearance.  I see lots of stew/goulash-type of meals being offered.  While that type of food can be soul-stirring, visually it doesn’t do much for me.  My eyes are left a little hungry.  These observations are from a person whose favorite prepared food is Turkish lentil soup, so I’m certainly able to appreciate a simple, homogenous bowl of this or that.

[dleighg]

2 hours ago, South said:

 I see lots of stew/goulash-type of meals being offered.  While that type of food can be soul-stirring, visually it doesn’t do much for me.

that's a really good point. Think back to season 6 (Voltaggios etc) and that stuff was amazing to look at. 

[seltzer3]

5 hours ago, dleighg said:

that's a really good point. Think back to season 6 (Voltaggios etc) and that stuff was amazing to look at. 

My issue is that it feels like contestants aren't really embracing the challenges.  Like other than Buddha and Ashleigh, the other 4 really phoned it in.  Like how were their dishes, space themed?

You can take Nick's dish, and he could make it any of the other challenges.

Also, I thought they shouldn't have liquids in the space challenge?  I get that stews are thicker, but it seemed like the contestants were kind of like whatever.  Same goes to all of them using rice (since rice kind of break up like crumbs?), and they were discouraged in using things that can be crumb like.

[Nordly Beaumont]

56 minutes ago, seltzer3 said:

My issue is that it feels like contestants aren't really embracing the challenges.  Like other than Buddha and Ashleigh, the other 4 really phoned it in.  Like how were their dishes, space themed?

You can take Nick's dish, and he could make it any of the other challenges.

Also, I thought they shouldn't have liquids in the space challenge?  I get that stews are thicker, but it seemed like the contestants were kind of like whatever.  Same goes to all of them using rice (since rice kind of break up like crumbs?), and they were discouraged in using things that can be crumb like.

That was my thought - how is rice different from crumbs?

[caitmcg]

2 hours ago, Nordly Beaumont said:

That was my thought - how is rice different from crumbs?

If rice is mixed with a sauce, it’s not going to float free.

 

3 hours ago, seltzer3 said:

Also, I thought they shouldn't have liquids in the space challenge?  I get that stews are thicker, but it seemed like the contestants were kind of like whatever. 

They were supposed to avoid thin liquids. As for turning to stews, it made sense to me. After all, the challenge wasn’t to create something space-themed in a gimmicky way: they were told they should make flavorful dishes that would please astronauts on a three-year mission, so of course many turned to well-spiced comfort food (very successfully, in Evelyn’s and Nick's cases).

[dleighg]

5 minutes ago, caitmcg said:

As for turning to stews

I think the point about stews that someone made earlier is that it wasn't just this challenge- we've seen a lot of stews this whole season.

[South]

Perhaps the EC could have been more pointed, had they been given the packaging/containers that would would be used on board, and thus have to incorporate them into their presentation.  Then, again, the dish needed only to inspire a dish to be used on the ISS.  So to that end, I reckon they could have prepared any danged dish they pleased, make it super flavorful, WIN, and then let NASA give it a whirl in the old Vitamix, and they’d be off to the races.  Whatever the hell the one astronaut was eating from the pouch looked like a thick purée, orange-red in color… could have peanut butter and tomato on a saltine cracker ( try it, my friend) or chicken cacciatore.

[South]

If the challenge was to be embraced in full spirit and intent, they could have foregone the QF, and had the chefs prepare their dishes as they would expect them to be presented to the astronauts.  Then deliver them in the proper packaging, clearly not to the ISS, but to astronauts in a simulator there in Houston.  The judges could then take the feedback on flavor and floatiness (?) into consideration.  I mention the need to not have a QF because I think more time would be needed for the full process, or maybe not take us to Whole Foods with them.  I know we could all hatch up better ways to present various challenges, but this one just seemed so flimsy.  As long as the meal was delicious, it seems with a little blending or thickening, NASA could make it work.

[carrps]

On 5/6/2022 at 9:19 AM, caitmcg said:

At the WF meat counter, she asked for rib eye, which is a standard cut for bulgogi. I think she actually sliced it too thin, then overcooked it. It almost seemed as if she was braiding it, rather than searing it. 

Braising?

On 5/6/2022 at 10:32 AM, Rammchick said:

Thanks.  For some reason, I remembered it as short rib.

Maybe you were thinking of kalbi???

Wow, Claudette lost a ton of weight. She seemed pleasant, too, so maybe she saw herself and had a change of attitude?

I'm kind of sick of all the stew-type dishes as well. Yes, they can be delicious and homey, but they'd probably be may last choice if they were on the menu.

I was sad to see Jae eliminated, but I won't miss her calling everyone bitches. It was cute the first time, but annoying as it continued (she did it 3x on LCK!).

 

[bravofan27]

Hummm. Jae also asked about whether they use silverware, and the atronaunt said she always had her utensils with her. So maybe Jae was trying to make it so it could be eaten with a spoon or a fork. When I've had bulgogi, it's as a wrap-- with lettuce, rice, some type of kimchi. It's always been something that needed to assembled a bit (which wouldn't work in space). If she had the thin sliced meat, sticky rice, and some fried veggies and served it all with chopsticks, that could have been cool.

Is that practical to eat in space with chopsticks?

[MarylandGirl]

On 5/6/2022 at 5:57 PM, grandmabegum said:

Nobody brought it up so I assume it's not an issue, but all I could think of when Ashleigh chose fish as her protein was, "What kind of sick person would eat fish in an enclosed space." It's bad enough to eat it in my office where the windows don't open, but we can crack a door and take the trash immediately out which are not, you know, options in space.

I had the same thought, like, "Ew, fish in an enclosed area." I also thought at first she was doing ceviche and was unclear on how a cold, raw fish dish would hold up going to space.

[Colorado David]

i wonder how smells work in zero g  space, as smell is olfactory response to molecules, no? 

[grandmabegum]

8 minutes ago, MarylandGirl said:

I had the same thought, like, "Ew, fish in an enclosed area."

Right? Fish is not meant to be eaten during any air travel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkGR65CXaNA

[Chicago Redshirt]

On 5/6/2022 at 1:30 AM, Sd601 said:

Damarr has won quickfires and elimination challenges. He’s often at the top. I pegged him as a finalist over Nick. I’m surprised many don’t consider him finalist worthy. He won last week. Sh*t happens to all. 

I at least consider Damarr in particular finalist wortiy and still hold out hopes of him taking the whole thing down. (Indeed, I commented in  previously that this is the first season in recent memory I could picture any of the six or so remaining chefs potentially winning). But it strikes me that Damarr is less consistent than Nick, Evelyn and Buddha, and all it takes is one misstep and PYKAG. It seems more likely to me that Damarr will make that misstep than those other three. 

On 5/6/2022 at 5:50 AM, rlc said:

Because she's not as good a chef as the remaining chefs. She routinely underseasons, her food is often described as uninspired/simple compared to the other dishes, and she has been bottom to middle throughout the competition. She was eliminated once before, and should have been eliminated a couple of other times. Jae may have been on the bottom before, but when she's on the top, she's been great. 

Ashleigh- bottom 5x, eliminated once, win 1x

Jae- bottom 2x, win 2x

Thank you for your response. 

On 5/7/2022 at 2:38 AM, South said:

While most of the offerings have looked tasty and some have appeared fabulous, I too, feel there is something missing this season.  Buddha is the only one who presents consistently innovative dishes, at least in appearance.  I see lots of stew/goulash-type of meals being offered.  While that type of food can be soul-stirring, visually it doesn’t do much for me.  My eyes are left a little hungry.  These observations are from a person whose favorite prepared food is Turkish lentil soup, so I’m certainly able to appreciate a simple, homogenous bowl of this or that.

I think Jackson was quite clever in terms of his plating. 

And because I can't resist paraphrasing Fabio: It's Top Chef, not Top Stew!

[bravofan27]

On 5/7/2022 at 12:07 AM, Steph Sometimes said:

His dessert had so many little pieces of things in addition to the ball that I was sure someone had to say something about it. 

Evelyn looks like she's a good hugger. 

Add me to the group who didn't realize Nick had won so much money. 

I laughed when Tom said something about how they had to dig deep. That's Probst's line. And then I think I heard him say something grammatically cringey like "most spiciest." I didn't remember what it was exactly. Did anyone else catch it?

I would take an Evelyn hug any day. 

[South]

On 5/7/2022 at 2:49 PM, caitmcg said:

If rice is mixed with a sauce, it’s not going to float free.

 

They were supposed to avoid thin liquids. As for turning to stews, it made sense to me. After all, the challenge wasn’t to create something space-themed in a gimmicky way: they were told they should make flavorful dishes that would please astronauts on a three-year mission, so of course many turned to well-spiced comfort food (very successfully, in Evelyn’s and Nick's cases).

If that’s the case, then why all of the discussion during prep and cook time about the feasibility of a dish being able to be eaten in zero gravity.  Make literally anything you please, make it delicious and then the NASA food scientists can strain, thicken and blend it. 

[seacliffsal]

Okay, I admit that I put off watching this for a few days because of the episode title.  To me it implied that they would be in a zero gravity space and have to cook and it sounded gimmicky to me (and they have certainly had their share of gimmicky challenges throughout the series).  So imagine my surprise when I finally watched this and loved the space portion.  The Houston Space Center looked amazing and I loved that they heard/interacted with astronauts.  I do wish the actual astronauts had more impact on the Judges' Table, but, as noted by others, the theme usually gives way to taste.  

I was very nervous when Damarr was in the bottom three (even though it was appropriate placement) as he has been my favorite this season, so I was very happy that he was not eliminated.  

IMO Ashleigh should go next as I think she is the weakest chef left (and I still can't get over the fact that she said people don't go to Asheville for the food scene [which is so not true]).

[tvfanatic13]

I googled Claudette and I still don't remember her. 

[hendersonrocks]

Quote

I would take an Evelyn hug any day.

I think she might be one of my favorite Top Cheftestants of all time. She's talented AF, hilarious, and adorable.

[Mellowyellow]

I vaguely remember a "difficult" contestant named Claudette but I don't recall her being anything like the happy person in this episode. She's like a completely different person!!!

[Lamb18]

I remember a Claudette but I thought she was on Next Food Network Star or Masterchef.

[bitchin camaro]

I was in Houston last month for work and my hotel was across the street from the Space Center. Alas, I didn’t have time to visit so I just got to look longingly at the families coming and going. Next time I need to go there for sure!

I really don’t get the rice issues these chefs keep having. I’ve never messed up rice, or maybe I have and my palate can’t tell. Get the ratio right, set a timer, boom. 
 

I love Jae but I thought her dish looked awful. Like cat food, even compared to Ashleigh’s literal tuna in a can dish. I made a mushroom barley soup a while back that somehow came out with the color and flavor of spaghetti-o’s. It was awful and her orangeish barley on the plate gave me flashbacks to that kitchen disaster. 
 

I would be happy with any of the remaining chefs to take it home but I’m kinda rooting for Buddha since he’s inventive, charming, and boy has he done his Top Chef homework. Unlike some past chefs who are SHOCKED at being asked to make a dessert when they’re not a pastry chef - have y’all never seen this show before?

[RockShrimp]

On 5/5/2022 at 9:14 PM, dgpolo said:

I thought for a while that Nick was going to get dinged for that, he asked about the salt in the Space Station and the food scientist (and I always thing of the candy scientists from TAR when they say food scientist) said that too much salt hurts the bones or something, and then they showed him using the kosher salt and I thought he was going to be in trouble but then nothing came of it.

I like the dress. It had a hint of 'spaceman' about it.

I think there was some poor communication in the set up over whether they were "inspiring a dish for space" or "making a dish to be eaten in space" - the food they made had to taste good on earth.

I also wonder whether the dessert would be easier to recreate with fewer ingredients than a full stew.

[FormerMod-a1]

I thought it was clear the winner meal would inspire an actual meal for astronauts. However, you had to keep all those rules in mind, because no matter what some meals won't be easily adapted.  For a very simple example, if you made chicken noodle soup - that's not going to work well.  How to you deliquify soup?  

[ProudMary]

6 hours ago, bitchin camaro said:

I really don’t get the rice issues these chefs keep having. I’ve never messed up rice, or maybe I have and my palate can’t tell. Get the ratio right, set a timer, boom. 

I agree with you. I don't mess up rice either, so it's fairly astonishing at how often rice is either overcooked or undercooked on Top Chef, which makes me question whether or not the cheftestants are actually permitted to use a timer. 🤔 Also, they have access to all sorts of equipment in the Top Chef kitchen; food processors, pressure cookers, immersion blenders, etc. Are there no rice cookers? In my home kitchen, I don't have one. I just use a standard 2 or 3 qt. saucepan with a see-through lid, but you'd think rice cookers in the TC kitchen would be a given. (Full disclosure: I was exhausted last Thursday and kept nodding off during the episode, so if Damarr used a rice cooker, I didn't see it and that's on him. Also, you can disregard most of my post about rice cookers. 😄 Except for the timer question, which I'd love to have answered.)

[Colorado David]

egg rolls. perfect space food, it can float, doesn't splatter, it's bite sized. can be freeze dried. stuff with whatever flavors you want - bbq, chinese, japanese, mexican, fried chicken, any protein, any vegan,  even dessert.   

problem solved. I expect a $2 mil check from Nasa, and you're welcome.

[Nordly Beaumont]

I was thinking hand pies/hot pockets. Or state fair food (anything on a stick).

Chef Jim Smith (Charleston) was also a Top Chef scholar. It's such a smart thing to do! And Jim is often a guest on a lot of the Top Chef podcasts now. I hope Buddha will do the same!

Like a lot of people, I'll be fine with any of them winning. But it's Buddha I really want to watch in the finale. He's the most inventive and surprising to me. 

Edited May 12, 2022 by Nordly Beaumont

[Vermicious Knid]

Xiao Long Bao - Chinese soup dumplings. Which are dumplings that contain soup and can be eaten in one bite.

[rhofmovalley]

Pasties! Stuffed with whatever! However I don't know how the dough would fare in space.

[Colleenna]

On 5/11/2022 at 8:58 AM, bitchin camaro said:

I was in Houston last month for work and my hotel was across the street from the Space Center. Alas, I didn’t have time to visit so I just got to look longingly at the families coming and going. Next time I need to go there for sure!

I really don’t get the rice issues these chefs keep having. I’ve never messed up rice, or maybe I have and my palate can’t tell. Get the ratio right, set a timer, boom. 
 

I love Jae but I thought her dish looked awful. Like cat food, even compared to Ashleigh’s literal tuna in a can dish. I made a mushroom barley soup a while back that somehow came out with the color and flavor of spaghetti-o’s. It was awful and her orangeish barley on the plate gave me flashbacks to that kitchen disaster. 
 

I would be happy with any of the remaining chefs to take it home but I’m kinda rooting for Buddha since he’s inventive, charming, and boy has he done his Top Chef homework. Unlike some past chefs who are SHOCKED at being asked to make a dessert when they’re not a pastry chef - have y’all never seen this show before?

Here are the 4 I adore, and would be happy with any of them  winning: Buddha,  Damarr, Evelyn,  Nick. I'm  kinda pulling for Evelyn. 

[Captain Asshat]

On 5/5/2022 at 10:12 PM, bravofan27 said:

This was such a cool episode. I mean, beyond creative, sooooo hard, and though a bit disjointed (how did the Houston Farmer's Market and space food make intutive sense, like why did they have to shop there?) Perhaps to make the challenge a little more cohesive was to prepare a Tex-Mex or Mexican "space meal" using the Houston Farmers Market. And not to be too skeptical or rude, but that stuff at the "Houston Farmer's Market" is all from a big distribution center and most likely from China. They have places like that in Saint Paul MN for the Hmong population. It's not at all local food- it all comes from a huge distribution center and outsourced and they call it a Farmer's Market. 

In any case, I dont' know if I'm explaining this correctly how I feel overall. I guess I just feel like they could have leveraged the Houston Farmer's market (the idea of a ton of ingredients for Mexican food), and all the talk about tex mex and fajitas better with a challenge that directly correlated. I mean, Jae made Korean food, Nick Mississipi food (but smartly added a torilla)... Buddha was also making a tortilla... (but not really sure why tortillas and space were connected....) Maybe it was just to pay for the extra costs (Chipotle was definitely sponsering!) with getting the space communications and props. 

I'm pretty sure they shopped at The Houston Farmers Market only for the Quickfire Challenge, and they shopped at Whole Foods for the Elimination Challenge. I don't think the QF and EC themes are necessarily related either. I think the QF was all about fajitas and the EC was about making "space food." I could be wrong on that, though.

Here's my Houston pride showing (and I'm lightheartedly clutching my pearls here): Produce at the Houston Farmers Market is not from a huge distribution center and is absolutely not from China. It is one of the oldest farmers markets in Houston. I'm old, and this market has been around longer than I've been alive. 😁 It used to be located behind a Mexican market (RIP Canino's) not far from where it's currently located, whose back door opened to the farmers market stalls into which local farmers literally backed their pickups and sold produce from the beds of the trucks. It was that way until a couple of years ago when the market moved and reopened as this stylized location nearby. I can speak only for the produce -- the market now features so much more -- but the produce is definitely local.

Personally, I have no problem with different takes on fajitas. The Houston food scene includes more than a few fusion restaurants that combine traditional dishes from different styles and cultures. Fajitas really do lend themselves to playing fast and loose with the "rules." I mean, it's Top Chef, I kind of expect this kind of "messing with tradition" to create something new and delicious, while still paying homage to the original cuisine.

[bravofan27]

9 hours ago, Captain Asshat said:

 

Here's my Houston pride showing (and I'm lightheartedly clutching my pearls here): Produce at the Houston Farmers Market is not from a huge distribution center and is absolutely not from China. It is one of the oldest farmers markets in Houston. I'm old, and this market has been around longer than I've been alive. 😁 It used to be located behind a Mexican market (RIP Canino's) not far from where it's currently located, whose back door opened to the farmers market stalls into which local farmers literally backed their pickups and sold produce from the beds of the trucks. It was that way until a couple of years ago when the market moved and reopened as this stylized location nearby. I can speak only for the produce -- the market now features so much more -- but the produce is definitely local.

 

It clearly states on their FAQ page that they do not carry any organic produce and most of the produce comes from "local farms, Mexico, and South America." Also, they are wholesale vendors. Not farmers. 

You might be right about China though. 

Edited May 13, 2022 by bravofan27

[MarylandGirl]

On 5/11/2022 at 3:23 PM, ProudMary said:

I agree with you. I don't mess up rice either, so it's fairly astonishing at how often rice is either overcooked or undercooked on Top Chef, which makes me question whether or not the cheftestants are actually permitted to use a timer. 🤔 Also, they have access to all sorts of equipment in the Top Chef kitchen; food processors, pressure cookers, immersion blenders, etc. Are there no rice cookers? In my home kitchen, I don't have one. I just use a standard 2 or 3 qt. saucepan with a see-through lid, but you'd think rice cookers in the TC kitchen would be a given. (Full disclosure: I was exhausted last Thursday and kept nodding off during the episode, so if Damarr used a rice cooker, I didn't see it and that's on him. Also, you can disregard most of my post about rice cookers. 😄 Except for the timer question, which I'd love to have answered.)

I mean, I do mess up rice, but I'm also not a professional chef! Weirdly, I can make a good risotto, but then screw up just making white or brown rice (I do better with basmati, for whatever reason).

Edited May 13, 2022 by MarylandGirl
typo

[Captain Asshat]

12 hours ago, bravofan27 said:

It clearly states on their FAQ page that they do not carry any organic produce and most of the produce comes from "local farms, Mexico, and South America." Also, they are wholesale vendors. Not farmers. 

You might be right about China though. 

Ah. Well, clearly things have changed since the move. Mea culpa. 

[Josiemae]

On 5/5/2022 at 10:52 PM, Chicago Redshirt said:

Why shouldn't Ashleigh be this close to the finals?

 

Because time and time again, she's been told her food is bland. Any chef who can't properly season a dish should be long gone by now.