Season 20: Last Chance Kitchen

[JTMacc99]

I don’t think Tom particularly cared that he got two squab meals. I assume if those were the best two, that’s what he would have chosen.  
 

I seem to be on my own island liking Dale. I don’t necessarily like him over Begoña, but I’m totally okay with him beating her if that’s what happens.
 

Unlike most of the others so far in LCK, he got himself eliminated because of a failed forced collaboration. That’s always a rough way to go out, and I’m cool with him getting a chance back in because if that. 

[JTMacc99]

Also, it was in LCK and not the episode where Begoña said that she tasted everything and acknowledged that her dish was the worst? 
 

 

[Quilt Fairy]

19 hours ago, ProudMary said:

There was no working together on the menu for the three course meal; no deciding together on who makes which texture; and there was certainly no negotiation. There was Begoña's way. It really made me not like her as much.

ITA.  Tom should have specifically given them a minute or two to coordinate the meal before the cooking started.

Edited April 9, 2023 by Quilt Fairy

[Mellowyellow]

3 hours ago, JTMacc99 said:

I seem to be on my own island liking Dale. I don’t necessarily like him over Begoña, but I’m totally okay with him beating her if that’s what happens.

I like Dale too. I've watched his season in Canada and never found anything offensive about him. Don't see anything wrong with him here either so I'm quite puzzled by the Dale hate 🤔 

 

[ProudMary]

4 hours ago, JTMacc99 said:

Also, it was in LCK and not the episode where Begoña said that she tasted everything and acknowledged that her dish was the worst? 

It was during her LCK interview that she acknowledged that she had tasted everyone's dish during the Elimination Challenge and admitted that she thought hers was the worst of the dishes served at the vacation holiday dinner. (I'm assuming she wasn't counting immunity-protected Tom and his dense cake.)

[MerBearHou]

On 4/8/2023 at 5:25 PM, JTMacc99 said:

I seem to be on my own island liking Dale.

I am joining you on that island of liking Dale.  I wish he'd beat Begoña. I  liked her fine in the regular competition, but didn't like how she steamrolled in LCK.

[Ellee]

Raising hand!!!!  Count me in on liking Dale too. 😁

[Rai]

Tom's a big fan of asserting oneself, so I don't think he'd have an issue with Begona. I don't either! It's a competition, and I didn't find anything untoward about it. She said what she was going to do, so that they all knew what she had in mind. Given she compromised with Charbel to her detriment, it's no surprise to me she decided not to repeat that mistake. After all, what Tom really cares about most in LCK is who gives him the best bite.

 

[Bastet]

I don't know why it made me laugh, but Gabri peering into the "pantry" in the back of the SUV while Sylwia and Tom were having the cook-off explained to them gave me a chuckle.

The other thing that caught my eye in the background was the ridiculous way Buddha was standing with his legs so far apart.

On to the food:

"A liberal attitude to mayonnaise" as the first thing that makes a good sandwich had me liking the guest judge.

I'm not a huge sandwich fan, as I'm not a huge bread fan (other than BLTs on a great toasted sourdough, I generally make sandwiches as lavash wraps as I find that a better ratio of bread to filling), but those both looked good.  I would have most wanted Sylwia's, as I love a good sausage and shellfish combo, except I don't like Hollandaise (I hate egg yolks), but hers still sounded like the more interesting sandwich so I'm disappointed she lost.  The only concern I had with hers is she may have chosen too sweet a bread, but they never mentioned that.

[bosawks]

Sniff, I shall miss you potato.

 

[saracen7]

I’m not crazy about hollandaise but I really want to try a champagne one now. If only she had some texture! Although from the judges side bar maybe it wasn’t just down to that being the only reason. 

I don’t really expect the chefs to go to five guys but pretty sure they do their grilled cheeses on an inverted bun for the same reason. 

[Ellee]

Does potato girl take over LCK or does she need to compete with Begonia?

[carrps]

14 hours ago, Bastet said:

"A liberal attitude to mayonnaise" as the first thing that makes a good sandwich had me liking the guest judge.

Me, too. Nothing I hate more than a dry sandwich. Same goes with your comment on the proper bread to filling ratio.

 

[Salacious Kitty]

3 hours ago, Ellee said:

Does potato girl take over LCK or does she need to compete with Begonia?

Begoña's done. Sylwia awaits the next PYKAG cheftestant for LCK #2. 

[Norma Desmond]

I thought Sylwia would win. Damn. I kinda hate Tom now. But yeah, nothing beats a good steak sandwich. I just thought hers was more refined and elaborated.

Edited April 15, 2023 by Norma Desmond

[CrazyInAlabama]

19 hours ago, Salacious Kitty said:

Begoña's done. Sylwia awaits the next PYKAG cheftestant for LCK #2. 

Thanks for explaining that, I'm so confused about everything this season.    So, Sylwia could come back.  It would be bizarre if she ended up competing with Tom in LCK next week.  

[ProudMary]

5 minutes ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

Thanks for explaining that, I'm so confused about everything this season.    So, Sylwia could come back.  It would be bizarre if she ended up competing with Tom in LCK next week.  

Oooh, I hadn't thought of that possibility. I would love to see Sylwia be the chef that puts the final nail in Tom's Top Chef coffin! 

[ProudMary]

LCK 4/20/23:

IMO, Tom made the correct choice. Sylvia made a tasty egg dish, but it wasn't an omelet. He brought out a classic omelet to show them what was expected. 

I'll miss Sylwia though. She was delightful.

[CrazyInAlabama]

Sylwia took it very well, and her statement that she was homesick and glad to go home was very classy.    However, I hate  'loose' omelets, and would rather have had Sylwia's than Dale's omelet.     I wish Sylwia the best.    I still think Tom should have been in LCK instead of Dale, because Tom's melting pumpkin dish looked awful, and really didn't meet the challenge parameters.  

Edited April 21, 2023 by CrazyInAlabama

[carrps]

13 hours ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

However, I hate  'loose' omelets, and would rather have had Sylwia's than Dale's omelet. 

Me, too. I'm old, so whenever I see a classic French omelet, I always flash back to that scene from The Diary of a Mad Housewife with the omelet maker at the party. Those omelets always look way too "drippy" to me.

[dleighg]

I'm too lazy to rewatch, but despite what Tom said at judging time, I thought he was looking for a "classic" omelet, with whatever modifications or enhancements the chef might want to make. And as much as I like Sylwia, she made baked scrambled eggs.

[carrps]

I was unsure, but I interpretted what he said as you did. I'd still prefer Sylwia's if it hadn't been over-cooked.

[mlp]

I thought Sywia's dish looked and sounded like it would taste good but it clearly was not an omelet which was what Tom asked for so she had to go.  I liked her a lot but I did think she was one of the weaker chefs in the cast.

[Salacious Kitty]

Well, that's a relief. I was afraid that Tom would ding Charbel's as too much resembling a salad. 

[BlackberryJam]

I thought it was clear, Dale made a fish dish. Charbel focused on tomatoes. Yay.

[Salacious Kitty]

Tom seemed surprised that Charbel wasn't using a protein, hence my fear he would ding it as a salad. Thank goodness the feta was enough. 

[mlp]

I had no problem with Dale but I found myself rooting for Charbel.  I'm glad he pulled it off.  I just read his little bio on the Bravo site and he is quite accomplished for someone only 25 y/o.

[The Solution]

As a Jersey tomato-eater (who is also part Lebanese and part Italian), I knew that Charbel would be the winner. That dish looked amazing and was tomatoey and used the time he had available to him perfectly. None of the elements were over- or under-cooked, which can be a real issue with tomato cookery. Besides, Charbel just effing ROCKS!

[Daisychain]

I think others have already represented my feelings about Charbel's tomato dish.  I am planting my own tomatoes again this spring, and am trying several varieties (my daughter is a real gardener and does many).  So I will at some point try to make a tomato concasse and have mint and figure out how to balance that stuff.

My real point here is that if you want a whole-hearted LCK cheerleader who is not stewing in her own juices, that lady is Sylwia.  What a peanut gallery champ, and I mean that as a true compliment!

[Fukui San]

Sylwia Peanut Gallery Hall of Fame, first ballot, no doubt.

Kind of wish that the trio theme ingredient had been potato with her observing.

[bosawks]

8 hours ago, The Solution said:

As a Jersey tomato-eater (who is also part Lebanese and part Italian), I knew that Charbel would be the winner. That dish looked amazing and was tomatoey and used the time he had available to him perfectly. None of the elements were over- or under-cooked, which can be a real issue with tomato cookery. Besides, Charbel just effing ROCKS!

As a South Jerseyan/Jerseyite/Jerseyarian  I have already put Charbel's dish in my mental rolodex to make this summer.

It looked so good!

[Daisychain]

I too am from New Jersey bosawks.  We didn't know how good we had it at the time.  We had dead apple trees that gave off rotten little golfballs but on the other hand, we had a small grape orchard, a peach tree, a cherry tree, and my mother (grew up on a Depression farm) canned everything.  Now I wish I had paid attention.

 

[bosawks]

The: corn, asparagus, strawberries, tomatoes, blueberries, peaches are not to be believed.

If you know, you know 😁

[dleighg]

8 hours ago, Fukui San said:

Sylwia Peanut Gallery Hall of Fame, first ballot, no doubt

She has a great personality, doesn't she?

[Lovecat]

Sylvia gives great Peanut Gallery!  

[katenm]

I did not think it was possible to love Sylvia more than I already did, but this episode of LCK proved me wrong!

[MerBearHou]

4 minutes ago, katenm said:

I did not think it was possible to love Sylvia more than I already did, but this episode of LCK proved me wrong!

Agreed -- she is a delight!!

[Dewey Decimate]

TPTB need to get Sylwia her own show on PBS or something, like a fresh new Lydia for the foods of Poland. I want to continue basking in her smile and genuine kindness! (Plus, as a fellow blonde with one set of Polish grandparents, I totally appreciate the half-dozen hair clips she uses on the back of her head - those flyaway baby hairs are annoying af!)

[Salacious Kitty]

PBS just did Flavor of Poland maybe 3 years ago. Probably too soon for another Polish travelogue/cooking show. But I do love Sylwia!

[Souris]

22 hours ago, Fukui San said:

Sylwia Peanut Gallery Hall of Fame, first ballot, no doubt.

Kind of wish that the trio theme ingredient had been potato with her observing.

I totally thought they were having her wheel out a bunch of potatoes at first! They missed a prime opportunity. 😂

[Leeds]

On 4/27/2023 at 8:40 PM, Salacious Kitty said:

Tom seemed surprised that Charbel wasn't using a protein, hence my fear he would ding it as a salad. Thank goodness the feta was enough. 

Cheese is protein.

Edited May 3, 2023 by Leeds

[Salacious Kitty]

13 hours ago, Leeds said:

Cheese is protein.

They were referring to meats/fish. I am aware that cheese is protein. 👍

[PhoneCop]

Damn, Nicole must've served up some leeks à la Dead Sea for Tom to find them excessively salty. I actually thought she had the win for a minute, not that I'm mad to see Charbel continue. Most of the cuts from here on out will be painful anyway.

[Msample]

Surely a sign of the apocalypse when Tom finds something too salty.

[The Solution]

Charbel's dish looked really good to me, but then so did Nicole's. This just wasn't her day. I'm pretty sure Charbel uses the same Maalouf olive oil that I do. It's from Lebanon and it's amazing. I think we've already missed this year's batch but I have plenty from last year still. Charbel is the man!

[Daisychain]

12 hours ago, Msample said:

Surely a sign of the apocalypse when Tom finds something too salty.

Yes, me too.  I eat food I really like and then I realize my tongue is a little burnt from the salt level.  So if Tom says it's too salty, it could be fatal to your health.  Charbel's did look beautiful, but Tom made it clear his dough was . . . fine.  Still, he came out on top and I'm eager to see next week.  

However, if the peanut gallery is an orchestra, Sylwia still gets first chair, not Dale!  Espesh with the leather/pleather pants.

Edited May 5, 2023 by Daisychain
Spelling.

[ProudMary]

I think Charbel is going to win LCK and get back into the main competition. There are probably only two, or at maximum, three more LCK challenges remaining. The most likely next cheftestants to be PYKAGd are Gabri, Victoire and Tom (🤞) and IMO, Charbel can beat all of them. Of course, the likely candidates are not always the ones eliminated--if Ali wasn't on the winning RW team, he would have been the likely eliminee last night--but if the predictable happens, I like Charbel's chances very much. And, if he does make it back into the main competition, he's a definite threat for the title.

[Bastet]

Interesting that Tom told Charbel he got lucky Nicole served a salt bomb.  If she'd listened to her own instincts instead of serving him a component she knew was way too salty, she might have won even if it was obvious the dish was missing a component it was intended to have.  But she'd, of course, have no way of knowing Charbel hadn't cooked up to his usual standards.

[SemiCharmedLife]

17 hours ago, Bastet said:

Interesting that Tom told Charbel he got lucky Nicole served a salt bomb.  If she'd listened to her own instincts instead of serving him a component she knew was way too salty, she might have won even if it was obvious the dish was missing a component it was intended to have.  But she'd, of course, have no way of knowing Charbel hadn't cooked up to his usual standards.

Yes, I knew her thinking was flawed when she mentioned under seasoning a few components because her leeks were too salty. The judges taste each component individually, as well as together.  I just don't understand why she didn't leave them off.

[Rai]

Tom looked mad that he declared Charbel the winner, which is interesting. He must have really not liked that pasta. I'm kinda mad too! They're both good cooks, so I guess it could've gone either way. But it's a shame that Nicole is out all the same.