Tournament of Champions - Season 5 Discussion Thread

[bad things are bad]

Did not know about Darnell until reading this thread, thought he was being a sore loser after his abrupt exit. Amanda really saved the day by winning.  

And what a POS Darnell turns out to be 

[Tippi]

I was hoping Joe would go far, so I'm kinda bummed about that.

I would like to see someone new win this year--maybe Michael Volt?

I'd also be interested in seeing how Justin Warner would do as a competitor.  I always enjoy him on GGG.  That said, I do like his commentary and presenting style on TOC.

[DEL901]

In the first 4 seasons, only 3 guys have made the semi finals….Darnell (out thank goodness), Tobias and Jet (x3).  If a guy is going to win, I hope Jet can finally do it, but we’ll see.  

[OnMatchPoint]

My chief disappointment about Brooke losing is it opens the door for Voltaggio to prevail. Arrogant asshole. Only one in the competition I cannot stand. The rest seem like a really lovely bunch. 
 

I’m hoping Chris Scott will manage another upset, but also hoping to keep as many women in as possible, so it’s a constant see-saw. 

[SpottedCoachDog]

22 hours ago, Salacious Kitty said:

Well, the ending of the Amanda/Darnell match was edited to the max. No sendoff for Darnell, just a quick shot of him running away. 

And that was the FN farewell he deserved. Good riddance. 

I’ve been watching these episodes with an eagle eye and the editing team did the best they could with a lousy situation. I caught just the briefest blink and you miss him shot of his shoulder as they panned across the full line up of chefs in the first episode. At the beginning of this one, it was clear Amanda was standing beside him in one shot. They edited him out as much as I think they possibly could and still show Amanda and the judging. I’m sure he had a final interview and congratulated her, but he’s history. He was indicted last week on multiple charges.

https://www.wdrb.com/news/crime-reports/louisville-superchef-darnell-ferguson-indicted-on-strangulation-burglary-charges/article_44d86522-d03b-11ee-9fdf-5b492809eb49.html

[Stardancer Supreme]

The thing that I must remember is to have something to eat while I watch this show. I am so hungry right now!

Episode 2: First Round Battles Heat Up!

The Judges: Donatella Arpaia, Andrew Zimmern, Ming Tsai.

Matchup 1: Shirley Chung vs. Joe Sasto - Shirley Chung wins!  Both chefs made similar dishes. Did Joe really think he was going to beat the Dumpling Queen at her own specialty? There are folded pastas, right? Heh. The cajones on that one...

Matchup 2: Tobias Dorzon vs. Kelsey Barnard Clark - Tobias Dorzon wins!  I'm glad he won, because I liked his dish better. Now I want to make spaghetti! LOL!

Matchup 3: Amanda Freitag vs. Darnell Ferguson - Amanda Freitag wins!  There was no fanfare or after match chit chat; they just went through their match and Amanda's dish appealed to the judges more than Darnell's. As soon as they announced her win, they cut to Darnell leaving. Interesting choice of editing here. 

Matchup 4: Brooke Williamson vs. Kevin Lee - Kevin Lee wins! By 1 point! Bracket breaking at its finest. I also liked his dish, sauce splash notwithstanding. He gets his props for taking out Brooke and I can't wait for next week!

 

 

 

[allirish47]

Guy seemed astonished when the result of the Brooke/Kevin match was revealed. Is he in the dark, like viewers, until then? Nothing on the scorecard he reads from?

And Justin is indeed looking fine. He was so cute last week when Mei Lin offered him a taste of her sauce and he said something like 'Wow! I'm being fed!' And his food knowledge is indeed, as Guy says, encyclopedic.

Speaking of Mei Lin, she seems much more pleasant and relaxed than last season, and she's even smiled a time or two!

 

Edited February 27 by allirish47
Wanted to add something

[Harry24]

Among the many reasons I enjoy this show is how it proves the chops that some of these chefs from less prestigious backgrounds have.  I’m thinking of Britt, Tobias and now Kevin.  (And to this list I’d have to add Darnell, sad as it is to say now.). It’s clear that some of these chefs who are perhaps not Top Chef contestants or fine dining experts who worked under the Kellers of the world are absolutely amazing and can stand toe to toe with the Brooke Williamsons, Alex Guarnaschellis et al. 

The essence of this show’s quality is the blind tasting.

That said, wake me when someone can challenge Mei Lin.  :-)

[Salacious Kitty]

Kevin trained under a prestigious chef in CA (can't remember who ATM) before moving to OKC. 

@allirish47 Guy just gets the scores (and I believe the breakdowns). He flipped the card around to show it. He doesn't know the winner until it's revealed to everyone.

Edited February 27 by Salacious Kitty

[Ciarrai]

Bummed to see Joe lose to Shirley but hopefully Kevin Lee will take her out. The less I see of her on my screen the better.

Great to see Tobias win though!

[mlp]

11 hours ago, allirish47 said:

And Justin is indeed looking fine. He was so cute last week when Mei Lin offered him a taste of her sauce and he said something like 'Wow! I'm being fed!' And his food knowledge is indeed, as Guy says, encyclopedic.

Speaking of Mei Lin, she seems much more pleasant and relaxed than last season, and she's even smiled a time or two!

When Justin was on FNS, I just couldn't stand him because he was such a young wise guy.  Then he matured and I gradually realized that he is highly intelligent and knowledgeable and has a good sense of humor.  Now he's actually one of my favorite people on FN.  Funny how that happens.

Mei Lin is another one.  Her talent was obvious when she was on TC but she was surly and they had to bleep every other sentence because of her bad language.  She seems a lot more congenial now and I'm warming up to her.

[Yeah No]

I haven't posted because I'm thoroughly confused.  Comcast has made a mess out of identifying the episodes and it doesn't help that this thread isn't separated into episodes or that might assist me in solving the problem.  I think I've watched some of this out of order and I can't even begin to figure it all out.  So far Comcast has only listed one episode for season 5, a two hour one entitled "Time for Battle" (which is supposed to be episode 1, which I haven't watched yet).  And I don't even see an episode 2 listed on my DVR schedule anywhere!  All the rest that have recorded on my DVR as "new" have been listed as season 4 qualifiers, some of which aired after episode 1, but I am sure they are season 5 episodes, but I don't know which ones.  Looking at the episode list on FN is not even helping and I only hope that I can identify the episode with the match-ups discussed in a post above when I eventually watch it.  ☹️

Edited February 28 by Yeah No

[Yeah No]

On 2/26/2024 at 1:19 AM, TexasTiffany said:

After all the speculation about FN maybe scrubbing Darnell out of the show completely, I was surprised to see Amanda and Darnell's segment when it aired tonight. I agree it looked like it was edited so we got the very short version. When Amanda won, we don't see Darnell hug Amanda or congratulate her or say anything. The edit shows him exiting out the door. Gone. FN handled it well. Don't hide it but don't embellish. 

I think I'm piecing this together now - Monday's episode was actually episode 2 of season 5 (it's marked as a season 4 episode on my DVR, but I think they gave it the correct title, "First Round Battles Heating Up").  That's interesting that they showed the match-up between Darnell and Amanda.  I haven't seen her featured anywhere on this so far so that should be interesting.  I'm still confused but I think I'm getting there.  

Edited February 28 by Yeah No

[dleighg]

1 hour ago, Yeah No said:

I haven't seen her featured anywhere on this so far so that should be interesting.  I'm still confused but I think I'm getting there

re: only seeing a few episodes, you may be missing the "qualifying" rounds, which show up on the streaming service in a different "show" sometimes. I think on the FN app it showed up as "extras" or something like that.

Amanda was discussed here recently, but not much was said because not much was shown. Just the minimum. 

[DEL901]

2 hours ago, Yeah No said:

I think I'm piecing this together now - Monday's episode was actually episode 2 of season 5 (it's marked as a season 4 episode on my DVR, but I think they gave it the correct title, "First Round Battles Heating Up").  That's interesting that they showed the match-up between Darnell and Amanda.  I haven't seen her featured anywhere on this so far so that should be interesting.  I'm still confused but I think I'm getting there.  

It was Darnell they were avoiding mentioning.  She was an unfortunate casualty because it was hard to mention her without her first round opponent.   Hopefully now she’ll get spotlighted to make up for it.  Especially since they should be grateful she won, making it easier for them to minimize his participation.  

[Yeah No]

3 hours ago, dleighg said:

re: only seeing a few episodes, you may be missing the "qualifying" rounds, which show up on the streaming service in a different "show" sometimes. I think on the FN app it showed up as "extras" or something like that.

Amanda was discussed here recently, but not much was said because not much was shown. Just the minimum. 

I think what I was watching were the qualifying rounds but they were somehow flagged as "season 4" when I knew they were new because they featured Mei Lin as the most recent winner.  And this is on cable (Comcast/Xfinity) not streaming.  But I think I'm going to take a look on Discovery+ and/or Max to see what's there because that may help straighten me out.  So far I think it flagged episode 2 of the new season as a qualifying round and I saw part of that one out of order before I realized something was wrong.  No wonder I got confused.

And this happened in spite of making sure I set my DVR to record the qualifying rounds because they were listed separately from the regular season episodes!  Comcast shows no episode 2 of this season anywhere on its program guide.  It still has it listed erroneously as a qualifying round for season 4!

2 hours ago, DEL901 said:

It was Darnell they were avoiding mentioning.  She was an unfortunate casualty because it was hard to mention her without her first round opponent.   Hopefully now she’ll get spotlighted to make up for it.  Especially since they should be grateful she won, making it easier for them to minimize his participation.  

Thanks, I'm going to catch up completely today so hopefully I'll see what everyone is talking about re: Amanda and Darnell.

[joanne3482]

7 hours ago, Yeah No said:

I think I'm piecing this together now - Monday's episode was actually episode 2 of season 5 (it's marked as a season 4 episode on my DVR, but I think they gave it the correct title, "First Round Battles Heating Up"). 

My DVR didn't pick it up at all and I couldn't find it through On Demand so  I had to watch it on HBOMax. I use DirecTv though, not Comcast. It seems like FN labeled it wrong then. 

[Mondrianyone]

I guess it's important to remember that an arrest or an indictment doesn't necessarily mean the person is guilty. So I think the ToC handled the Darnell situation pretty well. Erasing him completely would be the equivalent of finding him guilty before he's adjudicated in a court of law, but not glorifying him avoids glossing over the very real possibility that he did what he's accused of. And Amanda gets her due.

[mlp]

15 hours ago, Yeah No said:

Comcast has made a mess out of identifying the episodes

I wonder if the problem lies with your local provider.  I have Comcast and everything recorded properly including the qualifying rounds.

[Yeah No]

5 hours ago, mlp said:

I wonder if the problem lies with your local provider.  I have Comcast and everything recorded properly including the qualifying rounds.

That's interesting.  Are you on the X1 platform?  I am.

[mlp]

38 minutes ago, Yeah No said:

That's interesting.  Are you on the X1 platform?  I am.

Um.......... I don't know what the X1 platform is - or maybe I'm just ignorant.  :)  So I dunno.

[Yeah No]

1 hour ago, mlp said:

Um.......... I don't know what the X1 platform is - or maybe I'm just ignorant.  :)  So I dunno.

It's the newer, more expensive, upgraded version of Comcast, and although it's pretty much standard now a lot of people still have the older version because they never chose to upgrade.  I ask because I've heard that the program guide is very different between the old and new platforms and that may account for why yours is different from mine.  I figure if you don't know what it is you probably don't have X1.

[FormerMod-a1]

All my Comcast stuff says Xfinity and it all works fine for me, too.  

[Yeah No]

18 minutes ago, aquarian1 said:

All my Comcast stuff says Xfinity and it all works fine for me, too.  

That's so strange.  I'm seeing no season 5 episode 2 listed on my on-TV program guide - It's erroneously listed as "S4 - First Round Battles Heat Up" with no episode number.  The new ep. airing on Sunday 3/3 is the same, listed as "S4 - The Stakes Have Never Been Higher", instead of S5, episode 3.  The next episode set to record on 3/10 is listed as "S4 - The Good the Bad and the Ugly.  That should be S5, episode 4.  None have episode numbers associated with them and none are listed on the "on Demand" menu either.  The only episode that was listed correctly was episode 1 of Season 5 (Time for Battle).  I'm just going to watch them in the order they were recorded.

[potatoradio]

On 2/28/2024 at 12:10 AM, mlp said:

When Justin was on FNS, I just couldn't stand him because he was such a young wise guy.  Then he matured and I gradually realized that he is highly intelligent and knowledgeable and has a good sense of humor. 

Same. I remember him doing another competition show where he was selling his concept of ".....And Jelly." The concept was that he created a special jelly/sauce for each of his dishes. And it was clear then that he could go either the obnoxious route or the quirky, geeky route and I'm glad he went quirky/funny. 

He made me laugh when he talked about fast-twitch/slow-twitch muscles, even as I was howling, "gross! I don't want to think about that when I eat!" But he's a funny geek, so I can go with it. 

I would have screwed up the "tart" portion of the randomizer. I thought they were supposed to bake a tart, not add a sour ingredient. I would have been trying to come up with a steel oat crust and figure out how to make a pork loin pot pie. This is why I am not on anyone's teevee.

Geez, had no idea about Darnell until reading this thread. Yikes, yikes. 

Still have a lot of people I like/will root for and several of the ones I can't stand were eliminated early. Not necessarily a great situation, because of two of my faves compete in the final, I'll be a mixed up mess of yay/boo. 

 

[Ohmo]

On 2/25/2024 at 10:02 PM, Bastet said:

!  I found this one too uncomfortable to watch, and just came back at the end to see the scores.  I wonder if they cut out his post-loss interview or if he took off without giving one; I assume the former, but editing made it look like the latter.

I'm late to the discussion because I just got the chance to watch last week's competition, but I think FN made a concerted effort to cut out a lot of Darnell onscreen.  They showed him cooking, but they didn't show talking like the other chefs.  His discussion of his dish was all voiceover.  Amanda was shown when the judges were introduced.  There was no chit-chat with Guy, and we didn't see Darnell backstage after the loss.  Just him going out the door.  I'm guessing the film was edited as much as they felt it could be.

I'm sorry that Brooke lost.  I like her and would love to eat her food.

[Bastet]

1 minute ago, Ohmo said:

I'm sorry that Brooke lost.  I like her and would love to eat her food.

She's the Top Chef/ToC chef whose food I have had the most of, and it's delicious.  So I was pre-disposed to rooting for her, and then became fascinated by what a talented competitor she is, so she's been one of my favorites for years now.

11 minutes ago, Ohmo said:

I'm guessing the film was edited as much as they felt it could be.

Yeah, they handled a tricky balance quite well in the editing.  And I'm sure are thanking their lucky stars he went out in the first round!

[Ohmo]

On 2/19/2024 at 2:55 PM, coffee drinker said:

Am I remembering wrong?  Didn't Amanda get a default win last year during an early round when her opponent had to drop out during the cooking part?  

Amanda did win by "default" last year because Madison Cowin didn't finish. I think he got one piece of food on a plate and severely burned his hands doing that.

[Grizzly]

How did this Casey Thompson get a #6 seed if she hasn't competed in years? She didn't impress me.

[susannot]

Maneet is wearing gold sneakers.  Please tell me they are not Trump gold sneakers.

[DEL901]

Just now, susannot said:

Maneet is wearing gold sneakers.  Please tell me they are not Trump gold sneakers.

This was filmed months before the trump sneakers were available.  

[Bastet]

Stephanie vs. Eric - I really like both of them, but I've liked Stephanie for longer and have had her food, so I was rooting for her.  It sucks for her to lose with a score that would typically be a big winner, so I appreciate her honesty in saying the same thing.  I'm not surprised they both knocked it out of the park (and love her bouncing up and down like a kid when Andrew described her dish that way), as the randomizer was very kind to them (I'd have been thrown by the scrapple, as I've heard of it but that's about it) -- chefs of their caliber will do something truly great. 

Casey vs. Antonia - Sophie's choice, man.  I've liked both of them since their first appearances on Top Chef.  I've eaten Antonia's food but not Casey's, so was pulling for her, especially because she wants it so very much.  It showed that Casey hadn't competed in a while, and was new to ToC; I didn't need the scores to know Antonia had won by a wide margin. 

Lee Anne vs. Adam - I think Adam bugged me last season, but even if I'm mixing him up with someone else I'm Team Lee Anne going way back to Top Chef season one and especially now with what she's gone through in Maui and the work she's been putting in to help the area recover.  (I love that she's the one who got to pick a restaurant for the show to give money to.)  It's interesting they both had to pivot as they went along.  I love aguachile, and like the flavors Lee Anne chose to do it with -- I really wanted to taste her dish.  His dish looked fantastic, too; this is the round where I most wanted the food, as I know I'd have devoured both of them.  He's in the same boat as Stephanie, losing with a high-scoring dish; it's interesting that happened twice in a night. 

Nini vs. Maneet - I have an odd reaction to Maneet; I usually like her, but sometimes she bugs me and I can't fully articulate why.  I enjoyed Nini on TC, but not enough to be cheering for an upset; this one I didn't really have a rooting interest.  (As an aside, Maneet is looking scrawny, so I hope she's okay.)  Yikes to that randomizer!  Nini using butter lettuce for her salad absolutely tickled me for some reason, but I thought she had too much of it.  I also didn't understand why she cut into her stuffed wings.  And I joined Guy in thinking Maneet was crazy to serve those flat halves when they'd had so little time to cook.  But once some of them came out okay, I knew she had it in the bag because hers sounded like the better dish overall.  Like they both said, she has a lot of experience at this and knows how to grab the randomizer points, so it's interesting she only got one more point for that than Nini.

[susannot]

Top score of the night 93 by Ms. Wong.  Love her!  I have eaten at her restaurant in Hawaii.

 

However, for me, the dish that I want to make is meatballs over labneh, with pickled veg.  I think it was Casey's.

[HyeChaps]

It's hard to believe that an audience that size made such a big noise.

Shame on you show for that over the top enhancement.

[bad things are bad]

8 hours ago, Bastet said:

Maneet; I usually like her, but sometimes she bugs me and I can't fully articulate why. 

I have the same reaction sometimes.  I particularly dislike that stupid "dancing spice queen" crap. I know that's the one and only Guy's foolishness, but it bugs 

[HyeChaps]

I think Stephanie is the only one who doesn’t have a Guy cutesy nickname. GOAT and Iron Chef don’t count. 

[dleighg]

I thought Maneet was obnoxious this episode (that whole thing when Nini asked her who she'd rather go against in the next round and she said "well I've beat both of them so I don't care" in her stupid ripped jeans). I really like Nini's attitude so was sorry she lost, though it was pretty obvious from the comments.

Did anyone else think that Maneet's stand-up lollypop wings looked ... kinda phallic?

Also, I thought that move with the champagne bottle risked getting glass in the pot.

Yeah, I'll be rooting against Maneet going forward.

[desertflower]

I wish they had some kind of twist where the loser with the highest score could come back for one more challenge and if they win they are back in, like a wild card. It’s just a shame that Stephanie and Adam are out with such high scores when people in the 70s are going through. But I guess that’s just part of the game.

[Grizzly]

2 hours ago, dleighg said:

Also, I thought that move with the champagne bottle risked getting glass in the pot.

Yeah, I'll be rooting against Maneet going forward.

It seemed to me like she should have been covered in champagne. But she didn't look at all wet. I don't even remember where she put it in her dish. So just did that to show off. Hard pass.

[dleighg]

32 minutes ago, Grizzly said:

I don't even remember where she put it in her dish. So just did that to show off

she poured it into a pot-- for a cooking broth I think (the court bouillon?)

[Salacious Kitty]

5 hours ago, HyeChaps said:

I think Stephanie is the only one who doesn’t have a Guy cutesy nickname. GOAT and Iron Chef don’t count. 

Sobel's nickname, Mr. (something), is his. 

I hated Nini Martini. 🙄

[Mondrianyone]

3 minutes ago, Salacious Kitty said:

Sobel's nickname, Mr. (something), is his. 

Mr. Delicious.

God, those nicknames are beyond stupid. Guy should really just step up to meet his destiny as a World Wrestling Federation announcer already and spare the rest of us.

[schnauzergirl]

The nicknames are bad enough, but it also drives me crazy when he refers to each person as "the one and only..."  Guy, each of us is "the one and only" so please get a grip.

[mlp]

7 hours ago, dleighg said:

I thought Maneet was obnoxious this episode (that whole thing when Nini asked her who she'd rather go against in the next round and she said "well I've beat both of them so I don't care" in her stupid ripped jeans). I really like Nini's attitude so was sorry she lost, though it was pretty obvious from the comments.

Also, I thought that move with the champagne bottle risked getting glass in the pot.

I agree about Maneet.  I've always liked her but she seems to have a much higher opinion of herself since she won TOC.  It's not flattering.  She once said she has her beautiful and undoubtedly expensive chef coats made for her in India.  Pairing them with ripped jeans is the opposite of classy.  I liked Nini when she was on TC. I didn't think she was a strong chef but I was hoping she'd win.  

I thought the same thing about the broken glass.  I was surprised she used the champagne and even more surprised that they let her.  That would never have flown on Chopped.

I wish they'd stop making the previous winners walk around with those ridiculous belts.  I get it when the whole group first walks in.  After that, it just looks stupid.

I am really sick of Nancy Silverton.

[Awheezy23]

Hi I live in Miami . Me and a buddy both didn't watch last night and neither of our dvrs recorded it . Was it actually on last night ? Did any of you have trouble finding /watching it ....

[susannot]

I also agree about Maneet, the broken glass, and the stupid belts, and ESPECIALLY the idiotic nicknames.  However, I do like Nancy Silverton.  She really is an iconic chef of California cuisine.

Edited March 5 by susannot

[TexasTiffany]

14 hours ago, desertflower said:

I wish they had some kind of twist where the loser with the highest score could come back for one more challenge and if they win they are back in, like a wild card. It’s just a shame that Stephanie and Adam are out with such high scores when people in the 70s are going through. But I guess that’s just part of the game.

I'm disappointed in some of the outcomes this time. I wait a year for this show to come back. I'm all excited. I'm rooting for my favorites. BAM. Brooke's gone. Adam's gone. Jose's gone. Stephanie's gone. I still have a lot of faves, since I respect most of these chefs and love to see them do what they do, but dang it's hard to see them suddenly gone. 

Lee-Anne Wong was a jerk last year imho, and tends to be too boastful. I know these chefs are self promoters but many do it in a way that is more confidence with talent and the wins to back it up. Lee-Anne seems to be more on the obnoxious side of that behavior. This is the first time I've seen her win a battle and she ended up getting the highest score of the night. I'm happy for her for that restaurant donation since the devastating fires in Hawaii. She's not on my fave list.

While I'm posting... sending out some fangirl crush for Shota! 

ETA: since Guy is going to be Guy and come up with nicknames for these chefs, if I were competing I'd want a kick ass name. Antonia "Princess Warrior" isn't bad. 

 

Edited March 5 by TexasTiffany

[Mellowyellow]

1 hour ago, TexasTiffany said:

Lee-Anne Wong was a jerk last year imho, and tends to be too boastful. I know these chefs are self promoters but many do it in a way that is more confidence with talent and the wins to back it up. Lee-Anne seems to be more on the obnoxious side of that behavior. This is the first time I've seen her win a battle and she ended up getting the highest score of the night. I'm happy for her for that restaurant donation since the devastating fires in Hawaii. She's not on my fave list.

I thought it was just me!!! I’ve never warmed to her even in the first season of Top Chef and I found her more annoying and obnoxious as time went by!!!

[TexasTiffany]

1 minute ago, Mellowyellow said:

I thought it was just me!!! I’ve never warmed to her even in the first season of Top Chef and I found her more annoying and obnoxious as time went by!!!

I wanted to like her since everyone else seems to. She went on to be behind the camera on Top Chef so I figured I was missing something. Just when I think maybe she's changed, her obnoxious self comes out again. 

[Rammchick]

9 hours ago, TexasTiffany said:

While I'm posting... sending out some fangirl crush for Shota! 

ETA: since Guy is going to be Guy and come up with nicknames for these chefs, if I were competing I'd want a kick ass name. Antonia "Princess Warrior" isn't bad. 

 

Yeah, Shota!

Not only is Antonia "Princess Warrior", she's "Warrior Princess" too -- not everyone can say they have two nicknames!