S21.E01: Chef's Test

[ProudMary]

I didn't see an episode thread for the new season's opener. If I've duplicated, Mods, please close.

First episode of 

Top Chef: Wisconsin, with new host Kristen Kish.

 

[stewedsquash]

whistling in the dark…

[CrazyInAlabama]

What a great first episode.   I really like Kristen, she is a great host.    I like the elimination challenge, and the way they did the cookoff with the bottom three.   Such a talented group of chefs this season.    

I wish they had left the show on Thursdays, but the way it is I can watch the last 15 minutes, and it's interesting to watch the first hour knowing who's getting sent home.   

Edited March 22 by CrazyInAlabama

[GrannySmith]

I didn’t miss Padma at all. 

[Bastet]

Crap, I forgot about the move to Wednesdays.  I'll have to catch a re-run, but thank you for creating a thread so I at least know I need to go looking for one.  I'm looking forward to a new season, and seeing what's changed and what hasn't.

Edited March 21 by Bastet

[buttersister]

Past the first minutes, I had to watch with cc and sound off (it’s recorded;-) I think I got the gist and I liked it. Kristen was terrific and when she side-eyed that no pasta guy? I knew he was toast.

[hula-la]

I like the camaraderie amongst the chefs, and Kristen is wonderful as the host. I had a moment when the one chef was worried about his chicken being 72 degrees. I was thinking “oh, that’s perfect!”, but the remembered that he was using Fahrenheit, and I was thinking in Celsius. Looking forward to the season! 

[ProudMary]

Kristen's a natural at this. Incredibly smooth transition for a new host.

I loved the way the judging was done each round, so we knew Top 3 and Bottom 3 as the show was happening. Obviously, this couldn't work with every challenge, the numbers have to be right, but it was great for tonight. I liked all three of the challenges presented. 

Gail:  I may pop out of my dress. 😄

I wanted David gone right from the jump. He had asshole written all over him; from the opening in the TC kitchen, to shopping at Whole Foods, during the cook, and especially at JT after the cook-off with "Amanda stole the fish." She got there first, Dude. She had a plan. I hope the judges took that into consideration when they chose who to send home. And then, saying his was an historic elimination because it's Kristen's first PYKAG. Just get off my screen. Thank you, judges. I hope he flames out quickly in LCK. Tom should wear a hat to the first LCK challenge. 

It usually takes me a lot longer, but I think I've got 7 or 8 contestants' names down pat already. This seems like a pretty good bunch overall. "Mr. Milwaukee" Dan may get on my nerves. He seems like he's a lot. We'll see. I really didn't care for him at the WF protein counter, with "I'm from Wisconsin so help me out here." 🙄

I already like Melissa, Charly, Danny, Manny, Valentine, and Amanda, the witch. 😄

Note to our Mods: We usually have a live chat thread here in the Top Chef  forum that is only open while each episode is live on Bravo during Eastern Time and also during Pacific time. Last season there was a dedicated S20 Live Chat, There is a general Live Chat thread already in existence, but it needs a mod to unlock it weekly. We can start our own individual episode threads, but we need a Mod for the live chat.

 

[mlp]

49 minutes ago, ProudMary said:

I wanted David gone right from the jump

Me too!  I was rooting against him as soon as he opened his mouth.  Tom didn't think much of him either.  :)  Glad he went out first.

I liked the pitmaster gal right away and I'm glad she did so well.  Valentine seems nice but I hate his big bushy beard.  I don't have the rest of them sorted yet.

I wasn't a big fan of Kristen when she was on TC.  She was clearly very good but she seemed to have zero personality.  That was years ago though and I hadn't seen her since.  I thought she did great.  In fact, I liked her better than Padma.  My only hope is that she doesn't wear sleeveless tops all season.  I hate seeing that in a kitchen.

[kirklandia]

When it was announced that Padma would not be returning, my first thought was – who could possibly replace her? My second thought was - Kristen Kish.
I had just seen her series Restaurants at the End of the World and thought she would be a perfect fit.  
I think she is off to a fabulous start!

[CoyoteBlue]

3 hours ago, ProudMary said:

I wanted David gone right from the jump. He had asshole written all over him; from the opening in the TC kitchen, to shopping at Whole Foods, during the cook, and especially at JT after the cook-off with "Amanda stole the fish."

If he said "sexy" one more time, I was going to drive up to Wisconsin and PYKAG him myself.

[NowVoyager]

Oh, Lord. I forgot about the move to Wednesdays even though @Quilt Fairy kindly reminded us in the Top Chef Media thread. Smh. This will take some getting used to. Looks like they were good to give us a repeat this time--- last year they only aired the episodes once. I hope that continues; the other reality shows on Bravo: Housewives, etc. get repeated.

I practically cried when Padma announced she was leaving, lol. Oh, the devastation! I had no idea who could possibly replace her--- Kristen is AMAZING!!! She has her own style, her own point of view, her culinary skills make her more than qualified, her experience as a contestant is a unique twist; she's bright, intelligent & charming --- and she's PRETTY!!! 😍 I simply enjoy looking at her. The moment when she asked the folks without James Beard's or Michelin star associations to raise their hands & she ~basically said: 'Yeah, me neither & I still won'--- I hollered!

Kudos to the editors. They tricked me for sure. There was the one female pitmaster, all bubbly & sweet who was up for the stuffed pasta challenge. I thought for sure she was gonna be first out. But she won her segment of the challenge! Lobster & corn stuffed in silken, see-through pasta sounded classically delicious. I hope she continues to quieten her inner critic.

Soo much yummy sounding food tonight! I'm excited about the new season!

6 hours ago, stewedsquash said:

whistling in the dark…

I think it's the change to Wednesdays. Folks need time to adjust. 

[NowVoyager]

5 hours ago, Bastet said:

Crap, I forgot about the move to Wednesdays.  I'll have to catch a re-run, but thank you for creating a thread so I at least know I need to go looking for one.  I'm looking forward to a new season, and seeing what's changed and what hasn't.

Besides the new host, the immunity moved to the elimination challenge & the quick fires are cash prizes.

[Ancaster]

4 hours ago, kirklandia said:

When it was announced that Padma would not be returning, my first thought was – who could possibly replace her? My second thought was - Kristen Kish.
I had just seen her series Restaurants at the End of the World and thought she would be a perfect fit.  
I think she is off to a fabulous start!

I love Padma.  I love Kristen Kish.  I'm a happy camper.

Edited March 21 by Ancaster

[Rammchick]

Where have we seen Kaleena Bliss before?  She's very familiar.

Edited March 21 by Rammchick

[Ms Lark]

I love Kristin! In her seasons and the two shows of

Spoiler

 

hers I followed: Fast Foodies and Restaurants at the End of the World. She is a good host and has a way with people. I was thriled when she was named host. Did a great job last night and will only get better as she eases i

Spoiler

 

nto her role. 🥰

Glad David was PYKAGed first. Ithink he was dumped because he was a jerk and no one wanted him around!

[susannot]

31 minutes ago, Ms Lark said:

Glad David was PYKAGed first. Ithink he was dumped because he was a jerk and no one wanted him around!

Agree 100%.  I loathe neck tattoos.  And anyone who runs around calling himself sexy every two minutes.....isn't.

Once again, some of these chefs don't know how to use a pressure cooker!

[Msample]

I had David picked as the first boot before I even saw his food. Dude, just shut…the…..fuck….up. His hot mess personality doesn’t do well in this environment .

 

PPYSHAG - Please Pack Your Stupid Hat And Go. 

 

Is it just me or is the most heavily tattooed TC ?cast ( not including Kristen, who seems allergic to sleeves ) ?

[GiandujaPie]

 

58 minutes ago, Rammchick said:

Where have we seen Kaleena Bliss before?  She's very familiar.

She's been on the Food Network. She won the first season of the Beach Brawl show that is hosted by Antonia Lofaso and it always cracks me up that they have to film it in the winter in California but act like it's summer. I think she was also on Chopped but I don't know if she won or  not. 

When they were raising hands about who was a James Beard winner/nominee and who worked in Michelin restaurants and then Kristen asked who didn't raise their hands, I was hoping Kaleena would say that she was a Food Network winner. With so many former Top Chef contestants now on Food Network, I'm not sure why they wouldn't mention it on this show. 

The winning pasta dish looked delicious and the pozole sounded amazing. I wonder if Kenny would have been on the bottom if he had managed to plate both white and dark meat. It sounded like he had a good dish but because he didn't have dark meat on all of the plates he was automatically deemed the loser when everyone else managed to get it on theirs. 

[Rammchick]

5 minutes ago, GiandujaPie said:

She's been on the Food Network. She won the first season of the Beach Brawl show that is hosted by Antonia Lofaso and it always cracks me up that they have to film it in the winter in California but act like it's summer. I think she was also on Chopped but I don't know if she won or  not. 

That's what I thought but I wasn't sure.  Chopped in particular came to mind.  Thank you!

[dleighg]

Wow, so my opinion of David was shared by almost all of you! I am so glad to see the back of him. His idea of stuffing gnocchi made no sense; I couldn't believe TWO PEOPLE thought that was a good idea. I think in this case even if his wasn't the worst of the three in the cook-off he would have been off'd just because he looked like such a disaster in that open kitchen for all the judges to see.

Love Kristin, but I always have. 

is 15 chefs an unusually small number to start with? Seems so to me.

I personally could have done without the discussion of horoscopes. A bunch of hooey (I have a PhD in planetary science, so I'm biased against "space" stuff that is nonsense.) I know, the chefs chose to talk about it, but I can't believe there wasn't more interesting stuff they also chose to talk about that they could have shown us.

[Msample]

Buddha had some interesting thoughts :

 

https://people.com/top-chef-wisconsin-recap-buddha-lo-episode-1-8611775

[Ancaster]

Thank God that idiot is gone.  Kristin Kish may or may not have been getting goosebumps, but I was getting an intense urge to strangle.

PSA: Simplistic is not synonymous with simple.

Why does Kevin spell his name with an accent on the "e"?  Accents serve a purpose; this one does not.  Sorry, put me in a corner somewhere with the other easily irritated people but that's going to bother me as long as he lasts.

Can someone more knowledgeable than me (not hard) explain the piece of equipment that looked like a toaster oven  Why doesn't it steam the chicken?  How does it brown and crisp up?  Did I miss some kind of explanation?  I do know if he wanted the chicken to cook, the one thing you don't do is keep opening the door.

 

Edited March 21 by Ancaster

[Salacious Kitty]

Kevin is accented that way in France. Was he the French guy? 

As for David, good riddance. What a bad impression he made in such a short amount of time. 

[meep.meep]

I agree that David was obnoxious.  However, his restaurant in San Francisco is based on using food that no one else wants and having zero waste.  Which are ambitious goals.  That's why it's called "Shuggie's Trash Pie" because they use things that are literally considered trash:  all the ugly vegetables and bruised fruit.  I haven't been so can't comment on how good the food is but it has good reviews.

Not everyone is good at the game. Or at TV.

I remember a first out contestant on a previous season who was dinged for under seasoning their dish saying that the judges must really like salty food.  How bad must the one gal's plate have been?  And it looked to me like she was trying to compete in all three heats at the same time:  she had stuffed pasta, and chicken, and soup.

[tljgator]

1 hour ago, Ancaster said:

Can someone more knowledgeable than me (not hard) explain the piece of equipment that looked like a toaster oven  Why doesn't it steam the chicken?  How does it brown and crisp up?  Did I miss some kind of explanation? 

I assumed (and since I highly doubt I'm more knowledgeable than you or others, keep the old adage about what assumptions do for us in mind, lol) they were convection ovens, which cook much faster than traditional ovens by circulating air. (The "air fryers" we all use these days are essentially convection ovens, renamed and resized. I can cook a boneless, skinless chicken breast to perfection in 10 minutes in the air fryer v. 30 minutes in the conventional oven.)

I still thought it was weird they didn't have use of regular ovens -- don't know if it was a matter of them not having the oven space for that many folks to roast whole chickens, if they chose them because they were faster and they either had time limitations or wanted similar times for the groups, or what, but some of those poor chickens looked mighty smushed into the space they had. I'm betting all of them cooking two birds at once was causing issue, too.

Thought it was a great start to the season. Like others, I was thrilled with the first elimination, and I thought Kristin handled things well.

[Ancaster]

38 minutes ago, Salacious Kitty said:

Kevin is accented that way in France. Was he the French guy? 

 

Yes, and thank you.  I'm still not sure why though!

Edited March 21 by Ancaster

[carrps]

21 minutes ago, Ancaster said:

I'm still not sure why though!

Because without an accent, Kevin in French would be pronounce something like: KuhVAN. Right?

I've been watching a number of French TV shows lately, and I'm surprised so many characters have more normal UK or American names. In one show, one character called the other one "Brian" pronounced as it would be in English for an undercover operation, and it was considered a kind of joke.

 

Edited March 21 by carrps

[Ancaster]

1 minute ago, carrps said:

Because without an accent, Kevin in French would be pronounce something like: KuhVAN. Right?

 

Yes, I think you're right, but with the accent it become KAYvan.   I just really need to let go of this and the fact that I can't understand why anyone with a whole beautiful language full of lovely names would chose to call their child Kevin.

[dabbrusc]

10 hours ago, NowVoyager said:

Besides the new host, the immunity moved to the elimination challenge & the quick fires are cash prizes.

Later in the season Elimination judging will be based on both the Quickfires and the Elimination Challenges. So you'll see Tom + Kristen + other judge for both events and not just the ECs.

[Msample]

1 hour ago, tljgator said:

I assumed (and since I highly doubt I'm more knowledgeable than you or others, keep the old adage about what assumptions do for us in mind, lol) they were convection ovens, which cook much faster than traditional ovens by circulating air. (The "air fryers" we all use these days are essentially convection ovens, renamed and resized. I can cook a boneless, skinless chicken breast to perfection in 10 minutes in the air fryer v. 30 minutes in the conventional oven.)

I still thought it was weird they didn't have use of regular ovens -- don't know if it was a matter of them not having the oven space for that many folks to roast whole chickens, if they chose them because they were faster and they either had time limitations or wanted similar times for the groups, or what, but some of those poor chickens looked mighty smushed into the space they had. I'm betting all of them cooking two birds at once was causing issue, too.

Thought it was a great start to the season. Like others, I was thrilled with the first elimination, and I thought Kristin handled things well.

 

I was going to guess the same thing - convection ovens. 

 

https://www.askteamclean.com/us/en/organizing/what-is-convection-oven.html#:~:text=Professional chefs swear by the,it cooks food slightly differently.

 

I am guessing the reason they used them is because they probably assigned each chef a dedicated oven - we’ve seen in past seasons chefs fighting over ovens, changing temps, etc. You wouldn’t want larger ones being opened/closed as chefs jam more shit in them. I do agree that cramming two birds in side by side on those roasting trays looked pretty tight . I’d be concerned that the sides of the two birds butted up against each other wouldn’t cook as fast unless they rotate them partway thru cooking .

[rhofmovalley]

It's a shame What's His Name decided to play a character instead of just shutting up and cooking. He made a lot of people dislike him, which is a shame since from what someone else wrote his restaurant concept is a laudable one. 

[Madding crowd]

I’m from Wisconsin originally so I’ve been hoping for a season set there and I’m happy. Milwaukee is quite the foodie place and has been for years and they have a number of excellent restaurants. I’m hoping they won’t lean too hard on the beer and brats stuff which is no more accurate than saying Chicago only has hot dogs and pizza. I didn’t miss Padma and thought Kristen made a good host.

Edited March 21 by Madding crowd

[LotusFlower]

18 hours ago, ProudMary said:

Tom should wear a hat to the first LCK challenge.

😆

[Bastet]

5 hours ago, meep.meep said:

I agree that David was obnoxious.  However, his restaurant in San Francisco is based on using food that no one else wants and having zero waste.  Which are ambitious goals.  That's why it's called "Shuggie's Trash Pie" because they use things that are literally considered trash:  all the ugly vegetables and bruised fruit.  I haven't been so can't comment on how good the food is but it has good reviews.

I haven't been there, either, but I wanted to really like him based on the concept.  But he really bugged me.  And that hasn't happened during a first episode in quite a few seasons, IIRC.

Everyone else, I enjoyed.  I thought the winning dishes of each of the three challenges all looked and sounded very tasty.  I especially wanted to reach through and eat the pasta and soup, but would have happily devoured the chicken as well.  All of the food looked good enough I'm sure I'd have joined Gail in saying I was about to burst out of my clothes.

I'm glad that once again the "This season, on TC" segment at the end doesn't show any fighting between contestants.  There was one "You have to stop stressing me out" clip, but having recently re-watched some stuff from older seasons, I am freshly reminded of how they used to tease personal conflict (and they indeed had a good deal of it to choose from in editing).

9 hours ago, GiandujaPie said:

She won the first season of the Beach Brawl show that is hosted by Antonia Lofaso

Thank you!  I could not for the life of me figure out where I'd seen her before.

[PhoneCop]

9 hours ago, dleighg said:

Wow, so my opinion of David was shared by almost all of you! I am so glad to see the back of him. His idea of stuffing gnocchi made no sense; I couldn't believe TWO PEOPLE thought that was a good idea.

Maybe it was meant in a sabotage-y way? Don't interrupt your competition when they're making a mistake, and all that. "Yeah, cool out-of-the-box thinking, bro, you roll with that. Sounds sexy."

That said, it's always nice when an obnoxious one goes home first; it's like a freebie that gives us a chance to get to know everyone else a little better. (Sure, he could bounce back from LCK, but nobody's taking that bet.)

Got halfway through the episode before realizing I didn't miss Padma after all. Which isn't a knock on her but a seamless changing of the guard.

[violet and green]

8 hours ago, Ancaster said:

Why does Kevin spell his name with an accent on the "e"?  Accents serve a purpose; this one does not. 

Because he's French, and Kevin is sometimes spelled Kévin in France. The pronunciation of Kevin and Kévin are quite different. And it's his name!

6 hours ago, Ancaster said:

Yes, I think you're right, but with the accent it become KAYvan.   I just really need to let go of this and the fact that I can't understand why anyone with a whole beautiful language full of lovely names would chose to call their child Kevin.

Apparently, there was a boom of babies named Kevin or Kévin in France in the early nineties, and it is a mocked name there. Probably inspired by people watching Kevin Bacon movies!

[avecsans]

I took one look at neck tattoo guy with his douchey hat and greasy hair and knew I would loathe him as a cheftestant. And I knew he sealed his doom when he insulted Tom right out of the box.  I agree with the poster who said they hadn’t disliked a competitor so quickly in a long time. Same here.

Roast chicken is my very favorite meal and most of them didn’t disappoint. The soups looked great as well.

All these people just met and they were freely hugging and kissing each other and I heard an “I love you, man” to the eliminated hat guy. Granted, I am uptight but isn’t that all a little much so early in the competition?

[buttersister]

Spoiler

Buddha had some interesting thoughts 

Which I can do without—he was sorry douchey-hat Dave left so soon.

Saratoga Springs  has a hearty PR/marketing staff, a TC sponsorship snd their guy, Buddha in People magazine. Hard pass.

[Irlandesa]

8 hours ago, Ancaster said:

Yes, I think you're right, but with the accent it become KAYvan.  

Pronunciation is the purpose the accent serves.   As I learned when I was abroad, sometimes it's just easier to let the native speakers pronounce my name the way they want to rather than trying to get the correct pronunciation from them. (It's why Timothée Chalamet goes by Timothy even though his actual name would be pronounced Teemotay. His dad is French but he lives in the US.)

3 hours ago, Bastet said:

I haven't been there, either, but I wanted to really like him based on the concept.  But he really bugged me.  And that hasn't happened during a first episode in quite a few seasons, IIRC.

It's unfair but if he hadn't already lost me with the hat in the kitchen, he would have completely lost me once he announced his girlfriend's name was Kale.  Even if it isn't something she chose but rather her parents loving greens, I still reject it. 

[Rai]

It was very weird not hearing Padma's overly rehearsed tones doing the opening narration, but then things settled in for me. Kristin has a hugely relatable quality going for her and the cheftestants, so I hope she continues to tap into that as she grows into the role. I also enjoyed the Dish with Kish aftershow more than I expected, although part of that was because she had the two Stephanies as her guests. Also, she is really tall, wow. (Or Tom is really short. Or both!)

Speaking of Tom, I actually cackled in delight when that dude shaded Tom's hats, and the editors then gave a montage of said haberdashery. Hats have become your thing, Tom, but MAYBE some of them shouldn't be. Also, I'm bummed they left out his most tragic hat moment, the slouched beanie of Portland. Anyway, it was probably unwise to mock the head judge's style, and I think we got all the entertainment value we needed from him, but I laughed all the same.

By Colorado ex-pat law, I have to root for Manny, and I'm so glad he's made it easy for me to do so right away. His soup looked AMAZING. Would eat. I also liked the lady who won the pasta challenge, and I'm rooting for you to turn it around, Kaleena Bliss! The dude with the giant beard also intrigues me a little.

My only real critique is that it was odd to do pasta first, then soup, then chicken. I automatically think about it as a progressive thing, so I'd have thought the soup course should've gone first. It's not a flaw, just an upset of my expectations.

After the glittering heights of London and the All-Stars, this feels like a return to slipping on comfy shoes as television watching. That's what Top Chef started to feel like in season 12, and I'm glad it can keep on rolling.

[HappyDancex2]

22 hours ago, Rammchick said:

That's what I thought but I wasn't sure.  Chopped in particular came to mind.  Thank you!

It’s ironic because I had Beat Bobby Flay on in the background yesterday and she popped up there.  When I heard her name I thought “didn’t I just see you on Chopped??”  She’s making the food competition rounds for sure.  Oh and she did indeed, BBF

I was less offended by David’s hat and glasses look and more peeved by his incessant use of the word “sexy.”  Kristen’s comment of the episode was “the old run it underwater trick” in her delightful deadpan voice.  She was awesome.  David dumped about a cup of salt into that small pan of butter.  He was totally on tilt.

[Yeah No]

18 hours ago, Ancaster said:

Yes, I think you're right, but with the accent it become KAYvan.   I just really need to let go of this and the fact that I can't understand why anyone with a whole beautiful language full of lovely names would chose to call their child Kevin.

As someone with the "accent grave" over an 'e' in my French name, I can tell you that the é is pronounced like "eh" in French.  Think of the city of Québec.  

Also, I would post it but it's behind a stubborn paywall, but I found an article that says France became enamored of the name Kévin after 1991 when two American movies with kids with the name Kevin in them became hugely popular there.  One of them being "Home Alone".  And it seems to have stuck.

[Yeah No]

David/hat guy was cringey.  I think some of it was nerves but he did seem like a douchey guy.  What's the deal with these guys who have to wear hats all the time now?  I didn't notice if he had a hair issue, but OK if he needed to keep it up out of his face but I got the impression it's just for show.  I'm watching a reality show right now with a young man that even wears his backwards baseball cap in bed.  Seriously. 🙄

Now Tom I understand.  He's bald and older and according to my late Dad you start need a hat more often in that case.

I was a little unsure about how I'd like Kristin in her role as host but so far I think she's doing fine.  I am sorry to hear that so many won't miss Padma.  I will.  She was the face of the show going back 18 years.  I will miss her sad, heartfelt PYKAG's.  So far Kristin's was a little cold by comparison.  But it's her first day, I have hopes that she'll get better at that.

As far as this year's crop of chefs goes, I can't say I'm overly impressed with them just yet despite all the James Beard nominations.  It used to be that chefs on this show were expected to be well versed in a broad range of culinary skills, but hearing how many of them were cringing at having to roast a chicken, use a pressure cooker or make pasta doesn't exactly meet that expectation.  I have noticed more of that in recent years on this and other culinary competitions.  Chefs are so far into their little culinary niches now that they seem to fall short at anything else.  I wonder if they were ever able to do some of those things very well.  It's concerning.  From Tom's statement to them at the end it looks like this is not lost on him, though.  Good for him.

It's good to have the show back.  I have grown to really appreciate shows like this that have been around this long.

[dleighg]

47 minutes ago, Yeah No said:

I will miss her sad, heartfelt PYKAG's.  So far Kristin's was a little cold by comparison.

I think that Padma got a bit sad at PYKAGs only once the chefs had been around the block a few times and she'd had a chance to get to know them. I don't think that she was that way for the first chef to go.

[Back Atcha]

On 3/20/2024 at 8:24 PM, ProudMary said:

I wanted David gone right from the jump. He had asshole written all over him;

DITTO !!!

13 hours ago, avecsans said:

All these people just met and they were freely hugging and kissing each other and I heard an “I love you, man” to the eliminated hat guy. Granted, I am uptight but isn’t that all a little much so early in the competition?

The "camaradarie" of the SAFE chefs was bugging me when the three contestants were competing to stay. Wasn't it stressful enough? They didn't need their fellow chefs overseeing them--trying to get airtime by making annoying/ inane comments.

13 hours ago, PhoneCop said:

That said, it's always nice when an obnoxious one goes home first;

WHEW!  So glad it happened.  I worried that Production selected him and would keep him around a few weeks for "Good TV."

[carrps]

After viewing the whole show, I concur with just about everyone here about, well, everything.

Poor Gail. Now she has no one to play Dueling Cleavage with.

 

[Tango64]

4 hours ago, Yeah No said:

It used to be that chefs on this show were expected to be well versed in a broad range of culinary skills, but hearing how many of them were cringing at having to roast a chicken, use a pressure cooker or make pasta doesn't exactly meet that expectation.  I have noticed more of that in recent years on this and other culinary competitions.  Chefs are so far into their little culinary niches now that they seem to fall short at anything else. 

I've noticed that, too. It always seems odd when a "top chef" says they don't know how to make a common dish or use a common technique, or even how to use a common tool in the kitchen. The guy who said "pasta isn't my thing" as an excuse is a good example. If it's not your thing, you don't have to make it in your restaurant. But don't whine when you have to do it on a cooking competition.

[susannot]

This bugged me too.  If you're lucky enough to be selected to go on Top Chef, practice different techniques. It's like, if you go on Survivor, learn to make fire.  Since they are usually given a short amount of time to cook, it's really dumb to go one the show if they can't use a pressure cooker, for instance.

[CrazyInAlabama]

Yes, prepare as if you're going to be on TV, competing for your professional reputation, and go with a variety of dishes.  Certainly have some that will probably be featured because of the location and resources, and plan a four or five course meal for the finale.   Have at least a couple of desserts you can make well, and look good.   

So many come in unprepared, and I don't understand that.    

Edited March 23 by CrazyInAlabama