S21.E04: The Wright Way

[carrps]

6 hours ago, Heathrowe said:

6 hours ago, Heathrowe said:

Also, Buddha. Blech. I’m sure he’s lovely in real life but he just strikes me as horribly boring and condescending.

 

Yeah, I've never quite warmed up to Buddha. He always seems like he's looking down on people.

 

2 hours ago, SemiCharmedLife said:

Yes, she was very emotional while asking them to pack their knives.  

I was wondering if she was reacting to their tears. I'm a sympathy crier. If someone else is crying I almost can't stop myself from joining in.

 

43 minutes ago, NowVoyager said:

Aw, I loved the Frank Lloyd Wright field trip. So much beauty. I'll never forget learning the concept of compression & release as you move through a space. And he designed low-income homes!? Say what now!?

They didn't specifically mention the Usonian houses, did they? Those were also lower priced versions of his Prairie Style. He was actually quite quirky. There was this great documentary I saw a number of years ago. This guy's parents (who weren't terribly wealthy) had FLW design a home for him in the 50s (?). They asked him to design a matching doghouse, and he did it!

I've been to Taliesin West and would love to go to the original. There are quite a few FLW houses in L.A. (I love La Miniatura and Hollyhock house), and I've seen a lot of them. I also got to tour one in Carmel (through a tour sponsored by the Gamble House) which was on a point by the ocean. It was quite small, but so ingeniously designed.

 

[bosawks]

I'm hoping after both last weeks festival of croquettes and this weeks less than inspirational thought behind the dishes in thought and execution that the majority are trapped in a group think of take no risks and aim for the middle for the first third or half of the season as some sort of tactical move.

I don't believe that is the case but I am hoping.

Wisconsin deserves better..... 

[The Solution]

Maybe the cheftestants are underwhelming because they don't perform well in 100-degree heat.

I know, I'm the eternal optimist...

[caitmcg]

12 hours ago, Yeah No said:

But was it me or did Kristin's voice quiver when she said PYKAG?  If so that was sweet and she's more emotional than I thought!

I'm not that surprised, in that it usually took at least a third or halfway into each season before Padma started getting emotional delivering the PYK verdicts. Like the viewers, it presumably takes some time before the host gets to know and feels invested in the contestants, or sad to let them go.

2 hours ago, avecsans said:

 And mushroom cheesecake?

When Kaleena first mentioned it during their planning session, I assumed it was meant to be a savory dish, not a dessert, and it made sense (and sounded potentially good) in that context. I've certainly never heard or thought of putting mushrooms in sweets, with the exception of candy caps.

[kirklandia]

"Kudos to the Wisconsin Tourist Board for making me want to take a trip up to the Milwaukee/Madison area."

Just before the pandemic, I traveled from Seattle to do a Wright in Wisconsin tour with Road Scholar. 
So I was very excited to finally see this episode! I really enjoyed revisiting a few of the sites we had toured.

I was astonished that they let the chefs use the drafting room at Taliesen to do their menu planning.
On our tour, we were limited to a quick view from the catwalk. It was actually pretty fabulous, because we could see the architects working below us.

And it was exciting to see the chefs preparing and presenting their food to the judges in a restaurant where I had eaten! When I was there, it was just a humble café in the visitors' center.

[ProudMary]

I'm starting to wonder if Michelle is wearing an invisibility cloak, with all these comments about no one standing out. I completely agree that Rasika is on a hot streak right now, with two EC wins and one QF win. She's the frontrunner right now, early in this season.

But, Michelle has an EC win and was also  top three in the difficult Hops QF, where Danny was bottom three. And, Laura won that QF.

If I were ranking potential finalists right now, and truthfully, I think it's too early to be counting chickens, I'd say: 1) Rasika, 2) Michelle and 3) Danny. If I were to pick a couple of long shots, I'd put a small wager on Laura and Savannah. 

TL, DR: I'm not ready to give the TC title to Rasika yet.

[Ancaster]

Shallow post warning:

Does anyone else think Amanda went overboard with the forehead Botox before she went on the show?

[snarktini]

Ha! I loved how they were just like, we can't even pretend there's a top set and bottom set. It was abrupt but better than drawing it out. Switching it up is good, keeps the chefs on their toes.

I don't think it was a bad challenge. If anything it was too wide open but that's a creativity problem not a challenge problem! (Blank pages can be the hardest for an artist.) They didn't have to tie it to FLW visually or do anything fancy -- they could do anything, as long the two dishes made sense as a contrasting pair.  There was a real failure of imagination AND execution here.

I was especially stymied by comfortable / uncomfortable, which they mashed up with compression / release when they presented. The concept was muddled. What does an uncomfortable dish mean? Surely one weird flavor doesn't meet that bar.  Compression / release may have seemed too obvious for them, having been given it as an example, but that was a stronger duality. A dense element (steak would have still worked) with a (literally) compressed fruit/veg, paired with a dish that was airy -- something like a foam, meringue, froth, whip etc. Compact vs. open, low vs. tall, precise versus billowing. The house was cute and very FLW in style, but it didn't create a duality.

I wanted to see someone play with earth, the harmony of the natural world and the built world, which was the heart of his work. (The not-egg dish, with its black rice soil was the closest there.) Land / sea could have been reframed as earth / water or earth / air, like the elements -- that might have taken them somewhere better.

 

[OnMatchPoint]

On 4/12/2024 at 6:29 AM, Heathrowe said:

Wisconsin - I’m sorry, I’ve visited & it’s a very pretty state & Madison is lovely but…zzzzzz. I’m bored.

That’s kind of you to say but… no, it’s not. This is a terribly boring state. I only stay because family live here. No place interesting was available? Tennessee, Maine, Virginia… not a one? 

[Binkydog]

Super unpopular opinion but. I do not like Kristin. Her talk cadence is annoying and she seems to like assert her “knowledge/experience” rather than connecting the cheftestants. And. She’s boring. 

[MsJamieDornan]

2 hours ago, Binkydog said:

Super unpopular opinion but. I do not like Kristin. Her talk cadence is annoying and she seems to like assert her “knowledge/experience” rather than connecting the cheftestants. And. She’s boring. 

And she needs sleeves.

[DEL901]

4 hours ago, MsJamieDornan said:

And she needs sleeves.

I’m kind of new to Top Chef, but I thought I read in one of these threads she was allergic.

[MsJamieDornan]

1 hour ago, DEL901 said:

I thought I read in one of these threads she was allergic.

To sleeves ?!?!

[dleighg]

Yeah, I'm sensitive (I doubt it is allergy) to wool, and can't wear it next to my skin, but I doubt that arms are more sensitive than the rest of her torso, which is certainly covered.

[DEL901]

1 hour ago, MsJamieDornan said:

To sleeves ?!?!

 

1 hour ago, dleighg said:

Yeah, I'm sensitive (I doubt it is allergy) to wool, and can't wear it next to my skin, but I doubt that arms are more sensitive than the rest of her torso, which is certainly covered.

Someone said that she must be allergic to sleeves in one thread as a joke.   I was just riffing on that.  

[snarktini]

14 hours ago, MsJamieDornan said:

And she needs sleeves.

Why?

[Suzn]

***

17 hours ago, MsJamieDornan said:

And she needs sleeves.

Considering that we've see a major portion of Padma's chest, I don't understand the problem with Kristin being sleeveless.

[seacliffsal]

I, like some others, am not impressed with most of these contestants.  I felt the dishes created for this challenge were underwhelming.  I was surprised when the one judge was complimenting all of the younger chefs for being so innovative and talented-it just struck me that maybe she was referencing the younger judges and not the contestants?  Maybe that's it.  Anyway, this group has received numberous awards (stated during the first episode when introducing everyone [raise your hand if...]).  I am, however, hopeful that with these first few eliminations maybe the remaining chefs will start upping the ante.

[Rai]

Despite the change in hosts, Top Chef has become (pun intended) comfort food viewing for me, so I rarely get excited one way or the other, I just like being soothed by it. These chefs are saying interesting things and making interesting dishes in my mind, but I admit they are all kinda blending together into one stew that's solid, just not mind-blowing. But that's what I watch X-Men 97 for (which, until last week, was also solid but not mind-blowing).

ANYWAY. I did laugh at the DAMANDA promo, and also Manny and Kevin calling themselves the Power Bottoms. I'm sad I can't make Manny my imaginary boyfriend now, but I'll still keep cheering for him! Rasika is on quite the roll though.

The one surprise I did have was the losing team being cut that quickly, even before congratulating the winners. I gasped! I knew who was going home, and still, I wasn't expecting it to happen that fast. It was not a great team-up though, and I did feel badly for the both of them. For the record, I think a mushroom/goat cheese savory play on cheesecake has potential to be awesome (especially if the crust had been something like a dark rye), but the execution had to sing, and Kaleena's did not.

I'm also surprised no one did something compressed. Like, it would've been very literal, but with Buddha as one of the judges, literal would've been fine. (Never forget this was a man who made a figure eight out of mousse to represent a female pilot flying.) Some sort of composed salad with a compressed pickle and a yolk to be cut into and released all over the plate? Or someone doing a compressed component on their dish, and someone else doing one of those whole yolks raviolos?

I expect this season will struggle a little to find its footing in the overall Top Chef canon given it follows the amazing global All-Stars season and the departure of Padma. But I'm still in it to see someone (quite possibly Rasika) win it!

[bravofan27]

I was thinking of compression to be to flatten or narrow down, constrict, so in that way, Kaleena's crust was very very apropos, as that shit was condensed as anything could be. I could never come close to pulling this off, but since FLW was into natural beauty and letting the wood/material's natural beauty come through, maybe use a very pretty protein and a light or clear sauce/dressing, or maybe a lime/lemon sauce or a blend of things that you need to squeeze (contract). A ceviche could fit that bill nicely. I thought Manny's flower shaped pasta was super lame and someone else used cutouts shaped like stars or something really lame. 

[AriAu]

Boring episode-to paraphrase someone up thread, if I want to go to a museum, I would. And I dont like the artsy fartsy challenges that require the chefs to draw some inspiration about things unrelated to cooking, and for the most part basic knowledge. On the other hand, they did it early enough in the season that a smart chef(s) should have come up with some type of BS story and then  properly cooked the proteins on 2 decent dishes and hope to "out run you"...("I don't have to out-run the bear, I only have to out run you!").

So far this is not an inspiring group of cheftestants other than Rashika and Danny, and to some extent Michelle who is clearly talented but I don't think her skills rise to the same level. Every season there are cheftestants that seem to hold back a little in the early stages and then pulls out their stronger dishes later and I think that is Dan in this season.

By the way, would Rashika have pulled out that Rasam (indian sauce that I had never heard of)  if Padma had been there?????

Quote

It's funny, I really liked her in her season and on other shows (Fast Foodies was sneaky good) and I think she has a warm and welcoming persona, but she really falls short when compared to Padma-no gravitas, takes too much of a back seat to others, not the right balance of authority and empathy and not as funny (and to me, the tats are distracting....not an ink fan)....all of which can improve over time (I guess other than the ink).

Yes, I am quoting my self because all it took for Kristen to improve was one episode. I thought she was excellent on this episode-the biggest problem with Top Chef is we don't get to taste the food and Kristen did an excellent job describing the tastes (and lack thereof) and gave insight into what worked and what didn't in a way that allowed me to appreciated the dishes. She is not at Padma (or Gail) level yet (and can only hope to get close to Tom level on this front) but she was really descriptive this week. And the advice she was able to deliver as a former cheftestant showed the right balance of authority and empathy.

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And she needs sleeves.

 

Seems like others are commenting on the tats. Kristenn is a very physically attractive person, but the tats are a little much for my taste. I follow her on Instagram and the allergy thing is clearly a joke-her chef coat is not sleeveless! Yes, I know that ink is prevalent among chefs including many of my favorite cheftestants (Voltaggios, Brooke etc...), I would prefer it was a little more toned down...YMMV

Quote

Considering that we've see a major portion of Padma's chest, I don't understand the problem with Kristin being sleeveless.

I don't remembering anyone complaining about Padma in a bikini or featuring her decolletage, especially not Padma....or me!

Edited April 17 by AriAu

[caitmcg]

4 hours ago, AriAu said:

By the way, would Rashika have pulled out that Rasam (indian sauce that I had never heard of)  if Padma had been there?????

I don't see why not, given that Rasika herself is Indian-American, and was cooking food that reflected her own regional (Tamil) heritage in an elevated way. She even said the rasam was her grandmother's recipe. She's probably at least as familiar with and competent at the cuisine as Padma.

[pasdetrois]

On 4/14/2024 at 7:31 PM, Suzn said:

Considering that we've see a major portion of Padma's chest, I don't understand the problem with Kristin being sleeveless.

And Gail's cleavage. Give it a rest already.

On many of these intense competition shows, they have long days and insufficient sleep. Add the heat to that, and drinking, and their performance suffers. It's frustrating for viewers.

Quote

Michelle who is clearly talented but I don't think her skills rise to the same level.

I wonder if Michelle is extremely skilled but hides her light under a bushel ("I'm just a pitmaster").

Edited May 2 by pasdetrois

[tv echo]

I like Michelle a lot, but she is trained and very skilled. According to her bio on the Bravo TV website, she graduated from the Art Institute of Houston and then worked in a "famed fine-dining kitchen" and a "high-end catering company" before becoming a pitmaster.

Edited May 2 by tv echo