Past Seasons Talk: The Stew Room

[Julia]

They were absolutely feral towards Marcel, even leaving aside the criminal assault, from that horrific shrew Betty leading a multi-episode-arc mean girl pile on at the beginning to Ilan trying to piss on him at the end. 

[Bella]

Marcel came in and immediately bragged and trash-talked like a kid who's not learned how to get along in the workplace. However, the response was immensely disproportionate and it made me dislike everyone else on the show much more than I disliked him.

[FormerMod-a1]

Marcel was labeled as "annoying" so somehow that translated to a huge gang-up on him.   And despite actually being annoying, I don't know why he was singled out because the season was full of uber-annoying people.   From Betty to Mikey (was he this season) to Elia, etc.  For my tastes Betty was the most annoying, but I still wouldn't hold her down and try to shave her head over it.  Or you know, even be confrontational with her.  I'd just ignore her and not hang out with her.  The height of idiocy* to me was when Marcel went off on his own on the rooftop and the rest of the gang complained about that!  You'd think they'd be happy not to have to "deal" with him.  

 

* aside the head shaving incident, which I consider more than "idiocy".

[scarynikki12]

Well, Beverly did offend her and the other woman (Heather?) by using kimchi more than once.  That's tantamount to a declaration of war.  

 

I've been rewatching a few episodes thanks to Hulu and my Mike Isabella hate was refreshed.  He is in no way the only sexist asshole the show has seen but there's something about him specifically that rubs me the wrong way.  Maybe it's the fact that he appeared on multiple seasons?  I don't know but I hate him.  In season 6 he showed no shame in his sexist and ageist remarks and no one was bothered by it.  He bitched and moaned about having to cook a meatless dish in the Natalie Portman episode, to the point that I would expect him to berate any customer who dares eat vegetarian at his restaurant.  It did make me happy that he went home that challenge but then, in the season 8 premiere, he used chicken jus to improve his dish for the elimination challenge.  CHICKEN JUS!  He was eliminated in season 6 for making a shitty vegetarian dish, bitched and moaned about it, and sneered at just the idea of vegetarians yet he used part of an animal in a challenge specifically designed for the chefs to cook their eliminated dish correctly and prove themselves.  How he wasn't eliminated, or at least called out, for making a dish that didn't fit the parameters of the original challenge is mind boggling.  Of course, this is the same challenge where Steven was forced to recreate three dishes to prove himself instead of one, and finalists recreated dishes that had just enough problems to keep them from winning, so I guess the show wasn't that interested in staying true to their own premise.

 

So, yeah, I hate Mike.

 

I also find Marcel annoying but I cannot fathom treating anyone the way he was treated.  Somehow, this show managed to find a group of chefs who liked being bullies and assaulting other people and let them get away with it.  I don't blame Marcel for wanting to put the assault behind him, as I expect he was so thoroughly humiliated that pretending it didn't happen allowed him to keep his sanity, but I so wish he'd gotten his hands on that camera, called the police and sued the hell out of Bravo.  I do expect there was some sort of behind the scenes settlement, as Bravo's lawyers probably jumped right on it to avoid bigger repercussions than we saw, but I'd have loved seeing Elia, Ilan, Cliff and Sam getting arrested for assaulting him.

 

Rewatching the old episodes I'm struck by how much I dislike the regular judges.  Not Ted, I'll love him forever, but everyone else.  Even Tom and Gail.  They all have their moments where I find them tolerable, but the vast majority of the time they all come across as pretentious snobs and I can't stand that.  Going back to Mike Isabella and his strong stance against vegetarians, I feel like the show doesn't take specific eating habits into account for almost all of their challenges.  I think the Natalie Portman episode was all about having her as the guest judge rather than challenging the chefs to cook without meat (which, frankly, is the easiest damn thing in the world to do and it speaks to that narrow-mindedness of all of them that no one, save Kevin, whipped up a rocking salad, eggplant parm, or any of the thousand dishes that don't require meat).  I only wish she had made the switch to veganism before the show and not after.  I can only imagine the looks of horror on the chef's faces if they couldn't work with ANY animal products though, again, it's easy to make food without animal products and these were supposedly chefs who are so talented they can come up with amazing recipes on the fly to fit the often insane parameters the show would give them.  Back when I ate meat I actually found it way harder making meals incorporating meats instead of leaving them out.

 

I also am surprised we haven't come across chefs who don't cook with certain products.  Have we even encountered anyone with serious food allergies?  There seriously aren't any chefs with shellfish or nut allergies?  Vegetarian or vegan chefs?  Chefs who flat out hate popular foods like bacon?  Chefs who use every spice and herb in the world except for salt?  Or, does the show just not cast them because they mistakingly believe that the only people watching can, and will, eat anything that is made?  I have a girlfriend who lives in New York and was invited, via a close friend with connections, to be a diner in that season's Restaurant Wars but she had to decline because she has to be very careful with her diet due to allergies to shellfish and nuts.  She simply couldn't take the risk that the dishes would be free of those items.  My BFF's brother in law doesn't hasn't eaten at a restaurant in over a decade as he has Celiac and would get very ill no matter how careful he or the restaurants were.  Where are the challenges that take into account these eaters?  That would be way more interesting than watching chefs ride bikes to the destination while balancing their dishes, risk heat exhaustion, or cook on no sleep, yet the show doesn't care about genuinely challenging their contestants.

 

I should probably stop watching the old episodes before I start writing angry letters.

[Julia]

I felt awful for Tony Mantuano. He seems like a really nice guy, and then he gets stuck publicly associated with Sarah Grueneberg (I still can't believe she told Emeril to go fuck himself. She probably still can't believe they brought it up on the air - seriously, has she ever watched Bravo?).

 

The vegetarian/vegan thing has always confused me. The only pose more popular with these people than testosterone-drenched carnivore is asian fusion. There are a ton of traditional vegetarian cuisines across Asia. 

[AriAu]

Well, Beverly did offend her and the other woman (Heather?) by using kimchi more than once.  That's tantamount to a declaration of war

 

.I think the editing monkeys had a lot to do with that whole situation and definitely chose to highlight a "Mean Girls" type situation that might or might not have existed. Heather and Sarah definitely looked bad, but I will note that everyone on the show seemed pretty annoyed with Beverly and the way she worked, as well as whether she was a good member of a team. I usually try to judge the treatment of cheftestants more objectively than what we are shown by looking at whether other cheftestants like them and/or respect them-Stefan seemed to be a total dick in the NY season, but people seemed to like him, including Jamie who the editing monkeys made it appear he was hitting on, while in Las Vegas, it looked like Eli  was being really awful to Robin until it became clear that she was annoying E  V E R Y O N E in the cast. In this case, it seemed like no one was really on Beverly's side, so I am a little more likely to think Sarah and Heather were edited to look even worse than they really were.

[scarynikki12]

With regard to Beverly and Robin, we actually saw Sarah, Heather, Eli, and Mike Isabella specifically make derogatory comments about them.  We also saw plenty other contestants show annoyance, so there's no doubt their personalities rubbed the others the wrong way but editing didn't create the comments about Beverly's food being "too Asian" (since Asia is a single country with a single set of natural ingredients and not a huge ass continent encompassing many different cultures and natural ingredients) nor did it create the snide remarks about Robin's age or status as a cancer survivor (since that's what was wrong with her, not the fact that she talks a mile a minute).  I did enjoy the season 6 reunion where it was pointed out that Robin was silent the entire time, implying that she realized this quality and was consciously keeping her mouth shut.  She was also way nicer than I am, as she accepted Eli's fake ass apology that was clearly done because someone told him he was being offensive and not because he realized it on his own from the show (though I don't remember Mike I being forced to apologize for being a sexist prick).  I didn't see the season 9 reunion, so I don't know if anyone apologized to Beverly for the racist remarks, though I do remember Heather insisting in interviews that she isn't racist, while reiterating that her problem with Beverly was that her food was "too Asian" and failing to grasp what she was saying.  I have no idea if Sarah ever apologized for being an ass.

 

I didn't watch the last season due to being so turned off by the accepted racism and challenge insanity of season 9, so I'm glad to hear that they allowed a chef to compete with a serious allergy.  I'm actually impressed she was able to cook at all, as my shellfish allergy is so severe that I get ill just from being around the stuff, but maybe hers isn't as bad as mine.

[The Solution]

Betty was a harridan sea-hag battle-ax. And Sam was the tooliest tool that ever tooled.

[Happytobehere]

Watching the Esq Network mini-marathon (hate that they don't show the entire season) of Season 6 and only one episode in, I have rediscovered my hate for the undeservedly arrogant, bully-boy that is Mike Isabella, man what a turd. I know Robin is not the best but to say that regardless of the quality of her food she should go home because you don't like her. Well if it was based solely on personal appeal, you would never have made it as far as you did.

Still love Ash dislike of Padma and his acknowledgement of his snide meanness.

[TexasTiffany]

I didn't like Sarah, but Beverly was awful too. In the last episode with Beverly, they were in the kitchen working at their own stations. Beverly moved her blender over to Sarah's station and plugged it in right in the middle of Sarah's work space. The editing monkeys panned to the electrical outlet at Beverly's station to show us Beverly had one of her own. But, she took her blender over to Sarah's and plopped it down in Sarah's way. That's being an assh@###. Sarah didn't blow up at her but tried to ignore her. I'm not going to stick up for Sarah, but Beverly was an instigator in her own way too. I didn't like either one of them.

[Bastet]

John Tesar is still as petulant as ever.  I hope she continues not to respond to his childish social media posts.

[Lovecat]

Maybe he'll be hitting the road soon in his own food truck!!

*crickets*

I guess that's a lot funnier if you've seen the movie Chef.

[AriAu]

Is this longer than usual between seasons-feels like a long time or maybe that is because I am used to them having another TC show come closely after it like Masters or Desserts. It has been like 6 months since the finale in Hawaii with nothing until Duels.

[wallflower75]

I think it was pretty bad, in that if I remember correctly, she couldn't even touch the shrimp? Or am I not remembering right? She was keeping a watch on herself for signs of a reaction... But back to Stephanie, I can't remember which contestant was helping her during that challenge but I thought it was nice that they did. Stephanie was one of my favorite contestants.

I was pretty sure I knew the answer to who tasted Stephanie's dish in that challenge, so I went back to the tapes (er, iTunes download, whatever) to check. And I was right. It was, drumroll please....

Nicholas.

He called her his "little sister" and said he couldn't let her go down. (And then said he wouldn't help out Carlos). And as the judges were tasting her dish, where she told them about Nicholas's help, she said, "I don't think he'd do anything to sabotage me. At least, I hope not."

[CherryMalotte]

I kinda miss TC Desserts.  I rather enjoyed that show.  Probably because Coldickio wasn't on it much.

[Wings]

I kinda miss TC Desserts.  I rather enjoyed that show.  Probably because Coldickio wasn't on it much.

 

 

Really?  I have a crush on Tom! 

[cooksdelight]

I would absolutely adore it if TC would bring on these kids to judge. They will tell you exactly what they think of the food. But don't tell the chefs in advance, tell them they will be serving to some very discerning diners. It would be a hoot!

http://digg.com/video/this-video-of-six-second-graders-being-treated-to-a-220-seven-course-tasting-menu-is-utterly-delightful

[fliptopbox]

I haven't seen season 2 in awhile, but I do remember they all ganged up on Marcel mercilessly. Yeah, he was a bit arrogant and prickish in the beginning, but I don't believe it was anywhere as near as other castmates like Betty made it out to be. She was just a shrill horrid shrew-beast. I remember during the 7 deadly sins challenge the other chefs trashing Marcel's dish to the special guests and the judges during presentation. It was seriously bad sportsmanship (chefmanship?). I am still upset that Ilan beat Marcel, cos he's a smug dickhead. And I hate his new show Knife Fight. What a pretentious douchenozzle.

[snakenax]

 

In this case, it seemed like no one was really on Beverly's side, so I am a little more likely to think Sarah and Heather were edited to look even worse than they really were.

IIRC, Paul had a fair number of supportive talking heads about Beverly and the only non-mean girl negative talking heads about her I can think of are Nyesha(who had a specific spat with her about stove space) and Ed(who talked shit about everybody). Really I think Beverly and Marcel had much the same issue: they are extraordinarily socially awkward people. Just on different sides of the spectrum, with Beverly being passively awkward and Marvel being aggressively awkward. And that is catnip to bullies and assholes and drama mamas.. which is something you find a lot of in management and food service and chefs are food service management.

 

Though the main thing that gets me about the treatment of Beverly is how WTF it is. I get the bullying of Marcel, I don't like it or think it is right, but he's kind of aggressively unpleasant and has a lot of off putting tendencies(like the crazy eyed unfocused unblinking stare.. which now that I think about it seems to be a running theme with the molecular gastronomy people on the show, Blaise does it too). Beverly.. made Asian food? Was mostly quiet and kept to herself? If Beverly had ever done anything I could at least grasp the concept of why the mean girls ganged up on her outside of sheer malice, but unless we were being aggressively lied to nothing showed up to support that there was a greater underlying reason than that she was a easy target. That neither Heather or Sarah put forth a greater reason why than 'Because I wanted to' post show when their treatment of Beverly became a big deal in interviews etc suggests to me that there likely isn't.

Edited October 13, 2014 by snakenax

[Julia]

I think cutting someone out of the herd and taking them down sends a signal: piss me off, and no-one's going to try and stop me when I go after you.

I think Betty from season 2 was the popular girl who choses someone to be sacrificed to herself, and the shit storm she started just continued on autopilot because she allied herself with a bunch of blunt instruments and brutes, and Marcel really isn't equipped to deal with that.

From Texas, I think Sarah's career got as far as it did because she's a real artist of kiss up, kick down - get close to the boss, take out anyone else who might impress him, and terrorize the rest. It makes me feel good that it seems to have derailed her very successful career when she did it in front of a camera, especially since I think she could have walked away from it if she hadn't told Emeril to go fuck himself.

Heather, I think, is exactly what she looks like - a racist (sorry, "American") nonentity who feels a little less bad about her glaring social and intellectual deficits when she's abusing someone else. I suspect, though, she's too much of a coward to start something like that up in a group of equals without someone like Heather giving her social cover.

I think the WTF is coming from the idea that bullies of any stripe choose their targets for any qualities other than strategic impact and the inability to defend themselves. Bullying really isn't about the target.

Edited October 13, 2014 by Julia

[cooksdelight]

like the crazy eyed unfocused unblinking stare.. which now that I think about it seems to be a running theme with the molecular gastronomy people on the show, Blaise does it too

Add Wiley Dufrense to that list. I wonder if it's the liquid nitrogen they are always handling, and inevitably inhaling some of it.

[snakenax]

 

Heather, I think, is exactly what she looks like - a racist (sorry, "American") nonentity who feels a little less bad about her glaring social and intellectual deficits when she's abusing someone else.

With Heather I wonder how much of what went on there was some form of jealousy. Heather was one of the least technically competent of the chefs, her culinary specialty(big slabs of meat and unfinessed sides) is not one generally taken seriously in the industry, her two most complimented dishes were another Chef's cake recipe and despite being one of the older chefs with more experience there, she was clearly on the lowest rung of actual skills and versatility. Beverly meanwhile was routinely complimented on her technique and apparently had the most experience working in high end kitchens of the people there and she could make absolutely beautiful plates.

[Julia]

Heather was one of the least technically competent of the chefs, her culinary specialty(big slabs of meat and unfinessed sides) is not one generally taken seriously in the industry, her two most complimented dishes were another Chef's cake recipe and despite being one of the older chefs with more experience there, she was clearly on the lowest rung of actual skills and versatility.

 

The funny thing is, her menu is what Calvin Trillin calls La Maison de la Casa House. Current offerings include Moroccan Spiced Almonds and Cashews; Crispy Polenta Fries (probably more familiar to most rustic americans, like my grandpa, as fried cornmeal mush or hushpuppies); Smoked Potatoes & House-Made Chorizo w/spicy tomato aioli; Artisan French Cheese Board

Charcuterie Board; Hoisin Glazed Pork Belly w/pickled daikon, carrots, cilantro, and sriracha; Tuna Tartar (sic) Tostadas w/spicy tomato salsa and meyer lemon crema; Smoked Rushing Waters Trout w/creamy lemon ricotta; french-style Mussels w/fennel, garlic and white wine; Pan Seared Scallops w/tomato chutney and madras curry oil; Sweet Corn Creme Brulee, Green Garlic - Lemon Pesto Risotto; House-made Fettuccini; South Indian Vegetable Curry; Steak Tartare w/gaufrettes; Middle Eastern Spiced Lamb Shoulder w/homemade naan; Spicy Merguez Sausage flatbread; Ginger-Scallion Brown Fried Rice & Eggs w/sriracha; and House Cured Salmon Gravlox (sic).

 

Which, ironically enough, is a very american menu, since unless Heather has the Joy of TRex Cooking or 101 Ways to Prepare a Wooly Mammoth in her bookshelves somewhere, all the food she cooks is immigrant food. What it's not is the colonial groaning board of traditional white folk cuisine (with french technique, naturally) she was promoting on the show.

Edited October 13, 2014 by Julia

[Bella]

Warning, I'm about to vent:

A lot of us watch a range of TV shows. Both here and, until it folded, at TWOP, there have frequent comments from viewers of reality TV shows about how to improve those shows.

 

TPTB from some shows obviously do read forums like this one. And some do take the comments seriously, a stellar example being Face Off. For that show, viewers were complaining about how all of the challenges seemed to involve monster make-up, and we were tired of it. This season has been a welcome departure from that, with a wide range of diverse challenges. Quite simply, the show has improved.

 

Top Chef fucking ignores us. On what planet does anyone want to see more of Richard Blais? Hello? Anyone?

 

I don't want the ratings to tank, because I like the show and want it to continue. But how are they going to get a message that they care about? And how are they going to interpret that message? Would they dump more Richard Blais on us? Where did they get the idea that we want to see him?

 

TPTB for this show are Idiots.

[roamyn]

Unfortunately more than 1/2 the comments on Top Chef's FB page give Blais the tongue bath. They must've all hated to see CJ win Duels.

[Julia]

Yeah, but anyone who ever posted to Reality on TWOP knows that Bravo is not shy about gaming online discussion of their shows.

[Wings]

I have been watching old seasons the past week.  

 

Rant ahead.  .

 

 It was not only Jaime who cooked scallops every 5 damn minutes, they all do!  It is one of the easiest proteins to cook, I do it regularly.  They are almost fool proof; Only danger is overcooking, under cooking is not an issue at all. . 2 minutes on one side on med high heat, flip them over for 30 seconds, DONE.  "The scallops were perfectly cooked."  No shit, of course they were! 

 

Another beef is calling everything raw ,carpaccio.  It makes sliced raw vegetables sound fancy, I suppose.  Oy. 

 

Ok, done.  I love this show, it is my favorite!  

Edited October 15, 2014 by wings707

[AriAu]

Where did they get the idea that we want to see him?

 

I am no Blais fan, but I think they must have some research that shows that he is popular with many viewers or at least he brings in viewers, even those who hate him. They certainly have many famous people who can (and have filled) that rotating judge role, and some research must have shown that he can outdraw them,

 

TPTB for this show are Idiots.

 

They are manipulative editors and drama queens, but given the success of this show, they are far from idiots and they have done an amazing job growing the TC brand. They are not always right (See LIfe after Top Chef), but they have done awfully well..

[Julia]

I am no Blais fan, but I think they must have some research that shows that he is popular with many viewers or at least he brings in viewers, even those who hate him. They certainly have many famous people who can (and have filled) that rotating judge role, and some research must have shown that he can outdraw them,

 

See, I would have gone with the franchise losing enough juice over the last few years that Blais is among the better of the people they can get. Hell, the Food Network let Puck go, and that was back when he was still relevant.

[Wings]

See, I would have gone with the franchise losing enough juice over the last few years that Blais is among the better of the people they can get. Hell, the Food Network let Puck go, and that was back when he was still relevant.

 

 

He probably asked for too much money.  There really isn't any other reason that leaps to mind. He has a big name and networks like that.  He is still very relevant. He does the food for the Oscars, owns many restaurants and has vast knowledge.  

[AriAu]

Hell, the Food Network let Puck go, and that was back when he was still relevant.

 

has a big name and networks like that.  He is still very relevant. He does the food for the Oscars, owns many restaurants and has vast knowledge.

 

I get all of that, and he does try to be entertaining, but I never thought he was a very good  TC judge. His opinion carries a lot of weight, but I did not think he did a good job of explaining what was good or bad about a dish-since we can't taste it, we need them to lead us through what is good and bad. In TC Regular and particularly in Duels, he made statements, but did not explain well. He also seemed to be good at leering at Gail, not that there is anything wrong with that!

I thought Emeril was very effective last year and I am disappointed that he is not back in Boston.

[Wings]

I googled and cannot find anything about Puck being let go from food network. 

[snakenax]

 

It was not only Jaime who cooked scallops every 5 damn minutes, they all do!

Generally on the show I just want to roll my eyes when someone goes scallops, ceviche, tartar or carpaccio. Because those are your basic 'these are easy and reasonable fancy so I stand little chance of going home on it' lazy choice. And they do them /alot/, some seasons it seems like every challenge you'll see at least one of each of those.

Edited October 15, 2014 by snakenax

[mlp]

 

I googled and cannot find anything about Puck being let go from food network.

 

It was Emeril who was let go, apparently because he became too expensive in the opinion of TPTB at the time.

[Julia]

Puck was introduced as one of the original Iron Chefs, but only ever made one appearance and was dropped from the series. But yes, Emeril was let go too.

[Wings]

i have mad props for Jen Carrol, Mike, and Antonia after watching some old seasons.  And Carla, of course, but I remember her and forgot about the others food. They are superior chefs.  i want to eat their food way more than Blais, and it isn't because I don't like him.  I don't but the others cook food I want.  Stephanie is my all time favorite and I believe she would have won had Richard not "choked."  What an egomaniac and how rude and dismissive to Stephanie.  I was surprised to see that Tom did not stick up for her at the reunion show.. Or anyone else for that matter. 

[hkit]

Puck was introduced as one of the original Iron Chefs, but only ever made one appearance and was dropped from the series. But yes, Emeril was let go too.

According to the book about the Food Network that came out last year, Puck chose to bow out of Iron Chef because he wanted to leave undefeated. He was only included in one match that was a special, and proceeded the actual show.

[Lamb18]

Speaking of scallops, who can forget that beacon of innovation and creativity Mike Isabella making "scallops" out of leeks and arguing that they were really a protein.

[roamyn]

Speaking of scallops, who can forget that beacon of innovation and creativity Mike Isabella making "scallops" out of leeks and arguing that they were really a protein.

Or the infamous butterscotch scallops?

Or Richard's stupid banana scallops that we saw x amount of times?

Edited October 16, 2014 by roamyn

[cooksdelight]

With all the swooning over the Patrick Swayze tattoo displayed last night, I am one of the non-swooners.

Back when he was filming Dirty Dancing, he was in a restaurant in the area of WNC where the movie was being filmed. My mother happened to be manager. He and his entourage came in for dinner one night and I don't remember the details, but he was berating one of the waitresses. It was a small town restaurant, and I guess not up to his usual five-star dining tastes. The waitress was in tears, and my mother went over to talk to him to find out what the problem was.

Again, I don't remember the details of the conversation but Swayze gave my mother a look and said "Don't you know WHO I AM?"

"Yes, I do," replied my mother. "You are the person who's leaving my restaurant and not coming back."

[cooksdelight]

I don't know if any of you watch The People's Couch on Bravo (Tues. nights) but last night they were snarking on the most recent episode of TC. I died laughing. The three gay guys commented on Aaron being cute, then later "You're boyfriend's not going to win this..." When Joy was eliminated they said "Well, they just walked Bambi out there, like it was still alive" (I cut them some slack for not knowing the difference between lamb and venison) and "Macy Gray's going home?"

Comments about the fight between Aaron and Kerriann "She's not getting laid tonight." and "Here's the bad guy. No way he's going to win." Also a few snarks at Padma and Gail. These people have no boundaries and it's funny as heck.

They will watch TC a few times during the season.

[Lura]

Looks like I gotta watch "The People's Couch" on Tuesday nights!  There's nothing better than witty gay guys.  Sometimes, they can dish the snark better than we women can.

 

I always thought that Patrick Swayze was a dreamboat.  After he died, his wife wrote a lengthy piece about him, and one thing I didn't know was that he was a dedicated alcoholic.  Acc'ding to her, he could be a devil to live with when he was drinking and a real sweetheart when he was not.  He suffered for a long, long time.  It sounds like your mother did what she had to do, cooksdelight.

[susannot]

Speaking of witty gay guys and dying of laughter, do you all read J-Mo's recaps on TrashTalkTV?  He is a complete hoot and he also has the goods on Todd English--aka "Todd the Rod"-this week. Plus he has kitty pix!

 

http://www.trashtalktv.com/10/27/top-chef-recap-choking-on-gristle/336496/

[Lillybee]

Did you all know that Top Chef had a wine line? I discovered it at my local Grocery Outlet. Don't laugh, I have been able to get some great wines there for a great price. I bought the TopChef Pinot Grigio and I have to say, I thought that it was pretty nasty.

[Lura]

That's news to me, Lilybee.   I think I'll look around out here on the Left Coast and see whether I can find it.  Did you meant that the wine was bad (as in good) or really  bad?

 

I think I fell in love with Gregory all over again last night.  He is such a straight shooter, and if I'm not mistaken, Tom seems crazy about him.  Out in Fenway, when the judges were commenting on Greg's dish, Tom seemed to give him a smile that he reserves only for the people he likes best.  Greg out-cooked everyone last night, plus he let it be known that he has a past that he's not particularly proud of.  He stays a mile away from arguments and seems like a great guy.  Right now, I think he's my favorite. 

 

I like James a lot and feel sorry for him, but he didn't do well last night, and I don't think he can win.  I wish he could afford to go to the CIA, where he'd really learn so much more than the little school he attended taught him.

[hendersonrocks]

Has Last Chance Kitchen been chopped? Thought that there would have been something about it by now if it was still around, even if just to say it's coming when there's a few more cheftestants. I guess I'm surprised if it's gone, but I suppose it's also not a cheap or labor light endeavor and if the views aren't there it's not worth it.

[cooksdelight]

There's not a single mention of it on Bravo's site. They usually have it up and running when they have two ejected chefs. There was a lot of criticism last year about wanting blind taste testers, not Tom picking the winners... maybe they decided to do away with it?

[cooksdelight]

Keriann may be a pain in the kitchen, but the girl's got a sense of humor.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10204653720970358&set=a.10204653726370493.1073741834.1455499623&type=1&theater

[Wings]

That is cute and funny!  Kerriann does not bother me as much as Aaron and it looks like Katusji is going to become more annoying.   Aaron isn't the only one who finds him abrasive.  

Edited November 1, 2014 by wings707

[cooksdelight]

I just love little Richard!