S12.E02: Boston's Bravest And Finest

[Tara Ariano]

The chefs serve up surf-and-turf dishes. Later, they use surprise ingredients to create meals for Boston's police and fire personnel. Appearing: foodies Todd English and Dante de Magistris.

[Lura]

So far, with only one episode shown, I'm liking this series.  I would like it better without Richard Blais, but it's too late to fire him!  The contestant I've enjoyed the most is (I forget her name already!) the short Asian girl who works for Michael Voltaggio at Ink.  She won the first competition.  So far, she seems serious and modest, something I can't say for some of the others.  I'm NOT impressed by the short (not the shortest) guy who is constantly dissing his fellow contestants.  The previews for next week showed him getting into it in the stew room with the pretty blonde.

[susannot]

Mai Lin.  I love her.  The short obnoxious guy, who looks like a really short hobbit, is Aaron.  I really like Katsuji (Sp?) and hope he stays until the end, because he is hilarious, and I do think that he is a talented chef.  I know that comedy is not supposed to be a criterion for this show but while I don't think Katsuji will win, I think he will be entertaining.

[Bastet]

I hate team competition as much as the next person - I want to live or die based on my performance alone - but good grief, some of these people don't even understand the definition of team. 

 

Poor Stacy, stuck between the bickersons.  Then they ruined her perfectly-cooked chicken with two terrible sides.  But I might stab Aaron if I had to work with him, so I can't be as bothered by KeriAnn's part of the arguing as I otherwise would. 

 

I'm still digging this immediate feedback format, and initially I wondered whether they were just sticking to the positives at the dining table and reserving the critiques for judges' table or whether the first groups were just doing that well.  Then the raw veal chop and vanilla combo answered that question. 

 

Last week I loved Joy's attitude and wanted to taste her food.  This week, her QF and EC dish were both unappealing.  So I can't really argue with the decision to eliminate her, even though I'd rather watch her for a full day than endure Aaron for ten minutes.

[leighdear]

Mei Lin turned me off with her continual foul mouth and perpetual stink-eye.  Plus, assuming that she was in charge because she won the last challenge.  She got to PICK A KNIFE, not rule a small country.  And when Voltaggio is out of town, she may run his kitchen but she does not inhabit his skin.  Get some perspective, girl.  You are not all that yet. 

 

The rest are still a blur for me.  Except Gregory Urkel.  I like him a lot.

 

I'm also loving Katsuji.  He needs to stay.

Edited October 23, 2014 by leighdear

[cooksdelight]

Katsuji, the Freddie Prinz comedian of this bunch. I hope he stays too.

Aaron is an asshole and I'd hate to be stuck working with him. Then again, let him go and hang himself doing something stupid with agar agar. Tom was right, he had plenty of time to do it the old fashioned way.

[avecsans]

Yes, I think I am also cheering for Gregory at this point. I really liked Joy's personality, but yikes. Even I can grill a decent piece of meat.

I am not really a fan of Kerriann but I really hope she outlasts that asshole with the raging case of small man disease. I was on her side as soon as Aaron started haranguing her about what she would hypothetically make with the basket of unknown ingredients.

You guys, did you know that Mei works for Michael Voltaggio? I am not sure she made that clear when she mentioned it ten times. And I hate to sound like an old lady, but enough with the constant cursing. I can drop an f bomb occasionally myself but there is no need to eliminate all other adjectives from your vocabulary. It sounds ignorant.

[ShadowSixx]

I'm liking Gregory & Doug at the moment, Adam is OK, not rooting for him just yet though.

 

If I have to hear that girl mention Michael Voltaggio one more time, I'm gonna scream. Just because you work for a great chef, doesn't mean you're great. I don't wanna hear Voltaggio's name again unless she's talking about one of my favorite chefs of Top Chef Bryan Voltaggio lol. 

 

The hat guy and the blonde just need to take their soap opera love/hate relationship and go find a room and have sex already. Goodness and Stacy didn't even say anything and just minded her business and cooked her chicken perfect. Then again she should have spoke up and told those two to put a damn sock in it.

 

I knew Joy was going to go home, the veal was under which is bad but blondie and hat guy served shit. I was really hoping that they would judge them individually and not as a team though cause maybe one of them would have been sent home. 

[redlaces]

PATRICK SWAYZE TATTOO!!! YES!!

[WickedTuna]

Mei Lin turned me off with her continual foul mouth and perpetual stink-eye.  Plus, assuming that she was in charge because she won the last challenge.  She got to PICK A KNIFE, not rule a small country.  And when Voltaggio is out of town, she may run his kitchen but she does not inhabit his skin.  Get some perspective, girl.  You are not all that yet. 

I was thinking the same thing. I was wondering when they voted and made her head chef.

I didn't enjoy the episode very much. Too much fighting. Especially between Kerrianne and Aaron.

I wish they still showed the contestants at the beginning of the show along with their names. It really helped me learn who was who.

[Bastet]

I really liked Mei Lin last week, but this week she seemed to think this was Restaurant Wars and she was executive chef rather than a run-of-the-mill team challenge and she was just one of three members of that team.  I hope she told Katsuji what she told the camera about his sauce being really good.

[The Solution]

I was really hoping they would send both Kerrianne and Aaron home. They both suck.

[msburg]

Mei Lin really thought she was alpha dog.  I LOVE how her team, even though both in the bottom last week, held their own with her. They were having none of it.

 

Green team was painful to watch.  Boston chicken girl was hilarious -- I'm sure it's a rare occasion that she keeps her head down and mouth shut.  Both of the other greennies were very annoying. 

[some1105]

After last week, I was pretty sure that James (bald glasses guy) was going to remain "Who?" or "Bald Glasses Guy".  I was thrilled that they handed us "Swayze" in the first two minutes. 

 

ETA: oh, man.  I forgot the most important thing--recognition for the quality of that ink.  That was a really good Swayze tattoo.

Edited October 23, 2014 by some1105

[turbogirlnyc]

I like Kerianne (sp)? but she won't last long. Aaron is a complete tool. Someone needs to remind Mei Lin that she is not M. Volt. She merely works for him. It's the 2nd episode and she already talks crap about her two team members? She knows everything there is to know about cooking and they know nothing? I just can't with that attitude. I hope she doesn't win because she doesn't need any more of an ego. Mike Volt is a great chef but get over yourself. Jenn Caroll (sp)? worked for Eric Ripert. And ER did not earn his noteriety by winning Top Chef. 

 

I don't remember seeing Todd English & Padma tasting Kerianne's Quick Fire dish. Did that happen?

 

I care way more about the cheftestants cooking/management abilities than anything else but I think this is the homeliest cast to date. Hate to judge but I don't even think the "pretty" blonde is pretty. Meh. It's not top beauty so I digress.

Edited October 23, 2014 by turbogirlnyc

[LisaBLingLing]

I'm going to reserve judgment on Mai (Mei?) Lin.  I think she might be one of those people whose calm, neutral look reads bitch face on TV.  She was worried because both of her teammates were in the bottom of the previous elimination challenge.  They've only been together for 2 days.  She hadn't tasted their cooking yet.  I'll give her a pass this time.  I'll also give her a pass on mentioning Michael Voltaggio, I detect producer influence there - "Please, mention your boss as much as possible!"  She tasted Katsuji's sauce and admitted she was worried for nothing.  

 

Stacy - "I'm cooking chicken" - translation? Back off, I'm saving your bickering asses.  

[TiffanyNichelle]

So I thought I was just going to hate douchey hat chef, Aaron (?) but I found myself hating Keriann also. The two of them couldn't stop fighting for one second to try to pull it together.

 

Joy messed up when she forgot that isn't just a team challenge. The whole team wouldn't go home if she messed up, just her. I don't know why she didn't try to put her foot down about the veal. If you're the one cooking it, then you should have a say on how it's cooked. Look at what Stacy did. She put her head down and perfectly cooked her chicken.

[Straycat80]

There is a lot of bitching, snipping, and snark with these chefs this season. We haven't had that kind of drama for awhile. Seems to me that last several seasons have been pretty tame...or maybe it's just me?

I was hoping relish guy would have gone home. I liked Joy.

[stillshimpy]

To me Aaron looks baked like a cake in every single shot.  If that's the case he's the most belligerent stoner on the face of the Earth, I was nearly ready to boot him at the theoretical dessert discussion, it simply got worse from there.  

[HappyDancex2]

I'm sure the Volt told her to assert herself in team challenges. It's better to go out doing a dish you have control over rather than being a line cook for someone else's bad ideas.

Which segues me to vanilla...added to celery root puree. Sigh. Why not add some truffle oil too? Please.

Could be editing but Kerriann did come off as unreasonable so she has to live with her chalky corn and raw onion. And using agar agar is not molecular. Neither is gelatin.

And if he was supposed to put any temp bacon jam on the chicken, the chicken screwed him up by being late because they plated their sides first while waiting. No excuse for not reducing down bacon jam though. I hate his hat too lol!

[ShadowSixx]

Hat guy was so beating blondie over the head with being pastry and what could be in the basket. He thought because they were cooking last that they were gonna be responsible for dessert, which wasn't the case. Blondie was right, she didn't know how to plan the meal if she didn't know what was in the basket. He needed to dial it down on a bit on hypothesizing what's in the basket.

[buttersister]

I can't believe I'm cutting those two asses a bit of slack, but Stacy had completely bonked her pork chop in the QF, so worrying about her chicken may not have been so crazy. But because I love me some schadenfreude, ha, stick it, you two, with your agar mess and shitty corn. Nice recovery, Stacy.

Edited October 23, 2014 by buttersister

[HappyDancex2]

I guess Todd English is not even noteworthy unless he appears in a hot tub. Snicker.

[stanleyk]

Could be editing but Kerriann did come off as unreasonable so she has to live with her chalky corn and raw onion. And using agar agar is not molecular. Neither is gelatin.

 

Neither them covered themselves in glory, but Aaron pulled one of my least favorite argument styles, usually favored by children, which was to take a point to absurdity to try to win. Here, she said she didn't want to do anything molecular, and he aggressively responded with something like "well, what about gelatin? That's [some chemical compound]. Are you saying you don't know how to use gelatin?" Shut up, you dummy. And shut your dumb hat up too.

 

And he also pulled such a casual misogynistic bullshit line, where after their horrid performance (but before the screaming started), Kerriann was like, "whatever, it's done, let's move on" and walked away and he turns to the chicken chef and says "She is such a bitch." Why, because she stood up for herself after you tried to paint her as "erratic" as soon as you saw the thing going south? Everything he criticized about her seemed to really traffic in stereotypes of women as emotional or unreliable, and, if they dare sass you, they're a bitch. Just ugh to him on every point.

 

Todd English looked really weird - just super-uncomfortable. Maybe because he's gained weight, but he was all scrunched into himself.

 

I liked Joy, and was hoping to get rid of The Hat instead (not like I'm rooting for Kerriann, but I at least want her to outlast him), but Joy clearly wasn't long for the competition anyway. I'm also giving Mei Lin a pass on her dubious attitude, given her teammates' performance last time. But I'm rooting for Gregory at this point. And also the little one. And I have to give a nod to SWAYZE! Because that is some serious commitment with that tattoo.

[PepperMonkey]

What has happened to Todd English? I can tell he's gained some weight, but his face looks weird. He used to be so handsome.

 

I hate both douchey hat chef and Keriann (sp?). IMHO, she talks a good game but really doesn't have a huge amount of anything with which to back it up. He's a total tool. I'm not particularly fond of their teammate but I laughed out loud when they said her chicken was perfect but the two sides were horrible.

 

I also thought MICHAEL VOLTAGGIO'S ALTER EGO sous chef - I cannot be bothered to remember her name if she's going to act like that - was having an attack of tourette's with all the twitching, eye rolling and effing swearing. I liked her last week, but she acted like she's pre-ordained to win this cause she works for Michael Voltaggio (did y'all hear?). At least she did give Katsuji props for his sauce and said they did a good job working together, so she was slightly redeemed for me there.

 

I'm still liking Gregory, the little guy from OR and Katsuji.

Edited October 23, 2014 by PepperMonkey

[mlp]

I was actually relieved when this episode was over.  Too much fighting and nasty behavior.   I was hoping Aaron's whole team would be sent home because I don't like any of them.  I also can't stand Mei Lin and her filthy mouth and superior attitude.  Joy seemed like a nice, intelligent person but I understand why she got cut.  I liked the big guy with the birthmark right off but.... vanilla with a savory entree?  That doesn't bode well for his longevity. 

[some1105]

I could really give a flying fuck about Mei's profanity.  My problem was her flawed logic.  Yes, Katsuji had been on the bottom in the previous elimination challenge.  He had also almost won the quickfire immediately prior to being assigned to her team.  She has some reason to be confident in her own skills, but at this point she has far too narrow a data set to be discounting other contestants entirely. A Voltaggio on her resume is, well, nice.  That's about it.  He's not a Ripert, a JG, a Lynch, all of whom have had employees eliminated on this show.  Shut up and cook, Mei Lin.

[Bees]

So glad to see the blue team win. Gregory is someone I really like on the show. 

 

I feel like you can do a drinking game with this show. Take one shot everytime Aaron says something dickish, Kerriann mentions her kids, Mei mentions she works for Michael Voltaggio, Stacy says she's from Boston, etc. Though, to be fair, you would end up completely sloshed. 

 

Anyways, it sucks that Joy was eliminated but I know Top Chef and one thing they really cannot forgive is poorly cooked meat. I had a feeling Joy was going to get eliminated. Besides, Aaron and Kerriann make for good drama. I felt so bad for Stacy during the challenge. I liked how the two were all like "OMG HURRY UP! YOU NEED HELP!" and Stacy is just calmly saying "It's chicken!" and lo and behold, it's the one redeeming quality of the dish. 

 

I don't really hate on Mei as much as the rest of you may be. Yeah she seemed kind of bitchy at first, but she seemed to come around on her teammates even admitting that Katsuji's fish sauce was awesome. I mean maybe she is a raging jerk, but we don't know yet.

 

They're already doing the Red Sox episode? Weird. I thought that'd be midseason fodder. As a Red Sox fan, I'm looking forward. And I can't wait to see what Dennis Eckersley is going to say about the food. Though I think I spotted Dan Shaughnessy in there (he's a sportswriter and he is terrible and prefers to stir shit up at any opportune moment). It's going to be an interesting episode.

[CorgiNarnia]

Mei Lin turned me off with her continual foul mouth and perpetual stink-eye.  Plus, assuming that she was in charge because she won the last challenge.  She got to PICK A KNIFE, not rule a small country.  And when Voltaggio is out of town, she may run his kitchen but she does not inhabit his skin.  Get some perspective, girl.  You are not all that yet. 

 

The rest are still a blur for me.  Except Gregory Urkel.  I like him a lot.

Mei Lin can't go three words without profanity. I'm not anti-profanity but this was too much. I don't want to hear bleeps. She comes across extremely arrogant.

 

Gregory Urkel, good one!

[Brooke0707]

Padma was nasty as fuck in the preview. She feeds off cutting others down. Blech, wish they'd get a new host/judge.

[GaT]

There's still too many people for me to tell apart, but that jam guy & his agar agar need to go.

[LexiconDevilOne]

Watching the previews for next week...We're in for more BS from Aaron. Hopefully, he'll be asked to 'pack his knives."

 

 

Ugh...Aaron.

[locomoco]

That Aaron even had the nerve to suggest that molecular gastronomy was the future of cooking immediately tells me that he's an idiot... His continued attempts to try and talk down chefs who have a formal cooking education to try and hide his limited background tells me that he has little confidence in his skill/abilities.

 

A Voltaggio on her resume is, well, nice.  That's about it.  He's not a Ripert, a JG, a Lynch, all of whom have had employees eliminated on this show.  Shut up and cook, Mei Lin.

Besides working for Voltaggio, she's also worked for Michael Symon, Marcus Samuelsson, and Wolfgang Puck... not too shabby a resume.

Edited October 23, 2014 by locomoco

[LoganTheHuge]

 

I could really give a flying fuck about Mei's profanity.

LOL, same here but I have a potty mouth.

 

Mei suffers from resting bitch face so I will give her a pass for looking the way she often does. I think her win did get to her head a bit but she dialed it back down once the crazy Katsuji delivered. I can't blame her for being hyper-paranoid about what he was going to cook up. I do like Katsuji a lot - he's going to be entertaining.

 

Whoever called the hipster NY chef (can't remember his name) Santino and Shia LeBeaouf were spot on. That's all I could think about when they showed him talking - this is what an unholy union of Santino and Shia would look like. He also turned out to be not as douchetastic as I was worried about. He seems like a wannabe Spike more than anything. 

 

Hat Douche, on the other hand, is the asshole I thought he'd be. What an aggressive, rude jerk. Yes, Reese Witherspoon was annoying but the way the editing showed, she appeared to be sticking up for herself (which I respect). And I hate when guys can't take the heat so they resort to the typical "she's a bitch." In the first episode, Hat Douche mentioned that his entire staff quit right before his restaurant opened and now I can see why. That being said, those two were insufferable and I felt terrible for Boston Chicken. I'm glad that she was able to get out unscathed.

 

Sucks that Joy had to be booted. I liked her just from the two episodes we got. 

 

ETA:

I forgot to mention: SWAAAAYYYZE!!!!

 

I love that that guy busted out his Patrick Swayze tattoo so earnestly! Roadhouse 4 Lyfe! OTOH, you have a tattoo of Patrick Swayze. On your arm. And you didn't do it while you were drunk. 

Edited October 23, 2014 by LoganTheHuge

[ShadowSixx]

I can't stand when a strong, assertive woman who sticks up for herself and doesn't take crap is automatically a bitch. Some people just need to learn the true definition of a bitch, which is a malicious, self centered, and unpleasant person male or female. Right now Hat Douche is acting like one more than Blondie. Don't think Hat Douche would call a man a bitch if he was talking back to him and didn't agree with his ideas,

[RealityGal]

I like Kerianne (sp)? but she won't last long. Aaron is a complete tool. Someone needs to remind Mei Lin that she is not M. Volt. She merely works for him. It's the 2nd episode and she already talks crap about her two team members? She knows everything there is to know about cooking and they know nothing? I just can't with that attitude. I hope she doesn't win because she doesn't need any more of an ego. Mike Volt is a great chef but get over yourself. Jenn Caroll (sp)? worked for Eric Ripert. And ER did not earn his noteriety by winning Top Chef. 

 

I don't remember seeing Todd English & Padma tasting Kerianne's Quick Fire dish. Did that happen?

 

I care way more about the cheftestants cooking/management abilities than anything else but I think this is the homeliest cast to date. Hate to judge but I don't even think the "pretty" blonde is pretty. Meh. It's not top beauty so I digress.

Ummm.  Eric Ripert....I wouldn't kick him out of bed for eating crackers ;)

 

But I digress.  I'm not sure how I feel about Mei.  Pros - I really, really like that she is both talented, and strong in the kitchen.  I think too often society teaches women, especially in the group setting to simply "go along and be a team player."  And I think that may have been a big part of Joy's problem.  I like that she insisted on a certain quality level and would stick to it.  A lot of other contestants would have just been like "I think that sauce is gonna be a mess, but I don't want to rock the boat, I'll just let this guy hang himself"  but her thought was that the sauce would have to be re-done.

 

Cons - I'm tired of hearing about M. Volt too.  She is not M. Volt, she works for him.  She puts her pants on one leg at a time, like all the other chefs, they all came in with a great skill set which is why they are on the show.  She has won a challenge so far, its not like she has a string of 10 wins under her belt and her team mates have been on the bottom for the last 7 challenges.  And her facial expression from the second the two came to stand by her was just wrong.  Even if you think they both suck there is no reason for all of that.  She actively grasped her head and pushed her hair back, let out an exasperated breath and pretty much rolled her eyes.

 

 

Stacy - "I'm cooking chicken" - translation? Back off, I'm saving your bickering asses.  

 

That chicken must have been tasty, because that corn and brown glob of jelly looked gross.

 I hate his hat too lol!

 

What the hell is he hiding under there????  He wears it with the same passion that Brett Michaels wears those bandanas.  Whats under that hat?  a monkey playing the ukulele?  A rabbit?  A bald spot?  A flower pot?  Whats under there????

I can't stand when a strong, assertive woman who sticks up for herself and doesn't take crap is automatically a bitch. Some people just need to learn the true definition of a bitch, which is a malicious, self centered, and unpleasant person male or female. Right now Hat Douche is acting like one more than Blondie. Don't think Hat Douche would call a man a bitch if he was talking back to him and didn't agree with his ideas,

Here is the thing that bothers me about KeriAnn during the spat in the stew room.  She comes in, says her piece to Hat Dude and then declares that "its over, be quiet!"  I don't like that, its not fair to just be able to yell at someone and then say that they can't say anything back to you.  When people try to do that it drives me nuts, you're supposed to be able to yell at me, but then its over!  No, I get to yell back if I want to.  If she didn't want to hear him to talk back she should have kept her opinions to herself.  I think standing up for yourself is admirable, but you have to be ready for the blowback too.  You have to be strong enough to take whatever blowback comes your way.

[cooksdelight]

The thing I spotted as trouble for Joy was when she saw the chops and wanted to trim them down so they would cook properly in the time allotted. The other two said "oh no no no no" and instead of going with her gut and doing what she knew was right, she bowed to the others. She can talk to Carla Hall about how that worked out for her. I've seen too many good chefs on this show go down in flames by listening to others instead of doing things their way.

[Wings]

I'm going to reserve judgment on Mai (Mei?) Lin.  I think she might be one of those people whose calm, neutral look reads bitch face on TV.  She was worried because both of her teammates were in the bottom of the previous elimination challenge.  They've only been together for 2 days.  She hadn't tasted their cooking yet.  I'll give her a pass this time.  I'll also give her a pass on mentioning Michael Voltaggio, I detect producer influence there - "Please, mention your boss as much as possible!"  She tasted Katsuji's sauce and admitted she was worried for nothing.  

 

Stacy - "I'm cooking chicken" - translation? Back off, I'm saving your bickering asses.  

 

I agree and good point about production pushing the MV comments.  Both of Mei's team members were in the bottom; of course she was worried.   I don't give a fuck if she swears, I do too.  She has come to win and will fight for herself at every turn.  I like that.  Tom often criticizes cheftants for not speaking up and asserting themselves in a team challenge.  And I bet Michael V stressed that.  She also admitted she was worried for nothing because she liked the sauce.   

 

I am giving Kerriann a pass, too.  Aaron in your face cannot be a comfortable situation and he was out to get her.  He is the one who had a messy station and bad food last week.  As for her corn, she was given starchy corn in the basket, she did not choose it.  Granted, some other preparation would have probably worked better.   

 

I am looking forward to the numbers being down enough so we can see everyone's quick fire dishes.  That is one of my favorite parts. 

Edited October 23, 2014 by wings707

[radiochik]

I have a bit of a silly question:  I watched this while getting ready for work at 3 am so it didn't have my full attention.  Was Richard on this episode?  I was so focused on the stupid drama between Keri Ann and the hat wearing d-bag so when someone upthread mentioned Blais, I honestly did not remember seeing him.  At all. (Which was refreshing over all the Blais in your face moments from last week.)

 

Color me bummed that both DC area chefs are gone in the first 2 episodes. I like to root local before I get to know the cheftestants well enough to pick favorites and boom!  Gone!  But I will say that I'm already planning on heading to Fredericksburg sometime soon to check out Joy's restaurant.  The online menu looks tasty!

 

As others have said, I knew Joy was gone once she undercooked the pork. I had slight hope they would eliminate one of the Bicker Twins instead but I watch way too much reality tv and know well enough that they will milk that drama for all it's worth for as long as they can. 

 

I'm on the fence about Mei Lin.  I loved her last week and then started to sour on her this week because of her attitude and the overmentioning of MVolt.  He's a good chef and yes, he won Top Chef but he's not the Greatest Chef That Ever Cheffed.  (I loved his season of Top Chef but preferred his brother over him both food and personality wise.)  Like others have said, I'm sure the producers want her to mention MVolt as much as possible and they are totally salivating over the possibility of her making it far so they can bring him in.  In fact, I'm surprised they didn't manipulate it to push Isabella lite further in the competition so he and Mei Lin could go head to head in an Isabella vs Voltaggio showdown.

[LennieBriscoe]

The auf'ed chef wanted to cut the chops in half, no? She was concerned about cooking them through. So I think she was done in by her team-mates.

 

Voltaggio's Shadow: Very full of herself.

 

Blondie vs. The Jerk: I think she was manufacturing drama when he was simply sitting there speaking calmly. Neither produced a good dish, though.

 

The hat guy and the blonde just need to take their soap opera love/hate relationship and go find a room and have sex already.

Bwah! I got a "Maddie and David" vibe, too!

Edited October 23, 2014 by LennieBriscoe

[eleanorofaquitaine]

Here is the thing that bothers me about KeriAnn during the spat in the stew room.  She comes in, says her piece to Hat Dude and then declares that "its over, be quiet!"  I don't like that, its not fair to just be able to yell at someone and then say that they can't say anything back to you.  When people try to do that it drives me nuts, you're supposed to be able to yell at me, but then its over!  No, I get to yell back if I want to.  If she didn't want to hear him to talk back she should have kept her opinions to herself.  I think standing up for yourself is admirable, but you have to be ready for the blowback too.  You have to be strong enough to take whatever blowback comes your way.

 

Yes. Aaron was definitely a jerk also, but in my opinion, KeriAnn was escalating that conflict both times.  She just kept repeating, "we're not doing molecular" without offering any ideas herself, and then was contrary for contrarian's sake (like with the onions in the corn salad).  Plus, she seemed to think that once she decided an argument was over, then it was over.  I didn't find her assertive, I found her argumentative, and those two things aren't the same.

 

That doesn't mean that I think Aaron was entirely in the right - he was also contributing to the argument and making it worse. But in my view, a lot of the failure of the team falls on KeriAnn's shoulders.

 

I agree and good point about production pushing the MV comments.  Both of Mei's team members were in the bottom; of course she was worried.

 

 

In my opinion, Mei was over-valuing her own win. She won one challenge, not the entire season.  That being said, unlike Aaron and KeriAnn, she was willing to acknowledge that Katsuji put together a good sauce, so ultimately, she redeemed herself. But if she continues to act like winning the first challenge and working for Voltaggio means she can't be questioned, I will be annoyed by her.

Edited October 23, 2014 by eleanorofaquitaine

[leighdear]

 

I hope she told Katsuji what she told the camera about his sauce being really good.

ITA.  It's one thing to say directly to the other chef "great job, I'll know to trust you next time", and another to admit only in a talking head that she shouldn't have assumed his dish would suck.   Classy versus assy. 

 

I'm fangirling a bit on Katsuji.  His comment at the beginning about making a "taco" for the festival was funny.   :)

Edited October 23, 2014 by leighdear

[captain1]

Le sigh...... I love Joy but I see how she didn't stand up for herself to her teammates.  Oh well, FoodE is just up the road.  It is tiny and they don't take reservations.  I hope I can still get in!!

[Puffaroo]

I was really hoping they would send both Kerrianne and Aaron home. They both suck.

 

That's not going to happen -- they'll keep both as long as possible, for the drama.

[Puffaroo]

Besides working for Voltaggio, she's also worked for Michael Symon, Marcus Samuelsson, and Wolfgang Puck... not too shabby a resume.

 

That's interesting -- isn't she kinda young to already have had four different jobs?  It makes me wonder.

I can't stand when a strong, assertive woman who sticks up for herself and doesn't take crap is automatically a bitch. Some people just need to learn the true definition of a bitch, which is a malicious, self centered, and unpleasant person male or female. Right now Hat Douche is acting like one more than Blondie. Don't think Hat Douche would call a man a bitch if he was talking back to him and didn't agree with his ideas,

 

I've been reclaiming the word "bitch" for decades, because, really, what is a bitch?

 

It's a woman who does what she wants, instead of what someone else wants her to do.

[cooksdelight]

That's interesting -- isn't she kinda young to already have had four different jobs? It makes me wonder.

Not in the restaurant world, not if you want to get ahead. You want to learn from as many different masters as possible.

[ShadowSixx]

Here is the thing that bothers me about KeriAnn during the spat in the stew room.  She comes in, says her piece to Hat Dude and then declares that "its over, be quiet!"  I don't like that, its not fair to just be able to yell at someone and then say that they can't say anything back to you.  When people try to do that it drives me nuts, you're supposed to be able to yell at me, but then its over!  No, I get to yell back if I want to.  If she didn't want to hear him to talk back she should have kept her opinions to herself.  I think standing up for yourself is admirable, but you have to be ready for the blowback too.  You have to be strong enough to take whatever blowback comes your way.

 

True and I find that both of them were at fault for their silly spat, first Hat Douche for trying to pressure Blondie into giving a hypothetical into what's being in the basket, thinking that they were going to be stuck with a dessert. He was so assured that they were making it, then when they served their food Blondie was trying to save face and say they worked well (which was a lie) but then he started in and called her erratic, which he didn't have to call her name and just said that they disagreed on a lot of things. They go back where he would call her a bitch after some more heated words and they should have left it at that.

 

Then Blondie had to keep it going by telling him to stop talking about it which only made him want to talk. It's like he wanted to get the last word or something, they both were being ridiculous but for some reason I found him more at fault for their spat than her. I may have to watch it again though to make sure. 

[AriAu]

Still too many chefs out there-only saw half the quickfire dishes...which was ok for that goofy challenge. There were a couple of people that I swear I had never seen before.I swear that they had never shown Melissa or Rebecca before they got paired up.

I was amazed at how quickly they started throwing each other under the bus-it was like Keriann and Aaron could not wait to do it.

By the way, I don't think Aaron is a misogynist.....I think he is just an ASSHOLE. He will treat everyone badly, and will pick at their insecurities and concerns to get ahead. That is until his crappy cooking gets him PPYKAGed.

I wish Mei did not name drop M Volt all the time, but I do think the producers and editing monkeys deserve a lot of the blame for using that as the way we identify with her.

That's not going to happen -- they'll keep both as long as possible, for the drama.

 

I did have a hunch that is why Joy was dead meat (ok, undercooked meat). I'm afraid that since they have been playing it up so much, either because it is there or because it is edited that way, that those 2 will be around for awhile while some of the ones we haven't really seen will get sent off sooner.

[Lamb18]

Keriann and Aaron are hard to watch.  He reminds me of a 4th grader who thinks a girl is cute so he picks on her constantly to get her attention.  Unfortunately Keriann lets him push her buttons and needs to think of a more mature way to respond than "Leave me alone! I hate you!" (figuratively speaking)  I also was wondering if there wasn't some sexual tension there.  Maybe it's a Much Ado About Nothing situation and Katsuji will tell Aaron Keriann really thinks he's hot and Mei Lin will tell Keriann that Aaron thinks she's gorgeous, and they'll fall in love! (ha)  That corn salad sounded gross.  I thought she had cooked it more.

 

Poor Joy. She should have just trimmed down the veal chops like she wanted to - and she should have said something at judges' table, especially since that other chef faux lied and said something to the effect that each chef wanted to do their own thing and didn't listen (can't remember the exact wording). She got the denial out there before Joy could say that the others didn't want her to trim the chops.  Joy probably has the "don't rat on your peers" ethic.  I wish Aaron or Keriann had been eliminated instead.

 

I think Mei Lin's heavy eyelids make her look crabby. I was noticing that expression, too, but I think it's more how her eyes are than an expression of what she's thinking or feeling. 

 

I was looking for the Amazing Race firefighters (Boston Strong!) but they hardly showed anybody else except for those at the main table.  Maybe it would have been too much work to get all the releases.

 

I thought that was a great Quickfire - 1 if by land, 2 if by sea. 

[FineWashables]

It's only episode 2 and I haven't learned their names, so I'm giving props to that asshole who constantly wears a hat for making it easy to name him Asshat.  That said, I do agree that the other greenie -- I see from other posters that her name is Keriann -- deliberately escalated the problem.  Asshat kept asking for ideas and all she would say is "Not molecular."  That's not an idea.

 

When the girl who lost -- Joy? -- was objecting that the veal chops were too thick to grill appropriately, I kept yelling at the TV for her to pound them first.  If she'd only listened to me, she could have had those chops cooked perfectly.  (Why do they never listen to me?)  The editors really made it evident that she was going to go home.  Eating the veal, Padma once again makes the face of "I can't believe I have to put this into my mouth."  At least she didn't spit it out like last week.  Insert your joke here.