S12.E03: The Curse Of The Bambino

[NoNeinNyet]

And this was exactly what I was afraid of when watching the Boston season. There seems to be such an inferiority/little brother complex to NYC, that anything Bostonian needs validation and propped up like, "LOOK AT ME! LOOK AT ME! I'm special too!!!!"

 

I'm still kind of pulling for a Minneapolis season even though I don't think it will ever happen. We're more like "Here are some things we like about our area." And then people go "Those things are pretty great!" and we're like "We're glad you like it. We like it, too. Thank you for being here!" Also, the Twin Cities have a great food scene.

Edited October 31, 2014 by NoNeinNyet

[RealityGal]

I feel for Aaron, and the upbringing he had, but I was getting really pissed off hearing about how his parents couldn't or wouldn't send him to culinary school! Boo hoo! I doubt all of the other chefs got paid ride through culinary school. I believe it was Melissa who was hoping to impress her strict Chinese father with her talents, because he did not support her ambitions as a chef! I doubt he was footing tuition!

 

This is why I get annoyed at the constant focus on KeriAnn.  Because there are other chefs who seem much more interesting than her and whatever sort of nonsense she is talking about at any given time.  Melissa is one of those, I suspect there may be even more than the culinary dreams that her parents disapprove of, and I find that more interesting than the old tired "I'm doing this so my kids can see that I can do it! or for their future! or whatever"  I realize thats important, but that is the story of almost every working mom, we get it, kids want role models and sometimes you have to sacrifice for them.  Gregory's story was entirely more interesting than KeriAnn's, and I suspect Melissa's is too.  I would also like to know a little more about Mei Lin, and Stacy.  And how the hell did that guy end up with a Swayze tattoo?

[SFoster21]

I pretty much zone out until the food descriptions come on. I love the pretty food pictures, I'm always learning new words and wanting to taste the pickled peanuts and so forth.

I still say Padma is much nicer at pyk time. "We'll miss you"? She ever say stuff like that before?

[cooksdelight]

Yes, she has certain contestants she really likes. I was rewatching New Orleans this week, and when Carlos was eliminated I thought she was going to cry.

[Totale]

I may be cold hearted, and getting more so each passing day, but I think Katie was trumping up her "dead father sadness," or it was producer-driven. Bringing it up at the judge's table while they were tasting her food, I just rolled my eyes.

 

 

I sensed the heavy hand of the producers there as well.  She wandered off and faced away from the camera after her breakdown, saying something like "I'm so tired of this whole routine".  I don't think it was the cooking or presentation to the judges she was tired of - I suspect it was the producers harping on her to keep on the Dad story when it meant more to her than 2 minutes in the klieg lights.

 

I definitely could do without the drama... though I was kind of glad Aaron won the sudden death match... not because I don't want him to go home- I do... but eliminating people in the quickfire is less fun for me... and especially with this whole idea that it doesn't cost the challenger anything but pride if they lose... I could see in the future someone well liked ending up on the bottom and having their competitor tank on purpose so they both get to stay...

 

Beyond the fact that it has nothing to do with Sudden Death (which would be the loser in the Quickfire having to immediately PTKAG), the whole Elimination Quickfire thing smacks of phony because the producers need their contestant count to be at certain levels for certain points in the season - team challenges, RW, reserved slots on the fishing boats, etc.  So from the jump the schematic for the season likely says "There will be six Sudden Death Quickfires, in weeks x,y,z...,and numbers 1 and 4 will result in a contestant being eliminated".  The producers will follow their internal scripts to inform the talent as to who will be going home when it's elimination time, and the "challenged" contestant can serve their play on Crackerjack Ceviche that week and still be safe.

[backgroundnoise]

It still all comes down to what the chefs do with a challenge that might seem bland.  IIRC, they didn't have to actually use hot dogs or popcorn, just elevate the idea.  So pork was a substitute for the hot dog and the chefs could/should have made amazing pork.  With all the toppings available for hot dogs to "incorporate", it could have been interesting. 

 

The popcorn people seemed to do the best, IMO.  The corn soup with bacon (Melissa's?) sounded awesome.

 

Great chefs can rise above any ham-fisted, bland tie-in with some imagination, so the city setting doesn't matter much to me at all.

[Lamb18]

Beyond the fact that it has nothing to do with Sudden Death (which would be the loser in the Quickfire having to immediately PTKAG), the whole Elimination Quickfire thing smacks of phony because the producers need their contestant count to be at certain levels for certain points in the season - team challenges, RW, reserved slots on the fishing boats, etc.

 

Agree, and next week there will be two eliminations according to the previews.  I wonder if Aaron had been eliminated this week then next week only one would go home.  So no one going home after a Sudden Death Quickfire means that down the road there will be a double elimination episode.

 

Re filming in Minneapolis/St. Paul area (where I live), it's too late - they wouldn't be able to have a baseball or football challenge in the Metrodome. It's torn down. 

[Latverian Diplomat]

ETA: Oh, screw it.  I wanted to just ignore the jerks, but then I read Hugh's blog about them.  It is truly magical (the descriptor "so lacquered-up with misogyny" almost made me lick my screen), and now I'm back in my comfort zone of full-fledged Aaron hatred.  Hugh gives the best blog of any of the judges (other than Bourdain), yet another reason I'm always thrilled to have him around.

I concur, Hugh's blog is great. I love that he opened a blog entry about an episode drenched in baseball-o-philia with a comparison to minor league hockey. You can take the boy out of Canada, but you can't take the Canada out of the boy.

 

Since he also said this: 

ELIMINATED: Aaron. He picks Katie to go tete-a-tete with in the "cook yourself back into the episode" part of the Quickfire. His reasoning for picking Katie is sound logic: "She is teaches at a cooking school, and I never went to skool." Discuss.

 

I'll take a turn. Aaron chose to go against one of those icky lady people of course, but he clearly picked someone he thought was struggling and would put up weak opposition. But then he needs to turn his choice in to some courageous statement about street smarts vs. book smarts or something To me this is the smooth BS of a practiced narcissist and nothing more.

 

Also, I thought he should have been marked down more for using uncooked peanuts, which had to be gross in that dish. You can make perfectly fine spring rolls without peanuts or peanut sauce. To me it's poor judgement to go with an optional ingredient in a form you can anticipate won't work. He's probably lucky the pasta machine was not working/difficult to use. 

[JTMacc99]

I love when Tom piles it on to the bottom three, as if the experience of getting detailed explanations of what was wrong with the food they made wasn't bad enough.

[Lura]

OK, I am saying this as a baseball fan, but Fenway is just a ballpark.

 

Oh, caci!  Have you ever been to Fenway?  I was there many times with my dad.  The first time I went, I was only 9 years old, but I still remember the sense of awe I had when we entered the park -- and I was too young to be influenced by hype.  I'd been in other stadiums as a child, but they were nothing like Fenway.  I can't describe the feeling, but if you've ever been in Fenway, you've felt it.  It's like walking back in history, like time stood still and preserved a treasure.  These days, it seems like every other city is building a brand new, modern "stadium" of gleaming steel -- massive structures that bear little resemblance to their reason for being there. Fenway stands, simple and old and proud, as a symbol of what ballparks used to be.  Fenway is so much more than "just a ballpark."  :)

Edited October 31, 2014 by Lura

[DHDancer]

I get the landmark thing.  Leaves me a bit cold to be honest, but whatever floats the producer/sponsor boat.

 

You know what I thought was really silly about the Fenway Park thing?  Making the food walk so far from the kitchen!  And what for?  It's not like the "dining room" was in any particular beauty spot.   It made absolutely no sense to me.  I know these guys are used to eating cold food (ugh --cold fatty short ribs, cold popcorn soup...) but .... 

 

I liked the QF challenge but yeah scratched my head over the weird flavors: that stuff isn't real tea and why not use the already diverse and infinitely variable options with regular black or green teas?   Oh wait, sponsors maybe??  Although I didn't see any specific names mentioned (or did I just miss it)

[wovenloaf]

I absolutely cannot stand Aaron. I'm with the person who higher up in this thread that his presence is actually making me want to not watch the show until he's gone. When he was talking about how he had no boundaries or rules or whatever when he was growing up, the only thing I could think was "YEAH, we can all tell." Which is so pitiful for someone of 30 years old or whatever he is. And I sort of hated how he made it sound like being from a broken home was somehow a direct line to "I get to act like an asshole." News flash, bud, millions and millions of people came from a broken home, yet do not act like awful misogynistic frat boys. 

 

And on a totally shallow note, I just can't stand looking at Aaron's face. That dumb look he always has makes me cringe. And why is his head always tilted too far back? Is he trying to look out from under the dumb hat? 

[biakbiak]

?  Making the food walk so far from the kitchen!  And what for?  It's not like the "dining room" was in any particular beauty spot.   It made absolutely no sense to me.

 

They were sitting in front of the Green Monster the iconic left field wall that has it's own Wikipedia page.

[Writing Wrongs]

Richard likes to hear himself talk. Unfortunately for me, I don't like to hear him talk. So we have a problem. :)

 

I liked the tea challenge.

 

I hate the way they run roughshod over people when they go to Whole Foods. They should close it for them to do their shopping, so the regular customers don't have to be in fear of getting run over by a cart.

[Quilt Fairy]

so really the most irritating part of watching tonight was not being able to time my FF perfectly through the commercials and having to suffer through clips of Bravo's godawful other programming.

Word. So much frikkin Word to this. Top Chef is the only Bravo show I watch anymore, and when I see the commercials for their other shows I remember why. Andy Cohen makes me want to barf. Also, they probably wouldn't have needed an extra 15 minutes for this episode if they hadn't inserted a 10 minute block of commercials (well, OK, only 8 but it seemed longer) between 9:45 and 10pm.

 

I don't understand why the tea QF had so many variations of fruited white tea. It's got the mildest flavor of any variety of tea. I've been a tea drinker my whole life. Black, green, oolong, love them. But I just can't taste any flavor in white tea at all. 

[NewDigs]

Glad I wasn't the only one kinda' confused by the Sudden Death result. I thought I had finally learned a few names and then... Is that the same chef? Huh? What's she still doing here? I couldn't bring myself to give that whole asshatted mess another viewing. So, thanks for the clarification.

I did, however, reverse my viewing briefly to check out Aaron's comment that he ended up with the dreaded monkfish cheeks because Adam had grabbed the yellowtail right out of his, Aaron's, hands. Maybe I also needed to slow it down, but, I did not see Adam grab anything out of Aaron's hands.

And, that soup, Ron, it just looked awful. That big, smooshed, baseball lump, that sad, soggy popcorn, that puddle of congealed soup/liquid, it was just wrong.

So far I'm kind of meh on this season but would love to see the Chefs in the Minneapple!

[caci]

Oh, caci!  Have you ever been to Fenway?  I was there many times with my dad.  The first time I went, I was only 9 years old, but I still remember the sense of awe I had when we entered the park -- and I was too young to be influenced by hype.  I'd been in other stadiums as a child, but they were nothing like Fenway.  I can't describe the feeling, but if you've ever been in Fenway, you've felt it.  It's like walking back in history, like time stood still and preserved a treasure.  These days, it seems like every other city is building a brand new, modern "stadium" of gleaming steel -- massive structures that bear little resemblance to their reason for being there. Fenway stands, simple and old and proud, as a symbol of what ballparks used to be.  Fenway is so much more than "just a ballpark."  :)

As I mentioned earlier, I do understand the history and reverence of Fenway.  It probably is a beautiful ballpark.  I'm fine with people who love it.  What I did not love, in regards to the episode, was the constant slobbering over it.  For me, it became distracting and annoying.  I watch the show for the food competiton, not for a continuous history lesson and love fest.  Plus, it annoyed me how EVERYONE was so captivated.  I can't believe there wasn't one contestant who thought , "so what, I don't like baseball, couldn't care less."  No, on air everyone had to to be admiring.  For me, that came off as fake and producer driven.  Now, ironically, I was switching between Top Chef and the World Series, so maybe I missed someone's blase response.  If someone did respond that way, then I apologize.

 

Again, my issue was not with Fenway, Boston, or its citizens.  I would love to go to visit.  I just think the show overdid the Fenway act.  Unfortunatley, I see more and more of Top Chef using landmarks as Chopped uses sob stories - overblown and overdone.  It takes over the food competition itself.

Edited November 1, 2014 by caci

[RealityGal]

As I mentioned earlier, I do understand the history and reverence of Fenway.  It probably is a beautiful ballpark.  I'm fine with people who love it.  What I did not love, in regards to the episode, was the constant slobbering over it.  For me, it became distracting and annoying.  I watch the show for the food competiton, not for a continuous history lesson and love fest.  Plus, it annoyed me how EVERYONE was so captivated.  I can't believe there wasn't one contestant who thought , "so what, I don't like baseball, couldn't care less."  No, on air everyone had to to be admiring.  For me, that came off as fake and producer driven.  Now, ironically, I was switching between Top Chef and the World Series, so maybe I missed someone's blase response.  If someone did respond that way, then I apologize.

 

Again, my issue was not with Fenway, Boston, or its citizens.  I would love to go to visit.  I just think the show overdid the Fenway act.  Unfortunatley, I see more and more of Top Chef using landmarks as Chopped uses sob stories - overblown and overdone.  It takes over the food competition itself.

I felt like someone said they don't watch baseball or something to that effect. 

 

 I've never minded the show being a love letter to the host city, its part of what I enjoyed about New Orleans, because that city is something special and someone needed to write it a love letter :)  Having visited Boston, I can tell you, the people I've met, loved Fenway and the Red Sox, so there may have a been a slight revolt had it not been honored in some way, and this is also the time that people start to think about where they want to visit in the summer, so the city may have offered some sort of incentive for them to visit all the tourist-y places.  

 

I think the Cheers thing is going to be more annoying in that way, because I personally don't get the excitement people have over that bar.  It is not that special.  It's nothing I would travel to Boston to see, especially when you can just photoshop yourself in front of that sign.

[eleanorofaquitaine]

I felt like someone said they don't watch baseball or something to that effect. 

 

 I've never minded the show being a love letter to the host city, its part of what I enjoyed about New Orleans, because that city is something special and someone needed to write it a love letter :)  Having visited Boston, I can tell you, the people I've met, loved Fenway and the Red Sox, so there may have a been a slight revolt had it not been honored in some way, and this is also the time that people start to think about where they want to visit in the summer, so the city may have offered some sort of incentive for them to visit all the tourist-y places.  

 

I think the Cheers thing is going to be more annoying in that way, because I personally don't get the excitement people have over that bar.  It is not that special.  It's nothing I would travel to Boston to see, especially when you can just photoshop yourself in front of that sign.

 

Yes, people in Boston feel that strongly about Fenway. Obviously, not everyone on the show had to feel that strongly about it, but for the most part, most of them seemed like baseball fans, and so likely understood the significant of serving on the field at Fenway Park. That being said, I also thought that the placement of the table under the Monster was a little odd.  I mean, yes, the Green Monster is iconic, but it seemed an awful long way to make the chefs to walk.  FWIW, the apartment building where the cheftestants are staying is actually in the Fenway neighborhood, so at least they didn't have that far too travel that day.  (Though my understanding is that the TC Kitchen was in Woburn, which is a 20 minute drive north of the city).

 

WRT Cheers, whenever I have friends who visit who want a tour, I specifically ask them if they're interested in visiting Cheers or not, because it isn't normally a place I take people unless they're interested in visiting. Ironically enough, in a city filled with neighborhood bars, Cheers has become the least neighborhood bar around. (I would imagine that before the show, the Bull 'n' Finch was probably a decent neighborhood bar for Beacon Hill).

 

I am looking forward to them taking the focus off of Aaron and Keri Ann. I think that we have seen that both of them can be generally unpleasant, and since they're personalities are so strong, we're not getting much of a sense of any of the other cheftestants.  Producer manipulation or not, it was at least nice to see a focus on Katie because it wasn't so much of a focus of Keri Ann and Aaron.

[potatoradio]

Uh, Aaron? Please don't whine about your terrible upbringing and then mention that your mom put you through culinary school. Boo hoo hoo, sounds sooooo tragic. Unless I misheard something, which wouldn't be surprising because I don't like to pay a lot of attention to backstory blubbering.

 

*small voice* I hate pretzels. They taste drier and have even less flavor than ricecakes to me. And I hate that "cheese" that comes with the soft kind.

 

Richard, it's OK if you don't know jack shite about baseball, but please don't try to throw out witty references in your comments, k? "That's moneyball!" No, dear. Just stop it.

 

I can't figure out what popcorn soup would taste like. I can picture popcorn as a topping on just about any kind of cream-based soup, but popcorn soup itself confuses me. Would it taste like a super salty corn bisque? Or is the secret the "butter flavor topping" that's added? :)

 

Still too much fodder, but thanks to this ep, I can point out this season's douchenozzle and an annoying blonde woman. And someone from Minnesota. And what's his name from Chopped who throws a million ingredients together. That's four out of...what, fifteen? Double/triple elimination time, please, show.

 

I don't miss Last Chance Kitchen at all.

Edited November 1, 2014 by potatoradio

[cooksdelight]

I believe Aaron said he didn't attend culinary school because his mom couldn't afford it, or something like that. I tune him out when he's on, so I could be wrong.

[biakbiak]

Uh, Aaron? Please don't whine about your terrible upbringing and then mention that your mom put you through culinary school. Boo hoo hoo, sounds sooooo tragic. Unless I misheard something, which wouldn't be surprising because I don't like to pay a lot of attention to backstory blubbering.

 

You misheard, Aaron was whining about how his mother didn't put him through culinary school and that he is self-taught.

[Fostersmom]

If you guys get a Top Chef Minneapolis, I want a Top Chef Cleveland. We could be amazing, lots of different cultures, plus our fair share of hokey tie ins to fill a season. First up, send them to cook in the Muni Lot before a Browns game and see what happens. And please don't tell me I'm the only one who thought popcorn soup didn't actually exist beyond a plot point in the case of the week in an episode of Castle. 

 

I don't think this season is any more city centric than most of the others. Still no where near as bad as the Texas run. I'm still watching and haven't gotten super annoyed yet, even though I feel like half the chefs have only been seen for about 4 minutes total. I could do with way less of Aaron, but thats a given. Did we even see the other Asian woman who won the first week this week? The real short guy too. I saw a flash of him, but that's about it. 

[BC Mama]

Uh, Aaron? Please don't whine about your terrible upbringing and then mention that your mom put you through culinary school. Boo hoo hoo, sounds sooooo tragic. Unless I misheard something, which wouldn't be surprising because I don't like to pay a lot of attention to backstory blubbering.

 

*small voice* I hate pretzels. They taste drier and have even less flavor than ricecakes to me. And I hate that "cheese" that comes with the soft kind.

 

Ya, Aaron claimed that if did go to culinary school he'd be the next Bobby Flay! Ya... sure... 

 

And, I totally agree about the pretzels. They are like salty pieces of wood. 

[elzin]

Pretzels can vary so much. A nice chocolate-covered pretzel is just about the perfect junk food. I like certain kinds of crunchy ones, certain kinds of hot, soft ones. Didn't someone go home in the Jimmy Fallon challenge for using pretzel bread a few seasons ago?

[carrps]

I've always hated pretzels. I think they're like overly salty dog biscuits. Yum???

 

Anyone watch "The People's Couch?" That's the only non-Top Chef show on Bravo that I watch anymore. This past week's episode showed them watching "Top Chef." One of the "people" on the couch made some comment about Aaron being at Bow and Truss and saying she wanted to go back and order his bad dishes from that episode. Made me laugh.

 

 

[Quilt Fairy]

I want a Top Chef Cleveland. We could be amazing, lots of different cultures, plus our fair share of hokey tie ins to fill a season. First up, send them to cook in the Muni Lot before a Browns game and see what happens.

They already did a Bears tail-gate-type party in the Chicago season.

 

It seemed like the 'popcorn soup' people really just did corn soup with some variations. I think the only one who actually used popcorn  was Melissa(?), who did the corn and ramps soup with some bacon popcorn in the bottom of the bowl.

Edited November 2, 2014 by Quilt Fairy

[Lura]

I was looking at the title of this thread, which I think is clever, but it also entered my mind that there are TWO bambini in the playpen  -- Aaron and Keriann.  Where would one be without the other?  When I saw the picture of Keriann holding her newborn baby, I thought she was lovely in looks and disposition.  How wrong I was!  She is nothing more than a loudmouth -- an attention-seeking, camera-grabbing "beech," whose cooking skills are questionable and whose liberal use of lip gloss makes her look silly.  Yes, Aaron is a pain, but I wouldn't be disappointed if Keriann were invited to turn in her apron ahead of him.  This duo was brought in for the ratings and the sleaze factor, neither of which I care about.  There had to have been two other worthy chefs in the preliminary rounds who were just as worthy and deserving as they are.  Please, producers, let's clear out the playpen and proceed with the contest!

Edited November 2, 2014 by Lura

[archer1267]

Could someone explain to me what "popcorn soup" is? Was it a roasted corn soup?

 

I hope that after next week's episode, the show goes for something less obvious that Cheers, a show that's been off the air for 20 years, plus or minus. (And while I'm sure George Wendt is a fine person, he's a native Chicago-an.) There are large Latin American communities in East Boston, for instance, as well as the other neighborhoods others have mentioned.

[Hero]

Aaron continues to amaze me and I just hope that this man, who is sacrificing his career for us to laugh (at him), will continue to cook so-so food so I have things to write about.

 

 

Hugh is so right on this. Why be an asshole on national television, real or fake, if your career is so important to you? Judging by what Aaron said about his upbringing, he probably worked really hard to get where he is now. Now he just looks like a misogynistic, whiny asshole who may have lost the respect of his boss,coworkers, diners and future diners, just for a few seconds of "fame." 

 

But, please top chef gods, do not let Aaron last very long. I cannot stand his permanent scowl on his face and his giant brimmed hat. The way he flies off the handle is disturbing and not entertainment in any way, shape, or form.

[Bastet]

I was looking at the title of this thread, which I think is clever, but it also entered my mind that there are TWO bambini in the playpen  -- Aaron and Keriann.

 

I assume I'm stating the obvious here, but just in case -- the episode is titled The Curse of the Bambino because of the Fenway Park challenge.  When the Red Sox failed to win the pennant for what wound up being 80+ years, a superstition/joke arose that their trading Babe Ruth ("The Bambino") to the Yankees was at fault.  Prior to that, the Red Sox had done very well while the Yankees had faltered, and after that roles were reversed.

[turbogirlnyc]

Hugh is so right on this. Why be an asshole on national television, real or fake, if your career is so important to you? Judging by what Aaron said about his upbringing, he probably worked really hard to get where he is now. Now he just looks like a misogynistic, whiny asshole who may have lost the respect of his boss,coworkers, diners and future diners, just for a few seconds of "fame." 

 

But, please top chef gods, do not let Aaron last very long. I cannot stand his permanent scowl on his face and his giant brimmed hat. The way he flies off the handle is disturbing and not entertainment in any way, shape, or form.

 

Once could argue that being a jerk on Top Chef isn't necessarily a bad thing, although it should be. In my opinion, Ilan and his crew should have been eliminated from season 2 for man handling and assaulting another contestant. Instead, the judges or TPTB shrugged it off (pretty much) and Ilan was given the title of Top Chef! Now he hosts Knife Fight. Hosting a show doesn't equal success but Ilan didn't completely fall off the radar. Just saying.

[Julia]

Once could argue that being a jerk on Top Chef isn't necessarily a bad thing, although it should be. In my opinion, Ilan and his crew should have been eliminated from season 2 for man handling and assaulting another contestant. Instead, the judges or TPTB shrugged it off (pretty much) and Ilan was given the title of Top Chef! Now he hosts Knife Fight. Hosting a show doesn't equal success but Ilan didn't completely fall off the radar. Just saying.

Here's the thing, though: it took Ilan a long, long time to find investors. Dale T and first Tiffani, too. And none of them managed it without a bunch of redemption appearances. Mike Isabella only managed it because Bryan Volt hooked him up. I think you can argue that being an asshole at least somewhat nullified the advantage they got for doing well.

[MangoFed]

Julia, do you have a source for that? I'm not doubting your claim, I'm just interested to read more. It's interesting to see how public perception affects the chefs livelihoods.

[eleanorofaquitaine]

Dale T and first Tiffani, too. And none of them managed it without a bunch of redemption appearances. Mike Isabella only managed it because Bryan Volt hooked him up. I think you can argue that being an asshole at least somewhat nullified the advantage they got for doing well.

 

 

Not sure that is really the case for Tiffani.  She worked for a well-regarded restaurant, Rocca, before she opened up Sweet Cheeks. When Rocca closed, that's when she opened up her own place.  Obviously, I do think that she was able to turn her reputation around and that helped her, but I don't really know that her appearance on TC hurt her all that much. I just think she wasn't really ready to open her own place yet.

 

That being said, what both Tiffani and Dale seemingly had was an ability to cook good food.  Both of them had tough personalities but could clearly cook. Ilan won basically on a fluke, and IMO, I am sure that part of the reason he couldn't find investors is because he didn't demonstrate that he was all that great a chef. Love him or hate him, IMO, it was always clear that Marcel was far more creative.

 

So IMO, the only way that Aaron can overcome seeming like such an immature jerk is to prove that he can actually cook. So far, his food isn't living up to his mouth.  He needs to stop talking about what a superior chef he is, and prove it with the food.  But right now, it is clear that he isn't in the top tier of chefs there.

Edited November 2, 2014 by eleanorofaquitaine

[turbogirlnyc]

Here's the thing, though: it took Ilan a long, long time to find investors. Dale T and first Tiffani, too. And none of them managed it without a bunch of redemption appearances. Mike Isabella only managed it because Bryan Volt hooked him up. I think you can argue that being an asshole at least somewhat nullified the advantage they got for doing well.

 

I very much hope that is the case. I admit I don't recall seeing much of Ilan after that season. But maybe I missed his chance(s) for redemption. I wasn't overly impressed with Ilan's cooking skills but compared to the other cheftestants, I can see him being in the top 3.

 

Mike Isabella was a complete a hole. He did get to "redeem" himself, although he still came across as a jerk in my eyes. As bad as Mike I. and Aaron are, I used Ilan and crew as an example because what he & his "posse" did went above and beyond smack talk and asshattery.

Edited November 2, 2014 by turbogirlnyc

[Julia]

Well, Betty has a restaurant in the same market, and so does CJ. I guess the dining population of the LA area has a high tolerance for nasty cooks ;)

I think Ilan's current show is a great fit for Esquire's target I can dig girly stuff like food because I am such a manly dudebro programming. I gave up watching after five minutes and haven't been back.

Edited November 2, 2014 by Julia

[needschocolate]

So many sob stories that I thought I watching Chopped adn had to check the program description to make sure I didn't accidentally tape the wrong show.  

 

I want to take a moment to publicly apologize to my children for staying happily married to their father, for doing my best to be supportive of whatever they chose to do, and for staying alive (including whatever role I had in keeping their father alive).  I realize now that my actions and life choices have prevented my children from ever being on a reality cooking competition show.  Add in that they have all turned out to be really nice people, they have no chance on getting on any reality competition show (except Face Off).  

 

Am I wrong, or was Katsuji actually trying to be nice when he blew up and started yelling?

 

I have no idea if you are right or wrong - I can't seem to understand anything Katsuji says (well, I probably could understand him if I tried hard enough, but it doesn't seem to be worth the effort).  At one point they used subtitles for Aaron (I think it was him) but then didn't use subtitles for Katsuji - made me thing that the person typing up the subtitles couldn't understand him either.  

 

I don't miss Last Chance Kitchen at all.

 

They aren't doing Last Chance Kitchen? That would be good news.  I won't miss it, but I thought I saw a commercial for it, as I was fast-forwarding.  It was during the episode and at first I thought that it must not have been for LCK, because it had Ron (?- the guy that went home) in it, but when he ended up being kicked off, I assumed it was a LCK commercial.  

[potatoradio]

 

They aren't doing Last Chance Kitchen?

 

Dang it, I was completely wrong. They are - for some reason I thought LCK started right away with eliminations, and when I didn't see it mentioned, I thought maybe they'd done away with it. Nope. According to the Bravo site, it's due to come back. 

 

 

You misheard, Aaron was whining about how his mother didn't put him through culinary school and that he is self-taught.

 

Ah, OK. I suppose that dials his douche down a bit, though I know plenty of two-parent families who wouldn't or couldn't pay for a kid's college or post high school education, so I remain stonily indifferent to his wailing Chopped/NFNS sob story.

 

Must pay more attention for accurate snark.  

[millamant]

 

No Nickname Gregory wins the challenge, and immunity, despite or because of his hypnotic and ever-changing hair.

 

I will put in one more request for No Nickname Gregory's nickname: Young Gus Fring.  Because seriously, that's all I can see every time he comes on screen.

 

Oh, and Ron's losing dish looked like a giant bowl of hummus with an oversized falafel plopped on top.

[Julia]

There's an ad for a jewish dating service that shows on my cable system kind of a lot with a couple having a relationship fight over who's bubbe had the lightest matzo ball recipe. He says hers are heavy, she takes it as an insult to her grandmother, one of the balls falls to the ground with a practically audible thud.

That's what Ron's dish made me think of. The godzilla of somebody's grandmother's matzo balls.

[biakbiak]

Not sure that is really the case for Tiffani.  She worked for a well-regarded restaurant, Rocca, before she opened up Sweet Cheeks.

 

Tiffani tried to get financing for a project in San Franciso after her season aired and before she moved to Boston.

[elzin]

I assume I'm stating the obvious here, but just in case -- the episode is titled The Curse of the Bambino because of the Fenway Park challenge.  When the Red Sox failed to win the pennant for what wound up being 80+ years, a superstition/joke arose that their trading Babe Ruth ("The Bambino") to the Yankees was at fault.  Prior to that, the Red Sox had done very well while the Yankees had faltered, and after that roles were reversed.

Shaughnessy, who was a guest judge, wrote a book with the title The Curse of the Bambino.  I've heard it said he was the one who came up with the concept originally

[eleanorofaquitaine]

Tiffani tried to get financing for a project in San Franciso after her season aired and before she moved to Boston.

I did not know that, but one point of clarification - she didn't move to Boston after Top Chef, she had worked in and around Boston and for Todd English before she went on TC.

[MangoFed]

Gregory kinda looks like Mos Def. Maybe Mos Chef as a nickname?

[SFoster21]

Gregory kinda looks like Mos Def. Maybe Mos Chef as a nickname?

I don't know the man, but five'll get you ten he prefers Gregory.

[Darian]

Loved the tea challenge. And it really was a challenge. Some of those teas were tough to build a dish around! 

 

I grew up going to Fenway (my first crush was on Tony Conigliaro) so I loved seeing it featured, even if I had to suffer through moments of blowhard Blaise.  

[RealityGal]

Pretzels can vary so much. A nice chocolate-covered pretzel is just about the perfect junk food. I like certain kinds of crunchy ones, certain kinds of hot, soft ones. Didn't someone go home in the Jimmy Fallon challenge for using pretzel bread a few seasons ago?

crikey, I had forgotten about pretzel bread!  Have you pretzel haters had pretzel bread???  I defy you to hate a pretzel after pretzel bread thats really good!

[stillshimpy]

Oh, I just met pretzel bread last year.  It's a friend.  A yummy, yummy friend.  *munch* 

 

So I'm chiming in super later here, and I did read the entire thread. I just want to add my name to the "I really don't have an opinion or a preference for whatever city TC is filming in for any given season"  but I'm also not a baseball fan, so this was just an odd episode for me. 

 

 

 

I may be cold hearted, and getting more so each passing day, but I think Katie was trumping up her "dead father sadness," or it was producer-driven. Bringing it up at the judge's table while they were tasting her food, I just rolled my eyes.

 

In fairness to Katie, she didn't bring up her father's death until after the judges declared that they loved her dish.  When she came out, she apologized for a failure in technique and when she was told the dish was great regardless , that if she hadn't mentioned the failure in technique they wouldn't have known and they loved it, that's when her dad came up in front of the judges.  So she wasn't currying favor, I think she just started to lose her composure when her (self-perceived) spectacular failure turned out to be a big hit.  

 

I didn't feel like she was playing anything up unduly.

 

Same can't be said for Aaron, because I'm still snickering over the use of the phrase "broken home" like it's the fifties or something.  Not "single-parent household"  not, "my mom was a single parent" ...nope "broken home" like nearly half of his peers would have also been from families where parents divorced.  Broken home. Hee!  Oh the drama.  Maybe your mom could afford to send you to culinary school, Aaron, she just didn't want to encourage that entitlement streak you feed daily with the salt from your bitter, bitter tears.  

 

Also, Richard recalling his failed Salmon, as if it was a memory everyone shared was sort of funny to me.  I don't think even his fellow judge who allegedly ate the salmon knew what the hell he was talking about.  The guy had one of those politely indulgent "Ha! Yes.  Good times, good times. What times? Good times, that I recall...?!? Sure!" reactions.  

 

Poor Ron was best served by being sent home early.  He had a hard time out of the gate and he just seemed in over his head.   

Edited November 4, 2014 by stillshimpy

[Texasmom1970]

Ming Tsai, Ming Tsai, Ming Tsai, okay I have gotten my self together I can comment on the epidode.

Count me in as another viewe who watches for just the cooking, the city they are in foes not really matter to me. I do find it interesting though ti learn about new places.

Katie talking about her Dad had me teary-eyed. But like Gustav was on "Psych" I am a sympathetic cryer.

The guy at the start says he and Aaron are underdogs because they were raised in small towns? Did I hear him correctly? Then the show that Aaron is from North Hollywoid, WTF, not actually the country.

And lastly I sm pretty sure if you look up the word asshole in the dictionary there would be a picture of Aaron in that stupid cap looking lIke a smug douche.