Bad Chefs: The worst of Top Chef

[Lillybee]

I just watched Season 1 of this show and there were some chefs that epitomize the worst that Top Chef has to offer.

 

There was a chef, Ken, (blink and you would have missed him) who was eliminated in the first episode; this guy had the nerve to attack Herbert Keller who dismissed him from his kitchen because Ken put his finger in a sauce.

 

Then there was Steven, who thought that he was the best because he knew everything about wine and the rest of the chefs were peons.

 

We can not forget Tiffany Faison who dismissed all the other chefs because they were beneath her supposedly skills and that came back to bite her in the ass, no one really wanted to work with her.

And to add insult in injury, in the finale tried to cop Dave's dessert as her own.

[eleanorofaquitaine]

If you are talking about bad people (as opposed to people who couldn't cook), nothing (to me) tops the Season 2 triumvirate of Betty, Ilan, and Elia.  I know Marcel was irritating.  He did not deserve the bullying treatment he received from those three, and Elia just compounded her awfulness by returning for the All Star season and continuing to act like a brat.

 

I also really disliked Spike because I thought he looked at Top Chef, as Top Chef: Survivor. 

[AriAu]

I also really disliked Spike because I thought he looked at Top Chef, as Top Chef: Survivor.

 

I disliked Spike as a cheftestant, but it appears that he was a pretty good cook.

When it comes to people that I thought were way out of their league on this show, I always remember the 2 people from TC New York who did not make it into the house, having been PPYKAG'd with some seemingly simple challenges.

[eleanorofaquitaine]

I disliked Spike as a cheftestant, but it appears that he was a pretty good cook.

When it comes to people that I thought were way out of their league on this show, I always remember the 2 people from TC New York who did not make it into the house, having been PPYKAG'd with some seemingly simple challenges.

 

My sense of Spike is that he is a fairly middle-of-the-road kind of cook.  Not terrible but not brilliant. 

[questionfear]

My sense of Spike is that he is a fairly middle-of-the-road kind of cook.  Not terrible but not brilliant. 

No, but he's a smart hustler. He knows he can make an above-average burger/fries/shake, so he markets the hell out of his fame. He's smarter than he acts, because he seems to grasp that his food isn't a standout in fine dining but his notoriety and decent skills are more than enough to keep a burger chain afloat. 

[eleanorofaquitaine]

No, but he's a smart hustler. He knows he can make an above-average burger/fries/shake, so he markets the hell out of his fame. He's smarter than he acts, because he seems to grasp that his food isn't a standout in fine dining but his notoriety and decent skills are more than enough to keep a burger chain afloat. 

 

I agree with you there - he's smart enough to know he'll never be a great fine dining chef.  (I watched him when both he and Marcel competed for the Next Iron Chef, and it was clear that Marcel was actually the much more creative chef).  But I still cannot stand him.  He was marginally better on Next Iron Chef, but not by much.

[cooksdelight]

I watched about five minutes of TC Texas today and saw how hateful Sarah and Heather were to Bev. Those two top the mean girls list of all time, for me. Then when Bev was brought back after winning LCK, the look of disgust on Sarah's face was awful.

[NewDigs]

.....Then when Bev was brought back after winning LCK, the look of disgust on Sarah's face was awful.

...and the look on my face was one of bliss. And triumph.

I had a few minor issues with Bev but they did not rise (sink?) to the level of middle school mean-girl bullying.

But I would have to give the "TC Worst Behavior Ever" award to EofA's choice of that Season 2 triumvirate. And then to have Ilan win! I didn't even think Marcel was especially annoying. Awful.

Edited December 1, 2014 by NewDigs

[Lillybee]

I have to nominate Josie for being one of the worst chefs ever. The first season she was on, she was fine, but when she came back for season 10 with Stefan and CJ, she was beyond awful. Her food was bad, for example the raw turkey for thanksgiving. On restaurant wars, she didn't do what she was supposed to do with the broth in a timely way and then threw Kristen under the bus. She really was hateful that season.

[Kate the Great]

Not to mention Josie beat out Hot Jeff in Stefan's season (Hosea won that year, rather inexplicably, if memory serves). No, I'm not stlll bitter that Hot Jeff never seemed to get the respect as a chef that he deserved... OK, maybe a little.

[Julia]

Jeff maybe wasn't such a peach either.

Edited December 2, 2014 by Julia

[Lura]

It would be a draw between Ilan and Hosea for me, and Tiffani Faison would be breathing down their necks.  Those three people were so unlikable that I'm surprised they were ever allowed on the show.  For reasons that I don't understand, I actually become angry when Tiffani  comes on the screen.  She gives everyone that broad, gap-toothed grin, and she's over the moon about being in love.  Even her restaurant namet, Sweet Cheeks, turns me off.  I know she isn't referring to anyone's face!  Maybe it's the loving nickname she calls her wife.  That Tiffani's sexual orientation is different from mine is immaterial.  The fact that she was such a snake on the show and returns claiming to be all different these days makes me see red.

 

I don't remember Jeff McGinniss.  I'll have to look him up.  Another one I didn't care for was Brian (I think) Malarkey.  He was such a buffoon.

[cooksdelight]

Watched the very end of the finale of Texas, reaffirming for me how horrible and mean Sarah was. Constantly talking down to Tyler, calling him one of the girls. Then when she loses, she pulls a Blais "I should have won!! I deserve to be Top Chef!" while bawling. I don't think gracious is part of her vocabulary.

[Julia]

Let's not forget Lisa Fernandes, now. Not just a first-order strega, but a woman whose opponents were clearly in fear that she was going to turn her formidable narcissistic nastiness on them. Because if they'd been willing to get into a pissing match with someone so poorly toilet trained, when she cornered them about wishing she had been eliminated they would have cheerfully agreed, along with the rest of us watching.

[cooksdelight]

Yes, Lisa was baaaaaaad. Neither she nor Sarah have been asked back to judge or be any part of TC.

[Julia]

and Sarah at least claims to have been misrepresented. Heather's proud.

[eleanorofaquitaine]

Not to mention Josie beat out Hot Jeff in Stefan's season (Hosea won that year, rather inexplicably, if memory serves). No, I'm not stlll bitter that Hot Jeff never seemed to get the respect as a chef that he deserved... OK, maybe a little.

That's incorrect.  Josie's initial season was season 2 (the Marcel season) - Jeff was on Season 5. Jeff lost in a challenge that Carla Hall won.

 

It would be a draw between Ilan and Hosea for me, and Tiffani Faison would be breathing down their necks.  Those three people were so unlikable that I'm surprised they were ever allowed on the show.  For reasons that I don't understand, I actually become angry when Tiffani  comes on the screen.  She gives everyone that broad, gap-toothed grin, and she's over the moon about being in love.  Eve  her restaurant, Sweet Cheeks, turns me off.  I know she isn't referring to anyone's face!  Maybe it's the loving nickname she calls her wife.  That Tiffani's sexual preference is different from mine is immaterial.  The fact that she was such a snake on the show and returns claiming to be all different these days makes me see red.

 

I don't remember Jeff McGinniss.  I'll have to look him up.  Another one I didn't care for was Brian (I think) Malarkey.  He was such a buffoon.

 

I didn't like Tiffani in Season 1 but I do think she learned her lesson and she has made much more of a concerted effort to be pleasant in her other appearances.

[Bastet]

I don't remember Tiffani bothering me in her season.  I remember that she was someone easy to dislike, I just don't remember disliking her.  And I liked her in the All Stars season.

 

(And, by the way, it's sexual orientation, not preference.)

 

I absolutely could not stand Marcel and cannot imagine having to live and work alongside him, but that some of his castmates opted to express their issues with him via assault is just mind boggling to me.  Assholes.

 

I also couldn't stand Stephen "Tool and Douchebag" Asprinio, but I can't remember if he bugged me in subsequent appearances.

[Kate the Great]

Re. incorrect: nope, Josie came back for a football showdown-type challenge and beat Jeff in that, leading to his elimination. I just remember him in that season being an always-the-bridesmaid also-ran, and people like Hosea and Leah winning...

[Julia]

For reasons that I don't understand, I actually become angry when Tiffani  comes on the screen.  She gives everyone that broad, gap-toothed grin, and she's over the moon about being in love.  Even her restaurant namet, Sweet Cheeks, turns me off.  I know she isn't referring to anyone's face!  Maybe it's the loving nickname she calls her wife.  That Tiffani's sexual preference is different from mine is immaterial. 

 

Were you equally offended when Richard announced on his original season that he was going home to make babies, or pretty much tried to crawl inside his pregnant wife on Ellis Island during All Stars? Because, again, nothing says "We are totally doing the deed" louder than pregnancy. Personally, my spotlight couple for the inappropriate overshare was the usual, Hosea and Leah.

 

Actually, I think Clark Frasier and Mark Gaier on TCM were the only couple who've pulled off a real life relationship gracefully so far. 

[Lura]

I'm amazed that some people on this thread can remember all of the names of the contestants.  When I'm watching an episode, I'm sure that I'll never forget so-and-so, but a couple of years later, and I'm lost about who they are.  Linda Hernandez is another one on my list.  It will be fun to look her up, along with McGinness and see who they are!  :)  Of course, I never see an episode again, once it's been on, while some people here watch re-runs or videos occasionally.  There.  That makes me feel better.

Edited December 4, 2014 by Veruca Assault
removing ongoing discussion of preference vs orientation

[eleanorofaquitaine]

Re. incorrect: nope, Josie came back for a football showdown-type challenge and beat Jeff in that, leading to his elimination. I just remember him in that season being an always-the-bridesmaid also-ran, and people like Hosea and Leah winning...

 

Okay, I had forgotten that they brought back previous contestants for that challenge.  I stand corrected.

 

Linda Hernandez is another one on my list.

 

 

Lura, do you mean Lisa Fernandes? I don't know who Linda Hernandez is (though I also did not watch the TX season and only half of New Orleans).  If you do mean Lisa, she is now running a food truck in NYC.

Edited December 3, 2014 by eleanorofaquitaine

[cooksdelight]

Lura, McGinness hooked up with a blonde (name escapes me) from a later TC competition, left his wife in Miami and he and the new girl have a successful restaurant in NYC.

[Julia]

Janine, the aussie with the cutoffs from New Orleans, was working with Jeff in Miami before her season, and opened a restaurant with him in the East Village not too much afterwards.

[Lura]

I now know who Lisa and Jeff are!  I took one look at their pictures and remembered quite a bit about them.  I always thought Jeff came off as a beach bum who, despite the rigors of the competition, didn't care to work too hard.  Maybe that's being unfair to him, but it was just an impression.  Lisa wasn't very nice.  I disliked her attitude, but I never really disliked her because I had a feeling she had problems.  I'd completely forgotten, though, that she wound up in the finals. 

 

I suppose that everyone knows that Hosea's girlfriend broke up with him after she saw his behavior with Leah on the show.  That's probably common knowledge, but I only read about it yesterday.  I'm really on top of things!   :)

                                   

[biakbiak]

I always thought Jeff came off as a beach bum who, despite the rigors of the competition, didn't care to work too hard.

 

Interesting how people see people differently, Jeff always annoyed me because  I thought he was too intense and always overworking/overthing his dishes because he thought more was somehow better.

[Bella]

Right, he's the one who looked like he should have been on the beach but always used 24 ingredients where 8 would do.

 

I actually liked him, but I thought he went out at the right time - close to the finale, but not quite there.

[Lovecat]

Regardless of how Jeff and Janine got together, if they ever breed, those will be some BEAUTIFUL babies.

[CherryMalotte]

I have no use for anybody on Season Two.  

[AriAu]

and how can we forget the immortal Tyler Stone? Who you might ask-the guy who did not get past the preliminary round of TC Texas (a bunch of people didn't), but he made a complete ass out of himself in the process.

[biakbiak]

the guy who did not get past the preliminary round of TC Texas

Though he was a sous chef in the finale. 

[Lura]

Betty (I think that was her name) was a hard one for me to like.  She had quite a temper.  Who was it on the receiving end of a blowup she had?  Marcel, maybe?  I loved the challenge when the contestants worked under well-established chefs.  No chef wanted Betty, IIRC. That episode had the infamous Dale vs. Michael Chiarello battle (and I was rooting for Dale)!  They had to serve a banquet up on a cement roof, and the weather was so hot that the food was in jeopardy.  I like Chef Hubert Keller very much, and he treated Betty like the gent that he is.  Speaking of Dale, his restaurant has garnered some great reviews.  I'm glad for him. 

[Lillybee]

The best knock down on Season 1 was when Dave told Tiffany that "I am not your bitch, bitch".

[ChelseaNH]

Except that Dave didn't have much to complain about, as far as that episode went.  He was out running the front of the house, doing his own thing, so it's not like he was being treated like a lackey.

[Julia]

Except that Dave didn't have much to complain about, as far as that episode went.  He was out running the front of the house, doing his own thing, so it's not like he was being treated like a lackey.

I'm pretty sure what set Dave off was that Tiffany was given the first shot at saying why she thought she should win the prize (a trip to Italy, I think), and then when Dave was given his chance he barely got a full sentence in before Tiffany interrupted him to talk some more about why she deserved to go (and if you recall, Harold backed Dave, of course in the nicest possible way).

I think the judges should have slapped her wrist, honestly, but I don't at all mind that Dave did. The judges on this show have an unfortunate tendency to reward unacceptable behavior by letting it pass unless the victim makes an issue of it. I don't know if it's Tom's way of seeing who's able to lion tame their staff, which is fair, but then you end up with Hosea, Ilan and Sarah and season 1 Tiffani as your public face.

[Bastet]

The best knock down on Season 1 was when Dave told Tiffany that "I am not your bitch, bitch".

 

I find that one of the worst moments in the show's history, just behind treating that slur like something so funny it should actually be put on a t-shirt at the reunion.

[bosawks]

I find that one of the worst moments in the show's history, just behind treating that slur like something so funny it should actually be put on a t-shirt at the reunion.

 

And the way Dave treated that statement as a bon mot worthy of Wilde was embarrassing.

[proserpina65]

I absolutely could not stand Marcel and cannot imagine having to live and work alongside him, but that some of his castmates opted to express their issues with him via assault is just mind boggling to me.  Assholes.

 

Up until the head-shaving incident, I had no sympathy for Marcel and thought he was as bad as Cliff and Ilan; I wouldn't classify anything his castmates did or said to or about him to that point as bullying.  But physical violence was absolutely not called for in any way.  Still can't stand Marcel, however.

[proserpina65]

I find that one of the worst moments in the show's history, just behind treating that slur like something so funny it should actually be put on a t-shirt at the reunion.

I might've been offended if Tiffani hadn't been a bitch to Dave during the discussion of who should get the prize.  The epithet was well-deserved.

[Bastet]

I don't agree that insulting someone's gender (or race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, etc.) is an acceptable substitute for attacking their actions, when it is those actions that are at issue with their gender, race, etc. being irrelevant.  Such slurs cannot, by definition, be "deserved" in my opinion. 

 

It made me angry to hear Dave say it.  It made me sick to see Andy Cohen run with it.

[Veruca Assault]

A friendly reminder to the site's policy on using the term sexual orientation instead of sexual preference:

 

We like the GLAAD document provided here:

http://www.glaad.org/reference/offensive

 

It's a concise accounting of the dos and don'ts of language referencing the LGBT community and LGBT people. Times change and language with it. It's a quick read!

 

Thank you!

[Julia]

The gendered nature of the insult was inappropriate.

I think Tiffany was given her head, most likely at the behest of Andy Cohen's tackyass passion for catfights, specifically so there would be some form of confrontation. The fact that she lied on Dave's dessert and then repeatedly cut him off during the reunion suggested to me that she got the message of her free ride very clearly. It was only when she failed to find the support to open the SF restaurant she was talking about for years because asshole isn't a real marketable niche that she went for some late in life toilet training just in time for All Stars.

So I don't think Dave's phrasing was appropriate, but I do understand his frustration. I didn't see any indication that Tiffani's steamroller ever so much as stuttered with appropriate opposition, particularly since, as above, the judges completely abdicated their role as fair brokers so there was no downside in her behaving like a schoolyard bully.

I actually don't dislike kinder gentler Tiffani - she seems to have at least learned the value of public civility - but season 1 Tiffani pissed in the sandbox a little too much for me to be more outraged that Dave eventually took a dump.

I'll cheerfully agree to despising Andy Cohen for marketing the misogyny, but that's pretty much what Bravo sells on his watch, so that's a deal with the devil Tom and Co made.

[NewDigs]

Appropriate or not, I do remember snorting at Dave's not-so bon mots. So, I think I considered it snort-worthy but not t-shirt worthy.

I am happy to see the kinder and gentler Tiffani and I hope it's not just a front for PR's sake.

But now I am trying to remember a cheftestant, (I think), who seemed as equally at wit's end as Dave and who chose to call someone a "snake in the grass" complete with a "Sssss..."

Anyone? Bueller?

[ChelseaNH]

Miguel from Season 1.  Dismissed in the first-ever Restaurant Wars, he was the "no thinker" on LeeAnn's team who was booted for coasting, saving Stephen's condescendingly educational ass.

[Lillybee]

Didn't Miguel say that to Tiffany in Season 1?

[NewDigs]

Thank you!

I think that's the quote I was expecting at the reunion t-shirt presentation.

I think I need to rewatch Season 1.

[DoctorWhovian]

Lisa is definitely the worst. I think what gives her the top spot, is in appearances after the show, she has continued to be awful. Tiffani, eve on the reunion show, admitted she came across as awful and has tried to be better. Marcel also tops my list with Lisa because he also refuses to admit his awfulness.

 

It's not even worth it to talk about the bottom 50% of the chefs that never made it past their first few episodes. But Tyler Stone was classic.

[eleanorofaquitaine]

Lisa is definitely the worst. I think what gives her the top spot, is in appearances after the show, she has continued to be awful. Tiffani, eve on the reunion show, admitted she came across as awful and has tried to be better. Marcel also tops my list with Lisa because he also refuses to admit his awfulness.

 

I've never found Marcel to be that awful. He was annoying, sure.  But his annoyingness never seemed more than garden variety annoyingness.  Sure, he could be arrogant and irritating, but he also never took himself that seriously, never went out of his way to antagonize his cast-mates, didn't really complain to the judges if they didn't like a dish, and was actually creative.  Even without the bullying and assault directed towards him, I don't think I could ever rate Marcel as anything beyond middle of the pack when it comes to the spectrum of likeability - not the most likeable but in my view, nowhere near the least likeable.

[Bella]

I didn't like Marcel during his season - I thought he was an arrogant little creep - but that was Season 2. There have been so many others since then, and I really think the worst were the mean girls from the Texas season. Marcel has matured and developed a sense of humor about himself in the process.

[bunnywithanaxe]

First off, I hate Josie because I had a fat crush on Kristen, and there is no way you can convince me Josie didn't deliberately jack her up.

Hate Sarah, because she let her hatred of Bev Make her do unsportsmanlike things.

My favorite bad chef is that putz who mangled the side of beef On "Texas" and didn't even make it to the first round. Hee!

Edited December 6, 2014 by bunnywithanaxe