S12.E15: Mano a Mano

[biakbiak]

It definitely doesn't fit the timeline if this was filmed six weeks after they left Boston as the graphic suggested because the DV charge happened in November and finale was filmed before that. Plus, he was present in one of the episodes, maybe he just got sick.

[cooksdelight]

Aaron was fired from his job right after his arrest.

[JES004]

The show redeemed itself for me this season - it more about the food - than the kitchen drama, personality clashes that have often plague other seasons.  The contestants on the whole were likeable people, professionals - the exception was probably Aaron, and fortunately, he got canned fairly early on.

I agree with you.  And the final three to me were the best three of the season.  It didn't matter to me which one was the winner, because I felt they all are terrific chefs.

[chiaros]

Someone upthread mentioned the absence of Aaron in the finale, and that reminded me about his latest escapade, which may have been mentioned already.  He was arrested in LA for domestic violence against his girlfriend.  He allegedly struck her and caused her to injure both knees.  He spent a night in jail and was released on a rather expensive bail.

 

I've wondered a couple of times why Tom lets a guy like Aaron on the show.  I can see why he would add drama to the party, but the Aarons of the world are also taking up space that might have been filled by a good candidate.  I think that Aaron only wanted to be on the show to show off and cause trouble on TV.  The writer of the article did his best to get Aaron fired from his job by deliberately writing the name of Aaron's restaurant three times!  While it doesn't fit into the timeline, I like to think that Aaron wasn't around for all of the finale because he was busy with his court date!

 

It definitely doesn't fit the timeline if this was filmed six weeks after they left Boston as the graphic suggested because the DV charge happened in November and finale was filmed before that. Plus, he was present in one of the episodes, maybe he just got sick.

 

 

Aaron was fired from his job right after his arrest.

 

 

Eater National has a facebook page on this "arrest" where several of the commentators say that the charges were dropped and at least one says that the charges were false.

[Lura]

I noticed that on WWHL, Andy asked Greg and Mei about Aaron, and neither had anything good to say about him.  Both said that Aaron was trouble.  We viewers had the advantage of clicking Aaron off the screen or at least muting him.  How would you have liked living with him after coming home from a grueling day?

Edited February 19, 2015 by Lura

[jimene79]

I think it was pretty one-sided and the editing made it seem much closer than it really was.  If it was close at all, the judges would've said something to the effect of "this was a very hard decision" or "this was a very close race".  But there was none of that.  Mei made one mediocre dish (the duck one), 2 good/superb dishes and the dish that pretty much sealed it - her dessert.  I think the dry octopus thing was just clever editing - everyone seemed to really like the dish despite the octopus being a little chewy and thought it was beautifully presented.  Gregory had 2 good/superb dishes (but neither got the same level of praise as Mei's dessert), a mediocre dish and of course the sugary carrot fish disaster.  I think both chefs are equally talented but in different ways and it all came down to who made the most mistakes - and Gregory just made far worse mistakes than Mei.

Although I'm not going to rewatch to confirm, I'm pretty sure they did say how close it was multiple times.  Watching it, I definitely thought it was very close.  I think Mei is very talented but I did not find her menu very sophisticated and certainly gave Gregory the edge on that.  The dessert sounded ok to me - I think it was sort of the fact that most desserts on Top Chef are bad made it seem better than it was.

Edited February 22, 2015 by jimene79

[Lura]

I am still sad that Greg didn't win, but as I said before, I was happy for Mei. Beginning with Tom's playfulness with Mei in the kitchen, and from what he said to her in his final remarks, I felt that he gave his hand away as to his preference.  But no sour grapes here.

 

What I wanted to say was that, while much has been written about Greg being a good sport when he lost, I think that no one has mentioned the fact that Mei, too, was a good sport about winning, at least in my view.  She was not loud or boastful about her win, but accepted it fairly quietly, I thought.  Either she was mindful of the fact that Greg had just lost, or she was too stunned to speak, but she accepted that great honor with what I felt was grace and modesty.  I give her a lot of credit not only for her win but for the way in which she carried herself after the win.  That's one of the things I'll remember most about this season.  It was so close, and the scales could have tipped either way, but those two contestants really gave each other a run for it!  I'll also remember how great George was in helping Greg (as Greg even said) and the sweet remark George made about this being the most important dinner he had ever cooked, too!   I'll never forget Katsuji's humor and how much I thought he added to the show.  I was really fond of this group.

Edited February 23, 2015 by Lura

[chiaros]

It definitely doesn't fit the timeline if this was filmed six weeks after they left Boston as the graphic suggested because the DV charge happened in November and finale was filmed before that. Plus, he was present in one of the episodes, maybe he just got sick.

 

I just took a quick review of the last three episodes. 

 

The panel of chefs available for the still-active contestant chefs (with the chosen chefs in bold and non-selected ones in Italics) were:

 

Pre-Finale Part 1:

James Rigato, Katsuji Tanabe, Adam Harvey, Aaron Grissom, Ron Eyster, Katie Weinner, Keriann Von Raesfeld, Joy Crump, Stacy Cogswell, Rebecca LaMalfa and George Pagonis.

(This represents all the cheftestants from the beginning of the season – except for Michael Patlazhan who never "came back" even for Last Chance Kitchen and was never seen again after his dismissal in Episode 1)

 

Pre-Finale Part 2:

Katsuji T, James R, Rebecca L, Stacy C, Adam H, Keriann VR, Melissa King, Katie W, George P.

 

Finale:

Rebecca L, Stacy C, James R, Katie W, Melissa K, Keriann VR, Adam H, George P, Katsuji T, Doug Adams.

 

p.s. I can't imagine that all the "missing chefs" from the 2nd and 3rd panels were attending court hearings. :-)  I am mildly curious though why they weren't on the last two panels.  I *do* note that panel #2 (Pre-Finale Pt 2) consisted of the chefs who WERE selected in the Pre-Finale Pt 1 plus the eliminated chef from P-F Pt1 (Melissa K); while the panel for the Finale consisted of those same chefs who were selected in P-F Pt1 plus the last two eliminated chefs (Melissa falls into both camps here).

[Noreaster]

My guess is those 3 contestants not picked in the first Mexico challenge were unlikely to ever get picked by the finalists.  So why bother bringing them back again?  Wouldn't look good for the show or those contestants.  

 

On a separate note, here's a Forbes interview with Gregory.  Apparently he auditioned twice before getting on the show for the Boston season.  

[Lura]

That article was fun to read, Noreaster.  Thanks for posting the link.  I'm trying to imagine running for four hours, then going to work until 1 a.m.!!!  No wonder he stays so trim!

Edited February 25, 2015 by Lura

[Noreaster]

Here's an Oregonian video interview with Gregory and Doug.  Note there are 2 parts totaling about 1.5 hours. There's a decent amount of overlap with the other interviews I posted. Overall a fun interview to watch if you have the time.  

 

Additional tidbits include:

-Gregory suggested that Mei had an advantage in that she didn't work at all when prepping for Top Chef.  Meanwhile, he and Doug had to work full time and couldn't practice as much.  

-the contestants weren't too friendly with each other until later on in the season.  Gregory said he and Mei kept their guards up during the first half.  Doug said Mei basically had her guard up the entire time. 

-Gregory had tried out a few times before for Top Chef (he said seasons 2, 4, another season)  He knew a lot of other Top Chef contestants.  For this season, casting called him up.  Doug said that he didn't try out but somehow got into the audition process because Top Chef was working with his roommate (sounds like another cook/chef).  

-Gregory said the producers were looking to cast a diverse group and weren't really looking at cooking as much.  He said he was cast for his back story, Doug was cast for personality, etc. 

-Doug still seems a little bitter about his two eliminations (the ant egg situation and his undercooked foie gras).  

[cooksdelight]

-Gregory suggested that Mei had an advantage in that she didn't work at all when prepping for Top Chef. Meanwhile, he and Doug had to work full time and couldn't practice as much.

BS sour grape whining. Either you can cook, or you can't. Cook food that you know, that you cook every day, and you'll either win or someone else will cook food that tastes better than yours. Oh, and don't forget, you skipped putting the correct ingredients in your main entree and screwed up the flavors. That has nothing to do with having practice time, since Gregory said it was a dish he had made before, right?

[Noreaster]

BS sour grape whining. Either you can cook, or you can't. Cook food that you know, that you cook every day, and you'll either win or someone else will cook food that tastes better than yours. Oh, and don't forget, you skipped putting the correct ingredients in your main entree and screwed up the flavors. That has nothing to do with having practice time, since Gregory said it was a dish he had made before, right?

It doesn't come across as sour grapes to me, but rather a fact. Watch the interview and see if you agree. It's been true anyway of many other seasons too.  People like Hosea, Mike Isabella, and Kevin Sbraga all prepped a lot for the finals and did better than people expected. Nick from the New Orleans season wasn't working during the break as he was focused on opening his restaurant.  In the Seattle season, Kristen practiced a ton while Brooke barely practiced because she was busy with her two restaurants.  

Edited February 26, 2015 by Noreaster

[cooksdelight]

Maybe sour grapes was the wrong choice of words to describe it, but if someone outcooks you, they outcook you. No matter what the reason. Instead of making justifications for why someone else did better than he did, Gregory should focus on the fact that he didn't cook as good a meal as Mei and leave it at that. He didn't have his sous chefs taste completed dishes. Heck, even he didn't taste a completed dish, just bit and pieces. Practice doesn't come into play there, it's whether or not you executed your meal properly.

But, hey, it's just my opinion. :)

[Noreaster]

That comment was something like 30 seconds out of a 1.5 hr interview with a bunch of Q&A. Please, I don't want anyone to exaggerate the random takeaways that I got from the interview. Gregory and Doug both came across as very cogenial about the game.  Watch and see for yourself.  

 

ETA: Gregory did mention his mistakes too.  In my post, I was just listing the additional tidbits that weren't discussed in other interviews.  

Edited February 26, 2015 by Noreaster

[Julia]

What exactly is it that Gregory does for a living, exactly? Because I have to imagine twelve hour days in the kitchen constitute at least a little practice for cooking. It's especially weak when you consider that what Mei did when she wasn't "working" was to work, in multiple restaurants. Is it the pay that inhibited his creativity?

I'd be willing to bet if Gregory had introduced himself to his own pastry chef, she could have shown him a few tricks.

[cooksdelight]

Gregory is Executive Chef of Departure restaurant in Portland. He's got an impressive resume.

[Julia]

OK, then his pastry chef _definitely_ would have helped... ;)

Edited February 26, 2015 by Julia

[Noreaster]

I'm surprised that anyone has a problem acknowledging that Mei had an advantage by not working at all during the break. She was able to stage at different restaurants and spend all her time preparing for Mexico and Top Chef-like challenges.  Of course, that's an advantage. 

 

Compare this to Doug who was promoted from sous chef to chef de cuisine immediately after coming back from Boston. That's a big step-up in responsibility and workload. Compare this to Gregory who is executive chef at a big restaurant. I don't know his day-to-day responsibilities but usually that job entails a lot more than working the line in the kitchen. Gregory also mentioned losing a sous chef around this time (sounds like it was due to Gregory's absence but I'm not sure) and how it took 9 months to find a replacement.

 

(On a separate note, related to the ongoing topic in the Media thread...both Doug and Gregory said they probably would not let their employees go on Top Chef because of the strain it would put on their restaurants.)

 

From other interviews, it's clear that Gregory did try to prepare for Mexico in his spare time. The key here is spare time. That's very different than Mei who made preparing for Top Chef her full-time job. I don't think there's anything wrong with pointing that out.

 

Kudos to Mei who made the most of her time off, and she certainly won fair and square. But I really don't see anything wrong with what Gregory said (by the way, Doug was agreeing with him). I would probably argue that Gregory should have gone with a different game plan. Stick with more familiar flavor profiles and not try to go local and cook all Mexican.  The whole dessert/non-dessert thing is debatable. I'm sure Gregory had some recipes in mind but would any of them come close to beating Mei's?

[Lura]

It shocks me that Greg would say anything like hinting that Mei had that reason for winning.  In every interview I have seen (and heard) of Gregory's, he has said that he had a bad day, that Mei deserved to win, that he made a mistake on his fish dish, on and on, but he's never once insinuated that Mei had an advantage.  It doesn't even sound like him.  I'm anxious to hear this interview.

 

The company that owns the hotel where Greg works has a restaurant on the top floor, Destinations, and employs Greg as executive chef.  The restaurant has done so well that the company is starting another in their hotel in Denver and asked Greg to serve as executive chef and menu planner there until they get on their feet.  Eventually, he'll return to Portland. This will be excellent training for him because his goal is to start restaurants all over the country.

Edited February 26, 2015 by Lura

[Totale]

-Gregory said the producers were looking to cast a diverse group and weren't really looking at cooking as much.  He said he was cast for his back story, Doug was cast for personality, etc. 

 

So this is officially no longer Top Chef as it was, but has become a Food Network/Hell's Kitchen style personality-stacked competition, instead?  Good to know.

[Noreaster]

It shocks me that Greg would say anything like hinting that Mei had that reason for winning. In every interview I have seen (and heard) of Gregory's, he has said that he had a bad day, that Mei deserved to win, that he made a mistake on his fish dish, on and on, but he's never once insinuated that Mei had an advantage. It doesn't even sound like him. I'm anxious to hear this interview.

Yes, please watch and tell us your take! It's actually a really long interview and Gregory and Doug discuss a lot of things, much of which were in response to specific audience questions. With context, I don't think that particular commentary was bad at all. I fear my earlier post is coming across like an edited Judges' Table...a very long discussion edited down to one or two sentences that blows a nitpick out of proportion. So I'd be curious to hear other people's take after watching the video. Maybe most will view it badly anyway. For me, it was no big deal, just an interesting fact.

Edited February 26, 2015 by Noreaster

[Lura]

I watched the interview and enjoyed parts of it.  I thought that Greg's comment about Mei was harmless, but Doug's embellishment on it was worse.  My favorite story was the one about Katsuji and his daughter, but I'll say no more for people who haven't seen it yet. It was hysterical to me!  I found it interesting what mainly Doug said about the judges' personalities and about the rules.  No way, Doug said, could the show be fixed.

 

I found Doug to be immature and very childish, especially by contrast to Gregory.  Gregory is older and more mature, and his answers were more polished.  I really disliked Doug interrupting Gregory, grabbing answers first, and talking so much.  Sometimes, it almost seemed like "The Douggie Show."  His repetition of stories was boring, IMHO, especially the ones about crying and talking about his mother and his dad.  At times, I thought that he needs a good therapist.  However, his chatter revealed more about what went on behind the scenes, so maybe the two complimented each other.

[Noreaster]

I definitely felt Gregory was trying to be more diplomatic and frame things more positively for the show. Doug was more unguarded. I think the difference has to do with their relative experience with the media, like you suggested.  In the interview, when they were asked about their favorite restaurants in Portland, Gregory immediately rattled off a bunch of names and Doug was like "what, how did you do that so quickly" and Gregory answered that he gets that question a lot.  

[Lura]

I felt that once Doug warmed up to the audience and discovered that he could get a laugh, he took over.  There were a few awkward spots where Gregory just sat there and let Doug prattle on.  Doug's favorite word was "I", but I didn't feel that Gregory was so focused on himself.  He mostly talked about the experiences as "we."  Doug talked about all the times he cried, and he called his parents after he was eliminated.  He heard his mother's voice and lost it.  His mother had to remind him that it was only a game, and his dad essentially told him to get a grip.  I felt sorry for his parents!  He asked Gregory how many times he cried, and Gregory said, "Never.  I was happy," and Doug was aghast!  He shot back, "WHAT???!  You never cried???"  When Gregory finally said he'd gotten a couple of tears in his eyes when he was talking to someone, Doug seemed mollified. Gregory didn't seem like he was in mourning and was much more forward looking, while Doug seemed like he hadn't come down from the experience yet and was excited about being made chef at his restaurant.  It was interesting and somewhat illuminating for me to see the contrast in the two personalities.  I think some will find Doug to be cute and fun -- and he is, in his own way.  Again, I thought the age difference was key.  For both of them, though, this was a big deal -- scary, nerve wracking, and emotional, all on very little sleep.

 

I really wish that this Mei comment hadn't come up because it wasn't a big deal.  The discussion was about Mei's poker face, and apparently Mei was not particularly warm to people in the beginning, according to Greg, but he didn't mean it to be mean.  Doug then added that she wasn't warm for the entire show!  The two of them laughed, and the discussion turned to something else.  All along, Greg has NOT been a poor loser or given a hint of sour grapes whatsoever.  Most of all, he's only said kind things about his competition and has taken the blame for his own missteps.  Watch the video.

 

I enjoyed what both of them said about Portland so much that we plan to go up there for a visit --  after Greg returns from Denver.  I want to taste some of his cooking.

Edited March 1, 2015 by Lura

[superjengirl]

On Wednesday, February 11, 2015 at 11:28 PM, NowVoyager said:

Now that I think about it, there was a villain in the finale---Mei's parents. Ending the show with the call to Voltaggio? Wow! That was a pointed statement. I dunno, it just seems like portraying her family in a bad light is only going to hurt their already difficult relationship.

She called him though b/c he is the most supportive of her choice as a chef.  I'm Asian, and my parents are the same as hers.  So set in their ways and their expectations that they can't and won't support anything else past that.  Support usually comes outside of the family..

[biakbiak]

It was also I am pretty sure the first time they showed a contestant calling someone, so I assume it had a lot to do with his connection to the show.

[Wings]

18 hours ago, superjengirl said:

Nowvoyager said:  Now that I think about it, there was a villain in the finale---Mei's parents. Ending the show with the call to Voltaggio? Wow! That was a pointed statement. I dunno, it just seems like portraying her family in a bad light is only going to hurt their already difficult relationship.

No one portrayed her parents in a bad light.  They are the ones who created the difficult relationship with their daughter.  It is on them.  The show is not responsible for white washing to make anyone look better than they are.  That is the last thing they want to do!  You don't want to look bad?  Don't be bad.  

As has  been said, Mei called the main person in her life who supports her career choice and her personally.