Season vs. Season

[Julia]

It came up on TWOP, so I looked it up.

 

Honestly, the only things I remember clearly from watching the actual season are that Tiffany's awesome, Angelo's on the make, and Alex reminded me of Squidward. I get Amanda mixed up with Leah, which probably isn't fair to Leah.

Edited September 29, 2014 by Julia

[cooksdelight]

This is going to sound awful, but the way I kept Amanda separate from Leah was the ever-growing cold sore on Amanda's upper lip. It just kept getting bigger.

I wonder how many women Angelo will provide visa money to before he buys a clue?

The NASA challenge in this season drove me nuts. It's hard to think of something that can be freeze dried and still taste good. I remember being enthralled with being an astronaut when I was a kid. When that space candy came out (I think it was just glorified caramel sticks) I just had to have some. And we always had Tang in the house because that's what the astronauts drank. :)

[Bella]

The reason the NASA challenge didn't bug me is that I do some work for NASA and know the mindset there. Yes, it was kind of a stupid challenge from the standpoint that freeze-dried food is always going to be food-as-fuel rather than the food-as-art that TC normally shoots for. But "never" is not a word that's acknowledged at NASA. "Highly unlikely" gets thrown around, but not "never." And so the hope for food that is both palatable and freeze-dried remains alive.

[Julia]

I thought taboulleh would have been a really good choice, maybe with a packet of lemon juice and some pita chips and hummus? I don't think that would suffer from rehydration.

[Totale]

The NASA challenge in this season drove me nuts. It's hard to think of something that can be freeze dried and still taste good. I remember being enthralled with being an astronaut when I was a kid. When that space candy came out (I think it was just glorified caramel sticks) I just had to have some. And we always had Tang in the house because that's what the astronauts drank. :)

 

Space food sticks!  Tasted like Play-doh mixed with sand.  Me and the sibs had begged for them so we had to choke 'em down.

[SFoster21]

Thanks, guys, for the Alex stuff. Hard to imagine he's a successful chef anywhere. Sleazeball city.

[cooksdelight]

Alex has a successful restaurant in Los Angeles, a beautiful wife and child. He's doing quite well.

[Lamb18]

So I've reached the end of season 4...

As for Richard's reaction, I agree with biakbiak that he was simply pissed about losing, period.  I don't think Stephanie being a woman had much to do with it, if anything at all.  In fact, this might get me tossed from this thread, but I don't know that I saw anything super-objectionable about Richard in this season.  (It could be my serious dislike for Lisa getting in the way.)  If I'd seen this season before watching All-Stars, I might've been more disappointed that he lost the first time.  And if he hadn't turned into an entitled jerk, I might've rooted for him to win the All-Stars season.  Alas, he became a jerk, so I rooted for Antonia.

Richard was OK during his season.  He showed his jerk colors in the first episode of All-Stars when he said he lost season 4 because he choked.  Plus there was his attitude throughout that he really was the winner, Stephanie's win was just a fluke.

[wallflower75]

 

Richard was OK during his season.  He showed his jerk colors in the first episode of All-Stars when he said he lost season 4 because he choked.  Plus there was his attitude throughout that he really was the winner, Stephanie's win was just a fluke.

 

And that's where he lost me.  They were in a dead heat going into the finale, and when they got there, Richard choked, Stephanie didn't, so Stephanie won.  There's no guarantee that Richard would've won if he hadn't choked.  Now if Lisa had won, I could see why Richard would feel he was robbed.  But losing to Stephanie wasn't the great injustice Richard implied it was when he came back for All-Stars.

 

I just finished up the season 5 episode centered around Gail's bridal shower, and...I can see where Stefan's attitude rubbed people the wrong way.  He was arrogant, bossy, and a bit of a jerk.  I got a kick out of the judges loving Jeff's sorbet (which Stefan pooh-poohed) but not caring as much for Stefan's dish.  And I can't figure out if his thing with Jamie was him playing around or if he genuinely thought he might stand a chance with her.

 

I have no real opinion of Hosea at the moment--I do expect that to change.  I think Carla is adorable, but I'm surprised that she's done so poorly up to this point.  And speaking of Jamie, while I understand it must be frustrating being so close but never winning, I was kind of pissed that she sucked the joy out of Ariane's win in the bridal shower challenge with her sulking.

[cooksdelight]

And I can't figure out if his thing with Jamie was him playing around or if he genuinely thought he might stand a chance with her.

It's funny.... Stefan always hits on the lesbians. First Jamie, then Kristen during her season when he, CJ and Josie came back. I think he will pick a "girlfriend" he knows won't touch him, which may be why he's had bad luck with marriage, dating, etc.

[SFoster21]

The interesting thing about the Stefan season is that the very first episode had an instant elimination thing where they had to cut onions and make little squares of apples, etc., and the rankings in that comp turned out to be the way the show went. The first four there were the last four.

[roamyn]

My favorite is S3.

Everyone really seemed to get along.

Okay, maybe not Hung, but there was no hate like w/Ilan, Lisa, Dale (S4), the Voltagio's, Blaise, Betty....

And Hung made the best dish of all time: Smurf Village Cereal.

Plus there was - to me - the hottest chef on that show, in Tre....Mmmm...if onlyb he could've served himself up on a platter during 'RW.

[roamyn]

It's funny.... Stefan always hits on the lesbians. First Jamie, then Kristen during her season when he, CJ and Josie came back. I think he will pick a "girlfriend" he knows won't touch him, which may be why he's had bad luck with marriage, dating, etc.

"I make great babies!"

[wallflower75]

I just finished with Restaurant Wars, and ahhhh...now I get the Hosea hate.  I'll just bet he regrets making out with Leah on the couch.  More like it suddenly hit him that, hello, there are cameras everywhere, and they've recorded this and will likely show it to the world.  And then he'll be in deep water, so no, baby, I really didn't mean it and I don't know what happened and I'm not that kind of guy.  Whatever.  And whatever to her, too, with her "I've never cheated on a boyfriend before."  Ugh, ugh, ugh.

 

As for Stefan...my memories of Seattle are getting dimmer, although I do plan to rewatch the seasons I've seen after I finish with the ones I haven't, but I don't remember him being quite so much of a jerk in that season--except with John, who frankly was just as big a jerk, not that that's an excuse.  Well, that and his behavior during the Restaurant Wars debacle, which got eclipsed by the fallout of what happened with Kristen and Josie.

Edited October 4, 2014 by wallflower75

[Julia]

I just finished with Restaurant Wars, and ahhhh...now I get the Hosea hate.  I'll just bet he regrets making out with Leah on the couch.  More like it suddenly hit him that, hello, there are cameras everywhere, and they've recorded this and will likely show it to the world.  And then he'll be in deep water, so no, baby, I really didn't mean it and I don't know what happened and I'm not that kind of guy.  Whatever.  And whatever to her, too, with her "I've never cheated on a boyfriend before."  Ugh, ugh, ugh.

Oh, bless you, you have Hosea hate yet to come. Restaurant Wars was just the beginning of his slide to douchitude.

[Bella]

When I rewatch that season, I keep thinking that Leah might have stood out more as a chef had she not had the personal drama going on. Just about everything she cooked appealed to me.

 

In my mental game of reshuffling the casts, I swap her out with one of the Voltaggio brothers, whom I liked individually but disliked as competing sibs.

[cooksdelight]

Hosea's fiance ditched his cheating ass the minute that episode aired. I don't think he's had a serious girlfriend since. Who would take a chance on him?

[Julia]

Hosea's fiance ditched his cheating ass the minute that episode aired. I don't think he's had a serious girlfriend since. Who would take a chance on him?

I really disliked the way that was handled. I'm past thinking that the producers would give up a golden opportunity like that tossed in their laps, but (at least in my memory) Hosea got to make a long earnest speech about what a great guy he was, and how he would never do such a thing, and how sad he was that he hurt anyone and he hoped his girlfriend would forgive him because he wuvved her very, very much. Leah got a few seconds to say woops, that was awkward.

Then her screen time was cut way back and he kept his. I thought the producers made it pretty clear moving forward who they thought behaved badly, and it wasn't the guy.

Edited October 4, 2014 by Julia

[wallflower75]

 

Then her screen time was cut way back and he kept his. I thought the producers made it pretty clear moving forward who they thought behaved badly, and it wasn't the guy.

 

Exactly.  As the old cliche goes, it takes two to tango, and whose voice did we hear during that scene?  Leah's.  I somehow doubt she would've continued on if she weren't getting some sort of encouragement from Hosea, but we got nothing until the next morning.  And I'm glad to hear the fiancee dumped him--I would too if I'd been humiliated like that!

 

I'm at the La Bernardin episode now.  I understand why Stefan was a villain this season--I laughed my ass off when he got beat by Andrea in the Super Bowl Chef challenge.  But I'd rather put up with him over Hosea's whining every time Stefan wins a challenge.  It's like Hosea's trying to create a rivalry because he thinks he's better than Stefan, and Stefan swats him away like he's a pesky fly because he knows Hosea isn't better.

[wallflower75]

Well, that was a craptastic ending.  Hosea officially replaces Nicholas as worst Top Chef winner in my book.  My heart broke for Carla, it really did.  She wanted to win so badly but stumbled terribly when it counted.  As for Stefan, while he said he wasn't bitter about losing...I don't think he's being entirely honest.

 

I'm still watching the reunion episode, and something Toby what's-his-face said made me think of what drives me nuts about this show.  He said that Hosea had a great night, while Carla and Stefan did not, and that's why Hosea won.  A season-long contest showed us who the best chef of the competition was, and it wasn't Hosea.  (Toss up as to whether it was Stefan or Carla.  I hate to admit it, but Stefan would get my vote because Carla didn't start out well.)  Hosea was just good enough in each challenge to avoid getting eliminated, and wound up as the winner because he had a great night when it counted.  Top Chef doesn't take an entire season into account, which is frustrating and leads us to winners like Hosea.  It's why I don't hate Last Chance Kitchen, because it allows for someone who has a bad night (or gets thrown under a bus by an inferior chef) to get back into the competition.

 

So that's my two cents--I wish when it comes to the finale that the judges would take the entire season into consideration.  That way the Hoseas and Nicholases wouldn't win over superior chefs.  And now on to the last season I haven't seen--season 6!

[Julia]

My heart broke for Carla, it really did.  She wanted to win so badly but stumbled terribly when it counted. 

 

I don't think she stumbled. I think Casey tripped her. I'm firmly on team Casey STFU if you're brainstorming a dish you don't know how to successfully produce during someone else's shot at the win.

[cooksdelight]

Part of Carla's problems throughout the season was self-doubt, I think. And she let Casey get in her head and screw with it. I totally agree with you, Julia.

[Julia]

I'd be more willing to give Casey the benefit of the doubt, but she was beyond tacky about it, and then put Carla on the spot during All Stars and tried to get her to say that none of it was her fault. Carla was, as usual, totally gracious about it. Which, I guess, is why Carla's one of the most successful cheftestants and Casey's kinda not.

Edited October 8, 2014 by Julia

[wallflower75]

I don't think she stumbled. I think Casey tripped her. I'm firmly on team Casey STFU if you're brainstorming a dish you don't know how to successfully produce during someone else's shot at the win.

 

Casey certainly didn't help, I agree, and after reading her comments in the link Julia provided, I'm even more pissed off with her.  (And to think I kind of liked her in her season!  Clearly she wasn't content with shooting herself in the foot in her own finale.)  But I also agree with cooksdelight--Carla's self-doubt played into the disaster that was her finale performance.

 

I'm not even ten minutes into Season 6 and Mike Isabella's got my blood boiling.  There's no way "a girl" should be better than him at something?  RAAAAAGE!!!!!

[roamyn]

Wallflower, I just started watching it again, as well, and I also hated the "old lady" comment.

I remember liking Mike I in All-Stars, & hating Blaise. It was like they switched for me. I'm glad for the reminder of what a sexist pig Mike I was.

[wallflower75]

I remember liking Mike I in All-Stars, & hating Blaise. It was like they switched for me. I'm glad for the reminder of what a sexist pig Mike I was.

 

What I remember most about Mike from All-Stars was that he took an idea Richard had for a dish and won a challenge with it.  Was he also one of the guys who got "grossed out" when the ladies started talking about bras?  Interestingly enough, that was one of the moments from All-Stars that made me like Tiffany from season 1.

[roamyn]

I just want to squeeze the daylights out of Eli.

Trash talking is bothing new to Top Chef, or any competitive competition.

But trash talking abt someone's fight to live! is down right nasty.and immature. I hope Robin is still doing well, health-wise.

[wallflower75]

I'm currently watching the "Meat Natalie" episode--I find it hilarious that they're cooking a vegetarian meal in a steakhouse.  After all the talk of the wonderful meats they wanted to cook, they end up not being able to use any of it.  Eli has been annoying the hell out of me--I realize Robin is annoying.  We've all worked with the person who won't shut up and gets on our last nerve.  But his comments were way out of line.  And even though he said he would only joke about vegetarians being a, what was it, lower class of life form or whatever, you get the feeling that it's his true opinion of them.

 

I really liked Bryan when I saw him on Top Chef Masters last year, but I'm not especially crazy about his brother.  I feel kind of bad about Jennifer losing confidence in her dishes--it really surprised me because of how vehemently she defended the dish that got her eliminated on All-Stars.  And I'm surprised at how long Robin's stuck around.  Seems like there's someone in every season who gets this far and you wonder how it happened.

[Wings]

I just finished watching that season wallflower.  The V brothers are humorless and cardboard.  They sure can cook though!  Robin, ugh.   I watched every season when they aired but I forgot a lot.  

Edited October 16, 2014 by wings707

[Julia]

I'm not a huge fan of Michael Voltaggio, but I'm not a huge fan of Jenn's either. She really annoyed me when she was talking about how it wouldn't be responsible to have a family as a working chef (and presumably a woman, since all the male chefs she was talking to had families they weren't staying home with), and she was a flaming jerk towards her team during restaurant wars. Not as bad as Sang, but bad enough.

Edited October 16, 2014 by Julia

[turbogirlnyc]

I just finished watching that season wallflower.  The V brothers are humorless and cardboard.  They sure can cook though!  Robin, ugh.   I watched every season when they aired but I forgot a lot.  

 

It's funny that you say humorless and cardboard because one of the things I loved most about Bryan (Brian?) V. was his laugh. It reminds me of my brother in law's laugh. Like spot on.

 

I understand where you're coming from with that comment, though. Especially regarding Michael. Has any contestant ever been so freaking boring & monotone in their talking heads as Mike Volt? And don't say Harold D. because he will always be my most favorite cheftestant and Top Chef! ever. I need to watch season 6 again because it is my 2nd favorite season. Season one will forever be tops in my book. So many characters!! Or maybe it was the newness of it all that I loved so much. I watched it when it first aired.

Edited October 18, 2014 by turbogirlnyc

[wallflower75]

It's funny that you say humorless and cardboard because one of the things I loved most about Bryan (Brian?) V. was his laugh. It reminds me of my brother in law's laugh. Like spot on.

 

I understand where you're coming from with that comment, though. Especially regarding Michael. Has any contestant ever been so freaking boring & monotone in their talking heads as Mike Volt?

 

That's it--it's the laugh!  Because having just finished watching this season, I don't know that I would've liked Bryan as much if I hadn't seen Top Chef Masters first--for some reason, I remember him being a lot more fun.  Maybe he wasn't and I'm just remembering the laugh?  Argh--more rewatching to come!

 

As for Michael V, he's very talented, very intense, and very, very boring.  No quibbling over his win--I thought going into the finale that all three had a good shot and deserved to be there, which you can't say for every season.

 

On to Washington D.C., where I don't remember much about the winner except that the first time I saw the show, I was upset because I didn't think he should've won.  It almost put me off the whole show altogether, except that I watched the reunion where they announced the All Stars cast that included one of my favorites from season 7, so I kept watching.

Edited October 19, 2014 by wallflower75

[turbogirlnyc]

That's it--it's the laugh!  Because having just finished watching this season, I don't know that I would've liked Bryan as much if I hadn't seen Top Chef Masters first--for some reason, I remember him being a lot more fun.  Maybe he wasn't and I'm just remembering the laugh?  Argh--more rewatching to come!

 

As for Michael V, he's very talented, very intense, and very, very boring.  No quibbling over his win--I thought going into the finale that all three had a good shot and deserved to be there, which you can't say for every season.

 

On to Washington D.C., where I don't remember much about the winner except that the first time I saw the show, I was upset because I didn't think he should've won.  It almost put me off the whole show altogether, except that I watched the reunion where they announced the All Stars cast that included one of my favorites from season 7, so I kept watching.

 

Michael V. is super talented and deserved the win, I totally agree! You reminded me that he's very intense and maybe that's why I pegged him as sort of unenthusiastic. He is probably a very private person too. No dislike for either Volts from me. I'd love to eat at Table 21 (Bryan's restaraunt) as I've read many stellar reviews on here and over at TWOP. I don't recall hearing about Michael's place so not sure what he's been up to. Maybe it's time for me to Google.

[Julia]

If I didn't love Bryan for anything else, he served government workers free pizza during the government shutdown. Members of Congress were not eligible.

[cooksdelight]

I'm watching the Seattle season, and I swear... Padma was an unhinged bitch where Kristen was concerned after Restaurant Wars. Josie should have gone home, for no other reason than how she threw Kristen under the bus, her failing to take responsibility for her own shortcomings, and her shitty comments. But then at Judges' Table, Padma turned into a raging banshee against Kristen. I forgot how ugly she was. It must have killed her when Kristen eventually won.

[Julia]

Oh, that was practically attractive compared to the temper tantrum she threw when someone asked her drunken ass about it on Look What Happens Live. Srsly, Dale T was bartending and he was keeping his eyes firmly on the bar.

[PinkSprinkles]

Although I liked Kristen, her win will always be tainted for me because of Last Chance Kitchen. Even though one must "fight back" to earn their spot back on LCK, the conditions are completely different from those still in the running and beating one person is easier than having to go against multiple people. At least on Survivor in the seasons they have done redemption island the contestants remained in the same living conditions as the other contestants. Not to mention that Jeff has no hand in picking who comes back whereas Tom is the sole person who decides which dish is better. I think Kristen was deserving of the title, don't get me wrong, but I wish they had just gotten rid of Josie during the RW challenge and let Kristen go on to win legitimately. I've always thought she was kicked off so they could make LCK seem like a good twist by having someone come back from it and win the entire show. 

 

I'm also in the minority on this view, but season 2 is one of my all-time favorites. Anytime I am having a bad day all I have to do is put on the Thanksgiving episode from that season and it makes me laugh every time. The editing was also superb that season. No one was left off the hook in terms of the Marcel situation and I'm glad they didn't spare Ilan's edit because he was the eventual winner. 

[Bella]

I sort of do and sort of don't agree, PinkSprinkles. I was completely outraged by Kristen's elimination, to the point where I quit watching the season until the finale. And the only reason I watched the finale was that I learned on TWOP that Kristen was back in it.

 

So, which did I loathe most: the LCK set-up, or Kristen's unfair elimination? I chose the latter without much question, and I was happy that she played her way back in. Still, I do see these successful returnees who take the whole thing* as needing an asterisk. In Kristen's case, it's unfair, as she should never have been subject to LCK in the first place. But there you have it.

 

*There was also a winner who played back in on Face Off, and I think there might have been one on The Biggest Loser as well.

[snakenax]

 

think Kristen was deserving of the title, don't get me wrong, but I wish they had just gotten rid of Josie during the RW challenge and let Kristen go on to win legitimately.

I think the problem there is that Josie wasn't really in contention to go. They overall liked what Josie put out and Kristen admitted to the parts they didn't like being her decision. Kristen could have brought up Josie's lack of teamwork, but back end dramatics have rarely swayed them to send someone home over the dishes put out. Ultimately being the head chef in Restaurant Wars puts your head on the chopping block and that is what happened to Kristen.

[PinkSprinkles]

I re-watched the episode and I agree that Kristen didn't handle the challenge well. I know the episode before determined whose concept would be used for RW, but was Kristen required to be executive chef? If I had no experience doing that sort of thing I would have had someone else be the chef and take on either the sous chef or front of the house role. I also think Kristen should have handled Josie like Michael V handled Robin in S6. Let her design one dish and have her focus on just that while she and Lizzie do everything else. 

 

I'm also amazed she didn't take Stefan's idea of taking two servers and putting them in the kitchen to help prep and serve. I'm even more surprised no one thought of doing that before or has done it since. 

[Snarklepuss]

What's going on with all the cursing and fighting in this new season already?  It's like they're going back to the earlier format with seeing them in their off hours snarking at each other.  I'm not sure I love that.  Something just seems different yet familiar.  Is it just me?

[cooksdelight]

Maybe it's because they make them stand at judges' table instead of hanging out in the stew room. How many hours might they have to stand there? That would make me cranky. And not knowing how big the place is they are staying...if it's cramped quarters they could be in each others face all the time. I hope it's not manufactured and/or producer driven for our "entertainment." I much prefer watching them have fun.

[Wings]

Maybe it's because they make them stand at judges' table instead of hanging out in the stew room. How many hours might they have to stand there? That would make me cranky. And not knowing how big the place is they are staying...if it's cramped quarters they could be in each others face all the time. I hope it's not manufactured and/or producer driven for our "entertainment." I much prefer watching them have fun.

 

 

They stay in the stew room for a very long time as the judges decide who is in the top and bottom.   They are only on the set during the win/elimination part.

 

The drama depends on the cast.  We have had drama free seasons and explosive ones.  I don't think the drama is manufactured, it happens. 

[wallflower75]

I'm a little undecided about whether or not I like this new format of judges' table.  On one hand, at least everyone knows what's happening and there's no misinterpretation.  On the other hand, as humiliating as it is to be in the bottom, it has to be worse that your competitors get to hear all of the comments.  I think I'll wait to reserve my thoughts on the new season itself until a few more cheftestants are gone.  Most of them are running together for me at the moment except the two who were sniping at each other and were nearly sent home.  I don't even remember the name of the girl who Tom said saved their asses by cooking the chicken well.

 

I'm almost to the halfway point of season 7--from the preview I just saw, the next one up is the infamous "pea puree" incident.  I didn't care much for Angelo then, and my thoughts haven't changed.  I feel like he's trying too hard--his comments about how things are "sexy" and all that leaves me cold.  (Why didn't it surprise me that he was the one who, during the crab quickfire, said, "Well, I had crabs once...")  I liked Tiffany and Ed and found Amanda annoying.  I seem to recall that Amanda goes much farther than she should have??

[cooksdelight]

Yes, Amanda makes it far. And watch the spot on her lip grow over time. LOL, sorry, but it became a game with us, watching it. The only thing Angelo did that drove me slightly crazy was his pronounciation of the word "with", it became "witch."

[Snarklepuss]

 

The drama depends on the cast.  We have had drama free seasons and explosive ones.  I don't think the drama is manufactured, it happens.

 

True, but TPTB picks the cast and so far several of them seem to be particularly acerbic characters.  That, and the show doesn't have to focus on the negative stuff.  If there was any in recent seasons they haven't shown as much of it on screen.  We have not seen the cast interacting in their personal quarters in several seasons that I can recall until now.  The emphasis has been on the food and the competition, not so much what's going on behind the scenes.  We are only on the second week and already they're bleeping out the F word so many times I think I'm watching a Gordon Ramsay presentation.  I'm not sure I love this.

[wallflower75]

I'm watching the Seattle season, and I swear... Padma was an unhinged bitch where Kristen was concerned after Restaurant Wars. Josie should have gone home, for no other reason than how she threw Kristen under the bus, her failing to take responsibility for her own shortcomings, and her shitty comments. But then at Judges' Table, Padma turned into a raging banshee against Kristen. I forgot how ugly she was. It must have killed her when Kristen eventually won.

 

What the hell did Padma have against Kristen?  I remember watching how adamantly she fought to get rid of Kristen and was like, "Whoa.  I've never seen her that insistent before."

 

Of course, I wonder how hard Padma would've fought if she'd known exactly what went on behind the scenes.  As Tom Colicchio pointed out in his blog after the elimination, they only knew what they were told.  It wasn't until they saw the rest that they understood how Josie hamstrung Kristen.  Tom and Gail both said they understood that viewers would be upset because they had the advantage of seeing what happened, whereas the judges didn't when they made their decision.  It seemed to me that Tom might've changed his vote if he'd known.  As for Gail, her saying that Kristen didn't give Josie the "confidence and tools to problem solve when a crisis came up" is BS.  I know she voted to get rid of Josie, but saying that was just...no.  If there's one thing I think we can all agree on, it's that Josie didn't lack confidence.

 

Although I didn't see Padma on Watch What Happens Live afterward, it sounds like she still felt they made the right decision.  It probably did burn her ass when Kristen came back from Last Chance Kitchen and won the whole thing.

 

And back to the controversy in the season I'm currently rewatching...I think Alex took that pea puree.  He was conveniently forgetful when he later said he had no idea that Ed was doing a pea puree when footage showed people telling him about it--a conversation which came up because Alex said he had no idea what he was going to do with his peas.  In fact, I think he said he thought his peas were crap.  That's when he was told that they were the same ones Ed had bought, and Ed's peas looked great right before he pureed them.

 

But yeah, he had no idea that Ed was doing a pea puree.

[cooksdelight]

Amanda swears up and down that she watched Alex make his puree. We'll never know for sure, I guess.

On a personal note, since this show ran, Alex has a beautiful little girl who is as cute as a button. I am not sure if he and his girlfriend have tied the knot, but she's pretty as well. He seems very happy.

[Julia]

The thing about Alex is that it was really hard for me to take him seriously even before he outed himself as a weasel because he's a dead ringer for Spongebob's neighbor Squidward.

That said, I think he (and Amanda) stayed longer than they should have because bad behavior makes good TV. I think that's why Colicchio was so defensive about his getting away with the pea puree thing.

[weixiaobao]

Top Chef is sexist??? Part 1 (season 1 to 4)

I often hear that Top Chef is sexist and or racist.  But let tackle one thing at a time, let see if the claim that Top Chef is sexist hold up.  This arise mainly because of the stat that only 2 out of the last 11 winners are women (discounting other spin off or international editions).  I usually wonder why don't people have that same view about Amazing race when it take 17 seasons for a female-female team to win.  And even for the male-female teams, it seemed that the men usually carried most of the weight (especially in earlier seasons).   The answer is rather obvious, Amazing Race is clear cut while Top Chef is depend on the judging.  Usually the claim that Top Chef is sexist is rather boil down to Tom Colicchio is sexist.  I will analyzed to see if it was coincident that the stat is this way, and that people won on talents (or the result of the final meal) vs Tom is consciously choose "white males" as winner (a totally untrue claim).

 

In term of male to female ratio, we usually have about an even number of each and or one more man than woman per season.  The exception being season 8 (10 men to 8 women) and season 11 (12 men to 7 women).  Season 11, up course, was notorious example of this sentiment since Nick won over Nina or Shirley.

 

Season 1- Of the 6 women, only Tiffani Faison and Lee Anne Wong really deserved the title.  I am under the opinion that they are better than their male counterpart.  However, they were not dominance over the men as seen in season 10 (Kristen and Brooke) or season 11 (Shirley and Nina).  I don't recall any foul play when Lee Anne was eliminated.  The show valued her enough to hire her as part of the Top Chef crew.  Tiffani Faison was for the most part Tom's favorite.  I do think he wants to give the title to her so badly, but up course she fell on her own sword for double up on everything.  Her teammates ratting her out to the judge didn't help either (if I recall one of the dish the judges really really like belong to Dave).  Tiffani up course came back couple time for special episodes and usually did extremely well.  She helped her team won against season 2.  And she won Top Chef Holiday Special.  Then recently she barely lost out to CJ in Top Chef Duel.  I wouldn't have mind if she had won but I don't see "sexism involved with the process."  In term of Tiffani's perspective, I think she is now glad that she didn't win because of that her whole attitude change.  Winning would vindicate her behaviors all along.  In which I don't really mind, I like passionate people over mediocre people really.

 

Season 2- I don't think there are any great female chefs from season 2.  I don't really care for season 2 chefs overall anyhow.  Betty won a few challenges, but she has just as many bad dishes as there are good dishes.  All I remember is that she is really annoying even more so than Marcel and Ilan.  And didn't she put extra sugar or calories for the kids at fat camp?  Anyhow, even her winning dishes, lol, can they be compare to Lee Anne or Tiffani or more capable chefs in later season?  We got Josie, who think she is better than what she really is.  She came back and beat Jeff in season 5 for some sort of all-star episode.  But we remember her as the one they had trouble getting rid of in season 10.  Season 10 is all you need to know about her talent level.  Then there is Mia who chose to quit on her own (but her record is pretty bad as well).  Lastly is Elia, well in that season, Cliff, Sam, Ilan, and even Marcel seemed to be better chef than her.  She won one challenge with some sort of a mushroom soup.  Can that even compare to Dale Talde's grill cheese and tomato soup?  People can't believe that Dale win with a tomato soup until they look at the recipe and they can't believe he made such complicated soup in Target.  But yeah, actually if a woman win in this season, I would really need to examine Tom.

 

Season 3- The two women that went the farthest is Sara Mair and Casey Thompson.  Sara Mair is yeah kinda meh.  She won one challenge during Restaurant War.  Funny how people complained that Hung isn’t a team player, and yet every time, he was in a team.  He was so supportive.  Sara Mair made more bad dishes than there were good dishes.  And I remember one of the guest judge called her an amateur.  Unlike Sara, Casey actually was a rather strong contender.  After Tre’s elimination, Casey was the only real opponent of Hung until Dale L 2.0.  But in comparison to the best of the female chefs across all season.  Casey is not comparable to say Jen Carrol, or Shirley Chung, or Nina Compton, or Antonio, etc.  Her specialty seemed to be either Texan food or Asian food.  Yes, she is specialize in Asian food.  I wonder why Chef Tom don’t question on the soulfulness of her food.  Up course, she was the one that gave up the legendary chicken legs that no one eat in season 8.  It was clear in the finale that she is a distance 3rd.  So I don’t think there is any sexism at play at all in season 3.

 

Season 4- Umm, should I skipped this season?  3 of the 4 finalists are women (Antonio, Stephanie, and Lisa).  And would people said it is sexist of Tom to kept Lisa or Josie (season 10) around when better chefs went home?  And yet they said that about Nick.  Certainly Dale Talde or Andrew D'Ambrosi are more deserving of that spot than Lisa.  Anyhow, we got our first female winner here.  And Stephanie rightly deserve it.  She has more claimed than Casey or Sara Mair or Betty or Josie or Elia.

 

I will continue in part 2.  But up until season 4, a person may look at this and said.  Really, females made up of almost half of the contestant field and only a quarter of the winners.  This must be evidences for sexism.  Yeah, I don’t think so.  Even if Tifanni Faison is a derserving winner if she had won, people would have been outrage at the time considering her attitude.  But outside of Tiffani Faison, Lee Anne Wong, and Stephanie Izard, I don't see other worthy female winners.  Antonia doesn't come into her own until season 8.  And Casey is kinda meh to be honest.

Edited October 26, 2014 by weixiaobao