S13.E02: Pop-Up Pandemonium

[snarktini]

What is carne seca? 

I couldn't get a good look at what he put out so no idea if it's similar, but my ears perked up when I heard him say that. In Tucson, carne seca is a local specialty made by shredding beef and letting it dry in the sun. It concentrates the flavors and makes it saltier and chewier. If shredded beef and jerky had a baby, this'd be it. 

Edited December 4, 2015 by snarktini

[Tarasme]

Glad Marjorie and team won. ITA above posts comparing Marjorie to Stephanie I. Very similar initial impressions- highly skilled, competent, and likable. Glad Amar and Angelina worked with her. I wish I could lunch on Amar's carrots.

 

(whoa- in hindsight, that sounds kinda weird).

 

I will miss KC sassy Renee. She had a good, if ubiquitous, attitude.

 

What the hell, Grayson? Seriously?

 

No words for Phillip and his 25X life size banner and his two restaurants. Pbbbttfftts.

[FineWashables]

avecsans, you are not alone in giggling over Chad and Jeremy.Not only do I remember "Yesterday's Gone", I remember watching their guest appearance on the Dick Van Dyke show!

 

Thank you, RemoteControlFreak, for pointing out that Phillip looks just like a discount Derek Hough.  It's been driving me crazy for two days to figure out who he reminds me of.

 

I really enjoyed the vegan chef/restaurant owner's reaction to Phillip's announcement that he too has a vegan restaurant.  Hilarious.  I was also amused to hear Phillip's TH about how great "his" team's food is and how he tasted every dish on "his" team before it went out.  That billboard was the cherry on the Douchenozzle Sundae.  What a tool.  He is really, really satisfied with himself, isn't he?

 

Grayson, when you're on a cooking competition, you can't get upset when you're asked to, you know, cook. If all you want to do is make what you feel like making, go home and invite people over to eat it.  Why is this woman expecting Top Chef to change all the rules for her?  I have zero tolerance for special snowflakes.  

 

She's lucky Scott Conant wasn't on the judging panel.  He'd have bounced her right away for attitude alone.

[Empress1]

I don't remember Grayson from the last time she was on - I know I watched that season because I've watched every season, but, you know, a lot's happened since then - but goddamn, she is awful now. Just ... stank. Really unpleasant, has perpetual bitchface, hates everything. I'm with FineWashables - if she just wants to cook what she likes to cook, she needs to go home and have a dinner party. Does she not know that appearing on a televised cooking competition is voluntary? And her vocal fry is driving me nuts.

 

I could make better vegan food than that. I'm an omnivore with vegan friends, so when I have them over I make vegan stuff. Vegan is more than just veggies. I didn't see any grains anywhere. And Tom's "Nice salad that you threw together on a Sunday afternoon" was dead-on. It's possible to make really well-thought-out, creative salads, but that wasn't one. 

 

I thought Frances had the right idea - a lot of Indian food is indeed naturally vegan - but they're always going to ding you for using canned where fresh exists.

 

I think Kwame is going to be a sleeper contestant. His food has been a favorite twice in a row. He doesn't seem like a naturally boisterous, in your face kind of dude; he seems like more of the "put your head down and get it done" guy.

[candall]

I had the weird sensation that Grayson's mouth is controlled by some other being, who means Grayson harm.  Why can't she shut up??  Is she not aware she's scooping another shovelful of dirt out of her own grave every single time she speaks?

*****************

 

The whole pivotal point was judicious use of the "mentor." 

 

The Persian team said, "Ruh oh, this is waaay out of our collective wheelhouse--help!"  I seriously doubt whether that one woman really knew, all on her own, to rub down the meat with that particular spicy goo when her marinade didn't blast off.  The guy staring at cardamom pods and saying "These spices must be Persian because I'm in a Persian grocery store"--hee--pretty much said it all.

 

Ditto Team Korea, perhaps to a lesser degree.  No one showed up on set with a recipe for mango kimchi.

 

The Mexican team owns/features Latin cuisine so they were too arrogant to solicit advice.  Oopsy.

 

The vegan team, sigh.  "Hey, the name of the game is veg.  Out of our way, Mr. Greenjeans."  (Blondie-top got dinged way too hard for canned chickpeas.  I eat garbanzos all the time and it's not like there are any extra fireworks when they're fresh from the earth.)   Indian curry was an excellent choice, but I bet the mentor could have clued her into the 47 "Easy Vegan Naan" recipes google knows.

 

Sassy Red--the flavor from a big mouthful of brewer's yeast is loved by even fewer people than bitter melon.  Just on principle, though, I think "Stuffed Beet" trumps "Bean Salad."

 

GOOD JOB, stealth baker!

Edited December 4, 2015 by candall

[columbot]

Can someone tell Renee that the plural of radish is not radish?

[snarktini]

I seriously doubt whether that one woman really knew, all on her own, to rub down the meat with that particular spicy goo when her marinade didn't blast off.  

 

I believe you're thinking of Karen (red bangs) on the Korean team, who used a red pepper paste to save her short ribs after the marinade failed. She actually did know what she was doing -- she runs an Asian fusion restaurant and in her TH she said she uses Korean flavors all the time. Huge advantage! (Not that prior experience saved the Mexican team...)

[Kromm]

Manbun continues to be intolerable.

 

Grayson I half feel sorry for and half am frustrated with. Okay, it's a little amusing too, but only in a limited way. The editing really IS feeding the idea that Tom especially is hard on her--just like last time.  I get that she's trying to be sarcastic. But it's backfiring SO badly this time.  She hates being judged by people who, if we're being honest, often contradict themselves. But she's automatically on the losing side here, because she signed up for this. Come on Grayson. You signed the contract.

 

To be fair, we saw that the team picks and assignments were no accident. The producers and/or Tom definitely WANTED these people to have freaking Vegan food, knowing likely that Manbun would take over, that Grayson would whine about there being no meat, etc. Vegan is the ultimate Fuck You as an assignment on this show, lets be honest.  The whole "surprise us--this gives you more opportunities" logic is total bullshit when it comes to Vegan, because AT BEST all Vegan food can do is be tolerable.

 

Sassy Redhead Chef was alternately annoying and curiously appealing. It was a weird combo. Was her mushy yeasty dish really worse than canned beans though?  Who knows?

 

I was trying to suss out who stays that long from who we see in the previews how many times. We see Grayson like in two different settings (so that could be two episodes or even one in two different stages). So I think her goose is cooked. Manbun I think we see maybe three times and Angelina, the young female sous chef about the same. Kwame maybe like 4 times, and I think Karen with the punk rock pink hair maybe about the same. Cajun Chef we see like 6 or 7 times though.  Maybe later I'll go back and look for the rest of the cast--for example I'm curious how many times Wesley The Pig appeared. Actually the people I DIDN'T automatically notice are probably the ones who stay longest (because it means they haven't been shown much yet and often the reason for that is that they're being deliberately under-exposed early on)

Edited December 4, 2015 by Kromm

[Wings]

 

I had the weird sensation that Grayson's mouth is controlled by some other being, who means Grayson harm.

 

 

Ha!  Love this.  

[sourpickles]

Oh, God, I'd forgotten about Jamie and the chickpeas on All Stars. HA! I actually enjoyed this episode and seeing the mentors/judges who I hadn't seen in a while. EXCEPT for Grayson. I'm boarding that bus of dislike for sure. I KIND OF understood why CJ, Stefan, and Josie were on Seattle, new gimmick time and all, plus there were enough of them to present a challenge (and I don't just mean personality wise). Grayson, I have no idea. I've spent these two episodes waiting for the other shoe to drop because it is the most random thing that she is there, and clearly doesn't want to be. That's the worst about returnees...what in hell did you think was going to happen? They need another All Stars or something. I didn't dislike Renee too much (except for that canned intro speech) but I think they chopped her rather than Grayson, because why have brought G back if she wasn't going to hang around for a while. Overall though, I'm already happier than in NO or Boston.

[BrakeLites]

After the Wednesday night premiere, I came here all ready to be a Grayson apologist, because in the debacle that was Top Chef Texas, she came off as a lovely person, even being so bold as to stand up for psychological underdog Beverly against the Mean Girls. And her dry sense of humor was quirky and a little self deprecating, but never angry or demeaning to others. I even remember Satan Sarah Grueneberg pathetically feigning Grayson's light and effortless attitude in a couple of really cringe-worthy moments.

 

Did she strike me as a great, creative chef then? No. Her food though, always seemed very sincere. Midwesternly straight-forward and good, without all the ras el hanout and truffle foams and chefy touches that I usually have Google after they use them just to make sure I am grasping the concept through context.  

 

But all I could do after last night's pop-up episode was ask: what has happened to that Grayson? She has embraced a negative side that I simply didn't feel at all during that miserable season. Or maybe the rest of them were SO whiny and nasty that she just didn't seem that way. She has gone from being a person I thought it would be fun to having a drink with to a person who would be the downer who wallows in self pity after two beers and ends up on the floor of the ladies room, crying into the toilet she is clutching.

 

One of the Hostage Scenarios must be in play here.  

[susannot]

 

So Marjorie worked at Per Se?  I like her, but how do you go from working for Thomas Keller to working for Mike Isabella?  

[proserpina65]

(Blondie-top got dinged way too hard for canned chickpeas.  I eat garbanzos all the time and it's not like there are any extra fireworks when they're fresh from the earth.)

 

Very true.  If she hadn't said anything, there's no way the judges would have even known they were from a can.

[Kromm]

So Marjorie worked at Per Se?  I like her, but how do you go from working for Thomas Keller to working for Mike Isabella?  

Yeah, that's quite a plunge.

[shksabelle]

Avecsans,  I also chuckled about Chad and Jeremy and was gong to post but figured no one else would get it  :-)

[Constantinople]

My wag the dog theory about why Grayson is here

 

At a very late date in the pre-production schedule, or whatever you call the work that's done before the competition starts, TPTB decided they wanted Last Chance Kitchen up the first week of the season.

 

That required two cheftestants be booted in the episode or episodes that would air the first week of the season.  That in turn meant the the season would end a week earlier than originally planned.  However, TPTB didn't want that; they wanted the season to end the same date as before.  Consequently, another cheftestant was required.

 

It was too late to screen new applicants, so they brought out the Rolodex of Losers (former cheftestants who didn't win) and kept dialing until someone said yes.  Grayson was that someone.

 

 

Alternate theory: Grayson was cast to replace someone who had to pull out at the last minute due to sickness, family emergency, etc.

[Tara Ariano]

In case you missed it, here's the Previously.TV post on the episode!

 

Pop-Up With People
The chefs have to create tiny restaurants in a day, but it's NOT Restaurant Wars. It's totally different.

[cooksdelight]

They have alternates waiting in case someone drops out, and they get the call. I think there's more to this than we are being told about Grayson.

[Pepper Mostly]

I am wondering if Grayson was brought back simply to create conflict, because if not I can't figure out what she's doing there. I am already so sick of her negativity and eye-rolling stank face. My baseline for judging the food is could I make a better dish. And for both her meatball and her salad, that's a big yes.

The delusion was strong tonight. They featured Phillip being so certain of his own awesomeness that I knew he would be on the bottom. And was Renee kidding with the bikini/chef's coat shot? Not sorry to see her go, although I wish it had been Grayson this time.

Am I so old that I am the only one who laughed that "Chad and Jeremy" were on the same team? Probably.

Squish over on the old lady couch. I remember them well, and Summer Song comes up on my Pandora from time to time.

 

Very true.  If she hadn't said anything, there's no way the judges would have even known they were from a can.

That was bullshit from Tom about the chickpeas. The chefs were sent to Whole Foods for their supplies. They did not have fresh picked, in season chickpeas. So what was Frances to do, exactly? Go pluck them from the earth at their host's garden? Jesus, Tom bugs the shit out of me.

[FormerMod-a1]

How about not use chickpeas?  The vegan place looked to have all kinds of fresh stuff, so does Whole Foods.

[phoenix780]

Very true.  If she hadn't said anything, there's no way the judges would have even known they were from a can.

I think that's why the judges (Tom) got so pissed off about it.  They're supposed to be able to distinguish fresh from canned goods, to have refined palates that would only allow them to tolerate the former.  I think there was a bit of...embarrassment, I guess, about being shown liking a dish involving canned food.

[susannot]

" Frances is the next to make a stupid mistake, by dropping the knowledge that she used canned chickpeas. In her defense, she mentions they were labeled "organic." All of the judges look like Frances just told them she used Soylent Green instead of chickpeas. "

This part of Tara's recap made me laugh really hard.

Can we haz a Soylent Green challenge?

[Wings]

Squish over on the old lady couch. I remember them well, and Summer Song comes up on my Pandora from time to time.

 

That was bullshit from Tom about the chickpeas. The chefs were sent to Whole Foods for their supplies. They did not have fresh picked, in season chickpeas. So what was Frances to do, exactly? Go pluck them from the earth at their host's garden? Jesus, Tom bugs the shit out of me.

 

 

They have dried chick peas in every supermarket. I have never seen them fresh, only dried.  She didn't need to use them at all as aqua mentioned above.  

 

Time for future contestants to take note and put some vegan dishes in your brain right next to dessert. 

[Juneau Gal]

I am not a vegan and I do find vegan dishes difficult to make, but just this year I had to produce dishes for vegan guests at my Passover Seder. The eggplant ragout ended up being everyone's favorite dish. If I, a non-chef, could produce tasty vegan dishes for Passover - with all its attendant additional dietary restrictions - I have NO sympathy for the whining professional chefs burdened with the task. None. Bupkis.

[Pepper Mostly]

They have dried chick peas in every supermarket. I have never seen them fresh, only dried.  She didn't need to use them at all as aqua mentioned above.  

 

Time for future contestants to take note and put some vegan dishes in your brain right next to dessert. 

I've only seen dried chickpeas in the store, never fresh. I use them myself for chickpea soup. According to Anne Burrell, you can't use the quick soak method for chickpeas, so Frances was kind of stuck there. I certainly don't fault her for using canned chickpeas, she already had an idea and was probably just focused on executing. Time is tight and I can see her thinking "vegan" not necessarily "freshly harvested in season vegan". Tom annoys me because he expects the chefs to read his mind. (well, among other things. Tom annoys me for many many reasons!) Yes, she could have switched gears and tried to find something else, but she didn't.

Edited December 4, 2015 by Pepper Mostly

[susannot]

You can pressure cook dried chickpeas.  Did they have pressure cookers?

[windfall]

Very true.  If she hadn't said anything, there's no way the judges would have even known they were from a can.

 

Wait, did she actually tell them they were canned when she served the dish? Geez that's a lapse of judgement.

[proserpina65]

How about not use chickpeas?  The vegan place looked to have all kinds of fresh stuff, so does Whole Foods.

It was my impression that the judges thought her dish was fine, but I was pretty tired when I was watching, so I could be wrong.  Still, there's nothing wrong with using chickpeas in a curry.  Indians do it quite frequently.  They are an excellent replacement for meat in dishes, being quite high in nutritional value.  Despite what Tom thinks, they are not what people use when fresh veg isn't available.  He's just an asshole.  (About many things, not just chickpeas.)

[Pepper Mostly]

You can pressure cook dried chickpeas.  Did they have pressure cookers?

I have no idea. It seems Frances didn't think using organic canned chickpeas was such a heinous offense, so I guess she didn't think, as she was rushing through the aisles at Whole Foods, trying to get all her ingredients together in a short time, that she should get dried chickpeas and hope there were pressure cookers available, or rethink her whole dish, or any of the other things she didn't think to do. I don't think that makes her lacking in ability. I think she had an idea, she wanted to make it work, and made a decision.  Tom annoys me because he has the luxury of sitting back and being able to come up with every possible permutation, then snark on the cheftestants for not thinking of them.

[proserpina65]

Wait, did she actually tell them they were canned when she served the dish? Geez that's a lapse of judgement.

I thought she did at the judging table, but like I said, I was pretty tired when I was watching, so . . .

[yourmomiseasy]

Any chef who goes on this show without one or two killer vegetable dishes in their repertoire is crazy.  Padma was right--the vegan team were not limited to any type of cuisine other than vegan, which I think at least evened out the difficulty. 

 

How can those restaurants be considered pop-ups if they are already established in a permanent location?

 

But OMG they came from a can!  A CAN!  Oh the humanity!

 

Most of the pop-ups I've been to in the LA area are in established locations.  The pop-up aspect is the chef, staff, and menu. In my experience, as someone that lives in LA, it is very common to do it this way in our city.  It's not all about the underground dinners and secret supper clubs.  

[windfall]

I thought she did at the judging table, but like I said, I was pretty tired when I was watching, so . . .

Ah okay, I do remember that part at the judging table. I'm just wondering if the judges knew it canned from tasting the dish alone. 

[proserpina65]

Ah okay, I do remember that part at the judging table. I'm just wondering if the judges knew it canned from tasting the dish alone. 

It was my impression that they couldn't tell, just that Tom snarked about using chickpeas (which are either dried or canned, never fresh) rather than something fresh.

[Noreaster]

So Marjorie worked at Per Se? I like her, but how do you go from working for Thomas Keller to working for Mike Isabella?

Not that Mike Isabella is on the same level as Thomas Keller, but he does have a pretty good pedigree himself. And I'm assuming that Marjorie worked as a lower level cook when at Per Se and a higher level position at Graffiato.

Actually here's a nice Washington Post bio on Marjorie.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/marjorie-meek-bradley-the-ripple-chef-finds-her-groove-and-makes-a-splash/2014/03/31/49ddf3fe-b55f-11e3-b899-20667de76985_story.html

[cooksdelight]

I wish Frances had defended her canned chick peas a little more once she let it slip what they were. Tom jumped all over her when he found out, and I'd have said "But....you couldn't tell the difference, could you?" or something along those lines.

[Jesse]

Anyone else notice Effie Brown of Project Greenlight fame at one of the popups??

[anonymiss]

STFU, Tom. His ignorant comment about the tasty, creative take on chana masala: "My problem with this dish is this is the kind of dish you make when you don't have fresh vegetables." Um no. That's what you make as a vegetarian/vegan when you want to have a heartier meal, i.e., protein. We don't like to just eat vegetables all the time when there are plenty of balanced protein-filled options to enjoy. 

Edited December 4, 2015 by anonymiss

[windfall]

I wish Frances had defended her canned chick peas a little more once she let it slip what they were. Tom jumped all over her when he found out, and I'd have said "But....you couldn't tell the difference, could you?" or something along those lines.

 

She should borrow some of Grayson's attitude. Might make Grayson less miserable...

 

STFU, Tom. His ignorant comment about the tasty, creative take on chana masala: "My problem with this dish is this is the kind of dish you make when you don't have fresh vegetables." Um no. That's what you make as a vegetarian/vegan when you want to have a heartier meal, i.e., protein. We don't like to just eat vegetables all the time when there are plenty of balanced protein-filled options to enjoy. 

Agreed. It sounded quite pretentious to me. He would have a point if using canned instead of fresh negatively affected the taste or texture, but as far as I can tell the dish was fine.

[susannot]

I'll bet if you put two versions of Frances's dish side by side, one with canned chickpeas, and one made from dried, not even almighty Colicchio could tell the difference.

[Empress1]

Anyone else notice Effie Brown of Project Greenlight fame at one of the popups??

NO! I wish I had - I love her!

[AriAu]

I am surprised that the Mexican team did as poorly as they did since it is such a familiar flavor profile, particularly when compared to Persian or vegan.

It would have been fun to have the Mexican popup be run by Katsuji from TC Boston, since it would have been KOSHER Mexican food-would have been a great twist. But it is not in the Hispanic area of LA so would have been outside what they were going for

[RemoteControlFreak]

Anyone else notice Effie Brown of Project Greenlight fame at one of the popups??

Yes, ordering at the counter in the Mexican place.

[NYCFree]

What's up with carrot-based dishes? We've had four in two episodes. This is Top Chef, not Top Carrot dammit.

My husband was almost rocking back and forth, hoping Grayson would be eliminated. it was sad to witness his pain.

Man bun wins annoying smarmy douche award. "My model/actress wife is sometimes a vegan". Puh-lease stop

[Lightning]

Due to health reasons, I am only allowed to have meat twice a week in very small portions. So, I learned to fix a lot of just vegetable dishes. I am amazed that the vegan chefs showed so little imagination. Roasting vegetables brings out such flavor -- a little olive oil, a little garlic, a little kosher salt -- delicious. Also, did anyone use mushrooms? I thought for sure someone would make a soup using several kinds of mushrooms, carrots, onions and a grain. Or anything with tomatoes. I wouldn't have liked anything the vegan chefs fixed -- just so stereotypical of how people view vegan food.

[biakbiak]

It was my impression that they couldn't tell, just that Tom snarked about using chickpeas (which are either dried or canned, never fresh) rather than something fresh.

You can buy fresh chickpeas. I thought Tom meant her dish was fine but why not make a curry that highlighted fresh produce when it was abundant. It was a nitpick to a solid dish to make it seem that there were more people up for elimination.

[cattykit]

Avecsans,  I also chuckled about Chad and Jeremy and was gong to post but figured no one else would get it  :-)

Now I can't get that fucking song--actually, just the refrain--out of my head.  Thanks, folks.

 

 

And her vocal fry is driving me nuts.

 

Sassy redhead's is worse.  But at least she's gone, unless she comes up through LCK.

[Calamity Jane]

I have no idea. It seems Frances didn't think using organic canned chickpeas was such a heinous offense, so I guess she didn't think, as she was rushing through the aisles at Whole Foods, trying to get all her ingredients together in a short time, that she should get dried chickpeas and hope there were pressure cookers available, or rethink her whole dish, or any of the other things she didn't think to do. I don't think that makes her lacking in ability. I think she had an idea, she wanted to make it work, and made a decision.  Tom annoys me because he has the luxury of sitting back and being able to come up with every possible permutation, then snark on the cheftestants for not thinking of them.

Were dried chickpeas an option?  The person she asked told her the only option was canned.

[Calamity Jane]

The main thought going through my mind for the tasting portion of the show:   How on earth were they able to get from Olvera Street to Koreatown to Westwood to Venice in any length of time that was fair and/or predictable? It was getting late in the day, and rush-hour traffic is not just bad, it's so far beyond bad you can't see bad anymore.  I seriously wondered if they had a helicopter shuttling them around. 

[susannot]

I thought every Whole Foods has its bulk foods aisle that includes dried chickpeas.  At least, the stores in my area always have them. I have never tried to cook them.

Edited December 5, 2015 by susannot

[columbot]

I am surprised that the Mexican team did as poorly as they did since it is such a familiar flavor profile, particularly when compared to Persian or vegan.

It would have been fun to have the Mexican popup be run by Katsuji from TC Boston, since it would have been KOSHER Mexican food-would have been a great twist. But it is not in the Hispanic area of LA so would have been outside what they were going for

 

Nowhere in LA is outside the Hispanic area in LA.