S13.E02: Pop-Up Pandemonium

[mlp]

 

If you really want to find out, go hunt down the tweets Gail sent out inviting people to join them at the pop ups. Assuming they weren't misleading us with editing the tweets should've been sent out the day of the pop ups.

 

I don't use Twitter so maybe I don't understand something but I thought it was curious that Gail was able to send out tweets and quickly attract large groups of nicely dressed, attractive people in their 20s and 30s who should have been at work.

[rho]

I'm going to chime in here and agree with everyone who is surprised none of the vegan dishes included mushrooms. Admittedly, I'm not a cook nor a foodie and I basically survive on a diet of wine and cheese, but even I can think of a dozen vegan dishes. I would have loved to see some hearty veggies like hen-of-the-woods or eggplant. None of their dishes were inventive and if they insisted on taking the easy route, I'd rather see the pinterest staples like avocado/cocoa powder mousse or spaghetti squash. Anything would have been more appetizing than pureed vegetables.

 

Every time Grayson opens her mouth, it just screams 'obvious plant.' I have seen every season and I don't even vaguely remember her. She's utterly forgettable and I'm just waiting for her to get cut this time around so I can forget her all over again.

 

On a side note, I had dinner at Broken Spanish a few months ago and it was maybe the best meal of my life. My mouth is watering just thinking of it.

[Kromm]

It's really not that hard. If we're talking Indian there's satisfying and substantial vegan dishes (not the vegetarian ones that rely on paneer) like aloo gobi, baingan bharta (sans the raita), daal tadka, bindi kadai, etc. As long as you go to one that uses oil instead of ghee or you request that.

The fact that those dishes exist doesn't mean it's fair to expect any old random American chef knows them or how to prepare them.

It's nowhere near an equivalent test to Mexican, where most chefs are going to have a few dishes ready to pull out of the bag, or even Persian, where the spice mix might be unfamiliar, but the cooking techniques and general approach won't be.

That's not to say there wasn't a great route to a vegan end product available this way. But it's still a far more difficult expectation of the chefs.

[Kromm]

Also with the Persian, those chefs could easlily turn to the locals in the Persian market they shopped at (as well as their advisor) and ask direct questions about the cuisine. Whereas I doubt the knowledge of Vegan is that centralized where those chefs shopped and prepped. They were likely surrounded by tons of aggressive Big Salad eaters at BEST (actually it just looked like a normal supermarket), and their advisor chef didn't look like he'd have any specialty in Indian food either (although again, that presumes they'd even know enough to ask about Indian food, whereas the other groups all had specific ethnicities they knew they could use as buzzwords to hone in on specific dishes). 

 

Why is this disparity worth noting when reality shows ALWAYS throw out unequal tasks as part of the contest?

 

Because there were no knife picks. Go back and watch. The teams were preassigned. The cuisines were preassigned. So we can't chalk it up to chance--which is traditionally  the great excuse/equalizer used on these shows to cover any disparity in tasks.

Edited December 6, 2015 by Kromm

[windfall]

Most locavore places I've been to have had at least a few vegan dishes that were pretty good, including a chocolate cake that I'm not convinced was actually vegan, so I'm sure it can be done. But I'm not going to hold it against the chefs if they're unfamiliar with the techniques and ingredients specific to vegan preparations in order to make the food.

[Noreaster]

Also with the Persian, those chefs could easlily turn to the locals in the Persian market they shopped at (as well as their advisor) and ask direct questions about the cuisine. Whereas I doubt the knowledge of Vegan is that centralized where those chefs shopped and prepped. They were likely surrounded by tons of aggressive Big Salad eaters at BEST (actually it just looked like a normal supermarket), and their advisor chef didn't look like he'd have any specialty in Indian food either (although again, that presumes they'd even know enough to ask about Indian food, whereas the other groups all had specific ethnicities they knew they could use as buzzwords to hone in on specific dishes).

Why is this disparity worth noting when reality shows ALWAYS throw out unequal tasks as part of the contest?

Because there were no knife picks. Go back and watch. The teams were preassigned. The cuisines were preassigned. So we can't chalk it up to chance--which is traditionally the great excuse/equalizer used on these shows to cover any disparity in tasks.

The teams and cuisines were by chance. Teams were formed based on where contestants were standing and the cuisines were handed out randomly. The show has done this many times before.

I think all cuisines were potentially challenging. Depends on each contestant and his/her experience. I agree that vegan is not that easy. Just because I could rattle off some vegan dishes doesn't mean that a contestant is familiar with cooking vegan. Same goes for Mexican, Korean, and Persian.

[windfall]

I suck at searching twitter.  I am missing some information on how to do that or I would.  That would confirm or negate my theory for sure.   Another theory is that the times were nuts.  One way before dawn, the next just after dawn and through the day ending at night that same day.  

 

Yeah twitter really isn't search friendly. If you have a few hours you could always just scroll down through all her tweets. The most recent ones appear at the top and it loads more as you keep scrolling. I'm not sure when they filmed  A warning though, if you don't find them, it is possible that she deleted them after filming to throw people off track but that's just malicious lol.

[Kromm]

The teams and cuisines were by chance. Teams were formed based on where contestants were standing and the cuisines were handed out randomly. The show has done this many times before.

If that's true, can you say with assurance they weren't instructed where to stand when they walked out? That's a fairly standard Reality Show instruction.

I think if Grayson does any interviews after she's booted and has any public Q&A I bet she'll spill if that were the case. She seems to be enough of a trouble maker.

[SFoster21]

Conspiracy theories bore me, but, for the sake of argument, if the PTB has decided that they want Grayson to be around for awhile, why set her up on a team that is allegedly set up to fail?

[Noreaster]

If that's true, can you say with assurance they weren't instructed where to stand when they walked out? That's a fairly standard Reality Show instruction.

I think if Grayson does any interviews after she's booted and has any public Q&A I bet she'll spill if that were the case. She seems to be enough of a trouble maker.

Not 100 percent, but I'm pretty sure. I've been a pretty big Top Chef fan since the beginning and it's the only reality cooking competition show I watch. There are certain patterns to the order the contestants walk in. Those friendly with each other tend to stay close together. Certain contestants are always in the front of the pack. In the challenges where teams are grouped based on where people stand, there are sufficient reactions (excitement, annoyance, etc) to make me think it's real. I doubt producers dictate what order they should stand or walk. Again I can't say with absolute certainty but I'm pretty sure.

I will say, based on interviews/blogs over the years, that there are times when knife picks were not shown. So when Padma said to the contestants that they will be paired up with the person next to them, that was actually after drawing knives and the contestants were told to stand next to their partners.

Yeah twitter really isn't search friendly. If you have a few hours you could always just scroll down through all her tweets. The most recent ones appear at the top and it loads more as you keep scrolling. I'm not sure when they filmed A warning though, if you don't find them, it is possible that she deleted them after filming to throw people off track but that's just malicious lol.

I googled top chef la popup taping and got this link. Looks like May 8 was the date of the pop ups.

http://www.eater.com/2015/5/8/8573573/top-chef-california-rumor-gossip-season-13-same-sex-wedding

[windfall]

Nice that helps a lot. First tweet about the pop ups in general was at 9:14am. Then the tweet from when they were driving to the Korean pop up was at 7:17pm from Gail and 7:19 from Padma. According to google sunrise that day was at 5:57 am and sunset that day was at 7:42pm.

[Wings]

Conspiracy theories bore me, but, for the sake of argument, if the PTB has decided that they want Grayson to be around for awhile, why set her up on a team that is allegedly set up to fail?

 

 

I agree and pay no attention to them.  Musing as to why Grayson is back is curious and I don't think it is anything more than they felt she got a raw deal in a challenge and offered it to her after she asked to get another chance. Maybe.  I don't see that as conspiracy. 

 

Tom has been very verbal about refusing to do the show (at the onset)  unless it was legitimately run and the food only is judged and I assume that probably goes for random team divisions.  He has been totally against taking personalities into consideration.   I assume arranged team divisions for the goal of having someone succeed or fail in in that same category.   It is way too soon to know if you want someone to stay or go early anyway.  They just started.   I believe in this show's integrity.  

Nice that helps a lot. First tweet about the pop ups in general was at 9:14am. Then the tweet from when they were driving to the Korean pop up was at 7:17pm from Gail and 7:19 from Padma. According to google sunrise that day was at 5:57 am and sunset that day was at 7:42pm.

 

 

So they did that all in one day!  Wow.  

[mauras]

Do we have independent confirmation that ManBun is a real person? He seems to be just a collection of hipster cliches. I cringe every time he's on screen. He can go now, and take Grayson 2.0 and her awful attitude and crappy food with him.

I was ovo-lacto vegetarian for about 25 years (pescetarian now), and I still frequently eat delicious meals that happen to be vegan. I would find it challenging to cook interesting vegan food every day, but to cook ONE great vegan dish? Beyond easy.

That said, the Mexican pop-up team should be thanking Kwame profusely with every breath. There's so, so much you can do with Mexican food, from seafood to beef to, yes, vegan that there was no excuse for their menu to be so uninspired.

[AriAu]

Tom has been very verbal about refusing to do the show (at the onset)  unless it was legitimately run and the food only is judged and I assume that probably goes for random team divisions.  He has been totally against taking personalities into consideration.   I assume arranged team divisions for the goal of having someone succeed or fail in in that same category.   It is way too soon to know if you want someone to stay or go early anyway.  They just started.   I believe in this show's integrity.

 

I absolutely agree-I think there is a lot of bullshit that goes on with the editing and therefore what we see and how they paint the contestants, but I COMPLETELY respect the show's integrity. And as much as I respect that, I respect Collichio's integrity more. He does not need this show and he just strikes me as someone who would quit before letting it be rigged in any way.

That does not mean that I don't question and/or disagree with his judging and find him to be pretentious (see garbanzo bean gate) and inconsistent, but I do not think any of it comes from trying to create drama....altho, as I said above, it certainly might be edited that way.

And I still have no idea why they brought Grayson back-she was a little raw when she was on the 1st time, had a lot of success and was a very attractive/appealing/interesting character that was a fan favorite, so maybe they just figured she could do better and keep the other characteristics that, you know, help with ratings.

[Jesse]

Every time I read this thread, it makes me want to eat the vegan potato tacos at a local-to-me restaurant! 

[carrps]

I'm with Krom. With all the talk about how totally freaking easy it is to make a most delicious awesome vegan dish even if you never cook vegan dishes, how did they come up with vegan as an alternative among a group of different ethnic cuisines? It's just really really weird. That guy who worked in that community garden didn't talk about cooking at all that we saw. Eh. I found this an odd episode. Quite rancid in fact.

 

I couldn't remember ever seeing Padma wearing red lipstick before. It suits her. She has the coloring to carry it off. Though I definitely thought her moto jacket had a Michael Jackson/Weird Al vibe.

 

Glad Renée is gone. She's bugged me from the start. Describing yourself as sassy is just cringe-inducing. BE sassy. Show don't tell.

[MissEwa]

As disappointing as Greyson was, I was happy Sassy Chef went. Between the 'sleep with one eye open' comment in the first episode and dramatically asking Frances if she was 'scared' when ManBun said they were going into an all-white neighbourhood in this one, she was starting to make me a little uncomfortable. 

[RemoteControlFreak]

Except I never said anything about "doomed to fail." I'm not sure where you're getting that from.

 

I got it from this post made by you at 7:25 am on December 5:

 

I don't think that makes it easier. Without a theme or flavor profile to tie their dishes together, it was almost doomed to fail. Especially with a bunch of unfamiliar people suddenly working in a team.

Edited December 7, 2015 by RemoteControlFreak

[Kromm]

Conspiracy theories bore me, but, for the sake of argument, if the PTB has decided that they want Grayson to be around for awhile, why set her up on a team that is allegedly set up to fail?

Do they want her to fail?  No. If we were really taking this to that extent I'd say they were setting her up to ALMOST fail (or rather... fail but not get booted for it) and then bitch about it on camera a lot. And really the same has got to be true for icky Manbun guy. I don't think it would have taken a genius among the production staff to realize he was going to come off like a total fuckhead anyway, so running him up against a Vegan wall could have been just to fan those flames.

 

Or not. We're just talking a theoretical here to answer that question.

[mlp]

I'm disappointed in Phillip.  I saw him on all 4 of the FN shows he appeared in and liked him but he's coming across quite poorly on this one.  All successful chefs seem to have big egos but Phillip's is high schoolish (not a real word I'm sure).  

 

The fellow who was eliminated first got off to a bad start with his cerebral musings but he knew what was wrong with his dish and admitted it.  While listening to him talk in LCK, I had the impression that being a good chef is really important to him and he cares very much about his work so he redeemed himself IMO.

[proserpina65]

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.

I did not know that.  Previously.tv is educational!  lol

[proserpina65]

but I'm thinking a clever eggplant dish stood out a lot because it wasn't the usual passover fare.

 

A clever eggplant dish can hold its own against Persian food because eggplants are used extensively in Persian, Moroccan, Turkish and many other Mediterranean, Middle & Near Eastern cuisines.  I make a damn fine zaalouk which, as it turns out, is actually vegan (although I wasn't aiming for vegan at the time).  Imam bayildi would also be vegan, as are several Indian eggplant dishes.  So really, a little thought put into this challenge could've turned up some great vegan food, had most of that team really tried.  I think Frances was on the right track with her curry dish, and was only dinged with the stupid chickpea criticism to make it seem like more than two chefs were actually in danger.

 

(Not saying that the Persian team didn't deserve to win, because clearly their food was the standout of the challenge.)

Edited December 7, 2015 by proserpina65

[JTMacc99]

I'm with Krom. With all the talk about how totally freaking easy it is to make a most delicious awesome vegan dish even if you never cook vegan dishes, how did they come up with vegan as an alternative among a group of different ethnic cuisines? It's just really really weird. That guy who worked in that community garden didn't talk about cooking at all that we saw. Eh. I found this an odd episode. Quite rancid in fact.

 

They came up with it because it's good TV.

 

It feels like there have been chefs on all of the versions of this show over the years who want to say "I think eating Vegan is fucking stupid", but they don't.  (I've got a suspicion that Tom himself thinks that.)

 

Having said that, it's good TV not because of the chefs who say "I've got a vegan restaurant!", but rather because it sets up a scenario where you get annoyed chefs who fail, or you get the gamers who pretend they love the idea and come up with something good.  

 

Vegan challenges create clear winners and losers, and shoehorning it in with Persian, Korean and Mexican as the fourth ethnic cuisine has everything to do with TV.

[proserpina65]

It's really not that hard. If we're talking Indian there's satisfying and substantial vegan dishes (not the vegetarian ones that rely on paneer) like aloo gobi, baingan bharta (sans the raita), daal tadka, bindi kadai, etc. As long as you go to one that uses oil instead of ghee or you request that.

 

LA is such a mecca for vegan (and gf) so it was extra frustrating to watch this go to waste. Seems like all of the chefs would've benefitted from being guests at a leading restaurant of the cuisine of their challenge like what TC has done in past years.

Plus, didn't they have a mentor chef whom they could've asked about cooking vegan?  (Unless I misunderstood, in which case, never mind.)

[Macbeth]

Grayson was probably traumatized by the 9th season as I was.  I hauled ass away from this show.  I came back last year as I am from Boston.

 

I really liked last season.  Relatively drama free except for Aaron.  Some great cooking and I generally liked most of the chefs.   

 

Grayson showed up - any reminder of S9 for me is a no.  Female chefs on the bottom again.  Don't think I will stay.

Edited December 8, 2015 by Macbeth

[Ivana Tinkle]

You guys, it is NOT COOL that they found Grayson, tied her up, put her in a van, drove her to LA, and forced her to be on this season.

I'm not sure I can continue to watch a show that would go to such lengths to...what's that? Grayson is on this show voluntarily and by her own free will?

Oh. Well, then. Fuck off, Grayson.

[Kromm]

I suppose it's at least possible some producer sweet talked Grayson with the notion that maybe her return meant that Tom would be somehow magically be kinder to her this time around. Weasely producers HAVE been known to lead people on before, right?  And Tom would just shrug and do what he's always done no matter what some other person told her.

 

Beyond that, yes.  She's a big girl and should have known better even if they told her that. Getting her back, again, might have specifically been because someone smelled a Jen Carroll situation and they thought those sour grapes would make for sweet TV wine.

 

Speaking of Jen, since I last checked on her last year, per looking at her Twitter now I mean, it seems like she's totally abandoned that lame duck idea of her own restaurant and is sucking at Mike Isabella's teat now. I can't tell if she works for him now or is a partner. Not sure it matters--either way it sounds nothing like the restaurant she talked about for years. EDIT - hah. That's because it's just a pop-up. I didn't get that until I checked more. Oh well. I suppose some day someone will think Jen's recovered enough of her sanity to run something permanent. We shall see...

 

In the mean time we have to see this (ack!):

 

Edited December 8, 2015 by Kromm

[GaT]

Grayson acts like she's supposed to win &  not like she's supposed to compete.

[Kromm]

Grayson acts like she's supposed to win

Actually I don't see that at all from her. To me it seems more like she expects to lose--or at best to just slip by in the middle--and is living down to it. We even heard her talk about her meatball before she had any cause to be defensive about it in terms of her thinking it was a nice safe choice (and as we know from looking at her past comments, because she's such a literal thinker and thought "well Tom rewarded a meatball over me last time, so...").  That's not a sign she expected to get dish of the day or anything like that.  It's a miserable way to play the game, mind you, but it's not arrogance. It's weird-ass thinking from a (clearly) crazy person.

Edited December 8, 2015 by Kromm

[cooksdelight]

Grayson acts like she's supposed to win &  not like she's supposed to compete.

 

I agree with you. She acts like the challenges are beneath her.

[joanne3482]

Plus, didn't they have a mentor chef whom they could've asked about cooking vegan?  (Unless I misunderstood, in which case, never mind.)

 

The others did, so it should be safe to presume the vegan folks could have as well. That's one thing the judges praised about the Persian folks and criticized about the Mexican folks, the chefs cooking Persian food asked the restaurant owner about flavor profiles and spices used in Persian food, the chefs cooking Mexican didn't ask anything, presuming they had it in the bag. 

 

With both spaghetti squash and zucchini, one member of team vegan could have done a nice 'pasta' dish. That would be a hearty real meal and not a side. Ratatouille is vegan (based on my reading of Emril's recipe). While he claims it is a side, it looks to me like it could be a nice main course. AND they were at Whole Foods, they could have gotten vegan cheese to go with an enchilada dish. 

[Jesse]

Team Vegan could have done a nice pasta dish with actual pasta!

[Rai]

I was just going to say that ratatouille is in fact a vegan dish.  Sometimes, it's a surprise how much "normal" mainstream dishes are in fact vegan.  I'm a committed omnivore, but it's really not that hard to come up with something vegan.  I'll give the young dude props for wanting to showcase cauliflower, even if it was more of a side dish just because I think vegan cuisine is often at its best when it celebrates the vegetables, not tries to make them taste like meat or whatever. 

 

That said, if canned chick peas are a sin against god and man, well, guilty.  I'll keep on sinning.  And thinking Frances made the smartest dish.

[WearyTraveler]

Team Vegan could have done a nice pasta dish with actual pasta!

 

Most pasta is made with eggs.  I understand vegans don't eat any animal products (milk and its byproducts, eggs, etc.); so, if they were going to make pasta, they would have had to use something other than eggs, which, from what I read, doesn't give good results (interesting article about pasta making here).  Or they would have had to make something like zucchini "noodles" and call that a pasta dish.

 

Vegetarians, OTOH, don't eat meat but they do eat animal byproducts (milk, cheese, eggs, etc.)

Edited December 8, 2015 by WearyTraveler

[PhoneCop]

I don't use Twitter so maybe I don't understand something but I thought it was curious that Gail was able to send out tweets and quickly attract large groups of nicely dressed, attractive people in their 20s and 30s who should have been at work.

 

LA has no shortage of would-be actors and working extras who can show up at any given hour on little notice, dressed however you need them to be dressed. Throw in a few randoms like me—a full-time freelancer who works from home and sets his own hours—and voilà, insta-crowd!

[Jesse]

Most pasta is made with eggs.  I understand vegans don't eat any animal products (milk and its byproducts, eggs, etc.); so, if they were going to make pasta, they would have had to use something other than eggs, which, from what I read, doesn't give good results (interesting article about pasta making here).  Or they would have had to make something like zucchini "noodles" and call that a pasta dish.

 

Vegetarians, OTOH, don't eat meat but they do eat animal byproducts (milk, cheese, eggs, etc.)

 

I know the difference between vegan and vegetarian, and also that you can make pasta with semolina flour and water and salt. Most dry pasta is vegan, isn't it?

[Totale]

I don't use Twitter so maybe I don't understand something but I thought it was curious that Gail was able to send out tweets and quickly attract large groups of nicely dressed, attractive people in their 20s and 30s who should have been at work.

 

Those were the ones with actor's union cards Central Casting sent over.  I don't Twitter and have no idea what Gail was tweeting about, maybe just trying to get a crowd outside but they would never appear on camera.  I figured that whatever was shown on TV they had to shoot it over two days so they didn't have to hire four union remote crews at once, gets expensive. And I don't notice clothing but thought Padma looked weirdly made up like a pale insect with her bizarre red lips, so those who made the Michael Jackson connection make sense to me, except I don't think that's a good look for anyone.

[Bastet]

Most dry pasta is vegan, isn't it?

 

The ingredient list for my box of whole grain penne reads: whole grain durum wheat flour, semolina (wheat), durum what flour, oat fiber.  But Tom would have shit a brick if a chef had used dry pasta.

[biakbiak]

The ingredient list for my box of whole grain penne reads: whole grain durum wheat flour, semolina (wheat), durum what flour, oat fiber.  But Tom would have shit a brick if a chef had used dry pasta.

I don't think that is necessarily true if he felt that dish was suited for it. On more than one occasion he suggested a dried pasta would have been a better choice for the dish (The Rao episode comes to mind) because he understands fresh and dry pastas exist for different reasons and one can be better in the right dish.

[WearyTraveler]

I don't think that is necessarily true if he felt that dish was suited for it. On more than one occasion he suggested a dried pasta would have been a better choice for the dish (The Rao episode comes to mind) because he understands fresh and dry pastas exist for different reasons and one can be better in the right dish.

 

I think it's risky, at best.  There are some things that seem to be cardinal sins in cooking shows.  Not using the most fresh ingredients is one, using things from a can falls into that category.  Other sins include: messing up your protein, not seasoning correctly (too much or too little salt).

 

Making your own pasta is always praised while using dry pasta is generally not as successful.  Many vegans complain about the lack of imagination from chefs when they order a vegan dish in a non-vegan restaurant and say that a lot of what they are offered are carb-loaded dishes (such as pasta).  I can see why the contestants in the vegan pop-up would avoid it.

 

That said, it's not as if those contestants made incredibly creative dishes either.

[Kromm]

Team Vegan could have done a nice pasta dish with actual pasta!

Well only a kind made with zero eggs.  Which IS most dried pasta... then again in that case they then get dinged for using inferior pasta.

 

EDIT - Okay, I just spotted this got discussed (I was reading upthread before I posted).

Edited December 9, 2015 by Kromm

[Noreaster]

Speaking of Jen, since I last checked on her last year, per looking at her Twitter now I mean, it seems like she's totally abandoned that lame duck idea of her own restaurant and is sucking at Mike Isabella's teat now. I can't tell if she works for him now or is a partner. Not sure it matters--either way it sounds nothing like the restaurant she talked about for years. EDIT - hah. That's because it's just a pop-up. I didn't get that until I checked more. Oh well. I suppose some day someone will think Jen's recovered enough of her sanity to run something permanent. We shall see...

Responding in These Chefs are the Tops thread.

[Julia]

Polenta with porcini sugo? Chick pea flour crepes with ratatouille? There's a new vegan place in the village with almond milk ricotta on the menu I've been dying to try?
 
And yet, don't these people have restaurants, and don't those restaurants serve vegetables? I almost wonder if this wasn't part of the thing where everyone pretends they've forgotten how to cook food that doesn't have cured pig in it or has the vapors and grabs to see if their nads are still attached when someone mentions dessert.
 
No idea why Greyson is still there. Still glad Renee went home. Too much hat, the wrong cattle.

ETA:
 

The ingredient list for my box of whole grain penne reads: whole grain durum wheat flour, semolina (wheat), durum what flour, oat fiber. But Tom would have shit a brick if a chef had used dry pasta.

 

Not necessarily. Michael Chiarello won a challenge on the first TCM with dried pasta, because he said that dried pasta is something you have to be a msster at, and if he can buy it from a master, he doesn't see the point in trying to make it.

Edited December 9, 2015 by Julia

[Kromm]

don't these people have restaurants, and don't those restaurants serve vegetables? 

As sides, sure. But as main dishes most of them are limited to vegetarian, not vegan. And that's the whole point.

[biakbiak]

As sides, sure. But as main dishes most of them are limited to vegetarian, not vegan. And that's the whole point.

Except one of man-bun' s restaurants is vegan, which he mentioned but I don't know why he didn't have more of a role shaping the dishes.

[Kromm]

It really astonishes me that Manbun's real name is "Phillip Frankland Lee"--that so doesn't match his Cali-Whatever attitude. While I never thought his name was actually "Manbun", I figured it was something more Crunchy Granolaish than that.

 

Also astonished that if he has multiple restaurants, that means groups of people have sunk millions of dollars into this bellend, multiple times.

 

I'm supposing he probably didn't much care what happened to the other members of his team and just took care of himself on that challenge--figuring if his team lost he'd ride his superior knowledge of crunchy granola and Vegan food to not being the one who the judges went after.  Or that he could start namedropping all of the local chefs and bloggers he knows and that might impress the judges.

Edited December 10, 2015 by Kromm

[Julia]

Aren't the gadarene swine the pigs some saint put devils into? That is one strange, strange name for a vegan restaurant.

[Kromm]

Aren't the gadarene swine the pigs some saint put devils into? That is one strange, strange name for a vegan restaurant.

See... that makes it PRETENTIOUS too.

 

Now THAT does make it seem like Manbun.

[bluepiano]

Persian? I guess we as a nation are afraid to say "Iranian" now.

 

I don't think it has anything to do with current politics. I lived in LA years ago, and all the restaurants identified themselves as "Persian."  I also hear people talk about "Persian art" and "Persian music."  It's the historical, traditional name for the country and the culture, and more meaningful than saying "Iranian,"  a name which is a relatively recent geopolitical creation.

 

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

 

No, my ears perked up immediately, because I'm also old. Loved "Summer Song," and I remember them on the original Dick Van Dyke Show playing a British band called "The Redcoats," in an episode that was a take-off on Beatlemania.

 

What is carne seca? A hard carrot on what is Mexican?

 

Carne seca is a kind of dried beef. (That's what the words mean, literally. Dry beef). I had it in Brazil, and it was delicious. I know they make a version in Mexico also. I was surprised that during the presentation of the dish there was no explanatory comment, because it's something I've never seen on a menu in the US. 

 

I think Tom said that the vegan team had it the easiest, but I disagree, because almost all the young, hipster chefs who come on this show are so meat-centric. It's all about bacon and pork belly. I know that deserts are supposed to be what trip people up, but I can remember a number of contestants being eliminated over a vegetable dish.

 

It feels to me that Grayson was told she's being brought back to be the villain, because a lot of her "bitchy" comments seem half-hearted. Like she's acting a part.

 

 

Edited December 10, 2015 by bluepiano

[Lamb18]

Aren't the gadarene swine the pigs some saint put devils into? That is one strange, strange name for a vegan restaurant.

Jesus did that.