S13.E07: Back In The Day

[beaker73]

Well, if Man Bun is surviving this far, I hope he lasts one more week so I can witness him in Restaurant Wars. Keeping him this long will be worth it to see him flame out there.

He's going to put himself at Front of House, isn't he? It'll be awesome.

Please Bravo gods - make this happen.  

[fivestone]

Since we literally no nothing about Jeremy's mother's story including if her adoptive mother did any of the above or regularly beat the shit out of her or who his mom considers her "real" mother I am not going to judge him for it. Adoption is complicated and not everyone uses the same language based on their own personal experiences and feelings.

 

This. If my adoptive mom was horrible to me, and I managed to have a good relationship with my birth mother, then I might consider her my real mom too. Personally I call my mother-in-law "Mama", whereas I called my birth mother literally nothing until a couple years ago when I started calling her "Mo". I sure don't consider her my "real mom".

 

I'm glad Marjorie pulled off the win. For some reason, I really like her, and Kwame too. But like somebody else said, I don't quite feel the connection with this crew like I have with other seasons.

[Julia]

I wonder. Because opening restaurants is the only thing we know for sure he's good at IRL, and it's never the cheftestant who contributes the least who goes home after restaurant wars.

[AmandaPanda]

I really love Kwame. I completely understood how this challenge got into his head. Even if he could have made up another story and created a better dish, he had already started going down that horrible memory path in his mind. I think all of us have years of our lives that were not good. For him, this particular challenge just happened to line up with a really hard time in his life. I could understand why he was trying to make something good out of that memory, but he was clearly spiraling in his head. I hope he gets some help to deal with something that seems to still be causing him a lot of pain. I hope he bounces back next week because I would love to see him win it all.

 

If not Kwame, then I would love Isaac to win. He's so damn entertaining and even if his food doesn't look "refined" enough, I think he puts out quality meals.

 

I wasn't upset that Jason went, but I wanted to see Philip go just because he's so damn ignorant. He really truly thinks the sun shines out of his ass. He's never put out anything that I thought looked especially appetizing, so I'm struggling to understand how he's made it this far, except for the fact that he makes for good TV. Unchecked arrogance is always going to outshine surly depression in terms of reality show appeal.

[meep.meep]

Thank god Kwame was saved!

 

What happened to the other half of Michael V?

[Wings]

I don't think that's it.  Tom and the judges have very consistently over 10 years sent people home who had the worst food, regardless of pleasant or unpleasant personalities.  

 

Jason went home because his food was apparently completely lacking in seasoning so it tasted worst.

 

I agree and rarely think otherwise.  I am a huge defender of the judges integrity.  I saw this one as a toss up; they both had bad dishes, very bad.  Sometimes I think personality may enter into it, unspoken, unrecognized and subconsciously.  They are human after all and we cannot always be perfect.  ***big grin***   I do think they saw that Kwame tried for something other than poaching fish poorly, so the decision was fair.  See how I just talked out of 2 sides of my mouth? LOL!

[sourpickles]

While Kwame deserved to be in the bottom for that pile of stuff, there is no way he was going home. First, Philip and Jason both were worse than him, and second, the judges do seem to give the obvious top contestants a break now and then. Like "yeah, you had a bad week and now you know it, so do better next time 'k?" kind of thing. I've disliked people a lot worse than Jason, but I'm not crying he's gone. I still say Philip is going to hang on for a long time, simply because he makes good tv. Other people who are way better than him will go home first, he'll be like Robin from Vegas or Lisa from Chicago. Those are the type of people who frustrate the shit out of me. I finally realized his stupid hair bun reminds me of the hairdo Sam used to sport. Some jacked up cross b/w a bun and a sumo wrestler. This was a good episode concept but if this was the 10th anniversary of TC, why didn't they do something more to honor it? I hope there is a special in the making, with clips and alumni and the like, especially since you can't get the first three seasons on dvd. I was glad to see Michael and Mei and Antonia though. Antonia is so pretty. Never happy to see Richard anymore, he's such a self important prick now. He and Garret should get together and just word vomit all over each other. I'm rooting for Kwame, Karen, and Marjorie at this point. And I cannot wait to see that clip about stabbing pretentious people who "eat with their eyes" with a pork chop. That made my day, that quote right there.

[RCharter]

I agree and rarely think otherwise.  I am a huge defender of the judges integrity.  I saw this one as a toss up; they both had bad dishes, very bad.  Sometimes I think personality may enter into it, unspoken, unrecognized and subconsciously.  They are human after all and we cannot always be perfect.  ***big grin***   I do think they saw that Kwame tried for something other than poaching fish poorly, so the decision was fair.  See how I just talked out of 2 sides of my mouth? LOL!

I've always thought of it like this:  if one person CLEARLY has the worst dish by a longshot, they are going home no matter who they are, but if you have two dishes that are equally bad or both have glaring errors than they have to factor in overall performance for who goes home.  

 

Kwame's dish looked terrible, and it had broccoli (gross!) and I can't imagine why he didn't put some meat on that plate.  I'm sure he could have done another meat jerk style without it having to be chicken.  However, Jeremy said the sauce was good so there was probably some flavor there.  Jason, on the other hand, had a beautiful plate, but there seemed to be no seasoning there, and a few other things were off.  So, I could see where the plates were equally bad, and so they had to revert to judging based off of overall performance.  In which case...bye Jason!

[pbutler111]

Phillip is the only real asshat on the show; Phillip is the only cheftestant with a man bun. Coincidence? I think not.

[Wings]

I've always thought of it like this:  if one person CLEARLY has the worst dish by a longshot, they are going home no matter who they are, but if you have two dishes that are equally bad or both have glaring errors than they have to factor in overall performance for who goes home.  

 

Kwame's dish looked terrible, and it had broccoli (gross!) and I can't imagine why he didn't put some meat on that plate.  I'm sure he could have done another meat jerk style without it having to be chicken.  However, Jeremy said the sauce was good so there was probably some flavor there.  Jason, on the other hand, had a beautiful plate, but there seemed to be no seasoning there, and a few other things were off.  So, I could see where the plates were equally bad, and so they had to revert to judging based off of overall performance.  In which case...bye Jason!

 

 

I agree and you said what I was thinking much better than I.  clap clap clap

[Julia]

I don't see why conduct can't be a consideration. Tom is _extremely_ insistent that being a chef requires a very different skill set from being a cook, and this is not top cook.

A chef is supposed to be able to work effectively with and at the head of a brigade. They're supposed to develop recipes their kitchen can effectively reproduce in a cost-effective manner. Most importantly, they have to recognize that the customer may not always be right, but the customer always wins because they're paying for the food. Even if they have palates like flannel, the chef has to own creating a dish they can't sell to their customers and adjust. They owe that to their investors, their staff, and their customers.

Tom Colicchio got to be Tom Colicchio running the kitchen of an expense account restaurant in Manhattan. I'm pretty sure you have to eat a peck of dirt to pull that off, without losing authority.

So, yeah, I don't think they would have sent Eeyore home for a good dish over someone else's bad dish, but do I think the poor impression he gave was weighed against Kwame's drive to excel and Phillip's ability to project (unearned) self-confidence and got him sent home over worse dishes? Sure do. And I don't think that's necessarily invalid.

Looking forward to watching it get Phillip sent home.

Edited January 22, 2016 by Julia

[jette]

Loved seeing Michael V! Glad he fixed his hair since his last TC appearance and it was quite nice to see him smile :)

 

Loved seeing Jason pack his knives and go! Stay away, Jason.

 

Loved seeing Philip's face fall when he realized he'd miffed Tom. Get a clue, Philip and just cook your food - that's probably what got you here. Duh.

 

Did not love Marjorie copping an attitude towards Isaac! Girl, being sour towards others may translate to your food and I want you to finish in the top 2...

 

But I love me some Cajun cookin' (it's where I'm from y'all) so Geaux all the way and win this thing, Isaac!

[bluepiano]

The editors totally telegraphed Jason getting the axe with all those shots of him being the sad loner while the other guys were doing their "I love you 'bro" routine. I was confused though when he said he'd left all his restaurants. It was big news here in Seattle when he left his three Italian restaurants last year and become exec chef at a trendy new Middle Eastern restaurant, which he mentioned earlier this season of TC. But I just looked at their website, and apparently he's gone from there too. So i guess he really is going through a rough patch. I hope he gets a few wins on LCK. Seems like he needs it.

 

I think Kwame was saved on the basis of past performance, because that dish looked (and sounded) horrendous. Jerk broccoli?? Strange that a professional chef could so completely be put off his game by a bad memory, even one involving his father. I guess he had not watched enough past seasons to know the game. You cook the dish you want, then make up a story to fit it. Like Marjorie and her cooking something green.

 

Of the bottom three, I was hoping against hope that Philip was get cut, because he's so arrogantly obnoxious. But it seems that he's preordained to make the finals, for some unfathomable reason. I think he has zero personality. This week, instead of having to hear repeatedly about his actress/model/chef/wife we had to hear repeatedly about his Peruvian girlfriend. Apparently he is quite the Romeo. In his own self-absorbed mind anyway.

Edited January 22, 2016 by bluepiano

[Muffyn]

In Jason’s dish it seemed like the fish was poached well, but that was the only positive.  There was nothing interesting or unique to the plating and overall the food was bland. It was also boring – poached fish with some vegetables.   Kwame’s dish had some good flavors but did not come together at all and the pudding was bad.  He did try something new.  Unfortunately it did not work. 

 

Blais:  “Bold choice to cook a lobster tail under the duress of competition, and I think you did that.”  Um, I think he missed the word “well.”  Clearly it was cooked.  The cheftestant gave him a funny look when he said “Thank,” kind of like yeah dude I cooked it.  Did you have feedback on that?  It was an odd comment for the editors to keep.

 

I kind of like Marjorie.  She seems somewhat socially uncomfortable.  I do think she gives non-finessed answers to the producers’ questions in the THs.  Her food looks mighty tasty. 

 

Michael V is a good-looking man.  Somehow in the kitchen that was lost.  Did that cameraperson hate him?  They kept filming him from a weird angle.

[SFoster21]

Michael Voltaggio may be a great chef, but he has the personality of a bag of rocks. Don't think he's remotely good-looking.

I like Richard and broccoli is not only tasty, but it has more iron than steak, so nutritious.

Some people can't "make up a story" -- not in their wheelhouse. Good on Kwame for performing the task as designed, imo.

Very grateful not to have a bs show of film clips and self-admiration. Rather have great chefs cooking, myself.

[meep.meep]

In Jason’s dish it seemed like the fish was poached well, but that was the only positive.  There was nothing interesting or unique to the plating and overall the food was bland. It was also boring – poached fish with some vegetables.   Kwame’s dish had some good flavors but did not come together at all and the pudding was bad.  He did try something new.  Unfortunately it did not work. 

 

Jason had been dinged a couple of times already for resurrecting an "old classic" dish, which, according to his story, was what he did again this time.  It was something that was made in the restaurant he was in 10 years ago.  The judges had told him that they were looking for something new, and in the shots of deliberating indicated that sometimes there's a reason why dishes go out of fashion.  He just kept plowing ahead with the same old stuff week after week.

 

Kwame tried something new.  Didn't work, but who has ever had jerk broccoli before?  Now we don't need to try it!  If I'm choosing between Mr. Old-School-Dish and Mr. Try-Something-New, I know what I'd pick.

 

Jason's obsession with the classics is actually very similar to Phillip's obsession with turning potatoes into thin soups and foams.  

[candall]

I'm so happy we're finally finished with "Bananaise."

 

It was a pleasant surprise having a regular show instead of a "Ten Year Retrospective."  Thumbs up to that.

 

.....so i just look for who would look most sexy naked and who i would bed....... ;)

Ahem.  Was I the only one who noticed that silly Manbun looks like Tattoo Jesus when he wakes up in the morning?  There was once a time . . .oh never mind.

 

Is Marjorie the one who can make a dessert?  And you guys don't like her anymore?  I still like her!

 

I rolled my eyes right along with the cheftestants when Ingredient No. 10 was celery.  Dude!   And then damned if he wasn't right--there was celery in almost every dish, looking all fresh and light.  (I laughed at Padma and Antonia marveling over the variety of dishes from the limited ingredients--weren't at least half of them salad with a thin slice of beef and a vinaigrette dressing?)

 

Difficult question to answer:  "What does salmon have to do with lobster?" 

Edited January 23, 2016 by candall

[Canada]

Wow, for a guy who claims to like bright, happy colours, he really is a miserable git.  Glad he's gone.  But I was really hoping for a double-elimination of him and Man Bun.

 

I did enjoy Karen complaining numerous times about the lack of herbs when Jason chose celery, then we cut to the judges praising him for the choice of celery!!  Can't stand her and I hope she goes soon too.

 

I'm surprised Jeremy is doing well.  I feel like he's someone I picked in the first episode as being cannon fodder and that he wouldn't go far at all.

 

Isaac picks a second, unnecessary, protein and then doesn't bother using it.  Moron.

[In Pog Form]

He's going to put himself at Front of House, isn't he? It'll be awesome.

Ladies, gentlemen, chefs, here is your entrée. It's served on an authentic piece of free-range Los Angeles pavement. Freshly chipped off the sidewalk outside the local strip club, for maximum flavor.

[Charlesman]

Ladies, gentlemen, chefs, here is your entrée. It's served on an authentic piece of free-range Los Angeles pavement. Freshly chipped off the sidewalk outside the local strip club, for maximum flavor.

 

"Ick. I don't like it."

 

"Well, I sampled each and every ingredient, held it in my hand, rubbed it against my flesh, chewed it slightly then spit it back on your plate so I have tasted exactly everything you have tasted exactly as you have tasted it. This is delicious, and so you are wrong and your palate is broken. I have spoken."

[tenativelyyours]

I've always thought of it like this:  if one person CLEARLY has the worst dish by a longshot, they are going home no matter who they are, but if you have two dishes that are equally bad or both have glaring errors than they have to factor in overall performance for who goes home.  

 

 

 

 

I also think that when it comes down to two or three dishes that all have different but equal issues, a big part of who is going home relies on the reasoning behind the dish; whether the chef realizes they went wrong and then where and why.  Is the worst looking dish necessarily the worst tasting?  Did the dish at least fit the challenge criteria?  But I do think past performance comes into play when they have disputes in the judging or simply cannot decide on which ticks the most "worst' boxes on the test.  And probably more often than we even know. 

 

I was jut worried since Colicchio is so all about Last Chance Kitchen he would throw Kwame out just so we could another stellar comeback.  Since I hate even the concept of Last Chance kitchen despite Kristin using to come back from what I thought was an unfair elimination, I was glad that did not happen. 

 

I suspect and hope that part of Kwame's issues will resolve just with time and maturity.  I think he is already going through the process of analyzing the whole matter.  He is still young and it still is raw.  But I think he has definitely not let it define him no matter how much it hurts.  Sometimes just being able to talk about it out loud to someone else is cathartic.  And I think that is why he talked about it so much.  He was around people who have no investment in the outcome.  As much as the challenge got in his head, not only did he survive to cook another week but he also might have made an emotional breakthrough which is why he got so muddled in the kitchen. 

 

I wish since they can other networks 'talent' on like Blais and Voltaggio, they could see their way to bringing back Ted Allen.  He is the one they let get away that I miss the most.  Granted his show as pretty much a FN effort to go against TC in terms of concept' particularly after the Food Network Star thing took such an odd turn in terms of where cooking actually stood. 

 

I really wish they would lose the whole concept thing anyway and just start putting them to challenges to see what they come up using the same ingredients.  Or putting them to more skills tests to see if they can cook certain dishes.  I hate that every time they put them to just cooking a good dish they then throw in things like " but for 200 people" or at a remote location or it must involved story telling, rhymed prose and nasal atonal tribal oral histories complete with a dance.

 

Though Marjorie proves that to Amazing Race's learn to drive stick and read a map, Top Chef's is match the story to the dish, not the dish to the story.

[Julia]

I've read - no idea if it's true or why it would be - that celery seed / salt is full of umami. FWIW.

Edited January 23, 2016 by Julia

[RCharter]

I felt like most of Kwame talking about it was during his TH, which I think the producers could have conveniently strung together to make it look like he couldn't stop talking about his dad.  The rest almost seemed like snippets in the kitchen which might have been in response to producer questions too.  But, I also forgive him because yeah, he actually did the challenge and went back in his head 10 years...and it was clearly not a fun place to be.  I can see where it might be hard to think about re-doing cafeteria food, when the biggest most looming thing in your life was this terrible relationship with your father...one that would eventually lead you to not talking to him for 8 entire years.  I truly hope that situation resolves itself, because no one knows how long we have on this earth. 

 

My biggest hope is that this doesn't shake him the way Gregory seemed to never recover after having one particularly bad showing. 

[susannot]

I suspect and hope that part of Kwame's issues will resolve just with time and maturity.  I think he is already going through the process of analyzing the whole matter.  He is still young and it still is raw.  But I think he has definitely not let it define him no matter how much it hurts.  Sometimes just being able to talk about it out loud to someone else is cathartic.  And I think that is why he talked about it so much.  He was around people who have no investment in the outcome.  As much as the challenge got in his head, not only did he survive to cook another week but he also might have made an emotional breakthrough which is why he got so muddled in the kitchen.

 

Yes, Kwame is very young and very talented.  He is younger than my son so I felt motherly towards him.  I may have even shed a tear over his issues with his father. I am curious about what happened as his father was from Jamaica, apparently.   I've never seen a contestant get into his head so emotionally before.  Hope the talented young chef can recover.  Fortunately he is very well-liked by his fellow chefs and I hope someone gives him a pep talk.

[PamelaMaeSnap]

I was also curious about that, Susannot ... I had assumed when I read he was Jamaican-Nigerian that his dad was from Nigeria because of his last name. But if the break with his dad was that traumatic, it's more than possible that he uses his mom's last name (or for that matter it's also possible his parents were not married and that his dad was indeed the Jamaican half of his ancestry.). 

 

ETA: Just found article that confirms that his mom is Jamaican and his dad is Nigerian.

Edited January 23, 2016 by PamelaMaeSnap

[Corgi-ears]

Kwame may be sweet, but you guys? He made JERK BROCCOLI. That needs to go on my new t-shirt, but not on a plate in front of me.

[DHDancer]

Mentioning CHAD because noone else has :)   Can't remember what he made, but I like the guy.  Seems to be a good solid performer.

 

I like pretty much everyone else but Phillip has to go.  His skill needs to catch up with his ego and keep growing to catch up with his mouth....

[RCharter]

Kwame may be sweet, but you guys? He made JERK BROCCOLI. That needs to go on my new t-shirt, but not on a plate in front of me.

Listen, there is no one more sympathetic to your point of view than I am.  Because really, broccoli is already the worst, running a race to the bottom with carrots and mushy peas.  

 

So yes, his dish sounds disgusting, HOWEVER, Kwame is a sauce magician.  A sauceagician perhaps?  Both of the sauces he last challenge were lauded by the chefs.  His sauce was good enough to save ManBun's gummy potato mess.

 

So, when Jeremy said that his jerk sauce was good, I'm guessing that it was probably a VERY good sauce that was very flavorful and helped his dish to be slightly less gross.

[Darth Nigel]

Damn, I can't tell some of them apart.  

But I would have loved to see Chad(?) come out and say, "10 years ago, I was a Navy cook. For you tonight, I have prepared Shit-on-a-Shingle.  Bon Appetit"... if only to see Padma's look of horror.   The kicker would have been to make a gourmet version of SoS on artisinal bread, and have it be delicious.

[biakbiak]

Damn, I can't tell some of them apart.

But I would have loved to see Chad(?) come out and say, "10 years ago, I was a Navy cook. For you tonight, I have prepared Shit-on-a-Shingle. Bon Appetit"... if only to see Padma's look of horror. The kicker would have been to make a gourmet version of SoS on artisinal bread, and have it be delicious.

Jen already made SOS for Nigella and Padma in the Vegas room service challenge. Neither were horrified but rather laughed until they ate it and realized it wasn't very good. Edited January 23, 2016 by biakbiak

[RCharter]

Ladies, gentlemen, chefs, here is your entrée. It's served on an authentic piece of free-range Los Angeles pavement. Freshly chipped off the sidewalk outside the local strip club, for maximum flavor.

"that faint and pungent aroma?  that would be the aromatic bum pee that adds just the right amount of tang and umami to the dish...."

[RCharter]

 

But thanks for bringing Michael. Maybe an entire Michael episode (in his cute little skinny fit chef's jacket) would have been wow enough.

It just struck me that Michael V. is everything that ManBun is desperately striving to be.  

[Mrs. P.]

I detested Michael V. after his season because he beat Bryan V. for the title, but after seeing him last night, I think I'm coming around to his side. He looked - and sounded - so mature and accomplished, just like, as the poster above said, Manbun would like to be.

Edited January 23, 2016 by Mrs. P.

[Rai]

Just jumping back in to say I'm totally Team Marjorie.  I would love to see her win overall, although Kwame would be great too.

 

That said, I think "JERK BROCCOLI" is my new band name.  Our hit single will be "Yummy Gummy."

[Corgi-ears]

* whispers* He made jerk broccoli. Jerk broccoli. Even when the jerk store called, it wasn't because they wanted their broccoli back. 

Edited January 23, 2016 by Corgi-ears

[chiaros]

I'm sorry that Jason was sent off, especially over man-bun. Glad Kwame survived, but from one's armchair his dish *looked* and sounded like the worst dish. That it tasted "good" (as shown by that snippet of Jeremy liking it) must have saved him.  Jason's "underseasoning" --- eh, it DOES depend on the judges' idea of "correct seasoning", and Tom Colicchio and his crew has consistently demonstrated over the years that he and his buddies like it SALTY, SALTY. Michael Voltaggio did say that it wasn't quite there, but did not have the strong reaction that Tom C had; but I wonder if Michael V.'s taste runs towards what most professional chefs' tastes are - that is, add salt, add salt, add salt. Various chefs over the seasons have got into trouble with Tom C. & Co. for "under-seasoning" - Kelly Liken, Nicholas Elmi spring immediately to mind. There are others. Yet these last named chefs are accomplished chefs in their own right, and Nicholas Elmi for one has had success with his food at his restaurant in Philly with both critics and the dining public finding no fault with his seasoning of his food, even declaring it perfectly seasoned. One also notes that several guest judges in the past have murmured at Tom C's table that their food was just fine, while Tom C and Padma Lakshmi et al were loudly bemoaning the lack of seasoning.

 

So in this regard man-bun HAD a point when he said to Tom C. and Michael V. that he was cooking for the judges' taste, not his own. Yes, he said it rather brashly - but he was not wrong; and IMO it is disingenuous of Tom C and Mike V to roll their eyes and pretend otherwise. What constitutes "good tasting food" depends on THEIR perception,** and that circles round again to the difference between restaurant food/professional chefs' tastes and the rest of the dining public/home cooking. BTW, I would suggest that folks do not laugh at "home cooking" - some of the best food you can get anywhere would be AT HOME, cooked by excellent cooks.

 

** I also remember when Richard Blais himself, now a judge, declared in one episode of one of his seasons that he needed to cook ONLY TO PLEASE THE JUDGES, and fuck the dining public even if they were eating in the place where that episode was taking place and where the food was being judged.

Edited January 23, 2016 by chiaros

[shelley1234]

I hate the stories. anyone with a lick of sense surely knows to make something up, right? It would have been fun to have them do a challenge from the first season. I would have enjoyed that.

 

Speaking of season one, Philip reminds me strongly of Stephen, who also thought he was above it all.

 

For me Philip reminds me of the original douchey version of Marcel....before Marcel matured into the awesome version of himself that I now LOVE!  Marcel always thought everything he made was awesome and if the judges or anyone else didn't agree....well, it was because they didn't recognize his awesome.  New Marcel is funny and smart and self deprecating and entertaining...and makes yummy foods and friends with his fellow contestants.  

Edited January 23, 2016 by shelley1005

[Julia]

I sorta feel like maybe any eyerolling was more about Phillip blaming his lackluster performance on the arbitrary, draconic judging when he was speaking to the judges.

BTW, I would suggest that folks do not laugh at "home cooking" - some of the best food you can get anywhere would be AT HOME, cooked by excellent cooks

I don't believe that Collichio intends any disrespect to home cooks by pointing out that being a professional chef requires additional skills. Scott Conant can be a bit of a douche about it, but I suppose if your signature dish is dried pasta with red sauce you have to demand respect a little louder.

Edited January 23, 2016 by Julia

[In Pog Form]

* whispers* He made jerk broccoli. Jerk broccoli. Even when the jerk store called, it wasn't because they wanted their broccoli back.

He had to use broccoli, because the ocean was out of shrimp.

[Canada]

Listen, there is no one more sympathetic to your point of view than I am.  Because really, broccoli is already the worst, running a race to the bottom with carrots and mushy peas.  

 

So yes, his dish sounds disgusting, HOWEVER, Kwame is a sauce magician.  A sauceagician perhaps?  Both of the sauces he last challenge were lauded by the chefs.  His sauce was good enough to save ManBun's gummy potato mess.

 

So, when Jeremy said that his jerk sauce was good, I'm guessing that it was probably a VERY good sauce that was very flavorful and helped his dish to be slightly less gross.

 

Hush your mouth... mushy peas are awesome!!  :)

[In Pog Form]

Hush your mouth... mushy peas are awesome!!  :)

These pretzels This thread is making me hungry. Broccoli, carrots, and mushy peas? I'm going to start cooking right now, because that is a delicious combination.

I'll probably add some crispy, spectacular, non-gummy, chunky fried potato chips to the mix.

Edited January 23, 2016 by In Pog Form

[ratgirlagogo]

 

He's going to put himself at Front of House, isn't he? It'll be awesome.

He's in the unique position of being able to work kitchen AND front of house since he can use his life-size cutout of himself to work Front of House.

 

 

I've read - no idea if it's true or why it would be - that celery seed / salt is full of umami. FWIW.

It is true in my experience, but yes it's the leaves and the seeds that contain most of the flavor and unless you have cooked with them people of course tend to think of the stalks, which while they do contain flavor are mostly water.  I would have picked onion before I picked celery (but then I couldn't understand why none of the previous nine chose onion either) but it's a much more basic building-block flavor component than people tend to realize, especially in European cooking.  It's on my mind particularly recently since we've been shopping around for good places in NYC to get matzoh ball soup now that Carnegie Deli is (maybe forever) closed.  The place we got it from a couple of nights ago had almost zero celery and god, was it ever noticeable - the soup was SO bland and thin tasting.

[ZoloftBlob]

So methinks his problem getting the hang of Top Chef is due more to the fact he just isn't that bright. He will be gone soon. He's so intent on proving his gummy potatoes really are good (and the judges just didn't like them) that he wasting all his time and energy on this, where maybe he should instead be studying for his GED or something. Does he think being a HS dropout makes him cool? He's super delusional.

 

Yes he does think being a high school drop out is cool. I've known some people like this. Here's the thinking. You drop out because you're too smart for the grunt work, people don't "get you" because you're so talented, creative, edgy etc. Rather than it being a mark of your inability to get an education, or to get along with others, it becomes a badge of honor because you're so special and unique, you were too much of a special snowflake to be one of the silly worker bees with no creativity and no special drive to be so unique and special.

It doesn't seem like he has a clue what he's doing wrong. I wish all judges were as constructive and instructive as last night's Nancy Silverton, who really took the time to suggest improvements to many of the dishes she tasted.

 

I completely agree that he doesn't have a clue that he's grating and arrogant as fuck about his skills and doesn't realize he's been straight up rude to the judges, but I disagree that the judges are there to teach and provide instruction. This isn't Masterchef Jr. or Masterchef for that matter. Philip is presenting himself as being a culinary master in a competition to be number one Top Chef. He's an adult in an actual competition of skill and the time for learning and coaching and teaching is past. If Philip or any of the chefs for that matter, need instruction, then they have already lost in my opinion.

[eurekagirl mOo]

I can handle man-buns quiting high school. That has nothing to do with how good a chef you are. Not everyone's cut out for school. However quiting culinary school?? Dude you HAVE to pick some kind of school. If not HS o.k. but go to mechanic school, or beauty school, or something.....You do not know everything! And that;s how he comes off. As someone who knows better then EVERYBODY how to cook. Now go learn how to make real mashed potatoes.

Glad Eyeore is gone. Another gloomy day in the kitchen. WaWaWa...Nobody likes me Wawawa....I don't fit in....Wawawawawa. Go home already.

[Julia]

It's on my mind particularly recently since we've been shopping around for good places in NYC to get matzoh ball soup now that Carnegie Deli is (maybe forever) closed. The place we got it from a couple of nights ago had almost zero celery and god, was it ever noticeable - the soup was SO bland and thin tasting.

Have you tried Katz' version? A little harder to get to, but it's a classic.

Edited January 23, 2016 by Julia

[Kromm]

Phillip The Man Bun really is such a douche. He just digs himself in deeper each time, and I GOTTA think they started keeping him around intentionally because this is an otherwise drama-light season. He's like the essence of pretension boiled down into a Manbunned Hipster Douchenozzle. Not mean. Not angry per se. Just so far up his own ass he can't even comprehend he's constantly eating shit.

[ratgirlagogo]

 

Have you tried Katz' version? A little harder to get to, but it's a classic.

I used to have it all the time when I lived down there, in fact one of the places I lived was almost next door.  Haven't had it in a couple of years but yes, definitely one of the places I'm going to go next.  By the way the bad soup was from Pastrami Queen (their pastrami is good, though).

Edited January 23, 2016 by ratgirlagogo

[Julia]

I used to have it all the time when I lived down there, in fact one of the places I lived was almost next door.  Haven't had it in a couple of years but yes, definitely one of the places I'm going to go next.  By the way the bad soup was from Pastrami Queen (their pastrami is good, though).

I also used to like the version at the flagship 2nd Avenue Deli, although (don't know if this matters) as an observant friend used to say, they're certainly busy on Saturday. If that's a consideration, B&H has an interesting celery-heavy vegetarian version.

[cattykit]

** I also remember when Richard Blais himself, now a judge, declared in one episode of one of his seasons that he needed to cook ONLY TO PLEASE THE JUDGES, and fuck the dining public even if they were eating in the place where that episode was taking place and where the food was being judged.

The difference being, though, is that Blais would have been smart enough not to say it to the judges.

 

Am I the only one who wants to bitchslap Padma every time she sniffs, "That is all?"  Like she's the queen dismissing her underlings.  I really would love to see a Top Chef After Hours, like Chopped After Hours, where the judges, including Padma, have to cook under the same constraints.

 

It should have been an all TC-alum judging panel for the occasion.  And I didn't even see that Mei was acknowledged as last season's winner, just as a chef.

[bitchin camaro]

My thought that Jason looked like a serial killer certainly wasn't dissuaded by the John Wayne Gacy pants and shoes he wore this week. WTF?