S14.E01: Something Old, Something New

[Wings]

I am fine with Gerald going. One sob story down and more to go.  I am waiting for someone to say, i came from an affluent background and was afforded the luxury  of having culinary school paid for along with a year of travel to Europe and Asia to taste the food of different countries. 

I prefer a season of all new chefs, as well. 

I LOVE JIM! 

I like Graham just,  ok.  He is humorless thus my inability to connect. 

[Haute Messe]

2 hours ago, hula-la said:

The Canadian dollar is at $.75 vs. the US, and I'm assuming that's why we didn't get the full episode up here. They just randomly switched to another show right after the sudden death tasting. Thanks to Previously for the recap article, so I know what happened! Even though we didn't get the full episode, it's nice to have it back. I was surprisingly happy to see some of the returning chef's (not that I recognised all of them).

I guess it was more important for FN Canada to have multiple 4 minute commercial breaks throughout the show. I re-recorded it to watch later and added an extra 15 minutes, but doesn't sound like that will help. They better get this straightened out before the next episode.

[chiaros]

2 hours ago, meep.meep said:

 and like everyone else, can't remember who Amanda is.

I think various people have indicated they knew who Amanda is.

[susannot]

I was sorry to see Gerald as the first to go.  He had an inspirational backstory.  My favorites of the newbies (so far) are Jim and Silvia.  Least favorite Emily.

Speaking of Sam, he hasn't aged well.  Can't believe he was ever one of People's Sexiest Men?

It doesn't look like Richard Blais is back.  Good.

Love seeing Shirley, Sheldon, Casey, Brooke.  Even Katsuji.

I think Sam still looks good. He is taller than I remembered, has retained his slim physique, and has a full head of dark hair. What's not to like? And Silvia agrees with me! Like her and Jim the best of the newbies. I thought it was adorable that Brooke said she wanted to hug Jim.

[biakbiak]

3 minutes ago, susannot said:

I think Sam still looks good. He is taller than I remembered, has retained his slim physique, and has a full head of dark hair. What's not to like? And Silvia agrees with me! Like her and Jim the best of the newbies. I thought it was adorable that Brooke said she wanted to hug Jim.

I agree that he looks good but my favorite shot was him in the sea of other cheftestants who looked so wee next to him, I mean immediately in the big group shot Shirley and Brooke were standing next to him but he still towers over everyone.

[Straycat80]

I don't like when competitive reality shows bring back past contestants. I don't remember half of them that well anyway. I thought this was a boring first episode, I hope it gets better. And that bitchy newbie girl can pack her knifes and go anytime. 

[HoneyBadgerJr]

18 hours ago, rustyspigot said:

My friend said Jim looks like Alyssa Edwards out of drag. We'll see if Jim starts tongue popping and doing death drops during a challenge.

 

Yasssss! Sounds alike, too! LOL I swear, if he ends up winning, but then dethroned...... :-P

[Writing Wrongs]

Did no one see Amanda taste her dish and then taste it again with the same spoon? Ew.

[Pickles]

Didn't it look like a lot of the guys were dripping sweat into their dishes? Yuck.

[rehoboth]

2 hours ago, chiaros said:

I think various people have indicated they knew who Amanda is.

I've seen every minute of Top Chef over the years and - wait for it -

I have no memory of this Amanda chick.  They could have put her in with the new contestants and the viewers would not have noticed.

I don't like the returnees either  All new or All Stars; it doesn't seem fair to the new chefs otherwise.

 

And whatever happened to Gail?

[Calamity Jane]

I loved the comment one of them threw out at the start about Top Chef being the only cooking show real chefs care about, or words to that effect.  And then Gordon Ramsay's sidekick shows up from one of his shows!  Tickled my funny bone.  

[biakbiak]

25 minutes ago, Calamity Jane said:

I loved the comment one of them threw out at the start about Top Chef being the only cooking show real chefs care about, or words to that effect.  And then Gordon Ramsay's sidekick shows up from one of his shows!  Tickled my funny bone.  

To be fair Graham was a contestant on Top Chef Masters before he started on MC. Before he dropped the Bowles in his name.

[fivestone]

14 hours ago, candall said:

 

I am amused by Katsuji and his millions of ingredients, but he was a dick recommending Tesar "talk [Gerald] off his game." 

"I'm not saying be an asshole, but, you know, just make him sweat, you know?"  How is that not being an asshole?

.

Well, it is a competition... not a documentary about chefs.

[Lizzing]

5 hours ago, meep.meep said:

But, the newbie who cooks for the governor of Alabama, is such a dead ringer for Bill Irwin that I expected him to start juggling or  recite Beckett.

Yes!  That's who he looked like!  It was driving me nuts.

[spiderpig]

2 hours ago, Writing Wrongs said:

Did no one see Amanda taste her dish and then taste it again with the same spoon? Ew.

Yep - Mr. pig called her out on it.  (We always wonder if they do it knowing they're on camera, what the hell do they do every day in their kitchens?  I thought Tom got very frowny about double dipping.)

[ratgirlagogo]

1 hour ago, rehoboth said:

And whatever happened to Gail?

She was there at the end to judge the sudden death cookoff.

Edited December 3, 2016 by ratgirlagogo

[Yakimaman]

Hearing loss leaves me dependent on closed captioning, but there were no captions on this episode even though the program guide indicated CC.

[tobeannounced]

8 hours ago, candall said:

I can go for a "Half-Star" season, although the South Carolina venue doesn't do much for me.  (Really, a plantation?   "So we may remember" AND party down?!  Woo hoo.  /s)

That was so awkward.  It felt really tacked on at the last minute, like no one made the connection at first and thought, "Oh, shit," we've got to address this."  And then putting Gerald on the spot about how it felt to be there, but, hey, now it's the site of the world's largest oyster fest, so all's well that ends well.  Gah.

I enjoyed the show overall and am glad to see it back.  It seems like forever since it's been on, and I can't even remember last season AT ALL much less poor Amanda.

[Silly Angel]

Quote

But, the newbie who cooks for the governor of Alabama, is such a dead ringer for Bill Irwin that I expected him to start juggling or  recite Beckett.

Now that is a home-run reference, and very true, besides. Thumbs up!

I was cringing/dying inside during the sudden death interrogation. "We're at a plantation; how do you guys feel about that? Gerald, any insight? Don't forget your forebears may have suffered and died in a place just like this. Tell us more. Oysters!"

[Calamity Jane]

2 hours ago, biakbiak said:

To be fair Graham was a contestant on Top Chef Masters before he started on MC. Before he dropped the Bowles in his name.

I meant no disrespect to him at all, just chuckled at how not respected GR's shows clearly are.  Which is not news, of course, just fun to have confirmed.  I'm glad Graham is back in TC world, for his sake.  

[MaggieG]

Count me in as well for not liking Emily. She said she had been fired from several restaurants for her attitude. That's not something to be proud of. 

I'm kinda glad Katsuji is back. I loved the little montage of him going through how many ingredients he put in his dish. Plus his bowtie!

I also loved Alabama guy who won, he was adorable

[seltzer3]

Surprised no one remembers Amanda. She did some pretty ridiculous things on her season.

One episode the chefs (split into teams) had to serve healthy cafeteria food. Amanda decided it would be a good idea to braise chicken in brandy as a dish (so many lawsuits could happen if this happened in an actual high school). Was really surprised she didn't get eliminated for that. She was known to put everything in booze.

[leighdear]

Tesar as usual just can't shut up about himself....and his past bad-boy rep, and now he's different, and he's grown as a chef, and, and, and, blah, blah, blah....Top Chef needs to stop trying to make him happen, because he still hasn't. 

Funny to hear Casey actually admit that she's basically an attention whore.  She's got that nasty temper I assume will come spewing out eventually.  But I do like her food. 

Sam is just "meh".  Not attractive to me and a crappy attitude.    He's not relevant anymore, so that ego is kind of pathetic.   

I like Katsuji but he gets a touch of the mean girl on occasion.  But he does entertain, for sure.  His laundry list of ingredients are hilarious. 

I like Sylvia at first meeting, and I'm happy to see Shirley again.  Also adoring Mr. Alabama, he seems to be a sweetie.  

I'm glad it's back, so I'll reserve judgement on the rest.  

[Sew Sumi]

Party of One: I'm hanging out in the corner rooting for Brooke. She's quietly carved out a very nice career for herself. She's likable, low-key, and a damn good chef. As much as I also like Kristen, it was Brooke's to lose until they brought KK back. 

Can't stand the Charleston-based Emily. 

Jim is adorable, but even he admits he doesn't have the culinary chops of, well, pretty much every other cheftestant. One wonders what the Governor of Alabama likes to eat? He apparently practiced as a dermatologist. That's not much to go on to gauge Jim's range as a chef. 

I also like Sylvia, despite her crush on Sam. I've never liked the guy; I agree with the poster above who called him a classic shit-stirrer. Not to mention, his ego seems as big as ever. He'll last until RW; his popularity guarantees that. I hope he leads the losing team and is knifed. I'm curious to see if he can still cook. Same goes for Casey, who didn't do herself any favors in the challenge. Honey, even Emeril can still bring it when called upon to do so. I only call out Emeril since she seems to want a similar dual TV/"consultant" type of career. 

Can't comment on the other noobs yet. And count me in the "don't remember Amanda" camp, although I do feel for her back issues that kept her from cooking for two years. 

[Betelnut]

I had cc. Verizon FiOS.

[Nidratime]

Quote

Amanda is from the Washington, D.C. season apparently. I have no memory of her either.

Not only do I not have any memory of her, I don't have any memory of a Washington D.C. season and I live here!!! How could I have that completely wiped from my memory? Wish there was some way to see previous seasons again.

Quote

Did no one see Amanda taste her dish and then taste it again with the same spoon? Ew.

Yes, I did. I thought she'd be dinged for that.

Edited December 3, 2016 by Nidratime

[Lillybee]

what is with Katsuri and his fancy ties?

Edited December 3, 2016 by Lillybee

[eurekagirl mOo]

Graham Elliott is a super chef and I'm so happy to see him on this show! He has tweeted a while back about something new coming up. Wonder if this was it? He is MUCH missed on Master Chef.

[dleighg]

On 12/2/2016 at 1:00 AM, crayon78 said:

Even after watching the episode, I still don't remember ever seeing Amanda before.

 

She was the one who gushed about being a "spy" when they cooked for and at the CIA. She put sherry in the kids' food challenge. She skated by a lot because someone else screwed up more. She looks very different now though!

[Wings]

9 hours ago, Sew Sumi said:

Party of One: I'm hanging out in the corner rooting for Brooke. She's quietly carved out a very nice career for herself. She's likable, low-key, and a damn good chef. As much as I also like Kristen, it was Brooke's to lose until they brought KK back. 

Can't stand the Charleston-based Emily. 

Jim is adorable, but even he admits he doesn't have the culinary chops of, well, pretty much every other cheftestant. One wonders what the Governor of Alabama likes to eat? He apparently practiced as a dermatologist. That's not much to go on to gauge Jim's range as a chef. 

I also like Sylvia, despite her crush on Sam. I've never liked the guy; I agree with the poster above who called him a classic shit-stirrer. Not to mention, his ego seems as big as ever. He'll last until RW; his popularity guarantees that. I hope he leads the losing team and is knifed. I'm curious to see if he can still cook. 

 

He is a dermatologist? Wow. That is a difficult speciality to get into; you have to be in the top of your class to move forward.  It is most desired practice. 

He is a modest guy. I suspect he is much better than he will admit. 

I like Brook, too. I am rooting for both her and Jim. I like Sam, though.  

He will last until he makes the worst dish.

This issue comes up every season. Tom is clear on this. It is a game show. Best dish wins, worst dish goes home. And though Bravo rolls their disclaimer during the credits, they have no say in the outcome. No one is kept for drama or popularity.  Tom set it up with Bravo before he signed on. He refused to do the show if they had a say. Only the dish in front of them is judged. The judges look at nothing else.

There are still those who insist otherwise; he refuses to read SM or address this issue again. I believe him.

That said, they are human and not immune to being influenced by personalities and the chefs potential when judging. Drama, no. I believe this is a clean competition and the judges operate with integrity. 

[Twopper]

http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/life/food/2016/11/29/local-chef-vies-top-chef-prize/93917970/

An interesting article about Jim from Alabama.  Alabama's governor and wife of 50 years divorced about a year ago as he was having an affair so I guess he isn't cooking much for the Bentley family ( I think maybe there are adult children and grandchildren who may visit from on occasion).  What I like about him is his preparation; he is doing exactly what I would do if I were to be on that show.  I won't be, though, as my home  version of shrimp and grits is to buy scampi in the frozen section and a box of instant grits in the cereal aisle.  I use three packs of the grits; there are about 20 shrimp in the scampi.  This lazy combo works really well for these two empty nesters.

I really dislike  the format of 8 rookies and 8 vets.   Granted, the vets never won their season, but they do have the experience of the show to help them get through it--the lack of sleep, the weird stuff added at the last moment.  I do think it gives them an advantage; the disadvantage may be that they feel they have an advantage.

That plantation thing was so very awkward.  I am descended from plantation owners on one side of my family ( and on the other, from later immigrants). I might have thought they were trying to make  me feel guilty.  It just seemed to creep everyone out. 

I am looking forward to this season, I think.  I had dvr'd it and Project Runway thurs so I ended up watching them back to back  last night.  This was much better.  The woman bragging about being fired from a bunch of restaurants can go home.

[dleighg]

7 minutes ago, Twopper said:

That plantation thing was so very awkward.  I am descended from plantation owners on one side of my family ( and on the other, from later immigrants). I might have thought they were trying to make  me feel guilty.  It just seemed to creep everyone out. 

 

Yeah- the "how does this make you feel?" from Padma. I mean, what the heck are they *supposed* to say. 

[tobeannounced]

This judging on the dish and only the dish bugs me the way Project Runway's "blind" judging bugs me.  Let them judge and vote without knowing who made the dish, and then I'll believe there's no hanky panky going on.

[chiaros]

Regarding the "Plantation stuff" and the awkwardness of the situation regarding Gerald Sombright (and, as it happens, also John Tesar) – it was not planned, I think. The locale and the challenge would have been predetermined and already arranged. The actual people who were to duke it out in the QF "Sudden Death" were not. That the two cheftestants turned out to be Gerald S and John T were "accidental" so to speak. Perhaps TPTB could have changed some of the following scenarios in view of that, but "drama" is what they are after in the end. In a way, the arc of the story wasn't that bad - Gerald S acknowledged the history behind the place and dealt with it, John T similarly. I'm sure they said much more than what was shown to us - the editors included only what they wanted to show us. John T has also talked about being caught up in the White-Black struggles --- when his mother marched alongside African-Americans in Selma, and about when while growing up he experienced/saw some of the stuff that went on.  In a general sense it is better that one talks about the pain and wrongs done in periods of history - whatever the venue, if the situation arises - than sweep it under the rug. If it makes you feel uncomfortable – good.

[RemoteControlFreak]

Quote

Don't let anyone tell you it's weird that the producers decided to hold the Sudden Death Quickfire, between a black man and a white man, on an old plantation. That's not a weird choice at all.

I don't find this weird.  It's facing history head on, including the worst parts of human history, and showing how far we've come (with still a big distance to go) in that a black man who might have been a slave there 200 years ago is now competing as an equal.   Obviously the full redemption story line would have him winning.

Only cringey thing was John awkwardly trying to equate his mother's experience as an activist in the civil rights movement with the experience of slavery.

Edited December 6, 2016 by RemoteControlFreak

[tobeannounced]

The awkwardness, for me, wasn't that they mentioned it, but the way they handled it.  Maybe they just need better dialogue writers, but the jump from slavery to, woo hoo, oysters was awkward.

[chiaros]

15 minutes ago, RemoteControlFreak said:

I don't find this weird.  It's facing history head on, including the worst parts of human history, and showing how far we've come (with still a big distance to go) in that a black man who might have been a slave there 200 years ago is now competing as an equal.   Obviously the full redemption story line would have him winning.

Only cringey thing was John awkwardly trying to equate his mother's experience as an activist in civil rights movement with the experience of slavery.

Well, the editors showed us that comment of John T.  

In the interview he gave to Previews Inside Out and which cooksdelight linked to in another thread he readily acknowledged that non-African-Americans (like Whites) can't truly understand what it was like to be the victims of racism in USAmerica, as one place where this occurred.

[hula-la]

21 hours ago, lizajane said:

I guess it was more important for FN Canada to have multiple 4 minute commercial breaks throughout the show. I re-recorded it to watch later and added an extra 15 minutes, but doesn't sound like that will help. They better get this straightened out before the next episode.

Just watched it again this morning, and they aired the whole thing this time (plus previews of the season)! Hopefully they'll show the entire episode next week.

[Constantinople]

20 hours ago, Pickles said:

Didn't it look like a lot of the guys were dripping sweat into their dishes? Yuck.

To be fair, the judges do seem to like a lot of salt in their food.

[HunterHunted]

I feel like I've seen Silvia before on some show on the Food Network, either Chopped or Beat Bobby Flay. Regardless, I still like her.

I really like Jim.

I wanted Gerald to stay, not because of his backstory (I'm over sob stories thanks to the Food Network) but because I think he'll give better talking heads.

I'm over Tesar. I think he's done a lot to reform his image. I don't need to hear more about how he used to be a hard partying arrogant jerk, especially when newbie Emily is reminding us how unpleasant a person like that can be.

I know it's been a decade since season 2, but I'm still not cool with Sam's silent laughter when the rest of his crew was assaulting Marcel and his laughter and joking when they were trying to cover up their assault. It was fucking gross.  I'm the same age as Sam. I think we're all familiar enough with reality tv to know that you can't lay hands on other people. The Real World had been on for more than a decade and had opportunity to reiterate this rule many times over. Not to get too far afield from this episode, but one of the complaints that they had with Marcel is that he tended to do a ton of that talking to the camera that the producers now expect from the cheftestants. But when Marcel did it no one else was doing it, so he just looked like a manic loon to the rest of the cheftestants.

[cooksdelight]

17 hours ago, seltzer3 said:

Surprised no one remembers Amanda. She did some pretty ridiculous things on her season.

One episode the chefs (split into teams) had to serve healthy cafeteria food. Amanda decided it would be a good idea to braise chicken in brandy as a dish (so many lawsuits could happen if this happened in an actual high school). Was really surprised she didn't get eliminated for that. She was known to put everything in booze.

Maybe that's why she's been bartending and not cooking. 

[BlackberryJam]

22 hours ago, Pickles said:

Didn't it look like a lot of the guys were dripping sweat into their dishes? Yuck.

Fuck yes. I thought so many were dripping sweat into their food I wanted to hurl.

Edit: Disclaimer. I've watched all the seasons and don't care if I remember the returners or not. *shrug* At least not this group. Bring in the Volts, Hung, or Stephanie and I then I can work up a feeling.

Edited December 3, 2016 by BlackberryJam

[ratgirlagogo]

We had CC as well. Charter Spectrum (the former Time Warner) cable.

[ZoloftBlob]

Quote

The Real World had been on for more than a decade and had opportunity to reiterate this rule many times over.

Isn't the Real World the show where the guy slapped the girl in the face as she was leaving due to stress and sickness and the producers didn't kick him off the show?  Or have they handled assault a little better since the Seattle season?

[RemoteControlFreak]

7 hours ago, wings707 said:

He is a dermatologist? Wow. That is a difficult speciality to get into; you have to be in the top of your class to move forward.  It is most desired practice. 

This was probably not as true  in 1970 as it is now with the opportunity for huge income from expensive cosmetic procedures that didn't exist back then.

[hendersonrocks]

Quote

That was so awkward.  It felt really tacked on at the last minute, like no one made the connection at first and thought, "Oh, shit," we've got to address this."  And then putting Gerald on the spot about how it felt to be there, but, hey, now it's the site of the world's largest oyster fest, so all's well that ends well.  Gah.

And having one of the two people in the spotlight in this particular venue - competing for their spot on the show - be a black man? I mean, it was just insanely shortsighted. You think a black man doesn't have some extra emotional stuff potentially happening when he drives into a goddamned plantation? I don't exactly expect Top Chef to be a bastion of racial justice, but for fuck's sake I would hope someone at least tried to speak up and say, ump, maybe this isn't the best idea. I know they picked that location well before they knew which two individuals would be fighting it out but good lord. Consider the possibility and the optics, Bravo.

Aside from that, I enjoyed the premiere. Seems like a good cast of characters and the food looked pretty great for the first episode. 

[Omega Mu]

Sam... he'll always be the "hot diabetic" to me!

[HunterHunted]

3 hours ago, ZoloftBlob said:

Isn't the Real World the show where the guy slapped the girl in the face as she was leaving due to stress and sickness and the producers didn't kick him off the show?  Or have they handled assault a little better since the Seattle season?

It is, but they've kicked other people off for violence issues. They've kicked off: David (LA) for grabbing a blanket from Tami, Puck (SF) for general disgustingness, Melissa (Miami), Trisha (Sydney) for pushing Parisa to the ground and spitting on her, and Bronne (Cancun) trashed part of the hotel they lived in. I think this used to be more of an issue before Las Vegas 1 and when the ratings for The Challenge started to get bigger  than the source shows. Once Tonya got raped, it was clear that the producers now had very different rules about violence.

However by the time Top Chef season 2 filmed, it's not like the Real World was the only reality show on the air. There were a ton of other shows providing evidence that you really can't aggressively touch others. In fact this had been such a truism in reality tv that evidence that the Real World seemed to be allowing violence and a ton of it provoked many think pieces in newspaper and magazine entertainment sections. Johnny Fairplay had gamed his season of Survivor in 2003. And the Joe Schmo show aired the same year. If any of the cheftestants on season 2 was clueless about reality, it's their own fault.

Real World: Seattle is weird. The show claimed that Irene was leaving because her Lyme disease had flared up and was causing neurological issues. Really, she left because she was unpleasant and had issues with the artifice of reality tv. As she was leaving, she called Stephen gay (he would later come out years later). Stephen slapped her. He shouldn't have slapped Irene, but outting him on national tv was extremely nasty behavior. I don't want this to sound like a defense of Stephen's actions because it's not, but I don't think Irene still has any clue how horrible she was. She outted Stephen on national tv in 1998, the same year that Matthew Shepard was murdered.

The producers gave the rest of the cast the option of what to do. The cast chose to have Stephen attend anger management because at the time he hit Irene, she was no longer part of the cast. They could have kicked him out and they didn't, I suspect because they knew how much he was struggling with accepting being gay because he came from a black Muslim household.

Edited December 4, 2016 by HunterHunted

[Wings]

5 hours ago, RemoteControlFreak said:

This was probably not as true  in 1970 as it is now with the opportunity for huge income from expensive cosmetic procedures that didn't exist back then.

In the 70s it definitely was,  but going back further my guess is no, too. A frIend of mine was in medical school in the 70s and she would have loved to go into that field. She was a single, mom, working and going through  medical  school! I don't know how she did it and I even watched  it happening under my nose!  I watched her daughter 2 days a week.  She said she could not take the pressure of having to pull a 4.0 or whatever the required   GPA was. No shit. 

[JES004]

On 12/2/2016 at 11:32 AM, Lizzing said:

 And, even though I've watched TC religiously since mid S1, I cannot remember John Tesar on the show. 

He is the guy who wore his glasses on his head.  My friend thought it was pretentious. 

Speaking of which ... shouldn't an elimination final involving an oyster roast have ... say ... roasted oysters?  Tesar's oysters never came near the fire.  Did they forget it was an oyster roast challenge? I was rooting for John Tesar to get the boot.