S14.E03: Choke Holds and Clammy Hands

[Wings]

15 hours ago, HunterHunted said:

Vegetarian meals are so often terrible on Top Chef because the cheftestants are so protein focused. It's funny because they all make fantastic veg and starches, but tell them that they can't use animal protein and their brains short circuit. Remember the neighborhood challenge on the California season. The vegan group self destructed, which did include Philip and explains some of that disaster. However, the group cooking in the Tehrangeles section of town made 2 vegetarian dishes without realizing.

I'm glad that Chris Cosentino of all people made them focus on radishes.

I think Blais won Tom C's heart when he drew the dreaded tofu for his protein and marinated it in lard.  It was the most delicious tofu any of them had ever had!  LOL.   Loved it.  

[cooksdelight]

Tofu in lard? LOL, the pig that gave his soul for that lard might disagree.

[sourpickles]

Late to the party, STILL catching up on this show (only watched each epi once) and others but....I've scanned as many posts as I can and I seem to be in the minority here in saying that I was absolutely delighted that Sam went home. I've said many other times that I can't stand him so we'll let that go, unless it's Sams Redemption LCK. And then I'll be mad. Anywho. Loved this episode overall. Great meal, everyone seemed to have great attitudes, and they even made me think about liking radishes, which are in my top three of hated veggies (carrots, peppers). Though I knew it was going to be a tie leading to dessert because I've watched way to much reality tv in the last fifteen years. But that was ok, cause those dishes rocked. In some cases f****** rocked, many times it was said. Now I'm done. I'm kind of loving this season, though I wasn't sure at first. I thought the rookies/vets thing would be stale and done, but as of now, it is working, at least for me. I might fall on my face next week with that, but there's a vibe this season that I like. I even can deal with the personality quirks of say Casey, or Sylvia. Maybe I'm Top Chef starved, or easy to please. And I take back every bad thought I had about Amanda's bangs. I felt SO BAD knowing about how much she'd been through. She seems just as scattered but a better chef from DC, if that makes sense. Still love Brooke, and Sheldon. John is growing on me, for a minute. Katsuji is almost funny. And also almost an ass. I still don't know all the newbies names. I guess I really am thrilled TC is back! Go Charleston!

[bravofan27]

Richard Blais is unliked because he was extremely whiney and complained all the time when he was on Top Chef. He also didn't seem to appreciate his wife and kids and made it sound like his family was a burden to him. I got the feeling his wife wanted to stay home and raise kids, and expected him to be the provider and he was bitter about it. Her pressure worked though, because look at him now! He also looks to me like the Muppet character Beaker. It's the mouth and the cranky expression.

https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/e2/07/af/e207af622e41a9a01b500504537fce22.jpg&imgrefurl=https://www.pinterest.com/meakooijman/beaker-muppetshow/&h=364&w=400&tbnid=IZUDLKnq54Zt1M:&vet=1&tbnh=182&tbnw=200&docid=FJ6Ody6Wb7fayM&itg=1&usg=__kpg2DLadgXmZTxws4co5cj4EEkk=&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiNhNSIpf_QAhUI3IMKHVW3AVgQ_B0IiQIwCg&ei=kFBXWI38Loi4jwTV7obABQ

I don't hate Richard per se, but I don't see how he is any more special than any other chef that has been on Top Chef. He acts like he is super acclaimed (more so than others). He just wants to be on TV and has PR. 

I wasn't surprised to see Sam go. The chefs on top chef have become so much more accomplished and talented compared to season 2. Season 1 had some home cooks and some ditz in culinary school! I'm super happy for him for being so hot, but he was lame on Top Chef and his face is very wrinkly which really means nothing except he isn't quite as hot as before for those who care.

I love Jim. Katsuji was acting like an idiot, taunting him for no reason, and you could tell Jim was probably thinking how low his IQ must be as he tried to politely smile. He's so nice. Compassion for the special people. Very political like. 

Edited December 19, 2016 by bravofan27

[sourpickles]

And also, the minute Padma asked about the bread and the face she made, you knew he was a goner. Such an early season mistake, the bread! Not joking, if that is the one thing that sends you home, the meal must have been FABULOUS. But also. Make your own bread, pasta, etc. They kill on that in judging. Oh, and no frozen seafood.

[sourpickles]

If Richard is Beaker now, he was Tintin then. I'm just saying.

[DarkRaichu]

I thought Sam PYKAG was fair.  The problem with creating BanhMi with radish is your standard out of the shop BanhMi already uses pickled radish as its condiment.  Sam's BanhMi would have to be out of this world good to go over the judges' preconceived expectation.  Perhaps Sam should have called his dish a Bruschetta instead :P 

Edited December 19, 2016 by DarkRaichu

[Christina]

I gave up on this show during Season 2. I hated Katie in Season 1, and almost everyone in Season 2. I only recently watched the rest of the seasons. My first experience of Richard Blais was as a judge on something, and the other judges were Food Network Stars. I wasn't impressed with any of them, and thought he was an arrogant prick. I posted something about not being impressed with the judges in a thread here on PTV, and someone told me he was a Top Chef not a FNS. 

My dislike of him grew while watching his two seasons of Top Chef. He thought he was better than everyone, and it was his to lose. He completely seemed to discount every other chef, and his ego was obnoxious. He wasn't the most egotistical chef to appear on Top Chef, or even that season, but his, "I choked" comment after he heard the judges comments and realized he was outcooked made his obnoxiousness reach new levels. You could see his realization that Stephanie was going to win, which is why he said he choked. He didn't choke, he couldn't pull off his menu, in part because they didn't have the sous chefs for the entire time needed, which was a failure of production. It was a stupid idea that didn't add anything to the show and I'll never understand why they want to handicap the chefs while still expecting a perfect meal. Blais wanted to use molecular gastronomy on his menu, and it didn't seem to add anything to the meal. He seemed to think that using liquid nitrogen was so impressive in itself that the judges would hand him the win. 

Even though he thought he was better than everyone, I can't remember him every being rude or hateful to someone's face. He always had disbelieving expressions when he didn't win, but it didn't seem intentional to me; he just couldn't help it, he was actually shocked.  On whatever I was watching that had him as a judge with the FNSs, he did the same facial expressions when the other judges were speaking. I also rolled my eyes and scrunched up my face at some of their stupid comments, but they couldn't see me. He was entirely too impressed with himself, and that hasn't changed. He is now promoting his thirty second appearance in that new Bryan Cranston movie, which of course he would, he's in a movie, but he does it a bit obnoxiously. 

To change gears to why I dislike Katsuji, not only was he on the US version of Top Chef, he was on last season of Top Chef Mexico. My Spanish is not great, and when it comes to food and cooking terms, it turns out it is quite poor, but I understood him as he would sit back on team challenges, letting his teammates make the decisions, and then at judges table exclaiming, "It wasn't my decision; I was trying to be a team player." when he was actually stirring shit behind the scenes and not taking any responsibility if he could pawn it off on another. I get that it is a game, but I don't respect his game play. I remember he didn't win, but don't actually remember how far he made it. I think it was far, so his game was seemingly effective. 

[Jobiska]

At least this episode Richard (I'm over on the dislike end of the spectrum, but not all the way to blazing hatred) did not do the thing I hate most when he does, which is dive forward into his plate to smell it as if he were one of those silly dipping birds.  He's not ugly or that weird-looking (has some affectations in hair and accessories, but that's not that odd for TC or reality TV in general) but when he does that it somehow makes his nose look as long and pointy as Pinocchio's!  https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b7/Drinking_bird_01_ies.webm/1920px--Drinking_bird_01_ies.webm.jpg  And seriously, you can't smell it unless your nose is a millimeter from the food?  He's going to get scalded one of these days!

I don't think the judges need blind taste testing, but I guessed, and felt like it was carried out for the most part, that when a rookie was up against a returner, unless the latter made a horrible dish the "superfans" were almost certain to vote for the returner just because they were familiar with the chef.  Especially someone like Casey who for some reason appeals to a lot of people (I'm not on that end of the spectrum, but again no blazing hatred).  

Glad Sam left and I hope he doesn't make it all the way through on LCK.  

I thought the show overdid it on showing all his instances of praise of Sylvia's dish, and all their interactions, to play up her little crush on him.  Yet another reason to be glad he's gone so we don't have to see any manufactured drama out of that.

[HunterHunted]

On Sunday, December 18, 2016 at 3:55 PM, cooksdelight said:

Tofu in lard? LOL, the pig that gave his soul for that lard might disagree.

Technically I think it was tallow because Blais asked for beef fat. I guess it might have been suet. So yes, the only tofu they've liked was marinated in rendered beef fat.

Edited December 21, 2016 by HunterHunted

[chiaros]

48 minutes ago, HunterHunted said:

Technically I think it was tallow because Blais asked for beef fat. I guess it might have been suet. So yes, the only tofu they've liked was marinated in rendered beef fat.

Which is also illustrative of the difficulty Western/USAmerican? folks have with tofu as an ingredient. It is claimed that it is tasteless and has an unappetizing texture --- but it is a highly prized and appreciated ingredient in so much of E and SE Asian cuisine, in all its myriad forms. Yes, there are many, many forms of tofu, not just the custard-like off-white stuff that people in 'Murca tend to think of as "tofu". Even that form, in itself, DOES have taste - yes, it does - and is amenable to being used in so, so many ways. But such is the dichotomy between Western and Eastern tastes. I myself (full disclosure: I am of E Asian heritage) enjoy tofu greatly in all its myriad forms and can't imagine not having it available in my cooking.

[Bastet]

Quote

Yes, there are many, many forms of tofu, not just the custard-like off-white stuff that people in 'Murca tend to think of as "tofu". Even that form, in itself, DOES have taste - yes, it does -

I don't like tofu, and I'm always having the "yes, it does have a taste" argument with people who ask how I can dislike it when it doesn't taste like anything.  Of course it tastes like something!  Yes, it picks up other flavors depending on what it's cooked with, but so does everything. 

[chiaros]

2 minutes ago, Bastet said:

I don't like tofu, and I'm always having the "yes, it does have a taste" argument with people who ask how I can dislike it when it doesn't taste like anything.  Of course it tastes like something!  Yes, it picks up other flavors depending on what it's cooked with, but so does everything. 

It picks up what you cook it with, yes – but, again, it DOES have a taste of its own. If you can't "taste" it, so be it --- but to say that it is tasteless for everyone is not true. Millions of people would disagree with you.

[Bastet]

2 minutes ago, chiaros said:

It picks up what you cook it with, yes – but, again, it DOES have a taste of its own. If you can't "taste" it, so be it --- but to say that it is tasteless for everyone is not true. Millions of people would disagree with you.

Read again and you'll see I agreed with you that it does have a taste of its own.

Edited December 21, 2016 by Bastet

[chiaros]

12 hours ago, Bastet said:

Read again and you'll see I agreed with you that it does have a taste of its own.

Ah, OK, my mistake. Thank you for pointing that out.

Yes, tofu does have a taste of its own. So  let me redirect my previous comment to those who say that it is tasteless (i.e. not Bastet) - yes, it has taste in its own right.

Edited December 21, 2016 by chiaros

[sourpickles]

I am not the biggest fan of the tofu and it isn't so much the taste but the texture for me.  I'll tell you what though, we have a smallish but very active Asian community in my area and they have some banging restaurants.  My favorite thing in that world is Hot and Sour soup, and I LOVE the tofu they put in that.  I could eat it all day and I order twice more than I need to stretch it out and reheat.  Done right, it is some good stuff.  Also with mushrooms!  Very tasty.

[bitchin camaro]

On 12/17/2016 at 10:43 AM, spiderpig said:

Casey reminds me of over-confident kids in elementary school who nonetheless got the "doesn't seem to play well with others" comment on their report cards.

 

Maybe that's why I like her. I can relate - lol.

[FormerMod-a1]

Let's keep it to the topic of the episode.  We have circled back around again, but we do keep straying back and forth.  We have many other topics for these discussions in the Top Chef forum.  Richard Blais: It's All About Him, General Discussion are the most relevant to prior discussions, but we also have topics for the chefs (These Chefs Are Tops & Bad chefs, the worst of Top Chefs), Judges, and Challenges; and for completely off topic discussion we have the Small Talk topic.

[queenjen]

On 12/19/2016 at 5:01 AM, cooksdelight said:

@theajw, maybe they'll cook for the cast of "Southern Charm" and drunk Thomas will show up. LOL

YES please! Sadly (!) my love of Southern Charm rekindled my fascination with things Southern (history, on a serious note, but food as well) and that's why I've tuned in for the first time to Top Chef. Now I'm watching old seasons and loving it. I'm waiting for JD to show up, given he has Sirmet's restaurant and is shilling his bourbon on SC It may not happen, though, because JD is apparently not really a Charlestonian. And from what I've read and seen, there will be far more laudable and iconic chefs and gourmands out of Charleston that will get a look in first. I don't think I've even spotted the Ravenel bridge yet on the show. We could also hope for Shep, because he's into opening those 'dive bars' with food to match. They've done concession stand challenges before, maybe a Southern bar food type challenge? And I'm sure Shep, who is actually Southern and educated, could bring something to the Judge's table.

[spiderpig]

16 hours ago, aquarian1 said:

Let's keep it to the topic of the episode.  We have circled back around again, but we do keep straying back and forth.  We have many other topics for these discussions in the Top Chef forum.  Richard Blais: It's All About Him, General Discussion are the most relevant to prior discussions, but we also have topics for the chefs (These Chefs Are Tops & Bad chefs, the worst of Top Chefs), Judges, and Challenges; and for completely off topic discussion we have the Small Talk topic.

I'm not trying to be flip (really!!!) but this season is so boring it's hard to keep your attention from wandering, yet we still have this compulsion to post.

Personally, I'll try to keep my posts to the (boring) contestants and the (boring) Quickfires and the (boring) eliminations and Padma's (boring) attire.

Tom C will always be a cutie so he is exempt from criticism.

ETA:  OK - I'll try to keep on topic.  Tofu is boring.  That is all.

Edited December 22, 2016 by spiderpig

[theatremouse]

The tofu thing wasn't in this episode.

[ProudMary]

1 hour ago, queenjen said:

YES please! Sadly (!) my love of Southern Charm rekindled my fascination with things Southern (history, on a serious note, but food as well) and that's why I've tuned in for the first time to Top Chef. Now I'm watching old seasons and loving it. I'm waiting for JD to show up, given he has Sirmet's restaurant and is shilling his bourbon on SC It may not happen, though, because JD is apparently not really a Charlestonian. And from what I've read and seen, there will be far more laudable and iconic chefs and gourmands out of Charleston that will get a look in first. I don't think I've even spotted the Ravenel bridge yet on the show. We could also hope for Shep, because he's into opening those 'dive bars' with food to match. They've done concession stand challenges before, maybe a Southern bar food type challenge? And I'm sure Shep, who is actually Southern and educated, could bring something to the Judge's table.

A crossover is not out of the question as Shep and Padma were hanging out one evening as Top Chef's filming wrapped.

[RealityCheck]

I've always enjoyed the mise place quickfires and this one was no exception.  I liked that Katsuji was able to laugh at his previous experience with opening clams.  So happy Sheldon shone as a team player and was acknowledged as the MVP.  And I'm guessing Casey asked they not pull her abismal performance with mincing onions out of the video archives.  It really was painful to watch Casey losing the quickfire for her team after Brian Malarky gave the team such a great start opening clams (although I was rooting for Hung all the way).

It was fascinating to see how a vegetable I only associated with salads used in so many different ways.  All in all, a very good episode.

[gryphon]

I can't stand John.  During the first challenge when he pressed the blue teams button a bunch of times...he only had to do it once.  Annoying.

Glad they mixed up the teams from rookies/vets.  

I really like Jim from Alabama.  I hope he goes far.  I used to not like Richard Blais...but his Clarisse Starling imitation on Cutthroat Kitchen Halloween made me love him. 

[spiderpig]

3 hours ago, gryphon said:

 I used to not like Richard Blais...but his Clarisse Starling imitation on Cutthroat Kitchen Halloween made me love him. 

Oh me too!  He really worked that wig, pearls and handbag!

[spankydoll]

On ‎12‎/‎22‎/‎2016 at 5:11 AM, RealityCheck said:

I've always enjoyed the mise place quickfires and this one was no exception.  I liked that Katsuji was able to laugh at his previous experience with opening clams.  So happy Sheldon shone as a team player and was acknowledged as the MVP.  And I'm guessing Casey asked they not pull her abismal performance with mincing onions out of the video archives.  It really was painful to watch Casey losing the quickfire for her team after Brian Malarky gave the team such a great start opening clams (although I was rooting for Hung all the way).

It was fascinating to see how a vegetable I only associated with salads used in so many different ways.  All in all, a very good episode.

I was so disappointed that they didn't A. show Casey's onion debacle or B. Assign Casey to the onions for "redemption". TC loves the concept of redemption.

[stacyasp]

On 12/15/2016 at 8:18 PM, Maverick said:

 Please find some other terms besides Rookies and Vets.  This is not Real World/Road Rules Challenge.  

 This is also (despite it's apparent attempt to devolve into it) Hell's Kitchen.  I hate the faux drama of every course coming down to a tiebreaker and one team making a miraculous comeback to be in the running until the last course.   When Blue was one win away from taking it, I knew the next two rounds were automatically going to Green and it would all hinge on Brooke's desert.  

Manufactured drama!

[paramitch]

On 12/16/2016 at 7:11 AM, Constantinople said:

Tesar shouldn't be in Top Chef.  I thought the original idea for Top Chef was to showcase up-and-comers, not chefs who've been in the business for decades.  If he wasn't good enough for Top Chef Masters when TCM was still around, I don't think he should be here.  Especially since he's a second timer.

I'm confused by this. The show isn't called "Top Young Chef," it's just a competition for top chefs -- of all ages and genders. I'd actually like to see more contestants over 50 on the show, and since John was out immediately last time, it's kind of nice to see him do better this time around. He also does seem to have matured into a decent guy.

On 12/17/2016 at 8:40 AM, cooksdelight said:

It's the way Casey holds her nose up when she talks. Brooke does the same thing, and I'm starting to see a little of Casey in her. I understand how hard it is for women in the chef world so I don't hold it against them for trying to be over-confident. But it's how Casey says things that bugs. Watch them in the THs next time.

I've noticed that several of the chefs do this in the THs, so my theory is that they're responding to production questioners who are above/behind the camera. Or it could also simply be the classic "raising your chin makes you look more attractive" assumption (for instance, it's why people tend to take selfies from above). For me, I don't think it's an actual sign that either Casey or Brooke are looking down on anyone.

[biakbiak]

27 minutes ago, paramitch said:

 

I've noticed that several of the chefs do this in the THs, so my theory is that they're responding to production questioners who are above/behind the camera. Or it could also simply be the classic "raising your chin makes you look more attractive" assumption (for instance, it's why people tend to take selfies from above). For me, I don't think it's an actual sign that either Casey or Brooke are looking down on anyone.

According to multiple body language experts it's also a classic sign for some people trying to recall a memory which makes sense because they do the THs in batches.

[Kromm]

On 12/16/2016 at 0:04 AM, avecsans said:

Sam was so obnoxious in this episode.    He was way up in everyone's business when apparently he should have paid more attention to his own dish. Not sorry to see him go.  And he can take Katsuji with him.  His shtick is already played out.

I wonder if Katsuji was this big an asshole last time too, and they just edited it all out because they had a different story planned for him.