S14.E08: Restaurant Wars

[Tara Ariano]

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

Top Chef Puts The 'War' Back In 'Restaurant Wars'

Come for the food, stay for the epic battle of a-hole chefs!

[RealReality]

15 minutes ago, lh25 said:

From the recap

How is saying that you like a given gender in the front of the house not sexist?

Its always that way.  You inoculate yourself from whatever you say if you just disclaim its not something before you say it.

Famous examples

"I'm not a racist, but..."

"Not to be an asshole, but..."

"Not to be sexist, but...."

[Rambler]

Hey John, this is Top Chef not Top Expeditor! It just seemed like John took the Executive Chef position so he could expedite orders and didn't want to do anything else. From Sheldon's comments, John set up the expediting station far away from the line so he didn't have to cook or plate the food. I think this is what Katsuji was complaining about at judge's table when he said John didn't help out in the kitchen, not about the prep work. I don’t know why John was so obsessed with expediting. I don't think I've ever heard a judge on this show say "Thanks to your brilliant expediting you are the winner of Restaurant Wars!" Maybe he's been watching too much Hell's Kitchen and thinks he’s going to be the next Gordon Ramsay.

I thought the editing on this episode was excellent, with Shirley explaining how an executive chef was supposed to be managing things which resulted in total harmony and an excellent service, and then contrasting that with John basically abdicating the lead position and letting the others do whatever they wanted, which led to total chaos. Count me in the John shoulda went home camp.

[MajorWoody]

On 1/19/2017 at 10:33 PM, Michichick said:

John made the pimento crab dish that the judges hated.

Which he said when he bought it would be a problem, and he had to hide the taste, which was weird.

 

On 1/19/2017 at 10:18 PM, rlc said:

Can't stand Katsuji, but John and his overinflated ego (and nonstop lies) should have gone.

Not to mention his horrible treatment of the servers in the kitchen. His true asshole personality came through with that.

[bravofan27]

I was left scratching my head with Katsuji leaving. I wasn't sure why, but I do know the judges are aware of people pawning EC and FoH on others so they will be more easily disguised. I think they figured out that Katsuji was sort of trying to set John up and sent him home. Casey though I also thought should be on the rope since she did a lot of bad attituding and rolling her eyes and being a real bitch. She acted from the get go like the team wouldn't win, they didn't, and I felt like she was trying to garner sympathy and had a bad attitude from the beginning. Just my opinion, I do like Casey, but she is pretty cliquey with Brooke, and when people aren't able to work together that want to they can pout and be jerks. I think everyone hates John, maybe more than Katsuji. Even though John is a jerk, he seems way more sincere than Katsuji, and I like how he protected Emily by telling Katsuji to leave her alone. He seemed concerned about her, where Katsuji seems to be someone that picks on people for fun, which is, imo, a worse offense than just being douchy. 

[MajorWoody]

This episode was the perfect time to do the dreaded double elimination.

 

First, Katsuji for his multiple mistakes in the kitchen, and his slovenliness . He also missed the entire idea of a southern challenge with his Mexican style dishes. 

Second, John, for his total failure in all aspects of the challenge. Contrary to the revisionist history he was pushing at the judges table , he is the one who pushed the idea of being EC, not Katsuji. He did it in a manner that really made it seem like he would not back down, just like last week when he foisted the lousy ingredients upon Jaime, and then lied at JT and said Jaime volunteered. He has shown a propensity for lying throughout this season, and seems to be a forceful manipulator when there is planning to do. His treatment of the serving staff was awful, If that is how he talks to staff at his own places I would bet the turnover rate is extremely high. Those scenes, to me, show the true John Tesar, and it is not nice. His kitchen management skills were as bad as Paulies on Hell's Kitchen last week, but at least with Paulie we knew he was a dolt and didn't really expect much. Finally, his idiotic idea to use canned crab, which he admitted would taste bad when he bought it, shows a level of cluelessness that is amazing. Then to only make one dish that came from the 1964 Readers Digest , and to screw it up, shows his night was a failure from start to finish. He poor cooking skills, actually non existent, since he really didn't cook. He had poor management and personnel skills. He did not work well with any of his teamates. And he lied, repeatedly.

Hopefully he will be gone next week.

Otherwise, Shirleys team had the best RW service I can remember ever seeing, even with the bad panna cotta. 

[bluepiano]

On ‎1‎/‎21‎/‎2017 at 8:26 AM, leighdear said:

Tesar just needs to go.  When they were talking about how many restaurants they've opened, and we get 4, 7, OF COURSE John had to say 20.....Where are they all now, John?  HMMM?   He's got a terminal need for one upsmanship.  

He also seems SO desperate for a legit bad-boy rep like Anthony Bourdain or Marco Pierre White.  Badly behaved yet brilliant in the kitchen, they both eventually sought and received redemption because they were that good.  World class, with savvy & magnetic personalities.   John is not, nor will he ever be in that class. But he obviously likes to pretend he is, because he keeps reminding us about his background, how "hated" he was, etc.

Sometimes I find it hard to believe that some of these relatively young chefs could've already opened so many restaurants. But like you point out, how many of them stay open? That should be the real measure of success. Restaurants have the highest mortality rate of any business. Where I live, you see a new restaurant open, it gets all kinds of buzz, and 6 months later it's gone. Some locations literally have a new restaurant in them almost every year.

I hadn't thought about John in terms of Anthony Bourdain, but that's a pretty good comparison. I enjoy some of Bourdain's shows, but I get bored with all the talk about his bad boy past. Yes, we get it. You did a lot of drugs. Do we need to hear that again and again and again? Similarly with John, I'm already bored by the repeated references to his bad reputation. Like when he said that a few years ago he would've knocked Katsuji on his ass. If you've really grown as person you don't constantly point it out. That's like trying to have it both ways.

Edited January 24, 2017 by bluepiano

[archer1267]

Quote

While Katsuji is an ass, John is extremely passive aggressive and frankly, I'm sick of hearing about the "New John" and all he had to do to overcome being a complete dick. I give him credit for addressing his problems but just shut it already and let your actions speak for themselves.

Yup. I'm rewatching parts of S10 and came to the episode where he had to cook off against Lizzie. (The challenge was to recreate CJ's losing dish of a pork burger, featuring artisan pickles.) And man, is he dooshy. Not only did he complain about not having the right cookware for his risotto - and trying to use that at JT for an excuse - but he used all of Lizzie's dill after she told him he could have some (some, not all). Lizzie wasn't happy and acted out a bit by telling him to shut the oven door, that kind of thing. In a TH, John referenced her attitude, saying "If I really wanted to be a jerk I would have kept the jar of pickles to myself. But no, I shared the pickles...because that's the kind of guy I am." (i.e. "I'm such a nice guy now.") In his exit speech, he again mentioned "I could have kept the pickles to myself and won that way," as if it was his being a Nice Guy that was his undoing, and that Lizzie's annoyance at his hogging the dill was unjustified. She out-cooked you, dude! The pickles weren't even relevant!

Of course, interspersed in the rest of S10 is John's self-actualized patter, which isn't convincing...if you have to keep telling people you're a good person, where's the value in that? 

Edited January 24, 2017 by archer1267

[Rockfish]

I pretty much like almost everyone this season. And obviously, I'm just seeing what the editors choose to show. My favorites are Brooke, Shirley, Sheldon, and Sylva. I don't see Brooke as entitled at all; she seems extremely confident and there ain't nothing wrong with that, especially since she can back that confidence up with skillz. And I'm partial to her because she reminds me of a good  friend--same mannerisms, cadence, sense of humor--but that's neither here not there. 

About Restaurant Wars, I didn't get to see everything that Bravo viewers see (judges walking through kitchen) because in Toronto, Top Chef airs on Food Network Canada for an hour only regardless of super-sized episodes. I was fine with Katsuji going home--even though John was probably equally culpable--since he seemed like he was being extra "tricky," as my MIL likes to refer to manipulative, cheat-you-if-they-can people. But I know that to other viewers John seemed more tricky.

A lot of times Katsuji made me laugh when he'd needle someone because I'm immature at times, but I hated how he went after Emily, whom I just feel sorry for at this point. She may be unpleasant, but the way people are hating on her seems extreme. And I think the reason she never seems to smile is because she may have teeth she's embarrassed by. I'm too lazy to find an image or her smiling, but last night when she flashed a nanosecond of a smile, I thought I saw something was up with her teeth. 

I have a weird fondness/sympathy for Tesar, even though I think he'd be annoying as hell to be around. From the little I know, he was considered to be a brilliant chef back in the day but continually screwed things up because of his addiction/s, yet because of his ability and potential he kept being given new opportunities. So here he is today at the point in his life when others his age have accomplished a lot more and are slowing down, but he's got to start over once again. He's competing with a bunch of whipper-snappers who cook much differently than him, and although he looks great for his age--despite his previous lifestyle (I find this crazy since hard living typically results in faster aging)--he's probably exhausted and embarrassed. And because of his past, he'll probably remain passive-aggressive and manipulative all the while thinking he's much more evolved than he is, since extreme addicts manipulate and shift blame onto others so much that that mindset can remain even after they're clean. That's my read on him anyway, even though most of it may be utterly untrue.

Must add that John's dish was insane. What was in it besides canned (yuck) crab? And this is coming from someone who doesn't mind running into a slow cooker full of canned chili and velveeta queso dip at a party, lol.

[cooksdelight]

In my opinion, if I am in a big cooking competition and I cannot find the main ingredient (fresh crab), I'd go to plan B and make an appetizer that I had in my repertoire. That's where some of these chefs really mess up, John being a prime example. He's stubborn, and that will be his ultimate undoing.

I used to enter our local chili cook-off every year, and the first couple of years the same guy always won. Always. It's like he had something on one of the judges, who were the same three people every year. I tried his chili, it was good but nothing special. Then the organizer decided to pull different people in to be judges. Suddenly, I won. For three years, with three different sets of judges. 

 I think that's where this show needs help. Tom and Padma always have the final word, and if it's not salty enough Tom will can you. They have guest judges, but it seems like they always bow down to Tom and Padma and they call all the shots. It's their show, which is why that happens.

Anyway, just an observation about how I keep seeing patterns with who wins and who gets shown the door.

[Guest]

4 hours ago, cooksdelight said:

I think that's where this show needs help. Tom and Padma always have the final word, and if it's not salty enough Tom will can you. They have guest judges, but it seems like they always bow down to Tom and Padma and they call all the shots.

I don't remember the year, or the chef, but there was a chef that Tom and Padma hated everything he cooked, but every guest judge just loved his food. 

[biakbiak]

11 hours ago, bluepiano said:

I hadn't thought about John in terms of Anthony Bourdain, but that's a pretty good comparison. I enjoy some of Bourdain's shows, but I get bored with all the talk about his bad boy past.

This will disappoint John because he mentions Bourdain all the time in interviews because back in the day Bourdain used to work for him.

[cooksdelight]

7 hours ago, Swim mom said:

I don't remember the year, or the chef, but there was a chef that Tom and Padma hated everything he cooked, but every guest judge just loved his food. 

Which goes to strengthen my theory that the winner is already in their minds, and can do no wrong. John is skating on through from the looks of it.

Edited January 25, 2017 by cooksdelight

[VintageJ]

I'm not doubting that John got some counseling, but I think his whole "kinder, more gentler John" is a marketing ploy to some degree.  Tiffany Faison and Dale saw how they looked on TV, didn't like what they saw, and seemed to come back much better and less abrasive.  It redeemed them in some viewers minds. I think he saw that and said "Hey, worked for them, think I'll try that".   But I just see someone who claims in one sentence to accept responsibility and then immediately start blaming and making excuses for their mishaps.  I see someone who is manipulative, lies and deflects blame.  

And Emily, she came onto the show with so much attitude in the first episode but now, she's much quieter and seems scared half of the time.  I almost feel sorry for her.  

I didn't mind Katsuji in his first go round and even at the beginning of this season but I won't miss him now.  This would have been a perfect double elimination.

Edited January 25, 2017 by VintageJ

[snarktini]

22 minutes ago, VintageJ said:

I'm not doubting that John got some counseling, but I think his whole "kinder, more gentler John" is a marketing ploy to some degree.  Tiffany Faison and Dale saw how they looked on TV, didn't like what they saw, and seemed to come back much better and less abrasive.  It redeemed them in some viewers minds. I think he saw that and said "Hey, worked for them, think I'll try that".   But I just see someone who claims in one sentence to accept responsibility and then immediately start blaming and making excuses for their mishaps.  I see someone who is manipulative, lies and deflects blame.  

 

I think there's a difference between more "gentle" and more "good". He definitely seems to have controlled the outward aggression -- anger management has worked for him and he is much, much calmer. However, he is still a jerk, manipulative, and and now passive aggressive instead of aggressive aggressive.

[archer1267]

Quote

I'm not doubting that John got some counseling, but I think his whole "kinder, more gentler John" is a marketing ploy to some degree.  Tiffany Faison and Dale saw how they looked on TV, didn't like what they saw, and seemed to come back much better and less abrasive.

One piece of advice I had hammered into me in writing classes was "show, don't tell." Tiffani and Dale both came back, mentioned their past behavior one or twice and noted that they didn't like what they'd seen...and then moved on. It was easy to see how the change in their actions, without them having to regularly reassure the audience "see? I'm a changed person." It just rang as more authentic.

One way I DO appreciate that John has changed is not perching his glasses on his forehead :)

Edited January 25, 2017 by archer1267

[cooksdelight]

15 minutes ago, archer1267 said:

One way I DO appreciate that John has changed is not perching his glasses on his forehead :)

HAHAHA!! I hadn't really noticed that, but you're right!

[VintageJ]

6 hours ago, snarktini said:

I think there's a difference between more "gentle" and more "good". He definitely seems to have controlled the outward aggression -- anger management has worked for him and he is much, much calmer. However, he is still a jerk, manipulative, and and now passive aggressive instead of aggressive aggressive.

Exactly.  

[Lura]

I still remember the intro of John that Tom gave in John's first season on the show.  Tom pretty much went down the line of contestants and gave their names and little else.  When he came to John, Tom introduced him as "an old friend and colleague," or something to that effect.  I remember thinking then that John would probably win, based on their friendship.  Either then or later in the show, Tom brought up the subject again and clarified it, saying "Just because John and I are friends will have no bearing on whether he wins or loses."  (paraphrased)  John was eliminated somewhere along the line.

Then, John reappeared on a second season and was eliminated, and now he's back for a third season!  I can't recall any other contestant being afforded that many chances, although I might have forgotten someone.  It makes me wonder whether Tom and Padma have already chosen John as the winner of the big prize.  Will it be a case of "third time's a charm" or "three strikes, and you're out"?

[biakbiak]

2 hours ago, Lura said:

 

Then, John reappeared on a second season and was eliminated, and now he's back for a third season!  I can't recall any other contestant being afforded that many chances, although I might have forgotten someone.  It makes me wonder whether Tom and Padma have already chosen John as the winner of the big prize.  Will it be a case of "third time's a charm" or "three strikes, and you're out"?

This is the third or fourth time I have seen it referenced that this is John's third season. I know he was in season 10 in Seattle but what other season was he on as a contestant?

Edited January 26, 2017 by biakbiak

[RealityCheck]

1 hour ago, biakbiak said:

This is the third or fourth time I have seen it referenced that this is John's third season. I know he was in season 10 in Seattle but what other season was he on as a contestant?

Based on Wikipedia, this is John's second appearance on Top Chef.  OTOH, this is Casey's third appearance. Her first two appearances: season 3 (Miami) & season 8 (All Stars),

[biakbiak]

18 minutes ago, RealityCheck said:

Based on Wikipedia, this is John's second appearance on Top Chef.  OTOH, this is Casey's third appearance. Her first two appearances: season 3 (Miami) & season 8 (All Stars),

I am aware about Casey but more than one poster has said that John has been on more than two seasons (10 and this) so did he come back as a judge or something?

[Lamb18]

2 hours ago, biakbiak said:

I am aware about Casey but more than one poster has said that John has been on more than two seasons (10 and this) so did he come back as a judge or something?

I've been puzzled by people saying this is his third season, too, and figure his first season must have been 1, 2 or 3 because I haven't seen those. He's only been on one other season (10) since I started watching during season 4.

[cooksdelight]

I think John was part of the Top Chef All-Stars where they brought back past contestants who didn't win.

[biakbiak]

14 minutes ago, cooksdelight said:

I think John was part of the Top Chef All-Stars where they brought back past contestants who didn't win.

That was season 8. He hadn't even competed on the show much less been brought back.

Edited January 26, 2017 by biakbiak

[chiaros]

My understanding is that this is John Tesar's SECOND appearance on Top Chef. Not third.

They all even alluded to this when Padma L needled him about getting to Restaurant Wars and John replied that he had waited 4 years to do so because he was eliminated before the show got to that point in his first appearance on this Reality TV Show.

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_Chef_(season_10)#9

[chiaros]

I think the discussions regarding John Tesar fall into the realm of "Never The Twain Shall Meet" territory.  Those who afford him some latitude (like me) and those who think the worst of him in any circumstance possible shall never agree.  So be it.

[steven T]

Beef tongue is a southern dish.  I'm from NC and my grandma use to cook it, and I tried it by mistake thinking it was piece of steak and had to run to the trashcan and spit it out.  I was probably 12 at the time.  I will never ever eat it again, Mexican, Chinese or Indian style.

[thosme]

My mother used to make beef tongue in Philadelphia.  I never ate it because it sat in the refrigerator and looked exactly like a tongue.  I also wouldn't eat the eels that looked exactly like snakes in the freezer.  I have eaten eel since those days and would try tongue mostly as a result of learning about different things on the food programs.

[Bastet]

This is the second season, not third, in which John has competed -- season ten, and this fourteenth season.

[HawaiiTVGuy]

On 1/20/2017 at 0:14 PM, susannot said:

I felt that the editors didn't even try to draw out the suspense, so obvious was the winning team due to the dick-a thon between John and Katsuji.  They both came off looking terrible in the episode.

 

I was thinking that we were going to have a fake-out where the chaotic kitchen wins, but I forgot, this isn't Hell's Kitchen/Masterchef.  

[HawaiiTVGuy]

On 1/23/2017 at 2:08 PM, Rambler said:

Hey John, this is Top Chef not Top Expeditor! It just seemed like John took the Executive Chef position so he could expedite orders and didn't want to do anything else. From Sheldon's comments, John set up the expediting station far away from the line so he didn't have to cook or plate the food. I think this is what Katsuji was complaining about at judge's table when he said John didn't help out in the kitchen, not about the prep work. I don’t know why John was so obsessed with expediting. I don't think I've ever heard a judge on this show say "Thanks to your brilliant expediting you are the winner of Restaurant Wars!" Maybe he's been watching too much Hell's Kitchen and thinks he’s going to be the next Gordon Ramsay.

I thought the editing on this episode was excellent, with Shirley explaining how an executive chef was supposed to be managing things which resulted in total harmony and an excellent service, and then contrasting that with John basically abdicating the lead position and letting the others do whatever they wanted, which led to total chaos. Count me in the John shoulda went home camp.

Yeah, like if the servers were exactly the same one day from the next, Red Team seemed to have no issues at all with their servers taking food to wrong tables etc. and wasn't Shirley not only expediting but also cooking?  Which is what Katsuji was saying that John should have been able to do?

As others have said Katsuji was OK in small doses, but he was becoming just purely mean-spirited, and getting into it with John is whatever because John is kind of an asshole himself, but yeah, not sure why John wasn't the one that was booted but not losing any sleep over Katsuji.

Regarding Casey's "can't put a finger on it" attitude during the competition, she had a weird mannerism with the random sideways head-bob that reminded me of a pop video.

Edited January 27, 2017 by HawaiiTVGuy
accidental quote included

[marybennet]

I also thought Casey's "say a lotta that stuff!" ('isn't everything pretty?' 'isn't everything lovely?') was asking the servers to be condescending to the diners.  I know I hate that kind of thing.  There's a place near me where the servers are taught to come back a few minutes after bringing the food to say "Is everything amazing?" and I've never eaten with anyone who doesn't hate it.  It demands that you compliment the place just out of politeness, and I felt like I was witnessing in what Casey did the training that these local servers get.

[ladle]

Did I see Casey bow to the judges after the team received its initial critique? 

[JeanneH]

OMG, pimento cheese and crab is a real thing. I was reading a pre-opening piece about Lindsay Autry (TC Texas) new place in West Palm Beach (The Regional Kitchen and Public House), and a discussion of the menu included this:

Quote

A look at The Regional’s menu reveals those experiences, with everything from a sausage recipe inspired by her grandfather J.D. who was a Southern butcher to her grandmother Betty’s coconut cake recipe. Everything from the pimento cheese with Florida blue crab, deviled crab and tomato pie to the locally sourced Red Wattle pork shank speak to to her roots.

I thought it was too gross sounding for it to actually be real...

[biakbiak]

A cheesy crab dip with pimentos can be awesome that isn't what John made.

[Reo]

Everyone has mentioned that the non-show restaurant workers were actors, not really workers.  However, in my many years working in restaurants, I can testify that many if not most actors have mucho kitchen experience.  They are probably better at waiting tables, sous chefing, and dishwashing than delivering lines - they certainly have more practice.  Although I must say it takes a considerable amount of acting experience to unload some specials driven by the chef.

Count me as one that was delighted to see Katsuji's ass handed to him.  Yes, this would have been a perfect double elimination - but to my eyes his was the worse crime.  When I saw how he was treating everyone it really got my hackles up.  John is a dick who is aware that he is a dick, and even if he doesn't want to be a dick anymore it's hard to judge your own behavior and make changes, unless you see yourself on screen and are horrified.  (See:  Faison, Tiffany and Talde, Dale.)  Katsuji is a dick and doesn't give a shit if people know it, he glories in it and feels entitled to it.

It would be nicer to judge them on the quality of their food, but since I can't taste it, I can only judge them on the quality of their behavior.  

Edited February 20, 2017 by Reo