S14.E11: Adiós Charleston, Hello James Beard

[DarkRaichu]

1 minute ago, Giselle said:

What's the big deal about going to a different destination when we see 30 seconds of them "arriving", 4 minutes of them "taking in culture", 2 minutes some local celeb chef explaining what is special about the cuisine( always something we've seen before with the many years of Bourdain, Zimmern and travel shows), the big reveal of the must have local ingredient, and the rest of the time is spent in the kitchen or in front of the judges. Que tiki torches and mariachies!

Like someone else said, it was a way to write off the vacation to those places at the end of the production :D  I believe this was an excuse to have a vacation at those locales for TC staffs (including the cheftestants).  

They still need to fly all cheftestants to finale locations regardless of final 3 or 4.  In 1 (or more?) of the finale, the eliminated cheftestants were excited they were not chosen as sous-chefs for final showdown because they got to relax and enjoy the beach instead :D :D :D

[cooksdelight]

Why not just have the finale in the city where it all started? Stay put!

[JeanneH]

13 hours ago, Bastet said:

I said from the time the contestants for this season were announced that Brooke had the most to lose by coming back, so I really like that she put herself out there for it; she could have rested on a "she kinda got screwed" sentiment, but instead opted to try again, risking being eliminated mid-way through and changing the general perception to "Gee, I guess it was a fluke she got as far as she did the first time."

This is sort of like Casey's situation. 1st time around, Casey was a finalist. So she came back - and was 5th person out.  I assume this third time on TC is to try to erase the bad taste from the 2nd time?

[Bastet]

25 minutes ago, cooksdelight said:

Why not just have the finale in the city where it all started? Stay put!

Normally, there's quite a gap between the end of filming the regular season and the filming of the finale, so they wouldn't be staying put, they'd be coming back.  But it was shorter this season; if they were ever going to do it in the same city, this would have been the time -- maybe in the finale they could have finally shown us something of Charleston.

[spiderpig]

32 minutes ago, cooksdelight said:

Why not just have the finale in the city where it all started? Stay put!

I always feel it's kind of a dis to the original hosting city...gee, thanks a lot/gotta go now to someplace resortier/bye!

[DarkRaichu]

32 minutes ago, JeanneH said:

This is sort of like Casey's situation. 1st time around, Casey was a finalist. So she came back - and was 5th person out.  I assume this third time on TC is to try to erase the bad taste from the 2nd time?

I thought she defaulted to doing something with TC franchise in between projects?? :D  Wasn't there a short lived "After TC" series where the cameras follow CAsey, Blais, (cant remember the other chefs) career after TC?  Her restaurant deal fell through so the cameras just awkwardly followed her doing odd jobs.  As supposed to Blais who were managing multiple burger joints / restaurants

[Jamie Satyr]

55 minutes ago, spiderpig said:

I always feel it's kind of a dis to the original hosting city...gee, thanks a lot/gotta go now to someplace resortier/bye!

Going abroad is not as easy as in the past! If these chefs don't have a passport, they need to keep the finale in the States, Mexico, or the islands off the coast! ;-)

[Blonde Gator]

12 hours ago, ProudMary said:

I will still watch but I do agree with you about the repetitious choice of finale locations.  My favorite finale location--although not from a standout season--was Singapore.  Why wouldn't they choose a location like that again instead of same old, same old?

Totally agree.  Does anyone else remember the Bahamian finale?  I do!  I'm a native Floridian, and I was SO annoyed by that awful bunch of challenges.  The "go swimming and catch your conch" was ridiculous!  Fake, fake, fake!  Those were obviously "planted" there in the shallows, and then they had to clean them.  Excuse me, but if I'm going somewhere to cook, I'm going to bone up on their ingredients and their methods!  D'oh!  And I, too, am over Mexico...plus they always seem to pick the same region (well, the show IS taped in summer, and the high desert mountains are the only place one wouldn't die of heat and humidity). 

There are plenty of emerging "foodie towns and areas" in the US, why not any of those?  Or better yet, just stay in Charleston.  I don't think this season did that city justice, at all. 

8 hours ago, Jamie Satyr said:

Going abroad is not as easy as in the past! If these chefs don't have a passport, they need to keep the finale in the States, Mexico, or the islands off the coast! ;-)

You need a passport to get into Mexico these days, and the Bahamas, too.  Not sure about Canada.  Post 9/11 world, alas.

Speaking of Canada, a finale in Montreal would be cool....or in the beautiful NW territories, some of THOSE resorts are rockin' gorgeous, and who wouldn't love a vacation there in the middle of the summer heat?

[cooksdelight]

1 hour ago, Bastet said:

Normally, there's quite a gap between the end of filming the regular season and the filming of the finale, so they wouldn't be staying put, they'd be coming back.  But it was shorter this season; if they were ever going to do it in the same city, this would have been the time -- maybe in the finale they could have finally shown us something of Charleston.

I've never understood why they wanted ANY finale any place except the host city.

[Jamie Satyr]

8 minutes ago, Blonde Gator said:

You need a passport to get into Mexico these days, and the Bahamas, too.  Not sure about Canada.  Post 9/11 world, alas.

Speaking of Canada, a finale in Montreal would be cool....or in the beautiful NW territories, some of THOSE resorts are rockin' gorgeous, and who wouldn't love a vacation there in the middle of the summer heat?

I haven't been anywhere since 2006! I used to travel quite a bit, but I refuse to pay for rude, obnoxious behavior from all concerned connected to an airline! It's just not worth it anymore! You can be secure without being jerks; been enough places to know this! Our TSA are rank amateurs compared to Europe & The Middle East! I sometimes wished I had gone ahead and moved to Amsterdam back in 2001! I would have missed all this insanity! ;-(

[Blonde Gator]

Just now, Jamie Satyr said:

I haven't been anywhere since 2006! I used to travel quite a bit, but I refuse to pay for rude, obnoxious behavior from all concerned connected to an airline! It's just not worth it anymore! You can be secure without being jerks; been enough places to know this! Our TSA are rank amateurs compared to Europe & The Middle East! I sometimes wished I had gone ahead and moved to Amsterdam back in 2001! I would have missed all this insanity! ;-(

Absolutely!  We drove to Costa Rica & back in 2010....a six month fantastic voyage.  Last time I flew was before THAT!  We ate our way through Mexico, which is fabulous, so even though I think it's too soon for TC to return there, the high mountains in Mexico are fantastic!!!  And Mexico is as varied as can be as far as different cuisines go.  We tend to think of Mexican as mostly "TexMex", or even "ArizonaMex".....but the real thing (and TC has selected some kind of off-the-beaten-path locations) I find interesting as well, but probably not most viewers.  I really enjoyed the challenge the last time they were in Mexico, though, to match their meal to the local artist's works.  There was some positively brilliant cooking, pairing, and ART, too!  So I have high hopes for this finale. 

Happy trails to you, Jamie.  Off to dip my truffles & strawberries for Valentine's Day, heh.

[cooksdelight]

2 hours ago, Jamie Satyr said:

Our TSA are rank amateurs compared to Europe & The Middle East!

Except for the ones caught smuggling tons of drugs, announced on the news this morning. Mind boggling.

[chiaros]

23 hours ago, JeanneH said:

I thought she'd made that pretty clear - she lost, and wasn't happy about that; she lost to someone from LCK, and wasn't happy about that; and she lost in an Iron Chef final disguised as Top Chef, and she wasn't happy about that either. Brooke wants to prove she's the best, and won't be happy until she does so (IMO that's why she's been so driven this season).  I wonder if she'll only be happy if she could beat Kristen in a one-on-one cook-off.

 

20 hours ago, Bastet said:

Nor was I.  I liked Kristen and Brooke so much, I was very excited about a finale where I'd be thrilled with either winner -- only to have that joy marred by such a ridiculous format.  If Brooke winds up in this finale via LCK, I'll be happy if she wins, but equally happy if Shirley or Sheldon wins (not so much - or at all - with John).  But if Brooke did win, it would be a little something extra, erasing that bad memory. 

I said from the time the contestants for this season were announced that Brooke had the most to lose by coming back, so I really like that she put herself out there for it; she could have rested on a "she kinda got screwed" sentiment, but instead opted to try again, risking being eliminated mid-way through and changing the general perception to "Gee, I guess it was a fluke she got as far as she did the first time."

Yes, I agree she wasn't happy about losing under all those circumstances both of you describe, and she has said she wanted to come back to prove she can do better (i.e. WIN). But that would be limited to how she does in the context of THIS season and the current crop of cheftestants in how she cooks and how she plays the game against the CURRENT crop of cheftestants. If she wants to prove that she is "The Best" - that is hard to do --- how would one compare her against any of the other cheftestants on other seasons, let alone the winners of each season of Top Chef, without a lot of arm-waving? For that matter she CAN'T prove she is better than Kristen Kish on Top Chef the reality TV game show - if not anything else because Kristen Kish is not a cheftestant this year. (Even the reported meet-up of her and Kristen and some other chefs at a food happening soon is NOT in the same context) It wasn't entirely baseless when I queried "to what end" she was returning to Top Chef to try again.

(For that matter her trying to be "The Best" can't be feasible in the overall culinary world, of course, in the sense we are talking about, IMO. It can only apply within the context of Top Chef in a particular season, as I mentioned above.)

ETA: If she wins this season, I would think of her as the one who played the game and cooked well enough THIS season, and good for her.  But I still would not think of her as BETTER than Kristen Kish, because she will not have demonstrated that. And for that matter, if she fails THIS season, I would not think that she was a bad cook - but might perhaps think even more that she should look further to advancing her currently successful culinary endeavors rather than trying to rewrite the past.

Edited February 15, 2017 by chiaros

[Randomosity]

8 hours ago, Blonde Gator said:

You need a passport to get into Mexico these days, and the Bahamas, too.  Not sure about Canada.  Post 9/11 world, alas.

Speaking of Canada, a finale in Montreal would be cool....or in the beautiful NW territories, some of THOSE resorts are rockin' gorgeous, and who wouldn't love a vacation there in the middle of the summer heat?

Yepper, Canadia needs it too, although it wasn't implemented immediately post-9/11. It was significantly later, I think. Maybe even a full decade. But yeah, the old port in Montreal would be awesome. And they could have a poutine challenge! Or smoked meat. Or doughnuts. Or just freakin' maple everything :P

*ETA = unless you're someone living near the border and you get an pre-approved enhanced drivers license. But only for driving into Canada. For the general public, and people flying in, yeah, you pretty much need a passport now.

Edited February 15, 2017 by Randomosity
technicality

[FinnishViewer]

Quote

Wasn't there a short lived "After TC" series where the cameras follow CAsey, Blais, (cant remember the other chefs) career after TC?  Her restaurant deal fell through so the cameras just awkwardly followed her doing odd jobs.

That was Jennifer Carroll. not Casey.

[DarkRaichu]

4 hours ago, FinnishViewer said:

That was Jennifer Carroll. not Casey.

Whelp thanks for correcting me.  I am getting too old for this :D :D :D

[AriAu]

The series also included Fabio and one of my lest favorites, Spike (who brought along Fat Mike Isabella a few times).

Tom gushed about Sheldon taking his place among the best chefs in America, which is quite a compliment, but why do we not see Sheldon mentioned in that pantheon or at least appearing at events? Is it because he is in Hawaii and being with his family? His skills are great, but you certainly don't hear about him on the level of Blais, Stephanie Izard, Fabio, Talde, Volatggio (both) or even Harold

[archer1267]

Quote

Why not just have the finale in the city where it all started? Stay put!

I agree. While I'm all for getting chefs out of their comfort zone, I don't want to see them screwed because of the altitude (which happened in Aspen) or a weird local ingredient they alone get saddled with (ant eggs).

[cooksdelight]

4 hours ago, archer1267 said:

I agree. While I'm all for getting chefs out of their comfort zone, I don't want to see them screwed because of the altitude (which happened in Aspen) or a weird local ingredient they alone get saddled with (ant eggs).

Yes, if you are going to showcase a city all season, finish it there by giving them the epitome of challenges regarding the region.

BTW, I got the same Edna Lewis cookbook they used, and tried one recipe. Followed it to the letter. It sucked.

[spiderpig]

10 hours ago, cooksdelight said:

BTW, I got the same Edna Lewis cookbook they used, and tried one recipe. Followed it to the letter. It sucked.

That's interesting!  I always enjoy forum feedback.  Wonder if, during the finale, they'll ask the chefs to come up with an Edna Lewis dish with a Mexican spin.

[cooksdelight]

It was a recipe for caramel fudge, not likely something they will ever make on the show. The recipe reminded me of something my grandmother used to make, so I was looking forward to having a pan of deliciousness. 

[MajorWoody]

6 hours ago, spiderpig said:

That's interesting!  I always enjoy forum feedback.  Wonder if, during the finale, they'll ask the chefs to come up with an Edna Lewis dish with a Mexican spin.

They will probaly have them make an Edna Lewis dish using Padma's frozen rice.

[RealReality]

3 hours ago, MajorWoody said:

They will probaly have them make an Edna Lewis dish using Padma's frozen rice.

...in a BMW X1

[dleighg]

1 minute ago, RealReality said:

 

4 hours ago, MajorWoody said:

They will probaly have them make an Edna Lewis dish using Padma's frozen rice.

...in a BMW X1

 

Don't forget the Hidden Valley Ranch

[LennieBriscoe]

And use them wisely. :-)  

[Blonde Gator]

On 2/16/2017 at 7:41 AM, MajorWoody said:

They will probaly have them make an Edna Lewis dish using Padma's frozen rice.

[ratgirlagogo]

On 2/14/2017 at 2:21 PM, Blonde Gator said:

Speaking of Canada, a finale in Montreal would be cool....or in the beautiful NW territories, some of THOSE resorts are rockin' gorgeous, and who wouldn't love a vacation there in the middle of the summer heat?

I'd agree if I hadn't watched the Texas season.   In which for no reason they went to  Whistler - and who can forget the fucking BIATHALON challenge ? or the obtaining the challenge ingredients by hacking them out of a block of ice? And  cooking on a ski gondola??????

Edited February 18, 2017 by ratgirlagogo

[bluepiano]

On ‎2‎/‎14‎/‎2017 at 11:21 AM, Blonde Gator said:

Speaking of Canada, a finale in Montreal would be cool....or in the beautiful NW territories, some of THOSE resorts are rockin' gorgeous, and who wouldn't love a vacation there in the middle of the summer heat?

I would like to see them do a whole season in a Canadian city, and am perplexed as to why they haven't done so yet. Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver are all fascinating cites with great food scenes. Toronto used to be kind of meat and potatoes boring, but now it's one of the most international cities in the world, with food influences from Asia, the Caribbean, Middle East etc.

I'm wondering if there's some kind of issue with work visas. But even if they had to shoot using a Canadian crew it would be a really nice change of pace.

I agree that moving to another, often foreign location for the finale makes no sense and is rather jarring. After having been in Charleston all season, focusing on southern regional cooking, we're suddenly in Mexico paring dishes with tequila? It's a complete non sequitur, and does feel like a slight to the season's host city.

And as someone previously posted, with Bourdain and Zimmern and so many travel shows on the air, the travelogue aspect is hardly a novelty. And I suspect that Tom and Padma can afford their own vacation to Mexico, the Bahamas, or wherever.

Edited February 20, 2017 by bluepiano

[theatremouse]

They tend to film in locations that offer them tax incentives for doing so. I would not be surprised if little else went into deciding where to film any given finale.

[FinnishViewer]

Quote

 would like to see them do a whole season in a Canadian city, and am perplexed as to why they haven't done so yet. Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver are all fascinating cites with great food scenes. Toronto used to be kind of meat and potatoes boring, but now it's one of the most international cities in the world, with food influences from Asia, the Caribbean, Middle East etc.

There used to be a Canadian version of Top Chef a couple of years back. I think they had it for three seasons.

[Blonde Gator]

I also posted this on the "Small Talk" thread, but realized it might be of interest here as well.

An article from a writer who sat with Gail Simmons at the James Beard House, where Sheldon cooked earlier this week as his prize for this episode.  Enjoy!

http://www.vulture.com/2017/02/top-chef-sheldon-simeon-dinner-with-gail-simmons.html