S14.E12: Cooking Away In Margaritaville

[dleighg]

4 minutes ago, pbutler111 said:

Did anyone/everyone else notice that, when John was mixing up his margarita, he offered a ladleful to Katsuji to try and then put the ladle Katsuji had just had his mouth on back in the margarita tank? SO gross!

Yes I saw that too. I really wish the chefs would quit doing that (at least while they are standing in front of a running camera!)

[pbutler111]

  5 hours ago, anniebird said:

I don't understand the "Fix is in for Brooke" comments. How does it benefit Top Chef to have her win rather than Sheldon who seems to be the fan favorite? I always assume, because the judges are tasting the food and I'm not, that their decision is fair. I think this is a great final three - they're all immensely creative and talented and any of them could win it.

It's a good redemption storyline: a chef who seemed destined to win her season, but ends up getting taken out by the LCK winner comes back and wins it all. So, yeah, I think this is Brooke's to lose.  

I don't dislike Brooke necessarily, but I watch my share of reality TV and I just hate it when it seems so obvious that the producers have a winner picked out from the beginning.   

How would the show benefit from "a good redemption storyline"? Unless the storyline started in the first episode, they really have nothing to gain by it. And a past Top Chef winner came back from LCK to win the whole shebang. I think the conspiracy theories are just silly. Brooke's always been a great chef. Whether she wins or not, she's, at the very least, the equal of those with whom she's currently competing.

[pbutler111]

5 minutes ago, spiderpig said:

YESSSSS!  Double dipping is anathema around this house.  Even Mr. pig points it out whenever he sees it.

If the judges had seen it, they would have never let him serve it.  He would have had to start over or just forge on without half the required dish.  I hope they ding him about it at the reunion.

[Wings]

28 minutes ago, spiderpig said:

OK, I see now...a challenge designed to highlight the sponsor, lest we forget.

PATRON!  PATRON!  PATRON! (lather, rinse, repeat)

Yes, and it worked!  I just put it on my grocery list.  100% agave Tequila, any brand, is congener and gluten free.  I am on a health kick.  Well, as of now I am, after reading this.  

3 minutes ago, pbutler111 said:

If the judges had seen it, they would have never let him serve it.  He would have had to start over or just forge on without half the required dish.  I hope they ding him about it at the reunion.

Nah, the alcohol would kill any bacteria found in a mouth.  Remember M*A*S*H?

Edited February 17, 2017 by wings707

[pbutler111]

2 minutes ago, wings707 said:

Yes, and it worked!  I just put it on my grocery list.  100% agave Tequila, any brand, is congener and gluten free.  I am on a health kick.  Well, as of now I am, after reading this.  

Nah, the alcohol would kill any bacteria found in a mouth.  

So if your waiter took a sip of your cocktail before handing it to you, you'd be cool with that?

[Ruprecht]

5 hours ago, archer1267 said:

I get that Richard's a real success story from the show, but I'd like to see other TC winners be judges every now and then instead, spread the wealth a bit. How can we miss Richard if he never really goes away? Maybe he's like a substitute teacher who gets called in whenever Gail can't make it or they can't find a fourth judge.

I've never liked him and now I find that I actively dislike him. I honestly think he damaged his "brand" last night with that terrible performance at the judges' table. When other judges are rolling their eyes and actively defending the chefs, that's a red flag you may want to check that ego. His questions were stupid, asinine, and assy. Go away, dude. You aren't that great.

[Wings]

7 minutes ago, pbutler111 said:

So if your waiter took a sip of your cocktail before handing it to you, you'd be cool with that?

That would be very odd but since mental illness is not catching, sure!   Seriously.   

3 minutes ago, Ruprecht said:

I've never liked him and now I find that I actively dislike him. I honestly think he damaged his "brand" last night with that terrible performance at the judges' table. When other judges are rolling their eyes and actively defending the chefs, that's a red flag you may want to check that ego. His questions were stupid, asinine, and assy. Go away, dude. You aren't that great.

I agree.  I used to dislike him then I softened and liked him a little because I thought his judging was on the mark.  He has become overly confident now and he really was already there!  

ETA.  I LOVE your screen name. 

Edited February 17, 2017 by wings707

[tvfanatic13]

Am I the only one who wondered how Brooke was going to get her $75,000 bottle of Patron home given, you know, flying regulations and all. Surely she won't be drinking it all before leaving Mexico. Or maybe she will.

[Wings]

1 minute ago, tvfanatic13 said:

Am I the only one who wondered how Brooke was going to get her $75,000 bottle of Patron home given, you know, flying regulations and all. Surely she won't be drinking it all before leaving Mexico. Or maybe she will.

I am willing to bet they killed that last night after the judging. 

[pbutler111]

3 minutes ago, tvfanatic13 said:

Am I the only one who wondered how Brooke was going to get her $75,000 bottle of Patron home given, you know, flying regulations and all. Surely she won't be drinking it all before leaving Mexico. Or maybe she will.

$7500!!  The producers are generous, but not $75,000 booze generous! Besides, I think most of the value comes from the crystal bottle.  I could definitely see them knocking off all the tequila so she'd just have the bottle to get home.

Edited February 17, 2017 by pbutler111

[dleighg]

4 minutes ago, tvfanatic13 said:

Am I the only one who wondered how Brooke was going to get her $75,000 bottle of Patron home given, you know, flying regulations and all. Surely she won't be drinking it all before leaving Mexico. Or maybe she will.

You can put liquids in checked bags. We (successfully) brought back quite a bit of wine in our family that way. But I agree, they probably polished it off there.

[JeanneH]

3 minutes ago, wings707 said:

I am willing to bet they killed that last night after the judging. 

The way Brooke and Casey were acting about tequila, I'm almost willing to bet they killed it that night during the judging. Except SSJ didn't appear to have been drinking too much when they came back out to learn their fates.

[mlp]

Quote

 I recognize the hate and respect that YMMV, but I agree that I don't see where it comes from OTHER than wanting others to win and thinking she is getting special treatment.  [re Brooke]

I agree with everyone who has said that Brooke is an excellent chef but I've never liked her and the way she handled winning the vodka was a good illustration of why I don't.  She was awarded a very expensive bottle of vodka that obviously had meaning to the fellow from Patron and she cracked it open and took a swig out of the bottle right there at judges' table.  Self-centered, no class and very disrespectful of the sponsor.

[Wings]

1 minute ago, mlp said:

I agree with everyone who has said that Brooke is an excellent chef but I've never liked her and the way she handled winning the vodka was a good illustration of why I don't.  She was awarded a very expensive bottle of vodka that obviously had meaning to the fellow from Patron and she cracked it open and took a swig out of the bottle right there at judges' table.  Self-centered, no class and very disrespectful of the sponsor.

It was Tequila.  :^)  I don't think he minded. 

[dleighg]

2 minutes ago, mlp said:

She was awarded a very expensive bottle of vodka that obviously had meaning to the fellow from Patron and she cracked it open and took a swig out of the bottle right there at judges' table.  Self-centered, no class and very disrespectful of the sponsor.

I guess i just don't see it. I'm a person who believes in "decorum" but given the stressful situation and the joy at winning, I really didn't think it was wildly inappropriate. Other reactions would also have been appropriate, but this didn't bug me particularly.

[mlp]

Quote

It was Tequila

Whoops.  I knew that.  Sorry.

[sourpickles]

So........last week didn't really matter at all then, did it? I have to say I'm getting a bit over LCK. I ALMOST wish there was a Judges Save or a Tom Colicchio Save or something instead. There's something about LCK that the farther it goes, the more skewed or unfair it seems. A save would be for someone like Nyesha (sp?) from Texas who was great and got dumped because Dakota couldn't cook venison. That still burns me. I don't know that any of those were a good way to go about it. At any rate, I was glad to see Brooke back, she was definitely better than Casey this season. Just felt like a waste of an episode there. Top three is awesome. I'm rooting all the way for Sheldon! He's just got such a great attitude. I was relieved John went home, finally. I just could not get past the pimento crab dip thing. Or the mac n cheese win. I think he did what he came to do, mainly prove he was a good chef, so there we go. Looking forward to the finale!

[Randomosity]

34 minutes ago, mlp said:

I agree with everyone who has said that Brooke is an excellent chef but I've never liked her and the way she handled winning the vodka was a good illustration of why I don't.  She was awarded a very expensive bottle of vodka that obviously had meaning to the fellow from Patron and she cracked it open and took a swig out of the bottle right there at judges' table.  Self-centered, no class and very disrespectful of the sponsor.

She may well have been told to drink it on camera. I don't believe it was one continuous shot of her getting it, popping it open, and drinking. Any camera cut away/change of angle could mean we're missing a whole lot of that conversation.

[Blonde Gator]

2 hours ago, tvfanatic13 said:

Am I the only one who wondered how Brooke was going to get her $75,000 bottle of Patron home given, you know, flying regulations and all. Surely she won't be drinking it all before leaving Mexico. Or maybe she will.

I'd imagine the bottle they gave her for taping was a facsimile one, for just that purpose.  They'll give her an official one in the Waterford Crystal or whatever,  from Patron to take home on the plane.  The airlines will bitch about it, but if it's in your baggage, it's okay to take.  At least wine was the last time I flew from Cali (although I was none-too-happy to have red wine in with my good clothes, LOL).  If not, they'll ship it no doubt.  It's just part of the Patron sponsorship of the show.

[dleighg]

2 minutes ago, Blonde Gator said:

I'd imagine the bottle they gave her for taping was a facsimile one, for just that purpose.  They'll give her an official one in the Waterford Crystal or whatever,  from Patron to take home on the plane.  The airlines will bitch about it, but if it's in your baggage, it's okay to take.  At least wine was the last time I flew from Cali (although I was none-too-happy to have red wine in with my good clothes, LOL).  If not, they'll ship it no doubt.  It's just part of the Patron sponsorship of the show.

you're so smart :)

I'm sure you are right

[Crucial]

I love the final 3, my favorite final 3 in a long time. I didn't like John so I am glad he is gone.  But honestly I hate that Sheldon and Shirley are in the same season.  I really wish they could both win.  They both deserve to win and it's a shame this season they are both here.  Darn you Top Chef! I hope Sheldon wins I found him and his cooking the best.  If not him then Shirley.  Brooke, I like a lot, didn't give her all on some challenges that needed creativity (those were the ones John didn't give it his all also).

[rho]

2 hours ago, sourpickles said:

So........last week didn't really matter at all then, did it? I have to say I'm getting a bit over LCK. I ALMOST wish there was a Judges Save or a Tom Colicchio Save or something instead. There's something about LCK that the farther it goes, the more skewed or unfair it seems. A save would be for someone like Nyesha (sp?) from Texas who was great and got dumped because Dakota couldn't cook venison. That still burns me. I don't know that any of those were a good way to go about it. At any rate, I was glad to see Brooke back, she was definitely better than Casey this season. Just felt like a waste of an episode there. Top three is awesome. I'm rooting all the way for Sheldon! He's just got such a great attitude. I was relieved John went home, finally. I just could not get past the pimento crab dip thing. Or the mac n cheese win. I think he did what he came to do, mainly prove he was a good chef, so there we go. Looking forward to the finale!

That would be way better than stupid LCK, although they might miss out on the Hidden Valley Ranch advertising. It would be nice to have a save for those challenges where everyone cooks really great food and someone goes home because their dish was just slightly under-seasoned. I also would have been totally on board with both Katsuji and John going home for their horrible performance in RW if Jim could stay a little longer.

[Nordly Beaumont]

4 hours ago, pbutler111 said:

So if your waiter took a sip of your cocktail before handing it to you, you'd be cool with that?

The rudeness would annoy me, but if he gave it to me for free to apologize I'd drink it!

You know that saying "One tequila, two tequila, three tequila, FLOOR!" Yeah, two will do that to me. The guy showing them the tequila process said there were four (?) kinds, and they were starting with the clearest. I wonder if they tried all four kinds? If I cooked after that I'd be missing a fingertip or something.

[Jesse]

9 hours ago, jackjill89 said:

 I think Richard wants to be the next Tom Colicchio. He isn't content to be an excellent chef, he wants to be famous like Emeril and Mario, et al. To him, being on TV is success. That's my two cents.

Pretty sure he'd be happy enough to be the next Guy Fieri....

[Archery]

I haven't read Kitchen Confidential, but I thought that Tesar had an alcohol problem. Does he not? And I guess I got distracted by what would happen if a chef in the F4 could not or would not drink alcohol. Would the show just "too bad, so sad" that disadvantage?  Maybe it's come up before and I just don't recall.

[leocadia]

9 hours ago, meep.meep said:

 And if Katsuji hadn't put together the dust on the drink glass for John, then he would have been total toast.

Exactly!  The main compliment we saw him get was on the chermoya rim that came from Katsuji.  Unsurprisingly, John failed to give credit to his Sous.  I think Katsuji is an asshole, but John is moreso in my opinion.  He seems to quickly blame others for his mistakes and never gives credit for their contributions.  He may have his anger under control, but that doesn't change the fact that he's pretty much a jerk.

[chiaros]

http://www.grubstreet.com/2017/02/top-chef-charleston-episode-12-recap.html

Quote

One thing Tom did not like was John’s straight-tequila margarita.“The high alcohol content completely washed out the soup!” he exclaims. John tries to explain that he is a man of the people, and that humble workers came from all over the hacienda to tell him how they loved his cocktail, because it showed respect for their tequila, and by extension, them. Tom sighs profoundly.

Yes, John did not perform so as to please Tom C, the head judge. Not what to do on Top Chef. But I credit him for trying to please The People and the product itself. Ditto the "working people's chicken soup", no fancy garnishes needed for the folks who made the tequila there and whom he was feeding. But of course that does not fit into the requirement that you cook to please the judges, fuck everyone else.**

As for whether he was a prick in his personal manners or character, that is subject to individual interpretations.

** Many cheftestants (again, Ed Cotton springs to mind) over the years fell into the trap of not producing food to specifically please the tastes of Tom C and Friends, but instead making stuff that they felt was either true to their own thoughts or understanding (usually true) of a cuisine or to the general clientele/eaters at a challenge. The multitudes out there eating their food does not matter. Only what Tom C and his buddies like matters, and that has always been the biggest negative of this show that pretends to be a cooking show.

Edited February 18, 2017 by chiaros

[Texasmom1970]

Funniest line of the night to me was Padma saying she did not want to get too drunk. Really Padma since when, these judges really seem to embrace every chance they get to have a cocktail!

[Snarklepuss]

I don't think there is any fix for Brooke to win.   I think it's easy to get that impression on a reality competition because they are edited after the fact, so the impression they tend to leave is that everything was happening for a reason or leading up to one conclusion.  That doesn't mean the conclusion was decided in advance.  I am sure it does mean that on a lot of smarmy reality shows that are all fake, manufactured drama, but I have never thought Top Chef was one of those.  In fact, of any cooking competition I have always felt it was the most fair of all, at times to its own disadvantage (hello Hosea).

In fact I think a better case might be made for a fix for Sheldon to win as the judges are less critical of his food and didn't send him home at all.  In his original season I felt that he was really favored despite losing, which means the judges would have liked to see him win but were being fair in sending him home.   Plus I don't see this show stooping to the level of going out of its way to send Brooke to LCK just to create the drama of bringing her back to the competition.  I think that would be an insult to Tom and Padma, who I believe take this little show very seriously as to ethics and all that.  So I don't there is a fix for anyone.

There is no accounting for taste, though, and what the audience might be picking up on is Colicchio's taste being different from their own.  I am solidly on team Brooke for the win, but I don't doubt that what we're seeing is the judges' preference for Brooke's cooking in general over a lot of chefs who've already gone home.  There is always a subjective element in judging for sure, even though they do their best to be objective.  To me it looks like the judges love Asian flavors and if any bias has been shown by the show in the past couple of episodes especially, I think it has been to make it easier for Asian inspired chefs to shine.  Like when they assigned goat I thought it was clear that the advantage was to Shirley and Sheldon as most Americans don't eat goat and even accomplished American chefs might not handle it as well.  That Brooke won in spite of that means to me that she is really that phenomenal as a chef. 

Whoever said upthread that they loved Brooke's unapologetic low-key confidence is spot-on.  It is much rarer on cooking competition shows to find women that have Brooke's classy self assurance and I find it incredibly refreshing.  I often think women can't win and either have to be apologetic and self critical or be called "too full of themselves".   If Brooke is too full of herself I think we need more women who can be full of themselves like she is!!

[pinguina]

I'm glad that John is gone!  Although I wished that he had been eliminated earlier and others stayed (like Jim, Jaime, or Silva) but still he is not the final three!

I agree that the final three are all pretty likable.  They seem to respect and like each other and also supportive of each other as well.

Although, Brooke is not my cup of tea, she seems to be a good chef based on her Seattle season and how she did the first half of this season.  Plus having two, i think, successful restaurants adds to her credibility and talent.  I do think that she got a bit more latitude than others would have received (ie. creative dish).

I hope Sheldon wins it.  I like his attitude and he has shown how talented he is (plus his family is just sooooo cute!)

I like Shirley too!  She reminds me of some people I work with.  Just cheerful and "let's get to work" attitude.  Her voice might get shrill at times, it is just due to high emotion or energy - I have been known to sound pretty screechy in times of stress!

Side note: I hope they never, never, never do a season of veterans vs. newbies again!  Hoping who ever thought of it gets a good scolding!!

[pennben]

4 hours ago, chiaros said:

 But I credit him for trying to please The People and the product itself. Ditto the "working people's chicken soup", no fancy garnishes needed for the folks who made the tequila there and whom he was feeding. But of course that does not fit into the requirement that you cook to please the judges, fuck everyone else.

Do you really believe that was what John planned to do? I don't.  I believe that is what he said when he realized the judges didn't like his dish/cocktail as much as they did the others/had that as a rationale as soon as he decided his dish.  As far as I'm concerned, workers deserve a 'fancy' garnish here and there to enjoy.

Edited February 18, 2017 by pennben

[Mellowyellow]

Best final 3 EVER!!!!!!!

This is what happens once a blue moon when I get nice things!!!!! I don't care who wins I just hope they all do well.

Edited February 18, 2017 by Mellowyellow

[cooksdelight]

9 hours ago, Jesse said:

Pretty sure he'd be happy enough to be the next Guy Fieri....

Blaise isn't going to be satisfied until he gets his own show. That's the one prize that's eluded him and he's probably up all night, every night, blaming someone else for that faux pas.

As for John's story about the workers telling him how much they enjoyed his drink.... I know him well enough to know that might just be embellishment. Tom thought so too, judging from his reaction. John forgot who he was really cooking for. There were no comment cards, no vote by the guests. Just the judges, they decide who stays and who goes.

[Wings]

1 hour ago, cooksdelight said:

Blaise isn't going to be satisfied until he gets his own show. That's the one prize that's eluded him and he's probably up all night, every night, blaming someone else for that faux pas.

As for John's story about the workers telling him how much they enjoyed his drink.... I know him well enough to know that might just be embellishment. Tom thought so too, judging from his reaction. John forgot who he was really cooking for. There were no comment cards, no vote by the guests. Just the judges, they decide who stays and who goes.

Blais did have a show of his own, briefly, Cook Your Ass Off.  The was a competition to cook low calorie healthy food.  He had a weight issue at one point.   It only lasted one season.

Interesting about John!  I can see how that would happen.  Lol. 

[cooksdelight]

1 minute ago, wings707 said:

Blais did have a show of his own, briefly, Cook Your Ass Off.

Well, I missed his TV show debut. I guess a lot of people did. LOL

[Snarklepuss]

You can't swing a dead cat on food TV anymore without hitting Richard Blais.  He's EVERYWHERE, non stop, all the time.  I can't believe that he's all over the place because that many people loooove him.  I think he must have a good agent, plus he's pushy enough all by himself and must kiss serious rear end.  Rachael Ray was singing his praises on her show recently and that plus the way he acted made me want to vomit.  Geez, the guy does have some talent but his personality is completely insufferable.   I think he's far worse than John Tesar.

[Toothbrush]

7 hours ago, Snarklepuss said:

I don't think there is any fix for Brooke to win.....

I didn't want to quote your entire post, but I was firmly in the "the fix is in" group & your post made me consider a different train of thought. I do think the scales are balanced in her favor regarding not having to PYKAG or winning a QF/EC if it is close between her and another cheftestant. But as you said, the show is perhaps presenting  a certain narrative knowing the final outcome, and if so, they got me. Damn you Magic Elves *shakes fist* 

[susannot]

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3384116/ 

"Cook your ass off" lasted for 8 episodes.  See the scathing review on the IMDB page above.  That must have dented poor Richard's narcissistic ego.

[pbutler111]

16 hours ago, sourpickles said:

So........last week didn't really matter at all then, did it? I have to say I'm getting a bit over LCK. I ALMOST wish there was a Judges Save or a Tom Colicchio Save or something instead. There's something about LCK that the farther it goes, the more skewed or unfair it seems. A save would be for someone like Nyesha (sp?) from Texas who was great and got dumped because Dakota couldn't cook venison. That still burns me. I don't know that any of those were a good way to go about it. At any rate, I was glad to see Brooke back, she was definitely better than Casey this season. Just felt like a waste of an episode there. Top three is awesome. I'm rooting all the way for Sheldon! He's just got such a great attitude. I was relieved John went home, finally. I just could not get past the pimento crab dip thing. Or the mac n cheese win. I think he did what he came to do, mainly prove he was a good chef, so there we go. Looking forward to the finale!

I don't watch LCK.  Do you know who Brooke beat to make it back?

[dleighg]

1 minute ago, pbutler111 said:

don't watch LCK.  Do you know who Brooke beat to make it back?

Casey

[LennieBriscoe]

Ari Au:

Quote

 speaks well (sorry LennieBriscoe), albeit a little monotone,

Um...I believe when I said Brooke spoke in a "monotone" (and nothing about her articulateness) that would put us in agreement. I don't watch TV for a Zen experience!

dleighg:

Quote

Why is applying heat to a piece of meat considered the hardest thing to do? 

Maybe not "the hardest thing to do," but it requires closer attention (Rare? Medium? Well-done? Burnt?) than leaving food in its raw stage, because of said heat application, no?

Edited February 18, 2017 by LennieBriscoe

[Blonde Gator]

1 hour ago, Snarklepuss said:

You can't swing a dead cat on food TV anymore without hitting Richard Blais.  He's EVERYWHERE, non stop, all the time.  I can't believe that he's all over the place because that many people loooove him.  I think he must have a good agent, plus he's pushy enough all by himself and must kiss serious rear end.  Rachael Ray was singing his praises on her show recently and that plus the way he acted made me want to vomit.  Geez, the guy does have some talent but his personality is completely insufferable.   I think he's far worse than John Tesar.

Oh man!  You hit the trifecta of "I don't give a ****" with those three, Rachel Ray, Richard Blaise, and John Tesar.  I could go my whole lifetime without seeing any of them again.  Having said that, those three deserve each other.

[JeanneH]

4 hours ago, cooksdelight said:

As for John's story about the workers telling him how much they enjoyed his drink.... I know him well enough to know that might just be embellishment. Tom thought so too, judging from his reaction. John forgot who he was really cooking for. There were no comment cards, no vote by the guests. Just the judges, they decide who stays and who goes.

I'm sure that by now we've all heard about the rules and requirements of a particular challenge being explained in detail to the cheftestants before filming begins. In so many challenges the guests do vote/comment (off the top of my head I'm having trouble recalling one where they did not do one or the other). Playing devil's advocate, I wonder if the cheftestants were specifically told that the guests (Patron employees) would not be voting/commenting this time, and if they were not told this, then I wonder if John assumed that they would be because they had before.  Yet something else we'll never know.

[Merneith]

I like Shirley but I'm having a hard time understanding how chewy cocktail + vanilla beef didn't go home. VANILLA BEEF! Oh man. Maybe they paired better than John's drink + soup, but the connecting element was shittiness. Everyone seemed to like John's elements overall. No one liked Shirley's food.

I'm not sorry she's still there, I'm just not sure it was the right choice.

Props to Casey & Brooke though. It would never have occurred to me to sub raw coconut for tuna.

[pbutler111]

47 minutes ago, dleighg said:

Casey

Okay, that sounds right.  I think Casey's good, but inconsistent.

[JeanneH]

11 minutes ago, Merneith said:

I like Shirley but I'm having a hard time understanding how chewy cocktail + vanilla beef didn't go home. VANILLA BEEF! Oh man. Maybe they paired better than John's drink + soup, but the connecting element was shittiness. Everyone seemed to like John's elements overall. No one liked Shirley's food.

I'm not sorry she's still there, I'm just not sure it was the right choice.

I thought she was gone, although they did like her salsa (at least Padma did). Maybe John's food was worse, or they just wanted him gone.

[chiaros]

48 minutes ago, JeanneH said:

1 hour ago, Merneith said:

I like Shirley but I'm having a hard time understanding how chewy cocktail + vanilla beef didn't go home. VANILLA BEEF! Oh man. Maybe they paired better than John's drink + soup, but the connecting element was shittiness. Everyone seemed to like John's elements overall. No one liked Shirley's food.

I'm not sorry she's still there, I'm just not sure it was the right choice.

I thought she was gone, although they did like her salsa (at least Padma did). Maybe John's food was worse, or they just wanted him gone.

I took a look at the beauty photos for the dishes: http://www.bravotv.com/top-chef/photos/episode-12-dishes-patron-margaritas-and-guadalajaran-flavor/item/10870836

Looking at just the EC dishes (not the QF ones) and based on both what I remember from the broadcast of the episode and what the dishes look like in the photoset I think I would have desultorily eaten Brooke's dishes (and be unimpressed by her avocado and coconut cold soup), be underwhelmed by Sheldon's (and raise my eyebrows too at his drink), repulsed by Shirley's cocktail  (it's not a cocktail, it's a slushie) and sampled her beef (which looked just chucked together, and then declined to finish it if I were eating it --- vanilla beef!), but have gone back for seconds of John's drink and dish, both of which looked appealing. But, of course, I wasn't there to actually eat or drink any of them, and obviously Tom C & Co are The Deciders on his show.

Edited February 18, 2017 by chiaros

[ratgirlagogo]

On 2/17/2017 at 0:53 PM, wings707 said:

I don't mind product placement when it is Patron but Hidden Valley Ranch is another story. 

And how.  I also never minded the Glad Family of Products but Diet Dr Pepper was another story as well.

I like all three finalists but I would prefer to eat Shirley or Sheldon's food, so I suppose I favor them.  But I wouldn't be outraged at a Brooke win, or anything.

[Wings]

I would like to eat anything from all of the finalists.  I am more interested in Sheldon's food because I am not familiar with a lot of it.  I liked the story of his family using the left over tea from his dad's thermos for dinner.  I throw away so much food every week, this fascinated me.   

[RealReality]

23 hours ago, leocadia said:

Exactly!  The main compliment we saw him get was on the chermoya rim that came from Katsuji.  Unsurprisingly, John failed to give credit to his Sous.  I think Katsuji is an asshole, but John is moreso in my opinion.  He seems to quickly blame others for his mistakes and never gives credit for their contributions.  He may have his anger under control, but that doesn't change the fact that he's pretty much a jerk.

Yeah, I realize that John was fighting for his life up there, but when they just flashed to his face, calmly and serenely taking in the ONLY praise for drink and saying nothing I started feeling a little stabby.

10 hours ago, Merneith said:

I like Shirley but I'm having a hard time understanding how chewy cocktail + vanilla beef didn't go home. VANILLA BEEF! Oh man. Maybe they paired better than John's drink + soup, but the connecting element was shittiness. Everyone seemed to like John's elements overall. No one liked Shirley's food.

I'm not sorry she's still there, I'm just not sure it was the right choice.

Props to Casey & Brooke though. It would never have occurred to me to sub raw coconut for tuna.

Someone else did vanilla beef on TC, I can't remember the guys name, but he had a giant beard.  

It sounded absolutely disgusting.  But maybe its a thing.

Or maybe mexican vanilla has a different taste than the vanilla I'm thinking about.

4 hours ago, wings707 said:

I would like to eat anything from all of the finalists.  I am more interested in Sheldon's food because I am not familiar with a lot of it.  I liked the story of his family using the left over tea from his dad's thermos for dinner.  I throw away so much food every week, this fascinated me.   

this.  I love the idea of people being able to repurpose things, or turn trash into treasure.  I don't have the creativity or chops for it, but I'm fascinated by the concept.  Like when I see people making beautiful art out of stuff they find in the garbage (and no, not the people from Hoarder who always have a few hundred art projects going).  So, the idea of taking tea that you would throw away and turn it into a delicious dinner is just awesome.