S15.E03: Keep On Truckin'

[PamelaMaeSnap]

21 hours ago, spiderpig said:

The food blogger guy reminded me of Owen Wilson, so I immediately disregarded him as any sort of culinary expert.

He's not a food blogger ... he's a "YouTube personality" or, to put it more accurately, a YouTube LACK of personality who basically attracts millions of teenage viewers by being a complete douchebag (as is his even less talented younger brother Jake) ... I gotta say, his presence on this episode made my respect for Top Chef drop a few degrees. It was a real WTF moment when he came on ... and clearly had pretty much nothing of value to add to the proceedings or judging.

During the sudden death elimination quickfire, was it just me (and Mr. Snappy) or was Chris never shown in that round? We thought we saw the reconstructed/deconstructed Denver omelets of everyone but Chris, and then he popped back up for the next team challenge. Or did we both just miss it?

As soon as we knew who the two bottom teams were, I called it that they were setting it up that they could pick either team as the worst but that Rogelio was CLEARLY the guy they wanted to PYKAG, and they'd just work around that ... when Tom said something about how bad the salad was I knew he was toast.

(PS Just made reservations for dinner at Craft next month. I may be just a little bit excited). 

Edited December 23, 2017 by PamelaMaeSnap

[Tess23]

It chaps my hide that +50 year olds are deemed non-demographically desirable when morons like Owen Jr. are allowed free reign on my tv set. Seriously, dude, get off my lawn. No wonder millennials have a bad name. Padma and Tom's faces were priceless when he was prattling on. At least his shiny, flippable hair was clean. There, I said something nice.

[Squirrely]

Can someone explain to me how an undercooked omelette is unsafe but a runny toad in the hole is desirable? Is it just runny yolks that are okay? I honestly have no idea because I can't stomach runny anything in my eggs! I'm that person who would probably offend culinary masters with my insistence on breaking the yolks in my fried eggs and making sure they're cooked! 

[spiderpig]

1 hour ago, PamelaMaeSnap said:

During the sudden death elimination quickfire, was it just me (and Mr. Snappy) or was Chris never shown in that round? We thought we saw the reconstructed/deconstructed Denver omelets of everyone but Chris, and then he popped back up for the next team challenge. Or did we both just miss it?

Isn't there always somebody competing on a food show that we keep forgetting is there?  I'm kickin' back in my LaZ-Boy asking "Who's Chris?  Oh, him...".

It's what makes watching these shows so entertaining.

It's been quite the 180-turn for Carrie, hasn't it?  I thought she'd be toast after episode one. She has quite an endearing quality when she's receiving praise.

[akr]

29 minutes ago, Squirrely said:

Can someone explain to me how an undercooked omelette is unsafe but a runny toad in the hole is desirable? Is it just runny yolks that are okay? I honestly have no idea because I can't stomach runny anything in my eggs! I'm that person who would probably offend culinary masters with my insistence on breaking the yolks in my fried eggs and making sure they're cooked! 

There's runny, and then there's raw.  I.e., Rare meat, vs warm sashimi.

And - raw whites are gross even to most people who like their yolks still soft, I think (there's a difference in taste & texture between raw yolks and runny ones, too, & if the whites are still raw the yolks probably won't be there yet, either). Not sure runny yolks are entirely safe, either, but i m not one to overcook things just to remove all risk, & am not in the food safety business, so I've not worried about it much. (My distaste for raw whites isn't about food safety, though perhaps it should be - it's just where I personally draw the line and say uggh, nope, not for me.)

[meowmommy]

18 hours ago, annewithaneee said:

Very happy Foodgasm landed in the bottom, they deserved it for the name alone.

All I could think of was that judge on TNIC, Judy something, who demanded foodgasms.  After the cheftestants caught their breaths at the sheer tastelessness of the demand, they graciously refrained from rolling their eyes and telling her to fuck off.

6 hours ago, HunterHunted said:

Talking heads are almost always filmed after the event. The exception is probably the finale. There might have been some time to reset the kitchen between the Denver omelette challenge and the sudden death french omelette challenge, but they tend to let the contestants just sit and talk in the stew room and transform their complaints and disappoints into a whole line of questions during the talking head interviews.

But Laura's eyes were red from crying, so unless she had a flashback to the misery she felt at elimination, it's likely her TH came right after her elimination.

[NYCFree]

I have no idea who the blond fool was but something about him really repulsed me. I wonder what it was, because I can't put my finger on any one action that was horrid.

The phone call of doom is such a cliche at this point.

[Skyfall]

19 hours ago, annewithaneee said:

Laura kinda broke my heart. It's awful, seeing someone so likable and clearly talented suddenly go down because of their emotions. It reminded me a bit of Great British Bake Off, to see someone so sweet and mild just fall apart.

I don't think they gave him a chyron, which is just as well, but I basically had a rage stroke when I saw Logan Paul (one of the worst people on the internet, though not nearly as bad as his younger brother Jake) at the main challenge. He's not a Colorado college kid, he's a scourge aka professional YouTuber. I was already annoyed seeing him mug around with his Go Pro and dabbing (!!!!!), but to have him have an actual seat at the table with the judges was just too damn much. I swear he got more critique airtime than Gail, and that's just unforgivable. 

So, that ruined the episode for me, but I know most Top Chef viewers won't have any idea who that kid is and that he's the wooooorst (which actually makes including him in the judge's tasting all the more confusing), so I may be alone here. 

Very happy Foodgasm landed in the bottom, they deserved it for the name alone.

I hate the Paul brothers don’t don’t diss professional streamers/youtubers. Every industry has a few bad eggs.

[ProudMary]

3 hours ago, desertflower said:

On a side note, for a fun food truck movie, check out Chef starring Jon Favreau. 

I remembered Chef when I first heard that Bruce was making a pork sandwich for a food truck challenge and thought, "Why not a great Cuban?"  It might have turned out better than the mess he presented!

[Skyfall]

22 minutes ago, NYCFree said:

I have no idea who the blond fool was but something about him really repulsed me. I wonder what it was, because I can't put my finger on any one action that was horrid.

The phone call of doom is such a cliche at this point.

Him and his brother are scum. That’s all you need to know.

[Lamb18]

I'm just watching the episode now. Poor Laura makes the phone call of doom to her son. Might as well have a flashing sign "ELIMINATED" behind her while she was talking to her son. I thought one of the three chefs would have made a good omelet. I can make a good soft fluffy egg though it's probably not a real French omelet.

I felt like I was watching the Food Truck Race. At least on that show there are people who fix equipment on the trucks. Kind of bummed that Snidely Joe won. I guess I'm biased against him because he reminds of mustached Josh from a few seasons back.

[threebluestars]

Just caught up on the episode. I have no idea who the YouTuber guy is, but holy shit I was embarrassed for him. Talk about being the dumbest kid at the table. He was so outclassed by everyone and looked like a buffoon. I guess if he's happy coming off that way, more power to him, but it was cringeworthy to watch.

I felt really bad for Laura, because I think Top Chef would do the same to me.

[McManda]

4 hours ago, akr said:

here's runny, and then there's raw.  I.e., Rare meat, vs warm sashimi.

And - raw whites are gross even to most people who like their yolks still soft, I think

For sure. In my area they're generally called dipping eggs - fried eggs with runny yolks in which you're supposed to dip toast. Runny yolks are richer and thicker than raw yolks. But raw whites are snotty and gross. I like runny yolks, but yuck ... just the thought of undercooked or raw egg whites makes me gag. They would literally ruin my meal.

[sweetandsour]

Both Paul brothers and their dad are disgusting scum. I wasn't looking forward to seeing Logan take up space on a show I like, but it was ultimately worth it because he obliviously received less than zero validation from the judges. They clearly never agreed with his opinions and that was worth a few laughs, for sure! And as much as I don't actually watch his content, I am pretty sure the way he came off on TC was easily 1000x better than he comes off in his content or on his own time. So that tells you a lot about his oh-so-charming personality.

I also really appreciated Joe saying no more ladies going home.

I was quite confused about Tanya not doing a classic French omelet bc I feel like she said in a previous talking head that she had spent time (years) cooking in France!

I felt for Laura, I really did, even if there's something about the way she speaks that annoys me. I don't think she went into the competition with an unrealistic idea of the family sacrifice involved - I think it just felt so much harder in reality than she had prepared for.  I really really appreciated that TC added that commentary from Fatima about how talented and wonderful Laura is as a chef and a person.  That's a good look for TC to show some grace in the midst of someone's obviously subpar performance and heartbreak.

If Bruce is "daring" enough (or after having to change initial plans gone awry) to make gnocchi again, I can't even imagine the side-eye and flat intonation Padma will give him.

I also laughed at that one blond college girl who said the burger her friend liked was too many carbs for her. Fair enough, but no one building a food truck menu for college students would ever take into account, "what about the big portion of patrons who want low-carb here?"

Like others, I was also scratching my head about the food truck that attracted the most patrons and tickets winning safety. That still allows for them to flub execution and produce bad food, but with no consequence. But when I thought about it a little more, I think it made some sense by implicitly rewarding the team that designed a menu and concept that catered the best and was most appealing to the target audience. That is one aspect of real-world success (though they obviously disregarded the real world disaster of bringing in a crowd but potentially turning them off with food that doesn't live up to the menu).

[HunterHunted]

4 hours ago, meowmommy said:

But Laura's eyes were red from crying, so unless she had a flashback to the misery she felt at elimination, it's likely her TH came right after her elimination.

None of this precludes it from being a talking head interview after her total elimination. The original post mentioned Laura crying about her bad performance during the quickfire, but edited into footage of her cooking. The producers are very good at their jobs. The contestants have their own line producers who get very close to them, know their histories, and most importantly know how to manipulate the contestants to elicit weepy talking heads. So you take an emotional person and another person who knows them well asking probing questions about how they felt when they lost, of course you'll get teary talking heads.

[Bastet]

5 minutes ago, sweetandsour said:

Like others, I was also scratching my head about the food truck that attracted the most patrons and tickets winning safety. That still allows for them to flub execution and produce bad food, but with no consequence.

But did they win safety by having the menu that appealed to the greatest number of college kids?  The kids picked Down the Chin, but the judges anointed The Hangover Cure the winning team.  Was there something that specified the diners' favorite could not lose?  Because, otherwise, if the students had picked Team X as their favorite, the judges still could have ruled them the worst. 

I think having the students award tickets based on the menu rather than the actual food was odd, but I don't think it was a situation where a team could put forth a great menu, completely flub the execution, yet still be immune from elimination because of the students' votes.

[biakbiak]

1 minute ago, Bastet said:

Was there something that specified the diners' favorite could not lose?

Yes, it was specified by Padma when describing the challenge that the team that got the most tickets would be safe from elimination.

[sweetandsour]

3 minutes ago, Bastet said:

But did they win safety by having the menu that appealed to the greatest number of college kids?  The kids picked Down the Chin, but the judges anointed The Hangover Cure the winning team.  Was there something that specified the diners' favorite could not lose?  Because, otherwise, if the students had picked Team X as their favorite, the judges still could have ruled them the worst. 

I think having the students award tickets based on the menu rather than the actual food was odd, but I don't think it was a situation where a team could put forth a great menu, completely flub the execution, yet still be immune from elimination because of the students' votes.

I don't know if the judges could have nullified the concept of "most tickets wins safety" if that team had produced bad food. They didn't address that at all. They just said that team won safety. I rewound that part to make sure I heard right.

That said, I wasn't listening closely enough during the challenge about how the teams got tickets from the college students. It sounded like they handed in a ticket when they ordered, i.e. they gave a ticket based on wanting to try to the food, not voting after-the-fact and saying, this team had my favorite food so they get my ticket. So the teams could get tickets just based on attracting customers, not necessarily satisfying them.

[Bastet]

6 minutes ago, biakbiak said:

Yes, it was specified by Padma when describing the challenge that the team that got the most tickets would be safe from elimination.

Thanks.  That adds another level of "huh?" to having the students award their tickets to the truck whose menu most made them want to order, rather than having them sample everything and then vote for their favorite actual food.  Moot point here, as the kids' favorite was the judges' second favorite, but that could have gone awry.

[PamelaMaeSnap]

5 hours ago, Skyfall said:

Him and his brother are scum. That’s all you need to know.

So very very this. TC, one of my favorite shows, went down a few notches in my book just for giving him air time. WTF were they thinking?

[Charlesman]

1 hour ago, sweetandsour said:

I don't know if the judges could have nullified the concept of "most tickets wins safety" if that team had produced bad food. They didn't address that at all. They just said that team won safety. I rewound that part to make sure I heard right.

 

It's happened in past seasons. There was at least one prior challenge where a team got immunity and Padma and Tom said if they hadn't, someone would have gone home. They won immunity in a similar way, crowd vote or something, not based on taste of the food. 

The deal with this episode I guess was the ticket thing was supposed to test and reward 'marketing', which is essential for food truck success (although later Tom torpedoed that by insisting the food must come first above all). It just wasn't well integrated or explained. 

[Eulipian 5k]

The “promoter” didn’t use anything offensive or sexual, however. He just seemed a “fool”; which is a skill in his business. After all, an earlier generation gave his “Carrot top”, Don King, & Jar Jar Binks.

I seem to recall earlier TC challenges where the teams sold the fool and that counted vs tickets in this season. I don’t recall if that determined the winning chef or best food.

Edited December 23, 2017 by Eulipian 5k
Add more fools

[NowVoyager]

I appreciated Joe saying "No more ladies going home this week" to his teammates in Down the Chin. Both ladies have struggled & it's nice to see them bounce back & show their best selves.

Hm. It was fancy Ms. Lebernardin's idea to use all the same bread for Blazin' Sammies. IJS. No, no, just no. Breads are often overlooked (or even shunned in these low carb, gluten-free days) but they are different for a reason! Chewy bagels, flaky croissants, sweet Hawaiian rolls, super buttery Texas Toast... look at lobster rolls. It's just a hot dog bun, but it's sliced & prepared differently for a reason. They were also too focused on speed over quality. People will wait for good food & the judges really only look at the plate that's in front of them.

I recently had a delicious Mexican Street corn salad from a food truck in LAX terminal 4. (Don't judge me. I was in transit; my options were limited.) It doesn't strike me as hangover food at all. Even though I had it topped with pulled pork, it was light; filling without making me feel like I needed a nap. So many flavorful toppings & spicy arugula, I didn't even need the dressing. I don't get the focus on temperature. It was room temperature & it was perfect. I think Rogelio's dish lacked protein or some special element to make it stand alone & not a side dish. Bad choice for this particular challenge & poorly executed.

I was soo impressed with the graphics for the food trucks! Short turn around time & they looked great! Did the show credit the artists/graphic designers at all?

The rose water whipped cream sounded amazing! I remember my first experience with rose water 25 years ago. It blew my mind! The malfunctioning ISI (?) machine seemed like a bit of throwaway drama compared to other equipment problems that Team Foodgasm had.

The blonde guy's hair made me crazy. Even Justin Bieber has long moved on from that look.

I want to know what brand of lipstick Padma was wearing. I mean, I know she gets touch ups from makeup artists & I'm not mad, but still I can't eat like that without my lippy disappearing or smearing on my face.

[BabyVegas]

Man, that YouTube Bro was a real waste of space. Yuck. I really wish the show hadn't had him on as a judge.

Regarding the food trucks, I'm really surprised nobody did mac and cheese. It would have been something familiar to the college kids, relatively easy to do, and very easy to punch up and make into something Top Chef-worthy. 

[awaken]

On 12/21/2017 at 11:50 PM, HunterHunted said:

You are not alone. I said "Ugh, that choad!" when I saw him. He's constitutionally terrible.

The hair alone confirmed that for me!  Tom looked seriously annoyed to have him included at the judging. Like who wants to hear your opinion on food, random ridiculous dude?  

[Wings]

This show did not suffer credibility to me for hiring the youtube guy. The producer in charge of designing this challenge  thought he would appeal to the younger viewer given his huge following.  I loved watching the judges reaction to him! 

[Kathira]

Poor Rogelio. As soon as he said he was making a salad, I knew he was a goner. I actually said "This isn't Top Salad" out loud to the tv. On this show, if you make a salad, it had better be the best darn salad anyone has ever had. But Rogelio didn't listen. Just like Project Runway, sometimes you wonder if the contestants actually ever watched the show.

My son is 12 and watches a lot of YouTube. I'll have to ask him if he watches that Logan guy. It's probably a parenting fail that I don't know 100% of what he's watching, LOL.

Edited December 23, 2017 by Kathira

[susannot]

8 hours ago, HunterHunted said:

None of this precludes it from being a talking head interview after her total elimination. The original post mentioned Laura crying about her bad performance during the quickfire, but edited into footage of her cooking. The producers are very good at their jobs. The contestants have their own line producers who get very close to them, know their histories, and most importantly know how to manipulate the contestants to elicit weepy talking heads. So you take an emotional person and another person who knows them well asking probing questions about how they felt when they lost, of course you'll get teary talking heads.

Hmmm.  You seem to have some insider-y knowledge HunterHunted.  How did you know that each contestant has their own assigned line producer?  Do tell!

[Wings]

I looked up the ingredients for Mexican street corn salad because someone mentioned it.  I never knew there was a street food salad of any kind!  Had he done something like this he would have been safe.  Was he aiming for this by using corn? 

I have to wonder who didn't make the cut?  Do chefs try out or are they recruited? That is a question that comes up for all reality shows now. 

[HunterHunted]

1 hour ago, susannot said:

Hmmm.  You seem to have some insider-y knowledge HunterHunted.  How did you know that each contestant has their own assigned line producer?  Do tell!

Not an insider. Daniel J. Blau who used recap for Television Without Pity did a great interview years ago about the writer and story editor strike on America's Next Top Model, his real job. The interview discussed what he did and how the show was made.

There are also quite a few interviews and podcasts out there about the mechanics of making a reality show.

http://www.vulture.com/2015/06/life-as-a-reality-tv-producer.html

http://www.businessinsider.com/reality-show-secrets-2016-4/#but-theres-very-little-producers-can-do-about-the-outcome-of-competition-shows-5

http://mentalfloss.com/article/93591/11-behind-scenes-secrets-reality-tv-producers

https://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/how-reality-tv-gets-made-an-exclusive-interview-with-mark-cronin-executive-produ.html

https://www.rd.com/culture/13-secrets-reality-tv-show-producers-wont-tell-you/

And if you're curious about the mess that is Keeping Up with the Kardashians, try Keeping Up with the Kontinuity Errors. It's moved from Gawker to Jezebel to The Cut on New York Magazine. It uses the Kardashians' social media and publicity to figure out when and how scenes were filmed. Sometimes scenes were filmed weeks and months apart.

2 hours ago, Wings said:

I have to wonder who didn't make the cut?  Do chefs try out or are they recruited? That is a question that comes up for all reality shows now. 

There are casting calls in different cities. Chefs and restaurant critics help Bravo cast. Chefs applying must put together a video talking about themselves, their food, and their cooking. The video must also include video of their cooking and plating. Bravo has chefs like Lee Ann helping them judge the cooking, plating, and food of the applicant. Additionally, it's clear that some chefs are recruited via James Beard nominees and a couple of Food Network competition show standouts.

http://www.bravotv.com/topchefcasting

I don't want to take this too far afield.

[cooksdelight]

I love the insider info, thank you @HunterHunted. There are things I know that I’m sworn to death not to tell about some shows. It helps me view with clearer eyes.

[HunterHunted]

1 hour ago, cooksdelight said:

I love the insider info, thank you @HunterHunted. There are things I know that I’m sworn to death not to tell about some shows. It helps me view with clearer eyes.

That's the thing about these shows. From the moment Laura was cast, she's been working with her line producer. Her line producer knows everything about her. So as they sit down to do Laura's talking head interviews, her line producer knows this means a lot to her and uses what the line producer knows about Laura to manipulate emotional responses.

Her line producer probably leads in with something along the lines "You wanted this so badly, does it remind you of when Mike dumped you after dating for 5 years or how your dad stopped speaking to you when you said you wanted to be a chef?" Or "This is the first time you've really been away from your son. You must really miss him? You've given up so much to be a chef like how you missed his first steps because you were at the restaurant. Now you've left him for a month thousands of miles away. Do you think you've let him down?" 

The line producer then takes Laura along every decision point of her defeat. Cue waterworks.

Edited December 23, 2017 by HunterHunted

[hkit]

20 hours ago, jcbrown said:

I have never seen nor heard of that idiot Owen Wilson wannabe before and completely agree that he should not have been sitting with the judges. His opinion is worth nothing in this competition, especially when all he had to offer was "I really love waffles." The show wasted critique time that could have included actual substance on someone with zero relevance to their audience. I don't get it.

I hated every second he was in the air because I just don't "get" influencers. If that makes me old and out of touch, I'll gladly accept this label. 

However, this show has done this before. I'm still annoyed with the Gronk episode in the Boston season where his culinary critiques were along the lines of "I like a lot of food", double entendres about sausage, and other general meathead behavior. And he got to choose the winner of the quickfire! 

The more they pull out unqualified guest judges to appeal to a more mainstream audience, the quicker I lose interest. 

[susannot]

Thank you HunterHunted!

[SuburbanHangSuite]

8 hours ago, Kathira said:

My son is 12 and watches a lot of YouTube. I'll have to ask him if he watches that Logan guy. It's probably a parenting fail that I don't know 100% of what he's watching, LOL.

My kid is 10 and has shown me videos of this idiot.  When I saw how he was jet-setting to Abu Dhabi and rocking Rolex watches all on the strength of YouTube,  I just shook my head and chalked it up to another glaring sign that we are fast approaching the End of Days.  Shame on Top Chef for lowering themselves to this foolishness.  

Bye, Rogelio.  Your teammates should've pulled your coattail on that one but they probably strategically used him as an Elimination buffer.  That salad was a terrible idea from the door and they knew it.

[HunterHunted]

1 hour ago, SuburbanHangSuite said:

Bye, Rogelio.  Your teammates should've pulled your coattail on that one but they probably strategically used him as an Elimination buffer.  That salad was a terrible idea from the door and they knew it.

I've had elotes served hot. I've had esquites served hot and also cold. Rogelio was trying to weirdly trying to split the difference, which is also strange because his salad included cabbage. Cabbage is one of those things that is fine at either temperature extremes. It's good cold in a salad or a slaw. It's good hot and cooked or fermented. But weirdly room temperature cabbage is strange and kind of wilty. Rogelio was just a collection of bad ideas.

I hadn't thought of him as an elimination buffer until I  rewatched the episode. The team was made up of Brother Luck, who had immunity, Bruce, and Rogelio. Unfortunately, Bruce had incentive to not help fix Rogelio's salad, but I don't think he'd play the game that way. The reality is that none of the chefs on that truck were tasting each other's food. None of them figured out that Brother Luck's frybread was leaden, Bruce's sandwich was fatty, and Rogelio's salad was bad and unseasoned.

Edited December 23, 2017 by HunterHunted

[Snarklepuss]

On 12/22/2017 at 9:55 AM, susannot said:

Things I loved:

Tyler deciding to cook what he would cook for his own hangovers.

I think Tyler actually played it safe in this episode because it was also something he's served at his restaurant, and I've had it.  I knew that the judges would question serving soup from a food truck but then like it so much it wouldn't matter.  Even before TC I have always said that soup is one of his strong suits.

On 12/22/2017 at 11:00 AM, Straycat80 said:

I knew Laura was a goner when she said her heart and mind were in Alaska.

I knew Laura was a goner because her eyes were red and teary in her talking heads and her entire persona was full of regret.  I didn't even base it on what she said although that also contributed!

On 12/22/2017 at 2:55 PM, jcbrown said:

I have never seen nor heard of that idiot Owen Wilson wannabe before and completely agree that he should not have been sitting with the judges. His opinion is worth nothing in this competition, especially when all he had to offer was "I really love waffles." The show wasted critique time that could have included actual substance on someone with zero relevance to their audience. I don't get it.

This may be an unpopular opinion but I'm already getting the vibe this season that the show is catering to millennial tastes and thought this guy was representative of that (which shows you what they probably think of those tastes if they think this guy represents that).  I'm also getting the impression that several of the contestants so far this season are more comfortable with serving stuff like rustic ethnic food truck fare than with high-end stuff.  I'm starting to feel like my favorite Tyler is a little out of place this season and would have been more in his millieu a few years ago like in the Voltaggio's season.  He is 40 years old and his style of cooking is more high-end French inspired stuff.  So while he has done OK so far I am worried about how he can hold up if the challenges continue to go outside his comfort zone.  Already in the promo. for next week he is complaining that he doesn't have an ethnic POV because he's a "white guy from California".  He is a very versatile chef so I am hoping he'll be able to overcome that, though.  And maybe that's actually an advantage for him, that he has more experience than some of the others. 

[hookedontv]

I must be in a bitchy mood. I'm not even halfway through the episode and all I can think of is "Good god Laura, pull it together" and how unpleasant it is for me to watch and listen to Carrie. 

[seltzer3]

Really surprised Rogelio, decided to make a salad.  I don't think a salad has ever won a challenge.  I'm not sure if it was because of the equipment shenanigans (which is the safest dish to make).

Felt really bad for Lisa.  She obviously should have went home.  That really sucked that she wasted like 5 minutes trying to find a nonstick pan (again, why are there not enough pans for everyone?)

[raven]

35 minutes ago, hookedontv said:

I must be in a bitchy mood. I'm not even halfway through the episode and all I can think of is "Good god Laura, pull it together" and how unpleasant it is for me to watch and listen to Carrie. 

Heh, Carrie doesn't bother me but I was thinking the same thing of Laura.  She seems like a nice person and was obviously well liked by the other chefs but I tired of her talking about how off her game she was because of her emotions.   I get that it's producer prodded and all that, it just got tiresome really quickly.

I really wanted to try the smoked egg. 

I thought it odd that the team with the most tickets would be safe when the tix were only give on how the menu sounded, rather than tasted.  What if everything sounded great but tasted not so great?  The judges chose their own winning team anyway. 

Have no idea who the YT guy was but the looks the judges were giving him at his useless commentary "oh I love waffles" were priceless.  Gail is a pro at rolling her eyes without actually rolling them and the way he was pretty much dismissed was hilarious. 

Knew Rogelio was a goner as soon as he said "yes, I wanted my salad to be both cold and room temperature".   NEVER double down when it's apparent the judges are questioning your cooking sanity.

I think it's obvious that the producers purposely leave the chefs with non working equipment and it annoys.  Just let them cook.

[spacefly]

17 hours ago, sweetandsour said:

I felt for Laura, I really did, even if there's something about the way she speaks that annoys me. I don't think she went into the competition with an unrealistic idea of the family sacrifice involved - I think it just felt so much harder in reality than she had prepared for.  I really really appreciated that TC added that commentary from Fatima about how talented and wonderful Laura is as a chef and a person.  That's a good look for TC to show some grace in the midst of someone's obviously subpar performance and heartbreak.

I was sorry to see Laura go. I really have enjoyed her restaurant (229 Parks)and in my opinion she is a great chef. It had to be tough leaving her restaurant during the late spring/early summer, it is really the only time she has to make money. I have also eaten at Tyler's restaurant so I guess he is my new favorite.

I found the omelette thing weird. I trained in Nantucket with a Chef that was a CIA grad and he taught me right off the bat how to make a fluffy, creamy and not brown omelette that would please the customers. I do think many chefs struggle with eggs and just avoid the entire breakfast thing. I have focused on breakfast as I hate the late nights and have always been a morning person.

Quote

I remembered Chef when I first heard that Bruce was making a pork sandwich for a food truck challenge and thought, "Why not a great Cuban?"  It might have turned out better than the mess he presented!

Henry just won a Food Truck Challenge on TC Jr with a Cuban. The judges loved it and said it was the one of the best they have had. He's 13.

Edited December 23, 2017 by spacefly

[carrps]

30 minutes ago, seltzer3 said:

Really surprised Rogelio, decided to make a salad.  I don't think a salad has ever won a challenge.  I'm not sure if it was because of the equipment shenanigans (which is the safest dish to make).

Didn't Antonia win with a salad once? Or at least came in the top two.

I had no idea who that dreadful blond guy was (and I had no incentive to go back and read his chyron), but hearing folks here calling him 'scum,' I'm glad I know nothing about him. Although I think he's gotten the most comments in this thread!

I really wanted Joe's wings and Fatima's waffle. Man.

[Fiero425]

5 hours ago, carrps said:

Didn't Antonia win with a salad once? Or at least came in the top two.

I had no idea who that dreadful blond guy was (and I had no incentive to go back and read his chyron), but hearing folks here calling him 'scum,' I'm glad I know nothing about him. Although I think he's gotten the most comments in this thread!

I really wanted Joe's wings and Fatima's waffle. Man.

It's happened, but rarely! People don't understand a salad isn't that easy to make! My best usually has a bit of everything from Romaine and Spinach to different colors of peppers, onions, and mushrooms! ;-)

[RemoteControlFreak]

WTF? None of these so-called chefs knew how to make a French omelette.  It's not easy to get right but it's a simple process and none of them even knew how to get started.  15 minutes is way more time than needed. Julia Child does it in about 30 seconds, not counting beating the eggs and heating the pan.  It doesn't have filling or whatever the hell Laura added to it.

[Fiero425]

15 minutes ago, RemoteControlFreak said:

WTF? None of these so-called chefs knew how to make a French omelette.  It's not easy to get right but it's a simple process and none of them even knew how to get started.  15 minutes is way more time than needed. Julia Child does it in about 30 seconds, not counting beating the eggs and heating the pan.  It doesn't have filling or whatever the hell Laura added to it.

They made it more complicated than it should have been! All 3 should have been disqualified! Going all out trying to add ingredients like mushrooms and cheese was just plain stupid and I'm no chef! If the judges wanted all that crap, they would have asked beforehand! ;-)

[Snarklepuss]

2 hours ago, RemoteControlFreak said:

WTF? None of these so-called chefs knew how to make a French omelette.  It's not easy to get right but it's a simple process and none of them even knew how to get started.  15 minutes is way more time than needed. Julia Child does it in about 30 seconds, not counting beating the eggs and heating the pan.  It doesn't have filling or whatever the hell Laura added to it.

I thought the same thing.  Are some of the chefs not culinary school graduates this season or if they are WTF are they thinking?  I couldn't believe Rogelio - he worked at the French Laundry forchrissakes!  This should be culinary school 101!

[RemoteControlFreak]

6 hours ago, Snarklepuss said:

I thought the same thing.  Are some of the chefs not culinary school graduates this season or if they are WTF are they thinking?  I couldn't believe Rogelio - he worked at the French Laundry forchrissakes!  This should be culinary school 101!

He may be a guy that works well in a restaurant environment executing tested and proven formulas well but with no ability to improvise and obviously no knowledge of the basic chemistry in food and cooking .... hence the attempt to make a salad that is "both room temperature and cold" and to deep fry sour candy pieces. Apparently French Omelettes are not on the menu at the French Laundry.

Edited December 24, 2017 by RemoteControlFreak

[NYCFree]

Didn't Tu start this season in Episode 1 by winning with a salad?

[RemoteControlFreak]

On 12/22/2017 at 3:19 PM, annewithaneee said:

Anyway, his demographic is all quite literally children in grade and middle school who probably watch very little traditional television anymore, and apparently he already posted video from the shoot when it happened a year ago, so I doubt the ratings will really spike. Also, with these influencers (ugh), total followers does not equal actively engaged followers, so his promotional reach for this was probably much smaller than 11 mil. So at least hypothetically, the math doesn't seem to be in their favor for this resulting in a big ratings push. And it's not like that social spike would be anything more than a one-off.

Correct. Followers does not equate to engaged users.  And even if it did, the average follower of most of the big YouTube personalities is about 12.  Still, companies fall all over themselves to be associated with this content because they know that children influence their parents' buying habits, but they over-estimate the power of a kid who simply checked a YouTube Subscribe box. 

Edited December 24, 2017 by RemoteControlFreak

[FormerMod-a1]

I think Tanya's would have been right, a real French omelette, if she hadn't put that spinach in it.  It looked the right color and texture otherwise.  Of course, they only showed it briefly so I could be wrong.  But why with the spinach??