S15.E04: Little Tools, Big Challenge

[Snarklepuss]

An interview with Tyler in Parade after his elimination.

[Blonde Gator]

1 hour ago, Snarklepuss said:

An interview with Tyler in Parade after his elimination.

Good article, thanks.  Tyler strikes me as a self-aware kind of guy.  I liked his parting line. 

It's got to be hard to do that final talking head when you're still po'd about getting the boot. 

[biakbiak]

7 hours ago, aquarian1 said:

If he had stuck to one - either SoCal or Swedish? (I'm drawing a blank but remembering a meatball) it probably would have been fine. 

I agree putting tritip and a Swedish meatball on a plate together was never going to be a successful dish because they didn't relate to each other and that's Tyler's fault not the fault of the challenge.

Every season they do a challenge that sometimes results in it hitting in a way that was probably not intended, like with Kwame a few seasons back when he went to a place about his father and executed an extremely bad dish. 

[Neurochick]

On December 29, 2017 at 0:55 PM, HunterHunted said:

Exactly. Fatima made dal chawal and shami kabab, which the judges thought was good, but not exceptional. Carrie is unfamiliar with her heritage, but is from Idaho so she made a pierogi. She wound up safe. Chris made fried chicken, biscuits, and greens--a meal of which 2/3rds of it is available at Popeyes, KFC, Church's, and Bojangles. The challenge wasn't to come up with exotic dishes. It was to come up with a dish that represented your heritage whatever that may be. Tyler and Bruce were so busy manufacturing ersatz exoticism that they completely missed that other chefs were making completely common American food and being successful doing it.

You're right.  Tyler should have just done "Southern California."  They weren't talking about actual genealogy, I got that, but I guess Tyler didn't.  

[HunterHunted]

5 hours ago, Snarklepuss said:

An interview with Tyler in Parade after his elimination.

He came across as such a snot to me and I liked him prior to his elimination.

Quote

In both the Quickfire and Elimination Challenge this past episode, it seems you overthought the concepts for your dishes. As a contestant, how do you try to avoid overthinking in the heat of competition?
(Laughs.) I didn’t avoid overthinking things. I didn’t overthink the Quickfire dish…that dish was so delicious and should have won, honestly. Finishing on the bottom with that one made me severely overthink the next.

I don't know why he still can't see that his shrimp meatballs, zucchini noodles, and pho broth was a huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge departure from the inspiration of spaghetti and meatballs. The kids and judges weren't wrong on this one.

Quote

On that note, how did it feel to be up for elimination against Joe and Bruce, knowing one of you was going to go home?
It sucked. Those are three of the more talented people on the show, [it] seemed wild that we were all standing up there.

Ummm, there are other James Beard nominees in this group of contestants. Face facts. It's a group of supremely talented chefs. I thought heading into this season that Bruce, Tyler, Tanya, and Laura were some of the front runners. So far, Tyler and Laura are gone and Bruce and Tanya have been in the bottom as often as they've been in the top. Shut up about "more talented people." They are all talented people. He sounds like an asshole the longer he jaws about more and less talented people and how he expected to go further. News flash they all expected to go further. 

Edited December 31, 2017 by HunterHunted

[Neurochick]

Quote

Yeah and this is exactly what I am talking about!  I would never say I would rather see one of the younger more ethnic chefs go. And then they say white people have a complex - maybe there's a good reason for that.  Just sayin'.

I don't even know what to say about this comment.

I think Tyler lost because he overthought the challenge.  Like someone said about Chris, there was nothing "exotic" about his dish, but it was cooked WELL.  And I do need to get some of those biscuits.  

I don't think there's anything wrong with focusing on younger chefs, that's what happens in life, the apprentice surpasses the master.  Here's what I think is cool about this show:  When they show Adrienne it says she's from "Harlem, NY" and Chris is in "Brooklyn, NY."  A few decades ago, if you said you were from either of those places, people would be like, "you're from THERE?"  

[iggysaurus]

I agree Tyler could've found a way to spin the challenge into something he could've done well at, but they definitely were really hyping the "ethnicity" angle, not just "what you ate growing up."  Underneath every judge's name, it said "originally from Haiti", "originally from India," "originally from Iran," etc.  They episode was VERY focused on highlighting people's country of origin.  This is in keeping with the overall zeitgeist of promoting multiculturalism and diversity (which I'm not saying is a bad thing), and almost sort of plays into an "anti-elite" sentiment so prevalent today by giving the edge to those who aren't classically trained.  Having said all that, even the "old white guys" could've won or gotten by if they'd faultlessly executed whatever they decided to make. You can't lose with food that just tastes good! 

[chiaros]

1 hour ago, iggysaurus said:

I agree Tyler could've found a way to spin the challenge into something he could've done well at, but they definitely were really hyping the "ethnicity" angle, not just "what you ate growing up."  Underneath every judge's name, it said "originally from Haiti", "originally from India," "originally from Iran," etc.  They episode was VERY focused on highlighting people's country of origin.  This is in keeping with the overall zeitgeist of promoting multiculturalism and diversity (which I'm not saying is a bad thing), and almost sort of plays into an "anti-elite" sentiment so prevalent today by giving the edge to those who aren't classically trained.  Having said all that, even the "old white guys" could've won or gotten by if they'd faultlessly executed whatever they decided to make. You can't lose with food that just tastes good! 

Just a reminder...ENGLISH is also an ethnicity. As is Scottish. And any other national or whateverelse grouping you want to think about. If you are a White American who has "always been here" and have an Anglo-Saxon-type surname you probably had English or Scottish or Welsh or even Irish roots, all the way back to the Mayflower if that is the case. That is your "ethnicity". 

So something like "originally from England" would be perfectly in keeping with the definition of "ethnicity".

Tyler said he believed he had some Swedish roots. As others have said, why not concentrate on that? If not, then do something "Southern Californian" as the alternative expression of his "heritage", in this case where he grew up.

He did himself in.

Someone remarked in an earlier post here on this thread about the season when the almost-at-the-end cheftestants made dishes according to their heritage and Richard Blais made stuff that drew upon his British Isles origins.

There is a tendency in 'Murca to project several-generations-deep-white wherever origins to be "normative" and "ethnic-free", and all others to be "ethnic".  Yet "English" is also an ethnicity, as I mentioned above. There is a lot of political and social baggage embedded into the concept of "Normal Murcans" and perhaps this might be something to think about.

Edited December 31, 2017 by chiaros

[Snarklepuss]

2 hours ago, Neurochick said:

I don't even know what to say about this comment.

I don't even know what to say about this comment either.  I was responding to someone that was snarking on how happy they were that 3 fat white guys were up for elimination and that one of them would go home.  Why make it about them being white or fat for that matter?   I find it highly offensively prejudiced to make such a comment and I would never make one like it had the tables been reversed.  The fact that a comment like that could be made and slip through without the post being removed or reprimanded is reason enough for a complex, IMO.

Edited December 31, 2017 by Snarklepuss

[Snarklepuss]

3 hours ago, iggysaurus said:

I agree Tyler could've found a way to spin the challenge into something he could've done well at, but they definitely were really hyping the "ethnicity" angle, not just "what you ate growing up."  Underneath every judge's name, it said "originally from Haiti", "originally from India," "originally from Iran," etc.  They episode was VERY focused on highlighting people's country of origin.  This is in keeping with the overall zeitgeist of promoting multiculturalism and diversity (which I'm not saying is a bad thing), and almost sort of plays into an "anti-elite" sentiment so prevalent today by giving the edge to those who aren't classically trained.  Having said all that, even the "old white guys" could've won or gotten by if they'd faultlessly executed whatever they decided to make. You can't lose with food that just tastes good! 

I agree with you but ay, there's the rub!  I think the show gets into their heads as much as they get into their own heads and semi-deliberately confounds them in challenges like this and then often anyone with any insecurity about the challenge ends up trying too hard and missing the mark.  But as someone so aptly reminded us with the Kwame example, on this show it can happen to anyone for any reason.  I remember when Kwame got too into his head about his father and bombed.  I was rooting for him and very disappointed when he went home.  This stuff happens so often I have to think that the show is responsible for some of the pressure and winning becomes more about how well you can weather the way they fuck with your head than with how good a chef you are. 

Edited December 31, 2017 by Snarklepuss

[RedRobin]

12 hours ago, Snarklepuss said:

P.S.  On thinking it over, I think he should have done French cooking since Julia Child was his idol as a kid.  He certainly has plenty of emotional connection with her cooking going back to childhood.

This is a perfect example of what Tyler should have done and I'm sure he would've faired quite successful.   I too liked him up until his snarky remark, but oh well, that's how the biscuit crumbles.

Edited December 31, 2017 by RedRobin
typing while cocktailing doesn't mix!

[bravofan27]

Tyler, to me, seems super unaware of where he today. He didn't do that great on the show. He may have at one time been a really great chef on top of his game, but comes off to me as a little rusty on the cooking and really high on the ego. I could be wrong, but it seems like he is currently more focused on the business side of the restaurant and spends less time actually in the kitchen. Who knows. He seems to really believe he is one of the best chef's there, so he must be drawing on what he's done in the past, because on the show he just seemed okay. I also noticed that at the end of the episode where everyone is trying Chris's biscuits, he was standing in the back and not participating, and certainly did not try one. Seemed a little petty to me, at least how it was edited. He still has a lot to learn. I think Bruce is in the same boat as Tyler, only he is a little less snobby and more open to learning. He listens intently to everything people say. But he's a little rusty as well.

My bet on who wins it is BROTHER LUCK who I am dating  in my head, or maybe even CHRIS SCOTT, who I have long meaningful conversations with. In my head. Mostly though, I think Chris has the best shot at standing up the pressure of the show and he comes off, to me, as the most competitive and focused. I am rooting for Tonya as well, but when she didn't know what a French omelet was and said she thought it had spinach in it--- bad sign of longevity. 

[jackjill89]

On 12/29/2017 at 6:17 PM, biakbiak said:

The challenge was not to recreate a dish it was to use your heritage as inspiration. You could most definitely use that dish and elevate it. I think it might have even been done pn the show before in a challenge.

I know that. Some posters were saying that coming from the midwest, having had family here for generations, their heritage is simply homey, comfort food. That's why I commented about tuna casserole. 

If Tyler didn't come from a family that had a big culinary focus, it would be hard to decide on a direction. If you don't have a connection to Swedish food, even if you are Swedish, I think it would be hard to sell it. He should have stuck to the So Cal idea. It would have been more genuine. 

[pinguina]

Regarding the challenge - I think that when they give a challenge there is always latitude despite how the challenge is presented.  In the last season, the chefs were told to make a dish from their childhood and one of them (the one who won, her name escapes me at the moment) made a dish based on her son's favorite meal/dish.  So even though the food she presented wasn't based on her childhood, the judges liked her dish.  The ultimate thing is that the dish tastes good in spite of what they are initially told.

Also heritage to me is where you come from, what you grew up with.  As a hispanic in So. Calif. of course as I was growing up we had Mexican food but my mom loved to make meatloaf!  She would make it at least two times a month.  My dad loved it!!  In fact, when she worked one of the things I learned to cook first was meatloaf!  So if I were to make something I think it would be based on meatloaf. Maybe blended in some way with Mexican twist.  (She also would make a great pot roast - I loved when she made that!!)  So even thought I have an "ethnic" background, my mom tried to make "American" food for us. (Although, to be honest there was always rice and beans with it!)

*Brooke - that was her name, just remembered it :)

[Snarklepuss]

45 minutes ago, bravofan27 said:

Tyler, to me, seems super unaware of where he today. He didn't do that great on the show. He may have at one time been a really great chef on top of his game, but comes off to me as a little rusty on the cooking and really high on the ego. I could be wrong, but it seems like he is currently more focused on the business side of the restaurant and spends less time actually in the kitchen. Who knows. He seems to really believe he is one of the best chef's there, so he must be drawing on what he's done in the past, because on the show he just seemed okay. I also noticed that at the end of the episode where everyone is trying Chris's biscuits, he was standing in the back and not participating, and certainly did not try one. Seemed a little petty to me, at least how it was edited. He still has a lot to learn. I think Bruce is in the same boat as Tyler, only he is a little less snobby and more open to learning. He listens intently to everything people say. But he's a little rusty as well.

I know a little about Tyler because I eat at his restaurant often and know people that work with him.  I've had brief conversations here and there with him and hear about what he's up to from my connections to him.  I do know that he spends enough time cooking and in the kitchen in both his restaurants so I don't really think he's rusty.  He just opened a BBQ restaurant with a partner in W. Hartford (called "The Cook and the Bear") and I've known him to do a lot of special dinners and events so he's always creating and innovating.  In fact, he and the other "bears" from Top Chef are doing a James Beard dinner in NYC in January called "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" (he's done several other James Beard dinners in the past too).   His 4 James Beard nominations are all within the past few years and he was nominated even this year.  Right now I hear he's in Spain, a place I don't doubt he went to in part for culinary inspiration.  But as far as him personally,  I've heard he's got his good and bad points like anyone else, no better or worse.  I agree that he's come off a bit on the egotistical side on this show and I wonder what's causing that.  I might have to check with my sources to see if they can shed some light on it.  I know that he and the other "bears" from Top Chef (Joe Flamm and Bruce Kallman) hit it off and have kept in touch enough to do the James Beard dinner, so that's pretty cool.  I'll be dining at Millwright's tomorrow night so that should be interesting!

Speaking of him possibly having taken the So Cal route in this challenge, he does a mean fish taco that I love and have had several times.  If he did that he would definitely have survived to cook another day.  Too bad!

Edited December 31, 2017 by Snarklepuss

[Neurochick]

9 hours ago, Snarklepuss said:

I don't even know what to say about this comment either.  I was responding to someone that was snarking on how happy they were that 3 fat white guys were up for elimination and that one of them would go home.  Why make it about them being white or fat for that matter?   I find it highly offensively prejudiced to make such a comment and I would never make one like it had the tables been reversed.  The fact that a comment like that could be made and slip through without the post being removed or reprimanded is reason enough for a complex, IMO.

Perhaps that comment was made because for the most part, in this show, white men win.  Maybe the OP was glad that for once the tables seemed to be turned.  Last week one of the chefs said something like, “ no more women eliminated.”

[Snarklepuss]

30 minutes ago, Neurochick said:

Perhaps that comment was made because for the most part, in this show, white men win.  Maybe the OP was glad that for once the tables seemed to be turned.  Last week one of the chefs said something like, “ no more women eliminated.”

I don't think it matters why the comment was made.  I don't think race, gender, age or sexual orientation should have any part in wins or goes home on this show.  I think it should be about the best talent winning.  If I think the deck is stacked for or against anyone on the basis of any of those things, I will speak out against it, but to say one is happy about someone going home based on any of those personal characteristics is just prejudiced and insulting to the contestants, IMO.

[Intuition]

57 minutes ago, Neurochick said:

Perhaps that comment was made because for the most part, in this show, white men win.  Maybe the OP was glad that for once the tables seemed to be turned.  Last week one of the chefs said something like, “ no more women eliminated.”

I'm happy when no more women are eliminated but not happy to see men go home just because they're men or they're white.  So I agree that the comment mentioned was mean spirited and prejudiced.  A white man has won in 6 out of 14 seasons on this show so a non-white and/or non-male winner would hardly be tables turning "for once".  Considering that most gourmet chefs in the US have been historically male and white in this country, it seems to me that Top Chef has done far more to help non-white and female chefs get recognized and given their due than it has done anything against that.

[cooksdelight]

I have been out of the loop, traveling, haven’t watched my recording yet... but if I can say anything in defense of Bruce’s apparent screwup, he and his wife were in the process of adopting their child while this was being filmed. I’m sure his mind was elsewhere, because he’s normally much better at competitions. And he’s a friend, so I may be on his side a little more than others. Sorry to hear about Tyler, I figured him for the long haul.

[cooksdelight]

I want to hang out with Brother and let him tell me stories.

I want Fatima’s sunglasses.

[bluepiano]

On ‎12‎/‎29‎/‎2017 at 10:27 AM, annewithaneee said:

 Food is just food. It frequently came from a box or a TV dinner. .

My mother was a great cook, whether it was American classic comfort food or dishes influenced by her Eastern European Jewish heritage. As kids we took all these great dinners for granted. But once in awhile, if she and my father were going out for the evening, she would make us Swanson TV dinners and my brother and I loved those.  Especially the fried chicken dinner, with the "cobbler" desert that bubbled over into the mashed potatoes and made them really sweet.

It would've been funny if someone said that they grew up on frozen food and then made some "elevated" version of s Swanson fried chicken dinner or turkey pot pie. By the terms of the challenge that should've been perfectly acceptable.

On ‎12‎/‎30‎/‎2017 at 9:49 AM, Joe Blow said:

He basically failed by not realizing, on a show like this, you just make some story up and try to sell it.

Exactly. And It's hard to believe that an experienced chef could be so easily flummoxed, especially since he's been on a number of Food Network shows. The bottom line is that it's always about the food. You will never hear the judges say, "you're dish is delicious, but as you skated around the terms of the challenge we have to send you home."

[spiderpig]

9 minutes ago, bluepiano said:

My mother was a great cook, whether it was American classic comfort food or dishes influenced by her Eastern European Jewish heritage. As kids we took all these great dinners for granted. But once in awhile, if she and my father were going out for the evening, she would make us Swanson TV dinners and my brother and I loved those.  Especially the fried chicken dinner, with the "cobbler" desert that bubbled over into the mashed potatoes and made them really sweet.

 

You are making me crave one of those old-time Swanson dinners in an aluminum tray.  Yeah - there was a corn or blueberry muffin top-center, mashed potatoes on one side and green beans on the other.  The entree was on the bottom.  I loved them.  They made me the woman I am today.

[bravofan27]

13 hours ago, pinguina said:

Regarding the challenge - I think that when they give a challenge there is always latitude despite how the challenge is presented.  In the last season, the chefs were told to make a dish from their childhood and one of them (the one who won, her name escapes me at the moment) made a dish based on her son's favorite meal/dish.  So even though the food she presented wasn't based on her childhood, the judges liked her dish.  The ultimate thing is that the dish tastes good in spite of what they are initially told.

I remember that, and some people lost their minds on the boards about that, saying she didn't do the challenge correctly. She did incorporate the childhood theme... basically, people can make up any story they want. Who knows if ANY of the "heritage" stories were true (I'm sure they were, but there is no way to really know). I think maybe Tyler is pissed because people are winning making food that he doesn't consider "Top Chef" worthy, LIKE fried chicken and biscuits, wings, etc. He never took the heritage challenge seriously, maybe because he thought "Top Chef" food wasn't about someone's heritage so he copped and attitude about it. If the challenge was about who thought the most highly about themselves, he surely would have won.

As I write this, I can't stop thinking of Chris, and how well he presents himself and how well he tells his stories. His story about rejecting then coming back to "black food" was really well-told and he explained in a way that was devoid of judgement but just self-reflective. Not many people can pull off a story like that, so well. He told the story in a way that you didn't have to be black to get it, it was told in a way that anyone could relate too-- in fact, it was almost the same story as Brother's with his embarrassment of the dirty rice, and now he's embracing it.

[HunterHunted]

1 hour ago, bravofan27 said:

I remember that, and some people lost their minds on the boards about that, saying she didn't do the challenge correctly. She did incorporate the childhood theme... basically, people can make up any story they want. Who knows if ANY of the "heritage" stories were true (I'm sure they were, but there is no way to really know). I think maybe Tyler is pissed because people are winning making food that he doesn't consider "Top Chef" worthy, LIKE fried chicken and biscuits, wings, etc. He never took the heritage challenge seriously, maybe because he thought "Top Chef" food wasn't about someone's heritage so he copped and attitude about it. If the challenge was about who thought the most highly about themselves, he surely would have won.

As I write this, I can't stop thinking of Chris, and how well he presents himself and how well he tells his stories. His story about rejecting then coming back to "black food" was really well-told and he explained in a way that was devoid of judgement but just self-reflective. Not many people can pull off a story like that, so well. He told the story in a way that you didn't have to be black to get it, it was told in a way that anyone could relate too-- in fact, it was almost the same story as Brother's with his embarrassment of the dirty rice, and now he's embracing it.

I agree that some of Tyler's issue is about whether dishes are sufficiently "chef-y." It's a particularly dumb type of bias to have on this show because the show can turn on a dime and have nothing, but back to back homey food challenges. Last season, Top Chef: Charleston, had the Edna Lewis, barbecue, and low country style (which included biscuits) challenges. So yes, while the show has never shied away from the meticulous soigne food challenges, it increasingly embraces more rustic and homey challenges because that's the way the industry is going. The cheese challenge this season isn't something they would have done in the first couple of seasons, but the rise of artisan local farms and food makers and farm to table dining means that the show isn't doing right by the industry if they ignore the trend.

[cooksdelight]

2 hours ago, spiderpig said:

You are making me crave one of those old-time Swanson dinners in an aluminum tray.  Yeah - there was a corn or blueberry muffin top-center, mashed potatoes on one side and green beans on the other.  The entree was on the bottom.  I loved them.  They made me the woman I am today.

I would have loved if someone made something like this, tasting great, and presented in the foil tray.

[ratgirlagogo]

20 hours ago, chiaros said:

If you are a White American who has "always been here" and have an Anglo-Saxon-type surname you probably had English or Scottish or Welsh or even Irish roots, all the way back to the Mayflower if that is the case. That is your "ethnicity"........ 

........There is a tendency in 'Murca to project several-generations-deep-white wherever origins to be "normative" and "ethnic-free", and all others to be "ethnic".  Yet "English" is also an ethnicity, as I mentioned above. There is a lot of political and social baggage embedded into the concept of "Normal Murcans" and perhaps this might be something to think about.

The assumption that many white Americans would fall into this category is flawed.  The biggest European influx came between 1880 and 1920, roughly.  Also many people have changed surnames over the years, through trying to pass as WASPS or fights with the family (my own grandfather's case) or the immigration agent's impatience.   I know ( kind of) my own ethnic background since my mother's parents and my father's grandparents were the immigrants - but I don't know anything beyond that.  It's not like people in Europe didn't move around from country to country.

Quote

bluepiano: Actually, a lot of WASPs I know have an inferiority complex about being "white bread" with nothing interesting to offer in the way of food, music, or culture. At least that's true of the ones from the Midwest or California. 

Quote

hendersonrocks: My hope from the elimination challenge is that white chefs and viewers take some time to think about heritage. We have it as white people - it takes different forms, but we have it and it’s important for us to think about it within the context of our family histories.

When someone like Tyler says he "doesn't have an ethnicity, he's just a white guy from Southern California," this isn't a brag, not even a humblebrag. When he said he knows he has SOME Swedish ancestry, that is just sad.  It means he has no idea.    The history of racial conflict is so ugly in this country that at least for the present it's taboo for  college students to form, for example, a White Students' Union because it's so associated with a white supremacist history.   I know this will change with time but for the moment that's where we are since as Faulkner pointed out the past is never dead, in fact it's not even past.   Hey,  we've come a long way, it obviously used to be so much worse - things CAN and DO change.  Happy New Year!

[Snarklepuss]

7 hours ago, bravofan27 said:

I think maybe Tyler is pissed because people are winning making food that he doesn't consider "Top Chef" worthy, LIKE fried chicken and biscuits, wings, etc. He never took the heritage challenge seriously, maybe because he thought "Top Chef" food wasn't about someone's heritage so he copped and attitude about it. If the challenge was about who thought the most highly about themselves, he surely would have won.

Yeah, I don't agree with that about Tyler.  I have known him to create dishes that are down home like chicken and dumplings, fish or brisket tacos, chicken wings, burgers, etc., etc., which are all on his tavern menu right now, and many of which I have had.  I actually think he took the heritage challenge TOO seriously.  The mistake he made was to look at what others were doing and think he had to copy them to compete with them instead of finding his own strategy.  He saw others doing food that was very tied to their own ethnicity and thought that in order to compete with them he had to do the same thing.  I think he was probably pissed that he let the show pressure him to do something that he didn't love doing, but in the end that was his mistake, and the same one that has tripped up other great chefs on this show in the past.  I think there is a big difference between the talent it takes to be a great chef and the talent it takes to win a competition.  Tyler has a lot of the former, but probably not enough of the latter to win a show like this.
 

5 hours ago, HunterHunted said:

I agree that some of Tyler's issue is about whether dishes are sufficiently "chef-y." It's a particularly dumb type of bias to have on this show because the show can turn on a dime and have nothing, but back to back homey food challenges. Last season, Top Chef: Charleston, had the Edna Lewis, barbecue, and low country style (which included biscuits) challenges. So yes, while the show has never shied away from the meticulous soigne food challenges, it increasingly embraces more rustic and homey challenges because that's the way the industry is going. The cheese challenge this season isn't something they would have done in the first couple of seasons, but the rise of artisan local farms and food makers and farm to table dining means that the show isn't doing right by the industry if they ignore the trend.

I think Tyler may have hoped that Top Chef would be about him being able to showcase his "chef-y" talent because that's where he probably feels he has the edge over others.  But I've had his non-chefy food, which I think is marvelous and just as good as anything else he creates, so perhaps that's in his own mind.  He has not even shied away from embracing the "down home" trend himself so I don't agree that he is not one to embrace that kind of cooking.  In fact, this past fall he opened a BBQ restaurant in my area.  I haven't tried it yet but it's on my culinary "bucket list" for the near future.  So the fact that he didn't showcase that side of himself on this show is regrettable.

[Snarklepuss]

So anyway, Mr. Snarkle and I ate at Tyler's restaurant tonight and as we pulled into the parking lot, who do we see walking right in front of us on his way back to the kitchen from the dumpster but Tyler himself, LOL!  Now mind you we're in the single digits here in CT today and he was out there in his usual chef garb with the short sleeves and tats showing.  Mr. Snarkle opened the window and we waved as he ran in front of our car to get out of the cold! 

Maybe it was me, but I especially enjoyed the dinner tonight, even though Mr. Snarkle recounted other memorable dinners that we've had there in the past.  For the first course we chose a parsnip soup with crispy fried onions (yum).  For the second course we had quail which was boned and as good or better than I've had in any fine French restaurant.   Our third course was a beef tenderloin with foie gras that was seriously like butter and to die for, and for dessert we had a passionfruit mousse cake with a neon orange icing that was a-ma-zing.

My seat faced the kitchen and yes, Tyler is a very hands on kind of chef and I saw him very involved and hands on with the food.  While we saw our friends that work there I didn't want to get too in depth about Tyler tonight except to say how disappointed I was that he was eliminated from Top Chef, which they of course agreed with most emphatically.  His staff is very devoted to him and they are all very nice people and very professional.  It is always a pleasure to dine there as they are fun to watch and always roll out the red carpet for us as their friends.  It's mostly a local crowd of regulars there but they have seen an increase in business as a result of the press that Tyler has gotten from the show.

[cooksdelight]

Thank you for sharing your dinner experience, I love stories like this!

[susannot]

Wonderful story Snarkle!

[Snarklepuss]

I'm so glad you liked it!  I was shocked that Tyler was there because my friend thought he was in Spain but I guess he got back in time.  They had a few private parties going on upstairs and our friend the special events manager was running around tending to them all evening.  We went early because Mr. Snarkle had a meeting (would you believe) that had to happen today of all days, so he had to get up early.  Later on they had a 6 course menu with oysters on it that was even more exciting.  Here's a couple of photos.  I took one of the "pass" (which they don't use as a pass, it's just a big window into the kitchen) where you can see Tyler but it came out all washed out because I didn't use flash (oh well).  Anyway, this is the beef tenderloin with foie gras on top.  It looks small because the plate is large but it was so rich it might as well have fit the whole plate.  The second photo is of the waterfall right outside our table.  The entire wall on that side of the restaurant is windows overlooking the fall.  This was once a real working mill.  Our friend the waitress was commenting on how she'd never seen it so frozen over!

 

[Blonde Gator]

17 hours ago, Snarklepuss said:

So anyway, Mr. Snarkle and I ate at Tyler's restaurant tonight and as we pulled into the parking lot, who do we see walking right in front of us on his way back to the kitchen from the dumpster but Tyler himself, LOL!  Now mind you we're in the single digits here in CT today and he was out there in his usual chef garb with the short sleeves and tats showing.  Mr. Snarkle opened the window and we waved as he ran in front of our car to get out of the cold! 

Maybe it was me, but I especially enjoyed the dinner tonight, even though Mr. Snarkle recounted other memorable dinners that we've had there in the past.  For the first course we chose a parsnip soup with crispy fried onions (yum).  For the second course we had quail which was boned and as good or better than I've had in any fine French restaurant.   Our third course was a beef tenderloin with foie gras that was seriously like butter and to die for, and for dessert we had a passionfruit mousse cake with a neon orange icing that was a-ma-zing.

My seat faced the kitchen and yes, Tyler is a very hands on kind of chef and I saw him very involved and hands on with the food.  While we saw our friends that work there I didn't want to get too in depth about Tyler tonight except to say how disappointed I was that he was eliminated from Top Chef, which they of course agreed with most emphatically.  His staff is very devoted to him and they are all very nice people and very professional.  It is always a pleasure to dine there as they are fun to watch and always roll out the red carpet for us as their friends.  It's mostly a local crowd of regulars there but they have seen an increase in business as a result of the press that Tyler has gotten from the show.

Thanks for sharing your personal experience, Snarkle.

The fact that his staff LOVES him tells me all I need to know about the man.  Best of everything, Tyler!

[susannot]

But it is to a great extent.  Snarkle, please tell Tyler how many fans he has here and how many people are dying to eat at his restaurants and try his great food.

[meatball77]

I too don't get why he was so stuck on his heritage being his genealogy when everyone else was talking about meals their parents make.  Even if you were poor and you spent a lot of your childhood eating dried Ramen noodles or Spaghetti O's you could go with that.  I've never thought of myself as anything but a generic Caucasian person but I was thinking of lots of different things I could have made.  Chicken Fried Steak because I'm from Oklahoma or my mothers Porcupine Meatballs (a dish I've never heard of anyone making outside of my family), a pot roast like my Grandmother made every Sunday after Church or how you could even make a great hamburger because that's what you think of when you think of your food heritage (everyone standing around the grill with their burgers)

His problem was that he was too focused on heritage being something "foreign" instead of just being basic family foods that your family eats.

[cooksdelight]

1 minute ago, meatball77 said:

His problem was that he was too focused on heritage being something "foreign" instead of just being basic family foods that your family eats

Bingo! I think that was a problem for several, hearing the word “heritage” and suddenly thinking they had to come up with something from the old country 30 generations ago. My family was British and I have no idea how to make a cheese and pickle sandwich!

[FormerMod-a1]

This is neither a fan nor a hate site.  People are free to express either opinion about the show or anyone on the show.  Discuss the people on the show and not each other.  

[hula-la]

18 minutes ago, cooksdelight said:

Bingo! I think that was a problem for several, hearing the word “heritage” and suddenly thinking they had to come up with something from the old country 30 generations ago. My family was British and I have no idea how to make a cheese and pickle sandwich!

I didn’t know that was a British sandwich! I just thought it was an odd sandwich that only I ate when I was a child. 

[cooksdelight]

24 minutes ago, hula-la said:

I didn’t know that was a British sandwich! I just thought it was an odd sandwich that only I ate when I was a child. 

It’s what I’ve been offered when over there. :)

[Irlandesa]

43 minutes ago, meatball77 said:

His problem was that he was too focused on heritage being something "foreign" instead of just being basic family foods that your family eats.

Exactly.  This show has always had crazy challenges.  Cooking for kids is certainly not a new challenge and if he overthought the results of the challenge, that's on him.  The kids challenges can be unpredictable in the results.  Part of this show is to strategize and realize when it's time to let things go. 

It's unfortunate but that's on him.  It's not because of the other chefs.  Or the judges.  Or because the casting department aimed for a diverse set of chefs. 

[connieinnc]

1 hour ago, meatball77 said:

I too don't get why he was so stuck on his heritage being his genealogy when everyone else was talking about meals their parents make.  Even if you were poor and you spent a lot of your childhood eating dried Ramen noodles or Spaghetti O's you could go with that.  I've never thought of myself as anything but a generic Caucasian person but I was thinking of lots of different things I could have made.  Chicken Fried Steak because I'm from Oklahoma or my mothers Porcupine Meatballs (a dish I've never heard of anyone making outside of my family), a pot roast like my Grandmother made every Sunday after Church or how you could even make a great hamburger because that's what you think of when you think of your food heritage (everyone standing around the grill with their burgers)

His problem was that he was too focused on heritage being something "foreign" instead of just being basic family foods that your family eats.

I also remember porcupine meatballs...thanks for a good memory. I am such a Heinz57 and married someone who had different heritage, so I have a wide choice of cuisine to 'relate' to.

[Snarklepuss]

7 hours ago, Blonde Gator said:

Thanks for sharing your personal experience, Snarkle.

The fact that his staff LOVES him tells me all I need to know about the man.  Best of everything, Tyler!

Yes, and you're welcome!  I am always struck by how devoted to him they are.  Several of them have been with the restaurant since it opened 5 or so years ago and the people I know who work there glow about him which does say a lot. 
 

3 hours ago, susannot said:

Snarkle, please tell Tyler how many fans he has here and how many people are dying to eat at his restaurants and try his great food.

If I get the chance I will do that!

[bravofan27]

For the heritage theme, I interpreted to not really be anything about what country, county, state, province, whatever, you are from, nor what color your skin is, but as a traditional food or something that has been handed down. Quite simply, something you learned to make from someone who could be thought of as family (or I would interpret as someone you think of as family). You could also interpret it as something that you inherited from the land, but that gets deep and a little trickier. Carrie tried to do that with the Idaho/ potato thing, but it came off cliche. I'm thinking now about Sean Brock's cookbook, "Heritage" which is really a combo of family traditions and then the rich agriculture of the low country. Not everyone has such deep ties to food.  Chris, my flowering angel faced love bucket, really nailed it, and fortunately for him, he knew a recipe that had been handed down and taught to each new generation. Like Tanya made a gumbo she learned from her mom, and Joe made a dish he learned from his grandma. Brother's dish he learned from his dad-- the chef's that did the worse tried to make something that they associated with their birthplace or past, without really having a connection to it. If I had been Tyler, I would have made something that I learned as a kid watching Julia Child. First, that would make an awesome story. Second, it's Julia Child, Hello! Chefy food is a given. 

That said, Brooke won Top Chef and she always struggled with challenges that weren't literal. But everything she made was great, so she kept winning. At the end of the day, I really believe it's how good the food is.. 

[margol29]

Both of my parents are from Polish heritage. I can make some mean pierogi, golabki (stuffed cabbage leaves), kielbasa and kapusta to name a few. But I could not fancy it up enough for Top Chef. I would love to see a chef brave enough to tackle some of those dishes for a challenge.

That being said, I can also make Chinese egg rolls, egg foo young, chop suey and pepper steak as my mother was a waitress for a Chinese chef. He shared his recipes with her and I learned that way.

[Heathrowe]

I'm WASP-y and I can think of more than a few delicious dishes that are generally thought of as "white bread" but still awesome. (Beef Wellington, Salmon anything, cheese and pickle, chicken livers, shrimp cocktail) plus just some of the crazy foods my family eats at the holiday that don't seem to have any ethnicity at all-food that's just important to me. I think Tyler just got bogged down/lost inspiration. I also don't know if his whole issue with having no ethnicity was really that big of a problem or if it was edited into a thing. He clearly had ideas, he just didn't streamline and he didn't execute, unfortunately. I felt like he did the same on the food truck challenge-he didn't really have a good idea, so he just went with something he knew. In the food truck episode, his soup was good enough to pass-even if it was an awkward fit for the challenge. In this episode, it was awkward and the least good of what was presented. He strikes me as an accomplished chef who is maybe not very flexible or imaginative. (And that's okay! It's not a dis to not be a reality tv kind of guy.)

[Sassenach]

28 minutes ago, Heathrowe said:

foods my family eats at the holiday that don't seem to have any ethnicity at all

Deconstructed green bean casserole!  

[bravofan27]

2 hours ago, margol29 said:

Both of my parents are from Polish heritage. I can make some mean pierogi, golabki (stuffed cabbage leaves), kielbasa and kapusta to name a few. But I could not fancy it up enough for Top Chef. I would love to see a chef brave enough to tackle some of those dishes for a challenge.

That being said, I can also make Chinese egg rolls, egg foo young, chop suey and pepper steak as my mother was a waitress for a Chinese chef. He shared his recipes with her and I learned that way.

Two interesting angles. I can see some mean ass Egg rolls with pepper steak being a hit on the show, and the story would be awesome. The other ones are tricky, cuz I only know to make them with a crock-pot. LOL. Has anyone ever used a crock-pot on Top Chef?

[cooksdelight]

1 minute ago, bravofan27 said:

Has anyone ever used a crock-pot on Top Chef

They don’t give them that much time. Hugh Acheson, a judge on the show at times, has some excellent recipes if you’re interested.

Crock pot useage is usually reserved for home cooks, not professionial chefs on TV, from what I have seen on these types of competitions.

[theatremouse]

What I think happened here with Tyler was he over-analyzed the challenge. That in his head, he probably thought "well if I just do something SoCal, that's skirting the challenge and I don't want to be one of those contestants who doesn't really do the challenge but maybe skates by on taste". So he didn't. But actually, he was wrong and doing that would've been absolutely reasonable and within the parameters of the challenge, not skirting it at all. But it was only when the judges were like "dude, ya coulda done THIS" that he was like "oh." So he painted himself in a corner, thinking it was some sort of high ground, when it really wasn't at all.

[margol29]

19 hours ago, bravofan27 said:

Two interesting angles. I can see some mean ass Egg rolls with pepper steak being a hit on the show, and the story would be awesome. The other ones are tricky, cuz I only know to make them with a crock-pot. LOL. Has anyone ever used a crock-pot on Top Chef?

I don't think so. Not that I can remember. The challenges are too short for that.

[Special K]

On 1/1/2018 at 9:34 PM, cooksdelight said:

It’s what I’ve been offered when over there. :)

Cheese and pickle in the UK refers to Branson pickle, which is a kind of chutney/relish of pickled stuff (delish!), and not like a dill pickle like we put on sandwiches and burgers here.  I am not of British heritage :)  (German mostly, as a vast majority of white Americans are or used to be) but I keep a jar of Branson pickle in my fridge.