S15.E06: That's a Lot of Schnitzel

[Wings]

I think we will see Lee Ann in another season down the line.  I would LOVE a season of all alums.   

[hula-la]

6 hours ago, chiaros said:

 

 

 

Yes.

We have talked before about Tom C's NEED for vast amounts of salt, ditto "his friends" on TC.  When he made that eyebrow-raising comment about ignoring what Adrienne's chef-mentor had said about salting levels, it only added to my sense that this person has completely lost touch with what most people outside of his cheffie-friends circuit subscribe to. For quite a while now I have disregarded whatever he had to say about "seasoning".**  Oh, his pronouncements about "ethnic food" have also fallen into this same category of being suspect and possibly erroneous statements, if not to be disregarded outright.

Many people, and not just on this forum – it extends to many posters on food-centric forums – have commented on how professional chefs GROSSLY OVERSALT their food.

 

** And I would repeat what I had said before - that this reality teevee game show should really be called "Who Wants To Cook For Tom Collichio And Friends".

 When Blais asked if Chris' food was too spicy/hot for home chefs, I rolled my eyes. Aren't the same home chefs the people who you want eating in your restaurants? Why don't you think they can't handle spicy food?  In all snarkiness, shouldn't Blais be asking if someone's food was too salty for home cooks?

Edited January 12, 2018 by hula-la
forgot a sentence. One shouldn't post and mark at the same time. It doesn't end well.

[seltzer3]

I'm really sad that Lee Ann had to leave.  I was hoping that she was part of the all-stars cast back in season 8.

That quickfire challenge felt like it was really hard for some of the contestants original dishes.  For some of the dishes, it seems you have to completely change the dishes (which then the judges would call you out).  I really did not care for Padma calling out Fatima for her quickfire performance.  Yeah she didn't do that great, but that don't put as if she made her culture look bad.  I kind of worry for Fatima, because it feels like now she trying to impress Padma in future episodes.

Agree with everyone about Tom's insistence on salt in Adrienne's dish.

Loved Carrie making hasselbeck potatoes, because she was inspired by David Hasselhoff.

I feel that the problem with Brother's dish is that eggrolls are very compressed (since its just one fried item).  So even if he had german ingredients (but had bok choy), everything problem just crammed together and probably tasted asian (while also obviously being presented as an asian item).  I'm surprised the judges seemed to like his egg roll, because a lot of them looked really soggy coming out of the fryer.

[rho]

Not sure if this was intentional or just editing, but Fatima's eye roll as soon as Blaise was introduced captured my own sentiments perfectly. I've decided I'm rooting for her to win this season!

 

21 hours ago, bobbobbob199 said:

I think the whole Lee Anne reentering thing was a total gimmick. It just seems too coincidental that TWO competitors were selected (the first time in my recollection there is such a tie like that on Top Chef) to rejoin and then Lee Anne immediately withdraws. And lo and behold this puts the episode count back in line to what it was planned to be in the first place. I think Lee Anne probably told Tom that she couldn't last filming the show like that...

This whole LeeAnn thing was just shenanigans. I also noticed she took the master bedroom after LCK, which happened to be sitting empty while the others are double bunked. Seems like they were always going to reintroduce her to the main competition and probably banking on her leaving early for medical reasons. All of it feels too contrived for me.

[cooksdelight]

On 1/11/2018 at 11:12 PM, MerBearStare said:

 

I think it was really shitty of Top Chef to put a recovering alcoholic in that situation with all the beer. Chris was lucky he had immunity; he was at a really unfair disadvantage. And had Leann been there, what was she supposed to do? I don't know...that whole thing just left me with a really bad taste in my mouth.

 

I agree.

On 1/11/2018 at 11:54 PM, biakbiak said:

being in its presence doesn't make one fall of the wagon.

Being around alcohol does indeed take a toll on people who fight every day to stay sober. Seeing it, smelling it, that’s all it takes sometimes with most people. I could see it in Chris’ eyes, that episode was a struggle for him.

Being married to a recovering alcoholic has taught me worlds more than I ever knew about the disease. We have no alcohol in the house, none. When we were dating, he said “Oh, it’s OK if you want to have a glass of wine”.... and I had a couple of my girlfriends over and we opened a bottle.... and that was too much for him. He relapsed, but fortunately recovered and has stayed sober ever since. We don’t go around alcohol at all.

None of that food looked appetizing to me. I really wished Joe had packed his moustache and gone home. But I’m just as happy Brother is gone.

Claudette had better buy herself some decent, supportive bras or those girls are going to be down around her waist in no time. Or in her frying pan.

Edited January 14, 2018 by cooksdelight

[Blonde Gator]

1 hour ago, cooksdelight said:

I agree.

Being around alcohol does indeed take a toll on people who fight every day to stay sober. Seeing it, smelling it, that’s all it takes sometimes with most people. I could see it in Chris’ eyes, that episode was a struggle for him.

Being married to a recovering alcoholic has taught me worlds more than I ever knew about the disease. We have no alcohol in the house, none. When we were dating, he said “Oh, it’s OK if you want to have a glass of wine”.... and I had a couple of my girlfriends over and we opened a bottle.... and that was too much for him. He relapsed, but fortunately recovered and has stayed sober ever since. We don’t go around alcohol at all.

None of that food looked appetizing to me. I really wished Joe had packed his moustache and gone home. But I’m just as happy Brother is gone.

Gabrielle had better buy herself some decent, supportive bras or those girls are going to be down around her waist in no time.

I'm very happy for you and your situation.

But you need to understand that THAT is not everyone else's situation.   Happy for you, but please, don't ascribe your own situation to everyone else.  Others do it differently.

Aren't we all supposed to celebrate diversity? 

[Bastet]

Yeah, the alcoholics in recovery I know - three of whom live with drinkers, and thus have alcohol in their own home - stress the need for them to figure out how to function in the world, not how the world needs to adapt to their needs.  Different strokes.

But, relevantly, beyond any one person's best way of managing their disease, I stand firm in my opinion it is not unreasonable for a season-long cooking competition to include a challenge that involves alcohol, even though any given contestant still in play at that point may be an alcoholic, any more than it would be unreasonable for such a competition to include a challenge centered around an ingredient to which a contestant still in the running may be allergic; the contestant works around not being able to taste the ingredient and moves on, or not.

Edited January 13, 2018 by Bastet

[Rambler]

One of the rewards for winning the quickfire was the opportunity for Chris to make a Buzzfeed Tasty video. Here is the video of the winning quickfire dish:

 

Pepper Pot Shrimp As Made By Top Chef’s Chris Scott

[biakbiak]

2 hours ago, cooksdelight said:

 

On 1/11/2018 at 8:54 PM, biakbiak said:

being in its presence doesn't make one fall of the wagon.

Being around alcohol does indeed take a toll on people who fight every day to stay sober. Seeing it, smelling it, that’s all it takes sometimes with most people. I could see it in Chris’ eyes, that episode was a struggle for him.

 

Chris's restaurant sells beer and wine so he is in a similar situation every single day.

Edited January 13, 2018 by biakbiak

[holly4755]

My husband was in AA,  nothing bothered him more than my not drinking with others.  Truth is I am allergic to wine and most places i go don't have hard liquor and I dont' always want beer, so it is easy to ask for water when people ask what I want to drink.  My husband thought i was not drinking because of him, but he never noticed I never drank much probably because he was always drunk.  And he did not avoid parties because he could not drink, he also never told his friends he was in AA. 

[xtwheeler]

18 hours ago, spiderpig said:

Coming from a long line of heart attacks (everybody in the family tree), I've been conditioned to restrict salt intake.  Is this outdated medical advice?

 

17 hours ago, Blonde Gator said:

Apparently not.  Mr. BG went to the doc's yesterday, and was told to restrict his salt intake.  Personally, I stay away from packaged food as much as possible to eliminate extra salt, and then I cook with salt the way I think it tastes good.  I like salt (lots on something like steak), but try to use restraint on most everything else.

Salt is only a problem for those with or predisposed to hypertension. It does not *cause* hypertension. There is no blanket recommendation to avoid dietary sodium--only a specific recommendation for patients with preexisting conditions. 

 

I was not bothered by the challenge with regard to Chris. He's around alcohol every day. Running a restaurant will challenge him regarding alcohol in exactly the same way - - and he'll have to rely on his crew just the same, too. I was sad to see him so out if sorts, for sure. I knew he was in a dark place when not only did he buy pre-made sausage, he bought pre-made *Italian* sausage. 

[cooksdelight]

I understand not everyone is like my husband, thankful that they can function in a world being around it. I talked to him about it after watching my recording last night, and he said pretty much the same thing you all did, but his situation is different, I guess. Both his parents were alcoholics.

I was delighted to see Tonja’s (sp?) delight and surprise when she won. I wish they’d post recipes so we could actually taste some of the food. For whatever reason, I could not get Chris’ video to play. I’ll try it on a different device.

[jackjill89]

That whole egg roll idea screamed "bar food" to me. It wasn't elevated in the slightest. I was sad to see him go, but it was a very poor decision. Chris' sliders weren't elevated either. 

I don't know what triggered Chris, since others have said he is around alcohol frequently. I was worried he was going to pull himself out of the competition because they kept showing him during judging and he had a very troubled look on his face. 

The Hasselhoff potatoes looked yucky. Big chunks of sausage in there? It didn't look refined in the least. Carrie grates. 

Sad to see Leann go. She's always been one of my faves. 

[seltzer3]

9 hours ago, Rambler said:

One of the rewards for winning the quickfire was the opportunity for Chris to make a Buzzfeed Tasty video. Here is the video of the winning quickfire dish:

 

Pepper Pot Shrimp As Made By Top Chef’s Chris Scott

I guess it makes sense since it was a 30 minute challenge.  However, I'm a bit surprised he used a premade jerk sauce. (I thought the judges generally look down on premade sauces)

[hendersonrocks]

Quote

Chris's restaurant sells beer and wine so he is in a similar situation every single day.

True. He's not in a competition on the verge of elimination in his own restaurant, however. I gotta think that puts a different feel on things.

I wonder if having immunity actually fucked with his head MORE. If he didn't have it he probably would have figure out how to force himself through the challenge and not go to the "dark" place he described, because elimination truly would have been on the table. As it was, he knew that he couldn't get the axe and therefore could rumble around in his own head a little bit more.  

[suebee12]

I'm kinda' late to the show but I usually just read all the comments and not post BUT over-salted food is a pet peeve of mine! I know that salting while cooking brings out flavors but I would much rather have to add a bit of salt than have to not eat the food! I know I am probably in the minority but I hate the "fairy dust" or whatever they use on streaks in steakhouses and I really hate my baked potato rolled in oil and then salt. I love the potato skin the most and it is not fit to eat with all of that salt. I ask that my steak be cooked with no seasoning and I have not had a problem with the restaurants doing that but the potatoes are another thing....they are usually all done with the oil and salt so I ask to have my potato not cut open so that I can wipe the majority of the salt off and then I add butter when I have done that. I cringe when a judge tells a chef that enough salt wasn't used...just add some if you feel it needs it.  Just as an added note, I always ask for no salt on my fries at a fast food restaurant and then add only a bit for flavor instead of getting fries that have been dumped into salt and then more is added. Guess you can tell that over-salting is a no no for me!

[nitrofishblue]

I totally agree on the salt issue. My hubby loves salt, far more than I do. I cook the food so that I can eat it. He then can add as much salt as he wants. You can always add salt but you can't take it out once it is there. 

[cooksdelight]

6 hours ago, hendersonrocks said:

I wonder if having immunity actually fucked with his head MORE. If he didn't have it he probably would have figure out how to force himself through the challenge and not go to the "dark" place he described, because elimination truly would have been on the table. As it was, he knew that he couldn't get the axe and therefore could rumble around in his own head a little bit more.

I think it did. I was worried he was going to step forward and offer to give up immunity.

My husband watched this, and he said “Oh no.... he’s feeling like he doesn’t deserve to be there. He’s going to beat himself up now.”

I hope he goes to the end. 

[ratgirlagogo]

23 hours ago, hula-la said:

When Blais asked if Chris' food was too spicy/hot for home chefs, I rolled my eyes. Aren't the same home chefs the people who you want eating in your restaurants? Why don't you think they can't handle spicy food?  In all snarkiness, shouldn't Blais be asking if someone's food was too salty for home cooks?

The salt thing is true.  I don't know that I love salt as much as Tom but I think too many home cooks are afraid to salt their food.  The spiciness comment was a bit of an eyeroll for me too but I doubt very many good (or even not-so-good) home cooks are going to be regular customers at any of these Top Chef restaurants, not at those prices.   And honestly if you take a gander at one of the big online non-foodie recipe sites like GardenWeb or Allrecipes you'll find a LOT of bitching about spiciness - and not just heat but complaints about recipes that call for things like cumin and smoked paprika and herbes de provence - ingredients the poster will claim in a greatly aggrieved tone are totally unavailable in supermarkets where they live - though even McCormick now sells things like ras el hanout and Chinese five-spice.      

Although it's also true that almost inedibly hot super-capsaicinated food has become a kind of stunt cuisine in the USA in the past forty years or so.

I've only really gotten interested in German food in the last twenty years or so, partly because Mr Rat is German-Swiss on his dad's side, so I've been introduced to some great cooking from his family.   Also the part of NYC I live in has a large population of Central Europeans, not so many Germans but the similar-in-cooking Czech and Hungarian and Slovak, so I've learned a lot from that.  Given the Whole Foods shopping I get the pork - but it's too bad they weren't able to focus more on game, like duck and venison and rabbit.  Remember Stefan and his duck with cherries and red cabbage?  Now THAT'S some delicious German food.

Edited January 13, 2018 by ratgirlagogo
spelling spelling spelling

[cooksdelight]

1 hour ago, ratgirlagogo said:

Remember Stefan and his duck with cherries and red cabbage?  Now THAT'S some delicious German food.

I certainly do remember that! Obviously, none of them did.

[bravofan27]

7 hours ago, hendersonrocks said:

True. He's not in a competition on the verge of elimination in his own restaurant, however. I gotta think that puts a different feel on things.

I wonder if having immunity actually fucked with his head MORE. If he didn't have it he probably would have figure out how to force himself through the challenge and not go to the "dark" place he described, because elimination truly would have been on the table. As it was, he knew that he couldn't get the axe and therefore could rumble around in his own head a little bit more.  

I totally agree with this. I do believe that it was perfectly acceptable for Top Chef to have a challenge that involved beer pairing. If I were Chris, I would have made a non-alcoholic beer, and spun it for those who didn't want alcohol for whatever reason, but still wanted to enjoy the taste of beer. I find non-alcoholic beers super tasty, almost better than the real thing. There are non-alcoholic Radlers on the market too. he could have realized that making beer was his thing. But his dish was German and not that bad, plus they liked his beer, so he was safe no matter what. 

. 

[Empress1]

I can't stand Richard Blais. I'm glad he wasn't on for long. He pops up as a judge on some other cooking competition shows and I'm always like "[sigh]" when I see him. I find him so extra and pretentious.

LOVE Tanya! I was so happy to see her win (I was glad the call home was a fake-out), and really excited when she a) talked about how it's hard out here for a woman of color (preach! And I think we need to tell those stories more) and b) talked about how she was all about creating opportunities for others, and if a girl or woman of color saw her and wondered, "Why can't I?" then she was happy. I laughed when she said she doesn't like to hang out with other chefs. I have a friend who's a lawyer and says the same thing about lawyers.

[bobbobbob199]

I get that Chris was once an alcoholic...but chef's have to work with all types of ingredients. 

First of all...I thought this challenge was made for him because has been constantly stressing his style of Pennsylvania Dutch cuisine... Isn't that heavily German influenced....after all, Pennsylvania Dutch is Pennsylvania German, right? And the not drinking part is certainly no excuse for doing a dish that consisted of a premade Pretzel bun and premade Italian sausage. Honestly, I'm beginning to sort of suspect his culinary POV...he likes to wax poetic but is his food any different than just Southern food? I don't see any of the actual Amish influence he keeps on talking about.

Tom and other judges seems to be pretty fooled, though...his QF Dish didn't really reinvent anything and he even use some premade sauces ...Premade sauce, premade bread, premade sausage, what did he make? And it was a Deep South southern dish, there was nothing "Amish" or "Pennsylvania Dutch" about it. Joe Sasto should have won.

[spiderpig]

2 hours ago, Empress1 said:

I can't stand Richard Blais. I'm glad he wasn't on for long. He pops up as a judge on some other cooking competition shows and I'm always like "[sigh]" when I see him. I find him so extra and pretentious.

LOVE Tanya! I was so happy to see her win (I was glad the call home was a fake-out), and really excited when she a) talked about how it's hard out here for a woman of color (preach! And I think we need to tell those stories more) and b) talked about how she was all about creating opportunities for others, and if a girl or woman of color saw her and wondered, "Why can't I?" then she was happy. I laughed when she said she doesn't like to hang out with other chefs. I have a friend who's a lawyer and says the same thing about lawyers.

Mr. pig and I had the privilege of having breakfast at Tanya's Brown Sugar in Oakland.  How anyplace could make cheddar cheese grits and poached eggs so delicious is beyond me.  Plus their coffee (from Bicycle Coffee) is so aromatic it knocks your socks off.

I want her to win.

[TVbitch]

Not a fan of making a pregnant woman camp overnight in freezing weather at high altitude. I really thought it was some sort of fake out, and they let them stay indoors after the "set up" last week or at least brought out heaters for overnight, but seeing how bad they all felt after the challenge, apparently it was real. 

I think Chris should have had the option to pair his dish with perhaps a flavored kombucha or some other non-alcoholic drink. Why put a recovering alcoholic through that when I doubt any of the other chefs would have cared. The way they kept showing his devestated face during the episode and especially during the elimination was a bit gratuitous and probably very hard for his family. 

[Tess23]

I have high blood pressure and watch my salt intake. That said, Top Chef is a game and as a chef, if I go into it knowing that the judges like salt, my hand is going to be all over that salt cellar.

Lee Ann is just fabulous but she's an older mom-to-be who had a difficult first trimester. Why the heck would you even proceed after being delivered to the mountain and having the challenge explained? It's hard to say what any of us would do until we're in that situation so I'm not judging, but I have to feel that I'd peace out to the producers and ask for a lift down the mountain. It's all about choices. Wishing her and her baby the best - hope she comes back some other season.

[chiaros]

Regarding Tom C and his friends and salt...

http://forums.previously.tv/topic/16580-the-judges-they-think-you-need-more-salt/?page=2#comment-701119

https://forums.egullet.org/topic/145021-top-chef-new-orleans/?do=findComment&comment=1952422

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/salt-to-taste-taken-with-a-grain-of-regret/2014/02/03/011876a8-886e-11e3-833c-33098f9e5267_story.html

(Note the last few paragraphs...which I added to with a recollection of a meal in the other links......

Edited January 14, 2018 by chiaros
corrected URL

[bravofan27]

My theory on how Lee Ann made the decision to compete on Top Chef Colorado. Her PR person works on getting her paid appearances. The PR/ agent person negotiated a deal to get Lee Ann on this season of Top Chef, as they were putting old contestants again. Recall last season they put in pros with rookies and everyone hated it. (as a side note, Top Chef is really getting into recycling old contestants. Is Richard Blaise's PR person sleeping the producer or something????) PR/agent signed Lee Ann up. Lee Ann later realizes she is pregnant. PR/agent tells her to go anyway. She starts to feel a little better after 2 months of morning sickness, thinks its a sign from God, and decides to go ahead and go, even though, just on age alone, she is medically considered a high-risk pregnancy and overall it is just a bad idea. She does okay at first because she is kept in a nice place and doesn't have to do much/ go far. When she gets on the real show things change. It's now 24/7 competition instead of 5/7 and she quickly realizes it's a super bad idea and leaves.

[HappyDancex2]

What was more surprising, that Brother’s dad was an exotic dancer named Mandingo or that he actually thought that dude was really his biological father???  Brother looks straight up Latino to me and none of his facial features and body type seemed to relate to Mandingo’s picture. 

I had a power of suggestion radler tonight.  Too summery, too sweet.  

[morakot]

Re: Tom and salt

In the 18th and 19th century, when a nobleman's chef started preparing food that was too heavily seasoned, he would be sent away to the country for a month to eat bland foods. This was to reset his palate. Maybe that has to happen to Tom. :-)

[retrograde]

Cities/states typically drop some big money luring an season of Top Chef to their locale right? Gotta say, all these sudden storms this season are not making me want to go to Colorado. 

[bobbobbob199]

2 hours ago, bravofan27 said:

My theory on how Lee Ann made the decision to compete on Top Chef Colorado. Her PR person works on getting her paid appearances. The PR/ agent person negotiated a deal to get Lee Ann on this season of Top Chef, as they were putting old contestants again. Recall last season they put in pros with rookies and everyone hated it. (as a side note, Top Chef is really getting into recycling old contestants. Is Richard Blaise's PR person sleeping the producer or something????) PR/agent signed Lee Ann up. Lee Ann later realizes she is pregnant. PR/agent tells her to go anyway. She starts to feel a little better after 2 months of morning sickness, thinks its a sign from God, and decides to go ahead and go, even though, just on age alone, she is medically considered a high-risk pregnancy and overall it is just a bad idea. She does okay at first because she is kept in a nice place and doesn't have to do much/ go far. When she gets on the real show things change. It's now 24/7 competition instead of 5/7 and she quickly realizes it's a super bad idea and leaves.

Well LCK isn't really very taxing since its just cooking in a single kitchen continuously, for maybe 3 or 4 days for the entire thing. So she probably thought she could do that, but when she realized she would have to actually do the months long show taping, she knew she couldn't handle it, as she never had the intention to film a full-length entire season of top chef.  I think these 4 veterans all came back only because they were under the impression that they could tape the whole thing in a few days and be done with it.

[cooksdelight]

10 hours ago, bobbobbob199 said:

I get that Chris was once an alcoholic...but chef's have to work with all types of ingredients. 

He’s still an alcoholic. It’s a lifelong addiction that one fights each day.

[Chyromaniac]

On 1/12/2018 at 2:52 PM, akr said:

The whole menu sounds wrong - Bavarian nachos being tortilla chips with brats, cheese, and pico de gallo, for example

This place is in my town, and I’ve been there a few times - the food is pretty decent, and there are more authentic dishes down menu. However, it’s more of a Biergarten-themed pub than an actual German restaurant, hence the nachos and fried stuff in the apps.

It’s sad that LeeAnne didn’t get more  time on the actual show- it’s always fun to see the OG Top Chefs back in the house, and I hope she gets another shot soon.

ETA:

Blais has never bothered me as a contestant or a judge - however I have to admit that I actually prefer wacky Cutthroat Kitchen Rich to his TC persona.

Edited January 15, 2018 by Chyromaniac

[staphdude]

I absolutely love German food and simply can't conceive Brother's monstrosity as part of a German menu. 

 

I think that Chris' situation was specific to this environment. Sure he may have alcohol in his restaurant but here is under stress and then thrown into the party atmosphere of Radler tasting. I think it is more of a confluence of events rather than staying away from alcohol altogether.

[chiaros]

Regarding Brother's egg roll – See here from another discussion board... :-) 

https://www.reddit.com/r/TopChef/comments/7pqn1w/s15e06_now_thats_a_lot_of_schnitzel_discussion/dsk8l6c/

Edited January 14, 2018 by chiaros

[April Bloodgate]

9 hours ago, retrograde said:

Cities/states typically drop some big money luring an season of Top Chef to their locale right? Gotta say, all these sudden storms this season are not making me want to go to Colorado. 

Denverite here. The problem is really the time of year. Mid-May to mid-June is notorious for afternoon storms rolling off the mountains and into Denver. Aside from that chunk, I find the weather to be absolutely gorgeous. (Also, yes, the mountains can still get decent snow in May.) If they had started filming 6 weeks later, the weather would have been superb.

While I've been hearing about horrible snow storms and sub-zero temps in the Northeast and Midwest, our winter temps have mostly been upper 40s to lower 60s and not much snow. (Again, this is Denver. If you drive an hour into the mountains, it's a different story.)

[noveltylibrary]

Why would they have a problem with an eggroll at a german festival but not a croquette? 

So glad Joe is safe, I think he's talented and bonus, just adorable ?

Edited January 14, 2018 by noveltylibrary

[bravofan27]

9 hours ago, bobbobbob199 said:

Well LCK isn't really very taxing since its just cooking in a single kitchen continuously, for maybe 3 or 4 days for the entire thing. So she probably thought she could do that, but when she realized she would have to actually do the months long show taping, she knew she couldn't handle it, as she never had the intention to film a full-length entire season of top chef.  I think these 4 veterans all came back only because they were under the impression that they could tape the whole thing in a few days and be done with it.

Heck yeah! Top Chef scammed Lee Ann for sure. Getting back in the competition less than half way through was a total surprise, and a TON more work. Maybe what happened on Top Chef production side, is they realized that Lee Ann was going to win pretty much everything so it would be better to put her in the show rather than have a lame LCK where the same person wins 20 times. 

[meep.meep]

On ‎1‎/‎12‎/‎2018 at 3:02 PM, hula-la said:

 When Blais asked if Chris' food was too spicy/hot for home chefs, I rolled my eyes. Aren't the same home chefs the people who you want eating in your restaurants? Why don't you think they can't handle spicy food?  In all snarkiness, shouldn't Blais be asking if someone's food was too salty for home cooks?

When Padma asked Brother if he thought the home cook could really make the paella in 30 minutes, I had the same reaction.  The point of the quickfire was to take a dish off their menus that should take a long time to make, and try to do it in 30 minutes.  Not to out guess the tastes or capabilities of home cooks.  Stupid Padma, Stupid Blais, Stupid Blais' new purple glasses.

And the gal with the matte lip stick who came back from LCK is Claudette, right?  Not Gabrielle?

[jackjill89]

3 hours ago, chiaros said:

Regarding Brother's egg roll – See here from another discussion board... :-) 

https://www.reddit.com/r/TopChef/comments/7pqn1w/s15e06_now_thats_a_lot_of_schnitzel_discussion/dsk8l6c/

It's straight-up bar food -- reuben egg rolls, southwest egg rolls, philly steak egg rolls. There is nothing elevated about it. If it had been a really delicious German-inspired egg roll, they might have bought it, but it wasn't. Still, both Brother and Chris didn't try to elevate the dishes. Chris is very lucky he had immunity. He could have done something really interesting with the soul food/Amish twist, but the Radler challenge totally messed with him. I love the idea suggested by another poster that he should have made a non-alcoholic Radler. He was simply too in his head to do anything. I feel for him. I don't think you ever know what will trigger you. 

[Bastet]

1 minute ago, meep.meep said:

When Padma asked Brother if he thought the home cook could really make the paella in 30 minutes, I had the same reaction.  The point of the quickfire was to take a dish off their menus that should take a long time to make, and try to do it in 30 minutes.  Not to out guess the tastes or capabilities of home cooks. 

Good point re. Padma's remark, which, unlike Blais's stupid question about heat level, I didn't react to.  While being featured in a Buzz Feed video was announced as one of the rewards for winning (along with immunity), "make a 30-minute version of the dish a home cook learning it via your video can replicate and serve" wasn't part of the challenge, was it?  It was simply to make a 30-minute version of their restaurant dish, I believe.  So while I still think Blais's question was stupid, on top of irrelevant, because even if home cooks' ability to replicate/enjoy the dish was part of the challenge, asking if someone at that skill level can pull off a paella in 30 minutes is a fairer question than asking whether home cooks and those who eat their cooking will pull a Christopher Kimball and run screaming into the night at the first sign of heat, I now have to regard Padma's as irrelevant.

[Blonde Gator]

31 minutes ago, Bastet said:

Good point re. Padma's remark, which, unlike Blais's stupid question about heat level, I didn't react to.  While being featured in a Buzz Feed video was announced as one of the rewards for winning (along with immunity), "make a 30-minute version of the dish a home cook learning it via your video can replicate and serve" wasn't part of the challenge, was it?  It was simply to make a 30-minute version of their restaurant dish, I believe.  So while I still think Blais's question was stupid, on top of irrelevant, because even if home cooks' ability to replicate/enjoy the dish was part of the challenge, asking if someone at that skill level can pull off a paella in 30 minutes is a fairer question than asking whether home cooks and those who eat their cooking will pull a Christopher Kimball and run screaming into the night at the first sign of heat, I now have to regard Padma's as irrelevant.

That "home cook heat thing" really chapped!!!!

I got into cooking with real chile peppers a while back (just had 5 lbs. of fantastic peppers delivered last week)....and my 10 year old grandson pesters me that "it's not hot enough!".   Both Padma's & Blaise's comments were totally condescending.  Who do they think their audience is? 

We need MORE Gail & Hugh, and less Blaise & Padma!!!

WE WANT HUGH (AND EMERIL).

[prettybird]

Top Chef has always had a pairing challenge. Chris should have expected it. Also with LeAnn, I hate that she left but they always do some overnight challenge that is difficult. It’s not hard to guess in Colorado the overnight will be a mountain camping scenario. 

And to the poster that did not want to go to Colorado, you are sorely missing out. The scenery and weather is beyond epic. I think this season is doing a great job of showing how beautiful this state is. Off topic, but I will be going to the Beaver Creek food festival this weekend with Top Chef alums Jonathan Waxman and Jennifer Jasinski.  I’m sooo excited!

[noveltylibrary]

On 1/11/2018 at 11:28 PM, bobbobbob199 said:

I think the whole Lee Anne reentering thing was a total gimmick. It just seems too coincidental that TWO competitors were selected (the first time in my recollection there is such a tie like that on Top Chef) to rejoin and then Lee Anne immediately withdraws. And lo and behold this puts the episode count back in line to what it was planned to be in the first place. I think Lee Anne probably told Tom that she couldn't last filming the show like that...

Doubt it was a gimmick but I didn't like that she came back.  Sorry, if you had a terrible first trimester maybe wait for the baby before signing up again.  And snow camping was a terrible idea even for non-pregnant people.

[noveltylibrary]

On 1/12/2018 at 1:38 AM, NowVoyager said:

It hurt me that the octopus didn't make it on the plate in the QF. I wanted somebody to taste it even if it couldn't be judged.

I'll never understand eating octopus just looking at it being prepared yuk!  But I did want to see what they thought too.

On 1/12/2018 at 1:38 AM, NowVoyager said:

I can't believe Chris wasn't in the bottom 3 with pre-fab sausages & buns. 

Right!  It reminded me of the girl who used premade sausages for a tailgate challenge many seasons ago...

[PamelaMaeSnap]

On January 11, 2018 at 11:28 PM, bobbobbob199 said:

I think the whole Lee Anne reentering thing was a total gimmick. It just seems too coincidental that TWO competitors were selected (the first time in my recollection there is such a tie like that on Top Chef) to rejoin and then Lee Anne immediately withdraws. And lo and behold this puts the episode count back in line to what it was planned to be in the first place. I think Lee Anne probably told Tom that she couldn't last filming the show like that...

Absolutely. My theory (Ann Elk) is that after the whole veterans in LCK thing they wanted a veteran there, but for whatever reason they also wanted Claudette ... I'm gonna guess there was some behind-the-scenes negotiating with Lee Ann to promise that she could come back in a future season ... I'm not sure how old she is (it's probably easily findable online) but if she was 27 in Season 1 and is having her first baby, I'm pretty sure that makes hers a higher-risk pregnancy and you combine that with the pressure of the situation, the altitude, etc., and there is no way in the world she should be on this season otherwise. So we got the sympathy edit, people will root for her and at least recognize her when she comes back (again), and they don't have to schedule another double-elimination down the road (which they would have had to do if they'd brought two people back into the competition). 

Chris is one of my favorites so I'm glad he got immunity. I still want to try his lemonade fried chicken from a few weeks ago.

I've stayed unspoiled and not even sure how far out spoilers are available but for me this episode sealed my strong belief that Fatima will be the winner and I'm fine with that ... I think she is hilarious (Tom may be the decider of LCKs, but I think Padma wields a ton of power overall and she makes no secret of Fatima being her TCO). 

 

1 hour ago, noveltylibrary said:

I can't believe Chris wasn't in the bottom 3 with pre-fab sausages & buns. 

Am guessing with immunity they wouldn't bother because it would take away some of the suspense but they made it pretty clear, as they have when this has happened before, that he was just damned lucky to have immunity. 

[bravofan27]

I don't think Fatima has a chance at being in the top, though I like her. She's missing the maturity all the winning chefs had, which is an ability to keep their shit together. Fatima still seems like she's growing up, and I see some adolescence still in her. She did not seem emotional ready to be on Top Chef. Even though she is adorable, her wanting to be a "baby bear" may be a real attempt to get some nurturing that she still needs. And she bawls when people leave like a kid being separated from their mother at daycare. It's not slams per se, but I just think she is way too immature and should not be on the show. She's on the other polar end of Lee Ann, who shouldn't be on the show cuz she needs to be a grown up and take care of her baby/body. 

Edited January 15, 2018 by bravofan27

[cooksdelight]

7 hours ago, noveltylibrary said:

  On 1/12/2018 at 1:38 AM, NowVoyager said:

I can't believe Chris wasn't in the bottom 3 with pre-fab sausages & buns. 

He had immunity, therefore he was never in danger of being in the bottom three. And Tom must not have thought he did too bad, for I’ve seen him call out chefs with immunity who he thought were just skating by.

[Bastet]

They've put people with immunity in the bottom group before, but was that only where it was a team challenge?  (Like the controversy one year where the cheftestant with immunity was the unequivocal last-place finisher, and it was suggested he should give up immunity and go home rather than letting one of his teammates who did not deserve to lose go home.)