S15.E07: Olympic Dreams

[FormerMod-a1]

Quote

One of the chefs gets a special delivery; the chefs must create a breakfast dish using Nutella; Olympians Meryl Davis, Gus Kenworthy and John Daly inspire the chefs to focus on precision, speed and creativity in the Top Chef Olympics.

[catrice2]

Yeah!  It looks like we finally get rid of negative nellie! 

[LeighLeigh]

I felt so bad for the chefs to wake up that early. Did you see Carrie's morning hair? Looks like all the ladies had time to fix their hair. 

I wonder what time Padma had to be in hair and makeup? 

[Bastet]

I’m with Fatima on mornings, and with Adrienne in preferring to drink my breakfast in the form of a Bloody Mary.  I’ve never had Nutella, so I have no idea which QF dishes I might have liked, but it was nice to see Brooke, and good for Carrie winning.

The EC had just started, and Tanya saying 145 for lamb made me cringe – so now either cook it to death or get multiple points off for her properly-cooked lamb being so far off from what she’d set as her target temperature.  I know she said she tests doneness by touch, not temp, but I would think the proper temp for each type of meat would be stored in her brain (she didn’t say she froze and forgot, which I would have understood). 

All the teams were working with everyone being involved in each round, even though one person was primarily responsible, so there wasn’t anything wrong with Claudette asking for help – especially in the round where speed was the goal – but she treated Tanya like a damn gopher!

And then their communication just failed completely.  The team probably set themselves up for failure by not talking ahead of time about what kind of overlap there would be (we saw at least one other team do precisely that, and saw that both other teams worked well as a group), and then once those two turned out to absolutely hate each other’s energy, the team was doomed, because they were so done with each other and it got ugly from there. 

Adrienne’s knife cuts were nicely displayed; she did a great job of making a dish that showcased the precision.  Tanya’s knife cuts were practically invisible, so that plus being so far off from the target temp (even though the temp was actually perfect) was painful to behold, because I like her.

I don’t like Mustache Joe, and the blue team was annoying me in general, but I have to give him a lot of creativity points for his dish.  Chris’s dish looked more successful to me overall, but a bit less creative, which is what the round was about, so I’m not surprised they were within .5 points of each other.

I liked one of the blue team pointing out to Adrienne that Claudette was doing the same thing with Tanya as she did when she and Adrienne on the bottom.  But Tanya didn’t do herself any favors by getting testy with Gail for asking a completely logical, legitimate question in order to, you know, determine who should be eliminated.  I wonder what Chris was doing during the first two rounds, because they didn’t show much of that, and find it surprising the statement he had no idea what was going on with his team didn’t yield any comment. 

Tanya’s precision simply was not there, so as much as I like her and think Claudette did not comport herself well in this, or the previous time she was up for elimination, I can’t argue with her elimination given the parameters of the challenge.  But I will really miss hearing Tanya speaking truth about the reality for women, particularly women of color, in the profession.

Little things from the episode:

I missed the first few minutes, but they stayed up with Bruce waiting to hear the baby had been born?  That’s cute.  As was throwing him a shower, even though I hate baby showers.

Fatima as a Meryl Davis fan was really cute.  I don’t think anyone else knew who any of them were, beyond obviously Olympians (and, quite frankly, I was the same – none of those are sports I pay much attention to; I’ll watch them during the Olympics, but not remember names or faces), but she was totally into Davis.

I like how much Chris looks up to Tanya. 

Bruce calling Fatima, Carrie, and Adrienne “the girls” can miss me, but they may not care.

[Reddust]

I didn’t think I could dislike Claudette more than I already did but I was wrong. What a bitch. 

[Michichick]

Man, Claudette sucks. I need her to crash and burn soon. She's the only person this season who I truly dislike.

[some1105]

Tom really put the calculus of the judging out front tonight when he blatantly warned the others on the panel what would happen if they gave the gold medal in the creativity round to Chris rather than Mustache Joe, who then won that round by only half a point.  To me, that was entirely about the consequences that Tom had just spelled out—that Chris winning the round would result in a second place overall finish for the white team.  That would have kept them safe and put the red team members in danger—the team on which the only dish they didn’t really like was Carrie’s and she had immunity, which the judges also discussed.  Basically, Mustache Joe beat Chris because Tom had no intention of sending home Fatima or Adrienne due to Carrie’s awful dish.  I was also ok with that, since neither Claudette nor Tanya had covered themselves in glory.

[HappyDancex2]

Tanya using shallots to showcase bruinnoise (sp?) cut showed she didn’t think out the dish well and neither of her teammates knew any better.  Maybe too much undisciplined backgrounds on one team there since both of the other 2chefs went with the more obvious Apple.

I liked her sass.  I suspect that being a black woman in the restaurant industry is a whole set of challenges that I won’t even begin to understand.  She was abrupt with Gail for sure but she’s an adult and she was annoyed at the whole situation...she didn’t do a great job of explaining her position but that’s probably her “nice” way of saying “please don’t speak for me and I don’t want to talk about this drama anymore.” Hard to see the whole thing because of editing.

I enjoyed the challenge though.  They should keep this one in some form.

I liked Meryl on dancing with the stars.  She’s not exactly an eater though.  

[MerBearStare]

Claudette is the woooooooorst. I was worried about Tonya, who is my favorite cheftestant this season, all episode because they interviewed her a lot, but she seemed really over the competition at this point, so I was also a little relieved. And I think by the time you're her age you're just less willing to put up with the bullshit. I'm definitely gonna check out her restaurant next time I'm in the bay area.

I find Carrie annoying as well. Tonya had good reason to be pissed at Claudette, so Carrie should have kept her mouth shut in the stew room rather than insert herself in Tonya and Claudette's argument.

Edited January 19, 2018 by MerBearStare

[avecsans]

I lost a lot of the good feeling I had about this season tonight. I really liked Tanya but she must have known going in that she would be judged on certain skills or techniques that she doesn’t use in her own restaurant. If she was classically trained in Paris, then she probably should have known the proper temperature for lamb. And she absolutely should have brushed up on her knife skills because there is often a mise en place challenge.  I wish corpse-lipped Claudette had gone, though.  She just brings a bad vibe to everything.  Why was Tanya the one who had to do all the grunt work for Claudette? Where was Chris?

I agreed with Tanya about the blue team monopolizing the conversation.  I am really sick of their loud and obnoxious douche-bro behavior and mustache Joe needs to get off my tv. 

I did not need to hear Brooke’s story about making crepes on Sunday with her son again. I feel like that was played out in her previous two appearances.

[hendersonrocks]

Well. That was unpleasant to watch go down, so I can’t even imagine what it was like for Tanya. There’s obviously a lot unsaid about what she was experiencing there, and I am glad to hear she felt some relief for getting out of there.

Brooke, please burn that jumpsuit. 

Edited January 19, 2018 by hendersonrocks
because I think it's important to spell people's names correctly. SORRY TANYA!

[Blonde Gator]

I'm 100% with Tanya on being anti-drama in the extreme.  It's never helpful, always boring, tedious, so I understand why Tanya just chose to disengage in front of the judges.  I don't understand why she got so snappish to Carrie in the Stew Room, though, it seemed that Carrie tried to encourage her to give her view on what had happened, and maybe Tanya just reached her breaking point? 

Claudette is one of the least likeable chefs on this series, ever, IMO.   As much as I like Mexican food, and watching a talented chef cook it, she's so off-putting and nasty....I'm truly sorry she didn't get sent home.   As someone said above, Claudette just jumped into that bus driver's seat, and steered a straight path at Tanya....when she should have been looking into the mirror about WHY her own dish wasn't successful.  Very ugly.  And all of the other chefs noticed it too....the guys on sideline were visibly uncomfortable at Claudette's nastiness, squirming like children.  I have no further interest in watching Claudette.  And next week will be interesting, she'll be the last chef chosen for Restaurant Wars.  It will be interesting to see EVERYONE jockey for position the farthest away from Claudette, who needs to learn that there's no "I" in team!

The challenge this week was new and interesting and fun to watch.  I'm still undecided on the point deduction for temperature, and suspicious of those little instant read thermometers, which all seemed to me to have given rather low temperatures.  A digital probe thermometer should have been used.  I knew Tanya was toast when she said she was shooting for 145 on her lamb.  She was gracious enough to acknowledge her error though....the lady is a class act, unlike her [so-called] team-mate.

One question....did all of the 3rd round chefs get the same thing....short ribs?  That wasn't quite clear to me from the description of Carrie & Mustache Joe's dishes. 

[Nidratime]

I blame Tanya -- and she blamed herself -- for not jumping in, in the very beginning, and insisting she do the speed part of the challenge. To me, she seemed defeated from the first because of that. But, she didn't fight for herself from the get-go and spent the whole rest of the challenge mumbling under her breath and being passive aggressive. Of course, Claudette might have insisted *she* do the first challenge, but at least there would've been no question, from the beginning, that Tanya was not happy with that particular part of the challenge and made clear it was not her strength.

[Blonde Gator]

Oh, and Bruce's dish was perfection for this challenge.  Well thought out, simple, fast and easy to make, but delicious looking and sounding as he AND the diners described it.  Good for him for keeping his head in the game after an all nighter and the emotion of becoming a father.  Double and triple congrats to Bruce the Papa.

Edited January 19, 2018 by Blonde Gator

[Bastet]

7 minutes ago, MerBearStare said:

I find Carrie annoying as well. Tonya had good reason to be pissed at Claudette, so Carrie should have kept her mouth shut in the stew room rather than insert herself in Tonya and Claudette's argument.

That was ridiculous, and I really appreciated Tanya shutting it down.

I'd also love to see the questioning of the white team by the judges in its entirety, because Tanya's "No" upon Padma saying she'd like to hear her side of the story was followed by something like, "I already told it" (those aren't the words, but that was the sentiment).  So I'd have loved to see what more she said than the little bit we saw, especially because it would probably give proper context to her snippiness with Gail; if Gail's question - which was, as placed in the edited version, not worthy of such an attitude - came after Tanya, in the natural course of conversation, had already countered Claudette's narrative with her own, it would play quite differently.

2 minutes ago, avecsans said:

I agreed with Tanya about the blue team monopolizing the conversation.  I am really sick of their loud and obnoxious douche-bro behavior and mustache Joe needs to get off my tv. 

As soon as she said they monopolize the stew room conversation when they win, and when they lose, I had zero trouble imagining that to in fact be the case. 

20 minutes ago, some1105 said:

Tom really put the calculus of the judging out front tonight when he blatantly warned the others on the panel what would happen if they gave the gold medal in the creativity round to Chris rather than Mustache Joe, who then won that round by only half a point.  To me, that was entirely about the consequences that Tom had just spelled out—that Chris winning the round would result in a second place overall finish for the white team. 

That didn't sit well with me, either.  Yes, it would have sucked for a non-Carrie member of the red team to go home, but if the numbers resulting from judging each head-to-head fairly meant the white team wound up second instead of third, oh well.  Now, I believe Mustache Joe, much as he bugs me, deserved more creativity points, and that those points would just edge out the points Chris would get for having a slightly better dish overall (and I certainly wouldn't want Adrienne or Fatima to go home for a great dish), so in some ways it's a moot point.  But Tom's, "Now, this is really important, because" reminder of the scoring implications was off-putting.

[Cotypubby]

So apparently this episode had to be re-edited to remove the 8th judge, John Besh. Hence all the split screens. I never would have known if I hadn’t seen a reference online, I only noticed that there was a disclaimer at the end that the points shown weren’t their actual totals but that the outcome was still the same. If you look closely in a couple shots, you can see there is someone sitting next to Padma. 

[AttackTurtle]

I don’t blame Tanya for being irritated and abrasive because Claudette scapegoated Tanya for her poor formance right off the bat.  Tanya is rightfully proud of her accomplishments and strives to help other woman in the industry.  Claudette thinks she’s better than anyone else there.  I don’t think either one of them is going to win the whole thing, but I think Tanya would’ve been a lot more fun to root for.

 

This whole group seems fairly supportive of each other and that makes Claudette stick out even more.  I’m really bummed that Tonya got the boot 

 

I’m conflicted about moustache Joe.  On the one hand he seems like a poser, but on the other hand I think his dishes are really creative.

 

Chris is my favorite guy, but I worry about him keeping it together.

 

I love Fatima, but I find myself looking at her closely and wondering if she was already feeling symptoms of her cancer while filming.  She’s such a cute/funny presence on the show.

 

So far I’m really enjoying this season.

[hkit]

4 minutes ago, Nidratime said:

I blame Tanya -- and she blamed herself -- for not jumping in, in the very beginning, and insisting she do the speed part of the challenge. To me, she seemed defeated from the first because of that. But, she didn't fight for herself from the get-go and spent the whole rest of the challenge mumbling under her breath and being passive aggressive. Of course, Claudette might have insisted *she* do the first challenge, but at least there would've been no question, from the beginning, that Tanya was not happy with that particular part of the challenge and made clear it was not her strength.

Completely agree. I love Tanya, and it was tough to watch her crash and burn. However, the passive aggressive muttering and eye rolls at judges table didn't cover her in glory. My unpopular opinion: she and Claudette came out of that looking equally bad. 

Some people aren't cut out for the stress of a competition. I'm glad that Tanya was able to showcase some highlights and share her story before she exited. 

[catrice2]

Didn't Chris offer to help Claudette and she declined?   It just seems odd to me that her discussion about lack of help did not include him.  If you need help, it shouldn't matter which one of your team mates it came from and if he offered to help and she felt Tanya was not willing, just take his offer?  Something else must have happened that we did not see, but Chris wisely stayed out of it.  

I liked Tanya, but I expected her to go last week or whatever week they showed her talking to her dad.  She just seemed over it then and lacking a good spirit to complete the competition so it was best she left.  Living with other people is always hard.   I don't mind people being proud of their achievements but some of the guys this season are too much for me.  I doubt Chris will be around much longer.  This is clearly a horse race between two very obvious people. 

I sometimes just can't deal with Tom's smugness and condescending demeanor.  Over the years Gail and Padma have become just as bad as he is.  

[rustyspigot]

8 minutes ago, AttackTurtle said:

This whole group seems fairly supportive of each other and that makes Claudette stick out even more.

I get the same sense. And plus I would be annoyed that she was already eliminated, but that's the reality show known plot these days.

Did Padma call polenta beautiful? Put that in the Top Chef lexicon with the HUMBLE radish.

[Irlandesa]

43 minutes ago, some1105 said:

Tom really put the calculus of the judging out front tonight when he blatantly warned the others on the panel what would happen if they gave the gold medal in the creativity round to Chris rather than Mustache Joe, who then won that round by only half a point.  To me, that was entirely about the consequences that Tom had just spelled out—that Chris winning the round would result in a second place overall finish for the white team.

But I think Tom was wrong about that.  I don't recall them saying that each team would get 3 points if they get gold, 2 points for silver and 1 point for bronze.  Instead, they focused on what each individual got in points and then they totaled them to determine the overall team ranking.  If they switch Chris's scores with moustache Joe's scores, it still wouldn't be enough for the white team to overtake the red team.  It was about points, not ranking.

[Kimmykun]

God, I can't wait to see Claudette crash and burn. That'll be my favorite episode of the season. 

[Souris]

Can Claudette and her obnoxious lipstick please go away?

[All That Jazz]

Two alpha females cannot exist for long in the same time and space. Especially two alpha females who have set themselves up to carry a torch for their own ethnicity, gender, and cuisine. Tanya's constant eye rolls revealed her preexisting disdain for Claudette. Claudette had previously expressed regret that the last remaining female she could bond with (Lee Anne) was gone. This was full claws out bitchitude from the get go. No sympathy for either one.

[Eulipian 5k]

Like Ralph Kramden, they should name a bus depot after Claudette.

[VintageJ]

30 minutes ago, Nidratime said:

I blame Tanya -- and she blamed herself -- for not jumping in, in the very beginning, and insisting she do the speed part of the challenge. To me, she seemed defeated from the first because of that. But, she didn't fight for herself from the get-go and spent the whole rest of the challenge mumbling under her breath and being passive aggressive. Of course, Claudette might have insisted *she* do the first challenge, but at least there would've been no question, from the beginning, that Tanya was not happy with that particular part of the challenge and made clear it was not her strength.

I feel you about Tanya not jumping in and then being passive aggressive about it.  But as much as I acknowledge that fact, the fact remains that Claudette once again drove the bus straight for another team member.  Even the other cheftestants acknowledge it.  I had to wait until now to be able to comment I’m so pissed.  But you can tell that Claudette likes to be in charge and thinks she’s the  shit.  

I hope she crashes and burns her bus hard next week!  I wouldn’t care if I was starving to death and her restaurant (or restaurant that she works at) is the only place open, I will just have to starve.  I do not give my money to people I can't stand and I can’t stand her ass!  

From the previews, it’s hard to tell who does well next week in Restaurant Wars.  But it will be interesting to see them all try their best to not work with Claudette.  I was mildly irritated with Mustache Joe a few weeks ago, but I can overlook it.  My dislike for Claudette runs deep and I’m so upset that Tanya is gone.  I really liked her and really liked that Chris looked up to her so much.  I will be sure to check out her restaurant if I ever get the chance.  I will starve before I eat anything of Claudette’s.  Period!

I don’t usually get this upset over a reality competition, but I am pissed!  Get her ass off my screen!

[LeighLeigh]

Just read on wiki that Tanya is 52. I think that makes her 20 years older than some competitors. If I was her age, I wouldn't be able to tolerate much either (the bear-doucherie, the bunk beds, etc.) Just can't figure out why she agreed to sign up in the first place.

[Fiero425]

22 minutes ago, LeighLeigh said:

Just read on wiki that Tanya is 52. I think that makes her 20 years older than some competitors. If I was her age, I wouldn't be able to tolerate much either (the bear-doucherie, the bunk beds, etc.) Just can't figure out why she agreed to sign up in the first place.

Maybe she just wanted to drag other people down with her negativity and have it videotaped for all time! ;-)

[The Solution]

As much as I liked Tanya, her passive-aggressive behavior and lowest score of any cheftestant earned her the trip home. She seemed to have a problem with the whole concept of this challenge from the start, and I'm projecting on her that perhaps it was the idea of assigning points to a competition in a creative and subjective field. However, she did sign up for a competition.

Claudette and Mustache Joe, along with Fatima, are my favorites this season. Both Claudette and Joe prepare food that is intriguing and appealing to me and I like both of their personalities. Would love to see them as the final three.

Of the others, I can't decide who I haaaaaaaaate the most. Probably Carrie. Adrienne probably bothers me the least of the remainders.

[biakbiak]

The TC editors lucked out that this was the ep Besh wss in, you could see the back of his head in a wide shot, because there was so much going on it didn't seem like it would be as hard as other challenges.

[Charlesman]

2 hours ago, Bastet said:

I liked one of the blue team pointing out to Adrienne that Claudette was doing the same thing with Tanya as she did when she and Adrienne on the bottom. 

Yep, first and foremost, Claudette is the worst.

I was a little surprised Tanya left, because at first the story was the protein was cooked correctly, only that she called out the wrong number. I guess it was a lot closer between her and Claudette than it seemed due to the precision failures. However, I'm glad Tanya's attitude is off my screen. She gave her "No" to Padma's question, then aired all her dirty laundry anyway and did give her story. Then gave lip to the judges. Plus the eyerolls off to the side. She complained that everyone else was congratulating the winners... which happens every episode in the stew room. The losers have to suck it up there, and she didn't. But, to me, telling Kerry to "get woke" was over the line. There was no need for that kind of insinuation and insult. So, glad she's gone, and I hope Claudette follows her out quickly.

Edited January 19, 2018 by Charlesman

[bravofan27]

Darn, they did a great job editing Besh out of the scene. The whole situation with Claudette and Tonya was a little sad. When they got stuck together (Tonya, Claudette, and Chris) I thought that was telling. They have all three have attitudes (compared to the others) and all three have sort of struggled to bond with the others. Tonya, also, though I love her, has quite a mighty ego herself. First, she didn't want to admit she couldn't do the precise challenge, IMO because of pride, and then took it out on Claudette, probably because it was safer than taking it out on Chris. Cuz actually, I would have thought the creativity round would be more her style than the fast round. Both Chris and Claudette dumped that round on her, but she only blamed Claudette. All the while saying nothing. 

BUT THEN, when Claudette started getting criticism, she flat out blamed Tonya, when clearly, to me, it had nothing to do the Tonya. Chris was there too, and she could have asked Chris for help if she really needed it, but she didn't. That was super shady, and I completely understood why Tonya was beyond pissed. Being testy with Gail though, that sort of showed she was over it. That ego just got in her way. Oh, and then to imply rather blatantly that Carrie was an ignorant twat, when BRUCE was the one that said, "we are all different" was pretty bully-ish, and "pick on the person with less perceived power." Though I did like that she told the bears (which is really at the point of stupid all hell) off was pretty great.

But I see, for all her waxing about equality and disparities faced being black and a woman, very, at best, ironic, that she chooses to take her anger out on the young females, who have less power than the men, especially in the food world.  It just seemed like she was too happy to be the oppressor. Also, what is UP with Bruce calling grown women, "Baby, babe, girls, oh honey," etc. He might have had it going on in the day, but this trying to be sexy thing is gross. IMO. 

Edited January 19, 2018 by bravofan27

[VintageJ]

One of the most telling things to me was when she told Carrie that we all don’t experience things the same way and to “get woke.” I think that her experiences as an AA female chef in the industry played a part in this challenge.  I feel that Claudette represented all those before her that did not listen to her (when she told Claudette in the stew room that again, she wasn’t listening to her).  I think that Claudette, with her abrasive personality, represented and reminded her of all those experiences and challenges of being an AA female chef.  There were times that (according to earlier testimonies in previous episodes) that she felt marginalized and not listened to, couldn’t get funding, had to move her business to a less desirable location, etc.

I love Tanya, but she really did herself no favors in this episode.  I think she and Claudette, two alpha females, just rubbed each other the wrong way.  Not to mention Claudette’s previous actions with Adrienne (who I LOVE).  Tanya probably already had an issue with the way she threw Adrienne under the bus, as it seems at least one other chef also recognizes.  In addition, she was already smarting over the planning session.  But as one poster said, part of that is her fault for not speaking up.  Maybe she did and they didn’t show it, but her testimony let us know that she was not happy after the planning session.

By the time judging table came, after a long day, (and they sit in that room a LONG time), she was just over it and didn’t want to talk about it much.  She was probably really pissed and talking about it further just made her madder.  All that said, I still love her.  And I still do not like Claudette and she can go at any time.

[Bastet]

2 hours ago, Blonde Gator said:

One question....did all of the 3rd round chefs get the same thing....short ribs? 

Yes.

[LennieBriscoe]

Claudette was dumb like a proverbial fox and Gail was just dumb, at Judges' Table. Tanya was like, there is no good or easy way to explain how Claudette kept interrupting my work, asking for this, that, or the other. IOW, Tanya recognized Claudette's "poor little teamwork me" sabotage for what it was, was p.o'ed, and thus bristled at being questioned by Gail, inferring criticism. And the more Gail asked, the madder Tanya got.

And I for one got her, completely. 

When did Brooke acquire facial expressions, vocal inflections, and a smile? She had none as a contestant. Still don't care for her.

Nutella? Really? 

https://www.nutella.com/en/us/range

Edited January 19, 2018 by LennieBriscoe

[spiderpig]

Spidey McGrumpy reporting for duty.

I really hated this episode.  I'm tired of the Olympics and they haven't even started yet.

Claudette is awful.  She's the TC version of Elise on Hell's Kitchen.

I thought that protein temperature gimmick was ridiculous.  I would have said I'd cook my lamb to 350 just to mess with their heads.

I am happy for the sheer joy Bruce was expressing at the birth of his son.  That was the highlight of the show.

[GaT]

23 hours ago, Cotypubby said:

So apparently this episode had to be re-edited to remove the 8th judge, John Besh. Hence all the split screens. I never would have known if I hadn’t seen a reference online, I only noticed that there was a disclaimer at the end that the points shown weren’t their actual totals but that the outcome was still the same. If you look closely in a couple shots, you can see there is someone sitting next to Padma. 

I had no idea at all that John Besh was in this episode, they did an excellent job of removing him without making it obvious that something was missing.

I hate Nutella, & I have no idea why so many people love it.

I liked this episode much better than last week. I thought the baby shower was really sweet, & the elimination challenge was actually cooking & demonstrating skills. That's what I want to see.

Edited January 20, 2018 by GaT

[Wings]

I love this season and the challenges on this episode were interesting. 

Both Chris and Carrie used the same wording in their THs. The boys/bear thing is a bit much. :^) 

I knew Carrie would win the QF. She had the only savory dish and close to a breakfast I love, toast with hot pepper jelly and bacon with a poached egg on top. So good! 

Tonya, the chip on your shoulder is not attractive.  Many people have had a rough time, 'get woke'  woman. 

Headed back to catch a glimpse of a Besh body part.

Fun fact- Meryl eats a huge amount of calories; she is genetically thin. She must have the metabolism of a humming bird given the amount of physical activity she gets.

If Tom did some math adjusting to keep Adrienne and Fatima safe, fine with me.

I like everyone left other than Claudette. 

Edited January 19, 2018 by Wings

[Ellee]

Re: Tanya/Claudette. I found it interesting that Joe said to Adrienne (I think) that that was the same thing Claudette did to her when they were on the bottom and she just nodded.  Her facial expressions and head shaking along with all the others said a lot.   

[Wings]

Anyone know what the 3rd cut was in the precision cuts?  Brunoize, chiffonade I know but not bat-in-aze. Google didn't help with the spelling.  It sounds like that. 

ETA  found it. It is a rectangle cut. Autocorrect is not letting me spell it though.  grumble 

Edited January 19, 2018 by Wings

[Schnickelfritz]

45 minutes ago, Wings said:

ETA  found it. It is a rectangle cut. Autocorrect is not letting me spell it though.  grumble 

Is it batonnet?

[mwell345]

7 hours ago, spiderpig said:

Spidey McGrumpy reporting for duty.

I really hated this episode.  I'm tired of the Olympics and they haven't even started yet.

Claudette is awful.  She's the TC version of Elise on Hell's Kitchen.

I thought that protein temperature gimmick was ridiculous.  I would have said I'd cook my lamb to 350 just to mess with their heads.

I am happy for the sheer joy Bruce was expressing at the birth of his son.  That was the highlight of the show.

I’ll join you in the corner.  I hated the Olympic challenge.  It was so contrived with the cheering, holding up the cards, awarding medals.  No wonder they ran 15 minutes over.  

 

Oh for the good old days when we could watch the chefs cook without a side show.

Edited January 19, 2018 by mwell345

[Wings]

49 minutes ago, Schnickelfritz said:

Is it batonnet?

Yes.  :)

[Wings]

2 hours ago, Ellee said:

Re: Tanya/Claudette. I found it interesting that Joe said to Adrienne (I think) that that was the same thing Claudette did to her when they were on the bottom and she just nodded.  Her facial expressions and head shaking along with all the others said a lot.   

Loved that.  I don't like Claudia at all but Tonya was worse in this situation.  Do what you have to do and politely ignore Claudia was the way to go.  She was being her haughty self.  pfffffft

Tonya was done anyway.  She was pissed she didn't get the speed round and got caught up in her head about the trials of being a black, woman chef.  Pack your bag and leave it at the door, come to win and have fun!  This is not an arena to settle society's slights. 

[poeticlicensed]

Chris, Tanya and Claudette set themselves up to fail from the get go, because:

1. they failed to do an honest assessment of who could make the best dish for each of the rounds. Claudette decided she wanted to do the speed round, Chris wanted to do the creativity round and that left Tanya, who by was probably the worst choice for the precision round. The team would have been better served by taking stock of each of the members and giving Tanya the speed round. 

2. they had no plan for helping each other. It's like they just went about their business after a few minutes Claudette  realized she needed help and wasn't particularly nice about it. Tanya had already checked out by being assigned a round she didn't want. Even Tom said a strategy of pitching on on the speed round would have helped the team in general, not just one participant. And Chris just basically ignored both of them. 

I thought it was pretty telling at the end when Tanya only said goodbye to some of the chefs, she walked away and one of the guys gave her a Bye Felicia wave. Clearly there was tension between Tanya and some of the others. 

[Ellee]

1 minute ago, Wings said:

Loved that.  I don't like Claudia at all but Tonya was worse in this situation.  Do what you have to do and politely ignore Claudia was the way to go.  She was being her haughty self.  pfffffft

Tonya was done anyway.  She was pissed she didn't get the speed round and got caught up in her head about the trials of being a black, woman chef.  Pack your bag and leave it at the door, come to win and have fun!  This is not an arena to settle society's slights. 

Oh, wings, do you really think so?

To me, it appeared that Claudette took Tanya out of her game and Tanya finally had her fill.  Might even have been Claudette’s strategy. Don’t know because we don’t see it all as it happened. 

Had to laugh when Tanya told Gail ‘no’ when Gail asked for her side of the story.  

I do have a question though. 

Where was Chris when all of this was going on?  Did he assist either woman?

[Eulipian 5k]

3 minutes ago, Wings said:

This is not an arena to settle society's slights. 

But, we will re-edit the entire broadcast, and issue a disclaimer about the scoring, in order to settle a "slight" that occurred a long time ago in a restaurant far, far, away. It all depends whose ox is being gored.

[Ellee]

Lol ... I’ve never heard ‘whose ox is being gored’ before. 

I may have to use it. I just might.  :D

[Madding crowd]

I'm not OK with Tom subtly suggesting they make sure their scores were not too high for Chris. I didn't want anyone from the red team to go home either, but you play by the rules or it's cheating. I was curious that we didn't see Chris helping Claudette but it's possible he offered and she denied him. Tanya went into this in a bad mood because she didn't get what she wanted. We didn't see the discussion so it's possible she was outvoted, it's also possible she didn't speak up. She could have told her team members she doesn't have those particular knife skills and wouldn't be able to win her round.

The lights in the olympic round were really unfortunate. They made everyone look sweaty, and made Tom look sickly.

[Wings]

10 hours ago, Eulipian 5k said:

But, we will re-edit the entire broadcast, and issue a disclaimer about the scoring, in order to settle a "slight" that occurred a long time ago in a restaurant far, far, away. It all depends whose ox is being gored.

HA!  Yes, I love your phrasing.  My point was don't bring  your soap box to a reality show if you are there to win.  It just isn't the arena that serves you or your cause.

Edited January 20, 2018 by Wings