S15.E08: Restaurant Wars

[chiaros]

5 hours ago, carrps said:

I thought that was Joe and Adrienne. They showed Carrie, too, in a different shot. But I definitely remember the eye roll as between Joe and Adrienne. I even rewound to show it to my sister.

 

3 hours ago, Blonde Gator said:

Joe (F) and Adrienne did the mutual eyeroll LAST week, LOL....in the Olympics episode, when Claudette was throwing Tonya under they bus, the editors dubbed in what Joe said to Adrienne (because he kind of whispered in her ear) "that's what she did to you with the fish".   IIRC, episode 2, where they had to combine fish & cheese, & Claudette didn't know how to smoke the fish, then blamed Adrienne for her mistakes.

 

 

 

ETA:

And here's another screen grab from this clip: http://www.bravotv.com/top-chef/season-15/episode-9/videos/is-claudette-only-out-for-herself

Edited January 28, 2018 by chiaros

[checkmeboo]

I just had to rewind 5 times . . . The look of utter disgust on Tom’s face when walking into Common Place after commenting on all the high top tables . . . Priceless!!!!!

Edited January 28, 2018 by checkmeboo

[pivot]

This episode was impossible to watch. Tom came in to the 2nd restaurant already deciding they were going to lose and pushed that agenda through the whole judging session. I don't know if it is close relationship with Bruce or his usual sexism and issues with women being EC and FOH or what other agenda Tom is pushing but that wasn't a fair judging. 

[carrps]

4 hours ago, Blonde Gator said:

Joe (F) and Adrienne did the mutual eyeroll LAST week, LOL....in the Olympics episode, when Claudette was throwing Tonya under they bus, the editors dubbed in what Joe said to Adrienne (because he kind of whispered in her ear) "that's what she did to you with the fish".   IIRC, episode 2, where they had to combine fish & cheese, & Claudette didn't know how to smoke the fish, then blamed Adrienne for her mistakes.

Yes, but Joe and Adrienne were in their Conifer grey aprons in the shot I'm talking about. It was definitely from this week's show. And Joe didn't say anything directly to Adrienne this week. They both just rolled their eyes. My sister was out of the room, and I yelled at her that she had to see the eye rolls. It was a pretty quick shot (hard to pause on), so easily missed.

[Rai]

Woof, that was rough to watch, even knowing the outcome. This is the first RW that I've really seen such attention paid to the role of executive chef in this detail, although they've certainly alluded to the responsibility of the EC to taste everything and dictate the cohesion of the menu. I like that layer of detail. It helps me understand the judging more. I'm also really glad that Chris owning his responsibility didn't punish him in the end. The shade of Fatima saying Chris had integrity and very pointedly NOT talking about the integrity of Claudette was amazing. Well done, nice girl. That was amazing.

Mustache Joe was very lucky that the judges totally had Claudette's number, because otherwise, it probably would've been his time to go. Also, note that he didn't throw his team under the bus by talking about how he wanted a more distinct concept. He would've been in the right to do so! But if he's learning when to shut up, then he should.

Conifer did seem like the clear winner, although I haaaaaaaaated the name. I'm also from Colorado, so I'm being hypersensitive about its representation this season, and "conifer" just seemed so twee. Especially since not everyone on the team knew what kind of  trees conifers are (not leafy, people). But I covet that duck dish, and yes, that polenta too.

I will not miss Claudette. I think she meant "vanilla" to mean both white people and bland flavors. And okay, but then that's pretty gross to Adrienne , Chris, and Fatima, so zip it. After running that bus right over Tanya the previous episode, her position to complain about that aspect seems a bit tenuous.

Edited January 28, 2018 by Rai

[chiaros]

15 minutes ago, carrps said:

Yes, but Joe and Adrienne were in their Conifer grey aprons in the shot I'm talking about. It was definitely from this week's show. And Joe didn't say anything directly to Adrienne this week. They both just rolled their eyes. My sister was out of the room, and I yelled at her that she had to see the eye rolls. It was a pretty quick shot (hard to pause on), so easily missed.

Was it at Judges' Table, or from another part of the episode?

If it was at JT, I don't see what you refer to, from rewatching the episode a couple of times regarding the JT sequence as aired.

Here's another screen grab of the nisode at JT, a few seconds after the one I posted above, showing that Joe F was next to Carrie, who was next to Bruce...demonstrating that Adrienne was at the FAR end – and it is hard to see how Joe F would have exchanged an eye-roll with Adrienne if one is referring to what went down at JT.

[Souris]

I wish Padma had told Claudette to "please pack your lipstick and go."

[Blonde Gator]

@chiaros  That is exactly what I described as Joe & Carrie eyerolling at each other this week....your first grab was clearer.   Maybe Joe & Adrienne were eye-rolling in another part of the episode???? 

Having said that, EVERYONE was really super uncomfortable any and every time Claudette opened her mouth at JT!  No more!  Woo hoo everyone.

[bravofan27]

3 hours ago, Rai said:

 

I will not miss Claudette. I think she meant "vanilla" to mean both white people and bland flavors. And okay, but then that's pretty gross to Adrienne , Chris, and Fatima, so zip it. After running that bus right over Tanya the previous episode, her position to complain about that aspect seems a bit tenuous.

I think the vanilla comment was about food, though I wondered if it was more than that too. But Claudette was really scornful of Conifer's safe and easy dishes, mocking the kale salad, polenta, and saying Adrienne was too basic with her fish dish too. So I think she was saying that the judges made a bad decision saying Conifer's food was better and they just want vanilla. 

[Yeah No]

Everything out of Claudette's mouth in her talking heads was just plain sour grapes.  She knew she was outclassed so she belittled everyone else in an attempt to make herself look better, which, incidentally, was also the source of her under-bus throwing.  She didn't have the self awareness to realize how bad it was making her look.  Making snide and leading (or misleading) "vanilla" comments was an attempt to swipe the entire show on the way out.  She has to be one of the worst exits in TC history next to Jen Carroll.

I saw this episode as a study in leadership and true teamwork.  What I saw on the red team was not just a lack of cohesiveness in concept but also a lack of overall teamwork in that all the members were doing their own thing without tying it into a unified concept.  The dishes had nothing in common which was the downfall.  At least find a way to have the dishes touch on a common thread or theme.   Unity in diversity is a real thing.  On this it was their leadership that failed them in not trying to pull a unity from diverse threads.  As nice as Chris is he knows he's not a leader so that's why he put Claudette in the role of exec. chef.  Claudette seems bossy enough and probably doesn't like to be subordinate so he figured this would be a good role for her.  The only thing is that he forgot it takes being a team player and being concerned with the team's overall success to be a good leader.  If a leader is only in it for themselves they can't lead anyone, or the best they will do is lead them to a bad place.  And that's Claudette, who just let everyone sink or swim individually.  So yeah, Chris was protecting himself but not really in a malicious way by putting her there.

Claudette saying Bruce was "old school" in his approach and that she would let each chef sink or swim was yet another sour grapes swipe, but one that really highlighted her lack of team player-ness and bad leadership qualities.  Bruce may have been a little hard to please but he had the good of the team at heart in being so exacting.  And in true team situations like this, if the team wins, so does he.  Teams don't win on an "every man for himself" basis.

I love Fati but I could have predicted that she would not have been spectacular at facing with the guests.  She just doesn't have that kind of affable personality.  I was actually surprised that Joe Flamm was as good as he was at it.  He is proving himself to be a class act.

At judging, when Chris was admirably falling on his sword I think he inadvertently made Claudette look even worse because here he was not even primarily responsible for the overall outcome (except in giving Claudette exec. chef status) but he was willing to take that responsibility, while she was not.  Ironically, I think it made the judges feel even more strongly that Claudette was the main reason for the team's downfall.

I also think some of the talking head swipes at the bear guys in general are coming from sour grapes because they are proving themselves to be some of the better chefs on the cast this year, and some of the others know it and are jealous.

Edited January 28, 2018 by Yeah No

[cooksdelight]

6 hours ago, pivot said:

This episode was impossible to watch. Tom came in to the 2nd restaurant already deciding they were going to lose and pushed that agenda through the whole judging session. I don't know if it is close relationship with Bruce or his usual sexism and issues with women being EC and FOH or what other agenda Tom is pushing but that wasn't a fair judging. 

Tom has a close relationship with Bruce? I wasn’t aware of this, how do you know this to be fact? I thought the judging was very fair, the atmosphere at Common Place was dated and somewhat tacky, IMO. There was a long line of people waiting to be seated, which wasn’t the case at Conifer. Claudette did a lousy job as EC, not tasting any of the food she was sending out. The diners were making comments that some of the food wasn’t very good, and were sending back plates.

[morakot]

Claudette is/was an Executive Chef in real life. I believe that was mentioned (possibly by her) when they were assigning roles. It should be known by now that the EC is the chef de cuisine and responsible for the quality of the food as well as the efficient delivery of it.  There's a little something called accountability that would seem to be essential in the EC role but is sadly lacking in Claudette. 

[hendersonrocks]

Quote

I will not miss Claudette. I think she meant "vanilla" to mean both white people and bland flavors.

I took it to be a dig at white people, bland people, and bland cooking - with the implication being that everyone left is one or more of those three. The "you just can't handle me and how badass I am" exit always makes me laugh, because it makes the person saying it actually look like a total tool instead.

[Totale]

I liked the olden days when they made the chefs go out and buy plates, napkins and decorations themselves rather than farming it out for promotional consideration or to Madonna's brother or both.  The chefs probably hated it, which made it more fun.

I knew Conifer would win when the first thing we saw on Commonplace was discussing which if any ethnic orientation they should use and Conifer was all "this dish tastes great and easy to make ahead and plate up".  Add to that Commonplace putting demonstrably (from wins already racked up) the best cook on their team and arguably the best cook so far this season on FOH and they were toast.

Does anyone know IRL if the two teams present on the same day?  Beyond basic abilities, it sure looked like they hit Conifer early in their service when they were still pretty fresh and when they got to Commonplace they were already way behind.  It seems fatigue could set in both among the teams and the judges, and it would be more fair to run the teams on separate days, with it stated that the judges would arrive say 45 minutes in.  They can always get back in their RW clothes for judges table.

ETA: I was wrong, Fatima didn't have more wins than anyone else on her team, in fact she's not won at all.  She's just always in the top (until this week).  Still, she seems to have left a better impression than the others.

Edited January 28, 2018 by Totale

[chiaros]

13 hours ago, Blonde Gator said:

@chiaros  That is exactly what I described as Joe & Carrie eyerolling at each other this week....your first grab was clearer.   Maybe Joe & Adrienne were eye-rolling in another part of the episode???? 

Having said that, EVERYONE was really super uncomfortable any and every time Claudette opened her mouth at JT!  No more!  Woo hoo everyone.

JF & C probably did so somewhere else in the episode, quite possible.

But that blurry clip I posted ALSO showed that Bruce was exchanging looks with Joe F too as he and Carrie were rolling their eyes during Claudette's bus deployment. Heh. HEH.

Edited January 28, 2018 by chiaros

[bencr]

As a general observation, there seems to be a lot of downside risk to being the executive chef on RW and very little upside. If you do a bad job as EC, there's a good chance you're gone. If you do a great job, there really isn't that much reward. I'm not saying Chris did or didn't weigh this calculation into his decision to give the EC role to Claudette, but if he did I wouldn't blame him.

[seltzer3]

7 hours ago, cooksdelight said:

Tom has a close relationship with Bruce? I wasn’t aware of this, how do you know this to be fact? I thought the judging was very fair, the atmosphere at Common Place was dated and somewhat tacky, IMO. There was a long line of people waiting to be seated, which wasn’t the case at Conifer. Claudette did a lousy job as EC, not tasting any of the food she was sending out. The diners were making comments that some of the food wasn’t very good, and were sending back plates.

It was in the first episode.  The running joke is that Bruce knows everyone.  Tom, Gail, and Padma all knew him before the competition.  I listened to the RHAP podcast, and Brooke Williamson also knew Bruce as well (She was actually the reason he applied.  Not to mention some of the quickfire guest judges knew Bruce as well.  Which is why I kind of hope Bruce doesn't win.  I understand the chef world is small....but it feels hard to feel that its not biased, when virtually every judge has a preexisting relationship with the contestant.

Commonplace definitely deserved to lose.  That isn't really fair for the judges to come to Conifer when it was starting, then arrive at Commonplace when they are in the middle of their services.  The middle of the service is the most difficult time (Because all the chefs are cooking the appetizers, entrees and desserts simultaneously), wheras in the beginning (all eyes are on the appetizers).  Also, how did Fatima end up getting all servers with no prior experience, while Joe didn't seem to have that issue?  That's a really difficult hurdle for FOH.  

Curious how many sous chef actually get eliminated in restaurant wars?  The only one I remember was season 1.  Season 1, Miguel really screwed everything up.  He forgot to scale the fish when he bought, and completely tanked all of his dishes.  He also misread the price of the fish (9.99 as a pound as opposed to 19.99 a pound.  So they were screwed from the getgo)  So, you really have to do bad as a sous chef to screw up.  Although I actually thought Stephen was terrible as FOH.  He would lecture to the customers about the history of cultures for like half an hour.

[chiaros]

1 hour ago, Totale said:

Does anyone know IRL if the two teams present on the same day?  Beyond basic abilities, it sure looked like they hit Conifer early in their service when they were still pretty fresh and when they got to Commonplace they were already way behind.  It seems fatigue could set in both among the teams and the judges, and it would be more fair to run the teams on separate days, with it stated that the judges would arrive say 45 minutes in.  They can always get back in their RW clothes for judges table.

In past seasons they *have* run RW on separate days in *some* seasons, yes, but mostly they have been on the same day; sometimes at different "hosting" restaurants (where each team took over the premises). The downside of doing it on staggered days has been pointed out to be that the team serving "second" has a chance to assess what went wrong (or not) with the 1st team, at the designated place with whatever constraints present, and also note what complaints the judges had, and so on and so forth.

This season's RW was run on the same day in the same place with a physical partition between the two restaurants.  Here is a screen shot of a relevant moment in the episode.

[dleighg]

5 minutes ago, chiaros said:

This season's RW was run on the same day in the same place with a physical partition between the two restaurants.  Here is a screen shot of a relevant moment in the episode.

Also weren't they cooking in the same kitchen and observing the dishes, the plating, and the drama (or lack thereof) of the other team?

[biakbiak]

14 minutes ago, seltzer3 said:

The running joke is that Bruce knows everyone.  Tom, Gail, and Padma all knew him before the competition.  I listened to the RHAP podcast, and Brooke Williamson also knew Bruce as well (She was actually the reason he applied.  Not to mention some of the quickfire guest judges knew Bruce as well.  Which is why I kind of hope Bruce doesn't win.  I understand the chef world is small....but it feels hard to feel that its not biased, when virtually every judge has a preexisting relationship with the contestant.

It was Graham that also knew him not Padma but they didn't say they were close friends. Bruce competed on Tom's other show Best New Restaurants in America which was also mentioned on tge first episode.

[chiaros]

6 minutes ago, dleighg said:

Also weren't they cooking in the same kitchen and observing the dishes, the plating, and the drama (or lack thereof) of the other team?

Yes, indeed. It was also "amusing", so to speak, watching Claudette and Bruce being right next to each other side-by-side and observing each other and making those comments they did.  :-)  :-D

[seltzer3]

Claudette really hates Adrienne.

She totally threw her under the bus in episode 2.  Then she totally trash talks both her and Carrie about her dishes.

I was cracking up at Conifer's reaction when Claudette putting blame on Chris.  Everyone is all like, OMG here we go again.  I know some people don't like Carrie, but I really appreciated her talking to Chris that he shouldn't put blame on himself in the stew room.

Edited January 28, 2018 by seltzer3

[chiaros]

9 hours ago, Yeah No said:

Everything out of Claudette's mouth in her talking heads was just plain sour grapes.  She knew she was outclassed so she belittled everyone else in an attempt to make herself look better, which, incidentally, was also the source of her under-bus throwing.  She didn't have the self awareness to realize how bad it was making her look.  Making snide and leading (or misleading) "vanilla" comments was an attempt to swipe the entire show on the way out.  She has to be one of the worst exits in TC history next to Jen Carroll.

 

There was another exit that has stuck in my mind as a bitter self-serving swipe at the judges (notwithstanding whatever one may think of the tastes of the judges) – the exit interview by Michael Patlazhan in TC12 ep 1. I don't readily see a link, now, to a video of his scathing comments as broadcast then...and Bravo puts out only a "sanitized" version now where he "admits" that he wasn't cut out for this sort of competition on TC...but I clearly remember his scathing view of Collichio and friends on his way out (in a similar way to Claudette's comments about "vanilla TC") where he declared with curled lip that Tom C and Co. was stuck in their severely deficient old ways.

Edited January 28, 2018 by chiaros

[cooksdelight]

1 hour ago, seltzer3 said:

Also, how did Fatima end up getting all servers with no prior experience, while Joe didn't seem to have that issue?

I think the servers were probably all equally good at their jobs, but Fatima did a poor job of communicating with them, or correcting mistakes. Joe was totally on point and watching everything and anyone that moved.

[AttackTurtle]

I felt that Claudette’s “vanilla” comment was  her pathetic attempt at claiming that they wanted white and boring.   She said it with a really crappy attitude and with a “good luck with that” snark.  She really just didn’t get it.  Win or lose, these chefs have such an opportunity to promote themselves.  

Claudette reminds me of Lisa from Stephanie Izard’s season.  She was truly unlikable and to this day I don’t know how she made the final seven, let alone top three.

I know that some viewers think Tom is biased towards the male chefs, but I’ve never gotten that vibe from him.   He loves Kwame and picked both Leanne and Claudette over Kwame in LCK. 

[bjsc1100]

11 hours ago, cooksdelight said:

Tom has a close relationship with Bruce? I wasn’t aware of this, how do you know this to be fact? I thought the judging was very fair, the atmosphere at Common Place was dated and somewhat tacky, IMO. There was a long line of people waiting to be seated, which wasn’t the case at Conifer. Claudette did a lousy job as EC, not tasting any of the food she was sending out. The diners were making comments that some of the food wasn’t very good, and were sending back plates.

Episode 1 at around the 10:44 second mark. Bruce is presenting his skirt steak..

Tom: Total disclosure here...Bruce and I konw each other. But I will judge you equally like everyone else.

Graham: I know Bruce as well.

Gail: So do I. 

[holly4755]

I blame claudia's denial of what an executive chef does as the killing blow, that is so basic, it can not be overlooked.  You can't claim to be the exec chef in one scene and then claim to be an expediter in another. 

[Totale]

Thanks to several re: RW timing.  I hope they pull lots or something to determine who goes first, that's pole position.  If TomC tends to need too much salt to begin with, imagine what he'd need on dish #12 or 13 on the day. They don't seem to be Giada-eating, either.

Edited January 28, 2018 by Totale

[sATL]

sorry, I am late to this thread. This is the best RW episode in a long time. Long time. don't care for the chefs getting overly involved in the decor - like shopping at Pier Imports and Restaurant Depot picking out plates/flatware.  I am glad for Craftsy(?) to come in , meet with the team and get the necessities, along with printing the menu and doing the logo. The $40K prize to the winning team was icing on the cake. I also like the idea of each team using the same physical space and kitchen. 

Great idea of doing 9 different dishes to give the chefs a chance to showcase their skill. Good strategy by Conifer to pick dishes that required more prep (where you have time) but could be plated and served quickly. Great idea to bring back an eliminated chef to help with prep.

This was filmed in 2017 - lets get rid of the paper tickets. Once the menu was made, load it into the restaurant software and have the printer or monitor in the kitchen so the chefs know when to fire what..

[carrps]

20 hours ago, chiaros said:

Was it at Judges' Table, or from another part of the episode?

If it was at JT, I don't see what you refer to, from rewatching the episode a couple of times regarding the JT sequence as aired.

Here's another screen grab of the nisode at JT, a few seconds after the one I posted above, showing that Joe F was next to Carrie, who was next to Bruce...demonstrating that Adrienne was at the FAR end – and it is hard to see how Joe F would have exchanged an eye-roll with Adrienne if one is referring to what went down at JT.

O.k. Maybe I'm going crazy!

[LeighLeigh]

On the Top Chef Instagram page, Claudette is defending herself by saying that it is just a show and not real life, insinuating that we are blowing her behaviour out of proportion.

Maybe in some cases, a contestant might be told to exaggerate for drama (was it Grayson's second go-round in season 13?). In this case, I really do believe that the bitterness is real and not amped up for show.

[tinderbox]

3 hours ago, PoshSprinkles said:

It wasn't. He was cut out of the previous episode featuring the Olympians. There are several screen grabs people made during the episode where he wasn't completely cut out or you could see his arm next to Padma. I still think it was pointless to cut him out, but whatever. 

Ok. I'm lost. Please fill me in about Besh. Thanks.

edited to add:. Nevermind. Just googled the info.

Edited January 29, 2018 by tinderbox
No Need For Response

[ratgirlagogo]

8 hours ago, chiaros said:

There was another exit that has stuck in my mind as a bitter self-serving swipe at the judges (notwithstanding whatever one may think of the tastes of the judges) – the exit interview by Michael Patlazhan in TC12 ep 1.

I had no memory of this guy at all, who as it turns out was a first episode boot, but Google brought me to the PTV recap of his episode (love how the recapper kept referring to him as Cartoon Cat!) which instantly brought back the whole thing for me:

http://previously.tv/top-chef/padma-spits-blais-swallows/

[Cotypubby]

On 1/27/2018 at 9:49 PM, pivot said:

This episode was impossible to watch. Tom came in to the 2nd restaurant already deciding they were going to lose and pushed that agenda through the whole judging session. I don't know if it is close relationship with Bruce or his usual sexism and issues with women being EC and FOH or what other agenda Tom is pushing but that wasn't a fair judging. 

Claudette, is that you?

[McManda]

Is anyone surprised Claudette tried to throw Chris under the bus? She owned the idea of being EC, but as soon as the judges pointed out flaws in the role it was all Chris's fault because he was team leader. 

I cringed at all the reactions from Team Conifer when Chris tried to take responsibility. All I could think (and I'm sure that's what so the other cheftestants thought too) was, nooooo that's exactly what Claudette wants! Good for Fatima stepping in to point out that Chris was doing what he was doing because he has integrity and good for the judges for seeing through Claudette's game.

I won't miss her at all, and based on her heavy sigh, dramatic eyeroll, and lack of goodbye in her elimination I'm guessing she'll be hard pressed to find someone who  does.

[Kaiju Ballet]

On 1/27/2018 at 2:53 AM, Christina said:

 

 

 

On 1/26/2018 at 4:51 PM, Bastet said:

Claudette did her usual thing at JT.  Between trying to claim she was just an expediter and admitting she didn't taste the food, her being the one told to pack her knives was a given.  And her stomping off without saying anything to anyone, and then ranting in her talking head – I was slow to jump on the bandwagon against her (I didn’t watch LCK), but it was a steady, gradual thing, and between the last challenge and this one, I hope to never see her again.

I too was slow to jump on the bandwagon. The tweet on top shows me that it's her true personality, and not producer/editor shenanigans. That being said, I recall she claimed in an earlier episode--possibly the one featuring her first elimination--that she was a witch in terms of her spiritual practice. That makes me very uncomfortable hearing "witch" used as a pejorative for her (or for anyone, really, but I digress)

Aside from that, I'm glad that her bus-throwing tendencies were already obvious to her chef-mates. I don't think it was a conscious factor in Chris's decision to make her EC -- his insistence that he would take responsibility for the team's flameout because of her failure as EC seemed sincere. It may be true that line chefs are less prone to getting PYKAG'd, but it also takes a certain temperament to be a line chef. Chris had already seen what happened in a team challenge --Claudette doesn't play well with others--and her sour demeanor and eyerolls makes her less of a viable FOH than the others. So I think EC for Claudette was a reasonable choice to make. Especially if he had no reason to think that she wouldn't be tasting all the food before sending it out.

I was pleasantly surprised by Bear-faced Joe's performance as FOH. I love Fatima, but the contrast between how they both described the food was quite stark. I wonder if they both had inexperienced waitstaff, but Bruce (as EC) had no trouble barking at them to use the right initials so orders could be expedited better, while Fatima may have been hesitant to be as direct.

Edited January 29, 2018 by Kaiju Ballet
One other too many....

[HappyDancex2]

I don’t buy Chris’ role in all of this.  I didn’t buy his last challenge when he said he was oblivious to what was going on between Claudette and Tonya.  I think he was well aware but chose not to engage.  He used that knowledge IMO.

he told Claudette she should be EC and Fati that she should be front of house and gave mustache Joe a knowing bro look that said “those 2 positions statistically go down in RW so let’s save ourselves bro.”

That being said, I don’t doubt that he though Claudette would sink herself and that Fati was probably pretty good at FOH....I’m just saying he wasn’t going to put either of them in those positions.

And I also agree that since Claudette has a track record of throwing her cheftestants under the bus and rewriting history to fit her personal narrative, putting her in the EC position was probably the best move...least chance of passive aggressive sabotage.

[HappyDancex2]

I liked that Conifer came together with their menu quickly but I don’t quite understand the whole “let’s do something Colorado since we are here.”  And then the guys agreed and they came up with doing Italian /Mediterranean food.  HUH??!!!?!?

I think the restaurant spaces looked nice with craftsy.  I guess they got tired with restaurant depot and pier one LOL. 

Also nice was having the extra person during service.  That would have been too many dishes for 2 people to plate.  Brother and the other bear never found out who the winning team was....cue hilarity at LCK if interested. 

[HappyDancex2]

I think it’s ironic that they chose the name “common place” for their restaurant and then couldn’t come up with any commonality.  And once Claudette expressed she was excited about the menu because they were free to do their own thing as long as they had interesting ingredients or techniques (?????) they should have known they were doomed LOL.

Claudette seems enamoured with originality....whether it’s her pink hair or dark lipstick....she values being seen as unique.  Her food doesn’t read that way to me, which I find interesting.  She should stage at someplace that is really cutting edge so she can see how big her world really is. 

Joe is a “plant father.”  Thought that was adorable.  Good for him.  

How long until someone busts out “This is Top Chef, not Top Polenta with Meatballs.”

[FinnishViewer]

Quote

I am glad for Craftsy(?) to come in , meet with the team and get the necessities, along with printing the menu and doing the logo. The $40K prize to the winning team was icing on the cake. I also like the idea of each team using the same physical space and kitchen. 

Was the 40K prize the largest prize for an EC win on Top Chef? There were a lot of money prizes during the Las Vegas season, but I don't think they were a high.

[cooksdelight]

12 hours ago, LeighLeigh said:

On the Top Chef Instagram page, Claudette is defending herself by saying that it is just a show and not real life, insinuating that we are blowing her behaviour out of proportion.

Maybe in some cases, a contestant might be told to exaggerate for drama (was it Grayson's second go-round in season 13?). In this case, I really do believe that the bitterness is real and not amped up for show.

Based on everyone else’s reactions, I think Claudette was probably the least-liked contestant in history. No one said goodbye, no one seemed sad to see her go. I guess we’ll see what gets said at the beginning of this week’s episode and go from there.

Claudette cannot take responsibility for her own mistakes, period. Until she grows up, she will be a bitch to work with.

[chiaros]

11 hours ago, ratgirlagogo said:

20 hours ago, chiaros said:

There was another exit that has stuck in my mind as a bitter self-serving swipe at the judges (notwithstanding whatever one may think of the tastes of the judges) – the exit interview by Michael Patlazhan in TC12 ep 1.

I had no memory of this guy at all, who as it turns out was a first episode boot, but Google brought me to the PTV recap of his episode (love how the recapper kept referring to him as Cartoon Cat!) which instantly brought back the whole thing for me:

http://previously.tv/top-chef/padma-spits-blais-swallows/

In fact, Patlazhan didn't even compete in LCK that season, and also was not in the panel of eliminated cheftestants available as sous in the Pre-Finale Part I that season. Even Aaron Grissom was there, but Patlazhan disappeared completely from Season 12 after that exit interview of his. See here for a previous comment of mine.

[LeighLeigh]

Regarding the beginning of next episode, I found a clip online of Adrienne. She said that she can relax a bit knowing that Claudette is gone. She also said that if you had a Kindergarten report card for Claudette, you would have to tick off "does not get along with others".

[Special K]

I don't think Chris had anything underhanded in mind by choosing Claudette for EC.  He did say that he and Claudette both had experience as ECs in their own restaurants and I think he thought she was "strong willed" enough to handle it.  I also think a lot of these folks want to "just cook" in Restaurant Wars -  to be the ones putting out the food on the line.  I think that's why he chose to do that.  I think Bruce at first indicated something like that, that he kind of wanted to be on the line, but then agreed to EC (and took full responsibility for doing it)?

Fatima didn't train her staff well.  There're ways for wait staff to subtly indicate to a table that their meal is over, without actually having the host come over and say "we need this table, you have to leave."

[Empress1]

On 1/26/2018 at 10:54 PM, RHJunkie said:

Life experiences aren't a pass for being a jerk. Being confident and positive in yourself doesn't mean that you have to put down others or be incapable of taking accountability. Claudette exhibits all of the things that make it very hard to be empathetic - she was so competitive that she only saw the others as obstacles and not as people. I really hope it's circumstances that brought out the worst in her and that when she looks back at the show, she feels a bit embarrassed and some regret for how she treated people. Her shit talking was unnecessary and I really hope this it the last time I see her face on the show this season. I'm not ready for her attitude and likely even bigger chip on her shoulder. 

I felt bad for Chris. I do think he genuinely felt responsible for the team but Carrie was absolutely right, drawing the knife made him responsible for choosing the team, it didn't make him the leader. He suggested Claudette for the role but she accepted it and that's on her. I don't see Chris's suggestion to be malicious at all. I think he thought she would be a good fit because she's direct and likes to be in control. 

Confier's had some pretty exceptional work. From the FoH, the individual dishes, service pace and decor/concept, they almost nailed it perfectly. 

I agree with all of this. Claudette is an asshole. When Carrie was like "Claudette threw Tanya under the bus. She can go to the other team," I was nodding in agreement. She's nasty and bitter, and I hope not to see her again.

[NDW5332]

The highlight of the episode for me was Joe Flamm singing the Duck Tales theme as he was prepping his duck...Woo-ooo!

[biakbiak]

7 hours ago, FinnishViewer said:

Was the 40K prize the largest prize for an EC win on Top Chef? There were a lot of money prizes during the Las Vegas season, but I don't think they were a high.

It was the same for Top Chef Las Vegas with each chef on the winning RW team receiving 10k and tgey routinely gave out 15k to individual chefs that year.

[chiaros]

Regarding that claudette person...

https://www.reddit.com/r/TopChef/comments/7t1psz/s15e08_restaurant_wars_discussion_thread/dt97oen/

[joanne3482]

On 1/26/2018 at 9:48 AM, Blonde Gator said:

They had a great concept, doing prep-heavy dishes that were (relatively) easy to get plated up.

I can't recall any previous team articulate the plan in this fashion - prep-heavy dishes - but that is such a smart way to go! I'm glad they won. 

[Eulipian 5k]

On 1/28/2018 at 11:44 AM, bencr said:

As a general observation, there seems to be a lot of downside risk to being the executive chef on RW and very little upside. If you do a bad job as EC, there's a good chance you're gone. If you do a great job, there really isn't that much reward

The upside is, you have more control on whether your team puts out better food, and then you don't face elimination.