S15.E08: Restaurant Wars

[tinderbox]

22 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. 

As a viewer who knew nothing about this story until yesterday, I must say the editing room did a great job of cutting him out. I had NO IDEA.  That said, now that I'm in the know...I'd love to rewatch the episode.  Think I will.

[Heathrowe]

I watched this and the Olympics episode back to back today. I am not a Claudette fan, at all, but I think she was trying very hard to be "nice" and to her, nice equals not speaking up. She has issues communicating, sees most comments as attacks, doesn't realize that her own comments are out of line....I didn't like her-but I did feel back for her, because she just seemed screwed no matter what. She was in that place where she cannot get out of her own way. If she goes back into LCK and comes back AGAIN, that would really suck. Also, at the end of the day-her food looks AWFUL to me. And I love Mexican food of all kinds-from food truck to fancy-her food is not translating to TV. From what Fatima said-I do think Chris has a lot of integrity. I bet it is tough to be a grown up on this show-he mentioned early on that he saw a lot of his younger self in some of the chefs-ego and whatnot. I think he tries to step back and let people do their thing, and so did Claudette. He thought she would love being in charge as EC but after last week, she really didn't want to be in charge. But she doesn't like to be told what to do......she was the right person to go home, for sure.

[biakbiak]

In neither challenge did I thinl that Claudette showed a lack of ability to speak up, in fact the exact opposite.

[heckkitty]

On 1/26/2018 at 8:17 AM, HunterHunted said:

And if you have a half decent Mexican place in your city, I can't imagine that you'd want to seek her out. That's at least a solid half million dollars

I am in HER city, & halfway decent Mexican restaurants are a dime a dozen. I’m not sure her restaurant is open yet, but I can’t see it lasting long regardless, after this. 

[FinnishViewer]

I'n still trying to wrap my mind around her criticizing Bruce about tasting the food being served. How can she think it's a good idea not to taste the food?

[Special K]

5 hours ago, FinnishViewer said:

I'n still trying to wrap my mind around her criticizing Bruce about tasting the food being served. How can she think it's a good idea not to taste the food?

Yeah, exactly.  She was not able to see her teammates as allies.  She only saw them as competitors who were in her way.  Several times she made statements to the effect of "every man for himself."   It was almost like she wouldn't deign to help them by tasting/checking what they put out.  She clearly does not get the team concept!

I was amused that she criticized Bruce as being "old school."  If old school means doing the job well and with pride, and taking responsibility for it, then, yes, I guess he's pretty old school!

[iggysaurus]

2 hours ago, Special K said:

I was amused that she criticized Bruce as being "old school."  If old school means doing the job well and with pride, and taking responsibility for it, then, yes, I guess he's pretty old school!

And didn't Tanya complain about it being "old school" to know how to do the specific knife skills in the Olympics episode? I don't have any sympathy for either Claudette or Tanya being eliminated after these kind of comments.  Having knife skills, technical knowledge and a sense of responsibility/pride in one's work should never be dismissed as "old school." Having improvisational skill is also great, but should be in addition to the foundations, not a replacement, IMO. 

[morakot]

Tanya pointed out that she didn't use her knife skills every day -- that was the sous-chef's job. She had learned them, she could check the results when other people used them, it just wasn't something she did all the time and was out of practice.

[Blonde Gator]

1 hour ago, morakot said:

Tanya pointed out that she didn't use her knife skills every day -- that was the sous-chef's job. She had learned them, she could check the results when other people used them, it just wasn't something she did all the time and was out of practice.

AND.....if you're going to compete in a show like Top Chef, it would make sense to revisit all of one's sous chef basic skills.  This show has always demanded one be able to demonstrate really basic cooking skills, it was stupid and arrogant to downplay "old school", both in being in the "precision challenge", and being on-the-spot as an expediter.  Old school, for certain functions, is the right way for a reason.  Not to mention every season's mis-en-place QF challenge.  I find the attitude of "I don't do that anymore" to be talking the talk, but not being able to walk the walk.  IOW....arrogant and loserville.

Edited January 30, 2018 by Blonde Gator

[biakbiak]

3 hours ago, morakot said:

Tanya pointed out that she didn't use her knife skills every day -- that was the sous-chef's job. She had learned them, she could check the results when other people used them, it just wasn't something she did all the time and was out of practice.

Tanya was full of shit for several reasons but top 2 1. a small dice is the base for nearly all dishes at a restaurant or at home, and a chiffonade literally requires  no skill and 2. Having been to her restaurant  numerous times it's tiny with an open you can literally watch them cook and she doesn't have a brigade of sous chefs and its like typically three chefs total.

[morakot]

She did say she could do the tasks but not as precisely as she would have done when she was a culinary student.

[chiaros]

47 minutes ago, biakbiak said:

...a small dice is the base for nearly all dishes at a restaurant or at home, and a chiffonade literally requires  no skill ...

Really?

Hmm, a small dice is infrequently required for my dishes at home, nor in restaurants - with many regional Chinese, SE Asian etc dishes and cuisines, for example. Chopped/smashed garlic might be the closest one comes to it, but I would call that a MINCE of garlic instead. Diced vegetables in most Chinese dishes? Uh, no.  Oh, diced onions for South Asian curries would be another common example, but even there I can't say I bother to make a perfect dice - as the onions get cooked down to an integrating mass before the spices go in .

But for "nearly all dishes at home" - not universally, I think.

As for a chiffonade, it depends on how fine a chiffonade one is doing. I often do chiffonades of (the requisite rolled-up) collard greens, as an example, for a 2-to-3-minute cook in broth, using my usual chef's knife with care to get the 1-2 mm thick slices I want - so one has to watch what you are doing, and your knife ought to be sharp, and if not you need to know how to sharpen it.

Edited January 31, 2018 by chiaros

[biakbiak]

12 minutes ago, chiaros said:

? Hmm, a small dice is infrequently required for my dishes at home, nor in restaurants - with many regional Chinese, SE Asian etc dishes and cuisines

In her restaurant a lot of dishes use the holy trinity which a small dice is used a lot. And while a small dice isnt necessairly used in every cuisine its not an archane cut or unheard in any of the cuisines you listed. 

Yes you have to look at what and how you are cutting a chiffonade but there is a reason its taught as a basic cut in cooking classes because its freaking easy.

Edited January 31, 2018 by biakbiak

[chiaros]

1 minute ago, biakbiak said:

In her restaurant a lot of dishes use the holy trinity which a small dice is used a lot. And while its not used in every cuisine its not an archane cut or unheard of in the cuisines you listed. 

I DID NOT say it was unheard of in any of the cuisines I listed.  I pointed out that it is not "...the base for nearly all dishes at a restaurant or at home..." which is what you stated, without any further caveats.  OF COURSE a small dice is known in every cuisine around the world, but that is not what is at issue here.  Tanya's restaurant may use the Holy Trinity, which ought to be rendered into a small dice, and I suspect you use this Holy Trinity too in almost all dishes you cook – but you made no mention of this stringent caveat in your post. The point also remains that such a thing is not used in many cuisines, and is not required "at home" for "almost all dishes".

[chiaros]

23 minutes ago, biakbiak said:

Yes you have to look at what and how you are cutting a chiffonade but there is a reason its taught as a basic cut in cooking classes because its freaking easy.

 

Here's a video of preparing "Wensi Tofu", which is a refined form of chiffonade-cum-julienne – of silken tofu. Done using a CLEAVER.

Edited January 31, 2018 by chiaros

[Lura]

IMHO, Claudette deserved to go merely for not tasting the food.  The fact that she was a thorn in everyone's side was beyond the point.  Her attitude stank, but she made enough mistakes screwing up her job to merit her elimination.  As far as her attitude goes, she'd have been far ahead if she'd put the food in her mouth instead of letting the filth pour out of her mouth.  What a genuine loser she was!  Claudette goes nowhere without that truck she can throw people under.

I am so impressed by Carrie.  She has a fantastic attitude; she's a team player; she perseveres, and twice we've seen her when something didn't work and she worked it out.  Carrie knows food, and she knows people.  I hope she'll go all the way to the final.  I also like both Joes, but particularly the Joe without the moustache.  He slipped up in this challenge, but I hope that he can get back on track.  Overall, I think this cast has been outstanding, and it's one of my favorite seasons so far.

[candle96]

On 1/26/2018 at 4:50 PM, snarktini said:

 

The judges area always critical when the captain doesn't ask to be the EC. They believe everyone should WANT to be the EC. That's what truly being a Top Chef means. But then they are so hard on the EC and FOH, it's no wonder many play it safe and take the line position.

 

Except they didn't question Carrie's decision to be a line cook at all. Frankly, I found it a bit sexist. When Tom came to visit them, he said nothing about it, but then when he went to visit the Common Place team, he immediately questioned Chris. I didn't like that.

[Lamb18]

On ‎1‎/‎26‎/‎2018 at 10:53 AM, snarktini said:

sideways.

Still! Just one bad plate out of 9. And she did great at her others. Versus a team where most of the food had major criticisms. It was a blowout on food

Adrienne also cooked Joe's dishes and did pretty well with those.

[Eulipian 5k]

13 hours ago, chiaros said:

Oh, diced onions for South Asian curries would be another common example

Chris puts on a show of his diced cuts in his Pepper Pot Shrimp QF video. Tried the recipe last night, it was "Tasty". Gotta do those biscuits next!.

[rafibomb]

9 hours ago, candle96 said:

Except they didn't question Carrie's decision to be a line cook at all. Frankly, I found it a bit sexist. When Tom came to visit them, he said nothing about it, but then when he went to visit the Common Place team, he immediately questioned Chris. I didn't like that.

I'm not sure it was sexist, necessarily. Bruce is an obvious favorite in this competition, and he has a lot of experience, so if you look at it from a "what's best for the team" perspective, it's hard to question naming him EC. But there are plenty of reasons to question naming Claudette EC, to the extent that some people are wondering whether Chris did it deliberately to get rid of her. I don't believe he did, for the record, but naming someone who's already been eliminated once, and was on the bottom last week, as EC over yourself is going to raise some eyebrows. 

[Fukui San]

For Chris, I think the thought process was "Where can we put Claudette that she won't actively undermine everyone else?" And for whatever else went wrong with Common Place, the team did not bicker all the way through service as we've seen previously with Claudette and with previous Restaurant Wars teams, to the point where Mustache Joe was saying out loud to anyone who'd listen "Boy, both sides are doing so great!".

[Special K]

20 minutes ago, Fukui San said:

For Chris, I think the thought process was "Where can we put Claudette that she won't actively undermine everyone else?" And for whatever else went wrong with Common Place, the team did not bicker all the way through service as we've seen previously with Claudette and with previous Restaurant Wars teams, to the point where Mustache Joe was saying out loud to anyone who'd listen "Boy, both sides are doing so great!".

I actually agree with this.  I think Chris knew that Claudette wouldn't submit to anyone else's authority and would be a big pain in the butt, so he decided it was best to put her in charge.

[Blonde Gator]

11 hours ago, candle96 said:

Except they didn't question Carrie's decision to be a line cook at all. Frankly, I found it a bit sexist. When Tom came to visit them, he said nothing about it, but then when he went to visit the Common Place team, he immediately questioned Chris. I didn't like that.

Maybe it was just the edit?

Hard to say.

[cooksdelight]

I think the reason Carrie wasn’t questioned by Tom for not taking the EC position is that Tom (and pretty much everyone else) realized that Bruce was the ideal pick for that job, given his experience.

[Blonde Gator]

16 minutes ago, cooksdelight said:

I think the reason Carrie wasn’t questioned by Tom for not taking the EC position is that Tom (and pretty much everyone else) realized that Bruce was the ideal pick for that job, given his experience.

Ah, based on QUALIFICATIONS, so it wasn't sexism.  Gosh, how refreshing!  (Sorry, not picking on you, I'm just so over all of the agenda pushing on a cooking show.  I want cooking, not politics). 

Thank you for a perfect and obvious explanation. 

[cooksdelight]

When I watch cooking shows, I “blind” myself to who’s female and who’s male. I look at the food, I hear the descriptions, I hear the critques, and I go from there. 

[Rambler]

On 1/28/2018 at 8:56 AM, seltzer3 said:

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.

In last season’s restaurant wars, Katsuji was a sous chef that was eliminated, even though IMO the exec chef John Tesar should have been the one to go.

 

On 1/28/2018 at 10:57 PM, HappyDancex2 said:

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

I believe it depends on the deal the production company can get with the local suppliers. In the next city, if they can get a better deal with restaurant depot and pier one, they will probably go back to old format where the chefs have to set the place up.

[HappyDancex2]

What was that when Claudette looked at Bruce while he was expediting and said “love you Bruce” and Bruce didn’t even look up and said “hmmm.”

LOL

[FinnishViewer]

Quote

I am so impressed by Carrie.  She has a fantastic attitude; she's a team player; she perseveres, and twice we've seen her when something didn't work and she worked it out.

This is why I am perplexed why some viewers seems to dislike Carrie.

[LeighLeigh]

I just found out about www.topchefstats.com

Among other things, it answers the question of how many line cooks got eliminated in restaurant wars. You can click on each season for more specific info. 

[hks]

On 1/26/2018 at 10:00 AM, Blonde Gator said:

You touched on another excellent point.  Claudette wanted the glory of being EC, but without the responsibility.  Remember when Bruce looked at a dish (I think Adrienne's fish) and gave it back to her, saying "the skin is separating...be careful how you're plating this, please do it again"?  And The Wicked Witch commented about how she wasn't going to babysit her chefs as EC?  Stupid cow.  I knew she was toast at that moment.  I remember that episode when Tom was the Expediter, he gave every dish the once over before it went out of HIS kitchen.  Bruce did the same.  That is the role.  Claudette also made a fatal error when she said she didn't taste all of the dishes.  Stupid!

 

On 1/30/2018 at 12:29 PM, Special K said:

Yeah, exactly.  She was not able to see her teammates as allies.  She only saw them as competitors who were in her way.  Several times she made statements to the effect of "every man for himself."   It was almost like she wouldn't deign to help them by tasting/checking what they put out.  She clearly does not get the team concept!

I was amused that she criticized Bruce as being "old school."  If old school means doing the job well and with pride, and taking responsibility for it, then, yes, I guess he's pretty old school!

 

On 1/28/2018 at 3:45 PM, holly4755 said:

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. 

ITA with all of this.  Claudette is NOT a team player. So, while she pretended to believe that tasting all the dishes was "old school," she really just did not want to take responsibility for any of the other dishes.  As long as she didn't taste them, if they failed, she could sidestep the blame.  Except that is NOT the role of EC.  Really, I think she could have gotten away with it all if she had taken some of the responsibility.  I think if she had just said, "I didn't get a chance to taste all the dishes" and/or "I thought the dishes I tasted were good," Mustache Joe would  have been out for his several bad dishes.  What killed Claudette was saying she wasn't REALLY the EC and that Chris was in charge.  Her pretending not to understand her role, trying to abdicate responsibility  --- she wasn't coming back from that.  (And I fully believe Chris knew what he was doing when he made her EC.  At least in the sense he knew she had problems working with others AND he maybe saw it as a way to rid them of an unpleasant person).  

 

On 1/28/2018 at 6:54 PM, 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.

Yah, in every season, we know the "villain" chef.  The ones who you know are amping it up for TV drama.  And I actually think Claudette thought she was just playing that role.  In maybe the first episode, she starts out with some bitchy comment about not being there to make friends, or some other reality cliche.  But you can only do that SO much and in certain circumstances.  Claudette continually lacked integrity at judge's table.  You can be ultra competitive, you can be speak up, and even kind of push others to get the competition going your way.  You can be self confident and arrogant.  But you can't stand at judge's table and continually not take responsibility for team failures.  When people do that (and I believe there have been others in past seasons like her), I'm done with them - despite their talent.

 

On 1/26/2018 at 10:17 AM, HunterHunted said:

What Claudette has failed to understand is that every week, this show is an advertisement for her and her food. We don't have taste-o-vision. We don't have smell-o-vision. We can only go by what the judges tell us and what they chefs show us. Every week Claudette has shown millions of people that she's a weaselly disreputable asshole that makes good Mexican food. And if you have a half decent Mexican place in your city, I can't imagine that you'd want to seek her out. That's at least a solid half million dollars of exposure that she's whiffed if she had paid for it. Her arrogance is colossally stupid.

THIS.  Top Chef may be the one reality competition for which appearing, without even winning, can be a great boon to your business.  And no, a mean chef might make amazing food.  But what is the incentive to go if you find the chef completely awful, and there are so many other choices out there?  

[McManda]

1 hour ago, hks said:

(And I fully believe Chris knew what he was doing when he made her EC.  At least in the sense he knew she had problems working with others AND he maybe saw it as a way to rid them of an unpleasant person).  

While I don't think Chris is the type of person to throw anyone under the bus, I do think his choice of Claudette as EC did have strategy behind it.

I don't think he thought "well, it's usually either FOH or EC that goes home during Restaurant Wars, let's see if we can get Claudette booted". That doesn't seem his style.

Rather, I think he thought making Claudette EC was a strategic move for his team overall. Everyone knew Claudette doesn't play nice with others. She threw Adrienne and Tanya under the bus at the first sign of trouble. So by giving Claudette control - she was in charge of what left the kitchen and when - she was less likely to get in the way of everyone else on the team by being the leader, or at least getting to act like one. He gave her the power she thought she deserved to spare any in-the-moment team drama. The rest of the positions fell in place - I don't think he particularly cared about being FOH, for example (which I get, I get the feeling most of the chefs would rather cook than schmooze) so when Fatima stepped up it was done and he was a line chef with Moustache Joe.

What Chris didn't count on was that Claudette's self preservation extended only to herself. What he thought was enough to keep their team from flaming out - Claudette's desire to succeed - actually was only enough to want to cover her own ass and everyone else be dammed. I thought it was pretty clear from the rest of the chef's  reactions that they were as astounded as Chris was at what Claudette claimed during judges table and good for them for standing up for and taking Chris's side during and after.

Also, unrelated: Carrie reminds me of a brunette version of Katherine Heigl's character in "27 Dresses" with her happy enthusiasm and overwhelming optimism.

[meep.meep]

On 1/26/2018 at 10:58 AM, Quilt Fairy said:

 

Based on their initial discussion, I think the phrase the team wanted was "common ground" not "common place".  And honestly, I think they all knew they were going to lose when they got Claudette.

I honestly thought they were going to call it Common Plates.  Then they could have served everything family style which is much easier.

[Blonde Gator]

29 minutes ago, McManda said:

Also, unrelated: Carrie reminds me of a brunette version of Katherine Heigl's character in "27 Dresses" with her happy enthusiasm and overwhelming optimism.

That may JUST be it!!!   Carrie is just a happy person.  Why do we have to hate her for it?

There's nothing mean about her happiness, nor evil....Carrie is just that "shiny, happy person" who annoys us all to death!

Upon some (sadly to say) retrospection, I have huge respect for her.  HUGE!

As annoying as she may be.....she is a lovely woman, sure in her own shoes, and cares about everyone else around her.  I'm sure there are people who would denigrate her for that.  But NOT me!

Carrie is certainly not my favorite chef.  But she's a fighter, in a good way.  She never puts anyone else down to follow her own vision.  She powered through the camp-out episode, and many other episodes as well. 

Are we so jaded that we can't appreciate someone who is just a happy camper?

[ratgirlagogo]

On 1/29/2018 at 1:57 AM, HappyDancex2 said:

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

Craftsy sponsored the challenge and gave a $40,000 prize to the winning team.  Excellent reason to switch away from restaurant depot, etc.   Although sadly no chance of the cheftestants choosing vanilla-scented table candles..........

[Blonde Gator]

16 minutes ago, ratgirlagogo said:

Craftsy sponsored the challenge and gave a $40,000 prize to the winning team.  Excellent reason to switch away from restaurant depot, etc.   Although sadly no chance of the cheftestants choosing vanilla-scented table candles..........

[Lamb18]

13 hours ago, McManda said:

Rather, I think he thought making Claudette EC was a strategic move for his team overall. Everyone knew Claudette doesn't play nice with others. She threw Adrienne and Tanya under the bus at the first sign of trouble. So by giving Claudette control - she was in charge of what left the kitchen and when - she was less likely to get in the way of everyone else on the team by being the leader, or at least getting to act like one. He gave her the power she thought she deserved to spare any in-the-moment team drama.

I agree. I thought Chris asked her to be Executive Chef so she could be in charge and have a vested interest in everyone's success, not just hers.  I guess he was an optimist, but smart, too, as it worked out. If she had been a line chef and her dish tanked, she would have blamed the Executive Chef for not tasting her dish and telling her something was wrong.

[biakbiak]

Fatima was on the Pack Your Knives podcast and she mentioned something about the people lingering that I hadn't thought of before but I bet its accurate because the stragglers don't always happen and they don't typically happen at both restaurants and it makes perfect sense, they are waiting hoping to see the judges and watch them react to the food. She said once they had watched some they would be okay leaving.

Edited February 4, 2018 by biakbiak

[cooksdelight]

Considering the diners are all paid to be there, that’s mighty rude of them to overstay their alloted time just to get a glimpse of the judges.

[Ellee]

I didn’t realize (think of) the diners would be paid to be there.  If true, it appears that the ones paid to stay too long were all in the one restaurant. 

So was it done to make the team fail, see how Fatima handled it or is the ‘fair’ competition not really a competition but something determined pre-production?

[cooksdelight]

There are a couple of casting companies that fill the seats, I am signed on with two of them. Central Casting and Project Casting are free to sign up with, they place background extras all the time. In order to speak on camera, you must be union, SAG/AFTRA. Hell’s Kitchen and Food Network Star hire their own extras, HK pays $50 per appearance. They rarely hire anyone more than once unless they are desperate for people. Food Network also recruits people to show up at shows like Great American Food Truck Road Race, to insure they have people eating the food and the trucks look busy.

I have no idea if the extras in the failing restaurant were told to stay longer. It might have been that they didn’t get their food fast enough, or the ones who sent food back had to wait on the replacement meals. I do know that the extras are told to treat the food exactly as if they were paying for it. If you don’t like something, you have permission to send it back. But no one is told to do that, or throw one team under the bus.

[biakbiak]

I have none several people who went to restaurant wars and other events, none were paid. There have also, been blog and FB posts about many people who have gone and they also imdicated that they weren't cast or paid. Perhaps some people are cast, though it seems really unnecessary given the fanbase, but they all arent and they arent all paid.

Edited February 4, 2018 by biakbiak

[cooksdelight]

Yes, a few people get invited. But I was at one and 95% of us were paid. A Food Network Star outdoor tasting with the Dial of Doom. :)

[LeighLeigh]

Please share your observations! Did you meet or interact with anyone from the show? 

[biakbiak]

11 minutes ago, cooksdelight said:

Yes, a few people get invited. But I was at one and 95% of us were paid. A Food Network Star outdoor tasting with the Dial of Doom. :)

None of the people were invited because they new people, in an early season it was an ad on Craigslist and tgey dealt directly with productuon. Shows are not all produced the same so comparing it to taping of Food Network Star is not really relevant to Top Chef.

Edited February 4, 2018 by biakbiak

[cooksdelight]

One of my SAG actress friends has been paid to be a diner on two Top Chef Restaurant Wars (Charleston and Seattle). She was recruited by an extras casting company. She was also paid to be a focus group judge on FNS. They no longer advertise on Craig’s List or anywhere else. All “reality” and competition shows use extras casting companies. Including Top Chef. I’ve been there, done that.... 

@LeighLeigh, I got to meet and talk to Luca and Nicole Gaffney, have stayed in touch since then. This was after it was all over and they were then allowed to drink and hang out. It was the finalist party at Caesar’s Palace out by the pool. 

Edited February 4, 2018 by cooksdelight

[biakbiak]

My former coworker was also at Seattle, she isn't SAG and wasnt cast pr paid, so like I said preciously TC cleaely uses a lot of different methods to get guests.

[HunterHunted]

20 hours ago, biakbiak said:

None of the people were invited because they new people, in an early season it was an ad on Craigslist and tgey dealt directly with productuon. Shows are not all produced the same so comparing it to taping of Food Network Star is not really relevant to Top Chef.

17 hours ago, biakbiak said:

My former coworker was also at Seattle, she isn't SAG and wasnt cast pr paid, so like I said preciously TC cleaely uses a lot of different methods to get guests.

I remember Craigslist ads for Top Chef Texas. I always saw them far too late to schedule time off to be a diner. You always had to have like 4 hours available to spend, plus it was summer in Texas so it was miserable. I seem to recall ads in Craigslist for Best New Restaurant that led you to a much more formal application that made you give your foodie bonafides. 

[Special K]

My workplace was once a venue for a top chef event.  Quite a number of my colleagues were able to go as guests but were definitely not paid -- it was a walk-around kind of event.  Unfortunately I couldn't go.  I'm not sure about the majority of the "guests" and where they came from.  I assumed they were Top Chef fans, but could have been paid extras.

[FinnishViewer]

Quote

Considering the diners are all paid to be there, that’s mighty rude of them to overstay their alloted time just to get a glimpse of the judges.

I rewatched this episode, and the evening before the service the camera showed Joe and Bruce discussing about how they would try to stagger the reservations so that they wouldn't get slammed. I'm a bit confused. They have customer reservations for restaurant war? I thought the customers would just show up to these events.