S15.E11: Cooking High

[noveltylibrary]

On 2/15/2018 at 10:01 PM, Nidratime said:

Tom Colicchio was the one who sent Chris home. I don't know if the editors were fooling with us, but he's the only one that really seemed hung up on Carrie's dish. I just feel like she's going to win because he seems to like her for some reason, besides the food.

I was shocked it was Chris because of the way Tom described their decision based on taking a risk or taking their cooking to the next level.  They said over and over how Carrie played it safe.  

On 2/16/2018 at 5:19 AM, yourmomiseasy said:

Pasta is a little more involved to make than toast.  

and it's also a meal!

[chiaros]

Some screenshots of the moments after Carrie's win with fancy toast in the QF.  Not sure I would say Joe Sasto had a sour face. In fact, he seemed to beam and smile as much as or even more than Chris did.

[bravofan27]

Thanks for correcting me, but I still don't like Joe Flamm. It must have been my brain wanting to see something else, cuz I am still despising him and think he is douche. With the toast thing, I think Carrie wins with it because of the texture, she makes it extra crispy, and you could even hear Tom biting into it, you could hear the crackling. So I think they like that, and how it contrasts with the textures of the other shit she puts on top. She calls the toast a "vessel" for her ingredients. 

Edited February 18, 2018 by bravofan27

[Tess23]

On 2/16/2018 at 1:18 PM, HawaiiTVGuy said:

Did something happen in some markets that resulted in the episode not broadcasting?

My DVR failed to record this episode, so it's not just TiVo.

[Brookside]

7 hours ago, noveltylibrary said:

They kept saying poor Carrie was left only with honey, onions and lemon but she had bread and cheese as well.  I really wanted to see what she would do with those three ingredients!  I would be annoyed toast keeps winning too.

This would only make sense if the other contestants could cook only with their three ingredients. 

(Not aimed at you, noveltylibrary) but why is this turning into toast-gate?

Edited February 18, 2018 by Brookside
toast not sandwich

[Norma Desmond]

6 hours ago, chiaros said:

Some screenshots of the moments after Carrie's win with fancy toast in the QF.  Not sure I would say Joe Sasto had a sour face. In fact, he seemed to beam and smile as much as or even more than Chris did.

I beg to differ

When Carrie's dish was being complimented and right after her win was announced

 

[Brookside]

I'm not sure that I've ever done this before, but I rewatched the episode (mainly to make sure I'm not mad).   Anyway, just a couple of thoughts:

- Chris in the EC "What I'm cooking is a lot of family stuff".   Family is great, but hardly elevated.

-  Paul Liebrandt noted that Carrie executed her cornbread really well.  It was the best comment I picked up on about the baking aspect.

-  Liebrandt announced the winner as someone with "a clear vision of high level cuisine and high altitude baking".  Where do failed profiteroles fall into that equation?

[cooksdelight]

57 minutes ago, Brookside said:

Liebrandt announced the winner as someone with "a clear vision of high level cuisine and high altitude baking".  Where do failed profiteroles fall into that equation?

Exactly. I’d love to be a fly on the wall when Tom tells the guest judge who the chosen winner is going to be... and I imagine the guest is then told exactly what to say. Whether it makes any sense or not is moot.

[Browncoat]

Can someone please tell Wiley Dufresne that a) he needs to wash his damn hair, and 2) stop it with the comb over already.  A big long greasy string of hair from one side of your head tucked behind your other ear is never a good look.

[Blonde Gator]

2 hours ago, Brookside said:

I'm not sure that I've ever done this before, but I rewatched the episode (mainly to make sure I'm not mad).   Anyway, just a couple of thoughts:

- Chris in the EC "What I'm cooking is a lot of family stuff".   Family is great, but hardly elevated.

-  Paul Liebrandt noted that Carrie executed her cornbread really well.  It was the best comment I picked up on about the baking aspect.

-  Liebrandt announced the winner as someone with "a clear vision of high level cuisine and high altitude baking".  Where do failed profiteroles fall into that equation?

I'm not sure they were "failed".  Every baked dish was remarked upon as being "obviously baked at high altitude".  The profiteroles were said to be the same, a bit "crunchy".  Joe Flamm's biscuits were tasty, but "more of a crumble".

So I think the chefs were all somewhat equal, they did an okay job with what they baked, but it was apparent equally that no one was proficient at high altitude baking.  IOW, a wash.

[Brookside]

7 minutes ago, Blonde Gator said:

I'm not sure they were "failed".  Every baked dish was remarked upon as being "obviously baked at high altitude".  The profiteroles were said to be the same, a bit "crunchy".  Joe Flamm's biscuits were tasty, but "more of a crumble".

So I think the chefs were all somewhat equal, they did an okay job with what they baked, but it was apparent equally that no one was proficient at high altitude baking.  IOW, a wash.

I thought that my re-watching showed that Carrie succeeded with her baking, most were sort of acceptable, but the "puffs" were a fail. 

As has been said before, the judges' rules and guidelines can change within a metre of altitude sickness.

[Kroliosis]

23 hours ago, seltzer3 said:

I really don't get people complaining about Carrie making toast.  Its really only the second time she's make toast.  Also its not like she originally was going to make a toast.  Joe taking her pork really screwed a lot of things Carrie could do (and its a quickfire).

I think it’s the 3rd time she made toast.  First time was in one of the first challenges when she bombed making a bruschetta. 

[whinewithwine]

3 hours ago, Browncoat said:

Can someone please tell Wiley Dufresne that a) he needs to wash his damn hair, and 2) stop it with the comb over already.  A big long greasy string of hair from one side of your head tucked behind your other ear is never a good look.

Like when Graham looks at you with those glasses...it doesn't really matter what he says, I know I'm not going to take it seriously.  Pretty much the same with Blais.

[Lura]

Is my memory failing me already?

I was under the impression that the judges pretty much raved about Adriene's bread.  They seemed to be impressed by the fact that she combined two bread recipes into her loaf in order to try to solve the dryness/altitude issue, and the British judge seemed most impressed.  Was her bread also deemed a failure?  I remember it as Joe Stash's puffs as being the only real failure.  Excuse me if I'm wrong.

[Corgi-ears]

The show has always been explicit about Tom being the HEAD JUDGE, so it's bewildering to me -- especially 15 seasons in -- when people complain about his opinions being weighted more.

Edited February 19, 2018 by Corgi-ears

[Chickabiddy]

Despite his efforts to look all bad ass Matrixy, Britain's best chef ever, who no one has ever heard of, just came off like a big girl's blouse. He wins the award in my book for trying way too hard to be cool. And the cherry on top of all that was claiming he worked at 18,000 feet...you mean like in the fucking Himalayas? If you are going to get all braggadocios about your own high altitude cooking accomplishments, at least get your meters and feet right. He was lucky that all he got was some serious side eye from Gail. Anyone remember when Michelle Bernstein ripped that other British guest judge anew one for pronouncing the LLs in paella? That was priceless and a very long time ago. ;-) 

[AZChristian]

Most memorable thing for me in this episode was Joe S talking about not knowing what a profiterole "really is."  He got side-eye from all the other chefs when he said that.  

[chiaros]

13 hours ago, Blonde Gator said:

I'm not sure they were "failed".  Every baked dish was remarked upon as being "obviously baked at high altitude".  The profiteroles were said to be the same, a bit "crunchy".  Joe Flamm's biscuits were tasty, but "more of a crumble".

So I think the chefs were all somewhat equal, they did an okay job with what they baked, but it was apparent equally that no one was proficient at high altitude baking.  IOW, a wash.

What I got from the remarks and reactions was that Joe S's baked items were not what the judges would like to be profiteroles, but neither did they actively *dislike* it. In any case, Joe called them "cherry puffs", and indicated he did not want to actually present them as "profiteroles". The British judge went along and referred to them as "cherry puffs". Adrienne got compliments for her mashup which she called "mountain bread" but Gail also pointed out it was dry - although being smothered in butter compensated. Between Chris's and Carrie's cornbread, I thought Tom C remarked that he didn't think there was much difference between the two when it came to the eating.

I think that (IMO) it bears repeating that this wasn't a "baking at high altitude" contest. It was a "create a high-concept, high-end dish at high altitude" contest, where a baking element was mandatory, but was not the only thing that the plates were going to be judged on (far from it), even if it was a difficult component for the cheftestants themselves and which was acknowledged by the judges to be an issue for them to completely satisfy.

 

17 hours ago, Norma Desmond said:

I beg to differ

When Carrie's dish was being complimented and right after her win was announced

http://content.forums.previously.tv/monthly_2018_02/sasto.thumb.JPG.e1da28fc2c3404145b5ede25547e6709.JPG

http://content.forums.previously.tv/monthly_2018_02/sasto2.thumb.JPG.51b1df4b85f4f7595444c53daabd5291.JPG

Yes, Joe wasn't happy when Carrie's dish was being positively described. But neither was Chris. I went and took multiple screenshots of the sequence when Wylie D began describing Carrie's dish to when the cheftestants congratulated her - and neither Chris nor Joe S were pleased before and in the split second after she was announced as the winner. How could they be? Both were in the running for that ten grand. For that matter, if one were fair and looked at the demeanors of all the cheftestants while Carrie's dish was being described - Joe Flamm didn't look thrilled either.  Of course Joe S has already expressed his incredulity at her making toast again, and possibly winning - and Joe F agreed.  As shown, it seemed to me that Joe S recovered from his disappointment faster than Chris, for that matter, in congratulating and clapping for Carrie.

Perhaps it is possible that hatred for a cheftestant might overshadow how others were reacting in one or another situation?

But enough. Each of us is entitled to disagree on any and all cheftestants. 

Edited February 19, 2018 by chiaros

[snarktini]

On 2/17/2018 at 12:00 PM, chiaros said:

And, just for laughs, here's a screenshot of the Elimination Challenge as notated by the show itself:

 

Thanks for putting this up. I heard them say Carrie's had no concept and that confused me a bit. This helps put that in context. 

That said... I'm unclear what "concept" means for food outside of the gimmicky challenges. What makes duck with cherry puffs conceptual?  Does it mean creativity? Whimsy? Unity of the elements? 

It's not like I'm unfamiliar with fine dining -- I grew up in a foodie household and we ate at amazing restaurants around the country. For my 4th birthday I requested my parents make me beef wellington for dinner, seriously. (And they did!) If Carrie had done beef wellington, would that have been a concept? It's high-end, but is it a concept?

Just curious! Musing out loud more than anything.

ETA: Whatever possessed Carrie to admit she was afraid to cook BW for the guest judge?! Just make up a story, any story. And why didn't Joe S stick to "puff" and not add the part about not knowing what a profiterole is?! Edit yourselves, people. Don't give them more reasons to judge you negatively. Nervous overtalking is killer at this stage.

Edited February 19, 2018 by snarktini

[cooksdelight]

I think where Carrie’s dish fell short was that it was hard (for me, also) to figure out where she was going with what was on the plate. Everyone else’s fit together.... Southern food, Joe’s duck with the complimentary items, etc. Carrie’s was sort of all over the place, nothing had a reason for being on the plate with the other items.

[candle96]

On 2/17/2018 at 10:10 PM, seltzer3 said:

I really don't get people complaining about Carrie making toast.  Its really only the second time she's make toast.  Also its not like she originally was going to make a toast.  Joe taking her pork really screwed a lot of things Carrie could do (and its a quickfire).

 

On 2/17/2018 at 10:16 PM, dgpolo said:

Not only that but Padma mentioned they had a very limited pantry for this challenge. Carrie was lucky they even had bread in there, let alone anything fancy.

It would be interesting to me to know what they have in that "basic" pantry, because with only lemons, onions, and honey, she had to add something as the base for that. Perhaps bread was the only viable option. Probably would've been criticized if she'd used pre-made pasta. I personally would love to eat the top part of French onion soup, and thought it was kind of a cool idea.  Granted, I am not a chef, so the creativity of my thinking doesn't extend as far as the contestants. I also wonder if the judges favored her slightly because of the distinct disadvantage she had. 

I was sad to see Chris go, but glad he went out cooking his food, and doing it well. (minus the overcooked quail)  It's a bit of dilemma - he wants to elevate soul food, and the judges thought it wasn't fine dining enough. But it seems to me he's trying to expand people's idea of what "fine dining" is. I'll definitely seek out his restaurant next time I'm in New York.

[Blonde Gator]

1 hour ago, cooksdelight said:

I think where Carrie’s dish fell short was that it was hard (for me, also) to figure out where she was going with what was on the plate. Everyone else’s fit together.... Southern food, Joe’s duck with the complimentary items, etc. Carrie’s was sort of all over the place, nothing had a reason for being on the plate with the other items.

I think the difference between Chris & Carrie's dishes were as follows.  Chris's dish was admittedly "homey".  Carrie attempted "high concept", but was unsuccessful at articulating her concept.  But IMO only, the reason Carrie wasn't sent packing, was because all of her elements were very well executed....and both had cornbread that was equal.  She won on technical merit alone.  As I said earlier, this seems to me to be the one time that Tom was overruled...he said her dish was "clunky", but everyone else noted how well executed each of Carrie's elements were.  Hard to say......we only get edited comments.  But Chris had issues with his fried quail.

[cooksdelight]

1 hour ago, candle96 said:

I was sad to see Chris go, but glad he went out cooking his food, and doing it well. (minus the overcooked quail)  It's a bit of dilemma - he wants to elevate soul food, and the judges thought it wasn't fine dining enough. But it seems to me he's trying to expand people's idea of what "fine dining" is. I'll definitely seek out his restaurant next time I'm in New York.

Yes, if I am ever in Brooklyn I’m going to find him as I am certain I’d have a wonderful meal.

@Blonde Gator, you summed that up perfectly.

[Lura]

Does anyone know whether the Fan Favorite is rewarded monetarily, or is it simply an honor?  I finally remembered to vote about a week ago.  I wish they'd stuck to the old format of showing who was leading.  This time around,  they're only showing a few people who must be the highest in the ratings.

[Jazzhands]

26 minutes ago, Lura said:

Does anyone know whether the Fan Favorite is rewarded monetarily, or is it simply an honor?  I finally remembered to vote about a week ago.  I wish they'd stuck to the old format of showing who was leading.  This time around,  they're only showing a few people who must be the highest in the ratings.

I think they get $10,000 from one of the show’s sponsors. 

[Lura]

6 hours ago, Jazzhands said:

I think they get $10,000 from one of the show’s sponsors.

Thanks, Jazzhands, and you're right.  After I wrote the question, I went to Fan Favorites, and it says that the winning contestant gets $10,000 from S. Pelligrino.  I should have looked first.  That's a nice piece of money for being popular!  :)

[LeighLeigh]

Which contestants are still on the running? We don't get that info up here in Canada.

[mlp]

4 hours ago, LeighLeigh said:

Which contestants are still on the running?

Adrienne, Carrie, Chris, Fatima, Bruce, Joe F., Brother and, oddly IMO, Tanya.  Joe S. isn't even in the running.

[LeighLeigh]

Interesting... Carrie is not promoting the voting either. Maybe because she won so much through challenges ($25000). Joe S.  hasn't  done any promoting either.

[biakbiak]

16 minutes ago, LeighLeigh said:

Interesting... Carrie is not promoting the voting either. Maybe because she won so much through challenges ($25000). Joe S.  hasn't  done any promoting either.

Carrie is promoting voting on her twitter. Joe doesnt appear to mention TC in his tweets or IG except when the show premiered.

[Lura]

13 hours ago, biakbiak said:

Carrie is promoting voting on her twitter.

Is she reminding people to vote, or is she asking for votes?  I can't imagine anyone asking for them, but there's a first time for everything, I guess.  Of course, come to think of it, if anyone went to the voting page, they'd probably figure it out.  Not sure how I feel about that, but I'll reserve judgment.  I've enjoyed Carrie and think she has a good, creative mind, but she isn't my very, very favorite.

[Blonde Gator]

20 hours ago, mlp said:

Adrienne, Carrie, Chris, Fatima, Bruce, Joe F., Brother and, oddly IMO, Tanya.  Joe S. isn't even in the running.

Maybe he reads here and knows he's fairly well loathed by most.  Heh.

[jaybird2]

i like all the finalists 

Edited February 23, 2018 by jaybird2

[jaybird2]

7 hours ago, Lura said:

Is she reminding people to vote, or is she asking for votes?  I can't imagine anyone asking for them, but there's a first time for everything, I guess.  Of course, come to think of it, if anyone went to the voting page, they'd probably figure it out.  Not sure how I feel about that, but I'll reserve judgment.  I've enjoyed Carrie and think she has a good, creative mind, but she isn't my very, very favorite.

there was chef from miami who actively campaigned for votes and won.  can't remember his name or season.  it was back in the day when andy did reunions.  they all joked about.

[chiaros]

1 hour ago, jaybird2 said:

there was chef from miami who actively campaigned for votes and won.  can't remember his name or season.  it was back in the day when andy did reunions.  they all joked about.

Could you be thinking about Chris Crary? Season 9 (Texas), from Los Angeles (not Miami). He was given some grief for his full-press campaigning for Fan Favorite:  https://www.google.com/search?q=chris+crary+campaigning+for+fan+favorite .

[LeighLeigh]

They all campaign for votes on Instagram or Twitter. All of  them.

[LeighLeigh]

They all campaign for votes on Instagram or Twitter. All of  them.

[jaybird2]

1 hour ago, chiaros said:

Could you be thinking about Chris Crary? Season 9 (Texas), from Los Angeles (not Miami). He was given some grief for his full-press campaigning for Fan Favorite:  https://www.google.com/search?q=chris+crary+campaigning+for+fan+favorite .

yes! he's the one!  thanks.  i definitely thought he was from miami.  he but was  good looking but not much of a chef.

[chiaros]

11 hours ago, jaybird2 said:

yes! he's the one!  thanks.  i definitely thought he was from miami.  he but was  good looking but not much of a chef.

http://www.bravotv.com/people/chris-crary 

[tpplay]

I'm so sad that Chris is gone.

That is all.

[ratgirlagogo]

On 2/21/2018 at 10:53 PM, mlp said:

Adrienne, Carrie, Chris, Fatima, Bruce, Joe F., Brother and, oddly IMO, Tanya.  Joe S. isn't even in the running.

I will be very surprised if Fatima doesn't win this.

[dleighg]

was just rewatching this episode and when Tom, et. al come to visit the chefs on their practice day, Tom also said that the famous chef "cooked at 18,000 feet." 

Come on guys, have some sense and check stuff (and I am really directing this to the staff that prepares them)

[cooksdelight]

I’ve searched and searched and cannot find a restaurant higher than 15,000 over there.

[dleighg]

There isn't. The restaurant he said he worked at is 1800 m, not 18000 feet. So about 6000 feet.