Top Chef Canada - General Discussion

[LeighLeigh]

Nathan works with season one winner Dale.

Darren works with Antonio Park.

[LeighLeigh]

Darren is an absolute artist. Check out his photos on Instagram.

[LeighLeigh]

Matthew's Instagram is still set to "private". Hmmm? Wonder why?

[LeighLeigh]

Jesse works with season one's Dale as well!?! Is Canada really that small that we get two people from the same restaurant group in a season with only 11 chefs???

[Bunnyette]

No maritimes!  Hmm - oh well your loss Top Chef Canada...looking forward to seeing this again.

[Bunnyette]

On March 3, 2018 at 1:12 AM, LeighLeigh said:

Jesse works with season one's Dale as well!?! Is Canada really that small that we get two people from the same restaurant group in a season with only 11 chefs???

No producers just have a big city bias...

[EllaDisco]

On 3/8/2018 at 5:08 PM, Bunnyette said:

No producers just have a big city bias...

Saskatoon is a big city?

I love Top Chef!  So glad I discovered it was coming back just in time.

[Token]

I like Mark, but he needs to put his tongue away!!  He's constantly sticking it out.  Gross.

Jesse needs to lose the vocal fry.  It's not attractive.

[Token]

I predicted Felix would be the one to go home when I saw the bottom three.  I feel like Asian chefs frequently go home early on shows like this.

[Bunnyette]

Note to top chef Canada cheftestants...know how to make shortcrust pastry & hamburgers

[LeighLeigh]

Elia was on Top Chef Mexico with Claudette from Top Chef season 15. 

[HighHopes]

On 3/2/2018 at 10:12 PM, LeighLeigh said:

Jesse works with season one's Dale as well!?! Is Canada really that small that we get two people from the same restaurant group in a season with only 11 chefs???

On 3/8/2018 at 4:08 PM, Bunnyette said:

No producers just have a big city bias...

On 4/2/2018 at 2:52 PM, EllaDisco said:

Saskatoon is a big city?

I love Top Chef!  So glad I discovered it was coming back just in time.

Saskatchewan rarely gets represented on these types of shows*, so I was honestly shocked to see TWO people from Saskatoon. Though side-eyeing it a bit that they both work for the season one winner (I am positive it's just a "coincidence"). I have yet to eat at any of the restaurants, but I hear that Little Grouse on the Prairie is expensive and not worth it for what you get. Ayden's is okay I hear, but you can get a $50 gift card for them for $40 at Costco, so if anyone is ever in Saskatoon and wants to try it, get the gift card! There are a bunch of other great restaurants in Saskatoon though, and they are much better than Dale MacKay's current three. 

*Or really, in anything. Whenever "big" concerts happen, they skip right over us. 

Edited April 12, 2018 by HighHopes

[hula-la]

On 2018-04-12 at 10:39 AM, HighHopes said:

Saskatchewan rarely gets represented on these types of shows*, so I was honestly shocked to see TWO people from Saskatoon. Though side-eyeing it a bit that they both work for the season one winner (I am positive it's just a "coincidence"). I have yet to eat at any of the restaurants, but I hear that Little Grouse on the Prairie is expensive and not worth it for what you get. Ayden's is okay I hear, but you can get a $50 gift card for them for $40 at Costco, so if anyone is ever in Saskatoon and wants to try it, get the gift card! There are a bunch of other great restaurants in Saskatoon though, and they are much better than Dale MacKay's current three. 

*Or really, in anything. Whenever "big" concerts happen, they skip right over us. 

Dale, the season one winner, is on Iron Chef Gauntlet, so Saskatoon is truly on the map!

[LeighLeigh]

Sadly, Dale just got kicked off of Iron Chef. I was sad to see him go. 

[EllaDisco]

I'm originally from Saskatchewan and have lots of friends and family there, so hope to try one of the restaurants next time I'm in town.

[Token]

Wow, Jesse needs to stop with the pasta.  He's done it a few times now, so starting to get boring, plus he always seems to get the same feedback that it's too thick.

That bright green hair on the guest judge during the first challenge was just obnoxious!!  If someone like that came and tried to judge something I'd done, my response would be "dude, have you looked in the mirror recently?!!?!  Don't even start to criticise me!!!"

Nathan really needed to go.  He just wasn't coping well with the competition at all.  He looked very.... wrong.

[LeighLeigh]

Agree regarding Nathan. He seems really nice and I am sure his restaurants have delicious food. Competition cooking just wasn’t for him. 

I am happy that we don’t see the chefs at the contestant house. I would rather see them in the kitchen. 

Everyone seems so nice and kind to each other. So happy to not see the nasty cattiness that was on the American version. 

[hula-la]

13 hours ago, LeighLeigh said:

Agree regarding Nathan. He seems really nice and I am sure his restaurants have delicious food. Competition cooking just wasn’t for him. 

I am happy that we don’t see the chefs at the contestant house. I would rather see them in the kitchen. 

Everyone seems so nice and kind to each other. So happy to not see the nasty cattiness that was on the American version. 

The last season of the American version was noted for the camaraderie amongst the vast majority of the chef-testants (save one who was just nasty). It made for enjoyable viewing, and I hope that this one will be just as good.

[Globegrl]

As an American I love Top Chef Canada as much, if not more, than our Top Chef.  It is so interesting to learn about the culture, traditions and foods of Canada.

[Christina]

This is bitchy. I know it's bitchy. You would think I wouldn't post it, but I'm going to... What is the purpose of Mijune Pak on this show? It's just to annoy me, isn't it?

There really isn't anything I can point out and say, "That's what she does that drives me nuts!" but it's something. I've convinced myself that she listens to all the other comments then sums them up in one sound bite to make herself sound smart, and that is what gets aired. On one episode, one of the other guests gave her a look like, "Bish, you just heard me say that!" and then exchanged glances with the woman sitting next to him.

She just bugs. 

I'm enjoying all of the chefs so far and the challenges haven't been ridiculous yet. "We expect you to make a four course meal for 700 people. Your budget is $150 and you have two hours!" That crap drives me nuts, too. There obviously has to be a challenge, but I enjoy seeing what they come up with when given the time to plan and prepare. 

The knife pull for the farmers' market where you got grain, dairy, fruit, etc. was an interesting one. With just one word, they could go in many different directions so they were able to flex their skills. I liked last seasons Restaurant Wars challenge, but it looks like this year will be a regular one. 

[Bunnyette]

Next weeks episode is the kind I hate, bringing back the eliminated chefs, a ploy to bring back Marks former protege Ivana.?  They don’t always do this- which is why I’m suspicious- should she get to stay, I’m done with this show.

[Token]

16 hours ago, Christina said:

This is bitchy. I know it's bitchy. You would think I wouldn't post it, but I'm going to... What is the purpose of Mijune Pak on this show? It's just to annoy me, isn't it?

There really isn't anything I can point out and say, "That's what she does that drives me nuts!" but it's something. I've convinced myself that she listens to all the other comments then sums them up in one sound bite to make herself sound smart, and that is what gets aired. On one episode, one of the other guests gave her a look like, "Bish, you just heard me say that!" and then exchanged glances with the woman sitting next to him.

She just bugs. 

I'm enjoying all of the chefs so far and the challenges haven't been ridiculous yet. "We expect you to make a four course meal for 700 people. Your budget is $150 and you have two hours!" That crap drives me nuts, too. There obviously has to be a challenge, but I enjoy seeing what they come up with when given the time to plan and prepare. 

The knife pull for the farmers' market where you got grain, dairy, fruit, etc. was an interesting one. With just one word, they could go in many different directions so they were able to flex their skills. I liked last seasons Restaurant Wars challenge, but it looks like this year will be a regular one. 

Sadly, Vancouver is full of people like Mijune Pak.... completely pointless, with no skills, but a high opinion of herself and an ability to spout off lots of rubbish while trying to sound educated and cultured.  Welcome to my nightmare.  There is no purpose to her, except to annoy the shit out of people like us.  She is either rich, has rich parents, or is sleeping with someone rich.

[Token]

Wow, has there ever been a Restaurant Wars where it was so obvious who the losing team was???  That was pretty one-sided.  I knew as soon as Ross said they were going to do "all of us, all our different cultures" (paraphrasing there), that he was going to lose because it was going to be too disjointed.

I don't think any of those three people deserved to come back.  Felix apparently made a terrible mushroom broth, Ivana has been bad all season, and Nathan.... well, Nathan didn't really fit in a competition show.

[Christina]

While watching Restaurant Wars I realized that Eden doesn't bother me when she speaks and that is when I think I figured out why Mijune does, who was refreshingly quiet this episode. She probably didn't want to embarrass herself in front of the experts she probably writes about in her journal at night.

Like Katie Lee and Ree Drummond (Pioneer Woman), Mijune holds herself out there as a (and I take this from her profile) "Food Authority" yet doesn't seem to have any cooking skills of her own. I'm going to start calling myself an "Ice Cream Authority" or maybe a "Cookie Authority", since I have both eaten and made (from scratch even!!) more than my fair share and the word authority no longer means what I thought it meant. 

I was surprised how poorly the losing team did. There was one dish that got high marks, two that were fine but not exceptional and the rest failed in all aspects, from idea to execution. The winning team had some failures, too. You would think that everyone would taste all the dishes and offer opinions and that the chefs would consider them. But what do I know? I'm just an Ice Cream and Cookie Authority not a chef in a competition.

[Ciarrai]

I cannot stand Mijune Pak. She's not a chef, she's a blogger and not even a very good one. I hate that she's a judge on this show; my husband knows when I'm watching it because I start yelling "Shut Up Mijune" or "you aren't even a chef!" every time she speaks.

I wanted Felix back on the show just because he's from Vancouver and his restaurant looks interesting. I hope he cooks better there than he did on this show.

Edited May 2, 2018 by Ciarrai

[RHJunkie]

I called it that Ross' team would lose the moment they agreed to do a multi-cultural menu. Around the World is not a concept that easily lends itself to a cohesive menu and it's been tried enough times across this franchise for chefs to realize that they should stop doing it because the default is always to just let each chef go on their merry way and decide what they want to make - you need to understand the ingredients in each dish in order to create a cohesive menu, people. 

[Token]

F*** right off!!  I can't believe that Matthew got sent home because Jesse made salmon tartare for kids.  Jesse is a little b**** who deserved to go home.  But I can't believe that Matthew got dragged down with him.  Screw you show.  I'm out.  I watch to see the best chefs, not the BS games.

And Ross is not as good as his ego thinks he is.

[Bunnyette]

I couldn’t stay awake to see the end, I feared Matt was a goner when he started saying how much the money would mean to him.  Guess the immunity came in handy for Ross this week.

Edited May 7, 2018 by Bunnyette
Mistaken who was eliminated

[unicorn23]

I am shocked Matthew is out because I really thought he was the eventual winner.

I hope the show learns not to repeat this type of elimination next season because it's not fair to the other chef who cooked a great dish to also be considered for elimination. Whoever thought this up needs to not come up with any other suggestions.

Don't blame Ross at all for using his immunity because he was as vulnerable as Jessie was on the other team. I actually think Ross and Mark would have been eliminated if he didn't use his immunity.

So happy to see Jinhee and Nathan win! Like Jinhee I was nervous when she got paired with him due to his history, but they made for a fun and awesome team. LOL @ their talking head in the end with Nathan talking about melting with Jinhee (or something like that).

Still rooting for both Asian chefs to win.

[Mellowyellow]

I'm pulling for Mark and Jinhee! Both are great chefs! I like Jinhee! She's so cute and cheerful! She handled Nathan really well this week despite being a bit skeptical about having to work with him.

I really did not like Mark early on. He seemed to have a huge ego. He's grown on me since.  I think he's naturally just awkward but I find him endearing now! 

[staphdude]

On May 2, 2018 at 3:55 PM, Ciarrai said:

I cannot stand Mijune Pak. She's not a chef, she's a blogger and not even a very good one. I hate that she's a judge on this show; 

At some point this week she said something about ingredients not going together and I thought..."you mean like you and a judges slot on this show?"

 

Ross played this well and it saved Mark. Jesse was delusional when he said he didn't think Ross would use the immunity. Maybe if he were on his own that would be true but with the chance it would sink Mark as well there is no way he was keeping that in his pocket

[Cindyluwho]

Wasn't it the last night he could use his immunity? Why hold on to it? 

[PepperMonkey]

Agree with Cindy: I don't particularly care for Ross, but I admired the way he didn't use it during Restaurant Wars because he said he'd feel terrible if he saved himself when he was the captain of that ship that failed.

Also, to win immunity and NOT use it, is crazy. Those types of immunity challenges have always and forever been that way: someone who might have or should have gone home, that week at least, is saved because of immunity. Besides, even though this is a cooking contest, it's also a game.

Unpopular opinion time: I was kind of tired of Matthew. I mean, obviously, he is an excellent chef, but there was something about him that bugged me and I can't even put my finger on it. I actually thought he was the eventual winner also, so that really shook things up. Honestly thought Jinhee and Nathan were destined to go home this week, so was surprised they won. I really enjoy her and Darren.

[marionette]

That show was a big mess.  These are not teams of chefs and to let one destroy the chances of another because he didn't do a good dish is not fair at all.  I was pretty neutral about all the chefs but I am really starting to not like Dale McKay's boys.  Neither is a strong chef by what we have seen .  Way to get rid of the competition  - set the strong chefs up with Jessie or Nathan.  Should work every time.

[RHJunkie]

Who even thought that this particular elimination set up was a good idea? It totally goes against the spirit of the show which is winning or losing on the merit of your dish from week to week. I don't blame Ross for using his immunity. He would have been stupid to not have done so. However, it takes away a lot of credibility from this show when you not only eliminate a strong strong, but you do so in a competition where he provided a strong dish and it was the weakness of his partner that sent him home. Completely unfair.

[millahnna]

This episode was suspicious from the get go; we didn't see the judges try Jinhee's dessert at all during the quickfire (anyone else they skipped?) and then the team up thing.  Tin foil hat time; Jinhee had the best dessert but we weren't shown her stuff so they could give that prize to Matthew again only to kick him off after about 9 million comments all episode that he's won so many challenges. 

 

Like seriously I know that sounds ridiculous but the whole thing played as just so obvious and constructed.

[xfuse]

On 5/8/2018 at 11:16 PM, PepperMonkey said:

Unpopular opinion time: I was kind of tired of Matthew. I mean, obviously, he is an excellent chef, but there was something about him that bugged me and I can't even put my finger on it.

I dislike it when a chef makes the same thing all the time and Matthew seemed to always make tartar. I think it was because (for me) he gave of the vibe that he believed that he was better than everyone else. I have no problem with someone believing they are good but when they believed they are better than others than I have a problem with that.

[TVbitch]

I wish they still would have revealed the actual losing team. And if it was Ross' team, then his partner should have gone and Ross and the other two stay. The other two should have gone only if they were the losing team. Maybe they wanted Matthew out cuz he was so far and above the others, he was just going to run away with it. Even I was thinking it would not be a very suspenseful season. Still unfair, though. 

[xfuse]

13 hours ago, TVbitch said:

Maybe they wanted Matthew out cuz he was so far and above the others,

In Experience, yes but I don't think he was running away with it.  He won 2 elimination and 2 quick fires which was more than anyone else but Mark won 2 quick fires and came close two or three times.  Jinhee won two eliminations and came close to winning a few quick fires.

I do wish they would have let us know who lost. IMO it was Matt and Jessie because they had issues with Jessie dish as a whole while their problem with Ross was that there wasn't enough salt and lobster.

This challenge was crap from the start. They forced chefs to work together and tied their fate together. No chef should be eliminated because their partner's dish wasn't up to par. Then they gave them their main ingredients that they had to use and the same amount of money. I don't know how many lobsters Mark and Ross were able to buy with the money they had but it couldn't been many. You can buy a whole lot more pork than lobster. It would be different if the chefs chose it themselves.

Edited May 15, 2018 by xfuse
were not where

[zibnchy]

I'm glad the Nathan the Quitter is gone. I'm sure the chefs he supposedly outcooked to return are also thrilled that he's now a quitter. Could not stand him so I ff'd thru most of what he said and did. I'm rooting for JinHee and maybe the guy with the mustache whose name I never bothered to learn. Mark's a good cook but seems like he might be a giant asshole. The 4th guy (name?) should probably thank nathan for quitting and saving him.

I guess the season was a bit of a bore since I can't remember 2 of the final 4's names.

[unicorn23]

Mark and Jinhee for the win. Go Asians! Love that Mark finally won and for a Filipino-inspired dish, to boot. Awesome.

Eden's reaction when Nathan disqualified himself said it all. That was totally unexpected and quite a shock. I wonder if he would have made it to the finale if he didn't remove himself from the competition. I hope we find out eventually and that the judges would reveal that.

[oldCJ]

For an “exclusive” party focused on wine pairings, most of the guests surprisingly seemed to have no clue how to hold a wine glass. Including Eden herself. All the cheftestants do it right at least. 

[unicorn23]

Really bummed Mark didn't win but it sounded like Ross hit the ball out of the park five times out of five. His one con was that one of his amuse trio needed a grain or two of salt. Other than that, there were no negative comments. I didn't even know Ross didn't have any kind of culinary training. That's pretty amazing. He did Newfoundland proud so kudos to him.

Loved all of the feedback for Mark's amuse, appetizer, and dessert dishes. Everyone's reactions after eating his burger tartare brought the hugest smile to my face. Their feedback about the halo-halo made me proud to be Filipino. Mark did that dessert so much justice and I can't wait for him to open his Filipino restaurant so I can try that halo-halo. How sweet was it to see his reaction when he saw his mom and then like a son, he tells her not to show too much emotion, hahaha.

I want the American version of Top Chef to follow this show's finale. I know they've done something similar before but not all of their finales have been like this. Just have the top two chefs cook the food that they want to cook and show the judges what they're capable of without any constraints.

[Mellowyellow]

Was it a good finale? Kinda bummed Mark didn't win! I started out disliking him so much but his awkwardness grew on me and I found him quite endearing by the end. 

[hula-la]

On 2018-05-28 at 4:17 PM, unicorn23 said:

Really bummed Mark didn't win but it sounded like Ross hit the ball out of the park five times out of five. His one con was that one of his amuse trio needed a grain or two of salt. Other than that, there were no negative comments. I didn't even know Ross didn't have any kind of culinary training. That's pretty amazing. He did Newfoundland proud so kudos to him.

Loved all of the feedback for Mark's amuse, appetizer, and dessert dishes. Everyone's reactions after eating his burger tartare brought the hugest smile to my face. Their feedback about the halo-halo made me proud to be Filipino. Mark did that dessert so much justice and I can't wait for him to open his Filipino restaurant so I can try that halo-halo. How sweet was it to see his reaction when he saw his mom and then like a son, he tells her not to show too much emotion, hahaha.

I want the American version of Top Chef to follow this show's finale. I know they've done something similar before but not all of their finales have been like this. Just have the top two chefs cook the food that they want to cook and show the judges what they're capable of without any constraints.

I’m excited to try it too! I have a students who I’ve been pleasantly harassing to get his mother’s recipes that I can use for class (knowing that family recipes are a set of “add some of this, now some of that”). It’s high time for some fine dining, Filipino style!

[LeighLeigh]

Let’s talk about the upcoming season.  

Eden is in Toronto filming the new season of Top Chef Canada. Her Instagram stories show her in hair and makeup.

[LeighLeigh]

Filming has ended. Eden is back in New York. 

Can’t wait for the new season.

[hula-la]

I’m looking forward to a new season too. What I would love, though, is if they travelled somewhere other than Toronto (or Ontario). There are such great culinary traditions in our country, and this would be a great opportunity to show it off. 

[LeighLeigh]

Did you see the show with Chuck Hughes and Danny Smiles? It showed a variety of Canadian cities and ingredients. Lynn Crawford’s Canadian cookbook was also good. 

It would be nice for Top Chef to travel. I agree with you.

[LeighLeigh]

Eden was just filming in Paris. I wonder if it was a Top Chef finale.