S16.E09: Music City USA

[FormerMod-a1]

Quote

In Nashville, Tenn., the chefs cook onstage at the Grand Ole Opry for singer Hunter Hayes; Inspired by a vibrant music memory, the chefs put their hearts on a plate for musician Caleb Followill, model Lily Aldridge and chef Jonathan Waxman.

Air date: January 31, 2019

[Bastet]

I had a simultaneous <sob> and <smile> reaction to seeing them honor Fatima at the end of the episode with an "In memory of" screen.

How do two people make food Tom of all people finds too salty??  I was particularly disappointed to see Kelsey do that to hers, because that was a beautiful-looking plate of food.  Eddie's dish seemed to fail on more levels than the other two, so I was a little surprised to hear David's name called instead.  I felt bad for him getting so frustrated that he was pretty much throwing a fit.  Sometimes in these "make a dish inspired by" challenges, someone just makes a dish they want to show off and makes up a story to go with it, but here it sounded like everyone did have a good music memory they wanted to cook to, and his was the one plan that got derailed by what Whole Foods had available.  He was in a much better mindset on day two, but I'm not surprised he wound up among the bottom three.

LOL at Justin coming out as a country music fan.  I like a wide variety of music, which includes a lot of '60s-'00s country, and I've been to the Opry, so I can appreciate how excited Kelsey was if she's a huge fan. 

I was impressed with Adrienne getting the QF win while sick; when your body and brain are both sluggish, winning a 20-minute challenge is no small feat.  Immunity would have been the ideal "advantage," obviously, but an extra hour was pretty much the next-best thing in her situation and I'm glad she did well enough to stay on.

Justin made me nervous making everything purple, so even though he was missing a plate and couldn't win, I was relieved no one thought it was gimmicky, that all his purple food was indeed good and made sense together.

Michelle made me tear up talking about her dad in her talking head, so I was not surprised to see those at the table so affected.  It didn't feel like the sob stories on Chopped.

[Nordly Beaumont]

I felt so bad for Justin as he described his dish after realizing he missed a plate - he just looked so defeated. Nice that he was top three even if he couldn't win.

Was it weird that we heard the chef's thoughts as they lined up for the verdict? Has that always been a thing and I just now noticed?

[susannot]

Feel so badly for Michelle.  That is a tragic story.

I thought that Eddie should have gone home, but David had chewy clams which are disgusting.

I love Justin.  He is entertaining, hip, and a great chef.

[Pickles]

I was not sad to see hat guy go home. Poor Adrienne looked so sick at the beginning of the episode. Glad she started to feel a bit better and did well. Michelle's dish looked delicious. Happy she won. So sad about her dad.

[catrice2]

I actually did not see the point in having Justin up there if he could not win.  

[Bastet]

11 minutes ago, catrice2 said:

I actually did not see the point in having Justin up there if he could not win.  

I've watched this show from the beginning, but I don't remember details at anywhere near the level some others do.  Is this the first time someone rendered ineligible for the win for some reason has nonetheless stood among the top three?

Because it seemed to me like they simply picked the top three dishes, not the top three among chefs eligible to win, and noted that while he was among the top three, he wasn't eligible to win.  As such, I have no issue with it.

It seems the same idea* as when someone with immunity is included among the bottom three (which I do remember has happened) because that's where their dish ranked, and it's noted they are lucky they have immunity because they're not eligible for elimination.

*Well, same minus the possible drama with the latter scenario of whether the immunity holder will/should give up immunity to save a contestant who put out a better dish from going home when they weren't actually the worst.

[avecsans]

For the second week in a row, I was completely grossed out that people had to eat the food that Adrienne prepared. Someone who has recently vomited should not be touching other people’s food.

I do not like these personal challenges because, like tonight, they often devolve into sob stories. I really just want to watch them cook.

This season’s group just does not seem as talented as chefs in other seasons.  None of the dishes in the elimination challenge looked very refined to me.  And it seems as if they’re using a lot more beef. I guess it’s more available in Kentucky than fresh seafood?

[Sew Sumi]

I disagree. This is one of the few chances that we get to see who they are as chefs. Most of the time they are in such strict constraints that we only see glimpses of "them." 

[Thumper]

I'm traveling, and Bravo is not offered in the area I'm currently visiting.  I look forward to your descriptions and comments!

And so very glad they honored/memorialized Fatima.  I loved her during her season, and during her battle.  . ❤️

[biakbiak]

44 minutes ago, Bastet said:

this the first time someone rendered ineligible for the win for some reason has nonetheless stood among the top three?

I am blanking on the details but I believe it’s happened before but maybe I am just remembering them singling out a dish on a losing team that was superb. I don’t have a problem with praising someone’s dish if it’s awesome and they can’t win. 

Did Adrienne have a sauce on her steak? I love a rare steak but that looked really raw but they didn’t mention it.

I love shakshuka but I didn’t think Kelsey’s looked good.

I am wondering about David and the frozen octopus. A lot of chefs recommend frozen simply because it cooks up more tender and is frequently frozen for a lot of preparations. Was it just because he couldn’t evaluate it?

[violet and green]

35 minutes ago, avecsans said:

For the second week in a row, I was completely grossed out that people had to eat the food that Adrienne prepared. Someone who has recently vomited should not be touching other people’s food.

Yes! Repulsive. I was indignant she was allowed to cook - given what a hot sweaty feverish puking mess she was - and then she was wiping her nose with the back of her hand and then touching the barely cooked meat. Gross. I wonder how the poor people who ate her food felt, watching this episode!

[Aerobicidal]

The BMW product placement to begin the episode is even more blatant than Tom’s disgust was when he mentioned he had a mixologist son.

I was hoping Richard Blaise was going to show up on the Grand Ole Opry stage and do drunken karaoke to “Low Places,” just because I imagine that’s his usual weekend activity. Aside from telling his mirror that Stephanie Izard didn’t beat him; he lost to himself.

I’m in a fugue of annoyance because Kelsey’s talking, and then she’s saying she worked at Dovetail and I’ve eaten at Dovetail and it was was okay and while we were eating dessert two male bartenders randomly started singing “Nessun dorma” and I’m glad to be thinking about that instead of paying attention to her.

David says, “You want the top to be a little wet.” If I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard that, although not in the context of omelet cookery . . .

Whenever contestants on this show mispronounce “brunoise,” I wish Tom Colicchio would appear with a giant vaudeville hook and whisk them permanently offscreen. No Last Chance Kitchen for you! May your reputation be as soiled as Mike Isabella’s!

“I’m really cautious about acidic things.” I think that’s written on Joan Rivers’ tombstone and also Ryan Seacrest has that written in Thai as a tramp stamp.

Most of these song choices are pretty okay, aside from Cake, but I’m imagining what former contestants would have chosen. Mike Isabella: “Loser” by Beck. Richard Blaise: “Loser Only to Myself not Stephanie” not by Beck. Ilan Hall: “Loser Except in Top Chef.”

The food in this episode looks totally uninteresting, which is still more than I can say about anything ever released by Kings of Leon. I'm mainly interested how Padma can say "thank you so much" in a way that means "I have less interest in this fuckery than Liberace at the Playboy mansion."

[Irlandesa]

1 hour ago, Bastet said:

I've watched this show from the beginning, but I don't remember details at anywhere near the level some others do.  Is this the first time someone rendered ineligible for the win for some reason has nonetheless stood among the top three?

I don't have a great memory either but I am pretty sure it has happened before.  It has likely happened fewer times than your other example of one chef with immunity ending up in the bottom 3 but that's because more immunity is given out than a chef failing to complete a component of the challenge rendering their dish ineligible for a win.  But I do appreciate they basically treat it as any other dish without the faux "oh how will I taste your dish now" BS that goes on during Chopped judging.  No one is going to eat the whole thing and they're all used to sharing bites so it's nice to see everyone be adult about it while also acknowledging a contestant didn't fully complete a challenge and therefore won't win.  

1 hour ago, avecsans said:

For the second week in a row, I was completely grossed out that people had to eat the food that Adrienne prepared. Someone who has recently vomited should not be touching other people’s food.

Other than Padma and Tom, no one likely knew how sick Adrienne was.  Restaurants aren't known for their sick leave policies so every day people are served food prepared by or served by someone who has vomited recently. 

Speaking of sick, the commercial for this episode was deceptive with Justin's "I feel nauseous" which made it seem like he was getting Adrienne's illness when it was just that he forgot all the plates.  But I wouldn't be surprised if we found out other chefs also were sick.  I feel like that has happened on reality shows before where everyone in close quarters gets sick but they only make a story out of one of them. 

I didn't mind this "personal story" time mainly because there was only one true sob story.  I don't think Top Chef basically held a camera in front of them and kept prying to try and tap into the memory that'd make them cry.  The stories ranged from tragic to lighthearted (the love stories) to very simple (Justin's I'm from Minneapolis and I like Prince.)

I wonder how Kelsey's plate got so much pure salt on it. 

[HappyDancex2]

Adrienne and her feverish sweaty post vom self handling food while dabbing at her forehead and hair was taking my ick factor and launching it upwards.  What are they thinking with this editing?  Hunter is probably like “no wonder 8 got,sick on that tour!!!!!”  If she wasn’t going to get eliminated or quit then they should have just edited her illness out IMO.

i really liked the look of Kelsey’s deconstructed pot pie.  Must have been a salt lick.  However her quickfire shakshuka looked odd...the eggs are usually floating in the tomato sauce but this looked like a sliced open hard boiled egg.  Which kind of defeats the purpose of a shuka.  Have you seen The Birdcage?  Sweet and sour peasant stew...I’ll just leave that there Hahahaha.

David got eliminated because of his crooked hat.

Love Jonathan Waxman!  

[HappyDancex2]

There was also more seafood and fish this episode and all last episode was seafood....a lot of variety this year but I thought Adrienne’s bloody plopped meat that won the QF looked gross.  The first thought that popped into my head was “this group sucks at beef prep” and then she promptly won the challenge lol.  Shows you what I know.  However Hunter had the runs for 3 days after eating her food so jokes on him.

The ribeye course that was served first looked amazing.  I really wanted to try that.  I thought Sara’s gumbo looked interesting.  However each time she speaks I just wait for her to say something grating like “I’ve been to Nashville 1000 times.  I cook the regional food here even better than Kentucky.  I once sang at the GOO and I was very good.  I’ve also made my own guitar out of reclaimed barn wood.”

You know what else was odd?  Crooked hat made those gorgeous omlettes in the QF and then when he plated them it looked like it was completely covered from end to end in white gravy or white cheese sauce.  Like END to END.  I couldn’t even tell it was an egg product had they not shown us him making them and keeping most of the eggs from the pantry.  That was nasty looking.

[Yeah No]

Well, I liked David so I was sorry to see him go.  I don't really favor anyone else, though, which is unusual for me with this show.  This season is shaping up to be ho-hum for me.

I could NOT get over Adrienne winning the quickfire.  Her meat looked not rare but RAW.  In fact, all the top QF dishes looked like they should have been on the bottom and vice versa.

Either I missed it or they didn't disclose what the nature of Adrienne's sickness was.  When she ducked out of the car it made me think she had a stomach thing.  If she had something catching I wouldn't want to have to taste her food.

[AntManBee]

One of the chefs must’ve been slicing onions.  Or a whole bunch of sawdust got in my eye.  

[HurricaneVal]

I realize this is a big competition, but it was really irresponsible for Adrienne to continue to cook and serve food while so very sick.  She should have asked if she could take a bye on the comp.  There is no way she should have gone on to cook and serve that food after having been sick enough to still be vomiting earlier in the and obviously diaphoretic and shaky.  If she hadn't taken herself out, production should have stepped in and removed her.  Maybe she was just car sick, and medical cleared her from her earlier sickness, but I doubt that happened, since they continued to highlight how awful she was feeling, and how weak and sick she still was.

That was completely irresponsible.

Health departments across the country have a difficult enough time getting food service workers to stay home when ill, now Top Chef celebrates that bad decision.

[GaT]

Kelsey's gushing really got on my nerves this week, especially since she failed twice.

[RealityWatcher]

For the people asking if anyone's ever made the top 3 while being ineligible for the win... yes it has happened at least once.

The season that Jeremy won, there was an elimination challenge where Karen (the woman with the pink hair who was featured in this season's restaurant wars episode) made a fish dish that the judges loved, but one of her plates did not have the fish on it. Since the ones who got the fish on their plates loved it, she was indeed in the top 3, but was told she was ineligible for the win. Kwame won that elimination challenge with a crab dish.

It was a while ago, but I'm pretty certain I remember correctly that that's how it played out. 

[marybennet]

Pink-haired Karen (Akunowicz?), one of the two really wonderful chefs who were guests during this season's restaurant wars, in one of the episodes in her season didn't have a plate for Padma but turned up in the top 3. 

I haven't watched yet (waiting for Amazon), but I'm looking forward to Jonathan Waxman.

Edited February 1, 2019 by marybennet

[Harry24]

I'm coming to love Michelle and hope that she's on the "finding herself as a chef" arc we've sometimes seen on this show.

I thought that Kings of Leon lead singer seemed like a jerk.  And an idiot.  His wife did not strike me as very intelligent either, but she seemed nice at least.

Who was the guy near the window who said he was a regular Top Chef viewer and was dying to be present when Tom pronounced a dish the best of the season?  That was so charming.  I don't believe he was identified, though.

[biakbiak]

WTF was with Caleb’s you old guys like prunes joke? You just come off as an asshole when your the third youngest at the table (Lily and Sean are both younger).

[Ellee]

Ok ... so I’m now thinking Justin, Eric and Michele end up being the top three. 

Eddie absolutely had no energy this episode. Kind of lol’d with him sleeping through the car pulling over for Adrienne to get out.  Still like him.

Ok ... Adrienne ... she might be in that top three area too.  Her overcoming the adversity of sickness may be her storyline  I don’t know.  

Originally thought white glasses (can’t think of name at the moment) handed Michele the napkin to wipe her eyes but it was Padma.   That all came out true and genuine.  I hurt for Michele and also that Padma must have a big heart.  

[cameron]

Sean Brock looks so old for his age (35).  Must be all the substance abuse before he got clean.

Also found it interesting Tom's fabricated story about living on St. James Street.  First off, it's called St. James Place and he lives nearby on Adelphi Street not St. James.  But its sounds good for tv.

Edited February 1, 2019 by cameron

[ramonaflowers]

Quote

  Is this the first time someone rendered ineligible for the win for some reason has nonetheless stood among the top three?

In All Stars (Season 8 I think?) they called Blais in with the top and told him that he was ineligible because he continued plating after time was called. I’m sure it’s happened other times but I can’t remember specifics.

Edited February 1, 2019 by ramonaflowers

[rasalas]

12 hours ago, Bastet said:

Sometimes in these "make a dish inspired by" challenges, someone just makes a dish they want to show off and makes up a story to go with it, but here it sounded like everyone did have a good music memory they wanted to cook to

Eddie's was the lamest: My wife and I like Cake. They have a love song. I made a dish she likes. 

[Lamb18]

I just watched on Amazon and they did not show the tribute to Fatima. So disappointing.

Nashville is so pretty. I've never been there and now I'd like to go. I'm glad Justin, Eddie and Kelsey made it through. They are the three I like best.

[Fukui San]

"Octopus's Garden" would be a good inspirational song. Grilled Octopus salad.

[biakbiak]

2 minutes ago, Lamb18 said:

 

I just watched on Amazon and they did not show the tribute to Fatima. So disappointing.

 

It was just astill picture.

[blixie]

I do NOT understand what they see in Eddie's food that made him worth keeping, I thought for sure David was safe and it was between Eddie/Kelsey. Glad it wasn't Kelsey, but at least David swings for the fences. OTOH rubbery clams in salty sauce is pretty bad even if your potatoes are bomb. Still fuckin Eddie. UGH.

[hula-la]

17 hours ago, HurricaneVal said:

I realize this is a big competition, but it was really irresponsible for Adrienne to continue to cook and serve food while so very sick.  She should have asked if she could take a bye on the comp.  There is no way she should have gone on to cook and serve that food after having been sick enough to still be vomiting earlier in the and obviously diaphoretic and shaky.  If she hadn't taken herself out, production should have stepped in and removed her.  Maybe she was just car sick, and medical cleared her from her earlier sickness, but I doubt that happened, since they continued to highlight how awful she was feeling, and how weak and sick she still was.

That was completely irresponsible.

Health departments across the country have a difficult enough time getting food service workers to stay home when ill, now Top Chef celebrates that bad decision.

I'm a total food safety person, it's one of the things that I teach, and totally agree with you. But, I was just reading this article about Adrienne being pregnant, and I'm wondering if it was pregnancy related sickness, which is why they allowed her to compete. https://www.foodandwine.com/news/top-chef/season-16/adrienne-wright-pregnant-chef-interview I don't know the timing of when they filmed this, and how far along she is to figure out whether or not she was actually pregnant then.  Having said that, the show typically does not demonstrate great commitment to food safety, like the quickfire when they took cooking supplies from a Target (at least I think it was a Target), and simply took them out of the package and started using them, or every time they are sent to a location and simply start cooking--do they have access to a sink to at least wash their hands while they're cooking?

Edited February 1, 2019 by hula-la
added "while they're cooking", as you should wash your hands often while you're cooking. Food safety rocks!

[NowVoyager]

11 hours ago, biakbiak said:

I am wondering about David and the frozen octopus. A lot of chefs recommend frozen simply because it cooks up more tender and is frequently frozen for a lot of preparations. Was it just because he couldn’t evaluate it?

I was wondering about that, too. I know as a general rule frozen food is frowned upon, but I thought octopus was a rare exception. I don't have enough octopus experience to say one way or the other. I love WF as much as the next person, but I'm always disappointed when the Cheftestants can't get the ingredients they want. However, I think in this case the error was on David.

Edited February 1, 2019 by NowVoyager

[tvfanatic13]

3 hours ago, Ellee said:

Ok ... so I’m now thinking Justin, Eric and Michele end up being the top three. 

Eddie absolutely had no energy this episode. Kind of lol’d with him sleeping through the car pulling over for Adrienne to get out.  Still like him.

Ok ... Adrienne ... she might be in that top three area too.  Her overcoming the adversity of sickness may be her storyline  I don’t know.  

Originally thought white glasses (can’t think of name at the moment) handed Michele the napkin to wipe her eyes but it was Padma.   That all came out true and genuine.  I hurt for Michele and also that Padma must have a big heart.  

I also saw that Padma wiped a tear from her eye. I think she does have a really big heart.

[CrazyInAlabama]

The way Padma helped Fatima through chemo, and other treatments, and flew to be with her at the end, she does have a big heart.     

I wondered if Adrienne was hideously sea sick, some people are, and the car ride made her sick again.    I guess we'll see as the shows go on.    If she really is five months pregnant at the end of January, then I don't think the filming sickness was the same reason.      DIdn't the filming happen in spring and summer?   

They do make beard nets, because the crew at my favorite grocery store wear them if they handle food, and have beards.   

Edited February 1, 2019 by CrazyInAlabama

[Deevee45]

I totally thought Adrienne was pregnant. It never really occurred to me she might have the flu or a virus. 

[kicksave]

2 hours ago, hula-la said:

I'm a total food safety person, it's one of the things that I teach, and totally agree with you. But, I was just reading this article about Adrienne being pregnant, and I'm wondering if it was pregnancy related sickness, which is why they allowed her to compete. https://www.foodandwine.com/news/top-chef/season-16/adrienne-wright-pregnant-chef-interview I don't know the timing of when they filmed this, and how far along she is to figure out whether or not she was actually pregnant then.  Having said that, the show typically does not demonstrate great commitment to food safety, like the quickfire when they took cooking supplies from a Target (at least I think it was a Target), and simply took them out of the package and started using them, or every time they are sent to a location and simply start cooking--do they have access to a sink to at least wash their hands before they begin?

Another sanitary aspect that Top Chef does not implement is hairnets for beards...I don't know about other people but it bothers me that every season there seems to be several male chefs that have long scraggly beards that they do not shave down to scruff and do not cover with a hairnet. It's just gross to even think of looking at a plate of food that has some beard hair in it. They should have a rule that in order to compete they have to shave their beards completely or shave them down to scruff.

[WendyM]

3 hours ago, Lamb18 said:

I just watched on Amazon and they did not show the tribute to Fatima. So disappointing.

Nashville is so pretty. I've never been there and now I'd like to go. I'm glad Justin, Eddie and Kelsey made it through. They are the three I like best.

They didn't show it on the Bravo site version either. 

[kicksave]

56 minutes ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

The way Padma helped Fatima through chemo, and other treatments, and flew to be with her at the end, she does have a big heart.     

And big breasts that she displays in barely there tops...the outfit she wore at the elimination challenge dinner was almost X rated. Her breasts were practically spilling out of that top. 

I was stunned to see Caleb Followill drinking a large glass of wine at the dinner...Kings of Leon had to suspend a tour a few years ago so he could go to rehab for alcohol issues.

[kicksave]

9 hours ago, biakbiak said:

WTF was with Caleb’s you old guys like prunes joke? You just come off as an asshole when your the third youngest at the table (Lily and Sean are both younger).

He didn't have much to offer in terms of critiquing the food. I don't understand why he and his wife were chosen to sit down for the elimination challenge dinner since neither of them seemed to have much to say about the food. This is problem I am having with Top Chef now...too many celebrity guests now and emphasis on the chefs gushing over them. Also, and I know this is has nothing to do with the celebrity aspect, I have to say that Graham Elliot looks like a dork with those white glasses...I guess that's his signature look or something like the orange Crocs are for Mario Batali but they really annoy me. Rant over.

[luvapickle]

Eddie was not eliminated because his dish was nothing to remember. Whereas the other two were close to inedible. Kelsey's came from the salt domes of Louisiana. David's, while I love him, was salty & mush, & rubbery. The only thing they liked was the potatoes. I find it funny that many had a problem with the salt this week, considering every other week it's Tom complaining about them not using salt. BTW I completely disagree with his need for salt. If you use the right ingredients, seasonings you do not need salt.  

Adrienne might have been sick, but due to editing, she also may have been checked by a doctor. They knew she was sick last ep. I cannot see TC going through one more scandal of subjecting people to someone contagious. For all we know she could be pregnant.  

[HurricaneVal]

Hmmm....  If Adrienne is pregnant, then that's certainly not contagious!  But...  She was feverish and achy on the boat, and seemed feverish again arriving at The Opry.  That speaks more to a virus than pregnancy.  I can see if she's pregnant, she would want to keep it private and not make a big announcement before she's ready to on national TV.  But then if that is the case, then they shouldn't feature her feeling ill at all.  They couldn't do anything about on the boat, because she was ill enough to not participate.  But they responsibly showed her not participating (sort of).  But they chose to show her stopping the car to puke by the side of the road.  They chose to show her feeling disoriented and ill during the Quickfire.  They featured how grateful she was to have that extra hour to cook for the elimination challenge, because she was feeling so unwell. 

So all we, the viewers, know is that Adrienne was sick enough to cook and serve food the same day she was puking and feverish, and continued to cook and serve food the following day when she still stated that she was feeling ill.  It is irresponsible of the show to highlight that.

[Macbeth]

7 minutes ago, luvapickle said:

Eddie was not eliminated because his dish was nothing to remember. Whereas the other two were close to inedible. Kelsey's came from the salt domes of Louisiana. David's, while I love him, was salty & mush, & rubbery. The only thing they liked was the potatoes. 

I agree - I didn't think Eddie should have be eliminated either.  It was lacks passion/same texture v. inedible.  

[dleighg]

I started feeling very old when I pretty much didn't recognize any of the newer songs/groups that were the inspiration. 

Edited February 1, 2019 by dleighg

[biakbiak]

3 hours ago, hula-la said:

But, I was just reading this article about Adrienne being pregnant, and I'm wondering if it was pregnancy related sickness, which is why they allowed her to compete. https://www.foodandwine.com/news/top-chef/season-16/adrienne-wright-pregnant-chef-interview I

The article said she is five months pregnant and found out just before the holidays. The Lake Cumberland episode was filmed the first week of June so she wasn’t pregnant.

Edited February 1, 2019 by biakbiak

[TipseyGirl]

5 hours ago, rasalas said:

Eddie's was the lamest: My wife and I like Cake. They have a love song. I made a dish she likes. 

I think lame is Eddie's MO. He is such and Eeyore.

[Bastet]

Padma's facial expressions are a highlight of any episode, and with this one I loved her reaction to Eddie saying the first time he cooked for his wife back when they first started dating, he made her fish because she didn't like fish.  When he told the story to the other cheftestants, one of them said, "That's so Eddie."

I'd laugh my ass off if he got home and his wife told him she actually still doesn't like snapper, she was just being polite.

[rlc]

I hate to break it to you all, but I was shocked that none of the chefs had nasty talking heads about the fact that Adrienne didn’t plate her own meal. Chefs work sick all the time. It’s like this weird badassery competition to see who can show up for work in the worst condition and still function.

[chabelisaywow]

5 hours ago, rasalas said:

Eddie's was the lamest: My wife and I like Cake. They have a love song. I made a dish she likes. 

So he mentioned that the original dish was served with  du du du du.... RISOTTO. Who on Top Chef has made  a successful risotto.  I can understand trying to side step that one - but he could have served it on rice or crispy rice for texture.  When he said "puffed rice" - I was like, "he's going to serve fish on Rice Crispies?"