S16.E09: Music City USA

[JTMacc99]

43 minutes ago, rlc said:

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.

I suppose that's part of what went on with Adrienne this episode, but I am leaning towards a different reason for why she was participating while she was sick.

To me, above all else, Top Chef is a TV Show. She is a cast member on this TV show. 

None of this is real life. Who cares if she's sick? The TV show this week has eight people competing against each other. She's one of the eight. Can she compete? Yes? Then get in there and do what the TV show needs you to do this week. 

And that's why they don't wear hats, hair nets, gloves. Because this is a TV show. They're not wearing that stuff any more than Nigella Lawson, Jacques Pepin, or Julia Child did on their TV shows. 

So just like I pretend that magic is real when I watch the Prisoner of Azkaban for the 50th time, I can pretend that a real commercial food kitchen is full of charming and attractive young people who aren't exactly cooking in the most sanitary conditions. 

[AriAu]

Quote

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

That is a pretty depressing statement-there have been some good dishes made by that trio, but that has to be about the weakest Top 3 I can think of. Nothing in this episode was a truly innovative thing, altho at least a few of them made good food. I was impressed at how well they all did in the QF-nothing was a disaster...and the winning dish was just a slab of meat???At least someone learned from "Carne!".

The series has started taking on a life of its own when someone says "I always wanted to be here when you (Tom) says this is the best food of the season"!

[biakbiak]

11 minutes ago, JTMacc99 said:

And that's why they don't wear hats, hair nets, gloves. B

None of these people do these things in real life either, maybe hats but that is mostly do to uniform choice of the restaurant. Seriously, follow any professional chef on IG where many IG their actual services and you won’t see these things.

[Writing Wrongs]

I get distracted by how wet that one guy's beard always looks.

[Chit Chat]

3 hours ago, kicksave said:

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.

That and the sweat dripping off of their brows.  Yuck!  It doesn't take much to make me lose my appetite, so I'm glad that I don't get to peek inside a real kitchen or else I'd probably never eat out again. 

3 hours ago, kicksave said:

This is problem I am having with Top Chef now...too many celebrity guests now and emphasis on the chefs gushing over them.

I agree.  We didn't even get to hear Padma's critique of the QF, but listening to the guest judge, he sounded like he was channeling her.  "The flavor profile...…"  That's not something us non-chef types would normally say.  He mentioned that he didn't like the high acidic food that Kelsey made.  He should've made it clear on his rider if there were certain foods he needed to or wanted to avoid.  It would've been nice if all of the chefs could've spoken to him for a few minutes before the QF in order to assess his likes/dislikes.  That must've been some fantastic oatmeal the one guy made (I still can't get their names straight!)  I will now crown myself Top Chef for the daily oatmeal I make.  ;)  

[JTMacc99]

I was happy to see Michelle put together such a good dish, and that was just in general and not because of the story behind it. She's been pretty good all year, so it was nice to see her shine for a bit. At this point, most of them have had at least one moment where they did really well. It's kind of difficult for me to pick a lead dog right now. 

 

28 minutes ago, ChitChat said:

It doesn't take much to make me lose my appetite, so I'm glad that I don't get to peek inside a real kitchen or else I'd probably never eat out again. 

There was a sketch on SNL many years ago where a man dies and he gets to ask a saint in heaven all sorts of questions about his life. Go to the 2:35 mark to see when he asks "what is the grossest thing I ever ate"  Heh. 

[Chit Chat]

JTMacc99, that's pretty gross!!  Thanks for the link though.  Funny stuff.  

[JTMacc99]

6 minutes ago, ChitChat said:

JTMacc99, that's pretty gross!!  Thanks for the link though.  Funny stuff.  

It stuck in my head all of these years that it was the 200th grossest thing. (That and the thing about the girls who had a secret crush on him. Hee!)

I simply don’t want to know is my motto. 

[Rambler]

When Michelle started popping up in the talking heads all of a sudden, I figured she either won or she was doomed. Glad it was the former and not the latter. I can kind of see now why the editors haven't had her on very much in the previous episodes. She has this kind of droning voice that would put an insomniac to sleep. That's probably what happened to Eddie in the car. A couple of miles of listening to her droning on and he was out like a light. Haha I joke, she is still my favorite this season.

[seltzer3]

While I was glad that Michelle won, I did wish that Justin won.  Felt like he was one of the few that actually made a dish based on a song, and not the other way around.  Seemed like majority of the contestants just shoe horned a dish they wanted to make and thought of a song that went with that.  I think almost all of them made a song about their home/life...and then made a dish that they made quite a bit.

[JMarie99]

I’m just glad I had my tissues handy for this episode. Between Michelle’s backstory and the In Memoriam at the end for Fatima, I was a mess. 

I can’t stand Kings of Leon (“use some-bah-DAYY” ... ugh!) but I was hoping that Caleb would at least have something interesting to say about the food or, at the very least, have a decent personality. Glad I’m not the only one who thought he was a douche. The prune joke was stupid and not the least bit funny. I didn’t realize he had been in rehab - and now he’s chugging wine?! His wife seemed sweet - I feel sorry for her. 

Eddie cracks me up, and for that reason alone I’m glad he’s still on the show. So he dates a girl who doesn’t like fish, and for their first meal he makes red snapper? Hilarious. I think he may have said that the Cake song was their wedding song, not merely that he and his wife both liked the band. But he always seems to take the easy way out. Yes, risotto is difficult to do in these competitions, but there are plenty of other ways to make rice. So he chooses to sprinkle puffed rice on top of the dish? Kind of like that shrimp on a stick he made last week. Some of these other chefs try to do too much, sometimes to their detriment, but this guy seems to be so afraid of failure that he doesn’t try to push himself at all. 

[jumper sage]

5 hours ago, JTMacc99 said:

I suppose that's part of what went on with Adrienne this episode, but I am leaning towards a different reason for why she was participating while she was sick.  Everyone wants a sick chef cooking for them.  

To me, above all else, Top Chef is a TV Show. She is a cast member on this TV show. 

None of this is real life. Who cares if she's sick? The TV show this week has eight people competing against each other. She's one of the eight. Can she compete? Yes? Then get in there and do what the TV show needs you to do this week. 

And that's why they don't wear hats, hair nets, gloves. Because this is a TV show. They're not wearing that stuff any more than Nigella Lawson, Jacques Pepin, or Julia Child did on their TV shows.  Very good point

So just like I pretend that magic is real when I watch the Prisoner of Azkaban for the 50th time, I can pretend that a real commercial food kitchen is full of charming and attractive young people who aren't exactly cooking in the most sanitary conditions. 

I don't think Bravo values this show at all.  Moving it to 8:00 means a lot of adults won't catch it.  I work until 8 on Thursdays and by the time I get home, take a shower and get something to eat it's over.  I think to myself I can catch the rerun and the rerun is at 1:30 am.  Bravo will run HW shows non stop and even the new backyard show, which could be cut down to 1/2 hour, Top Chef is rarely on.

[biakbiak]

I just realized when I looked up Padma’s IG to see the date of the Lake Cumberland episode (I remember her IG it at the time) to see the date (June 6th)  that Adrienne was sick that the dinner where Michelle talks about her father’s suicide was most likely filmed a day or two after Anthony Bourdain’s suicide (June 8th) which probably contributed to the judges emotional reaction to her story.

Edited February 2, 2019 by biakbiak

[lindakoy]

23 hours ago, Harry24 said:

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.

 

He's always struck me as a douche bag.

[JTMacc99]

10 hours ago, jumper sage said:

I don't think Bravo values this show at all.  Moving it to 8:00 means a lot of adults won't catch it.  I work until 8 on Thursdays and by the time I get home, take a shower and get something to eat it's over.  I think to myself I can catch the rerun and the rerun is at 1:30 am.  Bravo will run HW shows non stop and even the new backyard show, which could be cut down to 1/2 hour, Top Chef is rarely on.

Comcast/NBC’s level of caring is tied directly to how much money it makes for them. This show is getting long in the tooth but I imagine it’s pretty cheap to produce. 

Not sure why they moved it to 8, but given how much tv is viewed time shifted these days, it probably didn’t make much difference to them for the profitability of Top Chef. 

[Heathrowe]

I didn't think Adrienne seemed that sick, so I was not particularly grossed out. I had read the comments here, so maybe I was expecting her to a lot worse than what I saw. That said, I also thought this was a weirdly boring episode? So maybe I was not paying enough attention. Michelle seems lovely but she is really, really muted so maybe that was part of it. Anyway, this was kind of a zzz.

[carrps]

On 2/1/2019 at 5:44 AM, cameron said:

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

Dang! I'd have guessed 55.

 

20 hours ago, AriAu said:

That is a pretty depressing statement-there have been some good dishes made by that trio, but that has to be about the weakest Top 3 I can think of. Nothing in this episode was a truly innovative thing, altho at least a few of them made good food. I was impressed at how well they all did in the QF-nothing was a disaster...and the winning dish was just a slab of meat???At least someone learned from "Carne!".

I blame the wee little singer judge. He seemed to have pretty pedestrian, unimaginative tastes.

 

3 hours ago, JTMacc99 said:

Comcast/NBC’s level of caring is tied directly to how much money it makes for them. This show is getting long in the tooth but I imagine it’s pretty cheap to produce. 

Not sure why they moved it to 8, but given how much tv is viewed time shifted these days, it probably didn’t make much difference to them for the profitability of Top Chef. 

We dvr almost everything (but especially Bravo shows whose commercials are legion and looooooong).

Kelsey annoyed the holy hell out of me this episode.

[The Solution]

This was a pretty boring episode that I didn't see until Friday because of the 8:00 start time and not being home to set the DVR (and not being able to remember my Spectrum password at work). I was glad Michelle won. I thought Adrienne and Eric's dishes looked better than the other 2 that were in the Top 3, but then I can't stand either Sara or Justin. His was an interesting concept at least even if he couldn't count how many plates he needed. Sara's looked disgusting and who can't make jambalaya anyway? The right person went home for this (minus Sara who also made a disgusting looking QF dish). Shellfish and Tennessee are never a sure thing. Kelsey was really grating this episode. She's out of her depth now.

Obviously this is not my favorite season of Top Chef, but at least I think my favorites are set - Eric, Adrienne, Michelle and Eddie. The rest of them can go pound salt.

[jackjill89]

I hate the "woo-hoo we're in the top (whatever)" on competition shows. Unless you make the finals, just shut up. Kelsey annoys me, and I swear she said it about three times this episode. 

She also annoyed me with her take on pot pie. That was not a pot pie. It was a pretty wreath of veggies with some inconsistently cooked chicken, pastry croutons and some gravy. Not what I think of when I think of pot pie. 

I have this feeling Eddie is going to win. There has been so much attention on him. If he does, he will barely crack a smile. 

[buttersister]

I admit to having no idea who the QF singer is—and no particular desire to find out. Agree about his pedestrian tastes, but also, his personal lifestyle affecting his judgement made him seem even more narrow-minded. Unless the set up was to make something for a guy who likes meat and potatoes, dislikes acidity and who only thinks about eating late at night. Go!

(He likely eats at other times, but made this bit a criteria for himself.)

Edited February 2, 2019 by buttersister

[Chit Chat]

3 hours ago, jackjill89 said:

That was not a pot pie. It was a pretty wreath of veggies with some inconsistently cooked chicken, pastry croutons and some gravy. Not what I think of when I think of pot pie. 

The jambalaya didn't look like a typical jambalaya either. I guess they were going for the deconstructed look.  I thought that Kelsey presented a pretty plate of food, but it's too bad that it was so salty.  I don't think she's out of her depth.  Like many of her castmates, she just had an off day.  At least I'm hoping that's all it was.  Here's hoping my hometown girl does well next time!  

3 hours ago, jackjill89 said:

I hate the "woo-hoo we're in the top (whatever)" on competition shows.

That doesn't bother me because to have made it this far in the competition is worthy of a pat on one's back!  I think that when any of them say that, it's probably not a boastful thing, but more of a statement of disbelief, as in "Wow!  I can't believe I've made it this far considering the competition."  That's just the way I see it.  YMMV!

[Dewey Decimate]

What irritated me about Kelsey this ep was she was going on at length about what a country music fan she is, we're at the GOO, woo hoo, but when Padma asked if she's a fan of whoever the heck that QF guy was, she just kinda giggles and smiles. If I were a legit fan and got to meet him, I'd at least say something like "yes! I love {insert slightly less-known song/album name here)!" Not a douchbag hipster dissertation, but just one sentence showing that I am a true fan and not just some random kiss-ass (which imo she kinda came off as). But take that with a grain of salt*, as I'm one of those people who hate when a personally beloved author/artist/etc. becomes suddenly popular and showered with newbie fans (and feel conflicted because I don't begrudge them success).

*one of the many off Kelsey's visually-appealing but nasty-sounding dish

Whoever that QF guy was - I can't call him a judge because it didn't seem like he had much of a basic palate needed to fairly evaluate - I couldn't stand his repeated comments about "it feels so weird to be eating on camera." Seriously? I don't give a shit about your internal feelings. Tell me about the food, that's why I watch this show.

And get off my damn lawn while you're at it!

[dbell1]

When I think of Nashville and country music stars, Kings of Leon aren't on the list. Wasn't there anyone remotely related to country music available? Or did they all see Adrienne vomiting and bailed? I picture a line of tour buses heading out of town.

[biakbiak]

18 minutes ago, dbell1 said:

When I think of Nashville and country music stars, Kings of Leon aren't on the list. Wasn't there anyone remotely related to c

Kings of Leon started in Nashville 20 years ago and were part of the local music scene.

[Pickles]

I thought it probably didn't help Adrienne's sickness to be sitting in the backseat of the car. Ugh. I even wondered if part of it was car sickness. She should have been in the front seat with the cool air blowing right on her. Most likely car sickness was not an issue for her, but it was the first thing I thought of when she was looking so icky in the backset and asked the driver to pull over. Worst feeling ever. 

[Chit Chat]

11 hours ago, Dewey Decimate said:

What irritated me about Kelsey this ep was she was going on at length about what a country music fan she is, we're at the GOO, woo hoo, but when Padma asked if she's a fan of whoever the heck that QF guy was, she just kinda giggles and smiles.

To be fair, the Grand Ole Opry is the Mecca for many country music fans, so I get her excitement about standing on that stage!  Although I'm not a fan of country music, I do respect the talented artists in that genre, and if I had the chance to be there, I'd be a little giddy too knowing the legends that have graced that auditorium.  ;) 

[Nordly Beaumont]

12 hours ago, Dewey Decimate said:

What irritated me about Kelsey this ep was she was going on at length about what a country music fan she is, we're at the GOO, woo hoo, but when Padma asked if she's a fan of whoever the heck that QF guy was, she just kinda giggles and smiles. If I were a legit fan and got to meet him, I'd at least say something like "yes! I love {insert slightly less-known song/album name here)!"

Edited because I misunderstood - sorry!

11 hours ago, dbell1 said:

When I think of Nashville and country music stars, Kings of Leon aren't on the list.

Right? I like KoL and hate country music!

Edited February 3, 2019 by Nordly Beaumont

[HyeChaps]

I’m surprised they didn’t get a bigger star 

[Colleenna]

8 hours ago, Pickles said:

I thought it probably didn't help Adrienne's sickness to be sitting in the backseat of the car. Ugh. I even wondered if part of it was car sickness. She should have been in the front seat with the cool air blowing right on her. Most likely car sickness was not an issue for her, but it was the first thing I thought of when she was looking so icky in the backset and asked the driver to pull over. Worst feeling ever. 

She's preggers. So probably a combo of morning sickness and motion sickness. And some women experience nausea at smelling certain foods that normally would have them drooling. 

[Pickles]

32 minutes ago, Colleenna said:

She's preggers. So probably a combo of morning sickness and motion sickness. And some women experience nausea at smelling certain foods that normally would have them drooling. 

I know she is pregnant now, but thought she got pregnant after filming Top Chef. 

[Colleenna]

4 hours ago, Pickles said:

I know she is pregnant now, but thought she got pregnant after filming Top Chef. 

You might be right. I don't know when TC was filmed. I know in a January article she said she was 5 months pregnant. Don't know when the interview for the article happened. 

[biakbiak]

19 minutes ago, Colleenna said:

You might be right. I don't know when TC was filmed. I know in a January article she said she was 5 months pregnant. Don't know when the interview for the article happened. 

This was filmed in June. She wasn’t pregnant.

[Rai]

I thought making a salad with grilled cheese croutons was a great idea and one I would like to see more often out there. My love of grilled cheese knows no bounds.

I don't know how everyone is supposed to eat a dish after a real downer of a story. It's not wrong that Michelle shared it, but I have to say, I'd be feeling incredibly awkward shoving something in my mouth after learning about her father. I wouldn't even be able to register what I was eating at that moment. It's so sad.

Also, I found it hilarious that Sara's dad would sing a song about gumbo -- so she made jambalaya. Probably that's more realistic to make in a competition than gumbo, and I'll support her strategic thinking, but still I'm amused, and I'm surprised no one said anything.

I'm rooting for Eric and Kelsey and maybe Adrienne or Michelle. I'll probably get Justin or Eddie though, as much as I hate to admit it.

[JTMacc99]

So... What was up with the promo for next week with Padma saying "Who is up for a little 3 on 3?" I get the basketball reference, but don't we have 7 people left?

[windtrix]

On 1/31/2019 at 10:29 PM, GaT said:

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

Especially since it is somebody most people have never heard of.

[Omeletsmom]

On 1/31/2019 at 10:25 PM, 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.

 

Owning my agree for the above, not the rest of the post.  I don't mind the personal challenges.

The editing is so obvious this season. The last several episodes, I have been able to tell DH  which  person will either win or leave within the first 10 minutes.  I was not at all surprised by this week's elimination.

[biakbiak]

10 hours ago, JTMacc99 said:

So... What was up with the promo for next week with Padma saying "Who is up for a little 3 on 3?" I get the basketball reference, but don't we have 7 people left?

Maybe the prize for the QF is you don’t have to cook. 

Edited February 5, 2019 by biakbiak

[HappyDancex2]

I'm still underwhelmed by the food that I'm seeing.  I guess I wish this season was better "cast" for a lack of better term.  I guess having some rooting interest or rooting non interest always makes the show more interesting or people who have a style of food that they like to cook.   The molecular guys probably don't want to come on anymore but at least their minds are wired in a way where they will always think outside of the box.....and crash and burn because of it if necessary.   Since we can't taste the food all of the risk taking makes better TV.   They should have a 29 minutes risotto challenge LOL.

[bluepiano]

15 hours ago, Rai said:

Also, I found it hilarious that Sara's dad would sing a song about gumbo -- so she made jambalaya. Probably that's more realistic to make in a competition than gumbo, and I'll support her strategic thinking, but still I'm amused, and I'm surprised no one said anything.

 

The song is "Jambalaya," one of many great classics by Hank Williams, and it mentions jambalaya as well.

"Jambalaya and a crawfish pie and file gumbo, cause tonight I'm gonna see my ma cher amio."

[Rai]

For some reason, I could've sworn she kept saying "Gumbo" was the song title. Oh well!

[Special K]

9 hours ago, bluepiano said:

The song is "Jambalaya," one of many great classics by Hank Williams, and it mentions jambalaya as well.

"Jambalaya and a crawfish pie and file gumbo, cause tonight I'm gonna see my ma cher amio."

"Pick guitar, fill fruit jar, and be gay-oh

Son of a gun we'll have some fun on the bayou."

 

A classic.  :-)

[luvapickle]

On ‎2‎/‎1‎/‎2019 at 9:01 PM, jumper sage said:

I don't think Bravo values this show at all.  Moving it to 8:00 means a lot of adults won't catch it.  I work until 8 on Thursdays and by the time I get home, take a shower and get something to eat it's over.  I think to myself I can catch the rerun and the rerun is at 1:30 am.  Bravo will run HW shows non stop and even the new backyard show, which could be cut down to 1/2 hour, Top Chef is rarely on.

They re-air 3 times that night. They probably start the first one earlier for those of us who have to get up in the middle of the night.

21 hours ago, windtrix said:

Especially since it is somebody most people have never heard of.

You might not have, but most country fans have. Hunter has been around since 2012.  I did wonder why Padma said up & comer.

[Destiny74]

2 hours ago, Special K said:

"Pick guitar, fill fruit jar, and be gay-oh

Son of a gun we'll have some fun on the bayou."

 

A classic.  :-)

I hate to be "that person" but that song always reminds me of Steel Magnolia's.

[carrps]

16 hours ago, biakbiak said:

Maybe the prize for the QF is you don’t have to cook. 

I think they actually did that once. The "leftover" was like an addtional judge?

[jumper sage]

5 hours ago, luvapickle said:

They re-air 3 times that night.

The last few shows they are not re-airing it until 1:30 am.  I still haven't caught it.

[sATL]

deleted because my point was not stated clearly and being misunderstood.

Edited February 6, 2019 by sATL
Didn't want to end the day being picked on

[mlp]

Quote

.. but she didn't seem old enough to have a dad singing tunes from the 50s

I don't think you can read anything into that.  People sing all kinds of songs that aren't current.  I imagine lots of dads of all ages sang Jingle Bells before Christmas and that came out in the 1800s.

[biakbiak]

52 minutes ago, sATL said:

According to Google - "jambalaya " by  hank williams came out in 1952.  did she say on road  trips "down south" her dad would sing the song.?

.. but she didn't seem old enough to have a dad singing tunes from the 50s...Wondering just hold old is "dad", or was she referring to her grand-dad

I was just on a road trip pllaying Hank Williams and I was born decades after the song came out. Same with The Beatles and a gazillion other musicians who produced music long before my time. 

Edited February 5, 2019 by biakbiak

[dewelar]

Hank Williams is one of the biggest icons of country music, EVER. He is to country what, say, Robert Johnson is to the blues, or Miles Davis is to jazz. I would be surprised if anyone who's a fan of classic country music DIDN'T sing "Jambalaya" or any one of several dozen songs that Hank sang or wrote.

And if not, it's more likely her dad would have heard the version by The Blue Ridge Rangers (a/k/a John Fogerty) than anything by The Carpenters. It was the first version of the song that I heard in the early '70s when I was a wee lad, and I loved the hell out of it.

[jpgr]

1 hour ago, sATL said:

I'm going to give Michelle a pass over growing up listening to the Beatles (yeah they have a few cuts that people probably do break out and still sing decades later) since it appears she is sill giving over her late father after 15 yrs.

 

I'm 53 and listen to the Beatles all the time. I have very diverse musical tastes, but they are my favorite and in heavy rotation.

eta: jpgr = john, paul, george, ringo

Edited February 6, 2019 by jpgr
my username is relevant