S16.E10: Hoop Dreams

[biakbiak]

2 minutes ago, bravofan27 said:

ara's thing is fried chicken, not waffles. That's why she chose the mix. It's probably how she usually makes waffles. I think she really had confidence in her fried chicken and waffles were secondary. 

Than she just should have made fried chicken which would have met the challenge. She was the one who decided to go with chicken and waffles. Also, given that she brags about her baking skills I can’t imagine that is how she typically makes waffles.

[bravofan27]

4 minutes ago, bravofan27 said:

Sara's thing is fried chicken, not waffles. That's why she chose the mix. It's probably how she usually makes waffles. I think she really had confidence in her fried chicken and waffles were secondary. Now Adrienne picking on Sara sort of shows some insecurity IMO. Waffles aren't really that big of deal. It's fried chicken that's hard to make. I don't see why it needed to be brought up at all-- the waffles weren't that good anyway. I'm remembering when Kwarme made chicken and waffles and he literally used frozen waffles! Padma could tell immediately. That was bad, but no one ratted him out for it. Respect. Sara IMO was right to be pissed.

Adrienne makes me squirm now. She's catty and I don't think she would have done that to a man. That said, being a celebrity chef is like being a porn star. It's not that hard, you just show up, be on time, and take direction. Once the pressure gets to you, you are quickly and swiftly replaced. It's a dirty business. super fake, and full of douches faking it to make it. My point is that I don't think Sara will be around that long. Nor Adrienne.

[HappyDancex2]

35 minutes ago, biakbiak said:

Than she just should have made fried chicken which would have met the challenge. She was the one who decided to go with chicken and waffles. Also, given that she brags about her baking skills I can’t imagine that is how she typically makes waffles.

Are your biscuits 100%?   Cuz my bisquicks are 100%

LOL

[Kippy]

I’m late to the commenting party...

In my opinion, things crossed the line when the competition was over. I didn’t really like Adrienne’s bus driving or the chanting during judging. I can see how that would be humiliating and seem hurtful from people you thought were friendly and wanted you to succeed (not be better than but still do well). However, it didn’t seem too bad until it was clear in the stew room that Sara’s team had lost and one of them were going home. Lay off at that point. You won already and you don’t need to rub it in. That’s just gross.

i wish the chefs were just always kind and encouraging. It is much more pleasant to watch. I just need to watch more Great British Baking Show to get that from a competitive reality show.

[abbottrabbit]

20 hours ago, AriAu said:

Interesting question and I'm asking for a friend. Why is it ok to use pre-made bread/rolls, but not a mix to actually make waffles? They asked Justin why he didn't use a bun or roll and noone asked why he didn't bake one, but Sara is getting shit on for using a mix as the base for her waffles. I realize that her bigger/biggest issue was that the waffles were not good, but where is the line on what needs to be homemade?

Eggo (always a bad approach)

 vs.

starting with a mix and adding ingredients (is the end product any good?????)

 vs

totally from scratch....

 Elia won a breakfast on the beach challenge in Season 2 using a frozen waffle (and having copied said breakfast myself: she deserved it), so Eggo or its Whole Foods branded equivalent isn't always a bad approach. And there have been a couple of times when chefs in the bottom group tried to defend themselves by tearfully saying things like "I wanted to make my own pasta so I could be sure it was up to my standard," and Tom or a guest judge cut them down by saying they'd rather have good premade pasta than bad fresh. The snooty purity about premade ingredients not being wuuuuuurthy of use on Top Chef is entirely situational -- they'll ding you for it if your dish is in the bottom, but praise you for "making it your own" if it's in the top. 

That said: I do not like Sarah and I think she overreacted. But I would have punched Adrienne in her face if I'd been there (even if I hadn't been the one she pulled that on; even if I'd been on her team). That smug little grin and her sleepy eyes, doing a bad job pretending she didn't understand why anyone was upset, using that insincere, syrupy voice and cutesy nicknames. Barf. 

Edited February 13, 2019 by abbottrabbit

[Suzn]

37 minutes ago, abbottrabbit said:

That said: I do not like Sarah and I think she overreacted. But I would have punched Adrienne in her face if I'd been there (even if I hadn't been the one she pulled that on; even if I'd been on her team). That smug little grin and her sleepy eyes, doing a bad job pretending she didn't understand why anyone was upset, using that insincere, syrupy voice and cutesy nicknames. Barf. 

That's what put it over the top for me - doing something shitty and pretending otherwise.

[Giselle]

17 hours ago, HappyDancex2 said:

She's got such a big mouth and ego she should have just defended herself.   She could have said part of Top Chef is making things in time constraints.  You buy a curry powder or garam masala....you didn't toast and make your own.   You buy dried pasta sometimes....you don't make it from scratch.   You alter tomato sauce when you don't have time to develop deep flavors or stew the canned taste of the tomatoes out.   We've been shown repeatedly how the chefs will ask the butchers for help breaking down and preprepping their stuff.   

Specific to her she should have said "do you need to be some kind of culinary genius to blend flours and rising agents?   Don't act like you are Jacques Pepin because you mixed your own waffle mix.   GTFOOH"   

I would have actually respected her for that LOL

I would have respected that and thought it ballsey but I also would have said, "Fine, but first, it was still an awful waffle. Who wants to eat a spongy waffle? Second, in this instance the excuse of time constraints is a nonstarter because another contestant made their waffle batter from scratch and it was crispy upon presentation. Third, you are in a cooking competition, not the company chemist that developed the mix for production, plus that "enhanced" mix was half of your dish. It wasn't a small component, but the waffle in chicken and waffles."

[Eulipian 5k]

1 hour ago, Suzn said:

That smug little grin and her sleepy eyes, doing a bad job pretending she didn't understand why anyone was upset, using that insincere, syrupy voice and cutesy nicknames. Barf. 

Hubba-Hubba Adrienne! LOL.

The Top Chef Mistress with the secrets to win Top Chef:

1. Get sick during RW
2. Rat out the competition
3. Win the Crowd!

It's all about the food! (The Magic elves of TC, and Andy Cohen, must love this little controversy. LOL)

[biakbiak]

3 hours ago, Eulipian 5k said:

Get sick during RW

She didn’t get sick at RW and she rocked as the exec chef.

[Macbeth]

On 2/12/2019 at 8:15 AM, Giselle said:

Sarah was on camera choosing and justifying the use of a mix. Production  filmed it and whispered in Tom's ear and Tom brought it up to Adrienne. They knew already! Everybody knew! 

The emperor had no clothes. Everybody knew it. One person was honest enough to say something.

Why should Adrienne lie to a judge who knows the answer and cover up for some slacker taking shortcuts to gain an advantage? She did nothing wrong. ...

Why did Tom keep bringing it up? 

Tom knew.  That's why he brought the subject up.  And there is no way Sarah was winning any round with a pre-made mix.  Tom would not allow that to happen.

My anger is the fact that Michelle went down and Sarah stayed.  I call BS on that scenario.  Of course Michelle just won an elimination challenge - so she had to go.  That's the way it is playing out this season.

And of course, once again, a piece of equipment goes down.  You know these are kitchens that should be regularly inspected.  Wonky cooking appliances can lead to a diner's ill health.  

[Giselle]

21 minutes ago, Macbeth said:

Tom knew.  That's why he brought the subject up.  And there is no way Sarah was winning any round with a pre-made mix.  Tom would not allow that to happen.

My anger is the fact that Michelle went down and Sarah stayed.  I call BS on that scenario.  Of course Michelle just won an elimination challenge - so she had to go.  That's the way it is playing out this season.

And of course, once again, a piece of equipment goes down.  You know these are kitchens that should be regularly inspected.  Wonky cooking appliances can lead to a diner's ill health.  

Production kept Sara because she's from the state. She didn't deserve to stay but TC has more often than not kept a hometown chef around until they really can't justify them being there with a straight face.

I'll take a soggy rib with a great sauce over Chicken and a soggy waffle.

I love pork period and love well prepared ribs, but... I will eat soggy ribs! I will eat boiled ribs (forgive me Vince Wilfork), I have steamed overcooked ribs just to salvage them to munch . Give what you don't want! 

Just don't try to take one from my plate. You will be hurt.

For damn sure don't ever serve me a soggy waffle from a mix or from scratch. That sucker would be spinning back right at you as it flies through the air. 

[HappyDancex2]

6 hours ago, Giselle said:

I would have respected that and thought it ballsey but I also would have said, "Fine, but first, it was still an awful waffle. Who wants to eat a spongy waffle? Second, in this instance the excuse of time constraints is a nonstarter because another contestant made their waffle batter from scratch and it was crispy upon presentation. Third, you are in a cooking competition, not the company chemist that developed the mix for production, plus that "enhanced" mix was half of your dish. It wasn't a small component, but the waffle in chicken and waffles."

All true.  But I was talking about her talking to her peers or the crowd.   She just went with the whole bullying aspect when she thought that some ribbing over a box mix was taken too far.  I'm not letting my peers pretend that blending a waffle mix is the end all be all.   The implication of homemade versus well executed or even transformed?  Well at least she had her chance.   As an aside I think it's really the worst of all worlds because I'll bet the whole foods mix is pretty good and she just messed up the cook on the waffles anyway LOL.  Chefs are notoriously horrible about measuring so if she just dumped the flour with the liquid and eyeballed it she got funky batter.

Had your words come from Tom I would just agree.   You didn't like my waffles.   Maybe they were too soft for you?   I wanted contrast to my extra awesome super crispy chicken.  Maybe I should have edited the whole dish down to my awesome chicken and skipped the waffle.   I spent a lot of time on the chicken.

As it were, Michelle picked the worst dish to make given the time constraints.   She was doomed from the beginning.   Thus Sara escapes again.   Can't wait to hear what she is an expert on this week.

[Giselle]

19 minutes ago, HappyDancex2 said:

All true.  But I was talking about her talking to her peers or the crowd.   She just went with the whole bullying aspect when she thought that some ribbing over a box mix was taken too far.  I'm not letting my peers pretend that blending a waffle mix is the end all be all.   The implication of homemade versus well executed or even transformed?  Well at least she had her chance.   As an aside I think it's really the worst of all worlds because I'll bet the whole foods mix is pretty good and she just messed up the cook on the waffles anyway LOL.  Chefs are notoriously horrible about measuring so if she just dumped the flour with the liquid and eyeballed it she got funky batter.

Had your words come from Tom I would just agree.   You didn't like my waffles.   Maybe they were too soft for you?   I wanted contrast to my extra awesome super crispy chicken.  Maybe I should have edited the whole dish down to my awesome chicken and skipped the waffle.   I spent a lot of time on the chicken.

As it were, Michelle picked the worst dish to make given the time constraints.   She was doomed from the beginning.   Thus Sara escapes again.   Can't wait to hear what she is an expert on this week.

Agreed.

I wish I could give you a like and a laugh at the same time.

Thank God Sarah isn't a surgeon. 

Edited February 14, 2019 by Giselle

[awaken]

It really bugs me how women call each other “mama” all the time. I’ve had several workplaces where this is all the rage. 

[HappyDancex2]

40 minutes ago, awaken said:

It really bugs me how women call each other “mama” all the time. I’ve had several workplaces where this is all the rage. 

Ugh really?  Thank goodness I've never heard this in the workplace....just in passing on TV shows.  I think for some people it comes off as very natural....or maybe it's the situation!

I can only imagine someone who I didn't know very well or had zero chance of seeing again who forgot my name addressing me in this way.....in passing LOL!!!!!!   It's not really endearing.  I'm nobody's mama.  I think it's odd.

[HappyDancex2]

OMG I just saw that the next episode title is "The Greatest."    BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAHA.   I feel Sara trolled now by the Top Chef editors.

[biakbiak]

45 minutes ago, HappyDancex2 said:

OMG I just saw that the next episode title is "The Greatest."    BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAHA.   I feel Sara trolled now by the Top Chef editors.

Why? It’s a tribute to Muhammad Ali who is going to be the focus of the EC becsuse he was from Louisville.

Edited February 14, 2019 by biakbiak

[HappyDancex2]

8 hours ago, biakbiak said:

Why? It’s a tribute to Muhammad Ali who is going to be the focus of the EC becsuse he was from Louisville.

Cmon...you just couldn’t let me wonder for one more day if it was going to be Sara proclaiming her latest epic greatest skill and then getting the epic greatest boot for it?????

The literal isn’t nearly as snarkalicious!!!!!!

Oh and if you are a gal then add a Mama in there with a slight southern twang.  If you are a guy then no mama for you.

[rafibomb]

On 2/12/2019 at 7:31 PM, bravofan27 said:

Sara's thing is fried chicken, not waffles. That's why she chose the mix. It's probably how she usually makes waffles. I think she really had confidence in her fried chicken and waffles were secondary. Now Adrienne picking on Sara sort of shows some insecurity IMO. Waffles aren't really that big of deal. It's fried chicken that's hard to make. I don't see why it needed to be brought up at all-- the waffles weren't that good anyway. I'm remembering when Kwarme made chicken and waffles and he literally used frozen waffles! Padma could tell immediately. That was bad, but no one ratted him out for it. Respect. Sara IMO was right to be pissed.

Adrienne makes me squirm now. She's catty and I don't think she would have done that to a man. That said, being a celebrity chef is like being a porn star. It's not that hard, you just show up, be on time, and take direction. Once the pressure gets to you, you are quickly and swiftly replaced. It's a dirty business. super fake, and full of douches faking it to make it.

Personally, I think Adrienne would've said the exact same thing if it had been one of the men- the difference is that none of them would've cried about it. 

[Eulipian 5k]

49 minutes ago, rafibomb said:

Personally, I think Adrienne would've said the exact same thing if it had been one of the men- the difference is that none of them would've cried about it. 

I agree about Adrienne, but didn't one of the male chefs whine in the stew room that nobody else stood up for his dish?

[Rai]

I recall Brian doing that on the houseboat challenge, and everyone basically ignored his whining. And I was okay with that . because I really felt Brian was more in love with his own cooking than was necessarily merited.

[seacliffsal]

So, I thought that all of the food looked great!  It was funny/sad to watch Eddie not quite knowing what to do.  I wondered if they planned this event with an odd number so that if someone had to leave (or chose to leave) they would still be able to have the team competition.  I do appreciate a previous poster's observation that they probably just had to hold this particular competition whenever the arena had availability, so quickfire winning chef is sitting out...

I would have felt so ripped off if I had been in the crowd and not gotten to eat anything!

I think the inter-contestants interactions could become very interesting in the upcoming episodes.

[Giselle]

2 hours ago, Rai said:

I recall Brian doing that on the houseboat challenge, and everyone basically ignored his whining. And I was okay with that . because I really felt Brian was more in love with his own cooking than was necessarily merited.

Much like Sarah.

[bluepiano]

On ‎2‎/‎10‎/‎2019 at 3:44 AM, novhappy said:

II don’t know. Yeah the food looked tasty and it was appropriate for a sporting event but man those are top chefs? Fried chicken, waffles, dumplings, burger w stuff on it? This was not elevated food, not gourmet and not impressive. What would the Voltaggio brothers have cooked?  Stephanie or Blais?  Hung, Kristen or Jennifer? This seasons chefs are not at the level this show has had in the past. “ you crimped dumplings!”  And yeah I think the ribs should have gone home. I make ribs all the time like that. Nothing special at all. And they had additional help!  

And the winner takes it because he frenched his drumsticks. Ok. Great. That takes time but they had help! Way to knock it out of the park 

I know the judges said best chicken, best drumstick, tastiest they’d ever had. Maybe they were just really hungry or protecting the franchise but come on! It really seemed like Food Network level cooking. 

You said something I've been thinking for a while. I watch this show with an expectation of being fairly consistently blown away by the skill level and creativity of the contestants, and this season I'm not feeling it. You mention Food Network. I would actually say that the level of cooking often feels comparable to Master Chef. (not sure if that's more or less of an insult). To be honest, not every season of TC has been stellar, and there've been at least two or three dud winners. But overall, this is not a strong season.

I would've said that this season might best be remembered for the all around friendliness, and lack of cliques or gamesmanship. Until this week. Maybe that's why the white team's actions towards Sarah really stand out. For my part, I thought it was a bush move and understand her being upset.

Edited February 14, 2019 by bluepiano

[heavysnaxx]

On 2/8/2019 at 11:43 PM, Kaiju Ballet said:

Besides, Sara ate up the fans rooting and hollering her being described as a hometown girl, and she was definitely playing to them with the name of her dish

EXACTLY. Girl wants to have her BOXED waffles and eat them, too. She just annoys me when she snatches defeat from the jaws of victory - they loved her fried chicken a lot but all she does is keep people's attention on what she didn't do as well. Criminy, way to sabotage yourself.

Quote

You're right that it feels like bullying.  I was bullied as a kid so I recognize that behavior right away. 

Hmm. I honestly see the opposite: Sara's behavior throughout struck me as the kind of bullying I enjoyed at the hands of a manipulative middle-school operator. Sara expects to call the shots ("Mama"), determine what's proper and what's not (how one behaves in a competition), talks big but is really insecure (oh, just own you took a strategic shortcut and quitting blaming your competitors, their violation of the Queensbury rules, and the rotation of the earth), and if you dare threaten her, then you're not just wrong, your character is. You'll notice she only really went after Adrienne because Adrienne was vulnerable to giving a s*@t about what she said, and being able to make Adrienne feel bad reestablishes her position of authority.

Anyhoo, back to fried chicken.

Edited February 17, 2019 by heavysnaxx

[candle96]

On 2/9/2019 at 9:30 AM, hendersonrocks said:

I understand and agree she who uses box mix must be prepared for the consequences, but I also hope the white team might feel a small twinge of regret at how they riled up the crowd against Sara once they see the footage. I mean, to have a large group of people actively rooting against you (in your home region, where you make your livelihood) is REALLY different than hashing it out in private at judges table.

I still remember a time in 8th grade I was on a losing team and everyone booed us. It SUCKED. Now I imagine that on a much larger scale,  with a much louder crowd, at your favorite basketball team's stadium,  and I can see that being really hard. College and pro basketball payers may be used to that type of noise and booing, chefs not so much. I'm pretty sure I would cry. And I don't even like Sarah. (and as a fellow hardcore basketball fan, I kind of get how much it meant to her to be there)

That being said, it was a really silly decision to use the boxed mix. How much time do you really save not having to measure and mix flour, baking soda, and baking powder? (or whatever the ingredients were)

Edited February 18, 2019 by candle96

[Evenshorter]

On 2/9/2019 at 7:54 PM, Irlandesa said:

They are but I think I'd like to try Justin's mainly because it wasn't on a bun.  Every time I've ever bitten into a Juicy Lucy, the boiling cheese has farted out the back leaving me without cheese.  Using a knife and fork probably controls the gushage a bit more.

I have never had a Juicy Lucy, but this description has me wanting one so badly......

[BarneySays]

On 2/11/2019 at 9:43 AM, Yeah No said:

nd if I were in her shoes I would have felt like the other team was ganging up on me and making a public spectacle of my mistake through patting themselves on the back for not using a pre-made mix.  The implication that they were attempting to humiliate Sara was more than obvious to me, and speaks of a mean-spiritedness that I frankly thought these chefs were above.  Why didn't anyone clue her in about the mix beforehand, too?  I thought we valued contestants that helped other contestants, not let them swing in the breeze and then make a spectacle of them, unless something changed overnight when I wasn't looking.

I wholeheartedly agree.  I think the telling moment was when they kept insisting in the break room that they did not do what we watched them do.  They're unwillingness to consider that they went overboard was where their real character shone.  I had a negative reaction to the blonde from early on.  it's nice to know my instincts are still good.  If I were the boxed mix woman, I would have come out and said- look, bitch, you were carried through an entire challenge when you should have been sent home, so take your waffle mix and shove it up your ass.  At least she told her to stop being so familiar with her.

It wasn't just that they were trying to humiliate her in front of the crowd (or were clueless to what they were doing), it's that it was her home town crowd.  That's what would have upset me if I were her.

Finally, with the sports metaphors, this was more like a player shouting out to distract a player just as s/he is about to release the ball at the free throw line.  Bad sportsmanship. 

[spankydoll]

On 2/9/2019 at 2:42 PM, kicksave said:

Some thoughts and not all of them are about the food....

I don't know about everyone else, but I'm tiring of Padma and her revolving door of outfits and hairstyles...her cultural appropriation of the cornrows and wife beater shirt was not only offensive but tone deaf. This season she has gone crazy with the costume like outfits and silly hairstyles. But this last episode took the cake.

As for Sara and the waffle blunder...she should have know from previous seasons that using pre made mix would be a huge no no. However, I thought what her fellow contestants did by starting a chant with the huge crowd that was more of a taunt, showed poor sportsmanship and was very immature. For Sara, a Kentucky girl who loves her Wildcats, it was a humiliating moment and was unnecessary. She was called out for it...why rub it in with a sold out crowd and embarrass her further? This was the first fissure in this group that has so far seemed to be pretty tight with each other and not as backstabbing as other contestants have been in previous seasons. 

Finally, do Justin and Eric have to be joined at the hip for every team challenge?  

I was at the event and there were plenty of people on her side of the arena chanting "Better chicken!". It wasn't anywhere near as one sided as Sara made it out to be. Eric was very charming and Sara gave some indication of being a jerk which has been verified for me as I watch the earlier episodes.