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"Top Chef" (2006-) Reality Chef-Competition Series on Bravo - Now in Season 16


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Predicting Top Chef is generally an unreliable science. Of the five previous champions, I think only Harold and Hung would have been consensus picks at this point in the season. Few would have predicted Ilan, Stefanie, or Hosea. It only take one screw up in one challenge--see Tre's epically bad smoked potatoes from a few seasons ago--to get sent home.

(Wow. I've thought way too much about this.)

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you should cook what your guests are going to want to eat.

I remember Hung saying that he did not cook for the guests; but rather, for the judges. Seems to be a good strategy, particularly since he won. Richard Blais (in my opinion, the best chef who didn't win) said during one show that the way to win was to bend each challenge to your strength and highlight your own style. So, I'm not sure the best strategy is to cook for your guests.

But anyway, I agree with Hungry Prof that it's very difficult to pick the winner at this stage...Just a few episodes in from past seasons, who would have guessed that Carla or Casey or Antonia would have been within one or two challenges from winning their season?

Yet this season it seems like the Voltaggio's, Mike Isabella, Jen, and Kevin are the top 5 at this stage. But all it takes is one mistake, and it's time to pack your knives and go!

I heart top chef.

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Sadly, history tells us probably neither. My dark horse pick is Kevin, who appears to be very flexible in his approach and very focused in the execution.

It would suck if neither Voltaggio wins! This is my first season watching the show, so I have no clue. I just like what I've seen from both Bryan and Mike (V., of course!). You might be right about Kevin, but I hope not...:rolleyes:

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My dark horse pick is Kevin, who appears to be very flexible in his approach and very focused in the execution.

Well, it's now hard to think of Kevin as a "dark horse" after his second elimination challenge win. Personally, he had me since he made bacon jam a few episodes ago. He's clearly in the top group with the V. brothers and Jen. Isabella seems to be fading to me. I think the dark horse now would have to be Ashley, who appears to be coming on strong in the last two episodes.

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Minibar does (or at least did) a deconstructed Caesar Salad as well. I wonder if Michael should have mentioned this given his relationship to Andres (or if he did and it was edited out of the show).

True. I suspect that might have been too much "inside baseball" for the show, though Andres does have a national tv show.

Not germane to any of the contestants on the show, but my wife immediately thought of Johnny Monis' caesar salad poppers that we had about this time last year at Komi. Wow, those were good.

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So top 4 (V Brothers, Jen and Kevin) with Isabella and Ashley battling it out for spot 5.

Time for Ash to go, then Robin, and the other one (who has made such an impression I can never remember her name :rolleyes:).

I think the Top 4 have been so strong that they should all get a shot in the Grand Finale

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Not germane to any of the contestants on the show, but my wife immediately thought of Johnny Monis' caesar salad poppers that we had about this time last year at Komi. Wow, those were good.

I thought the exact same thing.

Ron's departure was 3-4 episodes too late

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Ron's departure was 3-4 episodes too late

There are several duffers in the group, and it's obvious who they are and that they don't have a chance. Wel'l just have to content ourselves with watching how the upper echelon chefs tackle the challenges for a few more weeks while one after another, the duffers are eliminated. After that, it's going to get a lot more interesting.
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Not germane to any of the contestants on the show, but my wife immediately thought of Johnny Monis' caesar salad poppers that we had about this time last year at Komi. Wow, those were good.

Yeah...we just ate at Komi the other night and that was one of our favorite dishes.

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I wonder how much of Ron's poor performance was about cooking ability versus language/cultural barriers.

Did anyone else find Jen's constant self-doubting to be a little annoying? Like the overachiever in high school who goes on and on about how she failed every test and then ends up getting it back with a giant A+? She's always been in my top four, so to see her sort of knocking the wind out of her own sails was a little disheartening.

Although, I suppose it was a nice juxtaposition to Isabella's "I'm so awesome" chefturbating.

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Ron coasted through mainly thanks to the blunders of others in prior weeks. I think the guy can probably cook just fine, but Top Chef is about not just that but being good at a lot of stuff, not just cooking your one style of food. I also agree it'll be interesting to see how the remaining 5 in the bottom half of the 10 remaining will get knocked off and when/how. There are 3 obvious lower end folks with 2 middlers and then the top 5. I assume the restaurant wars will happen in 3 weeks when the contestant pool will be down to 8. And, I think the key will be to see who gets how many of the top 5 on their teams.

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Did anyone else find Jen's constant self-doubting to be a little annoying? Like the overachiever in high school who goes on and on about how she failed every test and then ends up getting it back with a giant A+? She's always been in my top four, so to see her sort of knocking the wind out of her own sails was a little disheartening.

Not really. I did find her attempt to avoid Tom pretty amusing. I think she genuinely thought she was in trouble, and I actually thought her dish looked like a complete mess. Her case was really helped by being able to present a dish that combined steak, cheese, and tomato sauce. That's just a very easy combination to make taste good.

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I love, love, love, love Zaytina, and think Mike Isabella is supremely talented. But based upon the cooking displayed in the show, he is in the middle of the pack. IMHO, it goes (1 & 1a) Pick a Voltaggio, (3) Scruffy Beard Guy, (4) Jen, and then a fairly large drop-off, based upon what has been shown on the show, to Mike I and Eli. I wouldn't be shocked if he went.

Big props to Heather Freeman for the wedding piece in the post last week. Very savvy PR work.

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Not really. I did find her attempt to avoid Tom pretty amusing. I think she genuinely thought she was in trouble, and I actually thought her dish looked like a complete mess. Her case was really helped by being able to present a dish that combined steak, cheese, and tomato sauce. That's just a very easy combination to make taste good.

Agreed. As early as 1979-1980, Marcella Hazan described certain recipes for in her classic Italian cookbooks as being quick, easy ways to create the flavors of elaborate, fresh pasta dishes in sauces for dried pasta: tossing ricotta, onion and spinach w gemelli as opposed to stuffing ravioli, for example. Deconstructions, kind of.

In "fine dining", Gualtiero Marchesi is known for elegant "deconstructed" ravioli that are rather straight-forward; click (then wait for colored streaks to appear on left; next to golden one, click "Cuisine" and you'll see recipes for his best-known dishes). This sort of preparation has been done quite a bit with lasagna noodles, sauces, etc. that simply aren't baked.

Not all that witty and clever and subversive as deconstructions ought to be, but certainly Jen's wheel had already been reinvented. (As for Caesar Salad, I believe lots and lots of restaurants have riffed on the dish. Probably way back in the 80s when towers were in fashion and plates were round.) Might have been interesting to play w the range of ingredients that go into a ragu--cured pork, beef, chicken livers, milk, wine.

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Agreed. As early as 1979-1980, Marcella Hazan described certain recipes for in her classic Italian cookbooks as being quick, easy ways to create the flavors of elaborate, fresh pasta dishes in sauces for dried pasta: tossing ricotta, onion and spinach w gemelli as opposed to stuffing ravioli, for example. Deconstructions, kind of.

In "fine dining", Gualtiero Marchesi is known for elegant "deconstructed" ravioli that are rather straight-forward; click (then wait for colored streaks to appear on left; next to golden one, click "Cuisine" and you'll see recipes for his best-known dishes). This sort of preparation has been done quite a bit with lasagna noodles, sauces, etc. that simply aren't baked.

Very interesting, thanks for posting! i'd never thought of trying to replicate the flavors of the stuffed pastas with dry, but it's an intriguing idea, and, imho, definitely deconstruction.

I too am a zaytinya fan, but have been a little dissapointed by the food mike's done on the show, i sort of expected him to do better, given the food at zaytinya.

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I think Mike's food seems to be a bit "off" because for a couple recent shows he has been winging the dishes because he doesn't know the basic components of what he had to cook (egg florentine, whatever sauce he was assigned).

I was surprised he did not know how to make hollandaise. I think our view of his performance is somewhat skewed, because the food at Zaytinya is great (and was before he got there :rolleyes: ). My guess is he'll be the first "talented" chef to go.
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I love, love, love, love Zaytina, and think Mike Isabella is supremely talented. But based upon the cooking displayed in the show, he is in the middle of the pack. IMHO, it goes (1 & 1a) Pick a Voltaggio, (3) Scruffy Beard Guy, (4) Jen, and then a fairly large drop-off, based upon what has been shown on the show, to Mike I and Eli. I wouldn't be shocked if he went.

Big props to Heather Freeman for the wedding piece in the post last week. Very savvy PR work.

I have to disagree with your comments except for the fact that Mike I. is in the middle of the pack. I've never thought of him as supremely talented, and have never been wowed by the food at Zaytinya. Mike I is in the middle of the pack because he is nowhere close to the talent, cooking knowledge, or skills of the Voltaggio brothers, Kevin, or Jen.

Re: the WaPo article on Mike I., it didn't change my opinion at all. If anything, it only reinforced my earlier impressions about Mike I.

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I like the food at Zatinya. However, I don't thinkMike I has had an impressive showing on the show so far at all. The thing that bothers me the most other than the fact that his food on the show just seems medicore at best is that he's not showing range at all.. if you've noticed it does seem like all he's prepared are Greek or Greek inspired dishes. I haven't paid enough attention to the restaurants that other contestants are from to see if its a common pitfall.

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I like the food at Zatinya. However, I don't thinkMike I has had an impressive showing on the show so far at all. The thing that bothers me the most other than the fact that his food on the show just seems medicore at best is that he's not showing range at all.. if you've noticed it does seem like all he's prepared are Greek or Greek inspired dishes. I haven't paid enough attention to the restaurants that other contestants are from to see if its a common pitfall.

I pretty much agree with your take. But it would be hard for a chef without knowledge of cooking fundamentals to have an impressive showing. It's really poor that Mike I. didn't know how to make a bearnaise sauce (it is pretty much basic knowledge for most serious chefs); he actually said it was his first time doing it when he was paired with Bryan V. It's time for him to go. He's been riding the coattails of the Voltaggio borthers long enough.

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I have to disagree with your comments except for the fact that Mike I. is in the middle of the pack. I've never thought of him as supremely talented, and have never been wowed by the food at Zaytinya. Mike I is in the middle of the pack because he is nowhere close to the talent, cooking knowledge, or skills of the Voltaggio brothers, Kevin, or Jen.

Re: the WaPo article on Mike I., it didn't change my opinion at all. If anything, it only reinforced my earlier impressions about Mike I.

So we both agree he's in the middle of the pack. OK. His PR agent got a touchy-feely, full-page "ad" in the Post a mere 4 weeks after he made an ass of himself on Top Chef. I'm guessing the Post and Top Chef reach about the same amount of people, but the Post has a far more varied, and localized demographic. For every person that isn't going to Zaytinya because Mike I. is a "mysoginist", I'm guessing there's someone checking it out because they read that story. It was good PR work, regardless of whether it changed your opinion.
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It was good PR work, regardless of whether it changed your opinion.

I'm not so sure about that as a lot of people can see through the spin (as I did). Maybe some people will become more curious about Zaytinuya because of Mike I. as a "celebrity," his controversial comments played up by the Top Chef producers, and perhaps b/c of some of the recent PR efforts, but I would argue that many more people watching and following the show and who are interested in eating food prepared by really great chefs will flock to Volt given Bryan V.'s solid performance (and also to the Langham in Pasadena, Ca. where Michael V is the chef de cuisine as well).

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I'm not entirely sure why this show would require anyone to make any specific sauce (unless it's specified somewhere in the fine print). Is this Top Chef or Top French Chef?

I see where you're coming from given the focus of the recent episode. At the same time, whether or not a chef is classically trained, a well-prepared, knowledgeable one should know how to make basic sauces and dishes, many of which happen to be French. Mike I.'s not knowing how to make a bearnaise sauce, for example, was very telling (as was his not knowing how to make Eggs Florentine, a pretty common brunch dish served in American restaurants). Unless I missed something, I don't think we've seen such shortcomings from the V. brothers, Kevin or Jenn.

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Each culture has its own basic sauces, and they're not all or even mostly built on French sauces. Why not ask everyone to do a vindaloo next week?

Vindaloo is not a sauce. It is Portuguese in origin, similar to the French daube or German sauerbraten or any other regional variety of a dish that uses [eastern] Europe's native grapes and the properties of red wine and/or it's related vinegar for meat preservation before the refrigeration era. While the French may not have invented the science and methodology for sauces, they trademarked the organization.

It is a Western Show in a western country whose culinary vernacular alone is heavily influenced from France and western European precedents. There is no reason not to ask them to make a vindaloo in as much as any mechanic worth a damn can change the fluids on a foreign car.

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What's with all the rancor?

Entitled "Vivre Las Vegas", the episode was about cooking for a bevy of accomplished French chefs including Joel Robuchon and Daniel Boulud.

Mastering a repertoire of traditional sauces is as central to French cuisine as learning five positions of arms and feet is to ballet. Donc...

ETA: Of course excellent cooks in the world who don't know how to prepare French sauces outnumber those who do. We haven't gotten to the stage where you can say that about culinary professionals in the United States, but I will add to the rancor, perhaps, by saying cultural bias dismisses a chef who hasn't worked a whole lot with chervil.

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One of the guests seemed to agree.

Great find! Very interesting perspective. After watching repeat episodes, I'm starting to wonder if Mike I. is really comfortably a top five chef. Seems like when he's not under the watchful eye of a Voltaggio, the judges aren't so enamored with his cooking. I'm a homer, so I'm rooting for him, but I wouldn't be surprised if Ashley or Eli take Mike's place in the final five.

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Michael Voltaggio seemed to believe that he had dodged a bullet last night--not that he was at great risk. Imagine the judges eliminating him and leaving Robin? Unthinkable. It was, rather, in Ashley's case, of the stronger chef in a paired challenge taking the blame for the outcome of the dish. It was pretty clear that Eli had oversalted the gnocchi while she so carefully grilled the spot prawns that in the effort not to overcook them, some were undercooked--though I can't imagine that being so bad--they are eaten raw in sushi, after all. It's not like serving raw chicken or pork. But the challenge was badly designed. They should be aimed at weeding out the weak chefs, and Ashley won last week. Boo.

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They should be aimed at weeding out the weak chefs, and Ashley won last week. Boo.

Agreed. How in the world did Ash not go home this week? The guy basically admitted that he is an inferior chef to others in the competition. To paraphrase, this is Top Chef, not Top Sous Chef.

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This is the first season I have watched from beginning to end which is why I ask the following question: Is there always someone who makes it further than they should based on luck the way Robin has? She doesn't have the talent or skill of most of the remaining chefs yet she remains.

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This is the first season I have watched from beginning to end which is why I ask the following question: Is there always someone who makes it further than they should based on luck the way Robin has? She doesn't have the talent or skill of most of the remaining chefs yet she remains.

Yes, I think most seasons there's a chef who goes further than they should...the most egregious case, in my opinion, was Lisa in Season 4, who actually made it to the finale episode (top 3 chefs left standing)...she was on the chopping block a number of times but somehow escaped elimination.

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This is the first season I have watched from beginning to end which is why I ask the following question: Is there always someone who makes it further than they should based on luck the way Robin has? She doesn't have the talent or skill of most of the remaining chefs yet she remains.

Yes- it definitely happens (and conversely some very good chefs go before their time). The cheftestants are judged by the plate they put out that night- with no consideration to any other week, so one screw up can send you home. And some luck out that every week- someone screws up more than they did. Or someone screws up while they held with merely passable.

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Yes- it definitely happens (and conversely some very good chefs go before their time). The cheftestants are judged by the plate they put out that night- with no consideration to any other week, so one screw up can send you home. And some luck out that every week- someone screws up more than they did. Or someone screws up while they held with merely passable.

Put differently, you can survive for a long time by playing it safe. It's ok to finish in the middle of the pack. . .until the pack shrinks to the point where you can no longer hide.

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O.K. two questions:

1. Did Charlie Palmer pick Kevin to win to avoid the appearance of favoring either Bryan or Michael V., who had both worked for him? He insisted at the top of the show that he would be objective and not favor them, but it seemed like both of them had much more inventive dishes than Kevin, especially Michael V.

2. How on earth did Kevin make enough terrine for 150 people in four hours? First, he had to bone out the pork leg. In order to make decent-tasting terrine, you need to marinate the meat, then grind and season it, cook it in a water bath for at least an hour. Rest under a weight and chill in order to be able to have neat slices. In four hours?

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Lots of fun to watch tonight, quite satisfying, and it really made me smile to see just how genuinely proud and thrilled Kevin was to win and then learn the nature of his spoils. Was it the first time these four came out together on the top? That was interesting, if so.

Regarding the part of the show that has more in common w "Real Housewives of Loudon County" than cooking: I am getting a bit sick of the Jump On Robin leitmotif that seems rather sadistic when it comes to decisions producers make since Robin is not being portrayed in a particularly favorable manner.

Also, I wanna know what's behind Ash's remarks about excluding Padma from his list of guests to his restaurant.

*****

ETA: Other than the pork itself, were chefs obligated to buy all their ingredients at Whole Foods? If so, that kind did the rillette-chef in; she started to look for duck fat and ended up with chicken stock. Heard someone ask about lard, too. There are just some things that store does not carry.

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Regarding the part of the show that has more in common w "Real Housewives of Loudon County" than cooking: I am getting a bit sick of the Jump On Robin leitmotif that seems rather sadistic when it comes to decisions producers make since Robin is not being portrayed in a particularly favorable manner.

They always need to have conflict with a "bad guy" or a goat--someone everyone can love to hate. They may even have chosen her for the show because they knew that with her motor-mouth, she'd get on everyone's nerves.

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O.K. two questions:

1. Did Charlie Palmer pick Kevin to win to avoid the appearance of favoring either Bryan or Michael V., who had both worked for him? He insisted at the top of the show that he would be objective and not favor them, but it seemed like both of them had much more inventive dishes than Kevin, especially Michael V.

2. How on earth did Kevin make enough terrine for 150 people in four hours? First, he had to bone out the pork leg. In order to make decent-tasting terrine, you need to marinate the meat, then grind and season it, cook it in a water bath for at least an hour. Rest under a weight and chill in order to be able to have neat slices. In four hours?

Out of the 2 V-bros., I though Charlie Palmer would pick Michael for taking more of a risk than Bryan. Would it have been favoritism to pick one of them? Editing made it clear that Michael thought Palmer did not like him-so that would have deflected cries of picking favorites/prior chefs. Actually, that's how I thought it would go. But, Kevin's dish was peasant-simple and left no room for error because if the terrine failed, there was nothing else on that plate to compensate for it.

I also believe that Kevin epitomized the crux of the challenge-marry pork to Pinot.

Jen rallied after serving overcooked pork to Palmer-she screwed it and knew it. She thinks on her feet, keeps her head down and just gets the job done every time. I'd love to eat at her restaurant in Philly. Hey, maybe I will!

Ash's comment about Padma maybe not being invited as a guest at his restaurant=he's gay. On the other hand, Tom "bear" Colicchio would be in the VIP list.

Eli seems to be eclipsing Mike I. as the "old lady hater". Perhaps her personality is grating, but the ageism and sexism is so damn disrespectful.

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Ash's comment about Padma maybe not being invited as a guest at his restaurant=he's gay. On the other hand, Tom "bear" Colicchio would be in the VIP list.

Actually, when the bottom three came back in after the initial questioning, Ash seemed to say/imply that Padma said something really not-so-nice to him about his dish. I missed the comment or it ended up on the editing floor, but I thought not inviting Padma was in that context. Who knows.

I know that Laurine's in for a surprise, I bet, when she watched last night's episode and heard what Dana Cowin thought about her dish.

Also, I was not impressed by Mike I's comment to (or about) Robin during that big Eli-Robin thing.

Edited by goodeats
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Also, I was not impressed by Mike I's comment to (or about) Robin during that big Eli-Robin thing. I would totally rat him out on some newspaper or blog if I had one.

During season 1 (?) Stephan, the arrogant sommelier, said some really horrible things to and about a young woman contestant (can't recall her name), who was still a student in culinary school at the time, and was clearly lacking in experience. Still, things he said were awful and were used by the producers of the show to cast him as a villain. During the "reunion" episode, he was very remorseful and apologized to her. I suspect that the pressure of the hothouse atmosphere of everyone living together and competing against each other on a daily basis puts stress on less emotionally mature and grounded individuals. Plus, who knows how much the contestants are manipulated by the producers of the show in order to amp up the interpersonal conflicts.

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