TOP CHEF Spoilers

[filkertom]

And then there were four.

I'm not gonna miss Spike at all. He was trying to game the thing, rather than make the best food. And, honestly, as soon as the other four chefs said words to the effect of, "Frozen scallops? No way!" I knew Spike was outa there unless one of the others really blew it, which none of them did. I was surprised that Lisa made the peanut-butter-mashed-potato thing work, but, hey. And, yay Steph! While I still think Richard may win it all, I'd love it if Steph did. Even if she doesn't, shit, they gave her a kitchen. That's gotta help

Now, on to Puerto Rico. I suspect it's gonna be a two-parter, one to get down to a final two and... the final two.

Thoughts?

Comments

[drzarron.livejournal.com]

I like how several people comment on something I noticed about Steph, she didn't panic, didn't break a sweat, just did the work.. an excellent sign.

I wasn't shedding any tears for Spike, nor would I have for Lisa, cause she's next, period. Her apathy is grating.

At this point, I'm happy no matter which of the final three wins. They all have excellent skills and the chops to make it.

I think

[sffilk.livejournal.com]

it'll go down to the final 3 for the 2nd part. I think that's what they did at the end of season 3.

[bedlamhouse]

I'm very disappointed Dale went before Lisa. She has been the "bad but not the worst" far too many times for Dale to have been sent away first. For her to get rewarded with the final 4 by always being lucky enough to have someone screw up worse than her hacks my grits. Her whole "well, if They think <blah> then they are just wrong and I don't care" got real old real fast.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Absolutely. I don't think Dale should've won it all, but if he'd been in the final rather than Lisa I would've been completely happy.

[bedlamhouse]

Dale had self-control issues but the man could cook - and when he teamed with Richard they were great.

It is really hard to pick between Richard and Stephanie, and Antonia surprised me a lot in the last few weeks. I didn't think I'd like Richard when the series started - I think he reminded me too much of Maurice, chemo-chef with weird hair - but he has turned out to be not just a fine chef in terms of his food but probably the best kitchen manager of all of them.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Got that. I'm trying to remember precisely what Ted Allen said the first time he saw Richard -- something like, "2003 called, they want their haircut back" -- but apart from that, the guy's rock-solid, as is Steph. And Antonia seems to have worked out a lot of her problems, in much the same way Hung did over the course of last season.

[sffilk.livejournal.com]

You mean Marcel, don't you?

[bedlamhouse]

Yeah. Shows just how much I disliked the guy.

[sffilk.livejournal.com]

You're not the only one!

[jss]

Agreed, but he didn't really lead while Executive Chef on "Restaurant Wars," despite having a sous chef (Lisa) who wouldn't've followed anyhow, so that's why he got the boot. I think both Dale and Lisa should've gone home for the failed dishes in that episode, and that both Lisa and Spike could've gone home in last night's episode leaving us with a final three instead. But Spike using the frozen scallops sealed his fate; had he not done so, and switched to all-fresh instead of frozen-and-canned ingredients, he might've survived over Lisa.

I'm still Team Stephanie: She's pretty much always just put her head down and calmly and quietly done the required work. Yes, she messes up sometimes (see the missing artichoke chip on her salad Quickfire, and the judges' dislike of the peanut butter and tomato sauce in Cook Your Kids "Common Threads" Elimination for two examples), but she's generally consistently in the top. She's also won the last two challenges ("Restaurant Wars" and "High Steaks") on her own, so she's coming into the finals strong. (I have to admit, though, that diue to my own dietary preferences I'd've never ordered either her sweetbreads with golden raisins, fennel and pine nuts appetizer or her beef tenderloin with wild mushrooms and apple sauce entrée.)

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

I'll absolutely give you that one. Dale's temper gets the best of him in the Oh-For-Crying-Out-Loud-Let-Me-Do-That flavor. If he can control that, he'll go far.

I was enamored of Steph from the moment I saw her, hubba hubba. I was both delighted and relieved that she turned out to be a pretty good chef, but I'm loving the fact that she's turning out to be a very good chef. And dietary prefs understood. I, being an omnivore, would at least try the sweetbreads. The tenderloin, oh yeah.

[jss]

I'll admit that Stephanie doesn't rev my motor on a physical basis (this fact should surprise nobody here). But since the beginning and her initial win in "Anything You Can Cook, I Can Cook Better" I've been rooting for her.

My initial impression of Richard was all-tech-geek, no-food-geek, but that's certainly changed over the course of the season. I agree with bedlamhouse; he struck me as very Marcel (toys and hair), but he got better.

My initial impression of Antonia was very middle-of-the-road until she found her confidence and since then she's grown on me. Her willingness to let Richard executive-chef during "Restaurant Wars" tells me she's aware of her (and her teammates') strengths and weaknesses and willing to use them for the good of the team, restaurant, and challenge, and made me more inclined to trust her cooking.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Agreed with all. And, I think I speak for pretty much everybody who reads my LJ: Looks ain't nothing. If Steph were just pretty, but inept or cranky or conniving or anything besides the talented professional she has shown herself to be, she wouldn't rev my motor physically either.

[jss]

I think you're absolutely right. The initial physical attraction is great, but it doesn't sustain over the object-of-affection being an inept, cranky, conniving bozo. The looks may catch the eye, but it's the intelligence and professionalism that keep it.

FWIW, many people on the Top Chef blogs on Bravo seem to have thought Ryan was "pretty." He's more likely to be my type than Stephanie, and I just don't see it. I honestly think Stephanie's more attractive [to me] than Ryan.

[cjfringe.livejournal.com]

I would have rather seen Lisa go than Spike, but IMO both of them need to go. It was sad that Dale wound up getting eliminated before the final four. While I don't think he'd have won Top Chef (his attitude can be grating), I think he's a better chef than Lisa, who had 2 bad dishes during Restaurant Wars. I understand the judges decision, it's just disappointing.

My favorites are Stephanie (go Chicago!) and Richard, and I think one of them will get it.

FYI, the frozen scallops were not Rick's. They were placed in the pantry probably by the Top Chef staff. If you read Rick's blog he skirts the issue, but basically says he didn't purchase them, but they ended up in the freezer. It was an interesting zing by Spike though. How do I know about the scallops? Because I was there last night (http://cjfringe.livejournal.com/70846.html). That was a blast.

[sffilk.livejournal.com]

Wait!!! You were the superfan??????

[cjfringe.livejournal.com]

No, I'm not the superfan (who I think is female). AFAIK the superfan was not there last night. My wife and I are just fans of Chef Rick and Chef Gale who eat at their restaurants fairly often, so we got invited to the event. It was a lot of fun. Great food, great conversation, and every time one of the staff was on tv there was a big cheer. :)

[sffilk.livejournal.com]

Based on what the blog said, the superfan is male (talks about having several girlfriends with him there).

And wait a minute: you were there THAT NIGHT? You've got stories to tell. Now DISH!!!!!!

Please?

[jss]

And girls (women) can't have multiple girlfriends? It's much more common for one female to say "My girlfriends and I" than for one male to say "My boyfriends and I," after all. The former doesn't imply anything about sexuality while the latter does.

I too thought Bravo's superfan-the-blog-author was female based on something in a previous week's post.

[cjfringe.livejournal.com]

"Based on what the blog said, the superfan is male (talks about having several girlfriends with him there)."
Heh, that's precisely why I thought the superfan was female. I interpreted that to mean that she and 4 of her girlfriends went out together for the meal.

I was not at the taping last year in the restaurant. I was however at the restaurant last night for the airing of the episode. Chef Tramonto threw a little gathering for friends to come and watch the episode together. I did hear some stories though. A few tidbits:

* As I said above, the scallops weren't bought by Rick. They were most likely placed in the freezer by the Top Chef staff, which supplied a number of ingredients for the show (probably the sweetbreads too, as they are not on the menu there).

* They were actually in the restaurant starting at about 7am, which means that the serving was closer to lunch than dinner.

* Several of the staff thought that the peanut butter mashed potatoes were really odd. It seemed to go over fine with the judges though.

* No one outside of judges table knew the outcome before the episode aired. A few of the staff were hoping it would be Lisa who went instead of Spike.

* Yes, the kitchen and restaurant really are that beautiful. Unless you are there it's hard to describe. There's a very feng shui feel to it too, as the 4 walls of the room reflect the 4 elements Earth, Air, Fire, Water. If you look during the episode you can see it a bit. The North wall is a huge window, Air. The kitchen to the East represents Fire. There's a waterfall behind the bar (you can see opposite the kitchen when they show the judges eating) for Water to the West, and there's a wall of wine to represent Earth to the South.

* Stephanie apparently won more than the challenge. Shortly after that episode taped, she started dating one of the chefs from Tramonto's Steak & Seafood, who she I guess met there. I don't know more details than that, though.

* Rick, Tim, Jamie, and all the staff there are really great people.

[cjfringe.livejournal.com]

One other tidbit, though not about the episode. The room that the superfan mentions in her blog is what's called the Chef's table there. It's a small private room off the main dining room which is literally inside the wall of wine. It's a treat inside there, very private and awe inspiring with literally 20 foot high walls of very expensive wine around you.

There's also a bar on the other side of the waterfall, which was *full* of techs and people involved with production on the day of taping. It was apparently completely full, though you don't see any of that in the show of course. Out there in the corner window table of the bar area is where Chef Tramonto likes to sit when he eats, and that's where my wife and I got to sit last night for the show.

The restaurant itself is in the Westin hotel in Wheeling, IL, about 40 minutes outside of downtown Chicago. I highly recommend eating there if you're in the Chicago area. The food really is fantastic.

[celisnebula.livejournal.com]

Please, share?

*pleads nicely, with puppy dog eyes*

[joecoustic.livejournal.com]

While Stephanie and Richard have both had some rocky moments at Judges' table I also think that one of them is most likely. Then again I though Marcel would win a couple of years ago, so what do I know :). I'm pretty happy with the ones remaining though I think Lisa is the weakest from what we've been shown.

It was also interesting to rewatch the repeat last night and see that Dale did choose Lisa's rice for her, which he adamantly denied doing. I don't think he was lying as much as he and Lisa just had been melting down over the criticism as well as always being paired together. I guess one was going to go and they've been super hard on executive chefs the last couple of seasons.

As to that same episode I also wondered if Spike would have gotten off so easy if Tom Colicchio had been there. In the past Restaurant Wars they've been harder on chefs who do no cooking while working the front of the house and Stephanie did so much and from what we saw Spike didn't do any cooking at all. For this reason as well as what I said above I thought it would be Spike or Lisa this week.