TOP CHEF Spoilers

[filkertom]

I'm pleased with the direction the challenges are taking this season, and I was bemused by the reaction of Jamie and a couple of others, i.e., I'm Not A TV Person I'm A Chef. Yes, you're a chef -- on a TV series, competing with other chefs, trying to leapfrog to star status which will get you... TV time. If you've never thought of having your own TV show, seriously, why are you on Top Chef?

I've gotta say, Fabio complains about everything. Even when he's winning.

I was worried that Jamie might get kicked off because of her underdone egg. Melissa perhaps should've gone -- habanero is simply too much for most home cooks, especially for a 2-1/2 minute segment (and she took the well-meant "stand up for yourself" advice a little too much to heart at Judges' Table). But Alex, trying for a freakin' creme brulee, had the least clue of all, and he's outta there.

(I'm a touch miffed by the extra prizes. It bugged me last year -- Steph got a kitchen and a trip to Italy, Richard got a car. A cookbook here, a spiff autographed knife there, that's one thing. But Rocco has a grab bag of a couple dozen of his favorite kitchen tools? That's a few hundred to a couple thousand right there. But that may just be me.)

Next week: Gail's wedding shower. Big, BIG trouble, unless I miss my guess.

Thoughts?

Comments

[mimiheart.livejournal.com]

I'm wincing at the Wedding Shower thing. Theoretically, you get one shot at a wedding shower--I wouldn't trust it in the hands of a competitive reality show.

This episode was okay. Carla scares me.

[gridlore.livejournal.com]

They are doing a good job of keeping the chefs off-balance and changing things up this year. This challenge was interesting because it did push people way outside their comfort zones.

That being said, everytime Fabio gets any screen time, I start singing There Right There (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txJa2MsQjmA).

[enjis.livejournal.com]

Well, the person the shower was for is on TV, so most of the guests are probably warned that the whole thing will be televised anyways. Hey, they get all the food for free, and get to be on TV! I'd call that a 'win' for MY bridal shower!
And if the food stinks...well, it was still fun, 'cuz I got to be a guest judge on a very popular TV show.....the power, oh, the power!

Have you seen this?

[capplor.livejournal.com]

Lower the standards, & give a twenty-one ray gun salute:

http://apnews.excite.com/article/20081205/D94SPFS81.html

Re: Have you seen this?

[peachtales.livejournal.com]

Wow. I would have loved to see that collection.

[jss]

I think Alex's choice was dumb, but I'm not sure I necessarily agree he should've gone. Melissa's habañero shrimp were too hot to eat (Rocco called them inedible, and Tom spit his out), and choosing habañeros for the home cook was unwise; Jamie's incompletely-cooked duck egg was sad, but less dangerous to eat than the shrimp. Richard's technique was good, he just didn't meet the challenge (cook it in an hour, be ready to demo it in 2:30 live). I'd've rather sent Melissa home than Richard.

(As an aside, was Stefan the only one to consider doing a swap out? My understanding is the cheftestants got a quick briefing about doing live demos for those who hadn't done them before. Check out Lee Anne Wong's Bravo blog for more.)

I think Danny should have gone home last week for his raw potatoes instead of Richard for his misnamed-as-smores banana-and-chocolate dessert with a poor choice of vanilla creme foam.

I still like Carla. I don't think she'll win, but she should stay around through the first half (top eight). And while Jeff is biting off more than he can chew, so to speak, I think he'll go far too. I'd round out my probable-top-eight with Fabio, Hosea, Jamie, Leah, Radhika, and Stefan.

Doesn't Gail remember the disaster of the season-1 wedding (which had no winner)? She was there as a judge, so how much did Bravo have to pay her to be willing to do her bridal shower on tape? Sheesh.

[axegrrl.livejournal.com]

Y'know, I have never watched this show, but about the wedding shower... what if the whole point of that exercise is to see how the assorted contestants react when things go awfully wrong? (Is there a possibility that the bride-to-be is in on the shindig, knowing something whacky is going to happen?)

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Well, she's certainly in on it -- it's Gail Simmons, EIC of Food & Wine Magazine, one of the show's regular judges. But they don't have to do a thing. Things go wrong all by themselves.