|
Post by pairesta on Feb 5, 2016 6:37:22 GMT -5
Marjorie's observation that "I couldn't wait for Restaurant Wars, and now I just want it to be over" remark was pretty much how I feel about these anymore. Seems like there hasn't been a "fun" RW in forever, and they sure aren't doing any favors this year by making it a lunch and dinner service. I spent most of the episode curled up on the couch with my hands near my face to either cover my eyes or smack my head. The Bro Team is foundering something terrible. The other team at least has enough self-awareness to see when something's going wrong. I have no idea what Jeremy was thinking shutting down the kitchen to just serve the judges.
Why isn't Isaac working FOH?
|
|
LazBro
Prolific Poster
Posts: 10,049
|
Post by LazBro on Feb 5, 2016 9:47:50 GMT -5
Marjorie's observation that "I couldn't wait for Restaurant Wars, and now I just want it to be over" remark was pretty much how I feel about these anymore. Seems like there hasn't been a "fun" RW in forever, and they sure aren't doing any favors this year by making it a lunch and dinner service. I spent most of the episode curled up on the couch with my hands near my face to either cover my eyes or smack my head. The Bro Team is foundering something terrible. The other team at least has enough self-awareness to see when something's going wrong. I have no idea what Jeremy was thinking shutting down the kitchen to just serve the judges. Why isn't Isaac working FOH? Haven't watched this season's episode yet, but remember season six when Team Voltaggio turned in what amounts to a flawless performance for RW? No stress, no bad dishes, no mishaps in the kitchen, no service errors. That episode broke Restaurant Wars. It hasn't been good since. Kind of like Adam Lambert on American Idol. (a reference I'm sure is completely meaningful to you)
|
|
LazBro
Prolific Poster
Posts: 10,049
|
Post by LazBro on Feb 5, 2016 10:07:03 GMT -5
We're behind again, but we did watch the 10th anniversary episode. Thank you, Amar, for calling Jeremy out on doing yet another raw dish. Something I've been bitching about since December. I remember an episode, WAY back, when a team of two chefs made a simple salad and at one point during tasting Tom took a step back from the dish and said, "I just realized, they didn't actually cook anything." Padma or Gail said, "So?" Tom replied, "It's a cooking competition!"
If you weren't sure of Philip's delusions before, this episode makes them plain as day. He'll tweak his style, he'll try to get inside the judge's heads, he'll overthink every piece of criticism, but what he won't do, ever, is consider the possibility that his food just isn't that good.
There was definitely a frightening intensity to Jason in that one scene at the hotel where the four dudes were talking and he was off to the side, just watching. Has anyone here seen the movie May? Yikes.
I could tell that it was going to be terrible just looking at it, but I had high hopes for Kwame's jerk broccoli with corn pudding. That's a wild idea, but it was a little too ballsy for this venue. He needed time and practice to make those flavors work - you got no succulent chicken thigh to hide behind - even in an ideal situation without all the baggage leading to errors in execution.
Isaac, lord bless'em, is starting to show some limitations in range.
I would have hoped a 10 year anniversary episode would have brought out a deeper well of past contestants. Could they really only get chefs with restaurants in town and who probably live locally?
The memorial at the end about the passing of that chef they discussed earlier in the episode was crushing.
|
|
Baron von Costume
TI Forumite
Like an iron maiden made of pillows... the punishment is decadence!
Posts: 4,660
|
Post by Baron von Costume on Feb 5, 2016 10:58:12 GMT -5
We're behind again, but we did watch the 10th anniversary episode. Thank you, Amar, for calling Jeremy out on doing yet another raw dish. Something I've been bitching about since December. I remember an episode, WAY back, when a team of two chefs made a simple salad and at one point during tasting Tom took a step back from the dish and said, "I just realized, they didn't actually cook anything." Padma or Gail said, "So?" Tom replied, "It's a cooking competition!"
|
|
|
Post by pairesta on Feb 5, 2016 22:48:37 GMT -5
We were talking about this trainwreck episode with my wife's sister and her husband. They made a convincing case that Jeremy is pretty much toast. - He made the call that shut their service down and caused them to close up late for lunch
- He made risotto. IN ADVANCE.
- Tom is seen in previews for next episode complaining about another crudo. Wonder who that will be.
Unless the opposing team just flames out next episode, this team is probably on the bottom, and Jeremy's the reason why for alot of it.
|
|
LazBro
Prolific Poster
Posts: 10,049
|
Post by LazBro on Feb 8, 2016 10:46:47 GMT -5
Editors gon' edit, but how rough did that planning session for Palate look? When Isaac was pitching an idea and Majorie cut him off cold ("So, anyways...")
Ooof.
And of course, Jeremy pitching crudo on District LA's side. (Distrcit LA, by the way, is a terrible name for a restaurant.)
The first time that Restaurant Wars was a double episode, it was because both teams did so bad the judges decided to call a mulligan. This, on the other hand, just feels padded. We need to get two episodes out of this, so here's five minutes of the teams freaking out about chairs and Marjorie getting upset about shopping list management.
(This being a highly orchestrated TV show, I've always wondered about those "ideas" the judges have. Like, all of these challenges are planned in advance, often to tie into seasonal crap or holidays or what have you. So, when the judges have the "idea" to have the teams re-try the challenge, was that really the plan from the start? Did they have to drop another challenge to keep their episode order? I've wondered the same about "season" episodes, since the show is filmed so far out of the season it is broadcast. We're filming this is late fall, but here's a challenge all about spring produce. Like, where does it come from and is it all crap?)
|
|
|
Post by pairesta on Feb 12, 2016 6:53:16 GMT -5
Well after the first episode was so hard to watch, last night's was somehow even worse as Team District LA unequivocally lost, serving one bad plate after another. Tom was pissed. By the end all four members of the team had fucked up enough to where any of them could have gone home. I'm so glad is was Philip (the smash cut of Tom telling the other judges at dinner "I will bet you any amount of money he's talking about his own restaurants not this one" to him doing just that was hilarious). But there's a really good case that Amar was the reason dinner so completely fell apart since he did nothing to right the ship at any point. And how Jeremy skated by without his horrendous mixup at lunch, which cost them vital prep time, is a mystery.
I love that Isaac won but this is a case where a story needed to be edited to show it. That or he won by default since each of the other three chefs served one thing the judges didn't like.
|
|
|
Post by songstarliner on Feb 12, 2016 19:21:22 GMT -5
Water? In risotto? The fuck - is this Worst Cooks in America or what?
Seems like almost anyone on orange could have and should have gone home, but in the end they decided to cut Philip because they cannot stand him. I am fine with this decision.
|
|
LazBro
Prolific Poster
Posts: 10,049
|
Post by LazBro on Feb 15, 2016 10:37:26 GMT -5
See now this I liked. Not Team Orange's miserable performance, or even Team Gray's "success by lack of failure," but as an episode of television it was endlessly enjoyable. Like reading an "F" review over on The Old Country, there was wholesome satisfaction in the savagery of the judge's attack. Every terrible decision (risotto with water? strawberry "gazpacho" salad?!), every overwrought idea ("we have a table for you, but you must earn it. Here, drink this!"), every pitiful excuse ("I'm the executive chef, but I'm not actually going to do anything expected of one") added to the twisted, oddly compelling beauty of the calamity.
I love how during Judge's Table the Orange Team focused on the lunch performance only to be shut down down by Tom, who quickly oriented the conversation around that insane dinner. And again, editors gon' edit, but I can't imagine in that setting what conversation lead to Phillip detailing his tattoos. The degree to which it is always about him - his restaurants, his food, his life - the degree to which he thinks everybody around him really cares about these things are proof that he didn't have enough hard knocks in the kitchen coming up. Chefs are known for their egos and brassy personalities, but there's no humility here at all. (And aren't y'all glad you didn't have to actually sit there and listen to Phillip explain what each of those tattoos meant to him, like those poor people at the table must have.)
As I've shared in various threads in the past, both total victory and total failure fascinate me, and this was some high-quality failure right here.
Alternate name for District LA: Top Bun.
Name for Bravo's inevitable baking themed cooking show: Top Bun
Obvious derision somehow never used against Phillip: "This is Top Chef, not Top Bun."
|
|
|
Post by pairesta on Feb 19, 2016 6:41:13 GMT -5
Pretty interesting challenge, if inconsistently judged. Both Marjorie and Isaac got knocked for cooking and serving their dishes in a way that the culture wouldn't have, yet Kwame got complimented for doing it.
Karen's elimination was a surprise. It felt that the judges were much harder on Jeremy and Marjorie than her, and Marjorie even seemed liked she prepped some of her food poorly, whereas Karen made a good dish that wasn't Japanese enough.
I can't believe Isaac has rebounded and is actually holding his ground lately. Jeremy and Kwame, after both starting strong, seem to be struggling to get back to where they were.
With Philip gone, I find that we're in the same situation as last year, where the remaining chefs are a pretty likable, talented lot and I don't mind if any of them win.
|
|
LazBro
Prolific Poster
Posts: 10,049
|
Post by LazBro on Feb 22, 2016 9:27:57 GMT -5
Yeah, good episode, good challenge. Nice that they worked in some less obvious choices - Viking era, Gold Rush San Francisco. The historical element was a really neat twist, even if Belle Epoque was like a free win if the chef could only pull it off (okay, so not exactly free). Double-taked when Carl said he used garum. Uh... he didn't have time to make it, so what did he use? I don't think even Whole Foods is stocking garum as of late. Wikipedia tells of a Colatura di Alici, a fermented anchovy sauce which is thought to be the closest modern equivalent to ancient garum. Maybe he used that? Agreed that Karen going home was a surprise. Jeremy's was a failure in conception ( refined chowder was way off the mark) and Marjorie's was a failure in execution. Karen's soup must have been way worse than the comments let on.
|
|
|
Post by pairesta on Feb 22, 2016 9:45:19 GMT -5
But there was even a comment I think from Gayle to the effect that it was a good soup, it just wasn't Japanese. Also the guest chef judge guy whose name I'm blanking on has an axe to grind about too many ingredients in a dish, which he kept harping on everyone for and then finally landed on it with Karen.
From what I understand about garum, it's pretty similar to asian fish sauce, no?
|
|
LazBro
Prolific Poster
Posts: 10,049
|
Post by LazBro on Feb 22, 2016 11:14:24 GMT -5
Conceptually yes, but I think it is thicker. It was devised originally to overpower the flavor and appearance of spoiled meat, so nothing as thin as fish sauce is going to do that. If he did indeed just use a typical off the shelf fish sauce, I still don't like the verbal swap. It may be unfair to ask chefs to cook out of an era which used a number of ingredients which no longer exist, but he could have said, "...and fish sauce taking the place of the traditional garum in this dish." Or something. I understand I'm being pedantic.
|
|
|
Post by pairesta on Feb 26, 2016 7:02:06 GMT -5
It's been a long time since I've seen a chef so thoroughly seal their doom as Kwame did by using frozen waffles for his chicken and waffles concept. Every single person he told this to immediately gave him some sort of feedback that amounted to "No, don't do that.": Amar and the other chef's outright mockery, Philip's calculated pause, Tom and Padma's steely glare. Yet poor Kwame just soldiered on, insisting he could make it work. (In his defense, does the Top Chef kitchen even have a waffle iron, plus how to make and keep 150 waffles fresh and warm?).
I'm surprised Amar's concept didn't work. On paper it seemed like the only concept with a clear throughline to it. But Karl's was really a killer idea too: Mediterranean Chipotle. I'm equally surprised Marjorie managed to come out on top, because there are so very many variables that could have gone wrong with a fresh pasta with homemade tuna confit. (That said, like Kwame's, it seemed to "chef-y" and not really something that would easily translate to a fast casual concept).
Jeremy continues his sustained choke. For all his talk of competing and winning with his daughter, he seems to have just given up. He lost interest in describing in concept to the judges while describing it to them and did not seem one bit surprised to be up for elimination again. With Kwame gone, and Jeremy foundering, it's anyone's game at this point since nobody remaining is consistently winning.
Edit: Both Tom and Padmabot seemed genuinely choked up after Kwame's little exit speech to them. The cut back to Tom where he was clearly blinking back tears was telling. Tom's been on kind of a nice little redemption arc the past couple seasons where he seems more goofy, relaxed, and fun.
|
|
LazBro
Prolific Poster
Posts: 10,049
|
Post by LazBro on Feb 29, 2016 10:11:10 GMT -5
I really liked this episode, but it was too many days ago now and I've lost all my stream of consciousness thoughts, so no rambling write up from me today. The waffle thing was just baffling to me, and then he doubled down by leaning in to the concept of the tiny waffles. Everybody that was a terrible idea.
I like challenges that keep the business of food in mind. Those are always fun to me. Did either of you watch American's Next Great Restaurant? It wasn't quite what I wanted it to be, and it was by no means a great show, but conceptually I want more shows like that. More shows about the business, with competitors learning something, or food business concepts getting introduced that may one day come to my town.
But not Shark Tank.
|
|
|
Post by pairesta on Feb 29, 2016 17:11:14 GMT -5
"Do either of you . . . " heh.
No, this is the only reality cooking show I watch.
Kwame actually had something in common with Philip: this weird tunnel vision on his ideas that once he locked in, he couldn't step back and re-evaluate. This was the same thing as that jerk cauliflower dish me made several weeks back, where everyone told him it was a really bad idea, he stuck with it, then finally realized "hey, this was a really bad idea" at judges table.
|
|
|
Post by pairesta on Mar 11, 2016 9:18:37 GMT -5
So after getting lazy and offmark midseason, Jeremy comes roaring back, racks up a bunch of wins, and is in the finale. Amar beats strong competition in LCK to come back on the show and then land in the finale as well. Good bye, Marjorie and Isaac. I loooovvved Isaac, but when you look at all the other top 4, even top 6, he was the outlier. Marjorie, on the other hand, had a nice little narrative going all season, so it's a shame she's out. But all of the Top 6 were good, likeable chefs and probably have strong careers ahead of them for how well they acquitted themselves here. That said, there's something missing to make this the high water mark last year (Boston) was. I'm not sure what. But I think it will wind up being like the Seattle season, where as soon as it wraps I will have forgotten almost all of it.
|
|
LazBro
Prolific Poster
Posts: 10,049
|
Post by LazBro on Mar 28, 2016 8:50:21 GMT -5
So turns out Bravo announced the winner on Facebook shortly after the finale aired. I didn't see it, but Mrs. Snape glanced it in her feed. Due to my lack of time and dissatisfaction with the winner, we will not be watching the final two episodes.
*wipes hands of Top Chef California*
Do either of y'all watch Portlandia? Chef Gregory from last season guests on the most recent finale in a pretty major role.
|
|
|
Post by pairesta on Mar 28, 2016 8:57:32 GMT -5
I liked the last ep. Both Jeremy and Amar seemed to really respect each other, and it was a friendly battle. And they both put up really amazing food. It did seem another case of editing though, where to me Amar was the clear winner based on judges' comments, but somehow Jeremy came out ahead instead. But then again, my wife thought it was clear to her that Jeremy was the winner.
|
|
|
Post by songstarliner on Mar 28, 2016 13:30:02 GMT -5
Ha - I forgot that we already watched the finale. I'm pretty sure that I mentally checked out after Marjorie was cut. I dunno you guys - maybe I'm getting bored with Top Chef. But it's the only long-form cooking competition that I can stand, so eh - I guess I'll watch it again next season.
Did anyone watch The Taste? I had such high hopes for it, and it was almost good, but in the end pretty gimmicky and lame.
|
|
LazBro
Prolific Poster
Posts: 10,049
|
Post by LazBro on Mar 28, 2016 14:32:15 GMT -5
Ha - I forgot that we already watched the finale. I'm pretty sure that I mentally checked out after Marjorie was cut. I dunno you guys - maybe I'm getting bored with Top Chef. But it's the only long-form cooking competition that I can stand, so eh - I guess I'll watch it again next season. Did anyone watch The Taste? I had such high hopes for it, and it was almost good, but in the end pretty gimmicky and lame. I hated The Taste. Well, I didn't hate it. I can't hate anything with Tony and Nigella, but I was really disappointed with it. Gimmicky and lame are on point descriptors. I would add "boring." Also, while I know he is an immensely respected chef, I just don't like Ludo Lefebvre. I don't like his personality, and it feels like he would be misery to be around. Malarkey was a big "who?" judge for the first season, and I don't like Marcus Samuelson either. I'll probably watch next season of Top Chef, but the only long-form cooking competition I can be guaranteed to watch is Food Network Star, which has long been my favorite anyway. It differs from every other reality competition show in that the winner actually affects my life. I get to watch that show, so there' are actual stakes in rooting for someone. I liked Master Chef but have missed the last couple seasons. I liked Hell's Kitchen in a guilty pleasure sort of way, but likewise we stopped watching it. Baby reveals where your true TV loyalties lie.
|
|