Topic: Top Chef Chicago Season 4

[marigold]

OH NO!!!!!  How dare they not show it! 

  I know it sucks oh well see you guys for Hell's Kitchen anyways

[marigold]

BRAVO'S "TOP CHEF: CHICAGO" FOURTH SEASON PREMIERE UP 11%, FIRING UP MORE THAN TWO MILLION TOTAL VIEWERS

NEW YORK March 13, 2008 Bravo's Emmy-nominated culinary creative competition series "Top Chef" fired up the competition last night by premiering once again as the No. 1 rated food show on cable across all demographics, according to Nielsen Media Research. With significant growth from its last cycle, the season premiere attracted 1,475,000 adults 18-49 and 2,256,000 total viewers.

Season to season, "Top Chef" premieres have grown, continuing Bravo's hallmark of increasing viewership with each original franchise cycle. Last night's 10 p.m. "Top Chef: Chicago" premiere increased from the third season premiere (6/13/07) by 11 percent in total viewers (2.256 vs. 2.024 million) and by five percent among adults 18-49 (1.475 vs. 1.407 million).

Online, BravoTV.com saw double digit gains for the "Top Chef: Chicago" site generating a 30 percent increase in page views (540,000 vs. 415,000) last night, compared to the "Top Chef: Miami" premiere in June 2007.

Source: http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news.aspx?id=20080313bravo01

[marigold]

You bet I emailed BRAVO CA 

Not that it will do anything but I had to tell them in detail what they are missing 

[apskip]

I have researched sriracha and ras al hanout, so it's time for everyone reading this thread to know what they are too.

Sriracha is a generic name for Thai hot sauce. It is composed of hot peppers, garlic paste, vinegar, salt and sugar. It comes out a bright red and is found in small bottles all over the Southeast and to a lesser extent in California and rest of the United States. I am going to try some soon, as I love hot sauce.

Ras al hanout is a mix of typically over a dozen herbs and spices including cardamom, mace (spice), nutmeg, cinnamon, and ground chili peppers. Some recipes include over one hundred ingredients, some quite unusual, such as ash berries, chufa, Grains of Paradise, orris root, Monk's pepper, cubebs, dried rosebud, and the potentially toxic belladonna and insects. Ras al hanout is believed to be an aphrodisiac. No doubt this is why Richard used it, trying to curry favor with the judges.

[marigold]

I have researched sriracha and ras al hanout, so it's time for everyone reading this thread to know what they are too.

Sriracha is a generic name for Thai hot sauce. It is composed of hot peppers, garlic paste, vinegar, salt and sugar. It comes out a bright red and is found in small bottles all over the Southeast and to a lesser extent in California and rest of the United States. I am going to try some soon, as I love hot sauce.

Ras al hanout is a mix of typically over a dozen herbs and spices including cardamom, mace (spice), nutmeg, cinnamon, and ground chili peppers. Some recipes include over one hundred ingredients, some quite unusual, such as ash berries, chufa, Grains of Paradise, orris root, Monk's pepper, cubebs, dried rosebud, and the potentially toxic belladonna and insects. Ras al hanoout is believed to be an aphrodisiac. No doubt this is why Richard used it, trying to curry favor with the judges.

Wow that sounds like an interesting flavour prepared with crab , yumm!!

[apskip]

Here's something new and interesting from TV Guide: "being forced to cook together for a wild and woolly outdoor event" is what the episode 2 is about.

[apskip]

I plan to do the complete recap tomorrow morning, but wanted to discuss one important part of it right now. The "worst of the worst" discussion focused on 3 contestants, Stephanie, Valerie and Nikki. Nikki was there because of a mediocre stuffed mushroom canape. She knew it was not good enough to be served before the prep was finished. Since it was on the preprinted menu, she had to tell some potential customers it was not available. However, then she went and allowed the judges to sample it. What a terrible decision! I think that Nikki deserved to be eliminated for bad judgment alone. Dale got pulled into it because he had attempted to save her dish at the site with pecorino cheese but did not taste it(neither did she), but at least he had the good sense to warn her not to sample the judges with it.

[apskip]

The Quickfire was at the Green City Market, where ingredients were purchased with $25 in 30 minutes to create one dish with no more than 5 ingredients, including all Kitchen ingredients except pepper, salt, sugar, or oil(which don't count). The guest judge was Wiley Dufresne, a Manhattan restauranteur noted for use of new food tecnologies. That market had wonderful greens and vegetables, variable meat, and no seafood(Chicago is 800 miles from the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico, although restaurants there certainly do have it) not even fish from the Great Lakes.

The bottom 3 dishes were by Richard(surprising since he is a proponent of new food technology), Erik and Spike.
The top 3 dishes were by Valerie, Mark and Ryan.
Richard's dish was a chicken soup heavy on pieces of chicken.
Erik's dish was lamb chops.
Spike's dish was sirloin tips, but he was hampered by the poor quality of the meat he received vs. what he was expecting; he termed it "dog meat".
Valerie's dish was rib-eye steak, peaches, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, and arugula.
Mark's dish was seared sirloin with peach and turnips.
Ryan's dish was sirloin steak, potatoes, lettuce, radishes, and mustard.
Mark wins.

ELIMINATION CHALLENGE

Gail Simmons is back as permanent judge and she had a lot to say at Judges' Table(which as a co-founder of the show should be the case).
The task was to cater a cocktail party for 200 at the Lincoln Park Zoo. 5 teams of 3 were formed by drawing knives with each team focused on the culinary habits of a particular animal - Vulture, Gorilla, Lion, Bear, Penguin.
Each team prepared a complete set of canapes in large quantity using $500 in 30 minutes ingredient shopping at an unspecified(or I missed it) upscale local grocery. They then have 3 hours to prep and one hour to set up onsite at the zoo. Teams are(to be recehcked):

Gorilla- Valerie, Antonia, Stephanie
Penguin - Jennifer, Andrew, Lisa
Bear - Nikki, Dale, Spike
Lion - Richard, Ryan, Erik
Vulture - Manuel, Zoi, Mark

Gorilla Menu - Black Olive Blinis w/Mascarpone, Pear Crab Salad, Lamb and Edamame Lettuce Cups
Penguin Menu - Thai Shrimp and Crab Salad, Roasted Zucchini, Squid Ceviche, Yuzu and Mint "Glacier"
Bear - Venison Loin, Seared Salmon, Stuffed Mushrooms(see my prior post about this one), Cheese & Honeycomb on Bread
Lion - Beet Salad w/Goat Cheese Foam, Bison Tartare, Ras al Hanout(see note after last week's recap for info about this), Chicken Satay, Prime rib w/Horseradish Foam
Team Vulture - Chicken on a Tostada Chip, Moroccan Lamb Meatball, Anchovy on Quinoa Croquette

The dishes that were rated best were from Team Penguin and Team Vulture. Andrew was singled out I believe for the squid ceviche as the most outstanding dish. No prize was mentioned but the honor of victory is meaningful in this competition.

The worst dishes were from Team Bear and Team Gorilla. The stuffed mushroom controversy was covered last night in a separate post. Both Nikki and Dale were in jeopardy and I believe Nikki's trangressions were serious enough to warrant her elimination. However, I wasn't there to taste and the blini dish and the crab salad must have been pretty bad. Out of Nikki, Valerie and Stephanie, Valerie was selected for elimination. I believe the blinis were hers and her not knowing that blinis cannot be made ahead of time was a critical factor. She should have chosen another dish to prepare.

[apskip]

The next elimination challenge, acording to TV Guide will involve Guest Judge Rick Bayless(a Chicago area native and owner of a Mexican resaurant in Chicago and several in Mexico). It will involve catering a Latino street fair.

I see Rick's Mexican food shows several times a week on a local PBS station in the New York metro area. He is probably my favorite cooking show host.

[georgiapeach]

Apskip asked me to leave a note in this thread that he will be back with the latest very soon, as he is being released from the hospital this evening.

Good news!

[TexasLady]

Apskip: Glad to hear you are feeling better. I'm looking forward to your recaps.   

[apskip]

This is going to be done in two parts. My tape of the Neigborhood Fiesta episode ran out halfway, so I have notes for half. fortunately, that episode is showing right now on BRAVO, so I will have to duck down in 13 minutes to tape the last half hour.

The Guest Judge is Rick Bayless, a Mexican food expert who owns restaurants Topolobambo and Frontera Grill in Chicago. He has a daily cooking show shown much of the time of one of my local PBS stations. He is an inspiring man about Mexican food.

The Quickfire is to create an upscale dish from the mundane taco. dishes offered are:

Spike - ground pork taco with tomatillo sauce
Richard - jicama tortilla w/ avocado, papaya, and cilantro stems
Erik - chipotle braised chicken w/ avocado, pomegranate salsa and guacamole
Andrew - duck breast w/ plaintain and cotija cheese
Manuel - chorizo, picante verde, cilantro, goat cheese
Ryan - pomegranate, jicama salad, ?  in paper
Mark - grilled squash and stewed chick peas
Lisa - grilled skirt steak w/caramelized onions, pineapple and cabbage slaw

Losers group as judged by Rick Bayless were Lisa, Ryan and Erik.
Winners group were Richard, Spike and Andrew.
Richard wins and gets immunity.

Elimination Challenge is to cater a picnic for 70 kids and their families at a neighborhood block party. The Teams are chosen by the contestants. They are:

RED - Zoi Dale Spike Ryan Jen Erik
BLUE - Stephanie Antonia Mark Richard

I don't have the rest placed properly yet, but I will add that when I have it. Teams were told to go into the neighborhood and scrounge all ingredients and materials for this challenge. They went door-to-door to obtain them.

The menu chosen by the RED team was: Slider(mini-hamburger), Corn Dog, Pork Skewers, Waldorf Salad, Pasta Salad, Taco salad, and S'Mores. There was  a more refined description of some of these, but it doesn't add any real value for picnic food.

The menu chosen by the BLUE team was: Paella, Slaw, BBQ Pulled Pork, Bean Salad, Inside Out Cookies, Sexy Drink(an exotic combination of fruit flavors with seltzer), Fruit Cobbler.

It looked like the neighborhood was having a fine time with the food made with their ingredients and materials. However, the judges were not quite so positive.

Richard was criticized for having too much chicken on the plate. However, he had immunity.
Zoi's pasta was bland, oily, with no taste.
Erik's corn dog had major problems.
Ryan's Waldorf salad was unfocused.

Stephanie got universal acclaim for her Sexy Drinks. They won the blue team the victory and herself the individual winner.

It was pretty clear that Rick and Tom both felt that Erik had made a major error in judgment by electing to serve corn dogs with their inherent transportation, reheating and drying out problems. Erik's defense was that he has a history of serving thousands of them in his restaurant environment, but that is beside the point when an outdoor fiesta is the challenge. Erik was the 3rd person eliminated.

[puddin]

thread jacked to welcome apskips back, good to see you posting again, hope you are feeling like yourself again 

[apskip]

I was feeling well enough last night to watch all of the 3rd episode and do its recap, then watch episode 4. The Guest Judge this week is famed French chef Daniel Boulud. The Quickfire is a test of ability to demonstrate multiple techniques, at least 3. Chef contestants have 30 minutes to select vegetables from a very beautiful stockpile of them and them blanch, marinate, or perform any enhancing techniques on them to fill up a veggie platter. The final products noted on the show were:

Richard- blanched mushrooms, pickled beets, sliced radishes with lime juice and scallions
Dale-Daikon marinated in Tobanjan(don't ask until I have time to look it up; I'll let you know), tournees of avocado and cucumber
Manuel-blanched asparagus, brunois of yellow peppers, supreme of lemon, endive and fennel fronds
Spike-carpaccio of cucumber, tagliatello of asparagus, cucumber cup, tournee of mushrooms
Zoi-asparagus, poached egg, batons of green beans, chiffonade of radicchio frisee
Nikki-blanched green beans, asparagus quenelles, shaved fennel and radish salad
Lisa-poached egg, blanched asparagus, batonnettes of bell pepper, grilled zucchini

Boulud picked Lisa, Nikki, and Manuel for the losers bracket. He picked Richard, Zoi and Dale for the winner's bracket. The indivudal winner was Dale, possibly because Boulud had to bend over backwards not to show favoritism to richard who had apprenticed under him. The reward was not immunity, but the ability to add himself on to any of the other 6 teams which were formed by drawing knives for order in the meal and by individuals pairing up. Those pairings were:

1 - Richard and Andrew
2 - Spike and Manuel
3 -  Jen and Nikki
4 -  Mark and Ryan
5 - Antonia and Zoi
6 - Lisa and Stephanie

It looks like a no-brainer for Dale to add himself to team 1. This was Dinner at the Movies, with the dishes all based on themes from a favorite movie. One of the hosts, Richard Roper is the movie critic who took other for Gene Siskel when he died years ago and now has Ebert and Roper at the Movies in weekly syndication. The other host Aisha Tyler is an actress. 6 of their friends joined the 2 of them plus the four judges in eating the 6 course meal and commenting. The movies and menus are:

1 Willy Wonka;  Smoked Salmon, Faux Caviar, White Chocolate, Wasabi Sauce
2 Good Morning Vietnam;  Summer Roll w/ Black Vermicelli, Green Apple, Chilean Sea Bass, Swiss Chard
3 Il Postino;  Tortellini Cavolo Nero, Ricotta, Pecorino, Squash, Peppercorn
4 A Christmas Story;  Quail Breast, Carrot Puree, Cranberry Chutney, Quail Spring Rolls
5 Talk to Her;  Rack of Lamb w/Saffron, Cauliflower Puree, Romesco, Gramalata
6 Top Secret;  NY Strip Steak, Braised Short Rib, Apple Potstickers, caramel sauce

For the first movie, Boulud said that this was a very creative approach.
For #2, Padma said it was oobvious that they wanted to cook Viet food and let the choice of movice be based on that rather than the correct way.
For #4 it was noted that it was actually the Christmas season in Chicago when this episode was filmed so The Christmas Story was a particularly harmonious choice.
For #5 the chefs claimed that their lamb was fiery in colors and flavors, but the judges found little of either.
For #6 This was well-executed all the way.

So, it's no surprise that teams #1 and #6 and the ones selected for the winners group. Within that the winner is #1. Within that team the individual winner is Richard. He had publicly proclaimed at the begining of this challenge that he was going to "step it up a notch" and lead this team to victory. He did just that. It was cautionary to see how close his margin of victory was. His vaunted blowtorch stopped working on the 3rd of 12 meals in smoking the salmon, so they had to improvise, which they just managed to pull off successfully with lit wood chunks waved under the salmon. Stephanie also has a history of high performance, so I would not be surprised to see a Richard vs. Stephanie Finale on TopChef 4.

The worst of the worst competition was a tough call. Zoi and Antonia were there, but not really since Colicchio stated that their flavors were OK(that's not what I remembered from earlier in the episode, but he obviously does not want to have all the women wiped out). So it is Spike vs. Manuel. Spike was clearly the mastermind of Viet food and Manuel went along with it. The final judgment was that the one who didn't have the skill to take an independent course was the weaker and will go. Manuel was eliminated on the application of that logic. The more brash Spike stays longer, but it won't be for long. He talks a better game than he cooks. Similarly, Antonia impresses me as someone who has it together. Lisa looks like someone who will be leaving soon.

[apskip]

Food Terminology Update

Daikon - a mild-flavored East Asian giant white radish
Tobanjan - depnding on which one of these you like, Spicy Miso Bean Sauce, Chinese chili bean paste, Chinese hot chile sauce   
Brunois - Finely diced vegetables: carrots, celery, onions, leeks, used as a basis of a soup or stuffing; usually cut in 1/8 inch squares
Supreme - a boneless and skinless breast of chicken (in French: suprême de volaille ), or the same cut of duck
Tournee - cutting fruit or vegetables into a certain shape for garnishing
Chiffonade - a julienne cut except that it is reserved for leafy vegetables and herbs; often this type of cut is used on basil and the result is used as a garnish.
Cavolo Nero - Tuscan kale sold in bunches of deeply ribbed, long narrow dark green leaves on tall stalks
Romesco - Catalonian sauce of finely ground tomatoes, red bell peppers, onion, garlic, almonds and olive oil, typically served with salads , grilled vegetables, meat, chicken, or fish
Gramalata - The meat around the bone on the lamb shank becomes tender and juicy as it slow cooks in the liquids. The gramalata is a traditional garnish made from fresh  chopped parsley, minced garlic and a hint of citrus zest.

[TexasLady]

Thanks for the recap and food descriptions. We appreciate your hard work and expertise.

I need to start over and watch all the episodes again because only a few of the chefs stand out for me at this point, however Richard does stand out. Wasn't there another chef that Boulud mentioned as having worked for him? It seems like whoever it was, was a short-termed apprentice.

[rosesrred]

Sorry I don't watch Top Chef and I don't want to Hijack this thread - but did anyone see the skit Saturday Night Live did on this show it was hilarius.  Christopher Walken was the guest host 

[apskip]

Thanks for the recap and food descriptions. We appreciate your hard work and expertise.

I need to start over and watch all the episodes again because only a few of the chefs stand out for me at this point, however Richard does stand out. Wasn't there another chef that Boulud mentioned as having worked for him? It seems like whoever it was, was a short-termed apprentice.

Yes, it was Ryan, who also worked for Rick Bayless so het gets around.

[apskip]

Episode 5

Guest Judge is Ming Tsai, a proponent of East/West fusion cuisine and owner of the Blue Ginger restaurant in Boston.
Quickfire is the blindfolded tasting test, where chefs have 10 seconds to taste two samples one of which is more expensive of the same type of ingredient and identify which one of the pair is that.
Ingredients tested included Syrup, Bacon, Fish, Soy, Crab, Butter, Cheddar, Caviar, Pork, Olive Oil and Sake plus 4 others for a total of 15.
Results were totally objective for a change. Stephanie was on the bottom with 6.  Antonia, who had predicted that she would do really well at this, was the winner with 12 right and got immunity. Jennifer and Ryan got 11 right.

Elimination Challenge
TopChef 4 was invited to do the first course of the 2007 Meals on Wheels Chicago Celebrity Chef Ball. The cheftestants were providing 4 different versions of that first course. Knives were drawn to determine four teams of 3. They were:

Water - Richard, Mark, Andrew
Air - Jennifer, Nikki, Ryan
Earth - Antonia, Spike, Zoi
Fire - Dale, Stephanie, Lisa

Teams had 15 minutes to plan their mini-menu. Then they had $500 and 45 minutes to shop for ingredients. More than ever, it seemed that insufficient planning time resulted in more redos when they got to Whole Foods and could rethink exactly what might be possible. A number of changes in mini-menus were made there on the fly.

Team Water was going with a sous vide approach to cooking salmon, driven by Richard's high technology philosophy. Team Air stayed nice and simple, nothing risky. Team Earth had the handicap of the immune contestant Antonia, who could participate in enerything but should have deferred to Spike and Zoi on the menu decisions since all risk was on them. They chose to not do Spike's strenuous request for butternut squash soup and stuck to less complex flavors. Team Air finally went with Lisa's insistence that something Asian would be smart with Ming Tsai as a judge; they had initially considered duck breast but ended up with shrimp so it was all about how well they accompanied it and spiced it.

Final menus were:
Water - poached salmon, faux caviar, parsnips puree, watercress salad
Air - duck breast, herb salad, pomegranate, prosecco aperitif
Earth - beef carpaccio, mushroom salad, sunchoke aioli
Fire - shrimp, pickled chilis, deviled aioli, miso smoked bacon

The judges all agreed that Team Fire was the winner. The individual winner was Lisa for her ability to pull off the complex miso smoked bacon. Dale in an after-comment ridiculed the choice of bacon as the winning part, since he does not see the complexity in bacon; however, he hates Lisa so much that he will criticize anything she does. I'll bet Lisa doesn't thnk much of Dale either.

The judges also agreed that Team Earth and Team Water were the losers. They had diner response cards which they saved until the end. Tom Colicchio had made the predictive comment that Richard was showing a lot of overconfidence and was setting himself up for a fall. They criticized Richard for the scales in his salmon. He stated  that basically he was not aware of them, but that was not true since his teammates warned him just before serving, but at that point there was nothing he could do to fix it. Andrew was lambasted for using parnips at all; he defended himself but it didn't sound very convincing to me. Mark did faux caviar one time too many. Antonia was immune but she was criticized for playing such a strong role in the menu decisions. Spike certainly agreed with that, as he stated that she had vetoed his butternut squash soup. Ming said that would have been a perfect dish. Zoi had the mushroom salad and that was universally disliked(and more on it later). The seasoning on it was critical and there was little.

The judges conferred and agreed that the beef carpaccio menu was the more egregious(seconded by the diners), which let Richard, Andrew and Mark off the hook. It made the elmination between Zoi and Spike. I think it was close, but Zoi's mushroom salad in Tom's opinion should have been able to hold the totality together on the plate but missed by a mile. Zoi was eliminated.

Then Spike attacked Antonia. She defends by saying "stand by your dish", meaning if you really believe in it then insist that it is on the final menu. Dale gratuitously attacked Lisa. Did I make a mistake and somehow tune into Hell's Kitchen 4 all of a sudden by time warp?

[TexasLady]

Heh on Top Chef becoming like Hell's Kitchen, it must have been pretty heated. Thanks Apskip for the recap. I forgot to watch last night but have it on the DVR but at least I know what the quick fire was and the results! 

[apskip]

Episode 6

The fallout from last week's action includes Ryan correctly stating that Zoi's departure stirred the pot, Dale's apology to Lisa for communicating poorly with her, and Lisa's retort that Dale can go ****(a word not allowed on live TV and bleeped out by BRAVO) himself.

The Guest Judge is Karin Grievson, chef of Avec in Chicago. 16 mugs of beer are on the table. In the Quickfire, each cheftestant gets to sample 3 and pick one for their use(as a carton of bottles, not as a mug). The goal is Simple Pleasures, to marry up beer flavor with apporpriate food. I wonder how beer got selected(why not wine, for example?). Somebody on the Chicago area Beer Distributors must have used a hunk of their Publicity budget to buy their way into Top Chef. Chefs have 30 minutes to cook.

Here are the dishes selected:

Ryan - they did not show a caption; I heard him say epaulets of lamb criponnet on the second viewing
Spike - Charcuterie Plate w/ Tapas of Clams
Richard - Grilled Tuna Sandwich
Dale - Pork tenderloin grilled with miso caramel sauce and pretzel crust
Mark - Juniper Spiced Lamb Rack w Beer Sauce
Andrew - Rainbow Trout w Raspberry Gastrique and Pears
Antonia - miso Cod, Sauteed Cabbage
Nikki - Citrus Marinated Shrimp
Lisa - Bacon cheeseburger w/Potato chips
Stephanie - Steamed Mussels, Cilantro Viinaigrette, Grilled Bread
Jennifer - Shrimp  and Scallop Beignets w/ fennel, avocado and pepper purees

Worst were Nikki, Spike, and Dale. Spike was due to an inappropriate pairing of food for that beer(or any beer). Dale was because the pretzel crust made it too dry.
Best were Richard, Stephanie and Jennifer. Richard was cited for great use of spices, Stephanie for excellent mussels. Jennifer was named Best of the Best and won immunity for the Elimination Challenge.

Elimination Challenge
For this Karin leaves the judges panel and is replaced by the owner of Avec Paul Kahn. The challenge is to cook for tailgate parties outside soldier's Field where the Chicago Bears are playing a regular season game the next day. Each person has the usual time and money contstraints at Whole Foods. There is 2 hours to prep in the topChef kitchen, then 1 hour to setup and cook at the site. Each cheftestant is given the choice of a gas grill or a Charcoal grill. Only Mark chooses charcoal and you see him lugging bags of briquettes an dhaving a messy grill so I bet he is sorry he did that. I should note that among the Fans sampling and rating this food were Richard Dent, William Perry and Gayle Sayers, three grerats from Chicago Bears football history.

Spike did jicama and pineapple slaw in lime dressing with spiced chicken wings.
Ryan did grilled chicken thighs, bread salad, poached pear w/ creme fraiche and huckleberry sauce and brandy cocoa drink.
Richard did a patty melt w/ sapicy mayonnaise and pickled cucumber and other vegetables.
Dale did marinated baby back ribs tandoori and potato salad with golden raisin, mango and turmeric.
Mark did chicken and scallion skeweres in soy and onion glaze plus New Zealand corn chowder.
Andrew did a jerk chicken sandwich with peaches.
Stephanie did pork tenderloins w/ pear, potato and bacon salad plus rosemary vinaigrette.
Jennifer did Chicken roasted w/ Harissa and Quinoa Tabouli.
Lisa did corn cakes w/ skirt steak and salsa verde.
Nikki did sausage and peppers w/ onions and choice of hot or cocktail sauce, grilled shrimp, Asian cole slaw and spiced cider. However, she had a problem that her customers had run her supply of peppers and onions low by the time the judges arrived and so they did not get the true impact of her dish.

My guesses based on fan reaction were that Mark and Nikki were in trouble and that Dale would do well. The Judges Table confirmed that Dale, Stephanie and Andrew were the best. Dale won and was awarded the Summit 650 grill he had cooked with plus a TopChef #4 Bears uniform. Nice redemption for his poor Quickfire showing.
The worst group was Nikki, Mark, and Ryan. Nikki had the lowest score from the fans and the judges rated her dish low. Mark had serious sanitary problems which he was warned about plus his New Zealand corn chowder was gritty and the charcoal flavor he was seeking was destroyed by thick sauce coating the meat. Ryan got the rap for serving dishes inappropriate for a tailgate party. He did a salad when a sandwich was called for among other problems.

So, which was the worst sin? The judges decision was that Ryan was going home for inappropriate food.

[marigold]

Tom Colicchio says Bravo has received complaints about Top Chef 4’s profanity

http://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/

In a weird little coda at the end of Top Chef 4 last week, the contestants erupted into a fight, sort of, that was difficult to parse because so many people were getting made at each other for different reasons—and because the whole thing was a big bleep-fest.

As it turned out, some people, including head judge and chief ornery bastard Tom Colicchio, have noticed that this season has more profanity, and they’re not happy. People leaving comments on BravoTV.com, always the best gauge of public opinion, “had criticized this season’s profanity from ‘day one’ and that Bravo, which broadcasts ‘Top Chef,’ had received complaints as well,” The New York Times reports, attributing the information to Colicchio.

Tom said that “the way they’re bleeping” might be problematic. The Times artfully describes that by noting that “Bravo’s censors leave much of the offending syllables intact. … Instead of a fig leaf, the network holds up a sprig of parsley.”
Andy Cohen told the paper that the profanity has been striking but is just the way these chefs are. “It’s struck us from the first cut we got of the first episode. At the network all we can do is bleep like crazy and, you know, maintain our standards while maintaining the integrity of what’s going on in the kitchen. I mean look, it’s who these people are, and we try to show these people as they are.”

One of the current contestants, Spike Mendelsohn, said his family was shocked and “I was actually surprised myself when I watched it. I didn’t want to be so foulmouthed.” But he also doesn’t wish he’d done something differently. “Not at all, that’s who I am,” he said.

For the full artcle by The New York Times (it's two pages long) here is the link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/16/dining/16profane.html

[TexasLady]

Thanks Ca, it's not surprising that people are offended by the profanity, they probably have children watching with them (Although it is run late in the evening but the reruns are not.) I'm just not impressed this year, I don't see any standout chefs, I'm tired of the bickering and really tired of hearing because Zoi was eliminated, Jennifer got all bent out of shape. Proof to me that people in relationships should not be in the same competition.

That said, no one stands out so far for me, with the exception of maybe Richard.

[apskip]

The next episode of TC4 will feature major interaction with Chicago's Second City comedy group.

[apskip]

Episode 7

Cheftestants enter to see a huge table of sweets and are presented to the Guest Judge, John Iuzzini, Executive Pastry Chef. His judging talents go way beyond just desserts. The Quickfire is to Make a Great Dessert. The winner will get his recipe in the new TopChef Cookbook and it will be the only one from TC4 to be in there. So, they are off and whipping, baking, chopping, etc.

Andrew - Chocolate Ravioli in Pudding
Dale - Halo Halo, shaved ice, Avocado, Mango, Kiwi, nuts, and unidentified spices
Mark - Pavlovas made with wattleseeds from New Zealand
Richard - Banana Scallops w/ Banana Custard
Spike - Pineapple Rum Raisin Souffle w/ Toasted Coconut  (Note: chosen to demonstrate risk-taking vs. Chocolate cake for which he had memorized the recipe)
Antonia - baked lemon curd w/ lemon cake
Jennifer - Chocolate Cake w/ Salted Basil Ganache
Yoghurt w/ fruit puree, fried wontons and strawberries
Nikki - buttermilk cake w/ berry sauce
Stephanie - Chocolate Cake w/ chocolate dipped Banana Bits

Losers group are Antonia, Spike and Mark. Winners group had Lisa, Dale and Richard. Richard was selected as the winner for his dessert creation. Ironically, there was no recipe. He made it up on the spot, but now it will be enshrined for history. He also gets immunity for the elimination challenge.

Cheftestants are told they will have a nice relaxing evening at the Second City, Chicago's famous comedy group which spawned much of the origiinal Saturday Night Live cast. It evening at the improv. In the middle of the show, the skit asks for the audience to call out emotions (up to 5) and colors (up to 5) with nothing given away so far. Then it is a food ingredient(up to 5) and two of the cheftestants immediately "get it" and figure out that they have just been given their next assignment.

ELIMINATION CHALLENGE
They are right, with 5 pairs self-selected and each one assigned to an emotion, color and ingredient which MUST be used in their dish. The pairings are:

Andrew Spike - Yellow, Love, Vanilla
Dale Richard - Green Perplexed Tofu
Mark Nikki - Purple Depressed Bacon
Antonia Lisa - Magenta Drunk Polish Sausage
Jennifer Stephanie - Orange TurnedOn Asparagus

Dishes created then were:

Andrew Spike - Squash Soup w/ Vanilla Creme Fraiche
Dale Richard - Tofu marinated in beef fat in Green Curry
Mark Nikki - Pork Loin, sweet Potatoes, Grape Sauce, Brussels Sprouts
Antonia Lisa - Sea Bass on top of Chorizo Sausage, Purple Potato Puree w/ tequila
Jennifer Stephanie - Meange a Trois of Orange Gastrique and Vinaigrette, Goat Cheese, Asparagus and Fried Bread

The judges comments during the dining focused on Squash Soup and the Tofu in Green Curry as great dishes. Pork Loin was kind of blah. The use of chorizo rather than Polish Sausage was criticized. The "too much on the plate" and "goat cheese is the center of the dish instead of asparagus" criticisms were leveled at the Menage a Trois.

Judges Table came back with similar results. The two male pairs were the easy winners. Dale and Richard were selected as the overall winners and each got $2500 of Calphalaon cookware. The two female pairs were judged as the worst. Antonia and Lisa were there for not following the rules and substituting chorizo for Polish Sausage. Also, they were told that using Polish Sausage and Beer was a natural comination that they had overlooked. Lisa responded that she had not overlooked it, but she despised Polish Sausage. However, their dish was tasty and I predicted at that point that they would both survive. Jennifer and Lisa were in deep trouble on flavor. They were asked who did what. The better parts of the dish, the gastrique and vinaigrette, were done by Stephanie. The fried bread that was too big and too thick to cut with a knife and heavy use of the goat cheese which was despised by the judges were all Jennifer's ideas. In addition, she tried to defend how her plate was really about asparagus as a phallic symbol. It did not wash and she was eliminated. Good riddance. She gets to join her beloved Zoi sooner than later and we don't have to listen to more of her drivel about wanting to win for Zoi. If she didn't want to win for herself she should never have been there in the first place because it is way too competitive.

Speaking of that, there were multiple comments throughout the evening about there being no margin for error. One mistake and you're gone. We are now to the point in the competition where that is essentially true except for Richard, who has massed enough wins to have some protection from a single major mistake. It's hard to see how anyone is going to beat him given the depth and breadth of his skills. Also, Spike is now warranted is telling Antonia to go shove something up a part of her anatomy based on the success of his squash soup recipe, which she stifled in a prior episode.