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Top Chef New York Season 5

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scuzneck:
Will not have perfect particulars as hulu nor tv .coms have full episodes I can watch at work...

Finale Part One

Welcome to Naw'Lins, Home of Bourbon Street, The Saints, Mardi Gras and some of the best food on the planet, bar none. New Orleans is, from much experience, one of the greatest cities in America and I am so glad to see it rebuilding and getting stronger since the destruction of the levees after Katrina.


I am extremely glad that this episode panned out the way it did. But let's not get to ahead of myself. Let's start with the opening twist. Emeril Lagasse is introduced as the guest judge, not a surprise as he was shown in the previews and it's New Orleans for goodness sake, who else would you run out there. After Emeril, the last three cheftestant who have been eliminated are reintroduced to the group. I actually thought that they were there to asist unitl I quickly did the math in my head. 3 packed up chefs and 4 finalists. Numbers didn't add up, plus add the fact that Jeff, Leah and Jamie were in cooking gear and the finalist were not, led to the possibility of a quickfire for Jeff, Leah and Jamie. And lo and behold, that's what it was.

Not a surprise at all that Jeff took the Quickfire and the fifth spot in the finals. As has been previously stated, I thought Leah had quit on the compeition weeks before and even with several weeks of contimplation and knowing this opportunity was coming, I still do not believe she was in it to win it. She showed very little passion when it came to the dish she prepared. She was there because she was obligated to be there, plain and simple. Jamie's dish, as I recall, was very well recieved by the judges, as usual, but, unfortunately, Louisiana Cajun Crawfish was not in her wheel house. This challenge screamed Jeff and I would have been totally shocked if Jeff had not walked away with the victory.

For winning Jeff recieved a spot in the finals, going up against Fabio, Stefan, Hosea, and Carla. A very formidable final four that nither Jeff, Leah nor Jamie deserved to be with. Jeff had his chance. Blew it by over thinking and complicationg his dishes and thusly being asked to go. He should not have been allowed back. The next twist came when Jeff was told in order to make the final 3 he would have to win the elimination challenge. A very daunting task, one that would be next to impossible to do. (Although he came damn close in my estimatiton {more on the in a sec}). (Nevermind, just read Chef Tom's blog on bravotv.com. :-)

Elimination Challenge had the contestants serving a huge New Orleans Masquerade party. The menu consisted of at least 2 items (I think) and one drink.

Fabio, I felt, was in trouble from the beginning. Whenever, this season, I hear a chef say that s/he is going to do another dish I always cringe because it has mostly spelled defeat for that individual. This has been a season of Keep it simple and Fabio added to the simple part. Tsk Tsk. Add to the fact that Cajun cuisine and Italian cuisine are at Polar opposites of the flavor scheme. Fabio was in trouble. He did seem to blend the two cuisines well, but his dishes seemed to lack the BAM that Cajuns crave. A well done effort but far from the standard we had come to see in Fabio. I was time for him to go, even though I hated to see it.

Stefan. The Euro we love to hate and hate to love. Once again, in the bottom, and once again just good enough to stave off elimination. (If only, Jeff could have won the challenge). His dishes seemed to just be there. Noting spectacular. Nothing to write home about. Just the typical Stefan, I'm going to the Finals, fare. And unfortunately for me a Stefan hater (smug and arrogant Euro :-) ) I think this is his competition to lose. All of the judges seem to think that his best has yet to shine through and when it does, don the shades and put on the suntan lotion because it is going to be a very hot dish. Stefan has all the makings of being a superstar chef. He just can't shoot himself in the foot like he has done in a few of the challenges.

Jeff got his second chance and produce what the judges found to be very delicious food. Apperently, he got a very good edit in this episode beacuse Chef Tom stated in his blogs that his oysters were "cambro" (Sterno) tasting. Never a good thing. The edit had him being just a smudge under Carla. When all is said and done, He shouldn't have been there anyway. Glad to see him go. Again.

Hosea is producing quality food. Quality food will and did get him to the finals but I think he is looking smack dab at third place. I do not believe he has the culinary techniques and temperment of Stefan, nor do I think he has the fire and the "LOVE" of food Carla has. He is a straight and narrow chef. Quality food time in and time out. But nothing that could distance him from the rest. I retract my statement some posts ago that said I would never eat at his restaurant. I would welcome the opportunity to eat any of Hosea's dishes.

Finally, there is Carla. Quirky and fun loving Carla. New Orleans and Carla were made for each other. Her upbeat, happy, love filled personality blends perfectly with New Orleans laid back, fun-loving style. It is absolutely no surprise that Carla won this challenge. Her food, once again, was spot on. She took the flavors of New Orleans and mixed in all of her dishes, including the non-alcoholic (in New Orleans...and it worked !!!!!!!!!!!) drink. This challenge wasn't even close. And I think the 4 boys knew it. Hosea and Stefan will have to bring their A game to the final challenge, if they want to beat the culinary juggernaut that is Carla.

TexasLady:
Extremely interesting comments. One thing you mention is Jeff coming back and it occurred to me reading it that perhaps they were bringing him back to have another chance since he left with bad feelings about the judging. (Not that I think he should have come back along with the other two. They lost, they were eliminated. 

I found it odd that Jeff's dishes got such good comments from the judges and the diners only to read that the food tasted of sterno. I'm wondering if it was one particular dish.

The top two chefs are Carla and Stefan, I agree that Hosea will be third but he did do well with this challenge. I'm thinking Carla will win the whole thing. I'm looking forward to your additional comments.  :tup:

tory:
yea i can't
 fugure out stephan??  he seemed so strong at one pt nad themn it is like he is putting food out now just to get by, wth??
ihave to jmo eather he is doing it to syck out the others or he realy doen't care..the last 2 weeks his dishes have been bad one week i realy though he should have gone home.. so again wth?? i like the ones who bring it every week to bad they don't take that into account..

scuzneck:

--- Quote from: TexasLady on February 23, 2009, 07:00:02 PM ---Extremely interesting comments. One thing you mention is Jeff coming back and it occurred to me reading it that perhaps they were bringing him back to have another chance since he left with bad feelings about the judging. (Not that I think he should have come back along with the other two. They lost, they were eliminated. 

I found it odd that Jeff's dishes got such good comments from the judges and the diners only to read that the food tasted of sterno. I'm wondering if it was one particular dish.

The top two chefs are Carla and Stefan, I agree that Hosea will be third but he did do well with this challenge. I'm thinking Carla will win the whole thing. I'm looking forward to your additional comments.  :tup:

--- End quote ---

Chef Tom stated in his blog the following: "That night, however, Jeff was never in the running for a reason that didn't make it into the final edit. He did a very fine job, however he used a sterno chafing dish to keep his oysters warm that, for whatever reason, imparted a taste of burning sterno to the oysters. We all smelled it and remarked on it while the chefs were setting up their stations, and then we tasted that horrible taste when we sampled his selections. So, unfortunately for Jeff, who otherwise was cooking very well, he could never have taken the top spot of the evening."

scuzneck:
Only one episode remains (not including the always intriquing reunion)...

Thoughts on the Finale Part 2 episode

As usual it comes down to what appears to be "cook the best damn meal you have ever coooked in your life." And I wouldn't expect anything else. What I believe we will see is that both Carla and Stefan distance themselves from Hosea. I believe we have seen Hosea's best, in terms of comparisons with Carla and Stefan. Even if he is allowed to cook a seafood dish, I still think it will fall short of the mark.

This is really a two dog race. Stefan and Carla. Stefan, I had pegged for the finals in episode 1. His demeanor, his culinary training, his technique, his attitude screamed CHEF and he had proven (even with his laissez-faire attitude recently) that he does deserved to be in the running for Top Chef. For Stefan's sake, I hope that he does show some sort of compassion toward the competition. The judges have stated time and time again that previous challenges hold no water in the upcoming challenge, yet, one has to wonder if Stefen's persona of "I'm the best, give me the title" will finally rub the judges the wrong way. Personally, I hope so, but, unfortunately I do not see it happeneing.

While I had Stefan pegged for the finals early on, I had Carla leaving very early in the season. In fact, I thought that she would be gone after the first challenge. I guess I did not see her as being "strong" enough to handle the other competition. Thankful, I was wrong. Carla has proved very resilient. She has added fun and love to the program. She has added spice and flavor to what seem like simple dishes. She is observant in her preparations. She is graceful in defeat and criticism and equally grateful and gracious when she wins. Always saving her celebrations for us in confessional. Carla seems to have befriended everyone, which makes it all the nicer that she is winning the challenges. No one has seen her as a threat, until now. Carla could very easily walk away with the title of Top Chef. And I would be pleased as punch if she did.

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