Other Great Reality Shows > Other Reality TV Shows & News

Top Chef Season 6

<< < (5/13) > >>

apskip:
TC6 Ep. 2 opened with the usual useless dialogue. Nothing important happens until the Quickfire starts and chefs enter the kitchen to find Todd English standing there with Padma. He is the Guest Judge for all of this episode. It is another gambling-related challenge, rolling 2 regular dice to determine how many ingredients (other than salt, pepper and sugar) can be used in a dish. Some point out that having too many ingredients can be a negative and having few can be a positive. Only these 9 (60% of the total remaining) chefs' dishes were shown in the episode due to time constraints; I have used a special source for the information on the other 6 dishes. Chefs have 30 minutes to cook.

Laurine 3 Asparagus and leek soup w/ lemon
Kevin 10 Asparagus and celery salad, fennel cream, boiled egg
Ashley 8 Grilled Lamb w/ apricot mostarda
Jen 9 salmon w/ lemon, garlic, shallots, parsley and jalapeno emulsion
Jesse 9 scallops w/ smashed Chimichurri, smashed garbanzo beans, toasted garlic
Eve 8 Chilled asparagus w/ raisins, pine nuts, blue cheese
Mattin 4 Carrot Soup w/ ginger
Bryan 10 broiled black cod w/ Carrot ginger puree, daikon radish sprouts, yuzu
Michael V. 8 nitro gazpacho, toast croutons, cucumbers
Ash -   Chilean Sea Bass w/Tarragon/Araugula Salad and tomatoes
Eli - mussels with Ras el Hnout and sherry caramel
Hector- serrano ham w/sherry kumquat emulsion, date carpaccio
Michael I. - scallop crudo w/avocado puree and corn nuts
Preeti - spring Benedict
Robin - duck breast w/braised fennel, golden raisin relish
ron - pan-seared salmon w/spinach cannelloni bean saute and butter

The worst dishes Todd rates are from Jesse, Eve, and Bryan (yuzu overpowering). The best are from Kevin (following on his Elimination Chalenge victory in ep. 1), Jen (following on her Quickfire victory in ep. 1) and Michael. I guess they want to spread the wealth around, as the winner of $15,000 from M Resorts is Michael.

The Elimination Challenge is a Bachelor/Bachelorette Party implemented as a Battle of the Sexes, Males on one team, Females on the other. Some of the chefs bitch about this, particualrly Jen on general principles and Ashley on the grounds that it discriminates against her, Preeti and Ash all of whom are gay. They aren't ask you to be the Bachelor or Bachelorette, so pipe down and start cooking is what I think chefs should do in this situation. The Bachelor and Bachelorette are brought to the appropriate team for 10 minutes and obvious questions are asked. The Males find that the Bachelorette wants mostly seafood and not more than one meat dish. The Females find that the Bachelor likes shellfish, sweets, Asian food and lamb. There is 30 minutes to spend $800 per team at Whole Foods. Each team manages the necessary coordination and gets an average of $100 or $112 to spend (8 male chefs and 7 Female chefs). There is 2 hours that evening to prep.

The next morning is 1 hour setup poolside at M Resort. The dishes prepared by the Women are:
Jesse - Thai chicken, lettuce cup, shiitake mushrooms, shiso, ginger beer
Jen - octopus ceviche w/citrus vinaigrette
Ashley #1 - watermelon carpaccio w/Ricotta salata, aged Balsamic
Ashley #2 - basil and vanilla pannacotta w/cranberry powder, honey
Eve - shrimp and avocado ceviche w/smoky tomato salsa and popcorn
Preeti - coriander and sesame crusted tuna, spicy eggplant, wonton crisp
Laurine - Moroccan Lamb Chop w/pomegranate pine nut relish
Robin - duck mole and cocoa nibs w/apricot

The dishes prepared by the Men are:
Mattin - bouilabaisse w/aioli crouton, small Basque croquette
Bryan V.- sweet and sour macaroon cookies, guacamole, corn nuts, corn puree
Michael V. - apple sorbet, goat cheese cookie dough
Michael I. - arctic char w/smoky caper sauce, cara cara orange
Hector - tofu, lemon lime and tequila ceviche, guanjillo achiote tortilla
Eli - Thai tuna tartare w/puffed wild rice
Kevin - chilled almond soup w/king crab, cucumber and whole white grape
Ron - lobster cocktail w/Habanero tomato sauce
Ash - Asian chicken wing w/pickled pearl onion

There were a number of comments from the judges while tasting these dishes. It's Padma, Tom, Gail and Todd. Ron had no salt and no heat in his. Eli had extensive seasoning. Hector's dish was termed "beautiful." Tom said that noone would want to eat Michael I.'s dish. Michael V. got delicious, excellent. Bryan v.'s dish was also highly thought of, causing Gail to comment that it could be the battle of the brothers for the top slot. On the women's side, only Jen's dish drew raves. Comments indicated that the judges did not like the dishes of Preeti, Eve, Ashley or Jesse. There is the usual posturing by the chefs. The Men claim victory based on the comments of the Bachelorette's party, which had no weight in the final decision at all.

However, when the top 4 are called to face the judges, it is obvious that the Men have won. The top 4 are Bryan, his brother Michael, Hector (go, Hector) and Eli. Todd tells Hector he could make people actually like eating tofu. He told Michael he had "knocked it out of the park." Indeed, the battle is as Tom predicted (and as he had 1/3 of the vote plus the moral suasion of his position as head judge to help things come out the way he sees them), Bryan vs. Michael. Michael had just won the Quickfire so I believe that may have influenced the judges to award Elimination victory to Bryan.

The Losers were, as expected, Eve, Jesse, Preeti and Ashley. Note that Jesse and Eve were in ep. 1's worst as well as the worst for the above Quickfire. They are not going to be around long. Jesse's dish was too watery. Eve's was overpowered by the flavor of the salsa as her shrimp never developed much flavor. Ashley had one very good dish and one poor one. It was clear that the promise she showed was not going to be snuffed out, although her judgment in being the only one to offer 2 dishes was questioned since the judges believe she would have been better off to have done one only. Eve is the person deemed deserving to pack her knives and go home.

Next week is 300 Air Force employees and some of their families to be fed in an environment where "there are no stoves or pots."

I want to comment on one thing that disgusts me in watching the TopChef6 chefs. Many of them have prominent tattoos. If I were going to a fine dining establishment and saw that on the chef, I would turn around and walk out. The gays have their prejudices and I have mine. I will say that so far (and there hasn't been a lot of spare time to use extra camera shots) there does not appear to be the usual smokefest from these chefs, which is a positive statement about them. I hate cigarette smoke in my presence, but recognize the right of the chefs to light up at the appropriate times. I just don't want to see 10 of them chewing the fat and smoking like chimneys.

TexasLady:

--- Quote ---I want to comment on one thing that disgusts me in watching the TopChef6 chefs. Many of them have prominent tattoos. If I were going to a fine dining establishment and saw that on the chef, I would turn around and walk out. The gays have their prejudices and I have mine. I will say that so far (and there hasn't been a lot of spare time to use extra camera shots) there does not appear to be the usual smokefest from these chefs, which is a positive statement about them. I hate cigarette smoke in my presence, but recognize the right of the chefs to light up at the appropriate times. I just don't want to see 10 of them chewing the fat and smoking like chimneys.
--- End quote ---

I have mine as well and they are similar to your prejudices. It also grosses me out to see piercings on a person's face, especially on their mouth. It doesn't seem clean and translates to their food. Would I want to eat it from a person who doesn't project pride in their appearance? Not especially.

The weak chefs are obvious and Jesse will be gone soon and Eve thankfully is gone.

apskip:
TexasLady,

I forgot to mention lip/mouth/etc. piercings which also disgust me (except for ear piercings which are OK). If you are a chef in a restaurant you preumably will have some contact with customers. Many of them will be grossed out with chefs like Jesse who have in-your-face piercings. She has done poorly so I am confident like you that we will not have to watch her for many episodes.

ugot2bekidinmeny:
WOW.. i can cook a mean meal and my tats or piercing don't ruin the meal at alll!! :funny:

they do have chef coats with sleeves and they do wear them.

 if you OWN your own resturant and the customer doesn't likes tats. and happens to want to talk to you about the food.. and they get grossed out or turned off  well there's the door!!

 if you go to mcky d's and the french fry person has hairy arms  are you gonna eat the fries once you see it??

 what i'm getting at is that the talent is what the show is about.. eventually all of the contestants images chage as the show progresses. and likewise their cooking ability also goes up in a positive freindly TV manor..

 so ashley cancook but she made a poor deccsion on making 2  items for the wedding menu.  i hope she can  keep up with  the consistancy .

 preeti.. i think will fall curbside along with jessie  who will go first .. not sure..

 i can't wait to watch the brothers go at it.. they are cut throat! cute.. articulate.. and hard core rivals!! :lol:

apskip:
ugot2bekidnmeny,

I guess you have never owned a restaurant. I have and I can assure you that the chef, who is used actively as a marketing tool at any decent restaurant, needs to not gross out a wide range of people. Sure there are chefs who can stay in their kitchen and never meet the public, but that is not how it's done in any better restaurant except maybe a chef-owned one with an owner not very interested in their bottom line. I am not saying that chefs should not have piercings. I am saying that lead chefs in discriminating restaurants (which includes every one that supplied a chef to Top Chef 6 and every prior Top Chef season) will not be allowed customer contact if they are not reasonably presentable. I would say that Sandee from season 3 was marginal on this dimension with her haircut but might just squeak by. Richard Blaise from season 4 would just make it.

I am not saying that it is bad for Jesse to gross me out every time I see her on screen. The Top Chef 6 production experience was a safe time with respect to appearances in the lives of its participants. Jesse can get away with it. I hope she had the sense after the production of the show to show a more "normal" bottom lip. She is the Executive Chef reporting to the owner of Abercrombie Fine Foods, self-reputed to be a world-famous restaurant. She cannot get away with doing whatever she wants in appearance. Her leg tattoos are not exactly classy but at least they can be hidden under pants or skirts if she chooses. The piercings make an indelible impression.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page