Other Great Reality Shows > Other Reality TV Shows & News

Top Chef All-Stars

<< < (7/11) > >>

IloveJesus:
Blais has always been my favorite. I always enjoyed when came back to make an appearance as a guest judge or help out. He just has the coolest ideas. He seems a little sensitive but I think he is getting over that. I think the Colichio does over act a bit. The only judges that I really trust what they say are the guest judges. It seems like the other judges just mimic their reactions sometimes.

As for Fabio, I am glad he is gone. I don't think he is a very good chef. He has a great tv personality but that doesn't keep you on the show. The women seem much more dedicated and full of ideas right now. I would like Blais to win but I have a feeling that he will choke like he did when he originally aired. I don't think he is the best at cooking seafood in the group.

apskip:
It seems like a good time for my assessment of who will go how far in this competition. I think Mike Isabella has been living on borrowed time, so I expect him to be next out next at 7th place. Richard, Antonia, Angelo and Dale have been cooking really well, so they are my picks for the Final 4. So who does that leave?

I see Tiffany and Carla as leaving soon after Mike to finish #6 and #5. Neither is consistent enough to stay in despite the multiple wins that Carla has received.

I think it's Richard for the win, Angelo #2, Antonia #3 and Dale #4.

What do you think?

kiki:
I agree with apskip that the next one to go is Mike or maybe Tifany, she has not been doing very well.
Richard and Angelo in the last episodes they have been mostly in the middle but I think they are the most likely winners (I'm not very objective since they are my favourites). Antonia is also doing well and she will go further.
The big questions for me is Carla and Dale. They have a lot of ups and down. They both have won some challenges but they are not consistent. Dale has been in the bottom for two consecutive episodes, a third might be fatal, especially if Mike presents a decent dish.

apskip:
TC8, ep. 9

7 chefs remain as this episode started with a Cookie Quickfire involving as Guest Judges Cookie Monster, Elmo and Telly from Sesame Street. The chefs made these cookies:

Angelo – chocolate chip Belgian hazelnut cookie w/ chocolate banana milkshake
Antonia – chocolate chip cookie w/ white chocolate chips, fresh caramel glaze, sprinkles
Carla – chocolate chunk chip cookie w/ cinnamon
Dale T. – pretzel potato chip shortbread cookie w/ salted caramel chocolate ganache
Mike I. – chocolate + dried cherry cookie w/ rose petal powdered sugar
Richard – ice cream cookie w/ chocolate chips, zucchini, mint (Note – Carla accused Richard of following in the footsteps of Marcel with his incessant use of liquid nitrogen)
Tiffany - shortbread cookie w/ lemon zest, thyme, rosemary, coconut milk

The losers’ group was Richard and Angelo. The winners’ group was Dale and Antonia. Dale won the prize of $5000 provided by Buitoni.

Elimination Challenge

The Target Elimination Challenge involved arriving at midnight to a huge Target store at an unidentified location that had fresh produce as well as kitchen equipment run on electricity that could be used to make a 3am meal for 100 Target employees and the judges (Anthony Bourdain, Ming Tsai, and Target home designer Thomas O’Brien joining tom and Padma). In checking Target fresh produce stores, I discovered that the 2 Brooklyn stores were not the ones used, although it could have been one of two in Queens or one of two in Brooklyn or in Jersey City or Long Island. The chefs had 3 hours to collect ingredients, find equipment and get cooking. Carla was worried about tablecloths and baloney like that instead of getting started cooking and you will see what impact that had. Most of the other chefs also featured soups and appreciated that optimal flavor development mandated maximum cooking time. Dale demonstrated creativity by using a clothes iron to finish the outside of his sandwiches. Mike was working with Angelo on gathering supplies and gave Angelo his assessment that his soup was too salty, but Angelo apparently did not have the time or the energy to fix it. Here are the dishes prepared:

Angelo – baked potato soup w/ bacon, sour cream, potato skins, cheddar cheese
Antonia – parmesan eggs on garlic crostini, almond, tomato/apple salad
Carla – curry apple soup w/ tomato ginger jam, cucumber/apple slaw
Dale T. – rib-eye grilled cheese sandwich w/ spicy tomato soup
Mike I. – spicy coconut soup w/ mushrooms, scallions, lime
Richard – pork tenderloin w/ green chilies, apple, pork rib, corn pancakes
Tiffany – jambalaya w/ chicken, sausage, shrimp, summer salad

There were a variety of comments made by the judges during the sampling of each dish:
Angelo – way too salty
Antonia – egg very tasty
Carla – it’s missing something; some believe it is protein (which Carla wanted but did not have the time to go find); insufficient flavor development
Dale – use of an iron innovative and paves the way for Dale to become an “Iron Chef”
Mike – spicy worked, good flavors
Richard – delicious
Tiffany – chicken is soggy; spices are off

Padma observed that there were several soups (4 of 7 by my count). The chefs and judges returned to Top Chef headquarters in Brooklyn by 620am for the start of Judges Table. The winners’ group was Dale, Richard and Antonia, two of them repeating similar outcomes from the Quickfire. Dale won $25,000, the largest prize ever for any Top Chef challenge.

The losers’ group was Angelo, Carla and Tiffany. Summary of comments about them was:

Angelo – too salty and scallions bad (Anthony); too rich (Padma)
Carla – flavor did not develop properly (Tom); lack of protein was a negative (Anthony, Ming)
Tiffany – too aggressive on seasoning, use of prepared spice mix a poor decision when natural spices were available (Anthony and Tom)

The final outcome could have eliminated any of these three. I think Angelo’s clearly not tasting his final product was viewed as an inexcusable rookie mistake and that overcame bad judgment by Carla and by Tiffany in their dishes. Also, Angelo was in the bottom of the Quickfire. His post-elimination remarks to the camera included the fact that he was tired and worn out from the competition. He did not say that working from midnight to 3am was a factor, but some chefs fared better than others in fighting fatigue.

ugot2bekidinmeny:
Looks like Dale is picking up momentum!

Tiffany is barely getting by

Carla flew by the seat of her pants with  that last challenge

Middle of the pack are Mike and Richard

Top Antonia and Dale

 I thought it was cute that they had the Sesame Street puppets but who actually were the real tasters?  and was that a fair comp?  At this stage of the game i hope they all  get a fair taste-review for thier dishes. puppets ust dont seem fair. :lol3:

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page