Top Chef

[indygirl]

indygirl said:

Based onthe previews for the next episode, I am guessing (and I promise this is pure speculation) that Lee Anne and Tiffani definitely make it to the final round while the final elimination will be between Harold and Dave.

Well, they completely fooled me! When will I learn? How much reality t.v. must I watch before I figure this shit out? (Thank goodness I still have the more obvious editing of ANTM to make me feel good about my powers of deduction!) Anyhooo... ;D

I was delighted to see Dave move on. I wonder how much it bothered Tiffani that his dish was the favorite of the panel? Hee! And I wanted Harold to go to the finals ever since the beginning, when I saw his hand shaking in that first quick fire challenge.

I am, however, very pissed that Tiffani moved on instead of Lee Anne. But I figured it would be Tiffani when both Harold and Dave thought that LA would go to Vegas. I did have to "squee!" just a little when Harold said he hoped Lee Anne would be in the finals with them. In my head, they are in love!

The reunion show? Looks awesome! Cannot wait!

[kafka]

I'm so crushed. Lee Ann lost. SOOOOOOOO totally unfair, given her consistent performance throughout the show. While I like Dave as a person, he has been far from consistent. I know they were deciding just on the basis of this one dish, but it seems so unfair to me.

On a slightly unrelated note, is it me or does anyone HAVE to eat while watching this show? It makes me so damn hungry that I'm almost drooling on myself. So I have a bag of mini-carrots and I munch as they show the food. I want to try ALLLLLLLL the things they make, except some of Andrea's past dishes. And much as I dislike Tiffani, her high-end duck-and-chorizo corndogs with a camembert sauce looked simply unbelievable.

I think I need to keep on eating because I'm starting to drool again.

[maxell1313]

I am pissed, pissed, PISSED that Tiffani is going and LeeAnn isn't. Now my mantra for the show is "Anyone But Tiffani!!!!" And I hope everyone gives her sh*t at the reunion because for someone who repeatedly claims she's not there to make friends but to cook, she sure seemed upset when no one wanted to be her best friend.

I hope Harold wins it all, but wouldn't be crushed if Dave did. If Tiffani wins, though...I'm going to have to buy a new TV because I will send something very large and heavy through it.

Rock on LeeAnn! Here's hoping she becomes a worldwide famous chef that everyone wants to emulate someday.

[kafka]

maxell1313 said:

I hope Harold wins it all, but wouldn't be crushed if Dave did. If Tiffani wins, though...I'm going to have to buy a new TV because I will send something very large and heavy through it.

You and me both.

BTW, did you guys hear that the show has been renewed for a second season? I'm so excited because it really is one of my favorite things to watch.

Also, on the gossip front, I read that Tiffani is bi. Not that it's relevent to anything but I love hearing real-life details about the people I'm watching, outside of what the television editing lets us know about them.

Annnnnnnnnyway, I just found out that the Judge Tom C. has his own blog about the show. Apparently, he was there with the contestants the night before the task when they were all tasting the Shafer wine back at the house but that got edited out. The relevent part about that fact is that he tried to steer them in their choices for the next day, in terms of food which would bring out the essence and flavour of the truffles. Something only Dave seemed to have done.

The really pertinent part of what he wrote was the result of tonight's episode, why Lee Ann lost, the real reason why Dave might have won, and Tiffani's character:

But before I get into it, I'd like to say this: I wasn't at all happy with the outcome of tonight's show. I'm not even going to try to lie about it.
-snip-

I was busy shooting off my big mouth about too much lamb when Lee Anne appeared to introduce her efforts – our third lamb dish of the night. In typical Lee Anne fashion, she stayed professional
-snip-

Lee Anne's lamb was a bit overcooked, but the real issue was that the dish was too busy. It would have worked nicely with two, maybe three, of the flavors but everything together felt chaotic, and the truffles were lost in the mix. James McDevitt, chef of Restaurant Budo, pointed out another flaw of the dish: Lee Anne's use of truffle oil, and I agreed. I'm not a fan of the stuff: It's like artificial vanilla extract – something you'd never choose over the real thing. Truffle oil was overkill, and the fake truffle flavor it imparted overwhelmed the genuine article. Lee Anne allowed insecurity to creep up on her, and it showed on the plate.

Enter Dave. In the past, his food has often been characterized by a lack of vision, and plodding technique. That was definitely the case here, with his truffle and cognac macaroni & cheese with beef filet and collard greens. But through happy accident, his was the dish that best picked up and integrated the flavors of the truffle (heavy cream will do that). I found Dave's hand-wringing presentation unprofessional and was unimpressed by his silly spiel about chocolate and wine.

But Dave had two things going for him.
-He didn't cook lamb.
-On their day off, chefs don't want to eat 'restaurant' food. Frankly, after long days of fancy ingredients and elaborate cooking, our weary palates crave something mundane and homey. Like macaroni and cheese.

And his was good. Not excellent. It didn't require a hell of a lot of skill, and certainly no finesse or originality. The accompanying filet of beef felt like an afterthought. But it was basic, it wasn't marred by truffle oil, and it tasted of comfort and familiarity. And it accomplished the goals of the challenge – the dish highlighted the flavor of the truffles and John Shafer felt it worked best with the wine.

Thus after a season of mostly generic and uninspired cooking, Dave – the weakest remaining hitter on the team – stood up in the 9th inning and sent one home. It was his Aaron Boone moment. Harold also did well, despite the gritty mushrooms – the chefs recognized his skill and the nuance of his choices.

Which left Tiffani and Lee Anne. Gail, Katie and I were sad because in our hearts we knew that both women belonged in the top three, but we were obliged to respect the guest judges' decision. Tiffani has had a string of successes, and has beaten her competition through sheer talent, hard work and force of will. Lee Anne has been consistent and often inspired. She has shown leadership, organization, and solid technique. And yet one of them had to go.

I want to take a moment here to discuss Tiffani's controversial "attitude." While she and I disagreed about the kid challenge weeks ago, I never held it against her – Tiffani was willing to voice what others on her team clearly felt. While she could be tough on people, I never saw her criticize anyone else for sport or out of spite. She made enemies because she was brusque, opinionated, and unwilling to give an inch in her pursuit of the title of Top Chef. Would her toughness and determination have been denigrated in a man of similar talent? Do male chefs get criticized for being demanding and relentless? Is it possible that our distaste for competitive women keeps them out of leadership roles? Or that our preference for easygoing women over strong, outspoken ones clouds our judgment of their talent? It's worth thinking about.

In the end, we made our decision based on the dish; Lee Anne didn't lose because she was the third person to serve us lamb. Tonight was the night she faltered, plain and simple. If I had had my way, based on overall performance to date, we would have sent Dave packing and Lee Anne would have joined Tiffani and Harold in Las Vegas. But even without the title of Top Chef, I know Lee Anne will continue to do well in the culinary world – she is a terrific person, a hard worker, and a talented chef. I like to see nice people finish first...who doesn't? But given the choice, diners would rather pay for great over nice. With Harold, Tiffani and Dave remaining, we'll see who has what it takes to be great in Vegas.

I know that was long but I thought some of you (who, like me, didn't know the Judges had a blog of their own) would be interested. It adds to the explanation about why Lee Ann lost and it also raises some interesting points about Tiffani's personality. As someone who considers herself a slight feminist, I think he definitely has a point. However, no matter how logical his analysis and the veracity of his points about a woman in a man's business, I simply can't like her. I wouldn't like a man who acted like Tiffani, and I'm certainly not going to change my mind about her just because she *is* a woman.

[Deleted]

I'm glad Tiffani told the world what a nice person she is. I'm totally convinced.

I read the spoiler on TWoP about who the final three were, so I wasn't really surprised—but I still had my fingers crossed that it was wrong.

Please Harold—WIN!

And shut up raisin-faced lady with your "Pepper Monkey" remarks.

Bravo is picking up the show for a second season, and Katie Joel will not be back to helm it!

Thank god! She was in full robot mode during her announcing of the Quick Fire Challenge last night. They need to send her back to Westworld from whence she came.

[topher]

LittleEdieBeale will receive my obscure movie reference award for the day.

[bklynred]

Thanks for that, Kafka. I was on the right track as to why they picked Dave and Tiffani but it's good to have it spelled out for a change, and not just assume ratings or editing. At least now I can wholeheartedly root for Harold.

[Deleted]

They need to send her back to Westworld from whence she came.

Rofl. Good one!

I am so happy Dave is in it. You just have to love Dave. And the chefs laughing when he was talking last night was pretty funny too.

I find it amazing that Tiffani is so TALENTED and ASSERTIVE that she can be a nice person when she wants to. I didn't know nice people had on /off switches. I just assumed nice people were just ... nice. pfftt on her.
Even the boys were hoping Lee Anne would win.

[maxell1313]

I was busy shooting off my big mouth about too much lamb when Lee Anne appeared to introduce her efforts – our third lamb dish of the night. In typical Lee Anne fashion, she stayed professional
-snip-

Well, at least he admits he was acting like an ass. Now I don't hate him *as* much.

And as a woman, I can see Tom's point about how people sometimes think a man being aggressive is considered okay, but a woman being aggressive makes her a bitch. That being said, have we sunk so low that common courtesies as politeness and not denigrating the competition are foreign now? I don't care if you're male or female; stepping on other people to get somewhere else is wrong!

You could tell Dave and Harold wanted LeeAnn in the finals, not because she was a "lesser chef" (because she certainly wasn't), but because while she would fight tooth and nail with the best of them, she also respected their talents and at the end of the day, knew this was just a competition. The fate of the world didn't hinge on who made the best dish. Tiffani hasn't figured this out yet. It's going to be a painful lesson when she does finally get it through her skull, too.

Okay, I'm done ranting. Que sera, sera and all that. I'm just glad we won't have to see or hear Katiebot next season. Yeesh.

[LurkerNan]

I wonder who will replace her... Is there a celebrity foodie out there they can tap?