Top Chef

[petitesuite]

Tom never misses a chance to imprint on a young white guy so I felt like it was kind of unsurprising (although I also really felt like surely Shota had this in the bag!). Agree that Dawn's leaving elements off was so disappointing, but of the top three she is still the one whose restaurant I would want to go to the most which is kind of like winning.

I think you are right about him not being invited back. I really, really hope that his win doesn't just completely negate the fall-out he might have otherwise experienced. I also kind of wonder how Maria feels, it seemed they were very close and he was really an inspiration to her.

[Deleted]

He's definitely going to be the new Ilan from Season Two. Everyone's just going to pretend he doesn't exist. Which is a shame because otherwise this was a really heartfelt season, I thought they managed Covid well, plus they had the episodes about African cuisine, indigenous people, all the native seafood, and wineries, it was a beautiful reflection of Oregon.

It was definitely down to him and Shota -- and quite frankly, I thought it should have been Shota. As delicious as Dawn's food looked, you're not going to win when you leave elements off the plate, especially when you've already done that at least three times before. I think she knew it too. After the first course, she knew she wasn't going to win, but she also refused to give up. It was inspiring.

[scarlet]

I think Shota messing up his rice cost him the win. I was bummed about Dawn--because her food is the food I'd most like to eat--but I knew when she again left something off a few plates in round one that she wouldn't win.

[Mutagen]

What a damp fart of an ending to an otherwise stellar season. I'm so disappointed.

[Mutagen]

Despite my disappointment with last season, I'm back on my bullshit again this season 🙃 Last night was a pretty great Restaurant Wars showdown.

Spoilers:

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}I have absolutely no problem with Ashleigh winning (and I'm thrilled to see someone from North Carolina!) but I personally might have given it to Buddha. I've been back and forth on him throughout the season but he REALLY came through. There could not have been more of a contrast between him and Jackson, not just in terms of how they handled front-of-house, but also in how they treated their teams. Buddha immediately recognized he was the odd man out in terms of cooking style, didn't let his ego get in the way, and focused on what he COULD contribute and did that really really well. While Jackson totally failed to read the room with his team and steamrolled them all into something nobody really felt like doing. Who knows how much that contrast was reality TV editing, but it was a good episode to watch.

I was really disappointed with Jackson, as I'd liked him up until this episode, where he sort of became the embodiment of that "Lord grant me the confidence of a mediocre white man" tweet. It's legitimately awesome that he got as far as he did despite not having his sense of taste or smell, but Luke was right to be furious with him.

For me, it's between Evelyn and Nick now.

[scarlet]

I’m a big Evelyn fan—would love to see her win. I think she and Damarr are both looking strong. Jackson has bugged me all season with his big ~secret, so not sad to see him go.

[petitesuite]

Would also love for Evelyn to win! Would also be happy with Damarr. Nick seems very nice but I think of the remaining people he is among the more uneven, and Luke has GOT to go. I didn't completely buy Luke's anger with Jackson--he has been consistently underperforming even without Jackson's input and if there really had been a "I will season it this way because of what you, Jackson and no one else, specifically said" moment I think we would have seen it--and we didn't, did we? Maybe I missed it.

I also wondered if they did this season in Texas so that it would be guaranteed that they could do a 'real' restaurant wars.

[Mutagen]

Apr 24, 2022 12:29:45 GMT -4 petitesuite said:

Would also love for Evelyn to win! Would also be happy with Damarr. Nick seems very nice but I think of the remaining people he is among the more uneven, and Luke has GOT to go. I didn't completely buy Luke's anger with Jackson--he has been consistently underperforming even without Jackson's input and if there really had been a "I will season it this way because of what you, Jackson and no one else, specifically said" moment I think we would have seen it--and we didn't, did we? Maybe I missed it.

Well, there was the aside where Luke mentioned that the judges had criticized him for overseasoning in one challenge and underseasoning in another. I think it implied he wanted to get a reality check from his team and Jackson sorta screwed him. At the end of the day, that's a Luke problem and not a Jackson problem if he can't get a grip on his seasoning (and I couldn't argue with Tom's logic that contributing almost nothing was a worse offense than Jackson trying and failing). Still, with the way it played out, I get why he was pissed.

Glad we are all recognizing Queen Evelyn! I really hope she can carry it to the finish line.

[ahah]

Luke's problems, especially the lack of confidence he's got right now from some poor performances, are definitely his fault. That said, I think that this would have been the right time for Jackson to either come clean to his team at the start about his lack of ability to taste OR to have found a way out of being the teammate who tasted any food to give feedback. If Luke asked him to taste it, Jackson could have said "Can you have someone else do it, I'm in the middle of something" if he didn't want to come clean.
I was glad that Jackson went this time because I thought he did not come across well in the planning of their restaurant. I'm surprised he's not being blasted more for pushing a south Asian themed restaurant because their captain was Asian, totally ignoring that her skill is in seafood, not Asian cooking! He thought the way to survive restaurant wars was to hide behind distractions and push others into the spotlight so they could take the fire. That was cowardly and I am glad the judges saw through it.

[famvir]

I don’t understand why he actively ignored the judges.

Leaving a note at the table instead of greeting them.

Leaving the menu instead of introducing the restaurant and explaining the concept and dishes.

Laughing and joking with the other tables while the judges stewed about what food was placed before them.

I swear it looked intentional...

We were driving with a friend who was speeding in a very well known speed trap on a country road. The friend actually passed a cop while driving 30 miles over the speed limit and was pulled over, then he sassed the cop. He was arrested and we had to clean out our wallets to bail him out. We lost half a day (and the wedding we were driving to.)

We asked him if he was freakin’ crazy, and he said it was a lie to change his behavior for special circumstances. As in, cut his speed if he sees a cop. Or slow down in a speed trap.

This is what Jackson said. There are no special people. There are no special circumstances. He treats everyone the same. To the point that he will be laughing and pouring wine at the table next to/ignoring the Michelin Star reviewer cooling his heals at Jackson’s restaurant. He will go out of his way to ignore the VIP who is rating his restaurant.

It’s the same hubris that makes him think he can make dishes when he has no taste or smell. He closes his eyes and puts his hands over his ears and can remember how something tastes?

It really was the most disrespectful way of thumbing his nose at the whole concept of of Top Chef, if not the service industry. He didn’t even give them the respect of treating them as well as he did the other guests. He has to treat them worse or it’s a lie.