Top Chef

[india7]

scarlet said:

Little known fact: Mia is the first person in her family to "make something" of herself. And she was once homeless. And sold drugs. I know, who knew? She really kept that to herself...

Hee! And she was a barbecueologist! Did you know that? Also, she used to cook for cowboys, and she was the Queen of Breakfast! Such an interesting person - so modest and quiet, you'd never know these things about her.

One of the TWoP posters made a joke on their thread, "Too bad Mia won't be around for the crack challenge! 'I used to sell crack, so as soon as I saw that the challenge was crack, I knew I was in my element.' " Hah!

[topher]

Did she say she was 10 when she sold crack? That would make it 1984. Isn't that a bit early for crack?

[india7]

I thought she said 11, but you know, I thought the same thing. I think crack came to be something that everyone heard about in the early to mid-90s. I mean, not that I believe her anyway - I think Mia has more stories than Disney, but yeah, you're right. In trying to make her story believable, she's off by about eight years.

[scarlet]

She definitely had a lot of stories, didn't she? And I guess "Sunday dinners at Grandma's" (when her expertise in frogs legs and cornbread came into play) were wedged in between the homelessness and drug selling.

[bklynred]

I'm just really surprised Mia was that tightly wound.

OTOH, I understand her frustration at Cliff. The only other person of color in the competition, he had immunity, yet all he could do was berate her during judging? I'm tired of him and his huge pirate hoop earrings. Grr.

[berrybearie]

india7 said:

That's the other thing on the producer's blogs - they posted that they do NOT understand why the other contestants hate Marcel so much. The producers said Marcel didn't do anything to warrant such hostility. And doesn't bad behavior mean better television and higher ratings? So they'd be showing it if that were the case. There's an interview with Marcel over at the Bravo site, and they ask him "Why all the hate?" He even admits that he can have an arrogant attitude sometimes, but he doesn't get why they totally loathe him like they do. But the producers' blog confirmed that he hasn't done anything to make people hate him the way they do. So really, I think it's just the "cool kids" ganging up on the oddball.

That may be the case. I like Marcel most of the time (although his "I didn't need a leader" bit last night was kind of twerpy.)

[Deleted]

I seem to recall that crack started showing up in the news in the early to mid-80s. Not that I believe Mia was selling it, but yeah, it's been around since the time she claimed she was selling it.

I'm going with India's theory that the cool kids are just ganging up on Marcel. I get whiffs of arrogance from a lot of those chefs, but I don't see anyone else picking on anyone other than Marcel.

[indygirl]

berrybearie said:

That may be the case. I like Marcel most of the time (although his "I didn't need a leader" bit last night was kind of twerpy.)

ITA. If his team had lost, Marcel would have been yelling "I wasn't the leader! No one would listen to my ideas!" louder than anyone.

india7 said:

Over at TWoP, someone posted Colicchio's blog, where he said that Elia would have gone if Mia hadn't quit - but really, I'm cynical to the point where I don't quite believe that.

I don't believe that at all. Either Mike or Mia were out of there.

[firstaid]

I definitely think the right person was sent home in the latest challenge. Since Mia is a caterer, she should have known better and suggested more forcefully that they add more items to their menu.

Can we take a minute to discuss Padma's outfit? She's a pretty lady and all, but a yellow dress with black cutouts in the sleeves? WTF?
That looked seriously tacky.

[WitchyPoo]

Padma's beach outfit was the worst. Stephen Stills called and he wants his coat back.