# Top Chef- 1-22 (open spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 22, 2009, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-chef-1-22-open-spoilers/482424 "2009-01-22T07:49:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![fifty-six](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@fifty-six](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fifty-six)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2009, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-chef-1-22-open-spoilers/482424/61 "2009-01-26T16:18:17Z")
> [@doublehelix](#): > > This episode sucked. First of all, why bother having a guest judge if the diners get to chose the winning restaurant? Then there’s the stupidity of having a restaurant win because of better desserts. Why even serve desserts? Mostly, I’m having a hard time getting passed the fact that a “chef” sent out undercooked cod (Not a hard fish to cook correctly) and was not eliminated. > > This may be the weakest seasons contestants ever. Stefan and Jamie seem to be the only decent chefs on the show. How does that happen? > > Oh. And I hate Jamie’s lipstick. Enough with the gloss already! The judges were kinda deadlocked. They said the diners response cards was what helped lean the decision in the end. Why is it stupid to have a restaurant win on desserts? And that is not why they won. They won on a combination of Service and deserts. Read [Toms blog](http://www.bravotv.com/Top_Chef/season/5/blogs/index.php?blog=tom_colicchio) it is really insightful as to why they chose the team they chose. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2009, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-chef-1-22-open-spoilers/482424/62 "2009-01-26T17:32:56Z")
> [@fifty-six](#): > > Why is it stupid to have a restaurant win on desserts? And that is not why they won. They won on a combination of Service and deserts. > > . Hell, given the veritable death sentence deserts seem to be, if there is a scenario where SOMEBODY HAS TO make a desert, if the damn desert doesnt kill somebody, the person who decided to take one for the team should get a free pass 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Siege](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@Siege](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siege)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-chef-1-22-open-spoilers/482424/63 "2009-01-27T02:16:37Z")
The challenges don’t seem to be as much fun this season. Last season we had the block party, cooking with kids, and cooking for policemen, among others; this season’s seem more straightforward, although we did have the ethnic neighborhood challenge and the Foo Fighters challenges early on. (I loved the Foo Fighters’ response to the show!) If this season had been my first season, rather than last season, I don’t know if I would have gotten hooked on the show. Does it seem that way to you, too? I agree with **gravitycrash** and **cactus waltz** about Leah. Early this season, I thought she might win, although she hasn’t shown much recently. Radhika was all right, but I swear that woman seemed to tank after every quick fire she won. The other two times she won quick fires, I think she would have wound up in the bottom three if she didn’t have immunity; this time, she was just out of her depth and didn’t even have someone else take charge. It’s a shame, but it makes sense to me. ---
**Author:** ![doublehelix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@doublehelix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doublehelix)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-chef-1-22-open-spoilers/482424/64 "2009-01-27T18:00:15Z")
> [@fifty-six](#): > > The judges were kinda deadlocked. They said the diners response cards was what helped lean the decision in the end. > > Why is it stupid to have a restaurant win on desserts? And that is not why they won. They won on a combination of Service and deserts. > > Read [Toms blog](http://www.bravotv.com/Top_Chef/season/5/blogs/index.php?blog=tom_colicchio) it is really insightful as to why they chose the team they chose. It’s stupid to have a restaurant win on desserts because this is not a baking show, but a cooking show. Moreover, when three courses are served, and two of the three are terrible, it’s a shame that the one course in which the chefs are not trained is the one upon which the entire contest turns. Especially when one restaurant served undercooked fish. The judges were not deadlocked. Colicchio (in his blog) and the new judge (at the table) admitted that the food was better at Sahana. So that is why this episode sucked. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-chef-1-22-open-spoilers/482424.md?page=3)