10 o’clock tonight. Apparently today, the chefs split into two teams and each team has to make a menu for a concept restaurant or something. We’ll find out the details tonight, I guess.
My predictions? Dave will cry and Miguel will freak out about something.
Dude, he’s not your bitch, bitch
The promos make it look like you’ll be right. I love Lee Anne’s complaint that she’s on the team with the Big Thinker and the No Thinker, which I guess means Stephen and Miguel. Given they also show Dave going off on Tiffani (Enderw24’s reference), it appears the team breakdown.
If that’s right, then they’ve probably set up a Tiffani vs Lee Anne showdown as they look to be the strongest contenders.
Heh…I didn’t even see the promos. But, I think you’re right…Tiffani and Lee Anne do seem to be the strongest of who are there. Although I wouldn’t rule out Harold, either. He does seem to have a weakness at making light stuff, though, so that might hurt him. For that matter, Dave seems like a good cook…he’s just so sensitive to criticism. Miguel seems sloppy and easily flustered, and Stephen is the Salvador Dali of chefs. He certainly has a vision for his food, but it’s disturbing and hard to understand. (“For this dish, I shall take six poached clams, put each on top of a single bean, and sprinkle the rest of the plate with dashes of sauces and herbs”)
I would like to see a Tiffani vs. Lee Anne showdown if Lee Anne comes out on top, but as long as someone beats Stephen I will be happy. Every time he opens his mouth, I start growling and yelling. He is such a pompous ass and his condescension is off the charts.
One of the contestants (I don’t remember which one) said it perfectly, “Stephen is a sommelier which means he is a professional bullshitter”.
Last break, I think Miguel is going down…it’s between him and Stephen, and I think Miguel is gonna go.
It’ll probably be Miguel but I would rather see Stephen go instead. I don’t go to restaurants to hear some snob give me an endless lecture about Spanish wine.
Really, I think Stephen should’ve been kicked off, because the customer service issues they had were attributable to him, IMHO. Miguel made stupid mistakes ($7.95 instead of $17.95 for the fish? I began to wonder if he was trying to sabotage them right there), and the attempt to just hang back and hope the shit lands on someone else is pretty dangerous.
It looked at times like Dave was going to cry out on the floor tonight. I wasn’t thrilled with their concept, but apparently it worked. Next week’s challenge looks interesting. It seems weird that none of the competitors have pastry experience.
StG
I had my fingers crossed to no avail
Stephen is still with us
Is he being kept on the show only because of the viewer hate factor - He may suck as a chef, but he does create a stir…Do they fear the ratings would suffer if everyone wasn’t waiting for him to be skewered.
Stephen was completely clueless about how poorly his team, and him in particular, did. He should have been the one to go, but Miguel certainly didn’t do anything to make his own case.
Dave deserved that win. It was him out front that won the challenge, and kudos to Harold for saying so.
From next week’s preview:
Tiffani deserves to go home just for the fact that she bought cake mix. I can understand that none of them are pastry chefs, but come on.
That’s probably why they keep him. Wasn’t there another challenge where he was in the bottom and was one of the two worst but he got to stay?
I lost all respect for Miguel when he and Andrea worked as a team and he was dumping their whole failure on her. He knew she had immunity and his ass was on the line, if he didn’t think something would work he should have spoken up.
I don’t have cable at home so I only get to catch it occasionally at work when they show the reruns late at night. So I like to read these threads to find out what’s going on.
And for $18 didn’t see that it wasn’t scaled. I’d have filleted the skin off instead of sending it out with scales, but Miguel was just “oh, ho hum”. I read about “passive aggresive”, Miguel seems to be that IMHO. Price $10/lb too high? OOoops. Fish not scaled? OOpps. Didn’t know Spanish cuisine? Not my problem. He seemed almost hoping the team would tank and somehow he’d come out unscathed.
Dave goes to Cannes. Good for him, that guy needs a vacation.
Stephen “educating” presumably urbane diners while the food went cold, what a dork.
Lee Anne and Tiffani are the cream of the crop, Harold is just too passive.
I had a few problems with this episode.
First, Tom is right. The title is Top Chef. It’s not Top Somillier or Top Host or even Top Waiter. So while Dave excelled at it and Stephen imagined he did, it’s all pretty irrelevant. Chefs work in the kitchen. Their designs are on their plate. They’re not being judged on how well they hand out the food, whether the customers like the table cloth, or the feng shui of the dining experience. It’s about the food.
Second, speaking of the food…
What the heck did they serve? From what I could see of the two blurry cursive menus there were probably eight dishes between the two restaurants. I saw a chicken dish aaaaaand, the same chicken dish aaaaand, some fish with scales, and I think I saw a green sauce somewhere. What did they serve? What did they make? Isn’t this show at least partly about the actual creations? That was totally missing tonight.
Finally, I can’t believe Dave won tonight. It’s not that he didn’t deserve it but, you all saw him at the judge’s table. Would YOU want to take him on a trip to France?
I was glad Dave finally spoke up instead of muttering, sobbing or waiting till he was alone to speak his mind. He may not have been right but at least he didn’t just stand in front of the truck and wait to be hit for a change.
Although it wasn’t an issue this time, I think it’s insane that the house kitchen doesn’t have a workstation for each chef, with their own stove and oven and fridge. How many times have we heard, “who turned off my burner? Who messed with the temp on my oven?” There’s too much of an opportunity to sabotage another chef, or accidentally make an error for someone else. They don’t need 8 blast chillers, but not having specified work-stations makes it too hard on everyone.
StG
Stephen’s attempted ice cream from three or four episodes back was a huge failure. He totally overlooked the ice cream maker, and tried to freeze it! It’s TOP CHEF, you got the tools!
But technically, I’d want him most as a sous chef. Lots of potential. Tiffini is good, but not quite flexible enough. I think Stephen could grow.
I still want to reach through the screen and punch him. “I’m letting your food get cold because I’ve decided to give you a geography lesson” You’ve got to be kidding me. He must have grown up in a very, very scary household.
However, he did give up the most unintentionally funny line of the night when he said something like “their restaurant is warm and welcoming and comfortable - I don’t do those things.”
I love Stephen’s facial expressions whenever he’s being criticized by the judges. He looks at them like they’re crazy – like it’s incomprehensible to him that he could be capable of any flaw.
I agree with amarinth that he must have had a very cold childhood.
Please insert Harold in place of Stephen here. I was mistaken. I was referring to Harold Dieterle. Yea, I just wouldn’t be too interested in Stephen’s food. He could be a great chef if he learns to cook for people. His problem is that he cooks for himself.
I’m not even sure this is true. I think he would be perfectly satisfied if no one ate his creations - just look at them instead.