# Top Chef - 5/28 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 29, 2008, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-chef-5-28/450974 "2008-05-29T02:22:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-chef-5-28/450974/1 "2008-05-29T02:22:44Z")
Lisa… for the love of all that is good and holy, **wash your hair**! ---
**Author:** ![katie1341](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/91b2a8/32.png) [@katie1341](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/katie1341)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-chef-5-28/450974/2 "2008-05-29T02:59:29Z")
I can’t believe that Greasy McBitchface is in the final 4. Yeech. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-chef-5-28/450974/3 "2008-05-29T03:01:34Z")
Lisa squeaks by another week. Sigh. But we’re happy to see Stephanie win again in the Cricetus household. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-chef-5-28/450974/4 "2008-05-29T03:03:37Z")
[QUOTE=Ferret Herder] Lisa… for the love of all that is good and holy, **wash your hair**! [/QUOTE] She’s got a new do for puerto rico. And some new piercings… She looks stylish and coiffed. Does technique make Flavor…??? PB Mashed Potatoes… delicious? discuss. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-chef-5-28/450974/5 "2008-05-29T03:04:09Z")
I didn’t want Lisa or Spike to be in the final four. However, I think the decision to axe Spike was right - sure, Tramonto had frozen scallops, but my thought was what if that was a “trap” to see if someone would actually use those? He should have known, as was pointed out, that if your style is simplicity, the ingredients had better be high quality. About Lisa - it seems to me that she’s fallen back on her standards before, and I gave a lot more credit to the people who made up new dishes, even when they didn’t stick to their “style”. Hooray for Stephanie! I hope she’s the winner and stays in Chicago; I’d love to check out her work. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-chef-5-28/450974/6 "2008-05-29T03:05:11Z")
Lisa is like a cockroach that won’t die no matter how many times it’s stepped on. A dirty, greasy, perpetually angry cockroach. ---
**Author:** ![Siege](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@Siege](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siege)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-chef-5-28/450974/7 "2008-05-29T03:09:21Z")
Yes, but I wouldn’t mind having Lisa’s luck. Once again, she’s saved because someone else screwed up worse. I hadn’t realized is Spike has been in the bottom three more times than Lisa, though. What’s interesting is this time he didn’t seem to be out to screw anyone, yet he still managed to shoot himself nicely in the foot. I’m glad Stephanie won, and it was good to see the cream of the competition, Richard, Stephanie, and Antonia, together. I was surprised at Richard’s nerves, but he seems like a good, competent, likable guy at heart. All three of them seem to have a touch of modesty Lisa, Spike, Dale, and Andrew lack. Look, folks, it could have been worse, At least Spike didn’t make butterscotch scallops! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-chef-5-28/450974/8 "2008-05-29T03:09:59Z")
Boo Lisa. I hate her face. ---
**Author:** ![gravitycrash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@gravitycrash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gravitycrash)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-chef-5-28/450974/9 "2008-05-29T03:10:41Z")
Well we all knew that we were stuck with Spike and or Lisa in the top four. I’m so glad that the obvious top three has made it. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-chef-5-28/450974/10 "2008-05-29T03:13:42Z")
[QUOTE=Ferret Herder] Lisa… for the love of all that is good and holy, **wash your hair**! [/QUOTE] She looks like Steve Nash in the fourth quarter of an NBA game. I twice thought Ilan was going to throw up at the judges table. What was up with that? ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-chef-5-28/450974/11 "2008-05-29T03:16:37Z")
[QUOTE=Lamar Mundane] She looks like Steve Nash in the fourth quarter of an NBA game. I twice thought Ilan was going to throw up at the judges table. What was up with that? [/QUOTE] Didn’t Harold use his flatware oddly? He held it funny and did weird things with his knife… ---
**Author:** ![katie1341](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/91b2a8/32.png) [@katie1341](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/katie1341)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-chef-5-28/450974/12 "2008-05-29T03:22:07Z")
Oh, and Ilan? You’re still a dick. ---
**Author:** ![gravitycrash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@gravitycrash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gravitycrash)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-chef-5-28/450974/13 "2008-05-29T03:30:10Z")
[QUOTE=katie1341] Oh, and Ilan? You’re still a dick. [/QUOTE] Oh my yes! What a self important ass. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-chef-5-28/450974/14 "2008-05-29T03:51:42Z")
I am just so thrilled that neither Richard, Stephanie, or Antonia got axed that I really didn’t care which of the other two got axed. I do agree with the decision, though - the minute he reached for frozen scallops I was like “WTF?” I’ve never had a commercially frozen scallop that was good for anything but stock. ---
**Author:** ![Agnostic\_Pagan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c4cdca/32.png) [@Agnostic\_Pagan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agnostic_Pagan)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-chef-5-28/450974/15 "2008-05-29T04:20:36Z")
Spike sure seemed to like shooting himself in the foot whenever he won the quickfire. I think winning gave him a false confidence that he thought he could get away with the scallops. I am so happy that Richard, Antonia and Stephanie made it (though I would have been shocked beyond belief if they didn’t), and I think I will stay happy no matter who out of those three win. I have an ugly feeling though that Lisa’s luck will hold out a bit longer and actually find herself in the final three. I so hope that I am wrong about it, but ever since she stayed over Dale, I can’t predict this show. But the first three are miles above Lisa. She should be eternally grateful she ever got this far. In that sense she reminds me of Marcel and Casey, two cooks that should never had gotten as far as they did. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-chef-5-28/450974/16 "2008-05-29T05:10:28Z")
[QUOTE=Athena] I am just so thrilled that neither Richard, Stephanie, or Antonia got axed that I really didn’t care which of the other two got axed. I do agree with the decision, though - the minute he reached for frozen scallops I was like “WTF?” I’ve never had a commercially frozen scallop that was good for anything but stock. [/QUOTE] I agree. I also think it was an interesting idea that the frozen scallops might have been a trap. I’m still annoyed that Lisa has lasted longer than Dale. I kind of wish they had said, “Lisa, we all agreed that we just can’t stand to look at that face you make any more so even though Spike screwed up more, please pack your knives and go.” I had to laugh when Lisa was complaining about the oven being too hot and Antonia remarked that she didn’t want the fire to die and Lisa said “Well, what if I die?”. I have to give Antonia props for not going with the obvious “We’d all cheer.” answer. But her “Well, then you won’t be going to Puerto Rico” was nice and subtle. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-chef-5-28/450974/17 "2008-05-29T06:18:55Z")
Well, to be honest, I think they were all kind of handicapped by the steakhouse requirements. Spike could have done something innovative by making a ceviche with the frozen scallops. Or maybe he could have done a crossover and served a Tomahawk Steak with Scallop Chips. Maybe dehydrate the thinly sliced, subpar, scallops in a low temp oven with a marinade, serve as a garnish to the steak. Or, make a Steak and Scallop appetizer _and_ entree. Lemons to Lemonade. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-chef-5-28/450974/18 "2008-05-29T06:41:47Z")
He could have done an Aged Beefloin (Ribeye) and Scallops Poke as an appetizer, and TomaHawk Steak with scallop chips. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-chef-5-28/450974/19 "2008-05-29T12:35:51Z")
> [@Siege](#): > > What’s interesting is this time [Spike] didn’t seem to be out to screw anyone, yet he still managed to shoot himself nicely in the foot. I thought it was very, very funny that he tried to blame the restaurant owner (Tramanto?) for putting the frozen scallops in front of him. He saw that wasn’t going to work, pretty quickly, but the instinctive reaction to blame someone else for his own failings is one of his defining qualities. I was hoping, hoping, hoping, they’d kick both Spike and Lisa out of there and just have a top three. ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-chef-5-28/450974/20 "2008-05-29T13:13:36Z")
[QUOTE=C K Dexter Haven] I was hoping, hoping, hoping, they’d kick both Spike and Lisa out of there and just have a top three. [/QUOTE] Amen! It’s a shame that Dale didn’t make it to this round. I think he would have shone in an individual, creative challenge moreso than the team one he lost. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-chef-5-28/450974.md?page=2)