I didn’t see an existing thread on this; did anyone else see it? Opinions?
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Now that the pierced faces are gone, I for one am glad to see the last of “I’m from Fronce, I grew up in the Basque region…” All he ever had to offer was his supposed heritage, as if that was going to automatically make anything he put together wonderful by osmosis.
The Brothers V. are kicking ass. I think one or the other of them has won every elimination challenge, aren’t they?
It’s a pretty bad sign if Colicchio spits out your food.
I wanted to see Robin go, though, just because she said she never tasted her shrimp until after she’d already sent it out, so that’s why she didn’t know it was bad. What kind of professional chef doesn’t taste what she’s sending out? That’s especially stupid with seafood, where you have to be so careful.
Having said that, ceviche was a pretty gutless choice for that challenge. I thought it was borderline cheating in that it avoided the intention of the challenge, which was to see what they good do over an open pit grill.
Hi all,
I was glad to see Mattin go- mostly because I was disappointed in how little he highlighted his Basque roots (seems to me, since Basque food is just plain awesome, that it would have been an advantage for him to emphasize that) and identified himself as “French”, which I think was kinda odd.
I couldn’t believe how many people did seafood in a ranch challenge and as a friend of many real buckaroos (that are NO WHERE near Sandy Valley, NV which mostly consists of horse properties and team ropers, NOT ranches), I thought there was alot of condescending BS about cooking for cowboys. Dutch oven cooking puts most restaurant fare to shame, in my humble opinion. That opinion is probably swayed by the fact every time I’ve had dutch oven cooking, I’ve worked my butt off that day and I’m starving! :). But very few people get to have that experience, and with Nevada’s rich buckaroo culture- admittedly no where near us in Vegas, it would have been neat to have that showcased a little.
The curse of the shrimp continue. Of course, no one that cooks it goes home, they just end up in the bottom.
I’m amazed at the brothers. I figured one would be good and one would be bad.
At first I was confused that they were only given 75 minutes to deal with an open flame–what if they had needed coals? But then I realized two things. None of those people knew how to use a dutch oven, so coals weren’t an issue. And the fire pits were propane, so even if somebody had planned to use coals, they still would have been fucked.
What was the one guy who said he couldn’t find a fryer on a ranch so he had to abandon the chips idea? How stupid was that? You know what you’ll also be able to find on a ranch? A big heavy pot and oil. What did he think happened before fryers were invented? People just didn’t eat chips?
The number of people who chose sea food was unbelievable to me. It never occurred to any of them that they might not have proper refrigeration and so they would need to plan accordingly?
I think I’m falling in love with Brian. His brother annoys me a bit, but Brian seems like he’s much more subdued and thoughtful. I love the way he spent an hour studying the grill, figuring out exactly how he was going to use his space.
Is Brian the one who has a Michelin star?
Yes, he is.
I still can’t get over the fact that the brothers have a Michelin star and James Beard award between them. To me, that’s borderline “bringing in the ringer.” Not that I don’t respect them as chefs, because they’re the shit and they both know they’re the shit, but it seems as if it defeats the purpose of this whole competition. The only thing that separates them from the Top Chef Masters competition is a few more years of experience.
But to discuss last night’s episode in particular: I agree that the option for cervice was a complete cop out for the challenge. Yeah, because half a dozen other people are doing something with heat they’re absoutely nothing original you could possibly think to grill up? You’re a unique snowflake (…along two other people) who can clearly see that people expecting Bar-B-Q would be even happier with a refreshing sliver of cod in lemon juice? And then for every single one of them to screw it up in some way?
As for the other dishes, most of them appeared unappetizing. There was a chicken breast that just looked glazed over and a tuna sandwich that seemed to have sat out too long. But that’s just looks. Maybe they tasted great. I mean, after all, the shrimp salad didn’t look half bad and yet it was a huge pile of undercooked crap, so what do I know?
It was another example – if one was needed – of how much more the judges respect the contestant who acknowledges a fuck-up and owns it, over one who doesn’t even know he/she did something wrong, or refuses to acknowledge it. And I agree the food last night just looked bad.
I like the Brothers V too, though I like the guy with the red beard better – what’s his name? – because he’s more laid back. I like the supergood blond chick too. My guess for the final three is some combination of those four.
The only thing that struck a minor note with me last night was Brian saying “I have a Michelin star, but I don’t brag about it.” Dude, you just did.
Well, saying that once, to the camera, can hardly be described as bragging. It’s not like all of his interviews have him saying, “I have a Michelin star so this challenge will be easy for me. There’s no way I won’t win this round, etc.”
I won’t be missing Mattin, though I thought his pronunciation of "cac-tchoosh"was cute.
Ceviche is the new Risotto aparently. Between the quickfire and elimination I think there were 6 Ceviches, and there have been at least two every week. I hate those stupid food trends of something that is different but really isn’t that great at it’s best and hard to execute perfectly anyway.
Apparently they Judges agree with me, because much like risotto the judges keep putting it at the bottom more than the top(Jenn’s first week cevich(sic) the main outlier)
One of the brothers had a really sour-grapes comment after the quickfire.
I agree. I wish they’d tell us how they pick the competitiors for the show; that could be an interesting "pre"show (like SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE). The enormous range between the Bros V and Mattin or some of the others who have left (and some of those who will clearly be leaving) almost makes the competition aspect uninteresting.
The top 4 is extremely easy to predict - it will be the Brothers V., Jenn, and Kevin. The rest are chaff.
No, it’s Michael, the younger brother, that has the Michelin star.
They need to wear big name-tags, because I still can’t tell them apart.
Oh, oops. I read another article about Brian and it mentioned the Michelin at the end. On closer read, I see that the article was discussing his brother in the final paragraph. :smack:
Michael V. is a sore loser when his brother wins.
Mike Isabella is a colossal douchebag.
Agreed about Isabella.
I have two brothers. There’s nothing more intolerable than losing to a brother, especially a younger brother. I understand that. It looks to me like they really do respect each other, though, and they like to work together. The rivalry is normal and healthy.
Oh yes, having a brother is a constant battle of oneupmanship. Bryan just seems less scowly about it.