Each of them was responsible for a separate component. Marcel prepared the plums in the fashion he preferred; Angelo then got Tiffany, who wasn’t involved in the conceptualizing or initial prep on the dish, to change Marcel’s preparation without consulting Marcel. It was poor form, even though it won. If Angelo thought that the plums should have been cut into smaller pieces (which seems to be what Tiffany did) he should’ve discussed that with Marcel, not just had someone else go ahead and do it. And by having someone else do it, the sabotage/sneaky part was that he was insulated in a way. He could truthfully say “I didn’t cut up the plums. I never touched the plums.” and obfuscate about how it was that Tiffany came to be the one who changed the presentation of a dish that she wasn’t initially involved in.
From a game point of view, Marcel, Blais, Angelo, and Mike I. could be a formidable alliance. Much like S6 when the two Voltaggio brothers, Jen, and Mike I had an informal alliance. Their cooking styles were similar and it made sense to work together as much as possible. IIRC their goal was to make it to to final 5 together and then every person for themselves. That led to an incredible finale showdown with the very best chefs competing.
With their egos, I’m not sure Marcel, Blais, Angelo, and Mike I. will work together all season. They may even want to see each other eliminated early. A win is much easier if they don’t have to face each other in the final episodes.
So far this season is developing much like I hoped. I’d like to see the chefs PYKAG with more class and less drama. But, otherwise this may be the best TC ever made.
Was I missing something here with T-Rex recipes? Here’s what I would have thought of:
Smoked salmon
Take a slice of bacon and wrap it around the side of a muffin tin. Crack an egg in it and bake. Extra: top with a good sharp cheddar.
Steak and eggs
Sausage and eggs. Make it fancy with shirred eggs or something.
I know its not fancy but it would be a good base for some recipes.
Why those four? I don’t see a lot they have in common. Marcel & Mike I. are a large step down from Blais and Angelo in skill (imo), and their cooking styles don’t really match up.
They are the strongest male chefs this season. There’s always more power in a strong alliance. I didn’t include Tre because he left so early in his season. I don’t know much about his skills. He certainly didn’t impress last night with his over reduced, salty sauce. I’m hoping we’ll see at least two women in the top six. <shrug> It’s hard to say who will make it. We’ve already seen one great chef leave early.
I doubt we’ll see any alliances. Too many big egos. I got a feeling this will be cut-throat all the way.
Don’t forget about Dale. He’s a great chef who probably would’ve made it to the final if it was for one horrible mistake (butterscotch scallops). And he and Blais made a pretty good team too. Tre seemed to be really good. He never really went home for a crappy dish. He went home because his team lost in restaurant wars and he was the head chef.
Gotcha. Wouldn’t have been my picks (I’d take both Dales, Fabio, and Spike over Mike I, and maybe over Marcel too…not sure about him), but we’ll see how it plays out. Very fun season.
I thought Jen had a 50% chance of winning (her or Richard). I was shocked last night. I couldn’t believe that she would unload like that or not have the sense to shut up. I think she thought she was invincible and was trying to play it as a game poorly.
I don’t know how it could have been misunderstood what a carnivore is. I knew that was going to be picked first and that team would go home. I knew they’d be like “oh yeah! We’ll do MEAT!” and not have the sense to think “gee, maybe having grains and fruit at breakfast would make better food.” I don’t think the challenge was too overwhelming, especially given their experience and caliber.
It’s going to be a crazy season, apparently. I’m not a big fan of the dramatics. I prefer the drama of the cooking itself, but it’ll still be interesting.
First, it was Carla, not Tiffany, and I find it hard to believe it’s some sort of crime to have Carla cut things. And he didn’t “get” Carla to do it. That implies there was some sort of plan or convincing. Carla was standing there, Angelo said “grab a board, cut those plums” and Carla, being the lovely helpful woman she is, got to work. There was never any sneakiness to the exchange that apparently happened right in front of Marcel anyway.
Second, the plum was too big. Marcel was going to fight him over it, but it was his dish too, and presumably they all had the same goal of winning. Which they did. Now, nobody in judging mentioned the size of the plums, which means either 1)it was a complete nonissue and didn’t enter into consideration for the final victory or 2) Angel was 100% correct and small plums (presumably for child-sized mouths as well as presentation) contributed to the win. Why would he even be motivated to pull some manipulative move against somebody on his own team–working on his dish. Are the people who hate Angelo proposing he’s so manipulative that he sabotaged his own dish in some sort of doubleblind bluff in an effort to…embarrass Marcel? Lose and get Marcel sent home? (like the size and shape of plums would ever send somebody home)?
Basically, Angelo didn’t do anything wrong and Marcel just wanted to have a reason to bitch. He was being such a little bitch that he apparently convinced viewers that Angelo was somehow “sabotaging” his dish. I think all the bullshit really demonstrates is that Marcel is as loathsome and douchey as I remember him being.
I really don’t have the energy or desire to get into a drawn out argument about this. I don’t know if you saw Season 7 or not but Angelo’s behavior the entire time followed a pattern of making unsolicited suggestions to his competitors and then deflecting any responsibility when they took his advice and failed.
In last nights episode I thought it out of line (and a little odd) when he asked a chef on the Brontosauras team who was not involved in preparing the dish (Carla), to alter the way a component of the dish was prepared. If he had an issue with how the plums had been cut up why didn’t he talk to Marcel or Richard B. about it? If you go back and watch the exchange Marcel stops Carla from doing what Angelo told her to do before she gets very far along. Marcel says his objection is that cutting the plums
smaller will “compromise the integrity of the dish”. I took that to mean Marcel was
responsible for that part of the dish. Based on Angelo’s behavior in Season 7, I could
easily see him throwing Marcel and Richard under the bus if the judges had found fault with any part of the dish they had prepared.
Tumbledown actually offers up a good explanation of what happened if you go
upthread and read his last post, though he mistakenly refers to Carla as Tiffany
throughout.
Over the last 20 years I have worked with a number of chefs. I can assure you if anyone ever messed up their mise en place before service there would have been hell to pay. Anyone in the business with a brain knows you just don’t do shit like that.
Speaking of Tre’s salty contribution, I seem to recall he had the problem of over salting during his previous season’s dishes. His dishes consistently didn’t live up to his hype of how great a chef he is.
Looks like two will be going home next week. Hope they do that a few more times so we don’t drag out this mob in the kitchen. There are just too many chefs at the moment. I prefer the competition when the numbers are around 6 to 8 chefs.
You’re right. I misunderstood what you were referring to because they also showed Marcel making a comment about how the dish was his conceptually and he didn’t want to share the win.
I was surprised to see Jen go, but honestly she bugs me. I’m sure she’s a fantastic chef, but for someone who so consistently breaks down under the pressure of this competition, she’s entirely too enamored of proclaiming her own badassness. That said, Jamie should have been out. Two stitches? Really? I’ve cut myself worse than that making coffee, and it took three cups of coffee and four people insisting before I went to the ER (seven stitches, y’all! :)).
I didn’t watch last season, so I have no opinion of Angelo, except that he does seem smarmy.
I’m pulling for either Richard or Carla. I don’t pretend that’s for any reason other than that I love them.
Jen did have a point about cooking for judges and not the crowd. Is there ever any significant advantage of cooking towards the crowd or objective vs making a haute cuisine dish for the judges? I remember last season, in the picnic grill challenge, there were a few judges remarking that you wouldn’t find certain dishes at a picnic, but ultimately if the flavors, temperature, texture, and presentation are all well-represented all is forgiven (and rewarded), no?
Why do the quickfires have to be so lame? I’d love if for once they just gave the chefs steaks and a kitchen full of anything you could ever want to season it with and said “go”. One of the worst I recall is when they had chefs bake pies. They might as well have just arm wrestled for it.
What’s wrong with having them make pies? Oh, I know “Wah wah we’re not pastry chefs boo hoo” but there are many, many savory applications for pastry/pie dough, and honestly, it’s not that hard to make a fruit pie. Though of course, to hear the chefs tell it, it was the most difficult quickfire that they ever conceived of, which I think means it’s successful. It’s supposed to be a challenge, not a good time.
Elia has really been a passive-aggressive bitch in her whiny interviews, telling lies about Tom and his restaurants. Jen really showed her ass in her tantrum at Judges Table, but at least she realizes it was a wee bit much in her interviews. I won’t miss either of their entitled asses.
As usual, Bourdain’s blog is a thing of beauty.
Eh, baking is way more sciencey with all of it’s exact measurements. Without knowing a recipe down pat, or even having access to a recipe, it’s pretty ridiculous to be asked to whip up a great pie crust and filling - especially when your trade isn’t baking. Some of those chefs were literally on page one, saying things like, “well, I know I need flower and eggs…”. I’ve made a few pies, but even my apple pie would turn out poorly, likely wet and not “set”, without referencing my recipe.
Ultimately the judges can be so fickle in the elimination challenges, and so much can go wrong, that the quickfire immunity is extra-valuable. I’d almost prefer to rack up a string of quickfire immunity victories, not win the challenges with prizes, and just keep advancing to the next week.