Season 5 starts tonight. They’re getting ready to skydive to their cooking location. Let’s hope nothing goes wrong or America will lose a good chunk of their best restaurateurs.
Loving the new season twist. Each chef’s sous chef is competing in a web series. The winning sous chef gets a reward for his Master Chef that week. The losing sous chef gets a penalty for his Master Chef. Talk about pressure!
Cooking outdoors with basic gas burners was a bad choice for the first challenge. All the chefs tried to cook their restaurant style food. One guy couldn’t even get his oil hot enough to finish frying his oysters . A lady chef’s clams didn’t open. Several chefs had their knives taken away and they were cooking with butter knives. I thought that was overkill for a very first challenge.
It takes the chefs awhile to get the hang of Top Chef. Learn when to cook fancy and when to adapt to the conditions. They got to learn the game and this wasn’t a fair test to start with.
It’s a shame because this was such a cool idea with the chefs skydiving and cooking in this gorgeous outdoor location. It could have been a great mid season episode.
[SPOILER]Odette Fada won with cold lamb and some other cold foods. Smart choice since the cooking conditions were so primitive.
Herbert Wilson went home. No surprise since his oysters were still in the fry pot and not served.
[/SPOILER]
Battle of the Sous Chefs Web Series
They’ve already posted week 2. It was a Mise en place battle. The sous chefs did as much as possible until one finished. Then the Masters have to step in and finish it. They’ll use that Mise en place in their elimination challenge later.
I hope these people don’t get fired after the show. It’s putting these sous chefs in a really awkward situation. One of the Masters looked really pissed that his sous was the farthest behind with the Mise en place. That’s a good way for a sous to get themselves fired.
I actually fell asleep during last night’s challenge, which never happens to me. I have it on my DVR, so I’ll watch it (and Top Shot) tonight. I was hoping the whole ep would be available online today, but probably it’ll be next week.
StG
Haven’t seen any of it yet since it’s on past my bedtime, but I am pushing for Bryan Voltaggio–I think he would have won Top Chef had he not been competing with his brother.
Double elimination tonight. I’m not a big fan of Asian style or seafood. So the food challenge (taking classic American and giving it a Asian twist) wasn’t something I’d really eat. Spaghetti and fish balls? Uh, I’ll pass. Lobster Roll with Asian flavors was a good idea. A shrimp dish that included the head grossed out a few diners, but the judges loved it.
Hey I think I’ve shopped there at that 99 Ranch Market!
Crazy episode this time. I’m not sure what to say about the soap opera scripts that the bottom three Masters had to reenact. But all the Masters were laughing and seemed to be having a lot of fun. If they don’t object then why should I?
The Sous chefs really need to think more about the “game strategy”. Hugh had them make sausage and save the scraps. Just a little thought should have made them realize those scraps were going to be used in another challenge. Instead they left their Masters almost nothing to work with in the QF.
The soap opera actors were asked to vote on the dishes they liked and disliked. There was one Master’s dish they all commented was terrible. But food critic Ruth Reichl loved the complex flavors. The judges seemed to decide that their refined palate out voted the actors and so that Master didn’t get eliminated.
I find it hard to agree with that. If a whole table full of people dislike a dish then it probably tastes bad. No matter what three food critics say.
Am I the only person here watching this season? You’re missing out on one of the best Master seasons yet.
Very sentimental episode with Curtis’ finance Lindsay Price surprising him at a tasting party with all his family and friends. What a fun episode. I just couldn’t help but enjoy seeing Curtis surprised by his finance, friends, and family. It was apparent that the Master Chefs were more invested in catering a fellow chef’s party. They seemed to really go all out. It’s a shame a few dishes just didn’t work out.
I didn’t understand the deserts. Lindsay Price told them that Curtis was a huge, huge chocolate fan. I was expecting something really decadent like a molten fudge cake or even a fudge candy. I recall on Take Home Chef that Curtis often made chocolate deserts. I just don’t understand serving doughnuts with a tiny smear of chocolate acceptable. David Burkes’ desert didn’t have any chocolate. That’s just weird.
I think Jennifer is wearing down fast. I’ve seen the older chefs do that in every season of Masters. They just can’t keep up after the first four or five episodes. I remember an interview where one of the Master chefs commented they weren’t getting any decent sleep because college kids at the hotel were partying. Jennifer just looked so disorganized and stressed in this episode. I don’t think she’ll make it past the next challenge.
Restaurant Wars - done by people that have all opened several of them. They were asked to create a restaurant that feature LA cuisine.
Sang’s Strip Loin with Broccoli Two Ways had me salivating on my sofa. That looked so good. So far Sang is the clear favorite for a season win. But, lots can still happen. Sue did a Chocolate Malt Semifreddo with Fudge, Marshmallow, and Graham Crackers is a desert that I’d order any day, any time.
All the food looked good. There were no disasters like usually happens on regular Top Chef. A few dishes were less successful and I agreed with who got sent home.
So far all the cast is getting along. Thankfully no ugly reality show drama. Sang and Douglas get pretty intense in the kitchen but they seems to get along with the other Master Chefs. I love see these people joke and enjoy each others company after the challenge ends.
I think the masters work with each other from a level of respect that most reality shows don’t bring. They know the others are are successful and respect that.
I wonder what’s up with Douglas’ sous.
StG
This ep definitely soured me on Sang, whose restaurant I have eaten at. He was a complete ass to the staff.
Are you new to cooking shows?
StG
No. Why?
Sorry for the snide. Just saying that chefs aren’t normally known for their easy-going demeanor.
StG
Did you even watch the episode? Even the other chefs were calling him an ass for what he was doing.
There was something new on Restaurant Wars. This was the first time I ever heard any chef discuss scheduling the reservations. David Burke really put thought into how many people had to be served at any one time.
On regular Top Chef and the other Masters seasons it seemed liked a huge flood of people randomly filled the restaurant. It makes me wonder now if the chefs were allowed to control “the book”. That’s so critical in making sure the kitchen doesn’t get in the weeds and overwhelmed. I’ve always wondered why this wasn’t mentioned before.
It could explain why some teams on RW failed so miserably on regular Top Chef.
I haven’t been able to watch this for a few weeks, is Chef Lynn still on? I’m rooting for her, for obvious reasons.
I found her reactions to some of the criticisms leveled at her food pretty humourous; she doesn’t like hearing that what she prepared isn’t perfect, that’s for sure!
She was eliminated this week. And her reaction was about as you would expect.
I think the new sous chef component is the coolest part of this series–and I think the lead Chefs are simply very very competitive, so get offput a little when they’re thrown a disadvantage, but not so badly that they would fire their sous after the show (unless the sous did something truly terrible that presented the chef and their reputation in a very bad light).
And while they’ve been thrown a few hurdles with the poor performances of some of the sous chefs, I can’t remember a single incident where that disadvantage was the primary reason the Chef Master went home that same week.