aka prime rib
Which is also a rule of thumb, for I as a veteran of the Banquet wars. If a wedding, or convention, or otherwise catered event is having Beef, I tend to take the Chicken or Seafood or Vegetarian option if they are serving steak, unless it is prime rib. Prime rib can be well executed in this configuration. Prime carved primal Beef buffet style with mashed potatoes and gravy is the best possible outcome from my decidedly Midwestern tastes.
Interesting about the coke jaw. I hope that isn’t it, but it’s distracting for sure. I think you summed up the problems with the season very well.
Didn’t anybody watch last night? I wonder if Heather’s really as much of an idiot as she appears, or if it’s just the editing?
I can’t recall any chef on TC as obnoxious and irritating as Heather. Even Marcel never threw people under the bus like Heather did to Beverly.
The Heather/Beverly hate is even worse than the Betty/Marcel fights in S2. Heather seems to be very prejudiced against Asian food.
I’m disappointed at seeing Dakota go. She seemed like one of the more talented chefs this season.
She’s mean as a snake! And what was the point of attacking Bev in the judging? Does Heather want to go home? I was so torn. I like Bev, but I sooooo wanted to see Heather P her f’ing Ks. I hope the judges nail her next week! Hugh Acheson slayed her in his blog.
Moto Chris has got to get his act together. He keeps trying all this crap that doesn’t work.
Chris Crary - he goes on about Padma, but he actually seems to be crushing on the male guests just as hard.
Ty-lor wins a chunk O’Change. I want Chris to be gay, and Ty to be straight. Just sayin’.
Almost all of Padma’s lines were bad ADR until the final judges’s table. Too drunk?
Grayson rocks. It’s about time a contestant told another to shut up and stand by his good.
ADR = Dubbing?
This week I watched Ed’s mouth and didn’t notice anything. What is it that he does?
You know, at first I was sort of rooting for Heather - watching Bev plod over those shrimp last week was painful. And I can understand her desire not to have Bev hijack their combined dish as Asian, when that’s not her thing. But Heather really is unlikable, and doesn’t seem to understand the implications of bad-mouthing her partner when both members of the team were going home. And surely she’s seen Top Chef before and knows they have team challenges - her rant about not wanting to be judged if she didn’t have complete control shows her delusion of omnipotence.
StG
Yeah, Automated Dialogue Replacement.
In his Blog?! Lotta good it does there. Where were those jellyfish at Judge’s Table? Someone should have called Heather on her bullshit there.
When Heather tried to suggest that she had not been able to make her food, that Beverly had dominated the team’s planning and execution, someone should have spoken up.
“Really, Heather?” someone should have said. “You want us to believe that this little thing crying here in front of us steamrolled you, Heather? Through the force of her powerful personality Beverly prevented you from an equitable say? You’ve gotta be shittin’ me!”
No one seems to be enjoying themselves this season. Padma seems zoned out. Tom seems miserable. He’s not visiting the kitchens during cooking and certainly seemed out of sorts at JT when he had bring the discussion back to the food from the Beverly-Heather rivalry (he was absolutely correct in my mind).
I don’t particularly like Beverly, but someone’s gotta check that bitch of a scold.
There’s a lot of heavy hitting re Heather’s behavior toward Beverly in several food-related sites today, as well as Acheson’s blog over at the Bravo site. I can understand both sides.
You have in one corner an executive chef who, like many executive chefs of either sex, HAS to call ALL the shots and, because of industry pressure in having to “prove” yourself (especially if you’re female), the louder and bossier you are, the more people will acknowledge your existence. The more you’re “in your face” about what YOU want, the more people will listen to you because you’re not only loud, you’re also intimidating.
The interesting thing about chefs – or anyone – with that bearing is that, in almost all cases, they lack self-awareness. They honestly cannot see nor understand how their behavior affects those around them. There’s also a “no filter” factor playing alongside where anything thought is automatically said without regard, again, to whoever is in their company.
Does any of these excuse Heather’s behavior? No, not in the slightest. But perhaps you can see where she’s coming from via my armchair psychoanalysis 
Beverly, OTOH…here is a woman who acknowledges to the camera that she was once in an abusive relationship. She is in a profession where verbal abuse coupled with pressure is ubiquitous, so her immediate reaction is to put her head down and just concentrate on her work. Her other reaction is to simply comply to avoid any kind of confrontation. To her credit she did speak up to Heather, but she was immediately shut down in most cases, IIRC. I’m happy that she did say something at Judges Table, however – good for her.
I’ve worked with both similar personalities over many, many years. I’ve seen head bakers/managers like Heather reprimanded, and in a couple of cases, fired, but overall it’s not the norm. I’ve seen many more like Beverly who are workhorses and, because of that, are directly pivotal to the success of the business. It’s a wonderful dynamic once the differences are hammered out, but if they’re not, they’re just like what was on the episode – utter disasters.
I’m not sure I can explain it. My husband also calls it coke jaw. It’s sort of like an involuntary twitch. Or something. I’m so surprised you didn’t notice, it is so distracting for me.
I dislike Heather tremendously and can’t wait for her to get booted. She is a bully and like any good bully would, she has focused her sights in on someone she sees as weak and inferior to pick on. IMO
I do like Ty-lor, in spite of his friendship with Heather. I am liking Grayson more and more too. The quiet little blond has me intrigued. I can’t even remember her name. I don’t think she’s ever been in the top or bottom.
While he’s talking, his jaw will suddenly jerk outward or to the side a little bit, maybe a centimeter or two. It’s fairly subtle most of the time. I initially thought he might have a problem with his TMJ slipping out of alignment.
I was wishing for that nasty, bitter hag Heather to get her comeuppance this week. It’s obvious she senses the vulnerability in Beverly and is taking advantage, as bullies do, and enjoying every second of it. I’d have punched her right there at judges’ table. I’m glad for Beverly’s sake that they skated through.
While Beverly’s ouster-by-association may have been somewhat unfair, it still would’ve been more fair to see Nyesha go.I’m just glad she won in the Last Chance Kitchen. Now, I just hope that she can do a spectacular run behind-the-scenes. How cool would that be?
I was really surprised at who they asked to go. They kept talking about how tasty the venison was, and how all the side dishes were delicious and went together well. The only problem was that it was undercooked. The other dishes had more problems with flavor combinations, which seems like a bigger issue to me.
But that’s consistent with the judging philosophy.
The other dishes were at least cooked acceptably, even if the overall quality didn’t rise to a high standard.
Much of the venison was basically raw. The result came as no surprise to anybody who’s watched the show for a while. It’s pretty much automatic that this kind of a screwup gets you eliminated. The only way they could possibly have screwed up worse was having no dish or massively over-salting the food.
I’m finally starting to learn a few of the chefs names and reality show character. That always helps make the show easier to follow.
I’m really impressed so far with Paul. He’s starting to rack up quite a few wins. He actually works at a Japanese restaurant. But he’s smart and hasn’t defined himself on Top Chef as an “Asian” chef. Paul is cooking a wide range of foods on TC.
I’m beginning to wonder if Chris Crary is really all that good? Messing up that salmon by over heating it is fish cooking 101. The other Chris with the weird hair is much better than I first thought. Except for his tendency to over salt.
I’m already getting tired of the changing cities gimmick. It must be very tiresome for the chefs. They are already in a very stressful and exhausting competition. Making them repeatedly pack and move is just cruel. Plus they are constantly in a strange and unfamiliar kitchen.
Very glad to see Heather gone. Her nasty personality could have ruined this season just like Marcel ruined S2.
Heather got beat in Last Chance Kitchen too. She’s done. Thank goodness.
We cheered when Heather got sent home. Would have been very sweet if the Asian chef she was always criticizing had won, but she was in the top 3 anyway.
I also loved it when Tom said to Heather, “Beverly used the pressure cooker, and she’s not out here [with the losers].”
I think that what i liked most about this episode was that there was no requirement to cook Texas-style food. They were basically given free rein to cook whatever they wanted, and they produced some great-looking food.
As a vegetarian, i was also pretty happy to see Ed’s bibimbap in the top three. I have no trouble with the fact that almost all dishes on the show use meat, but it is possible to make great food without it, and i like seeing the chefs give it a try.