5 posts tagged “top chef”

Micheal_v

Okay so the picture does not do him justice but I do find him hot in a weird way. Is it the sleeve tattoos, the bad boy reputation? No it's really the fact that he can cook and he is a middle kid.

but if you are the former can you imagine  a date with him in which he cooks you dinner. Swoon! He may be a little bit of a player but he's a momma's boy at heart. I could tell by the first episode before heading off to TC he went to his momma's for some good home cooked food.

I think his Older brother is cute too but way more conservative and clean cut. His brother has darker hair and you know I'm not into blondes at all. So maybe Micheal V is up there with Rob Thomas as hot blondes I like.

Oh I meant to talk about the middle kid thing. Micheal is the second son and I know from the show that he has atleast one younger sibling, a sister. This puts him in the middle kid club. I am a middle kid as I am the second daughter born second out of 4 children. My older sister (first born), me, the first born son, and my baby brother. I consider myself the ultimate middle kid. Middle kids are never told that they are special, they always seem to be just in the middle and some see them as riding the coat tails of their older siblings. This is not true, I think middle kids have to work very hard to stand out to their parents and their peers. I think that is why Micheal V is doing so well, he's had to work hard to not be called "Bryan's Brother" ... any middle kid knows the phrase "I'm not so and so sister or brother, I have a name.

Jen

Jen's real last name is Norris.

*  She walks into a pastry shop and the pastries cream themselves.

*  She boils water just by staring at it.

*  When she cuts onions, she makes them cry

*  Salmon swim upstream to find her.

*  the e in ceviche is just honored to be there in her presence even if she doesn't acknowledge it.

*Contains Spoilers*

Last year I did a few blog entries about Top Chef but season 5 was lackluster and medocre at best, Hosea won? Really,?... too bad Carla did so poorly. Anyway this season is a whole new ball game. There is sooo much talent, James beard nominees, etc. I don't think Hosea would even make it half way through with this group. Since this is the premiere I will go over some thoughts and some cheftestants and do an overview.  I'm excited because we haven't seen this much talent all at once on TC. I suspect that perhaps TC listened to the cries of fans who thought the last season's winner wasn't up to snub, and not of the caliber of season 4 finalist.

17 people is a lot to remember in a first episode, you usually only remember the good and the bad and first impressions can go a long way as well.

My thoughts on the cheftestants

* Jen C. - she has a lot of cred and she's confident and has the thick skin you need in the restaurant industry. She worked at Le Bernadain before Eric Ripert sent her off to run his new restaurant in Philly. She's made boys cry, she has talent, and obvious drive but what is with pronouncing Ceviche as Sah-Vich. I thought maybe ceviche can be pronounced more than one way but I don't think so. Maybe she's heard people with thick french accidence who muddle the word a bt, I'm not sure. It struck me as odd but she obviously knows what she is doing as she won the quickfire and the money.

* Hector - Here is a man who sounds exactly how he looks. I understood why he fried his steak, I think he had a great concept it just fell short with the vice and the challenge. Latin food isn't something Top chef is accustom to either and that can be good or bad for him, he just has to bring it every time and with his creditials I think he can if he focuses.

* Red Beard aka Kevin - Here is an interesting young man, 26 I think he is the youngest this season but this kid has a lot of potential, he has potential sweating out of his pores. He reminds me a little of Blais coming from Atlanta and having a new edge on food. He will be around for a while he just has to make sure he can keep up with some of the more seasoned, experienced chefs.

* Michael Isabella - okay dude I get it, you think you are funny but you can only make one off handed remark per a few episodes before people start to wonder. I think he thinks he is being funny but most people don't think remarks such as "Can't let the girl beat me", When asking about Jen C. saying "Are you the pastry chef?' because damn women can't really be in charge lol. and I think there was another quote in there. He may be just getting pegged as this seasons villian, I really hope he just shuts up and cooks because I'd like to see a little greek/middle eastern food coming out of Top Chef.

* Eve - My thought is that she needs to pull herself together and just go for it. She is too nervous and timid going into this. If she was on last season I'd think she'd do quite well but can she hang with this group. She's the one I hope to see really grow from this. I think she has it in her, it's just a matter of helping her pull it out and cultivate it.

*Jen Z. - Her gauged ears is all I could focus on at first. I could stick a banana through her ear! I think she is a decent cook but no where near the rest of the pack. Setian, most people know setian as that nasty chewy wheat gluten crap that only vegans who have no taste buds eat. it's just not top chef quality when you can vertially use any protien you so desire in this challenge. I think she forgot one key point in this competition, this isn't about cooking the food at the restaurant you work at, this is about you and your point of view and she didn't carry that through.

Michael V. - he has a rugged bad boy charm about him who I'm willing to bet is quite the mama's boy. He chose women as his vice not surprisingly and then, tried to muffle his vice with his las vegas inspired description maybe because of the other Michaels comments. I think this guy is a contender I think we'll see him around and maybe even in the finals. top 4 perhaps? His dish and play on words was great and Tom was as giddy as a school boy who just saw his first pair of boobs ever. "hahaha it's a rack of lamb, get it? hahahaha!" That wasn't a quote from Tom just a quote from Tom's inner child

Brian V. - He is also a very solid contender, His restaurant VOLT - yes it is all capitols, is getting rave reviews, he is the sensable older brother of Michael but is he willing to take risks in this competition, if anything I think that is what will hold him back.

* Ashley - Wow it took me a minute, I don't think she is super manly looking, I think she needs to pluck her eyebrows and get a differet haircut and then we will see. With that said she has a real quiet strength about her and she knew where she was every step of the way. She's got that italian inspired thing going on so I think she is going to have to work really hard to show originality because we are so used to pastas, raviolis etc. They didn't show the edits of her food being judged and so its kind of hard to see what the judges think about her yet.

* Mattin and his cravat - I would swear the guy is only pretending to be french, I think maybe its because he's trying to appeal to americans and kind of plays up what he thinks americans like about the french. You don't have to wear a cravat to show you are french, you can show it in your food. He seems likable enough I'm just not sure where he belongs in the lineup yet.

* Ron - I find him interesting and soulful. There are a lot of others on there that are a lot more versed and decorated than him but if he sticks to what he is about he can hang in there. I honestly think the vice challege he took it to me struggle, he's hatian and if not explained correctly anyone who's second language is english can misinterpret. People struggle with vices, and instead of thinking of inner struggles like indulgence, morals, etc he thought of an outer struggle such as his journey over from Haiti.

* Preeti - She looks like such a cute little boy, but again I think it is the hair. Speak up at tell them you don't know how to shuck clams. The team itself is a mess, they all announced what they would like to do instead of who would be good at it and focus on peoples strengths and weakenesses. She is trained and maybe she could fill the void of what we really wanted in Rahdika which was new style modern twist using the indian culture as a base.

* Ash NYC - Doesn't he feel alone, only new yorker, only gay man there. We got a lot of info about him in the biography part but I really didn't notice him in the challenges. He has hit middle of the road for now, not standing out as the best or the worst. He needs to find a power play and play it.

* Eli - He's a CIA grad and he has to step up a little more but at the same time be a bit humble. I think it would be a good thing for him to befriend Red Beard, they are both ATL and even though I don't see Eli winning this I can see him coming out with a few good friends, networking, and some new growth.

* Robin - I had mixed feelings about her choosing immunity with her gold chip. It's a tough call for her because its the first elimination challenge and you don't know how everyone cooks, you can be confident and know that you can't be the worst, and try and win the money and send a message to everyone that you aren't afraid of being ellimated anytime soon, or you could play it safe and keep the immunity. but maybe keeping the immunity says "I'm serious about winning the final prize and nothing is going to sway me". Either way you look at she is a toughie who is willing to stick in. I think I read somewhere that she kept her restaurant open while she was battling lymphoma, now that is a fighter.

*Jesse - I like her, I think she can cook and she knew what was wrong with her dish and she wasn't afraid to say it. Lets hope she does better because she is one that could go farthen in the competion if she works hard and grows from the experience.

* Laurine - I couldn't remember her name but I could remember her face, she is the only caterer here who has not owned her own restaurant, she's doing very well so far. The catering biz is similar to top chef challenges in the way of weird demands and little time she seems to have that under control.

What did I think of the episode itself?

Challenges

QuickFire - Mise en Place - I really think this is more of a prep for mise en place challenge. Mise en place really means having everying in place to work. at a sub shop that would mean having your stations of meat, cheese, and veggies ready, where as you did the the prep that morning. Mise en place to me means setting up your station with what you need and how you like it. Anyway my big issue was with the team Preeti was on. She spoke up a little late but the team didn't work as a team now I'm going to relate food prep to something you never every heard of relating it to, competive swimming.

There is a medally race in swimming, all four strokes 4 swimmers those are the best swimmers you have, however none of them are that great at the butterfly stroke. and two of them are tops in the breast stroke. you have to find out who is best at the butterfly out of your group just to get your through the first round. Sometimes you have to sacrifice a great player who is better at something else to do a job that they are just okay at doing. They didn't, that team didn't even get to round two.

Wolgang Puck - can we have him again as a guest judge he was awesome, funny yet also had some constructive critisism. 

I'm still not a fan of Padma

Elimination Challenge;

Drinking seemed to be the number one vice, not suprisingly but it would be nice to see more different things, was drinking chosen a lot because it was so easy? or because that is the number one vice?

Still this is going to be a fantastic season. So I'm super excited. 

Top_Chef

Wow it seems that the best drama of Season 5 is the very end. The stuff that isn't even on the show. I want to write another post about what I thought of the season, the finale, and why I don't always agree with how the show is ran and judged.

I'm jumping right in so if you haven't seen the finale don't read another step further. There is a bunch of drama going on with who won, but also with who really lost it. In particular of why Carla lost it.

Carla let Casey run the show because Carla was not confident in herself and her descisions. What ended up happening is that Carla lost because she did not cook the soulful and delicious food that the judges has come to know her by. The judges even said "This doesn't seem like Carla's Food". The two dishes that Carla did originally create were well recieved but the ones she let Casey talk her into were a complete disaster. In the end Carla has this to say.

"I let myself be swayed by my sous chef and didn't make what I know I can make well."

She took full responsiblity for her mistakes. She should have utilized Casey as a Sous Chef and not as a partner. She knew where she went wrong and she was deeply saddened and upset with herself because she knew she could have done better.

So had Carla got to pick Blaise would things be different? I think so. Blaise was there to help someone win. He was there to be a sous chef. He was not there to gain attention and recoginition for his food, his style, or his creative concepts. He was there to help a chef win. He did one hell of a good job and Hosea managed him well, although I'm sure it wasn't hard to do.

Blaise would have done the same for Carla. He would have let her do her food and offered as much help as she needed. He would not have felt the need to interject and persuede her to do things. I'm not sure if it would have made Carla win but she wouldn't have been out of the running and she would have had the potential to win.

Did Casey mean to sabatoge her? Is it Casey's fault? Of course Carla not winning is not Casey's fault she did not loose it for Carla but she certainly didn't help her win it. She was selfish and wanted to show people what she can do. Casey you already had your time, it's Carla's time now. No one is going to look at you and say, OMG what a great chef you are. People see that you failed at your job as a sous chef and thats that.

Carla was as always very gracious, polite, and respectful. She in no way tried to blame anything on Casey. The thing she knew in her heart was that it was her fault for not taking control of the situation and going with her heart.

So after the show Carla being the great sport she is and having a lot of class and politeness said:

"I really feel badly for her, because, you know, it did not even occur to me to blame her in any way. I definitely take responsibility for everything that we did, and she helped me in many ways. But at the time, I was thinking, you know, why not? Go big or go home. But the win for me was to have the love and that 65 percent of the people were pulling for me. It’s a different kind of a prize."

Yes she took the high road. Way to go Carla! Not so much for Casey though

Casey wrote to sidedish magazine this is exactly what she wrote.

She also did not have a plan. The ONLY thing she had in mind was a cheese course! I would NEVER do a cheese course. And where in the hell did french come from!? She is not even classically trained! It (the show) didn’t talk about how I worked on a sauce for 2 days and Carla forgot to put it on the plate… It didn’t show how the 2nd course (fish) was MINE. It didn’t show how she took the sous vide idea and decided to GRILL it last minute causing it to be tough… And it didn’t show how she WANTED to do the souffles which she does not even know how to make! That was HER food, because it certainly was me asking her how she wanted to do this and that while she was busy picking crab the entire time and making a souffle that didn’t rise!

I am done with TC. I did not influence her. She has NO ideas of her own, oh, except a cheese course."

Oh poor pathetic selfish Casey. First off she is Classically Trained in Frech Cuisine. Secondly it was your job to work on her dishes that is what a sous chef does. Third, You make this all about yourself. You are so selfish. This is why Carla will always be a better chef than you, and a more likable one. 

Top_Chef

I really wish Andrew could come back and bring more of his comedic genius to the show. Although I'm not sure he can top "I have a cullinary boner" I fell off the couch and died laughing when I heard that last season.

Is it me or is this season lacking something? Jamie is over confident As far as she is concerned, there are two possible outcomes to any given Top Chef challenge: those she wins, and those in which her genius is not sufficiently appreciated by the judges. Sure she is talented and skillful but it's hard to really learn and get inspired when you think you know everything. She did however learn to effectivly redo her scallops but she didn't even see it as a learning experience just showing off to say Yes, I know how to do this.  

She needs to be served up with some humble pie. Eugene, I liked him in the beginning he was a bit of an under dog, a self taught chef who worked his way up through the ranks, starting as a dishwasher. He has a lot to be proud of but you have surrerend the fact that you know. That is why neither Jamie and of course Eugene win Top Chef. You have to realize that you know nothing and from that you can learn everything.

Radhika wins the quickfire challenge yet again and seals her fate to make it far. I see her as a top 3. Although I wish she would have never had made the comment before that she doesn't cook Indian cuisine, yet almost everything she has made is atleast indian fusion. I would expect that from her background, maybe she should just go ahead and mental embrace that.

Some of those I thought were doing great have fallen off the radar. Hosea is the perfect example. He was touted as such a great chef in the begining but has failed to really impress me.

Carla has grown on me quite a bit. I doubt she could make it to top 3 but she is hilarous and she defended herself very well by telling them what was wrong with her dish, and explaining what things she could have done to make it better. She clearly had the best defense. The other two just had excuses.

Fabio, Fabio Fabio, Check your lamb dude! Had it not been for the lamb he could have been in the top 3. I thought Stephan played it safe. I just can't stand his arrogance and I guess he was trying to be funny with the guest judge during the quick fire but the dude just didn't get his style of funny perhaps because it is marked with such arrogance.

Whatever happened to Leah and Hosea's budding showmance? Did things cool off or did Hosea get a raging phone call from his fiance?

Also can we get a new twist in the editting style. Here are the things you see and no that person is going to get kicked off the show.

1) How much you miss your family and or footage of talking on phone with family
2) A new special bond or a new best friend you have made on the show.
3) How you have done the dish countless times and it can't miss.
4) How important it is for you to be there.

Come on fake us out just once. Seriously