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Top Chef: All-Stars

Turbo

Turbo

Changeling
Premium Member
Anyone else watching Top Chef? It's been a great season.

Warning: spoilers ahead!

Watching the chefs pretty much completely fail at Dim Sum was a new one; I can't remember the last time everyone blew a challenge that badly. And they didn't even have the excuse that came up later in the Bahamas (the kitchen fire).

Restaurant Wars was pretty much a foregone conclusion from the moment Dale picked Marcel as the other team leader. That was just brilliant. And it helped that Dale's team's food just looked better.

The Jimmy Fallon episode was fantastic, and Carla had that one in the bag from the get go. ("Chicken pot pie!") But Fabio, how do you not know how to make a hamburger? And why didn't you ask Richard for help!? ("I own a burger restaurant!")

I was so very happy when Jamie got axed; she had a bad attitude and bad cooking. She's got nothing on Tiffany Derry, though. She's been in the bottom seven times and still isn't gone? Yowza. Though I do give her credit for making Tom Colicchio like okra; I'm convinced that's the only reason she didn't get axed in the family history episode.

I can't decide if I like Mike or not. I'm leaning towards no after he stole Richard's dish. It's one thing if you use it later in your restaurant, but to use it the same day? Foul. But Mike and Antonia turning out to be related strangely makes a lot of sense, and it was nice to see a different side of Mike in the family episode.

I was sad to see Dale go; he was a completely different person from Season 4, or so it seemed. Tiffany should have been the one to go in that episode, not Dale.

I was really sad to see Carla go. She hit a bad stretch after the Target challenge, and she just didn't seem ready to go when she got to the Bahamas. I love her to death, and I'm quite annoyed that Tiffany and Mike got farther, but she really just blew it, and she knew that.
The best part about them taking five chefs to the Bahamas is that we end up with an extra-long season; it's two episodes longer than Season 7. And then it starts right back up with Top Chef Masters the week after the finale. Sweet.
 
I've really enjoyed this season, though I think they did a poor job with last week's episode. At this point in the season the show shouldn't be playing tricks on the chefs and should just let them try to cook good food. I was disappointed when they tricked the chefs into thinking they'd be cooking for royalty (though someone should have figured out that would've been QE II and unlikely), and with the state of the kitchen they were in. There was under/overcooked food in both the quickfire and competition, and it the chefs had decent equipment to work with that probably wouldn't have happened.

I like Tiffany "From Beaumont Texas!", but she's been skating by for so long they have to get rid of her soon so none of the remaining chefs that actually could win this get knocked out by her.
 
IndyJones said:
At this point in the season the show shouldn't be playing tricks on the chefs and should just let them try to cook good food.
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Oh please, they were all idiots to think there's such a thing as Bahamian "royalty", especially Carla who claimed to have worked in the Bahamas at some time already.
 
Roger Wilco said:
IndyJones said:
At this point in the season the show shouldn't be playing tricks on the chefs and should just let them try to cook good food.
Click to expand...

Oh please, they were all idiots to think there's such a thing as Bahamian "royalty", especially Carla who claimed to have worked in the Bahamas at some time already.
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You'd be lucky if 1 in 10 Americans could point to the Bahams on a map, let's not give these people too much credit.
 
I think it's been a great season. Jennifer's early exit and meltdown were a great surprise to me. When I saw the chefs lineup, I assumed she'd be in the final. I was also sad at the result of the first Bahamas epi as well as being annoyed at the set-up. Gotta say, though, that the chef I suspected might ultimately be the winner (Richard Blais) is still in there cooking!
 
Roger Wilco said:
IndyJones said:
At this point in the season the show shouldn't be playing tricks on the chefs and should just let them try to cook good food.
Click to expand...

Oh please, they were all idiots to think there's such a thing as Bahamian "royalty", especially Carla who claimed to have worked in the Bahamas at some time already.
Click to expand...

See, Carla missing that (not-so-small) detail is why I think she simply wasn't in the right place mentally (or with her heart) for this challenge. It's unfortunate, but that's what it looked like.

The others...well, I guess I'll have to go with ignorance, as IndyJones said. I probably wouldn't have leaped to the King of Junkanoo, but I would hope that I would have remembered that Top Chef probably isn't cooking for QEII.

Captain Dago said:
I think it's been a great season. Jennifer's early exit and meltdown were a great surprise to me. When I saw the chefs lineup, I assumed she'd be in the final. I was also sad at the result of the first Bahamas epi as well as being annoyed at the set-up. Gotta say, though, that the chef I suspected might ultimately be the winner (Richard Blais) is still in there cooking!
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I completely forgot about Jen's meltdown on her exit episode. That was quite shocking.

And as for Richard...the boy needs help! Gail Simmons said in her blog that he probably needs a therapist; and at the very least he needs to get some self-confidence in his dishes. He certainly has the talent for it, and he should win this competition. I'm worried that his self-doubt is going to get in the way and he'll second-guess himself in the finale.

At this point, I'm pulling for Richard or Antonia to win everything. Antonia really flew under the radar the first half of the season, but she's come on strong now. And you've got to love it when she wins the Italian competition with a bowl of steamed mussels. She really got the point - it's not about the fanciness of the food but the atmosphere the food creates.
 
Yeah, if Blais can't win (i.e., has another meltdown), I hope it's Antonia. Tiffany is just not a Top Chef and Mikey shouldn't get away with stealing Richard's dish.
 
FINALLY!

While I feel kinda bad that Tiffany went home on what was apparently a very good dish, she should have gone home weeks ago. I was convinced Antonia was going home after the inconsistencies in her dish.

Based on the comments, I thought Richard was going to win, so I was surprised when Mikey did. But it is neat that he won with a much better version of a dish that sent a chef packing. Antonia did the same thing.
 
I was glad that the ludicrous conditions of the challenge didn't seem to really factor into the outcome. It was definitely past time that Tiffany went home.
 
Mr. Adventure said:
I was glad that the ludicrous conditions of the challenge didn't seem to really factor into the outcome. It was definitely past time that Tiffany went home.
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Agreed, on both counts.

This is two episodes in a row where the chefs had to cook in substandard conditions. Maybe if the judges are tired of getting food that is over/under cooked they should let them use more than a burning twig on a windswept beach.
 
My wife and I both feel that this has been the best season by far for Top Chef. The contestants have been great and the challenges even better.

Just got to watch this weeks episode, DVR it and never get to watch it the night it's broadcast. It was sad to see Tiffany go home. However when you get down to only a few people, it's the little things that will make you win or go home.

On a side note, I told my wife that I would be keeping this episode forever on the DVR and will need some special alone time with it. Padma in a bikini, very nice, very nice indeed.
 
Tom Hendricks said:
On a side note, I told my wife that I would be keeping this episode forever on the DVR and will need some special alone time with it. Padma in a bikini, very nice, very nice indeed.
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If you haven't already search for Padma in Google Images with SafeSearch off... (or so I've heard....:))
 
Okay, when I heard about SyFy getting a cooking show I thought it was bad enough. Then I discovered that Marcel of all people is starring in this show. And it's a reality show, not some sort of showcase, which is what the previews made it seem like.

Wha? :wtf:
 
Turbo said:
Okay, when I heard about SyFy getting a cooking show I thought it was bad enough. Then I discovered that Marcel of all people is starring in this show. And it's a reality show, not some sort of showcase, which is what the previews made it seem like.

Wha? :wtf:
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I said the same thing, SyFy is getting a cooking show and its fucking Marcel. I would rather have my eyes pulled out and I love cooking shows.
 
^^ Funny, it's interesting to see that all three are apparently on good terms, not just Fabio but also Mike and Antonia. Though I doubt we'll see Fabio having scallops with Jaime.
 
Well, that was interesting!

I liked the Quickfire challenge, and not just because we got more Carla. (Though that was a HUGE bonus! :D) What on Earth was Blais thinking, though? Antonia was rightfully annoyed. Though at least he didn't condemn her to working without tools.

The "last supper" challenge was neat; it's always cool to see Chef Morimoto. Unfortunately, I think they telegraphed the ending rather early on with the interviews. It was good to see Richard back in form; I think he's going to need that boost of confidence heading into the finale.

I hate to see Antonia go, and honestly, her bite sounded better. For something that small, I'd rather have something with lots of flavor and punch. Mike's looked quite good too, though.

I'm glad they're using the other chefs from this season as sous chefs. After the previous winners appeared in the Quickfire a couple weeks ago, I was thinking they were going to pair the chefs with their season's winner for the finale. And it sounds like the finale is basically another Restaurant Wars, which should be awesome.

Let's see...if both chefs got to pick, say, 3 sous chefs, here's my guesses:

Richard - Fabio, Dale T., Carla
Mike - Antonia, Angelo, Tiffani (Season 1 Tiffani, to be clear, not Tiffany Derry.)

Can't wait for next week! And I'm glad they're starting Masters the week after, so there won't be a withdrawal period!
 
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I'm not a fan of using other contestants as sous chefs in the finale. It leaves too much open to luck (who gets which sous chefs). A challenge like that would be fine a little earlier, but I don't like them using it for the final decision.
 
Did anyone who watched the preview for next week think they showed us the winner? Because they showed Mike and Richard at Judge's Table, and it was really clear which way Padma was looking when she announced the winner.

Or is it just me?
 
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