Top Chef Season 6

[Nebu]

My money is on Bryan and Kevin. 

[Murgos]

... always looking like she's been put upon blond chick ...

I just want to slap that look off her face, it pisses me off no end.

Anyway, ceviche is a hot climate food from long before such a thing as refrigeration existed.  Think of it like pickled fish, not like sushi.

[Signe]

I'm kind of glad Ron got eliminated.  While he was entertaining and I enjoyed his calling for swords and laying down voodoo protections against snakes it was obvious that he was in way over his head.

I'm betting on Michael and the always looking like she's been put upon blond chick being the two finalists.

I have to agree.  I thought he was very sweet but he didn't seem to do much right.

[Numtini]

I figured Jen (the one with the puss face) was pretty much a sure thing the first time I read her bio and nothing I've seen since has made me change my mind. There is definitely a top tier here that is really strong though. I feel kind of sad for the speedbumps like Ron who I agree seemed really nice, quite interesting, and totally out of his league. A lot of them are the more entertaining chefs, but they're just not on the same level.

[Margalis]

Ron had a language barrier, it was pretty clear that he didn't really get what some of the challenges were about.

I like puss face, I have a thing for competent no-nonsense women. She and Ashley are the only female chefs worth anything, though Ashley is clearly out of her depth. Out of all the chefs on the show Jen seems the best suited to run a restaurant.

There's something about the brothers I don't like, they seem too clean-cut and boring.

[Khaldun]

I like Eli and Kevin: when they hit a challenge right, they hit it with more imagination than the brothers. The brothers are mostly executing very perfectly a kind of "normal" version of top-flight cuisine. That's obviously just great but it seems to me at times to be a bit soulless, to not have that special twist that makes you think, "Hey, this chef has some ideas about food". That deconstructed lasagna that Jen did sort of showed them up, because she understood that this was time to make it simple and go for flavor.

I'm thinking Ash is going home soon. Nice guy obviously, and skilled, but that sheperd's pie was a kind of clueless thing to do. If I had to deconstruct a shepherd's pie, I'd braise a lamb shank in wine and then shred it, make some mashed potatoes and a pea puree and then put the puree in a well in the mashed potatoes, and then make a sort of potato crust by frying thin-scalloped potatoes together in a single layer, cutting that in a thin band and weaving it around the lamb and mash in a sort of S-curve. Then make a frico with parmesan and lay that across. Something like that. Just plopping some chops down with the rest of that shit was a kind of wtf thing to do. If I were him, I'd also bag the idea of making custards for now: he isn't the only one who has had trouble making them work under the time and conditions constraints in the  history of the show.

The other folks clearly hate Robin, and yeah, the "I had cancer boo hoo" thing was sort of annoying, but she seems pretty ok to me. Some of the issue is that she's really more a caterer and restaurant owner than a chef/executive chef in her background, so she doesn't put dishes together as well as most of the chefs do.

Michael I could take or leave--he's pretty uneven.

[Numtini]

I thought Ron was probably a gifted cook with an interesting culinary background. A great bet to run a successful restaurant, but not really a chef in the sense the rest are. I looked at his bio and I can't figure out of he has any sort of actual culinary education. I can't find one of the places he listed and the other offers short workshops and specifies they don't do professional training.

FWIW for those who don't know, Jen the puss face is former sous chef of La Bernardin and runs Ripert's restaurant in Phili. Probably the best resume of anyone I can remember on the show.

[Rasix]

There's something about the brothers I don't like, they seem too clean-cut and boring.

They're both extremely boring. Bryan mainly because he has zero personality. While being a little edgier than his brother,  Micheal still cracks me up because he's such a dork about his food and pretty much refuses to go along with a challenge if it doesn't let him do his food. He also thinks very highly of what he does.  No cracks in the fascade as he hasn't really done a bad dish yet.

I like Bryan's food better, but Michael seems to be a better technician.  The guy's food always looks fantastic and well executed.

I hope Kevin wins, because he's awesome and not a douche.  He's the chef I'd most like to cook for me.

Ash or cancer lady are going home next.  Their execution has typically been crap and it seems like you can only get away with that for so long.

[HaemishM]

There are definitely tiers of chefs this season. Top tier: Jennifer, the brothers, Kevin; Mid-tier: Eli and douchebag Mike; and then everyone else. Robin and Ashe will be the next two in some order, though there will likely be one top tier chef who will lose it during Restaurant Wars and get kicked off the island. My guess is one of the brothers will get on a shitty team and take charge of the sinking ship. I think Jennifer is my pick to win it - you just can't argue with her resume.

[Nebu]

Jennifer has the pedigree but lacks the air of authority.  I feel like she spends too much time stressing out or second guessing her talent.  Both are bad traits for someone that needs to have 100% control over the kitchen.  If she can hit her stride and find some confidence, she'll go all the way.  I just have my concerns that her self-assessment skills will, instead, be perceived as a weakness. 

[Margalis]

If I had to deconstruct a shepherd's pie, I'd braise a lamb shank in wine and then shred it, make some mashed potatoes and a pea puree and then put the puree in a well in the mashed potatoes, and then make a sort of potato crust by frying thin-scalloped potatoes together in a single layer, cutting that in a thin band and weaving it around the lamb and mash in a sort of S-curve. Then make a frico with parmesan and lay that across.

Yeah, my thoughts exactly.

[Drai]

Jennifer has the pedigree but lacks the air of authority.  I feel like she spends too much time stressing out or second guessing her talent.  Both are bad traits for someone that needs to have 100% control over the kitchen.  If she can hit her stride and find some confidence, she'll go all the way.  I just have my concerns that her self-assessment skills will, instead, be perceived as a weakness. 

Jen is the executive chef at a Ripert restaurant, and has clearly shown an ability to control the kitchen on the show (e.g., the armed forces challenge).  The sound bites they pick for her seem to be the classic Bravo attempt at misdirection far more than Jen lacking confidence or authority.  Her resume and success on the show so far indicate the exact opposite of what you are suggesting.

[Evildrider]

Jennifer has the pedigree but lacks the air of authority.  I feel like she spends too much time stressing out or second guessing her talent.  Both are bad traits for someone that needs to have 100% control over the kitchen.  If she can hit her stride and find some confidence, she'll go all the way.  I just have my concerns that her self-assessment skills will, instead, be perceived as a weakness. 

Jen is the executive chef at a Ripert restaurant, and has clearly shown an ability to control the kitchen on the show (e.g., the armed forces challenge).  The sound bites they pick for her seem to be the classic Bravo attempt at misdirection far more than Jen lacking confidence or authority.  Her resume and success on the show so far indicate the exact opposite of what you are suggesting.

I like how even when she thinks she's failed a challenge.  She ends up in the top 3.

[Nebu]

I like how even when she thinks she's failed a challenge.  She ends up in the top 3.

That's what I'm talking about.  Drai is probably right in that I'm just seeing the editing team's effect on her outward personna. 

I see a Top Chef as the next Ripert, not as the next someone-that-runs-a-kitchen-for-Ripert.  I could care less who these people cook for.  I want to see what they can do without someone telling them what to do the first time they run into a snag. 

I guess I want too much. 

[Numtini]

I see a Top Chef as the next Ripert, not as the next someone-that-runs-a-kitchen-for-Ripert.  I could care less who these people cook for.  I want to see what they can do without someone telling them what to do the first time they run into a snag.

You mean like she did in the catering/airforce thing?

[Nebu]

You mean like she did in the catering/airforce thing?

She's strong.  Is she good enough to win the whole thing?  I assume the producers think so.  I hope she can string together more performances like that rather than being portrayed as the unsure, second-guessing type.  I still like Kevin best, but mostly because he's an eccentric.  

[Khaldun]

I'm always rooting for people who aren't entirely a product of the CIA/elite apprenticeship system, but under these conditions, eventually it tends to show where an eclectic or self-taught background just can't compete for range and experience and confidence. Kevin's an interesting case because he's got some solid experience but he isn't really a blue-chip guy like the brothers, Jen or Eli.

I like the look of Eli's food, though. I've had three or four of my favorite meals ever at the Buckhead Diner, though that was some time ago now.

We've been watching some of the re-runs of old seasons--I didn't start watching until season 4. Season 2 had some freaky emotional shit going on--more like a Gordon Ramsay show.

Tom Collicchio might be my favorite reality-show judge ever, though. Really smart judgments, and when he winds up to get irritated with contestants, it feels righteous and appropriate. (The Season 2 thing where he tells the final group that they could give a shit about what's going on in the kitchen is just so on target as a moment of a mature person telling young people to get a grip and grow up.) Plus I like his restaurants a lot...I blew some poker winnings at Craftsteak once and it was about the best use I could have put them to.

[Murgos]

Eli is probably not going to make it.  He doesn't seem to be able to execute under pressure.  When the judging happens he is usually in the middle of the pack.  Not bad enough to get called to the carpet but not good enough for kudos either.

Kevin, on the other hand, is the sleeper that seems to be walking away with the competition.  He may not win, but if he goes down, he looks like he'll be fighting to the last.

[Abagadro]

A good chef always seems to bite it during Restaurant Wars so this week should be fun.

[voodoolily]

I hope Kevin wins, because he's awesome and not a douche.  He's the chef I'd most like to cook for me.

This. I think it's gonna be down to him and Jen, with Kevs taking it for having more "soul" in his cooking. 

[Evildrider]

I'm rooting for Jen and Kevin as well.  The brothers seem to annoy me more and more as the show goes on.

[Khaldun]

I'm thinking Robin has lost her last remaining protective shield, though whats-her-face was lucky not to get whacked for that rillette. (I started yakking to my wife the moment she said the word: do NOT do that if you haven't made it.)

[voodoolily]

I'm thinking Robin has lost her last remaining protective shield, though whats-her-face was lucky not to get whacked for that rillette. (I started yakking to my wife the moment she said the word: do NOT do that if you haven't made it.)

Well shit, I know how rillettes are made, even if I haven't done it myself. Also, boo that no one was brave enough to use offal.

[Margalis]

Ash was really an idiot.

I keep losing because I keep listening to other people instead of cooking my food. This time I'm finally going to do what I do, clean simple flavors that taste good!
...
So I was going to make a warm tenderloin with polenta but Mike suggested chilled tenderloin and that sounded totally rad and stuff so I'm going to do that!

Not to mention his embarrassing knob-polishing of one of the brothers the other week. The guy clearly thought he was in over his head and would be happy as a line cook for many of the other chefs.

[Khaldun]

Chitlins has a really long cooking time, though, and they smell terrible while they're cooking. None of the other chefs would have been very happy. It looked to me like the pigs they got had already had all the viscera taken away, too.

I was surprised that no one tried to do a sausage, though: could have paired very nicely with pinot.

[Abagadro]

Jen should have really gone home this week, but the show simply couldn't have the two remaining female chefs be Lauraine and Robin.

Restaurant Wars always humbles.

[Margalis]

Yeah, if they did the judging based only on this one week it should have been Jen. But doing the judging that way in the end runs counter to finding a "top chef" when you eliminate talented chefs in favor of people who have done absolutely nothing the entire time.

Then again, Lorraine did a bad job up front and also her one dish was inedible.

I never understood how one person has to work the front. It has little to do with being a chef and that person invariably is going to either skate by since they didn't have any real cooking to do or get axed for not doing real cooking. I don't understand the mentality of people who volunteer to work the front.

[Nebu]

I never understood how one person has to work the front. It has little to do with being a chef and that person invariably is going to either skate by since they didn't have any real cooking to do or get axed for not doing real cooking. I don't understand the mentality of people who volunteer to work the front.

I agree that the show should focus purely on cooking skills, but they also seem interested in their ability to work under time constraints (priming them for tv show appearances?). If I had to guess, I'd say that it's because the Chef/Owner of a restaurant is often the face of the restaurant.  I think that they want to see if these future restaurant owners have the skills to work the front while the hired help is in back making their creations.

[Murgos]

If you want to be cynical about it, you could say that the winner of this contest is being groomed to be a personality in the front of a restaurant.  The cooking skills are nice but the (hopeful) next step for most of the contestants is nation-wide openings and TV appearances.

Even some of the not-so-good chefs on the show are already owners of one or two restaurants.

[Khaldun]

I don't think it's cynical, really. An executive chef is part of your marketing: they do have to be able to connect with the diners and with potential customers. They're perfectly right to say that someone who aspires to be an executive chef is going to have to cultivate some charisma as well as cook food, to tell a persuasive story about the food they're cooking and then get that food to match the story. A really successful executive chef who has the kitchen running the right way is going to be in the front of the house for at least part of every dinner seating--connecting with customers, seeing how it's going, keeping an eye on the service, getting a feel for how the food is being received by people.

[schild]

I called this the moment the brothers got put on the same team and that other girl who isn't important enough to remember was in the front of the house. The entire thing.

I did not call Robin making a palatable dessert. She still sucks. This was an anomaly.

[voodoolily]

Lorraine and Robin were the last of the dead weight, now it's just Robin. Oh, Mike "How You Doin'" Isabella is pretty unremarkable too. He needs to get the axe. Eli has been skating by on luck, too.

[Evildrider]

I called this the moment the brothers got put on the same team and that other girl who isn't important enough to remember was in the front of the house. The entire thing.

I did not call Robin making a palatable dessert. She still sucks. This was an anomaly.

Robin is actually really good at desserts it seems.  If it weren't for her last couple of desserts she'd be gone from the show.  One got her an immunity and the other got even more praise from the judges.  She is most definitely the next one gone off the show though, however I'd like to see her outlive Mike and Eli.  Just for their reactions.

[Murgos]

Eli could probably come back in a few years and clean house.  He is 25 and the top contenders all have 5-10 years of experience on him.

[schild]

Eli could probably come back in a few years and clean house.  He is 25 and the top contenders all have 5-10 years of experience on him.

Hung was 29 and won, so your theory is reasonably sound.

Ilan was 24 and won and IT STILL MAKES ME ANGRY EVERY TIME I THINK ABOUT IT AND I HOPE HE GETS MAIMED BY A BUNCH OF TINY WOODLAND CREATURES ON NATIONAL TELEVISION.