Top Chef - London

[Herpa Derpa 6123]

14 hours ago, Texzilla58 said:

I don’t think the cauliflower would have helped Gabi’s dish much. That was just a mess on the plate. And isn’t cauliflower purée now a cliche overdone accoutrement?

It looked like a mess of unappetizing goo. Adding a white puree would have only compounded the shitty visual.

[Texzilla58 4732]

Buddha’s upgrade full English breakfast looked great but should have been been given a demerit for the lack of kippers or cold canned Heinz vegetarian baked beans.

They have so far avoided the odder English things like jellied eels, spotted dick, and black pudding. Sticky toffee pudding though is one of the greaterist desserts ever. Invented.

[bernorange 8359]

3 hours ago, Texzilla58 said:

... Sticky toffee pudding though is one of the greaterist desserts ever. Invented.

Costco usually carries a sticky toffee pudding in a freezer aisle around Thanksgiving/Christmas and it is a sure fire sugar death/coma, but it is delicious.

[TonyTexas 10508]

On 5/5/2023 at 12:48 PM, Texzilla58 said:

I hope they retain this model for Restaurant Wars and permanently do away with front of house, space design, etc. as TC says when served a salad “it’s a cooking contest”.

 

On 5/5/2023 at 6:10 PM, Pig Bellmont said:

I completely agree that RW was better dropping them in an existing Michelin star restaurant with trained staff. Way more compelling this way, and one team still found a way to fuck up service. 

I am on the opposite side of these arguments. I like RW to be more like a pop-up with the stress and chaos of doing something from scratch. We got none of the conflicts of ego, hierarchy, time constraints or mistakes. This felt more like a regular elimination challenge. 

[Texzilla58 4732]

Costco usually carries a sticky toffee pudding in a freezer aisle around Thanksgiving/Christmas and it is a sure fire sugar death/coma, but it is delicious.

I will put that on my list. The greatest ice cream was Häagen-Dazs Sticky Toffee Pudding that was a contest winner on a special on Food Network around 06-07. It was supposed to be a 6 month run but they kept it for a few years then spiked it.

[Biff Tannen 45665]

4 hours ago, TonyTexas said:

 

I am on the opposite side of these arguments. I like RW to be more like a pop-up with the stress and chaos of doing something from scratch. We got none of the conflicts of ego, hierarchy, time constraints or mistakes. This felt more like a regular elimination challenge. 

I agree here actually. As much as I dread RW because of the awkwardness, it is the most unique challenge of the season. 

[Texzilla58 4732]

I really don’t give a shit about what china pattern a chef selects or the decor they try to effect. I never have liked the front of house chef having to cook a dish as well manage service. I thought this was the best format for RW. One team operated like a cohesive brigade, developed a menu and executed a concept, managed a budget, educated the servers, and cooked a great meal. Would have been a great contest had the other crew basically have a shitty concept and approach the challenge line they were a mall food court of independent unrelated dishes. Luby’s delivers a more cohesive theme than these numbskulls did.

[Deej 76755]

Just change the name to Menu Wars, then. 

[Biff Tannen 45665]

On 5/7/2023 at 7:15 AM, Texzilla58 said:

I really don’t give a shit about what china pattern a chef selects or the decor they try to effect. I never have liked the front of house chef having to cook a dish as well manage service. I thought this was the best format for RW. One team operated like a cohesive brigade, developed a menu and executed a concept, managed a budget, educated the servers, and cooked a great meal. Would have been a great contest had the other crew basically have a shitty concept and approach the challenge line they were a mall food court of independent unrelated dishes. Luby’s delivers a more cohesive theme than these numbskulls did.

 

On 5/7/2023 at 8:06 AM, Deej said:

Just change the name to Menu Wars, then. 

I get both arguments. I think the idea, originally, was that most of the chefs didn’t have their own restaurants yet and that was one of the major goals of winning Top Chef: use the money to open your own restaurant. So the concept was something near and dear to the chef’s hearts, which is why most of them like it so much.

From a fan perspective, especially after 20 seasons, I don’t think it resonates as much anymore. 

[Texzilla58 4732]

I think thru the years that the fate of front of house if losing has made most of the chefs dread it. If you keep the old format and let the front of house earn immunity and team captain hood that would work, or bring n The LCK pair to run FOH with return to game with a winning team.

[TonyTexas 10508]

^^^
Per topchefstats.com , eliminated contestants in restaurant wars are evenly split between executive chef, line cook and front of house at 7 each. IDK where the extra elimination came from. 

[Texzilla58 4732]

That’s interesting because there is the perception that either front of house or exec take the loss. Maybe it’s the lack of total control for FoH because they have to have a dish as well.

[Nicole44 22059]

I could see the contestant that would be eliminated before they even started cooking the elimination challenge. At the end of the day if you don’t cook with spices or any real seasoning and everything is fucking bland and blah (whether it’s due to this person not liking them or having allergies) you don’t need to see any more from them…jmo. 

[TonyTexas 10508]

Was sorry to see Victoire go. I liked her story and her abilities far surpassed my initial impressions. I thought she would be very early fodder but she has skills. 

[Deej 76755]

Well, aside from the skill needed to season her food. Really makes me wonder how she made it past week one. 

[bernorange 8359]

Victoire appears to be deathly afraid of spicy peppers.  She might faint at the sight of a jalapeno.  She had no chance succeeding at any challenge featuring Indian, Thai or even Mexican food among many other international cuisines that embrace the heat.  You can't be a top chef if your repertoire is that limited.

[Texzilla58 4732]

Her aversion to seasoning is odd. Chilies exist in a lot of African cuisines now as they do in Italy.

[shadow_operative2.0 15950]

This season is so horrifically awful that a chef can completely fucking miss a component, & it’s really not an issue. We have comically terrible chefs that will fuck it up six-ways-from-Sunday worse. What a collection of frauds. 

[shadow_operative2.0 15950]

Dawn must really fucking hate life seeing how inept most of these idiots are. She fits right in. 

[Deej 76755]

The majority of the chefs on this show over its 20 seasons haven't been spectacular chefs. We've gotten a few, but most are forgettable when it comes to their food. Most really talented chefs have better things to do with their time. 

[shadow_operative2.0 15950]

Yep, where does this show go next? This season is terrible, & it’s supposed to be world shit. 

Can they really go back to Cleveland or some shit? 

[Deej 76755]

It's gotten extremely stale. They need to mess with the format. 

[shadow_operative2.0 15950]

Troll is going to be pissed. 

But this was really supposed to be a monster season. I don’t know if the Queen dying really fucked it or not. Likely the shitty cast is most to blame. 

[Texzilla58 4732]

This is a collection of mostly marginal winners from foreign markets and shitty loser fan favorites plus Buddha. The primary requirement for foreign markets was can you speak English? The Voltaggio/Brooke level of champion had moved on and has nothing to gain from a show like this. They are mothers and business owners that can’t commit to the long grind vs ToC which requires little time commitment.

UK/Australia/New Zealand/South Africa have no representation. Hmm.

The show is stale. The crew seems tired. The challenges more contrived. It needs real change to the format. I’d prefer a set of regional play in smaller tournaments like they did a few years ago. And more local chefs for the market they choose

[Nicole44 22059]

I like Ali, Amar and Buddha…I was shocked pegonia (misspelled) checked out so quick. Only one woman left (Sara is a dark horse.) well unless a woman comes out of LCK. And they really only need one LCK. I get they aren’t abandoning that. 
 

they absolutely have to change up the format. I loved the tweaks to RWs and hope they continue with that format. Maybe do less QFs? I’d enjoy a whole episode dedicated to an elimination challenge like a Thali or something that requires more time.  I really do like Amar and I think he will probably win. He has the most fun in the kitchen of any of them. The format needs some tweaking. Maybe for the episodes where you don’t have a quick fire have Tom come over and help the cheftestants with their concept or something for the EC. Would also like to see them pair with a chain restaurant and create a dish…I know they’ve done stuff similar before. Go back through the older seasons when it was fun and fresh and find some favorite challenges. 

or maybe have some QFs actually relate to the ECs? Have a theme for each episode that’s cohesive? For the guys have Padma/Gail jump rope or run around braless. The quality of the chefs are fine…this season. Some are better than others. Like every other season. 

Amar and Ali’s broship is the best part of this season in some ways. It does appear that the contestants are all pretty close and that’s cool but it’s a cooking competition Damnit! 

[Skipper 6128]

I think we've given up.  I left during a DVR'd episode a couple of weeks back to go do some work and told my wife don't bother pausing.  Starting to doubt we ever pick this season back up with limited time we have to watch TV unless we need to waste some weekend time during summer heat during a sports lull.  Just not interested at all.

[Nicole44 22059]

Tonite’s challenge is at least fun. Very few can do a Wellington very well much less three different ones. Teams of two at least. I’m enjoying this one at least. 

[TonyTexas 10508]

Tom in his German accent “Do you know where the marzipan is?”

Sarah “ Probably in the ladies aisle”

LMFAO

[shadow_operative2.0 15950]

3 hours ago, Nicole44 said:

Tonite’s challenge is at least fun. Very few can do a Wellington very well much less three different ones. Teams of two at least. I’m enjoying this one at least. 

‘At least’ three times in four sentences is impressive.

Just glad raw lamb didn’t stay.

Padma’s QF dress was fun. 

[Texzilla58 4732]

I don’t think there is any dish that requires so much effort, skill, and execution for so little reward eating as a Wellington. I’ve had it only a few times but it’s always been dull meat and flavorless pastry.

That being said that was a killer challenge. Sara said the lamb needed more time and Amar said they were done. She shouldn’t have listened to him. Five minutes more and they might have won.

[Deej 76755]

Good riddance to both of them.

[Biff Tannen 45665]

Lol I like that this is the “top chef sucks now!” thread. I’m enjoying it. 
 

Spoiler

I wanted Amar to win, but now I’m going for Buddha. I think he has the best presentation of any chef in top chef history. 

 

[idigTexas 2284]

1 hour ago, Biff Tannen said:

Lol I like that this is the “top chef sucks now!” thread. I’m enjoying it. 
 

  Hide contents

I wanted Amar to win, but now I’m going for Buddha. I think he has the best presentation of any chef in top chef history. 

 

I'm enjoying it too.  I'm not sure why there has been so much criticism.  

[kevwun 15764]

Yeah, we have enjoyed it also.  We made a Wellington for Christmas a few years ago and it was a huge pain in the ass.  I can't imagine making 9 of them at once.

[The Ace of Aces 5175]

Rooting for Ali over Buddha but will be happy with either. Sad Amir is out. 

[closetohumping 17435]

Loved the Wellington challenge.   Budda is a beast

[Sam Lin 3551]

On 5/19/2023 at 6:42 PM, Texzilla58 said:

I don’t think there is any dish that requires so much effort, skill, and execution for so little reward eating as a Wellington.

I'm with you here, and I've had some very good Wellingtons. Even a great one, I still think to myself "what a waste of a good steak and a good pastry crust."

[shadow_operative2.0 15950]

Tom the judge looked borderline pissed at having to eat Tom the chef’s dish. 

Back to the cruise ships, bro. 

[kevwun 15764]

I'm one challenge from the the final.  It's time to highlight seaweed in the elimination challenge.  Very glad he was the one that went home.

[shadow_operative2.0 15950]

Hey, we can all catch him on a cruise somewhere. 

Top Chef, jesus fuck. 

[shadow_operative2.0 15950]

And that jelly QF, for the love of fuck. That was blisteringly horrendous. 

[Texzilla58 4732]

I'm one challenge from the the final.  It's time to highlight seaweed in the elimination challenge.  Very glad he was the one that went home.

I’m glad fucking Tom went the fuck home. He has made it through only by being slightly less bad than someone else each week.

Seaweed caviar. Yep that’s what I want. Get the fuck out of here.

[Deej 76755]

It's just a shame he was so bad that it allowed Sara to move to move on to the finale. 

[TonyTexas 10508]

I don’t get why some of y’all dislike Sarah. She’s a cool, calm and collected chef, funny, personable and seemingly well liked by the other contestants. A little fatphobia maybe?

[Deej 76755]

13 minutes ago, TonyTexas said:

I don’t get why some of y’all dislike Sarah. She’s a cool, calm and collected chef, funny, personable and seemingly well liked by the other contestants. A little fatphobia maybe?

No. That face is a beating.

[Biff Tannen 45665]

Thought Ali was done since he basically misunderstood the challenge.  Doesn’t matter. Buddha is wiping the floor with them. 

[Herpa Derpa 6123]

1 hour ago, TonyTexas said:

I don’t get why some of y’all dislike Sarah. She’s a cool, calm and collected chef, funny, personable and seemingly well liked by the other contestants. A little fatphobia maybe?

It's self-hate. She's a last call sort of girl and we've all found ourselves in that shame spiral. It's only natural to lash out at the symptom instead of the cause.

[Deej 76755]

Your hand would be a better option than fucking Sara. 

[Biff Tannen 45665]

She’s a hell of a chef. 

[Texzilla58 4732]

Sara is the best challenger to Buddha remaining. Tom was an insipid cruise ship cook more used to making a ce sculptures for the buffet. Gabri is seriously deficient in basic cheffery, and Ali has limitations. Sara has a Michelin star joint on her CV, has strong flavors, and very good technique. Her Freight House restaurant is top notch elevated southern cuisine. I’d love to eat there. She knows how to make real food. I think she might have a shot of Buddha over thinks it. She ain’t much to look at jut she can cook.