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Top Chef Season 4

3K views 24 replies 13 participants last post by  allie 
#1 ·
It begins on Wednesday March 12!

I am a huge fan of the series and can't wait--even have some finger foods planned for the event.

Any other big fans out there?
 
#10 ·
Throwdown WooooHoooo Just think FN actually pays someone REAL well to come up with the trash. One Q I've always had about Throwdown. WTH does FN just walk in your kitchen one day, and say. WOW your amazing we want to do a show about you. Then Flay shows up? Are people really that dense?

Mike
 
#12 ·
It all depends on your POV of course. Lots of people watch it for the drama. I watch it and critique the technical aspects, like how some people cannot dice an onion quickly, or marvel at how Hyun breaks down a chicken faster than I can find the breastbone. :D
 
#13 ·
I was happy that the girl got eliminated who did (I can't remember her name). I was hoping she would be gone, almost since the beggining of the show. She not only screwed up the Elimination Challenge, but also the Quickfire challenge. I don't know how she even got selected... In short there were a lot of people I would have loved to seen eliminated, but none of them more than her.
 
#14 ·
All I can say is that the nacho "souffle" thing looked like a right mess and that I can sort of understand the chicken piccata person not exactly knowing what it is because I didn't quite remember myself...

IMO, the duck, lasagna, and steak were the easiest to not screw up.
 
#16 ·
I think that the piccata guy should have went.

The shrimp dish while i didn't taste it....I have to give her credit for copping to the flan not working.....i didnt see her in the long run sticking around but thought she should have gotten a pass....at least she knew the ingredients of the dish.

the flan guy I didnt think was that bad, the presentation was a little off but not too bad.



I like the asian guy and I'm hoping he wins....

hate the ghetto talker and glad he lost.

loved the lesbians, well, because I love lesbians......
 
#17 ·
This is pretty much the only reality show that I watch religiously and I have to agree with other replies about the American Idol crap, I'd rather be watching cooks duke it out in the kitchen. I'm looking forward to next Wednesday! :lips:

That ghetto talker guy was starting to get on my nerves by the end of that show. There was so much **** bleeping out on that show, I though I was watching a frigging rap video. I like the Asian guy as well, he's very confident and it shows (reminds me of Hung from last season, but cuter).

I agree about the piccata guy, that plate was hideous, looked like something from KFC. I was glad to see Nimmi (whatever the heck her name is) go, from the start it seemed as though she really didn't want to be there. She had no personality what so ever and talked in slow motion or maybe it was all the wine I had last night...:crazy:

At this point I can't really say who will win, it usually takes me a few episodes to warm up to the new competitors and see where each one is coming from, I'm still missing some of the old faces from last season.
 
#19 ·
You mean Dale. I don't know. It seems like he's got some skills, but he is Philippino (Hung was Vietnamese). From what I've tasted of Philippino food, has a bit of a handicap going. I could be completely wrong though.

Now if we could get a good Thai chef on Top Chef, it would be no contest!
(I'm biased, my sweetheart is Thai).
 
#20 ·
I've been catching up on some back seasons that I missed....so I've been downloading them via Amazon Unbox to my TiVo and I noticed in the credits it lists something I'm sure everyone knows...but it is one of those things that makes me almost not like that show.

some elimination decisions are made in consultation with the show's producers.

i.e. if your controversial, or funny, you'll stay. Not saying the people who won arent great chefs but there is a reason lots of people last as long as they do....and it isn't the food.
 
#22 ·
Catering and cheffing are different in some ways. Part of planning a catered event is knowing what can be held, and how to hold it. A related part is choosing dishes which can be held in what is available. In this episode Erik KNEW a Cambro would wreck the crust on his dogs and went ahead with it anyway -- so, even though I think he wasn't the weakest chef there, or even one of them -- I understand why they auffed him. He would have done far better with a take on (what we call) bienies and weans. Surely, someone had some legumes and/or lentils. He could have quick cooked the beans in a pressure cooker (not a bad idea anyway), added the dogs over slow heat, and let them coast into a marriage in the Cambro on the way to the event.

The Waldorf Salad was very weak -- in fact it wasn't a Waldorf at all. A bad pasta salad? That's just pathetic. That would have been my choice for worst dish -- even though she's seems like a decent chef. The Velveeta mac and cheese showed a fundamental misunderstanding of what Velveeta does and doesn't do. But, I'm not sure if that's a sin or just unfamiliarity with an ingredient that's not a chef's ingredient. Easy mistake to make.

What else?

I'm not a Rick Bayliss fan -- at least not in terms of his food. But that might have something to do with growing up and living most of my life in SoCal with an entirely different Mexican food aesthetic.

Seems like a very strong group this season. Tough to gauge who's really strong and who's merely very good. Every season seems to start with a better group. I might have made it very close to the end of the first season. Last season I wouldn't have made it past the middle. No way.

This season, I would have made it through the first three challenges by playing safe early, because I'm grounded in the classics (Ep. 1), and because I've had catering experience (Eps. 2 and 3). But that's luck. In all honesty, I think this group, like the last one, is out of my league.

BDL
 
#23 ·
after watching seasons 1 and 2, all at once the past couple of weeks, and I'm in the middle of season 3,while I keep telling myself "its just tv" from my non-chef point of view, I thought that season 1 was much better than season 2 as far as talent.

i can't judge season 3 yet as I'm right in the middle of it. (so don't spoil it for me!)
 
#24 ·
You have a good point, in that there were a six good cooks in season one, particularly Harold, LeAnn and Dave with Miguel, Tiffani and Stephen just a cut below. Miguel was a good technician but his repertoire was limited, and he wasn't creative or flexible -- overall, I'd rate myself better. Tiffani had a great handle on food, but I can't imagine her surviving in many kitchens unless the head chef or owner was looking out for her. In most places her coworkers would have strangled her. Don't think that doesn't count, either. Stephen was immensely talented and ambitious (read his CV online), but not particularly dedicated to cooking. You need that.

From the second season it seemed as though there were only three good cooks -- with everyone else far behind. Sam, Marcel and Ilan. IMO Sam was the best of the bunch. Marcel's aesthetic left me cold, plus there was something about him that just rubbed me the wrong way. I thought of him as "the weasel." The guy that won, Ilan, wasn't particularly imaginative -- although very disciplined and talented. At the end of the day, the discipline to not screw it up is what put him over. Elia didn't deserve to be there at the end. She has some strong points, but not enough. I'll never forget "the best booger, ever." [Shudder] FWIW, I knew Betty a little, and my S.O and I ate at her place, "Grub," a few times. "Grub," being a breakfast/lunch place off the beaten path in Hollywood. Not exactly, "fine dining." She's good, but in no way great.

BDL
 
#25 ·
I just watched the last installlment last night (the repeat at 9 pm works better for my bedtime then that one on Wed. at 10). The minute I laid eyes on the corndogs, I told the family that Eric was making a huge mistake. I'm just a lowly homecook that's never made a corndog from scratch but even I knew that it wouldn't hold up in transit! I kept saying either Eric or Nikki was going home. He's made too many mistakes. IMO, so has Nikki. Last week's mushrooms turds that she served to the judges without even tasting them after cheese and knowing they didn't hold up well, was not a smart decision. Then this week, she had to know there was no way that macaroni and cheese was going to hold up until the party. Again, that's something even I know having never worked professionally a day in my life (that may be subject to change soon!)

Pasta salad? That's an easy one!! I couldn't believe how that one ended up so bad!

I was really surprised at how many of them have problems cooking the simple foods. I guess those seem simple to me because that's what I've cooked almost every day of my life for at least the past 6 years and sporadically for 10 years before that. Without knowing the basics, how can you progress to more challenging foods successfully? Have they never attended an outdoor party where food has to be stored and served? To me, there were a lot of foolish food choices made and they certainly had plenty of options with the food they raided.
 
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