Top Chef 8/22
 

Guess I'll start.

How the hell does the guy who was seemingly one of the most proficient chefs in the entire field put together a dish that gets the words "disgusting" and "trainwreck" attached to it? The guy from the B-52's said it was "the worst dish I've had in a long time."

Sorry to see Tre go. He was clearly talented, but damn--he said he could make bread pudding "in his sleep," then he made something that everyone hated.

Sorry, man--your food wasn't good, so now you're home.

Next week: Howie "addresses the panel."

Could be good.

Re: Top Chef 8/22
 

weak.

Tre screwed himself by doing too many things. If he's going to be the executive chef, he should have done more supervising and been more authoritative (like Sara, when she told Hung(?) to make his dish over again).

The rest of his team seemed like they didn't give a crap.

Re: Top Chef 8/22
 

Tre going home sucks. He was definitely my favorite out of the group, and I was really expecting to see him in the finale.

It seems like he just wasn't thinking strategically to win here. He took on way too much. Is it right that he was responsible for at least half the dishes?

I thought last week that C.J. could have gone home for stacking the deck, abdicating responsibility, and then having his team fail to really produce. I thought the same this week.

Re: Top Chef 8/22
 

Very impressed by how Sara took control of the kitchen, made Hung redo something she did not like, and would not let Howie send out his dish undercooked.

Tony Bourdain called Ciccone "Madonna's asshat brother" on his blog. Love that guy.

And, yes, CJ could have easily been the one that went home.

Re: Top Chef 8/22
 

Also, when I saw that they had Stephen lined up to act as sommelier and Ciccone set to re-design the interiors (after having eaten there the first night), I woudl have sworn that the whole "let's call it a draw" decision from last week was staged and pre-determined.

Then I realized, what the hell else are Stephen and Ciccone doing? They're perfect last minute guys.

Re: Top Chef 8/22
 

Haha loved when Stephen was the sommelier.

Such a retarded decision by the judges. I'm really surprised by it. He was obviously at least as talented if not more talented than the rest of those on his team. I didn't see Brian do a damn thing the entire episode. CJ made the salad and it failed. CJ has shown very little throughout the episodes, although I like the guy. Stunned.

Re: Top Chef 8/22
 

This is just standard Top Chef judging though - if you completely slack off in the team challenges you aren't punished at all, you only get punished when you make something really bad. Last season guys like Cliff made it deep in survival mode just trying to do the minimum all the time, because the less you do the less chance you screw something up.

Tre basically personally made half the dishes in the restaurant. Whatever, retarded show, I need to take it off TiVo, it's so retarded and fake and who wins doesn't have much to do with ability.

Re: Top Chef 8/22
 

i went to the bravo tv website tonight to check the schedule for when this airs, and out of the corner of my eye saw a picture of casey at the top of the page, so through the whole episode i assumed she was gone. when they eliminated tre i was pretty damn surprised. i thought he would be in the finals, in part because he seems to be the most respected among the other players.

tre had plenty of chances though. he is a talented chef but he makes bad decisions. his team could've won and avoided this whole episode if he had just not put the oversmoked potatoes on the plate last week. this week he took too much responsibility on his own, and tried to do too much with the salmon. plus it was his CHOICE to not be intense and focused.

i think if i was hung, casey, brian (or... howie?) i wouldn't have been intimidated facing tre in the final two. he has not shown himself to be a good decision maker when he has to do an entire menu and run a team. other than that he seems awesome.

i will be totally annoyed by steven if he ever stands by my table, and i think it reflects badly on a restaurant if they think someone with his behavior helps their overall product. steven should watch last week's episode with daniel boulud and see how excellence and restraint can go hand in hand.

ted allen is the best judge on the show and a great balance to colicchio's hesitancy to say what is really going on, lest he give away the result.

Re: Top Chef 8/22
 

1)
I think the turning point in the show was when Tre overheard the other group's menu. He thought it was way to heavy and that they were going to tank again, so he (and the rest of the team) got this bloated sense of confidence and really didn't hit the challenge hard. They got lazy, and in his overconfidence Tre didn't realize how badly he was putting himself in jeopardy by doing so much. In any case, I think the guy's gonna eventually open a badass restaurant because he's that good.

2)
This episode definitely shows why the judgment method of this show sucks so much: every week they ask "who [censored] up the most this week?". Complete ignorance of past weeks' performances is something that I really can't forgive in the judging. The winner at the end is the person who manages to consistently not be terrible.

Re: Top Chef 8/22
 

[ QUOTE ]
This is just standard Top Chef judging though - if you completely slack off in the team challenges you aren't punished at all, you only get punished when you make something really bad.

[/ QUOTE ]

How is that wrong, though?

I mean, did you see Ted Allen's reaction? He's been a judge plenty of times on Top Chef, and Iron Chef America, and I have never seen the guy look so close to gagging. And the others agreed with him.

The guest judge said an executive chef would not let that dish leave the kitchen.

Seems like the equivalent of posting a tubgirl pic inline - instaban.