Top Chef 8/15

[Aloysius]

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They repeatedly claim they judge based on the present episode, not the past. Which makes this a poorly designed competition for half the contestants.

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I remember Collichio explaining this once on his blog: the idea being that as a chef, you can't take a night off and have a bad meal. So might as well judge the competition that way.

What Collichio's saying makes sense in a restaurant setting, but for the challenges on Top Chef, it's too easy, even for a talented chef who's been performing well all competition, to just drop the ball. So it seems unfair to me.

I would prefer they do it like Project Runway, where they seem to take into account past performance.

-Al

[slamdunkpro]

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Regarding Brian's faults as a frontman, remember too that he says he has never once in his life done that job before. Yet he's sent out there not just to do his part, but to organize and supervise others. It seems very unfair to blame him for not being good at this job yet.

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Brian volunteered to be the front man. Picking Brian was CJ's big screw up. If he'd have picked Dale there wouldn't be a part 2.

[Aloysius]

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All,

I was pretty surprised that Hung was not one of the main kitchen roles.

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My guess is he didn't fight for the role, maybe thinking more exposure that way. He did, however, make the tuna tartare, which we didn't see at all IIRC.

Ron - yeah, I think Brian should've been eliminated based on the way the challenge was set-up.

-Al

[Blarg]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Regarding Brian's faults as a frontman, remember too that he says he has never once in his life done that job before. Yet he's sent out there not just to do his part, but to organize and supervise others. It seems very unfair to blame him for not being good at this job yet.

[/ QUOTE ]

Brian volunteered to be the front man. Picking Brian was CJ's big screw up. If he'd have picked Dale there wouldn't be a part 2.

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I'd go with a gay designer and a straight frontman over a gay frontman and a straight designer anytime. Call me a philistine, whatever.

Besides, how much frontman experience did Dale have? And how much design experience did Brian have?

[Dids]

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[ QUOTE ]
Regarding Brian's faults as a frontman, remember too that he says he has never once in his life done that job before. Yet he's sent out there not just to do his part, but to organize and supervise others. It seems very unfair to blame him for not being good at this job yet.

[/ QUOTE ]

Brian volunteered to be the front man. Picking Brian was CJ's big screw up. If he'd have picked Dale there wouldn't be a part 2.

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I assume he specifically picked Bryan because he wanted a guy who would be good at FOH stuff.

I have no idea why he wouldn't pick Hung in that spot. Just based on resume, this challenge should be right up his catagory.

Also yeah, I noticed the mashed burgers, although I've heard varrying opinions on that one and Alton gets enough stuff wrong that he's no longer gospel to me.

[Blarg]

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All,

I was pretty surprised that Hung was not one of the main kitchen roles.

[/ QUOTE ]

My guess is he didn't fight for the role, maybe thinking more exposure that way. He did, however, make the tuna tartare, which we didn't see at all IIRC.

Ron - yeah, I think Brian should've been eliminated based on the way the challenge was set-up.

-Al

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We did see the tuna tartare. It was complimented too, one of the few things from either side that was.

[Aloysius]

Blarg - just meant that I don't recall seeing Hung in the kitchen at all really - I was surprised when they mentioned it was his dish.

Also, just occurred to me - the oyster dish no one liked was probably Brian's? Just another reason for him to be eliminated...

Dids:

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Also yeah, I noticed the mashed burgers, although I've heard varrying opinions on that one and Alton gets enough stuff wrong that he's no longer gospel to me.

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Alton's explanation for the don't mash burger thing makes sense to me... I was thinking maybe Casey was just running out of time and needed the burgers to cook faster.

So Alton gets some stuff wrong sometimes? Huh, I have no clue and haven't noticed anything - I just started DVR'ing "Good Eats" but I've really enjoyed what I've seen so far.

-Al

[Blarg]

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Blarg - just meant that I don't recall seeing Hung in the kitchen at all really - I was surprised when they mentioned it was his dish.


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Yeah me too. I hadn't thought he was playing any part back there. Just goes to show how the editing choices play such a large part in shows like these.

[Blarg]

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Regarding Brian's faults as a frontman, remember too that he says he has never once in his life done that job before. Yet he's sent out there not just to do his part, but to organize and supervise others. It seems very unfair to blame him for not being good at this job yet.

[/ QUOTE ]

Brian volunteered to be the front man. Picking Brian was CJ's big screw up. If he'd have picked Dale there wouldn't be a part 2.

[/ QUOTE ]

I assume he specifically picked Bryan because he wanted a guy who would be good at FOH stuff.

I have no idea why he wouldn't pick Hung in that spot. Just based on resume, this challenge should be right up his catagory.

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Remember that Brian was the frontman in the more partying, upbeat roach coach challenge outside the nightclub in the previous episode. CJ was his competing frontman there, and probably was wowed by Brian's energy and ability to work the crowd. So when Brian said he wanted to do something sorta similar twice in a row, CJ choosing Brian probably seemed a pretty natural choice and good idea.

[slamdunkpro]

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Also, just occurred to me - the oyster dish no one liked was probably Brian's? Just another reason for him to be eliminated...

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Yeah, it was exactly the same dish he made for the drunken food fest - and the judges thought it was great then.