Bravo's Top Chef

[kcchief19]

For the record, I'm not a reality TV fan. I have probably watched about one hour combined of American Idol, Survivor, Big Brother and all the rest, and that might be rounding up. I've soaked in through osmosis some of the reality shows Mrs. kcchief19 watches, but not enough to retain any of the information later and use it in conversation.

But for some reason, I've gotten hooked on Top Chef on Bravo. Mrs. kcchief19 watched it because she watched the Project Runway show on Bravo, and this is pretty much the exact same concept with chefs. All of the reality TV elements are there -- the jackoffs, the abbrasive personalities, the old woman, the well-distributed minorities, the underdog, etc. -- something for everyone in the pot.

I suppose I've gotten into it because I like good food, and it's interesting to see how these people create and thing about their dishes. Obviously the challenges aren't necessarily too realistic, but again the appeal of the "professional" reality show is to take people who are good at what they do and throw them knuckleballs in the dirt.

Am I the only one addicted to this show?

[heybrad]

My wife loves it. I could take it or leave it. I just think some of the challenges are stupid. Under what circumstances would the route to being a top chef have you buying food from a gas station?

[kcchief19]

My wife loves it. I could take it or leave it. I just think some of the challenges are stupid. Under what circumstances would the route to being a top chef have you buying food from a gas station?
I do understand that line of thought, since you can take that question and apply it to any reality show. The limited exposure I've had to Survivor and Amazing Race and what not has generally prompted me to ask the question, "Why?"

One thing that I do find intriguing about Top Chef is that while like other reality shows the challenges are contrived, there is actually legitimate reasoning behind the challenge.

For example, there was an episode where the challenge was cooking for children from the local Boys and Girls Club. The job was to make a meal using monkfish, not exactly a children's delicacy. When the chefs were called on the carpet at the end of the show, several of the chefs bitched that they weren't going to dumb down what they do for children and that it was a waste of time to cook for them. The judges hammered them back explaining that there are plenty of times a customer will demand food prepared a certain way that goes against what they chef likes to do and believes in, but satisfying the customer is the only goal and you have to do whatever it takes to make them happy. I was very intrigued how that challenge actually supported a great point.

The "quickfire" immunity challenges are always goofy -- that was the convenience story challenge. I believe that episode's primary challenge was cooking a dish that could be microwave later for working mom's with children, which was who the audience was for that show.

[John Galt]

I've been watching the show as well. I've found it pretty enjoyable so far. I'm also not a reality TV junkie. I was routing for Miguel, but he has been a bit more annoying and less talented the last couple of episodes. I generally like Harold's dishes, but he has been a little too arrogant sometimes. I think Le Anne is probably my favorite right now. Overall, though, I think it is a pretty good show and I watch it right after Lost (while TIVOing South Park). Wednesday's are my busy TV night.

[Arctus]

I love this show. The wife and I are both fans of reality TV and Iron Chef. I also have an added incentive to watch. I'm a long time player of City of Heroes and one of the contestants is a member of my supergroup.

I think the show is very well done, I like the fact that they keep the non-competition footage to a minimum.

[daedalus]

I like the show but have not gotten a chance to watch as much of it as I would like. The monkfish for the kids show was one of the few I got a chance to watch. I think the redheaded chick was the only one to really whined about not dumbing down her food for the kids. The one I really, REALLY dislike is the sommelier jerk. I'm with JG, I liked Miguel before and have liked him increasingly less of late.

My girlfriend really dislike the host chick. She thinks the chick is WAY too snooty and obnoxious.

[John Galt]

I'm a long time player of City of Heroes and one of the contestants is a member of my supergroup.

You know we have to ask. Who?

[Arctus]

You know we have to ask. Who?

Believe it or not......Harold

[heybrad]

I do understand that line of thought, since you can take that question and apply it to any reality show. The limited exposure I've had to Survivor and Amazing Race and what not has generally prompted me to ask the question, "Why?"
I see what you're saying, but I think there is a difference between shows like Amazing Race and Survivor in that you're not trying to win a specialized competition. I see the line of thinking that says they are showing creativity by making (I think it was) appetizers from gas station food, but in no instance do I ever see a top chef having to serve gas station food.

Another example would be a challenge they had on one of the early Apprentice shows. The contestants had to sell lemonade. To me there is absolutely no connection between being a good executive and being able to sell lemonade on the street.

Anyway... I just find it annoying.

[kcchief19]

I've been watching the show as well. I've found it pretty enjoyable so far. I'm also not a reality TV junkie. I was routing for Miguel, but he has been a bit more annoying and less talented the last couple of episodes. I generally like Harold's dishes, but he has been a little too arrogant sometimes. I think Le Anne is probably my favorite right now.
This is in lock-step when the analysis in our household. Miguel was an early favorite, but his ugly side has come out as he has struggled. His throwing Andrea under the bus for the street food really cost him. Tom Collicchio is just a devious judge. I don't know if he realized that telling Miguel that Tiffani thought he should be voted out would set him off or not, but her stock dropped in our household when she denied saying that.

I do like Harold's food and I think in the right environment I would like Harold. He's just one of those guys who is a great guy to hang around with and is a good friend, then the moment he's around somebody he thinks is cooler than you he acts like he doesn't know you. He seems like a real genuine guy, then he gets around Stephen and starts to act like him and you just want to punch him.

But I've seen few people more deserving of a swift kick in the nuts than the pompous Stephen -- the Sommiler jerk. We picked up Candice's phrase for Stephen around the house for the last couple of weeks -- "you're a tool and douchebag -- but that's going out of favor now for Dave's meltdown in the previews for next week's episode -- "Let me talk bitch, I'm not your bitch." Gold.

Clearly Stephen is a mad scientists, and I imagine that he's food is enjoyable to certain snobby tastes. But that appetizer he won the immunity challenge with last night as a joke. It was all style over substance. Tom in his blog -- sadly, I've now started following online with the blogs -- critized celebrity judge Ted Allen for choosing Stephen as the winner.

The only thing I wish they would tone down are the product placements. It's one thing to have a bottle of Kansas City Masterpiece laying around the kitchen -- it's another thing to make the chefs barbecue back at the house every week and get long close-ups of KC Masterpiece and corporate synergy partner Kingsford charcoal, followed a closeup of the Toyota Highlander logo whenever they get in the car.

[John Galt]

I don't know if anyone else is still watching this, but I thought I'd check. It looks like Arctus's guy Harold is the favorite to win. He has definitely the best choice based on everything we have seen. I was sad to see Dave go yesterday. I didn't like him at first, but I came to enjoy his neurotic nature and nervous ticks. The way he went too was painful. Based on all the contest results, it seemed like even if he had made a total ass 3rd dish, Tiffani would have gone home instead. What a total brain fart. Anyway, I hope Harold wins next week.

[stevew]

I've watched a few of the episodes. I like that Harold guy, Tiffani acts like a c-word. I can't believe that Dave guy lasted as long as he did, the editing on the earlier episodes that I saw made him seem less than competent. I figured that Steven would have been in the finals. Harold had great Knife skills from what I recall.

[kcchief19]

Yeah, I think everybody's rooting for Harold now. Mrs. kcchief19 is still ballistic over last night's episode. I could have seen it both ways -- Tiffani was consistently mediocre in all three contests and Dave's food outranked her, but forgetting to make the third dish in the last challenge was a tremendous brain fart. That was clearly the decider. I'm with John -- if Dave in the last 45 seconds had just grabbed a piece of fish and flash seared it for 15 seconds on each side and slapped it on a plate he would have moved on.


I think Dave making it through was luck to a certain degree -- everytime he made it to the loser's table, there was somebody else that the judges really wanted to get rid of. If you read the blogs, Tom Colicchio was pissed because the Napa chefs chose Dave as the winner of that challenge and he thought he was the one who should go and LeAnne should have been in Vegas.

It will be interesting to see what happens in the final. My expectation based on seeing the Project Runway finale was that they were going to bring back the chefs to work with the finalists. Three of the four they are bringing back have bick issues with Tiffani -- I think this may be where her attitude finally gets her nailed.

I also expected the twist with Stephen, Miguel and LeAnne being judges, but I also though it was a bit unfair -- I think from working with those three for as long as they did, they had a pretty good idea whose dish was whose. I think Harold's dish was extremely easy to recognize because he had done it before.

[John Galt]

Well, tonight is the finale. I probably won't be watching it until tomorrow (we are TIVOing it and watching Lost instead), but I am looking forward to it. I wonder if Tiffani has a fan outside of her family. I don't watch many reality shows, but I'm not sure how often you have so clear a villian and favorite.

[kcchief19]

There are a couple of Tiffani fans on the Bravo message boards but not many.
Mrs. kcchief19 and I will be watching tonight. God, I'm such a dork.

[heybrad]

I thought Dave was pretty funny when he was joking about the final challenge. He said something to the effect of.. "We'll probably be dropped off in the middle of the Grand Canyon with a barbecue pit and a bow and arrow and told to make something elegant and sophisticated."

[John Galt]

I thought Dave was pretty funny when he was joking about the final challenge. He said something to the effect of.. "We'll probably be dropped off in the middle of the Grand Canyon with a barbecue pit and a bow and arrow and told to make something elegant and sophisticated."

I laughed pretty hard at that.

[kcchief19]

All in all, a pretty satisfying and entertaining finale. The editing probably added a bit more drama and intrigue as usual. But there were some great moments. We just about died laughing at the video of Dave and Stephen out drinking on the town and then showing up late drunk the next day and drinking the entire time they were in the kitchen. Not sure Tiffani ever had a chance, but she pretty much mad her own bed since no one wanted to work for her. Everybody threw her under the bus.

The ending was just classic. First, the best thing in her menu was the dessert that Dave made and she tried to take credit for, even though Dave and Stephen both told the judges that it was Dave's idea and he made it. When she accussed Harold of stabbing her in the back because everybody like him better was icing on the cake. I've never enjoyed watching some cry and complain about how horrible their life is. If there is anybody I've ever seen on TV who has pretty much made their life what is is, it's her.

There was definitely some interesting machinations. I definitely thought it was a great move by Harold to put Miguel on the beef dish, since that was his best dish during the show. I was perplexed about Tiffani's wine selections. The judges seemed to think that most of the wines were a poor fit with the dishes, but she had Stephen the pompous sommelier there. I didn't get a good sense of what the problem was -- did Stephen make bad choices on the wines, or did Tiffani come up with a menu and force the wines into them and not care about how they were paired? I got the sense that Tiffany come up with her menu, then told Stephen to pair the wines. But he could only do so much since the dishes were designed independent of the wines and were not planned to fit together.

[Arctus]

All in all, a pretty satisfying and entertaining finale. The editing probably added a bit more drama and intrigue as usual. But there were some great moments. We just about died laughing at the video of Dave and Stephen out drinking on the town and then showing up late drunk the next day and drinking the entire time they were in the kitchen. Not sure Tiffani ever had a chance, but she pretty much mad her own bed since no one wanted to work for her. Everybody threw her under the bus.

The ending was just classic. First, the best thing in her menu was the dessert that Dave made and she tried to take credit for, even though Dave and Stephen both told the judges that it was Dave's idea and he made it. When she accussed Harold of stabbing her in the back because everybody like him better was icing on the cake. I've never enjoyed watching some cry and complain about how horrible their life is. If there is anybody I've ever seen on TV who has pretty much made their life what is is, it's her.

There was definitely some interesting machinations. I definitely thought it was a great move by Harold to put Miguel on the beef dish, since that was his best dish during the show. I was perplexed about Tiffani's wine selections. The judges seemed to think that most of the wines were a poor fit with the dishes, but she had Stephen the pompous sommelier there. I didn't get a good sense of what the problem was -- did Stephen make bad choices on the wines, or did Tiffani come up with a menu and force the wines into them and not care about how they were paired? I got the sense that Tiffany come up with her menu, then told Stephen to pair the wines. But he could only do so much since the dishes were designed independent of the wines and were not planned to fit together.

I completely agree with everything you said.

I'm guessing that Steven did the best he could with the wines, he was just given the impossible task of matching the wines with not one, but two dishes per course; and it didn't seem like Tiffani put any thought into the wines. Actually, it didn't seem like see even thought to listen to Steven's concerns with the menu and wine pairings.

I really got the sense that Harold was going to win as long as he served five dishes and one of them literally wasnt a turd.

Tiffani lost whatever slim chance she had of winning when she tried to take credit for the desert.