Top Chef Chicago

[erika]

STEPHANIE! STEPHANIE! STEPHANIE! STEPHANIE!

[iAmBaronVonTito]

i dont care whos in the final three anymore.

GET.  RID.  OF!  LISA!

[joanna]

when spike made that comment about "it's your walk-in," i knew he was going. what a grade a moron. yeah, insult the guest judge. that is just an excellent move.

[Omar]

I'd like to think they planted those frozen scallops to see if this dope would bite.

From The Stew:

"Their [Bravo's] team purchased all the food and put it in the coolers,” he explained, saying he felt that most people realized it was part of the challenge. He just wants to set the record straight. "They put those in the mix to see ... who would use them or not." And certainly Spike went for them. "It’s interesting that he had first choice and he obviously didn’t have to use them" but he did anyway.

*****

Spike's exit interview:

Why weren’t you wearing any hats in the episode?

I wanted to show a more professional side of myself, since it was the last episode [before the finale]. I do wear hats in kitchens a lot, but I wanted to let the public know that I am a professional chef.

Were you criticized too much for using the frozen scallops?

It was a tricky thing. I had a very short amount of time to pick my proteins. I heard there were scallops in the walk-in and I wanted them. When I saw they were frozen and torn-up, my heart just sank. I overthought it. I spent way too much time soaking water out of the scallops. I didn’t concentrate on my garnish, flavors, textures for that dish. That dish was a mess. I wasn’t proud of it, and I would never serve it again.

What can a chef actually do with frozen scallops?

Throw them out. Dredged scallops should be banned, honestly. It was a wet scallop, but maybe I should have done a seviche, something with acid and liquid, rather than trying to sear them. It would have been really worth my time if I had just sat down for ten minutes and thought it out.

Given the odds, do you think Richard has chance of winning?

Richard is the strongest competitor and the best chef of the group. Stephanie is very, very talented; she’s a great chef herself. But Richard is on a different playing level: He’s 35 years old. Something that comes along with being a great chef is experience, and he has it. He’s the older generation. He’s worked at El Bulli, he’s worked for Thomas Keller, he’s worked for Daniel Boulud.

[joanna]

It was a wet scallop, but maybe I should have done a seviche, something with acid and liquid, rather than trying to sear them. It would have been really worth my time if I had just sat down for ten minutes and thought it out.

no! you should not have done a ceviche! you should have ignored them altogether and gone with a different protein!

the dude gets kicked off the show for this and he still hasn't learned his lesson?

[Stan]

It was a wet scallop, but maybe I should have done a seviche, something with acid and liquid, rather than trying to sear them. It would have been really worth my time if I had just sat down for ten minutes and thought it out.

no! you should not have done a ceviche! you should have ignored them altogether and gone with a different protein!

the dude gets kicked off the show for this and he still hasn't learned his lesson?

 At least he left the hats behind. This is Spike we're talking about- Baby steps, Joanna. Baby steps.

[iAmBaronVonTito]

It was a wet scallop, but maybe I should have done a seviche, something with acid and liquid, rather than trying to sear them. It would have been really worth my time if I had just sat down for ten minutes and thought it out.

no! you should not have done a ceviche! you should have ignored them altogether and gone with a different protein!

the dude gets kicked off the show for this and he still hasn't learned his lesson?

its hard not looking at your avatar/icon after reading, "...and he still hasnt learned his lesson?"

[joanna]

the dude gets kicked off the show for this and he still hasn't learned his lesson?

its hard not looking at your avatar/icon after reading, "...and he still hasnt learned his lesson?"

i figured that avatar would come in handy for certain posts on the fot board.

[Laurie]

So, did he pick the scallops before he looked at them and got stuck with that protein? Either way, it's a dumb decision. He's an idiot if he saw that they were frozen and picked them anyway, or he's an idiot if he chose the scallops without actually looking at them first.

[joanna]

So, did he pick the scallops before he looked at them and got stuck with that protein?

i can watch that part of my torrent again if anyone wants to know FOR SURE but i'm almost positive that he was in the walk-in and said something to effect of: "i know i saw scallops in here!" and then he grabbed the scallops, noticed they were frozen, and still walked out with them. i'm pretty confident there was a point when he could have changed his mind.

grade a moron.

also, i know i've said it before, but lisa's face at judges table really makes me want to punch her. so petulant!

[joanna]

um. i'm compulsive, so i rewatched that part of the torrent.

spike on choosing the scallops:

"i had my mind on scallops, so i saw a bag of frozen scallops and i grabbed them." it shows him picking up the bag, looking them over, and walking out with them.

then richard: "he took those fucking frozen scallops?"

you're welcome!

[erika]

Yeah spike is a moron. And I don't find his food very creative at all. Not that it HAS to be, but if you have a shit attitude and limited skill, you should be making some tasty shit.

Why DO they have 4 people going to the finale? I did like it much more when they only had 3... I can't remember why they changed it though.

[joanna]

you guys!!!

check out what harold said about anthony bourdain in his blog:

Yeah, it’s interesting to hear Bourdain and Padma critique the food, but it was a little much for me. I didn’t particularly enjoy seeing Anthony inside a chef’s coat walking around the kitchen. I just didn’t. It’s just not how I think of him. The guy’s not known for being a famous chef; his credibility does not lie in food. But the guy has never created amazing food, that’s not what he’s known for. He’s known for being a great book writer. While at Les Halles, he made bistro food and there is nothing wrong with that because it’s good but it’s not the type of stuff that gives you mass credibility and unquestioned knowledge from a food standpoint. Tom’s the head judge because he has multiple three-star restaurants and a James Beard winner. That’s why he does what he does and why Anthony does what he does.

HELL YES! i hate anthony bourdain! i want to kiss harold full on the mouth for writing this.

(though i admit that bourdain's brutal honesty sometimes makes his criticisms the most enjoyable to watch, but it still bothered me that they chose him to fill in for tom. tom is all about the food, whereas bourdain seems to feed and feed off of their interpersonal drama and character flaws.)

[iAmBaronVonTito]

you guys!!!

check out what harold said about anthony bourdain in his blog:

Yeah, it’s interesting to hear Bourdain and Padma critique the food, but it was a little much for me. I didn’t particularly enjoy seeing Anthony inside a chef’s coat walking around the kitchen. I just didn’t. It’s just not how I think of him. The guy’s not known for being a famous chef; his credibility does not lie in food. But the guy has never created amazing food, that’s not what he’s known for. He’s known for being a great book writer. While at Les Halles, he made bistro food and there is nothing wrong with that because it’s good but it’s not the type of stuff that gives you mass credibility and unquestioned knowledge from a food standpoint. Tom’s the head judge because he has multiple three-star restaurants and a James Beard winner. That’s why he does what he does and why Anthony does what he does.

HELL YES! i hate anthony bourdain! i want to kiss harold full on the mouth for writing this.

(though i admit that bourdain's brutal honesty sometimes makes his criticisms the most enjoyable to watch, but it still bothered me that they chose him to fill in for tom. tom is all about the food, whereas bourdain seems to feed and feed off of their interpersonal drama and character flaws.)

i enjoy anthony bourdain.  he embodies the hard criticism that tom colicchio executes.  in my opinion, who cares what he's cooked and hasnt, he has a well-rounded palette.  and this principal applies to more than just anthony bourdain.

there are a number of producers who cant play a single instrument who make good producers, directors who dont know how to act, etc.  i think whether or not hes a chef is irrelevant. 

[Sarah]

I like Bourdain, too.  I think he'd be a great companion on an all-nighter.  And he does seem to be a good and adventurous eater, which is a fine qualification for judging food, it seems to me.

On another subject, was anyone else horrified that Stephanie sang the praises of sweetbreads by likening them to chicken McNuggets?  Of course, this is the gal who grimaced when she tasted $25/pound crab.  Don't get me wrong--she's clearly a good cook--but she does seem to lack a certain worldliness when it comes to her palate (although I'm remembering now that during the Common Threads challenge she talked about how she was raised eating upper-crust food--what, one wonders, is her definition of "upper-crust"?).