Top Chef All Stars

[wood and iron]

It was nice to see AD Miles on Top Chef.

What I liked about this episode was Jimmy Fallon's enthusiasm allowed the chefs a chance to really enjoy what they were doing for once. Usually, even the top tier of chefs look as if they're in front of a firing line.

[Sarah]

I'm not well versed in Sesame Street, but Carla seemed very Big Birdesque to me during this episode.  Nevertheless, I would very much like to try her chicken pot pie.  Tom's "too busy eating" comment was one of the best compliments I've ever heard him give

Sorry to see Fabio go.  The last few episodes have made me like him more than I ever have before, and much of his food made my mouth water.  Still, better him than Dale, whose quiet, catty remarks are making me laugh. Better still would have been Tiffany's dismissal.  Her so-called chicken dumplings were monumentally misguided.  Plus, her not being kicked has messed up my prediction.

Richard drives me nuts.  I don't question his talent or his skill, but the arrogance gets in the way of my appreciation.  His anxiety strikes me as flowing more from self-absorption and fishing for praise than evidence of his humility.  (NB:  I know chefs can be--and frequently are--schmucks, so all this should be irrelevant.) 

I do not understand how people were able to move after that lunch.  So many heavy dishes.  Tasty seeming, but, heavens . . .

[wood and iron]

Speaking of schmucks... Mike I describing fondue as "gay". Yeesh. That guy is human trash.

[Sarah]

I would call Mike a pig, but I am fond of pigs.

[Greggulator]

I just saw Anthony Bourdain on his speaking tour. It was strange.

I took Mrs. G to go see it for Valentine's Day. She's obsessed with all of those cooking shows and also thinks he's the best looking man on the planet. I felt kind of creeped out getting a Valentine's Day present along those lines but it made my wife happy so oh well.

It was essentially a stand-up comedy show if the headlining act only did bits about Top Chef, No Rerservations and Food Network shows and the only reference to the world the audience had was those shows. I've never been to anything else like it before it my life. It was a complete and total vacuum -- a world in which the only thing that mattered was cooking elimination challenges.

He talked about Spike from Top Chef and as soon as he mentioned Spike's name sarcastically the crowd cheered him.  Even the mere mention of Rachel Ray drew cackles from the crowd. Anthony would also say something "shocking" like "Sara Lee is to cooking what Hitler was too Poland" and the crowd reacted like it was the most insane, awful, hilarious thing ever said in history.

He had a Q&A at the end of the show. I wanted to ask him: "What's the sleaziest thing you've ever done for cocaine?" My wife forbid me from doing so.

My favorite question: some lady waited about 25 minutes in line to ask: "You have a great speaking voice. Have you ever done voiceovers?" Anthony said "No" and that was it.

It felt kind of like how I imagine a Billy Joel concert feels.

[senorcorazon]

He had a Q&A at the end of the show. I wanted to ask him: "What's the sleaziest thing you've ever done for cocaine?" My wife forbid me from doing so.

It felt kind of like how I imagine a Billy Joel concert feels.

I think that question would also be appropriate at a Billy Joel concert. And I would like to hear the answers from both of them.

Done with this season. Can there be an accident on the next episode and the only remaining contestants are Blais and Carla and then they both automatically win like when a college roommate commits suicide? This season belongs to them, and should have been called "Top Chef: Do-over" or "Top Chef: Redemption"

[Sarah]

No more Angelo.  I will miss his peculiar ways and interesting fashion choices (black knee socks, white shoes, and shorts? rrrroowwww!).  But I was pretty sure he was for it as soon as he responded to Mike's "needs more salt" criticism by adding both bacon and salt at the same time.  Dumb, dumb, dumb mistake.

I suppose I must accept that Dale's offering was tastier than either Richard's or Antonia's, but if I were one of those two, I'd be pretty pissed that an easy soup-and-sandwich combo beat me out.  After all, Antonia cooked one hundred plus eggs perfectly, and Richard made two kinds of meat.  I continue to be fond of Dale, but I think the other two were robbed.

It was an insulting challenge this late in the game.  So was the quickfire, come to think of it.  And Paula Dean next week?  Lord help us.

[Sarah]

* Mike is a gaseous cheater.

* Richard needs to seek help for his liquid nitrogen addiction.

* Antonia's "Don't touch me" when Carla hugged her reminded me of me.

* Carla's saying someone needed to check Tre's NAACP card was funny and funnily racist (what, all African Americans are Southern country folk?).

* Each one of the people in the bottom three made such dumb mistakes, I was disgusted.  I'm very sorry to see Dale go, but, come on. 

At this point, I want Antonia to win (because she seems like a normal human being and is fairly consistently good), followed by Carla (whose mannerisms and mistakes are beginning to irk me), followed by Richard (despite my dislike for his personality and strained creativity), followed by Tiffany (shrug), followed by Mike (yuck).  If Mike manages to win, I am going to be grumpy.  Briefly.

[wood and iron]

Hey guys! Do you think any of these chefs were Southern? Because, really, a Southern style cooking challenge would really be up their alley but also possibly hurt their pride if they don't win or do poorly. I just hope if there are any Southern chefs on this show, they would speak up and let us know.


I loved Fabio pinching Blais's cheek.

[Sarah]

* Idiotic quickfire, especially this late in the game.  It was dumb enough that they had to work with mostly disgusting ingredients and limited cooking facilities; not specifying how much time they had was just pointlessly rattling.  Who cares if these guys can make something edible out of crap without knowing where they are "in retrospect to Ellis Island"? 

* Shades of Hell's Kitchen in the family reunion crapola, and of the agonizing fake-outs on American Idol in the teasing of Richard Blais at judges' table.

* Speaking of that fake-out, it made me wonder whether the powers-that-be on Top Chef are as tired of Richard's hubris as I.  And, I must say, this episode did nothing to mitigate my dislike for the man.  His snooty "All Antonia did was take the cheese from one sandwich and the bread from another" during the QF (as he crowed about his stupid MRE bags).  His "Carla's dabbling with liquid nitrogen" during the elimination.  His referring to himself as the last of the "top seeds."  I thought his punning during his season was bad, but this arrogance is worse.  Again, I know one doesn't have to like a cook to like his food, but this is a TV competition, and his pride makes me pray for a fall. 

* Also re Richard, he and his wife were awfully brittle together.  Sort of reminded me of, oh, I don't know--Alby and Lura Grant on Big Love?  No, that's not right:  Richard isn't as strong a character.  Macbeth and his lady wife?  Something like that.

So, they're all going to the Bahamas.  Was my earlier prediction wrong or what?  (Although I still believe both Mike and Tiffany should have been eliminated long ago and just lucked out with this challenge, which gave a by to all the contestants by allowing them to play to their strengths.)  Tiffany, cooking against Kevin, really has a shot. (Mike I. against Mike V.?  Not so much.) 

I didn't see how the season 4 contenders were going to be handled:  surely poor Stephanie won't be expected to cook twice, but neither would it be fair to pit Antonia and Richard against her at the same time, since that would mean they would also be competing directly against each other. 

I'll be fretting about this nonstop till next week.  NONSTOP!

[redmedicine]

It was nice that during the elimination challenge, they were able to all execute the dishes well so in the end they were judged on their strengths.  No artificial constraints or monumental screw ups made for an interesting challenge.  They did telegraph the non-elimination pretty far in advance, but it seemed fairly genuine to me.

[franks.]

This episode was very frustrating, I thought. It seemed clear that they weren't going to eliminate anyone, which is fine, but in the end -- what's the point?

I still like Richard. Always did. I sort of enjoy his hubris. Same as how I enjoy Dale's arrogance. But I turned the episode off the second they did the pack up your knives fake-out during Judges' Table. I'm feeling very done with the All Stars show. Still, I feel the need to see it to the end.

Also, Mike... ugh. That guy.

[Sarah]

See, I've always liked Dale and I've never liked Richard, whether in season 4 or this one.

[franks.]

I don't know what it is about Richard that makes me root for him, but I always have. I'm not that into the whole molecular gastronomy thing either. Season 4 it just seemed like everyone was ragging on him for using crazy sous vide machines and liquid nitrogen! Now everyone uses those techniques to some degree. It's not as weird anyway.

I think maybe it's because he occupies the same space I have in my heart for Wylie Dufrene and his whole high-school chemistry teacher hair. Also, the guy seems to be in a constant state of anxiety about how well he's doing and always seems convinced that he is next to be kicked off. I can relate to the anxiety.

If he'd been kicked off in this last episode I think I would have been done with Top Chef forever. It's bad enough Dale got booted.

[wood and iron]

Also, why is it that the revelation that Antonia and Mike were related somehow increased the sexual tension between them?