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Get Breaking News on your cellTop Chef 4: I'm getting interested
1:25 PM Thu, Apr 03, 2008 | Permalink |
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Remember HBO's Six Feet Under? This year's Top Chef reminds me of how every season of SFU would start: Really slow. And then, about four or five episodes in, ba-boom, the set-ups would start to pay off and the rest of the season would be riveting. No guarantees like that for Top Chef, but this was the year's juiciest installment yet. Spoilers below ... I loved this Quickfire challenge, because it made everyone freak. The whole classically trained/non-classically trained thing is, for once, an honest glimpse into the reality of restaurant cooking. Being called on one's knife skills brings out the insecurities in so many chefs, even some of the culinary masterminds who've risen to the top of their profession. Fascinating how so many people got defensive: "Not my style," "this is where I fall short," etc. ... (And PS -- I guess Padma announces the challenge, and then they all go off to get interviewed, and THEN regroup for the challenge to start? Or are they instructed later during intereviews to talk in present tense like they're in the middle of the challenge? Oy, the intricacies of reality TV ...) But I thought it was interesting how, given the challenge to show off technique, most everyone translated that into "knife skills." It seemed like a case of, if you don't have mad knife skills, find another way to show off technique - and I'm glad Zoi did that. Dales' plate was beautiful to see, so it's nice that it translated for the audience and we could understand the winner. Lisa's dish did, in comparison, look kinda sorry. And that food-from-favorite-film elimination challenge played well: I'm glad they can still generate some fun ideas. Classic that Richard and Andrew were paired together. I swear they rig those things sometimes. It's funny - I was sometimes hard on Richard Blais for his food in Atlanta restaurants, I remember it occasionally being more gimmicky than delicious. But now he's by far my favorite on the show. (The preview made it seem like he doesn't fare so well next week.) Telling, though, how he garnered early respect from his colleagues but when his whacked out Willy Wonka dish wins, folks start to get catty. No surprise that Manuel was ousted. It's too early in the game for schmucky, over-opinionated Spike to head home. Ditto Zoi, who brings the teary drama. Next week: Major tension during the judging. Did you see those chairs being kicked around in the cheftestant waiting room? Bring it! |
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Comments
Posted by Donna @ 2:30 PM Thu, Apr 03, 2008
So I'm not the only one who thinks Zoi looks like she's about to cry in every scene?
I'm tired of Spike. You can smack talk if you're really good, but he hasn't shown anything promising thus far. I think I'm even more tired of Ryan. I mean, he doesn't know the difference between New England and New Zealand and I'm suppose to trust he's going to cook some mind-blowing food?
The top four I picked at the beginning of the season are still in: Antonia, Richard, Jennifer, & Stephanie. The first three are promising to make it to the top 3 (unless there's a maximum faux hawk limit) but Stephanie gets nervous too much.
Posted by Maggie @ 3:32 PM Thu, Apr 03, 2008
It was the first episode I've really liked, too. I thought both challenges were really well-done, and the winner and loser was fair. I also liked the table's discussion of the Italian dish that everyone loved except for the judges - I think it's good for them to get that response now and then. I did find Zoi's surprise that the chefs would love a Willy Wonka-style dish to be naive - of course they'd love it. Made me think she's not very in-the-know about food trends at all.