Top Chef in Texas

[T. Melloni]

If you were opening your own restaurant, which chef would you want as your Executive Chef heading up your kitchen and its team?
For me - Paul. maybe Ed. I think that defines who should be Top Chef.
It would not be Beverly nor Sara. Lindsey - maybe.
I'd choose Grayson over Beverly and Sara.
This season has, at best, shown "Good Cook" or "Top Caterer."
"Top CHEF" should be more.

[C. Grimm]

I'm no fan of Sara, but how many times in how many seasonss has someone turned down immunity and then been eliminated? The primary goal in the episode was to get to the finals - she got to the finals.

With Ed gone (and that was a classic error for which people are always eliminated) Paul should win - he seems to have the most talent of those that remain.

[Corey N.]

I'm no fan of Sara, but how many times in how many seasonss has someone turned down immunity and then been eliminated? The primary goal in the episode was to get to the finals - she got to the finals.

With Ed gone (and that was a classic error for which people are always eliminated) Paul should win - he seems to have the most talent of those that remain.

I liked Ed a lot, but Paul has seemed like the prohibitive favorite since the very beginning. Certainly if the winner was based on a body of work he would be crowned Top Chef.

As an aside, I thought Paul's girlfriend was smoking.

[Eric LeVine (Online)]

Sara made the wussy choice, but fate ALWAYS seems to knock people out at the last chance. I can totally understand her taking the pass since she could.

[Ken Rudman]

Sad about Ed--by far he was the one chef with whom I would want to go drinking. Really dislike Sara. I thought it was interesting that Ed was talking about being pissed if Bev knocked him out, but it was Sara's choice to take the safe route that reduced the likelihood he could get by with such a big error.

And again, you have to wonder if these people have ever watched the show. Hell, he only had to remember back to week 2 when Keith got bounced for frozen shrimp.

[Michael Powers]

So, watching what is clearly a weak season on this show has left me wondering how people would rank seasons. I never saw season 1. (note to Netflix, pick up seasons of Top Chef!) My memory may fail me on this, but here are my thoughts, top to bottom:

6/Las Vegas - to me Michael Voltaggio has clearly been the best chef on the show, and either Kevin or Brian could have easily won a lesser season

2/Los Angeles - This was the first season that I saw. Everyone hated Marcel, I hated Elan. And Elia There was someone for everyone to hate.

8/All Stars - pretty good. Richard had his day. Seem to recall that it actually ended sort of weak though and that Richard squeaked by Mike

4/Chicago - Okay, Richard bombed at the end, but he made the season entertaining before that. Oh, and I hated Lisa. She threw everyone under the bus, and made it to the finale at that!

3/Miami - Hung, Dale, and Casey were all pretty good. Not the most dynamic season, but enjoyable.

5/NY - someone mentioned this as being bad, but I only thought that the end was bad. Stefan was good, Fabio and Jamie were entertaining, the hook-up and resulting shame were great to watch, then the result was terrible. Hosea. Just really bad.

SO, that leaves only DC and TX. Both are pretty bad at the end of the day. DC was terrible. I think that it was the worst. Angelo had some skills but was a weird cat. That Kevin guy won and really never impressed me at all.

I think that this one has to at least beat that. But really the TX theme doesn't do it for me. The fact that they filmed when it was so hot there makes for an unappealing backdrop for the food as well. And the talent pool seems weak.

Regardless, even a weak season still makes this one of the few things worth regularly watching on television these days.

[gene keenan]

So, watching what is clearly a weak season on this show has left me wondering how people would rank seasons. I never saw season 1. (note to Netflix, pick up seasons of Top Chef!) My memory may fail me on this, but here are my thoughts, top to bottom:

6/Las Vegas - to me Michael Voltaggio has clearly been the best chef on the show, and either Kevin or Brian could have easily won a lesser season

2/Los Angeles - This was the first season that I saw. Everyone hated Marcel, I hated Elan. And Elia There was someone for everyone to hate.

8/All Stars - pretty good. Richard had his day. Seem to recall that it actually ended sort of weak though and that Richard squeaked by Mike

4/Chicago - Okay, Richard bombed at the end, but he made the season entertaining before that. Oh, and I hated Lisa. She threw everyone under the bus, and made it to the finale at that!

3/Miami - Hung, Dale, and Casey were all pretty good. Not the most dynamic season, but enjoyable.

5/NY - someone mentioned this as being bad, but I only thought that the end was bad. Stefan was good, Fabio and Jamie were entertaining, the hook-up and resulting shame were great to watch, then the result was terrible. Hosea. Just really bad.

SO, that leaves only DC and TX. Both are pretty bad at the end of the day. DC was terrible. I think that it was the worst. Angelo had some skills but was a weird cat. That Kevin guy won and really never impressed me at all.

I think that this one has to at least beat that. But really the TX theme doesn't do it for me. The fact that they filmed when it was so hot there makes for an unappealing backdrop for the food as well. And the talent pool seems weak.

Regardless, even a weak season still makes this one of the few things worth regularly watching on television these days.

It's easy to think this was the worst season ever but in the few times they have been allowed to cook I think many have done a great job. I would say though that this is the season with the stupidest challenges ever.

Season One was the most down to earth with the cheftestants having the most diverse backgrounds. Now it's become more of a stepping stone for economic success with every up and coming chef in the country vying for a spot. The cooking then is nothing compared to what it is today. There is a slim chance I might still have season one laying around somewhere. If I do, I can post it for you.

[Andrew Kotowski]

I would have taken immunity at the drop of a dime. Aside from the "doh, you should have chosen immunity" curse, Sara got to sit on her oversized ass and have dinner with her mentor while everybody else got smoked for the 50th challenge of the season. It's got nothing to do with a lack of faith in my skills; I'd want to go into that final fully rested and ready to rock, rather than coming off the heels of another exhausting and draining challenge.

Ed deserved to go home from buying canned oysters. Buying pre-cooked food has consistently been the mark of death, even moreso than not seasoning your food.

If Paul loses the competition, I'll be shocked.

[KyleCWilkinson]

So, watching what is clearly a weak season on this show has left me wondering how people would rank seasons. I never saw season 1. (note to Netflix, pick up seasons of Top Chef!) My memory may fail me on this, but here are my thoughts, top to bottom:

6/Las Vegas - to me Michael Voltaggio has clearly been the best chef on the show, and either Kevin or Brian could have easily won a lesser season

2/Los Angeles - This was the first season that I saw. Everyone hated Marcel, I hated Elan. And Elia There was someone for everyone to hate.

8/All Stars - pretty good. Richard had his day. Seem to recall that it actually ended sort of weak though and that Richard squeaked by Mike

4/Chicago - Okay, Richard bombed at the end, but he made the season entertaining before that. Oh, and I hated Lisa. She threw everyone under the bus, and made it to the finale at that!

3/Miami - Hung, Dale, and Casey were all pretty good. Not the most dynamic season, but enjoyable.

5/NY - someone mentioned this as being bad, but I only thought that the end was bad. Stefan was good, Fabio and Jamie were entertaining, the hook-up and resulting shame were great to watch, then the result was terrible. Hosea. Just really bad.

SO, that leaves only DC and TX. Both are pretty bad at the end of the day. DC was terrible. I think that it was the worst. Angelo had some skills but was a weird cat. That Kevin guy won and really never impressed me at all.

I think that this one has to at least beat that. But really the TX theme doesn't do it for me. The fact that they filmed when it was so hot there makes for an unappealing backdrop for the food as well. And the talent pool seems weak.

Regardless, even a weak season still makes this one of the few things worth regularly watching on television these days.

3 is #1 season for me. Can't argue that 6 was an incredible season, though. But for some reason, watching season 3 just gets me amped up. I have it on my external HD and honestly rewatch it every six months or so. Never gets old. The fact that Casey is hawt doesn't hurt.

[Brad Kane]

Ed deserved to go home from buying canned oysters. Buying pre-cooked food has consistently been the mark of death, even moreso than not seasoning your food.

Yahtzee!

I literally said he was a goner the second he tasted a smoked oyster and pronounced them good.

[Ally O.]

Season 6 was my favorite by far. Maybe you could say I am partial because Brain's restaurant is 20 minutes from me, but I still think they had the best chefs and best displayed talent of all. I also agree that this season could be improved by better challenges. I think there is/was talent there. Rooting for Paul since the beginning!!

[Ryan Kilkenney]

Same here: season 6 was my favorite. Not only the overall talent, but the distinctive styles of the top three competitors: Kevin, Brian, and Michael. Obviously we can't taste the food, but having a clear sense for a chef's style goes a long way.

[Michael Powers]

Season 6 was my favorite by far. Maybe you could say I am partial because Brain's restaurant is 20 minutes from me, but I still think they had the best chefs and best displayed talent of all. I also agree that this season could be improved by better challenges. I think there is/was talent there. Rooting for Paul since the beginning!!

Agreed about Paul. He's really the only one to have shown consistent talent throughout. He doesn't have a lot of fire, and quiet dignity doesn't really score a ton of points in this type of thing, but he seems talented and serious and like an honestly nice guy.

[Andrew Gold]

I'd want to go into that final fully rested and ready to rock, rather than coming off the heels of another exhausting and draining challenge.

Isn't there something like three or four months between the last episode in Texas and the final round? If one more night is really what Sara needed to win... unfortunate.

I would have taken the car and risked it. Better to fight and go home than go out drinking tequila...

[Corey N.]

I'd want to go into that final fully rested and ready to rock, rather than coming off the heels of another exhausting and draining challenge.

Isn't there something like three or four months between the last episode in Texas and the final round? If one more night is really what Sara needed to win... unfortunate.

I would have taken the car and risked it. Better to fight and go home than go out drinking tequila...

Sara is proficient in her comfort zone (Italian) but outside of that, she has not really impressed. Sucks that she won the quickfire. I thought Ed's use of pork casings to make broth was ingenious. Pretty sure that he would have taken the car, which means ultimately, Ed's dish would have had to have been better than Sara for him to move on.

[C. Grimm]

6, 3, 8, 2, 4, Texas, 7 (DC), 5 (Hosea? WTF happened there), 1 (because without Padma, it's nothing.)

8 doesn't really count, but was good. 6 & 3 seem far ahead of the other seasons, but 6 was completely loaded with talent.

[Andrew Kotowski]

Interview with Ed today is pretty funny -> http://omg.yahoo.com/news/top-chefs-ed- ... 00152.html

Some highlights:
* "I shouldn't have used the smoked oysters, so it was all on me."
* "But I didn't understand the concept of Last Chance Kitchen to be completely honest. I understand why it's there, but to me it seems like, once you're out, you're out. What's the point of a second chance? I don't get it"
* "But if we're in a basketball tournament, you can't lose and say, "Let me play another loser and get back in."

[Michael Powers]

With such strong recommendations for 3 I should go back and revisit (if I can find it). I do remember really enjoying it, though not necessarily more than 2 (from memory). I'd like to watch both again though. They replay parts of 2 sometimes, I don't really ever see 3, and I've never seen any of season 1 replayed, despite the fact that they regularly bring back two or three of those contestants.

[jordan whitehead]

ridiculous show last night. Biathlon, cooking in a gondola and an ice chipping contest.

how about you just cook

[Corey N.]

ridiculous show last night. Biathlon, cooking in a gondola and an ice chipping contest.

how about you just cook

+1

I think this is my last season watching this show.

Mini rant on Fat Sara...Paul asks Beverly about Last Chance Kitchen and she cuts off her reply and starts talking about a tree. Really? Then she accuses Bev of tripping her on purpose? If I wanted to watch mean girls, I could watch the Real Housewives. What I want to watch is cooking.

[CWun]

Darn. I was hoping for Beverly to make it to the final dinner.
She showed well in this season though. I'm sure it will boost her career.

[Andrew Hall]

For all the 'just cook' people : It can be found here.

A.

[Nick Gangas]

I agree about the just cook sentiment but that's the show. I do like the format that provided everyone 3 chances to get into the final. Kind of eliminates any question of fairness or someone getting lucky argument. In the end I believe the best cooks are in the final. Still Beverly was a big winner here and may cash in more than even the eventual victor.

[J Diven]

For all the 'just cook' people : It can be found here.
A.

I thought that was for the 'I showed up at the hottest new restaurant in town Saturday at 8 o'clock with 7 of my 20 something friends and no reservation, and we had to wait and the service sucked" people...

[Matt Thomas]

ridiculous show last night. Biathlon, cooking in a gondola and an ice chipping contest.

how about you just cook

Hmm, I didn't dislike the challenges from last night. I thought they were much better than the others. I could have done without the cross country skiing thing, but I thought the shooting part was an inventive way to force their hands.

[Eric LeVine (Online)]

The bummer is that next week, to go from 3 to 2, it looks like they have another TOP CATERER episode where they have to cook singlehandedly for 150 people. Those challenges S*U*C*K!!!

[Jim Brennan (Online)]

ridiculous show last night. Biathlon, cooking in a gondola and an ice chipping contest.

how about you just cook

At first I didn't like the concept of the Gondola. But in execution it was actually somewhat interesting.

[Steven Miller]

I'm convinced Lindsey is in the final because her mentor is a fixture on the show. Others consistently had more positive feedback and had more interesting dishes throughout the season. Beverly and Paul should be fighting it out for the win.

[Matt Thomas]

I liked last night's episode, although I am disappointed that Sarah is advancing. I really do not like her. I thought the challenges were good for this season, with the quickfire being the better of the two.

[Brad Kane]

Pretty surprised Sarah made it to the final's instead of Lindsey given her sauce remained frozen. I guess the judges may've thought Lindsey's dish didn't really match the theme and was perhaps a bit staid?

It's Paul's crown to lose and if he does lose, it'll be because he beat himself.

[Phillip Cobb]

ridiculous show last night. Biathlon, cooking in a gondola and an ice chipping contest.

how about you just cook

+1

I'm in on the "just cook" sentiment. Has anyone else caught an episode of "The Four Coursemen" on the Cooking Channel? Only a couple of episodes have aired (no idea if it's continuing or not) but I thought it was a great format. A group of chefs are sent to a town and have a short time to work with local purveyors to find ingredients, a location, and host a dinner. Compelling food, and the woman coordinating drinks seems to know her stuff--Morgon Beaujolais, Oak Aged Yeti utilized in the first episode I watched. Worth setting the DVR to grab the couple of episodes if you're in the "just cook" camp.

http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/cook/ep ... 03,00.html

[Ken Rudman]

It really seemed like Tom was pushing for Sara, despite Gail's clear preference for Lindsay's dish. I can't stand Sara, but at least I know that Paul is going to cook his ass off in the final.

[Les Huisman]

It really seemed like Tom was pushing for Sara, despite Gail's clear preference for Lindsay's dish. I can't stand Sara, but at least I know that Paul is going to cook his ass off in the final.

Sara is really unlikable. Tom was weirdly inconsistent in the episode last night. How many times did he harp on the arugula in Paul's dish. Sara essentially didn't execute the "Ice" portion of the dish, yet he was defending her on her idea. When do they ever let someone who doesn't execute their dish stick around just because it was a good idea?

I think they let her through because she took a chance, and the pasta looked really damn good, failed sauce or not. I got the sense Lindsay got sent home because she played it too safe.

[Eric LeVine (Online)]

I hope Paul kills it next week. He so clearly is the most talented, likeable, professional and deserving. Sara is really an emotional mess although clearly a very talented chef in a fairly limited domain (Italian).

[Ken Rudman]

It really seemed like Tom was pushing for Sara, despite Gail's clear preference for Lindsay's dish. I can't stand Sara, but at least I know that Paul is going to cook his ass off in the final.

Sara is really unlikable. Tom was weirdly inconsistent in the episode last night. How many times did he harp on the arugula in Paul's dish. Sara essentially didn't execute the "Ice" portion of the dish, yet he was defending her on her idea. When do they ever let someone who doesn't execute their dish stick around just because it was a good idea?

I think they let her through because she took a chance, and the pasta looked really damn good, failed sauce or not. I got the sense Lindsay got sent home because she played it too safe.

I'm willing to chalk it up to poor editing, but yeah, putting an extraneous leaf of arugula at the same level as a dish that didn't work technically seemed petty--until they gave Paul the win. Actually, that part really bugged me. If Paul won, he should have been congratulated first, not left to sweat it out with Lindsay about maybe being sent home. That was really confusing. Or they could have just said to Paul and Lindsay, "one of you is the winner, and one of you is going home".