Yeah, seems like there is a lot of double-speak on the show with regard to that. Some challenges you are just responsible for your own dish and get dinged if you try to help someone else (if it hurts your dish) and then in others you get dinged for not helping out. I think they just needed something negative to say to her.
The criticism of Nina not tasting his dish too was delivered by Padma with a rather surprising amount of vehemence … slightly startling though perhaps they wanted us to worry over the break that they would let her go.
So far some good food but I have minimal sense still of who these cooks are.
I agree, we noticed Padma seemed angry, maybe something happened or one of the dishes was particularly bad (I’m looking at Michael). Still, the right person went home, Michael was super annoying. And I know it was a team effort, but still, did they expect Nina to drop her own dish in a timed competition to taste Michael’s?
How long can Benny fly under the radar…think he’s next.
Does it seem that this season is starting the whole Top Caterer thing again???
I think they kind of get forced into that when there are so many chefs. I’m sure they made commitments to NOLA to do a certain number of location shoots in exchange for money or tax breaks or union concessions and they need to pay that off. And, frankly, the team dynamics are pretty good this year, which many fewer idiots (esp. now that Michael is gone). The funny thing is that if you watch the local competition where Justin and Michael played their way in, he is nowhere near that annoying, and he appeared to cook some pretty good food.
The fact that Stephanie is going along well this year just goes to show you that anybody can have a bad day, since she was eliminated on the first show last year and looked absolutely clueless. Likewise, Travis, who clearly lacks maturity, and nearly paid for it on the Vietnamese challenge, but that ceviche looked really good.
I really like Shirley–fun personality and her food seems smart and sophisticated.
I had actually been thinking that Carlos was running out of road, but he seems to have acclimated to the competition. Surfer Asian Dude seems like he might be at the edge of his abilities.
Based on early results, I’d put my money on a finale of Nina, Justin and Shirley, but Stephanie could sneak in there as well.
For me the criticism of Nina was appropriate. If the judges could have seen how she was undercutting her team mate Michael they would have been even more harsh. Very unprofessional: She let personal feelings get in the way of performance. She will never be a leader in the kitchen if she keeps that kind of attitude. Not defending Michael, he seemed skeezy/douchy to me and it appeared he was all but phoning it in. Nina however needed to work with the hand she was dealt and she failed miserably. i would have been fine if she had been sent home too. Her food looks good but her attitude really sucks in my opinion. I would not want to work in the kitchen with that kind of personality.
I’d say if anyone was undercutting it was Michael who seemed to think it was professional to address Nina as Booboo and babe.
Women with sharp knives should be taken seriously.
;->
He referred to everyone that way. He didn’t single her out for that. He deserved to go home though.
Benny needed to go- and Nina is definately the frontrunner. I was kinda surprised that the mess of a custard was not in the bottom- it looked awful.
I did comment to my GF on how great the veggies looked that they were given.
From Gail’s blog: “Stephanie’s custardy mousse was completely soupy, and clearly not set up, but it had good flavor, which is why she wasn’t called out on the bottom. We could definitely tell there was an issue with it – the recipe wasn’t right, or she didn’t have enough time. Something happened there.”
I’m getting really tired of Sara. She’s getting pissed at Nina for winning all the time – don’t get pissed, just make better food! She’s been putting out a bunch of crap lately. Cream cheese/lamb chop appetizer – seriously? A stuffed squash blossom is simple but time and time again we see simple dishes perfectly executed win. After 11 seasons all of the contestants should know that.
While they always claim that past performance doesn’t factor into a bottom 3 or elimination decision, I almost have to think that it did with Stephanie here. I don’t think she would’ve been sent home for it as her error wasn’t as bad (and she knew something wrong happened and she didn’t have time to correct it) as Benny’s, but that’s the kind of error that normally puts a lesser chef in the bottom 3 at this time of the competition.
Nina is crushing it.
Justin seems to be a fast follower.
Last night I went to a talk with Rene Redzepi and Padma Lakshmi. I was surprised how well she handled the interview, and his answers were fantastic and mischevious. It was the first time I’d seen a chef treated more as an artist than as a high-quality cook. It also didn’t hurt that she’s much taller than I expected and has a lot of on-stage presence. And it didn’t hurt that she’s gorgeous as well.
Sorry for the crappy pic, I had to snap it on the sly, they were VERY strict about no pictures.
As for last night’s episode, the right person went home. Frankly, Patty’s been coasting and hiding in the middle for WAY too long (and she seemed to cry EVERY episode, which annoyed me to no end).
I should add my favorite quote of the night- “Everything we make, inevitably, turns to shit.”
The right chef went home last night IMO. Patty seemed to me like she was out of her league in this competition. The salad she put out looked pretty gross.
I didn’t love the quickfire. They might as well have selected a random winner.
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- This one was overdue. Love this season and how they are highlighting New Orleans.
- This one was overdue. Love this season and how they are highlighting New Orleans.
Agree with all of this. The quickfire was stupid; totally unfair that Brian got immunity, when he was a lazy s.o.b. on the second rotation.
I actually liked the quick fire but it did favor a lazy person if they landed on a idea that was well thought out.
Patty. She really should have gone home before Janine did.
Good episode. Even better Last Chance Kitchen.
I gotta get me some hip-tang.
You could tell Tom loved the food but I was blown away when he said it was the best food in 11 seasons. The competition should be great down the stretch.
The minute I heard “popcorn”, I thought, “uh-oh”.