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"Top Chef 4 - Episode 1"
frodis 4442 desperate attention whore postings
DAW Level: "Jerry Springer Show Guest"
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03-12-08, 10:25 PM (EST)
 
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"Top Chef 4 - Episode 1" |
Welcome back to another season of knives, attitude, seasonings, sweat and sauce. It's Top Chef 4 - Chicago! There be spoilers within. First we have some lovely shots of the city of Chicago, resplendent in autumn glory. The chefs start touching down at O'Hare airport, and making their way downtown to Pizzeria Uno, which claims to be the home of the original Chicago deep-dish pizza. The chefs are greeted by pan after pan of pizza, and they settle in for some beer and pizza and a getting-to-know-you feast. Padme and Tom enter and lead the chefs to the Top Chef kitchen, where they're given their Quickfire challenge - create your own signature Chicago-style deep-dish pizza. Some of the pizzas look good. Some look . . . pre-digested. Some people have big trouble with the dough - too much, too little, too soggy, too dry, too sticky, but a few get it juuuuuuust right. They take their pizzas to a house where they find their guest judge. . . Rocco DiSpiritio. Yay. Rocco has a personal pizza party and proclaims some winners and some losers. The winners get to pick which loser they want to go up against head-to-head in the elimination challenge. All is not lost for the losers - they get to pick what they will cook in their head-to-head challenge. Let's meet the newest crop of chefs. I grabbed the tiny versions of these photos to keep the thread manageable, so if you want to gaze upon any of these people close-up, please visit bravotv.com. Winner of the head-to-head is underlined.  
Andrew vs Richard: battle of the crab cakes
Andrew is the resident potty-mouth. I think 3/4 of his dialogue was bleeped. Lesson: The Top Chef kitchen does not stock mayonnaise. Andrew doesn't know that mayonnaise is eggs and oil. (I knew that, although I think I learned it from an infomercial for a stick blender.)
 
Antonia vs. Nimma: shrimp scampi
Nimma's shrimp is too salty. Not good. Antonia wins one for the Italians.
 
Dale vs Manuel: sirloin
Manual breaks out the first ceviche of the season. It's just not Top Chef without a good ceviche.
 
Erik vs Zoi: souffle
Neither one of them has made a souffle in recent history. It shows. Erik admits that he made glorified nachos instead of souffle.
 
Jennifer vs. Nikki: Lasagna
Jennifer is 1/2 of the pre-existing Top Chef couple (Zoi is the other half.) She also shares a hairdresser with Richard. Jennifer's lasagna is apparently uncooked - Nikki's is yummy and wins.
 
Lisa vs Spike: Poached Eggs
Anthony Bourdain wants to judge this one on which one is a better hangover remedy. Spike's real name is something Greek. I've forgotten it already so clearly it's good that he goes by Spike.
 
Mark vs Stephanie: Duck A L'Orange
Mark is from New Zealand and likes Marmite. The judges don't like that his duck is deconstructed but meant to be eaten together. They are confused. Poor judges. Stephanie's duck wins.
 
Ryan vs. Valerie: Chicken Piccata
Serious problems with both. Neither one of them actually made chicken piccata. Ryan's dad has fired chefs who were not as good as Ryan at 11 years old. Methinks Ryan's dad has a hiring problem.
Top 4: Antonia, Richard, Stephanie, Nikki
After much debate, the winner is: Stephanie. Her duck a l'orange is very impressive. She is tasked with entering the waiting room and sending the following to the slaughter:
Bottom 4: Ryan, Erik, Nimma, Mark
Erik's weighed down his souffle with tortillas. Nimma's flan was yuck and her shrimp was salty. Mark tried to deconstruct duck and Bourdain called it silly. Ryan is called out for not knowing his piccata from a hole in the ground.
The first chef booted from the Windy City is: Nimma. So long! Perhaps your headband is a reminder that the Blue Line is the one that will take you back to the airport.
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Sues 585 desperate attention whore postings
DAW Level: "Reality Show Commentator"
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03-13-08, 07:13 AM (EST)
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2. "RE: Top Chef 4 - Episode 1" |
You also have to be 'good tv' and she was snooooozville!
Oh, and she couldn't cook her way out of a foam clamshell...tsk tsk, sure hope her Dad isn't too disappointed....next!
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geg6 14941 desperate attention whore postings
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03-13-08, 09:58 AM (EST)
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3. "RE: Top Chef 4 - Episode 1" |
Well, I must say...Who the hell doesn't know how to cook chicken piccata? *boggle* I mean seriously. Two of these people had no clue what the dish is. None. WTF? That said, Nimma pretty much sucked. I can't taste what she made, but looking at it and hearing her describe it, I knew it was a train wreck. Colicchio made the best of points, IMHO. If you can't manage the classics edibly, you can't manage to do much of any sort of "chefing." I have no faith in any chef who is so unfamiliar with such dishes. Such simple stuff and, directly related to that simplicity, unfamiliarity with simple dishes gives you no foundation for more exotic and experimental dishes. 
"Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." Theodor Geisel aka Dr. Seuss
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aquariaqueen 2616 desperate attention whore postings
DAW Level: "Survivor-themed Cruise Spokesperson"
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03-13-08, 10:13 AM (EST)
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4. "RE: Top Chef 4 - Episode 1" |
Sorry, I don't know what Chicken piccata or Duck ala Rouge are.
Guess it proves again that I am a worthless American. Tsk Tsk.
My mom would have just said we're having chicken or duck for dinner. Wait, we never had duck.And the right one got voted off in my opinion. She was dry as toast...the kind you put in the chrome appliance, set on a medium setting with no condiments. That is toast to most of you, too? 
"The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it" - Albert Einstein
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frodis 4442 desperate attention whore postings
DAW Level: "Jerry Springer Show Guest"
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03-13-08, 11:50 AM (EST)
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6. "RE: Top Chef 4 - Episode 1" |
I expect the Top Chef contenders to know how to make chicken piccata, particularly because piccata is more of a style of preparation than an actual recipe. Ryan clearly had no idea what piccata was, or he just mixed up his italian preparations. Adding breadcrumbs made it milanese, not piccata. That's like asking for a cheeseburger and getting a meat patty topped with barbeque sauce. NOT the same thing. I agree with geg - piccata is such a simple classic base that I'm shocked that these two biffed it so badly. You have to know the classic preparations to be able to build upon that to make more adventurous and experimental dishes. Personally, I was most offended by the Chicago deep dish pizzas that looked like 19 pound dough cakes with a little bit of stuff smeared on top. Deep dish pizza is NOT a brick of dough. Nimma and Andrew and the woman who did the white pizza were the worst offenders on that. WTF? They had *just* eaten the real deal - they didn't notice that the weren't chewing on giant walls of dough? Yuck-o. 
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aquariaqueen 2616 desperate attention whore postings
DAW Level: "Survivor-themed Cruise Spokesperson"
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03-13-08, 12:56 PM (EST)
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11. "RE: Top Chef 4 - Episode 1" |
Thanks to Bravo, it is easy to catch up with missed episodes. However, it always seems as though I keep catching ones I've seen and not the one I keep missing......lol
"The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it" - Albert Einstein
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Snidget 43862 desperate attention whore postings
DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold"
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03-13-08, 01:08 PM (EST)
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12. "RE: Top Chef 4 - Episode 1" |
Just because the usual dish name has a foreign word in it, doesn't mean it is not in any way any part of the American cuisine scene.DUCK A L'ORANGE IN USA
A survey of American cookbooks/magazines from WWII forward confirms Duck a l'Orange was a popular dinner party menu option from the 1950s-1970s. Some recipes were true to the original; others were simplified. McCall's Cook Book circa 1963 instructs cooks to cover spread the duckling with orange marmelade (p. 484). I don't see many people making it now, but I'm old enough to remember it was one of those things people did when they wanted to be fancy back when I was a kid. Chicken Piccata (or Veal Piccata) is at pretty much every Italian restaurant in the US. Chicken Breast with a sauce that has lemons in it really isn't something so exclusively European as to be unheard of in America. I even think it isn't that uncommon at an American cuisine restaurant to see a "Piccata" on the menu. Especially because American cuisine often has stuff borrowed from other countries. *shrug* Now I can understand any random person not knowing some of the classic dishes that have been commonly served over the last 50 years in the USA. However, I expect someone that is a "foodie" enough to be a chef would at least be familiar with it, and have cooked it a time or two even if they only did it while they were studying to be a chef.
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geg6 14941 desperate attention whore postings
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03-13-08, 01:18 PM (EST)
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13. "RE: Top Chef 4 - Episode 1" |
I wasn't saying that piccata or l'orange aren't a part of the American cuisine experience.I was simply commenting about my puzzlement as to why AQ, in her reply to me, made this comment: Guess it proves again that I am a worthless American. Tsk Tsk." I don't understand what it has to do with knowing what piccata or l'orange are. I make piccata all the time. It's a very common dish and very easily "dressed up" to modernize it. My mom, in the '60s, made duck l'orange regularly. My mom was most certainly not a foodie. I, however, am. If I know what they are, any chef worthy of the name should know.
"Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." Theodor Geisel aka Dr. Seuss
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Snidget 43862 desperate attention whore postings
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03-13-08, 01:30 PM (EST)
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14. "RE: Top Chef 4 - Episode 1" |
I was agreeing with you, maybe I should have put the post in a different spot or tried to explain myself better.
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TxMom2011 188 desperate attention whore postings
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03-13-08, 12:18 PM (EST)
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8. "RE: Top Chef 4 - Episode 1" |
LAST EDITED ON 03-13-08 AT 12:20 PM (EST)For spelling. I was disappointed with most all the chefs in the bottom four. I am not a chef... not even that great a cook, but I knew they all got it wrong. I am just glad that No Salt/Too Much Salt girl was there to be the first out. Hopefully some of these guys can redeem themselves. BTW.. the girl who won (Sorry but I can't remember anyone's name just yet)was a basket case. Her hand was trembling. I got the early (and looks like wrong) impression that she was gonna be awful. I had a feeling when they were giving that boring girl extra camera time -- her on-air life would be short. As far as I'm concerned it wasnt short enough. Geez they couldn't find another Tre or Cliff or even Mia (she was firey) to fill the token Black spot? I say do without if Suzie-Saltshaker is the best you can find.
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