Thursday, March 31, 2011
BLAIS OF GLORY: Tom Colicchio explains why what happened, happened, including the equipment you really need to perfect your own foie gras ice cream. A satisfying finale, and Top Chef "Masters" returns next week. (Yes, I'm putting the word in quotes, because it's such a step down from having Hubert Keller, Wylie Dufresne and Rick Bayless compete. C'mon. Also, no Jay Rayner?) (Also starting soon? Top Chef Canada.)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
It was great to see Mike put such good food on the table and then have Richard win. I like that Richard beat a strong showing from his competition and I feel like all is right with the world that Richard won. I liked the scrappiness of having Spike get feedback. I liked that Tom said Mike's was the best fish he'd eaten on Top Chef...until he ate Richard's. I liked it all.
ReplyDeleteAnd I still can't stand Mike Isabella.
I was inordinately happy to see Richard win. I really grew to hate Mike's smugness, his exaggerated, odd facial expressions and pretty much everything else.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the judges' perception that Richard may just implode in a fiery ball of self-flagellation should he lose had any part in their decision? Isabella will have a beer and shrug it off... Richard, not so sure. It seemed totally even, so I was enjoying the suspense.
Plus... MORE CARLA is always good. I was so happy to see her get picked, even if the sous-chefs got zero camera time. I thought Mike and Richard both tried to game the system by picking based on whose dishes they thought they were. I think that proved to be a major fail. I don't think either of them got the sous they wanted.
ReplyDeleteBlais said he was picking on "flavor profile" and seemed pretty stoked to get Angelo.
ReplyDeleteI was DElighted that Isabella had to work with all "angels" (his word), "girls" (Gayle's word), or "women" (my word).
I don't understand this move by Bravo to remove the things (tournament style early rounds, numeric scoring) that made Masters distinctive from Top Chef. Do they really think that's whats putting off people who only watch regular Top Chef? I'm sure going to miss seeing Wylie and Graham Elliot go at it again or Ludo do his Ludo thing. And an increase in time commitment is surely going to hurt their ability to get some top level chefs.
ReplyDeleteIt certainly did hurt them. Look at that roster.
ReplyDeleteTrue- although Richard is not one to disparage for the sake of disparaging. In my opinion he would have spun any possible outcome in a positive light. As an overall "selection" strategy, I think it backfired.
ReplyDeleteI spent a lot of this season just wishing Mike Isabella would go away and wondering why he stayed so long. But by the end of this finale, I have to admit that he earned my respect, and I even liked him a bit. He fought hard, made amazing food, and went out with class.
ReplyDeleteHappy to see Blais win, if only to spare him an epic heart attack/meltdown. It was just sad to see his anxiety build and build over these last few weeks - I've always liked him and rooted for him, but this made me want him to win based on pity.
I thought the "create a restaurant" aspect of this challenge was strange. They were serving far more diners than just the judges, but we never really saw that. They had to spare a sous chef to have a front-of-house person, but other than Spike's spying, we never really saw the need.
Loved the cheftestants hoping not to be picked so they could go jet skiing. Also really liked this method of picking their sous chefs, based on dishes rather than personality.
I'm so happy that Blais won. I do have a grudging respect for Mike, I think it's pretty clear he knows his stuff. But I couldn't really deal with the thought of him smugging all over the place if he won.
ReplyDeleteI think though it would really suck to see someone get screwed at this stage by getting a sous chef they didn't get along with. I want to see the chefs compete to the best of their abilities at this point without any petty distractions.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I felt bad for Antonia that she had to do it. She came through like the professional she is, but had to be rough.
I don't understand how they're calling this Top Chef Masters, rather than just a ninth season of Top Chef. These people people are chefs with more experience than the usual competitors, but not by that much - it's basically the difference between the season 6 competitors and the season 1 competitors, not between season 6 and the old Masters.
ReplyDeleteWhatever - I'll still watch it.
I also loved the method of choosing based on a dish. It had me wishing that the finale were more than an hour long so we could have had a run down of what got cooked by whom. Would have made the choosing part more interesting.
ReplyDeleteAnd I also agree on Mike - I like him a lot better after last night, and I really want to eat at his restaurant.
This season actually made me like Richard less ... I thought the anxiety came across as insincere. His insistence that he was the "underdog" was like someone fishing for compliments.
ReplyDeleteMike I was never my favorite contestant, but I love that he really pulled his shit together and put out something fantastic. I also love that both he and Richard managed to work well with their sous chefs and really controlled the kitchen - exemplifying the leadership aspect of being a chef. I can't wait to eat at Graffiato - especially if the pork with pepperoni sauce is on the menu.
As for Masters - no Jay Raynor and more Curtis Stone really bum me out. (NBC is really getting their $$ worth with him - he's been on Biggest Loser, Next Great American Restaurant, and now this...)
@mikeisabellaDC tweeted he would have the pepperoni sauce at his new restaurant.
ReplyDeleteI said that to my husband last night about Richard. I can see how people would see his neurosis as insincere but I guess I really think he is that neurotic. That can be annoying, for sure, but I felt like it was true.
ReplyDeleteMike did redeem himself with his performance last night. I just wish he'd shut up for a while.
Richard in the talking heads could come across as insincere, and it definitely seemed like the producers were pushing him to talk about "redemption" and "choking" and how anything short of winning it all would be a disappointment. But in the candid scenes, I thought his neurotic self-deprecation was completely genuine.
ReplyDeleteI also give him a lot of emotional leeway given the fact that he has a very pregnant wife.
I was really happy with last night's finale -- both the winner and the show as a whole -- it was back to a cooking competition, seeing two chefs do their best to compete, and didn't involve personal drama or anything. It was all about the food.
ReplyDeleteDo we know why Bourdain has been absent from the last 4 or 5 episodes, including absent from blogging? I missed him...and am assuming he's filming No Reservations...
Agreed- wherefore Bourdain?
ReplyDeleteSeems like AB has been tweeting a ton about No Reservations lately, so I'm guessing that did indeed affect his availability for the last several TC episodes.
ReplyDeleteI interpreted Richard's "underdog" line more as self motivation, something he was using to psych himself up rather than psyching himself out. You could maybe call that insincere in that maybe he didn't really believe it, but you could also call it one of those little lies we all tell ourselves at times to push ourselves harder toward a goal.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, what @EricJ said about the emotions of being away from his pregnant wife.
I agree, I think half of that talk about being the underdog was Richard trying not to let the idea of him being a favorite get to him. He was just desperate not to whiff it again (not that I agree that he choked, since Steph was amazing), and didn't want to let the mental stuff get to him.
ReplyDeleteI don't think Mike's malicious, just a doof who runs off at the mouth. Also, how drunk were they on Andy Cohen's live show? SO MANY GIGGLES from grown men.
Italy, apparently. And twitter-bickering with food writers.
ReplyDeleteThe other thing of interest is choosing the restaurant space they were working with--I didn't go to Seafire or to Cafe Martinique when I was at Atlantis last year, but they have VERY different vibes. Cafe Martinique is the "fine dining" establishment with a Jean-George menu, while Seafire is a much more casual steakhouse.
ReplyDeleteJust for one day of my life, I'd like to be Anthony Bourdain.
ReplyDeleteI'd prefer to be Anthony Bourdain for a night, not a day.
ReplyDeleteand that his mother died 2 months before TCAS started. grief can mess you up and take away your ability to view things positively for a long time.
ReplyDeleteBlais! I want that hamachi appetizer. So. Much.
ReplyDeleteAnyone who thought that Richard's insecurities were not genuine, I suggest that you rewatch (1) the way his wife handled him at the end of the Ellis Island challenge and (2) the way Spike managed him during the finale. When people have developed ways of finessing your neurotic tendencies, it's a pretty good sign that, guess what? You've got some neurotic tendencies.
I don't see me going to Graffiato. Yes, Mike's food appeared to have improved over the season. But I doubt that I'll forget a lot of his unpleasantness any time soon.
ReplyDeleteI don't have a very good feeling about Masters this season either. And did you see the preview with the bug-cooking challenge? I really enjoyed that Masters had fewer gimmicks and more focus on great chefs doing their thing (albeit in a competition). But like Marsha, I'm still going to watch.
ReplyDelete