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Top Chef Portland


Biff Tannen

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12 minutes ago, shadow_operative2.0 said:

Early in this thread some were saying this is one of the more impressive group of chefs. Yeah, no. 

I think it’s a deep group but maybe without the superstar. The thing that is holding them back from greatness is the lack of versatility. They are really good at cooking their styles but haven’t shown me a lot when forced outside of their comfort zone. 

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29 minutes ago, shadow_operative2.0 said:

Early in this thread some were saying this is one of the more impressive group of chefs. Yeah, no. 

I have this thought that the earlier that with each season, the talent gets worse as you would think they always want to start with the best.  Imagine having baseball tryouts in a city for 12 weeks.  Wouldn't the talent in week 12 be worse than week 1.  I remember Top Chef 1-4 having some rock star chefs. 

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I think the “top” talent this season is darn good.

Spoiler

If the final 6 were Sara Gabe Dawn Shoda Avishar and Lol Sasha I’d have been cooler with it. JMO. But no Sara takes away from the final 5. I was looking forward to seeing her progression of meals. Gabe has the most experience but I think like most said it will be Dawn who wins. She has this organic way with a dish the judges love. 

 

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On 6/4/2021 at 7:34 PM, closetohumping said:

Not sure if it was for drama or what, but easy fix.  How about an odd number of judges.  Though I have seen disclaimers that the voting is at their discretion.  

Have to think that was on purpose for drama because I'm assuming they can count.

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4 hours ago, Knoxtnhorn said:

I feel like I'm usually in the minority when it comes to entertainment opinions.  Nice to know that I'm not alone re: Maria.  Jamie gets on my nerves as well.

I think I'm ready to try and fry up some tofu.

Yep.  Maria seems too angry.  You gotta cook the chips not put them on your shoulder.  Jaime, and Shota both, to me, try too hard to be cute, loopy, silly and naive.

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1 hour ago, kevwun said:

If Dawn wins, Uchi/Uchiko will have had 2 people win.  Pretty damn impressive for Tyson Cole.

True.  I didn't like how she kinda screwed the rest of her team in restaurant wars.  I don't necessarily think it was on purpose, but she sucks as a team player.

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I jus don’t think Mexican fusion works as well as well as other types of fusion. The spices seems to make everything simply taste Mexican. Melissa, last year’s All Stars winner, knew how to do fusion. Her take on Asian/Italian in the Italy episodes, was a revelation. Every dish looked amazing and blew the judges away. 

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1 hour ago, TonyTexas said:

I jus don’t think Mexican fusion works as well as well as other types of fusion. The spices seems to make everything simply taste Mexican. Melissa, last year’s All Stars winner, knew how to do fusion. Her take on Asian/Italian in the Italy episodes, was a revelation. Every dish looked amazing and blew the judges away. 

I'm still fairly stunned with how well she did.  She learned so much from her first season.  She makes some of the most beautiful food I've ever seen.  I have to assume it tastes amazing as well.

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33 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

I'm still fairly stunned with how well she did.  She learned so much from her first season.  She makes some of the most beautiful food I've ever seen.  I have to assume it tastes amazing as well.

 She was really good in Boston, making the final 4, but became a superstar last year. 

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2 hours ago, Knoxtnhorn said:

If Dawn hadn't cut her finger, it might have been Maria in the last round.  I'm not sure I've ever seen someone (Maria) luck through so many multiple weeks before.

True but to her credit she basically tied Shota in round 1.  Unless it was rigged.

 

Shota and Gabe are the favorites to me.

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I know I am being bitchy but Maria and Jamie are both getting on my last nerve. Maybe it’s because I know they are just taking up space in the kitchen. Fucking canon fodder. I’d rather there just be four with Sarah as the 4th and watch them duke it out. 

Edited by Nicole44
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1 hour ago, Nicole44 said:

Tom! Ha ha! “Get your head on straight!” Love him. He sees all and knows all. Lol. He must really not have liked Sarah’s bento box in LCK at all. 

It really is nice to see him now compared to Season 1.  He was getting all upset and annoyed, but now he's seen so much and knows what this competition does to people.  It's going to be sad when he quits.  I can't imagine he goes too much longer.  20 seasons is long for anything.

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Just now, Biff Tannen said:

It really is nice to see him now compared to Season 1.  He was getting all upset and annoyed, but now he's seen so much and knows what this competition does to people.  It's going to be sad when he quits.  I can't imagine he goes too much longer.  20 seasons is long for anything.

I don’t really want to watch without him in it. That will suck. I don’t think he retires yet though. Jmo. 

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1 minute ago, shadow_operative2.0 said:

Ha, I even had it right the last time I posted her name. 

 

I would have loved to see her be pushed to compete in the final four. I guess I am over Dawn kinda screwing her team over in Restaurant Wars. I mean it’s game play to an extent. If you are on the losing team but your food is badass you aren’t going home…but now I see that it wasn’t intentional to necessarily screw the team over. But this season is kinda emotional because outside of Gabriel the blah villain of the group, they are all so close pretty much. And given when it was filmed in the height of Covid i can imagine the show is even more fucking isolating for the contestants bc they can’t even go out for drinks. And when u lose you are basically being sent home (well after LCK ended) from a protected bubble to uncertainty when there was no vax available for you to choose to take. 

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1 hour ago, Nicole44 said:

And when u lose you are basically being sent home (well after LCK ended) from a protected bubble to uncertainty when there was no vax available for you to choose to take. 

I think they all sign on for the entire time, win or lose.  If you are the first out, you stay in a hotel for the remainder of the taping.  I assume not for the finals, but at least for the main location.

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3 minutes ago, Deej said:

Bravo will eventually drive this series into the ground.

Dreading the Bravo TC/BD Med crossover with Captain Sandy claiming the sushi dish she just had reminds her of Malia. 

Yeah if they “have” to do some type of crossover type shit stick the chefs and judges on a yacht like Below Deck for two months and not let anyone leave except the losers who are dumped off at whatever random port. Call me crazy but drunk Tom, Padma and Gail stuck on a yacht with the contestant chefs 24/7 would be exciting. Plus, they could work in challenges at whatever port and groceries are available at each. Plus, as an added bonus you guys would get Gail and Padma in bikinis. It would have to have an adequate enough kitchen. And watching people at work on the sea would be hilarious. But it would, as you say, undercut the show and it’s legitimacy and no one would sign on to do that except crazy people. 

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7 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

I think they all sign on for the entire time, win or lose.  If you are the first out, you stay in a hotel for the remainder of the taping.  I assume not for the finals, but at least for the main location.

Pretty sure everyone that lost before Jamie came back got to go home, then the same after Byron’s L. 

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1 minute ago, Deej said:

It's like you've never met any chefs or yachties. 

It would probably be its most popular season. Drunk Tom as a judge would be great. Instead of pack your knives and go just make the loser walk the plank and jump into the sea and sail away.

”Your risotto was mush. Get bent. Walk the plank.” While the other contestants look on in horror. Of course that contestant would be picked up by another boat fairly quickly but the remaining contestants won’t get to know that shit. 

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I hated that episode.

The quickfire was BS allowing Brooke - one of the best and most experiences Top Chef contestants ever, and one who was particularly awesome at quickfires - was way more than an ordinary advantage.  Dawn was no slouch in that challenge, but how would she done if paired with Maria, who had no freaking clue?

The care package thing is a cute idea, but they needed to do a better job of seeing to it that the boxes were roughly balanced.  Jamie got absolutely screwed with what was sent to her.

I know I'm the resident Maria hater - and I do give her props for how she handled the end - but instead of all the weepy eyed drama, why not the truth?  She was right to be intimidated because THERE IS A MASSIVE GAP BETWEEN HER CHEF TALENT AND THE TOP THREE.  Trying to tap dance around that obvious fact led to record amounts of eye rolling from me.  This was the worst episode of the season because it is blindingly obvious who the top three should be, and that Maria (especially) and Jamie aren't even close.  There was no drama.

I realize it is part of what makes Top Chef great - that any chef can go home at any time if they have an off week - but 1) any long tern fan of the show knows Tom puts his finger on the scale for certain chefs at opportune times to save from elimination and 2) A Gabe/Shoda/Dawn/Sara final four would have been amazing.  I'm legit bummed we're not getting it.  Instead we have to pretend like we're at the elite phase of the competition where only tiny mistakes and mental fatigue separate the best of the best, while Maria water bathes some chicken wings and puts it next to a nasty, watery salad.  There are at least a half dozen eliminated chefs who could have at least put together something competitive in that position.  

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15 minutes ago, someguy said:

The quickfire was BS allowing Brooke - one of the best and most experiences Top Chef contestants ever, and one who was particularly awesome at quickfires - was way more than an ordinary advantage.  Dawn was no slouch in that challenge, but how would she done if paired with Maria, who had no freaking clue?

Agreed, but Dawn didn’t get shit for winning, correct? No $, no advantage in the next round, nothing if I’m remembering correctly. The whole thing was really just a waste of time. 

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I didn't mind Brooke being pulled in to fill the needed 6th spot, especially since, as noted above, there was no reward for winning.  What I don't get is why it was needed.  They easily could have done the black box last week instead of the clunky judges' flavor combo crap that they threw together.  It's like they were fully expecting to have 6 chefs for two weeks in a row. 

I really wish it had been a double elimination last night.  There is always one chef who lasts longer than they should, but Jamie is making a strong case for two.  I have actually liked her at times, and she has cooked well more often than not, but she struggles with any adversity, and doesn't always make good choices on her dish composition.  Her constant antics don't help.  We are all expecting her to go next.  I hope it happens, but wouldn't be shocked if she cooked her best meal while one of the favorites has a major blunder.  

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Finally watched the entire episode:

 

Agree with above, this challenge was bullcrap as Brooke is a rockstar who knows how to play the game.

Maria and Jaime's family totally screwed them over.  They wanted to be cute or emotional whereas the other three's families set them up to win.  Though, the other three are just that much better.  There's a talent gap.

Jaime offering her spot at the end to Maria was total self-serving, play to the camera bullshit.  Sorry I just am not a fan of her as I see right through her.

 

Did you guys know Maria is from Mexico?

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Watched it last night.  I cheered when Maria was gone.  Then I screamed in anguish when I thought Jamie was going to scheme her back in.  Pretty much agree with what everyone has stated in the past few posts.  Especially this...

Quote

I know I'm the resident Maria hater - and I do give her props for how she handled the end - but instead of all the weepy eyed drama, why not the truth?  She was right to be intimidated because THERE IS A MASSIVE GAP BETWEEN HER CHEF TALENT AND THE TOP THREE.  Trying to tap dance around that obvious fact led to record amounts of eye rolling from me.  This was the worst episode of the season because it is blindingly obvious who the top three should be, and that Maria (especially) and Jamie aren't even close.  There was no drama.

This somewhat new phenomenon where people blame their shortcomings/losses on their own feelings or lack of confidence is really annoying.  It's also self-serving.  If I was trying out for a team and lost, I would just assume the others were better than me not that I was lacking the confidence to be as good as them. 

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