Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Recap Roundup: Top Chef Masters 2 Episode 1

Top Chef Masters is back! Maybe not back with a vengeance, exactly, but definitely back with expert cooking and the respectful atmosphere you'd expect from seasoned professionals. So, right, respectful reality TV. How did the bloggers deal with that?

Jordan Baker on the Quickfire, with honesty: "Everyone’s pissed because they spent their commutes planning Chinese menus. And their judges will be. . .The Bravery. Because. . .they tour all the time, and eat out of gas stations. Oh, god, I hate these bullshit excuses for why certain people are the guest judges. Just say they have an album to promote and you made a deal, and be done with it."

The Daily Loaf on...well, not on anything written. It's a podcast!

Reality Wanted on Clamesco and fatty foods: "For the third dish, Ana and Jerry serve a Crispy Rice Cake with “Clamesco” sauce. One of the members thinks that the food is a little bland. Jerry thinks that it is because they are used to a high salt, high fat diet."

Speakeasy (WSJ) on the core series weakness: "And here we get to a unique situation in which a show’s strength is also its Achilles heel. All the dishes the star chefs turned out looked fantastic. The critics seemed to struggle to find fault, eventually deigning some lamb chops “blah” and calling out another for being hard to eat in a bowl."

Amuse Biatch on, ah, synergy: "Possums, the fact of the matter is that The Bravery’s record label is Island Def Jam, which is owned by Universal Music Group. 'Wait,' said Miss XaXa, her voice quivering with rapidly dying innocence, 'Universal, as in NBC Universal, which is the parent company of…' Yes, possum, Bravo.We were shocked, shocked, nay, even gobsmacked. Who knew you could buy synergy at the gas station?"

Marquee (CNN) on winning: "It’s an ephemeral prize, but worth its weight in saffron, especially amongst a community that author Anthony Bourdain once compared to pirates."

Melany with a frighteningly astute observation: "No, That’s Not ’80s R&B Singer Terrence Trent D’Arby; It’s Govind Armstrong"

Chicago Food Snob on baaad wine: "I did shudder when I saw the St. Margaherita white, yuck."

Fine Cooking on Govind's love that could not be: "I did have a favorte part though: it was the snippet of an interview with Govind where he recalled working for Susan as a teenager and being madly in love with her, with her pink punked hair and long earrings. But, obviously, their love was not meant be."

Media Elites on Gael's apparently satiable love for hats: "My favorite part of this week’s espiode wasn’t on the show at all - it came from Gael Greene’s blog, where she confesses to anxiety about being invited back as a guest judge for the new season: “Maybe the producers were just tired of my hats. Actually I was getting a little tired of my hats too. I only wear them for photographs and television because I feel a restaurant critic must try and stay anonymous.” Way to go into deep cover, Gael. Do you not know that we can see you?"

2 comments:

theminx said...

Great. Now I have that Terence Trent D'Arby song, "Wishing Well" going through my head....

JordanBaker said...

Gael doesn't like her hats? Say it ain't so -- a Gael without hats is like a day without sunshine.