Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Recap Roundup: Top Chef DC Episode 10


Jordan Baker haikus: "Alex. Alien / Outerspace veal parmesan / Bald head shines less bright."

Cliffieland on foreshadowing: "Angelo (Chef Last Douche Standing) tells us that if Kenny went home, no one is safe. He adds that he's mentally exhausted. This immediately telegraphs that he's in trouble this week. That and the fact that his face this weeks suggests he tangled with one of those salmonella eggs that have been making the rounds."

Fork in the Road (Village Voice) on why the show is losing its luster: "To me certain tropes had become especially tedious: the way that, when a new judge is introduced, the camera cuts to talking heads of contestants extravagantly praising him, even though you can tell they'd never heard of the guy before... The sprint through Whole Foods as if their asses were on fire...."

Minx Eats on the final moment: "And now comes the moment you've all been waiting for, at least since that whole ridiculous thing with the pea purée: Alex is asked to pack his knives and go. A bit of a relief, because the hating was getting on my nerves already."

Reality Check (Baltimore Sun) on Angelo's crumble: "At the grocery store, Angelos buys prepared puff pastry. His fellow chefs cannot contain their disdain. Is he trying to go home or what? In the kitchen, Angelo seems really out of sorts and off his game. It's almost like he's undergone a personality change. Maybe his nervousness is a disguise?"

Reality TV Calendar on the Quickfire: "The chefs were told they’d have to make a dish with the ingredients in their mystery boxes. OK, so far this sounds like “Chopped”. But they’re told they’ll be getting even more mystery boxes – and will have to incorporate the new ingredients as they go."

Eater.com on Angelo's mystery: "Far be it from me to gloat, but I was right and everyone in the entire world was wrong and you all owe me a hand-written apology. And the apology better be signed with your tears because I can only be sure it's sincere if you were weeping while you wrote it. What was I right about? All season long I have insisted that the arguably fiercest competitor Angelo is a spy."

Grub Street on the famous folks: "The big names came out again on last night's Top Chef, with this episode's guest-judging duties going to Wylie Dufresne and CIA director Leon Panetta. We'd like to think this, and the return of Eric Ripert, is a reward for sticking with the season, but we're guessing it's because August is ratings month."

What'ere, Jane Eyre on the puns: "I really need to come up with a shorthand term for those ridiculously terrible wordplay phrases Ptom recites each week. You'd think somebody would have noticed at this point how cringeworthy they are, and yet... 'You were asked to take a dish and disguise it, and in all your cases, your cover was blown.' Hork."

Serious Eats sums up the Quickfire: "Amanda was her usual confused self, Tiffany had no idea how to cook the ramps, and Angelo was so stressed out he was sweating more than Whitney Houston while performing at the Grammys."

Max the Girl on Amanda's spy lust: "Turns out, Amanda is a big CIA fangirl. They’re, like, her Jonas Brothers. She is positively squee-ing over the fact that she’ll be cooking for Leon Panetta (spy name: Fluffy Summerview) and his CIA cronies."

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