Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Recap Roundup: Top Chef All-Stars Reunion AND Top Chef Masters 3 Episode 1

All-Stars Reunion

Jordan Baker on judges outtakes: "Eric Ripert talks about 'my breasts,' and Lorraine Bracco complains about an audio tech’s freezing hands on her 'nice big fat tits.' Bourdain cracks up. Padma tells Tom to shut up. Paula agrees to 'take mah fuckin’ knives and go.' 'Pack your fuckin’ knives,' John Besh corrects her. I bet they'd all been wanting to say that to her all episode."

Minxeats on sexy: "Speaking of attractions, Andy poses a viewer question to Gail: out of Fabio, Spike, and Angelo, who would she date? She reminds everyone that she's married, but she chooses Spike because she's known him the longest and because they have a "Canadian connection." That could sound like something dirty, maybe a reference to a sexual position, if not for the word "Canadian" in it."

MamaPop on bromance: "Does Fabio have a girlfriend? He won’t say, but he DOES have his hand on Blais’ knee the whole time."

Cliffieland on Antonia: "Loved her before. Didn't think I could love her more. Then she went and delivered a speech about how she hates kids menus and how she's made sure her kid eats what she eats, not some dumbed-down version of food. And then I believe I saw a supernatural glow around her head."
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Masters Episode 1

TV Squad on similarities: "They were given a crappy selection of food: Pop corn, dragon fruit, cottage cheese, sardines, marshmallows -- WHOA, is this 'Chopped All-Stars'? Mystery boxes, weird ingredients, no time to think or cook? Okay, everything is a rip off of everything else, but this is pretty familiar territory. It might have been smarter if the 'Top Chef' producers saved this Quickfire for later in the run ... like six weeks away from last Sunday's finale of 'Chopped All-Stars'!"

Castles and Cooks on mysteries: "The boxes were mean, resulting in wretched sounding combinations like marshmallows and canned corned beef, chicken liver and popcorn, dragon fruit and sardines, cockles and Marmite, black licorice and peanut butter and cottage cheese and frog legs. It makes me wonder what other oddities were in the three boxes that no one picked."

AV Club on spoilers: "I’m always fascinated by the “This Season on…” previews that air after the first episode of a reality season. Do we really need to know everything that’s coming up? Do you ever make decisions based on seeing a particular challenge or moment that you just can’t wait to see? Maybe I’m just a spoilerphobe, but they do nothing for me."

Eater on grooming: "Then came Unibrow Atcheson. Any one who would go on national television with a unibrow needs to get a duane reade card and buy a beard trimmer. I’m allergic to caterpillars so I took a shower after this dude’s grill hit the screen."

Reality TV Calendar on harsh criticisms: "Judge Ruth says that the flavor is fine but the texture is loathesome. OMG. What a word to hear coming from a judge. Poor Suvir in the other room looks like he’s been run over. Suvir gets the win and an 'A for effort' because Chef Tio presented an empty plate."

TWOP on the challenge du jour: "It's restaurant wars! Celina acknowledges that this should be an easy challenge for these cooks, who each have at least one restaurant launch under their respective belts. But, she says, coordinating this many people's visions (and egos) is going to be the real challenge."

Jordan Baker on strategy: "The judges mosey over to Leela, where they’re left waiting at the host stand. Curtis asks about the strategy of seating everyone at once. He tells the other critics he would fire his maitre d’ if they did something like that."

Posted on AllTopChef.com

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