Jordan Baker on the big game: "Tim Love says they’ll be having a game dinner for him and some friends tomorrow night at the restaurant. Game as in game meats, not 'hey come on over and watch the football game,' which is what I’d initially thought. His friends, naturally, are famous chefs. Each team will be cooking a protein for the chef they’re assigned to. Nyesha and Dakota will cook venison for Brian Caswell of Reef. Sarah and Paul will make squab for Top Chef Masters alumna Anita Lo of Annisa. Grayson and Ponytail Chris will serve elk to Tim Love. Handsome Chris and Lindsay will make boar for Jon Shook of Animal. Heather and Beverly are in charge of duck for Masters alum and City Grocery owner John Currence. Finally, Ed and Ty-lör will serve quail for Animal’s Vinny Dotolo."
A Just Recompense on sartorial choices: "Padma (wearing awful-fitting pale yellow stretch jeans and an overly-busy top that clashes with her necklaces and hair – how can a top clash with deep brown hair? But it does, if you can stop staring at the terrible pants long enough to notice) and Tim Love meet the chefs in the Cordon Bleu/Top Chef kitchen."
Max the Girl on hot kitchen conditions: "The kitchen is positively oozing with body fluid. Everyone is sweating and when they are not sweating they are crying and when they are not crying they are probably farting. It is like a petri dish in there and it is gross (and pretty much the reason why I don’t like to look into the kitchens of my favorite restaurants—frankly, I’d rather not know.)"
My Monkey Could Do That gives a rundown of the Quickfire dishes in progress: '30 minutes to cook. And also to taste tequila and try not to get drunk. Sarah says she always has a shot of tequila at the airport before she flies. Ty-Lor says his style of cooking is “warm Southeast Asian flavors” which seems fairly vague. Chris C. is making a raw oyster, so then what are you doing with your 30 minutes? There is a hilarious shot of Beverly running full tilt across the kitchen, yelling “Coming through!”. She’s moving so fast I’m surprised I understood what she said. Or saw her go by. Dakota has a lamb chop and she thinks it’s pairing well. Lindsay is using the tequila instead of sherry. Ty-Lor thinks MotoChris is overcooking his chicken. MotoChris seems to agree."
Cliffieland on teamwork: "Samurai Chris convinces his teammate Grayson that he can make a cool garnish with sweet potatoes. He can't. She's pissed. He seems determined to broadcast his mistake to anyone who'll listen. She's not keen on this, since she'd be going home too. (Message: Grayson has a working brain stem.)"
Eater on the effects of tequila pairings: "After some tasting and some cooking, Chef Love and Padma try everything, both the food and the tequila. Each dish is paired with a shot of one of the four types of tequila, and it does not seem like either Padma or Tim forget to try any. I thought it was nine in the morning there. Padma gets so drunk she starts not slurring her words. Tim's praise gets flowery. 'This tastes like I'm at the beach or something.' Maybe you better lie down, Chef Love."
Hugh Acheson for PopWatch on Team Ed-Ty-Lor: "[Ed and Ty-Lor] did not put out a good product the first time they were paired up with each other. This time, they knew how to work together really well and they were just total and utter pros about it. It was pretty evident that Ed and Ty-Lor had the superlative plate. I think it was easily [one of the top] two plates so far this season. It was just all integrated. It was stylish and modern and interesting. A lot of the other [dishes] just fell into the quadrant of, 'Let’s go to a 1992 game house in Idaho and eat food,' so they just didn’t rise to the forefront as much as [Ed and Ty-Lor's] did."
Entertainment Weekly on bullies: "Heather is a big bully. She looked at Beverly with pure disdain when talking down to her, and she was so concerned that Beverly wouldn't act like a team player that she ended up coming across as the worst team player of all. Before "Bev" could even speak, Heather said, "I just want to make sure, Bev, that the whole dish isn't too Asian cause that's not my style. I'm not going home, Bev." Why was she assuming that Beverly's Asian contributions would be what sends them home?
Later, when Beverly dared to question Heather's judgment, she snapped, "This is my rustic style, Bev, so we're gonna have to compromise." In other words, Beverly would have to compromise. And I don't mean to point out prejudice where it doesn't exist, but why does Heather assume that her rustic American style is categorically superior to Beverly's Asian cooking? I flinched a bit whenever Heather spat the world "Asian" as if it were a bad word. Even if Beverly only cooks Asian dishes, isn't she just asserting her point of view? It seemed like Heather pounced on Beverly because she seems too meek to actually stand up for herself. There's no way Heather would talk down to anyone else like that. Heather found a seemingly weak target, and she became the selfish, inflexible chef she accused Beverly of being."
FoodieBuddha offers definitions for still more schmancy food terms.
And don't forget Top Chef Refire's podcast!
Posted on AllTopChef.com
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