Recap Roundup: Top Chef Masters Episode 6

And round one is finished! This week, there was a whole lotta love and a side dish of name-dropping, but not a ton of drama overall. Is there a kitchen-specific term for "bromance"? Let's see what the bloggers have to say:

Cliffieland on the show's biggest problem (or virtue, depending on your perspective): "Nope, they’re all professionals and friends. So, if you were looking for drama, I suggest you switch over to I Love Money 3 on VH1; there’s nothing for you here."

David Dust on his looove for winner Art Smith: "Oh Em Gee – I think Art is my long-lost sister! Bitch is big and hysterical and makes a mean fried chicken. And you just KNOW Art is a riot after about 6 vodkas."

Jordan Baker on the other opinion of Art Smith (+ Gael's hat): "Then we have that fat load Big Gay Art. Gael Greene's Hat says everyone thinks of him as "Oprah's chef," and the face under the hat sneers appropriately at this. It's delicious. I love you, Gael Green's Hat!"

Meal Ticket on what the future holds: "I don’t see the show getting any more trashy. These last few episodes will probably feature a good amount of bro-hugging and cheek-pecking and helping-hand-ing as the sextet reaches for that $100K donation. Maybe I’m wrong — but if I’m not, at least it’ll make the Aug. 26 debut of the regular Top Chef seem that much trashier/glorious."

Chicagoist on Quickfire shopping: "At Whole Foods, Jonathan informs us that he does not open jars or cans or "deal with that kind of thing." Our eyes roll back in our head. Michael is in the pastry aisle and braves it well. Roy finds himself in an aisle with Italian food ingredients and goes that route. Then....we get to Art. He gets grains. And takes a moment to name drop again...ah, there's Oprah."

It Happened Last Night on what could've happened: "At first I thought the challenge would be like “Chopped” (the Food Network show) with more ingredients, but no one wound up having to make anything with avocado, tahini and bran flakes, or the like. Phew."

Onion AV Club on the week that everybody goes back to hating Kelly: "That meal the chefs made together looked like it might have been a lot of fun if somebody hadn't invited Kelly Choi."

Televicious with a question I have as well: "Chefs have to make the best dish possible using the ingredients from only one grocery store aisle, and their budget is… $20. They are shopping at Whole Foods, so that should get them, like, 1.5 items? Why is it that they always get so much more for their money than I would shopping there?"

Endless Simmer on what little drama there was: "Now I’m sure the producers helped craft this little drama leaving selective tidbits on the cutting room floor, but last night you had Old Pappa Bear Waxman strategically f*ck over his main competitor/protoge Cimarusti."

Serious Eats on the chef-love: "We ended up with another episode of brotherly love. “You all took care of each other!” said Gael One. “I’ve never seen this before!” gasped Gail Two. No evil ingredients, no death wishes, no trash-talking. These were chefs who clearly respected each other. (As well they should.)"

B-Side Blog on why I love Gael Greene: "Gael: 'I quite enjoyed Art's whimsical nod to Southern fried decadence. It was reminiscent of the late forties when a young Spirrow Agnew and I, intoxicated by fumes of opium and elderberries, stumbled into a Chick-Fil-A and demanded that the proprietor feed us nothing but breaded cutlets of his finest meats. We made love five times that night. Six, if you count the fan dance.'"

Culture Crumbs summing up the season so far: "We've met chefs who seem to deserve their deity-like praise (Hubert Keller and Rick Bayless), watched top names melt like spoiled %^!#! sorbet (Wylie Dufresne and Ludo Lefebvre) and figured out that most of us common folk have a leg up on these culinary superstars when it comes to shopping in a grocery store and using a microwave."

Slashfood on the outrageous extent of the love: "The competing foursome went to a place somewhere beyond mere camaraderie -- a place even further than the conciliatory, bromantic half-hug shared by final-round losers Roy Yamaguchi (Roy's Hawaiian Kitchen) and Michael Cimarusti (of LA's acclaimed Providence). What we witnessed last night was an emotional journey, a blubbering, four-hanky love-in"

Televisionary on the lesson for future cheftestants: "Cimarusti tempted the judges with a chocolate parfait with ginger syrup, Sauternes, and sesame crackers. This to me was the perfect dessert effort for a chef who doesn't focus on pastry. It was innovative, delicious, and beautifully presented and executed. Dessert doesn't need to be pastry or poached fruit; there's a number of alternatives that make sense and are easy to prepare."

Top Chef Examiner on the perfect storm of ingredients: "Roy seemingly created the picture perfect mystery box for Art allowing him to create something right in his comfort zone, fried chicken."

The Stew on Chicago hometown boy Art's attitude: "Art's strategy is to cook 'with love'-- which we hear enough throughout the show to want to gag-- delivering flavor, not chefy hijinks. Art jokes, "I'm gonna take the show" … at least we think he’s joking, as he’s giggling like a kid."

LA Times on the original aisle challenge: "I still fondly recall Hung's smurf village, which he made after landing in the cereal aisle. It was pretty. It won him squat"

TWOP on Jonathan Waxman's prior sins: "Jonathan Waxman from New York City. He's been a chef for nearly forty years and trained many other famous chefs, including Bobby Flay. He's responsible for Bobby Flay? Burn him!"

TC Masters Winning Recipe - Episode 6

Exit Interviews - TCM Episode Six

See the three others here.

Congrats Chef Smith!

Chef Art Smith, probably best known for his work with Oprah, wowed the judges with his duo of chicken. Fried chicken is apparently his forte, and he's no slouch at cobbler, either. Top Chef fans in Washington, D.C. have to be pleased, because this Art & Soul chef is the closest they have to a homeboy in this competition.

Chef Smith's own charity, Common Threads, featured in an Elimination Challenge in Top Chef season 4, is now the recipient of $10,000 and in the running for lots more if Chef Smith wins the Championship Round. Tune in starting next week to see how it all plays out.

This post is only for positive words for Chef Smith. If you have anything negative to say about him or another chef, please click here.

Reactions to Top Chef Masters Episode Six

We finally know the identity of the sixth Master to battle for the big prize in the upcoming Championship Round - Art Smith. Surprised? I think he may have been underestimated because he's probably best known for being Oprah's personal chef (and doesn't she always look well-fed?)

The Quickfire Challenge was fun - always interesting to see what a chef will come up with when taken out of his element by a draw of the knife. And they were all so nice to each other with the mystery basket challenge! On non-Masters Top Chef, you know the cheftestants would be sabotaging each other right and left.

So what did you think about the episode? Let us know in the comments.

Poll Results - TCM Episode Six

Fifty percent of those who voted thought Chef Roy Yamaguchi would win. He didn't. And once again we ask - why was he the popular choice this week? Please let us know in the comments.

Top Chef Masters Episode 6 Previews

Click here to watch two more previews.

Recap Roundup: Top Chef Masters Episode 5

One more episode down and three more chefs tossed back to their home kitchens. No Gail on this episode, but still some boobie talk. Plus, the promise of meat on a stick. We know the bloggers like that...but what else do they think?

David Dust on the Chiarello smarm: "Speaking of Michael, could he have been ANY GROSSER while hitting on every woman who stopped by the table? Even Lachlan remarks that Michael is the 'most comfortable showman'. Translation: 'Michael Chiarello will sleep with Gael Greene AND James Oseland if it will help him win this competition.'"

Cliffieland with a different take on the Chiarello: "The veteran back in the ring for another shot at greatness. From the Napa Valley. Hasn't been in a restaurant for some time. Oh, and he’s as hot as an oven. Yow. ... Jus’ sayin’. "

Jordan Baker on what I was thinking about Lachlan Patterson, too: "Lachlan Mackinnon Patterson enters hotly, hotly banters with the older chefs, then hotly tells us about his Beard award."

My Monkey Could Do That on everybody's Nils Noren/Jay Ray/Muppet confusion: "Jay Ray says he is very much the Swedish Chef, and I think he means the Muppet, but then he says he’s cool and precise, so that doesn’t make any sense."

Endless Simmer on the Quickfire dishes: "Swordfish meatballs by Chiarello as an interpretation of fish sticks. Nil had fried shrimp but didn’t fry the shrimp, Lachlan took the hot dog but didn’t cook the dog, and Rick took my favorite of the choices, corndogs, most likely out of spite so I would get angry at him for not plating anything. Well played Rick, well played."

Chicagoist sums up Rick Moonen: "We learn that Rick has ADD and cooks seafood."

Fans of Reality TV on the Flipping Out crew (with sentiments shared by many, many bloggers): "They’re going to be judged by some particularly douchey looking scenesters, who turn out to be stars of some other show on Bravo called Flipping Out. I don’t know, but apparently they’re junk food experts."

TV Fodder on the scope of the Elimination Challenge: "For the elimination challenge, the masters had to create a three course meal for 100 people all by themselves. Yikes. They did breathe a sigh of relief when they were told that the dishes were to be appetizers. "

Slashfood on the curse of the writer-turned-TV star: "Is it just us, or are the Top Chef Masters judges unduly fond of alliteration? Usually it's Saveur's James Oseland who rocks the tongue-twisting final-round zingers -- so good in print, yet so weird to hear on basic cable. Wednesday it was Gael Greene's turn, surprising us with an oh-so-delicately catty swipe at Swede Nils Norén's 'lapsang lapse' of a dessert"

Speakeasy (WSJ) on history repeating itself: "As in weeks before, several chefs were undone by their own ambition. (Don’t they watch the show?)"

Las Vegas Sun on what hometown boy Moonen's loss means for Sin City: "With Moonen out of contention, it means just one Las Vegas chef, Hubert Keller, will represent our city in the final rounds of competition."

Meal Ticket on possible behind-the-scenes Critics' Table drama?: "Britcrit Jay Rayner and Green seem to strongly dislike James Oseland from Saveur (look at Green mean-mugging!), which I find interesting. Who knew TV food judging could get so damn cliquey? Somebody throw Oseland an ally up in there to at least even up the first-world squabbling."

Onion AV Club because somebody had to make the "balls" joke: "Only Chiarello seemed to really grasp the spirit of the challenge and actually fried his take on fish sticks. And what do you know, the “white trash with money” panel liked his fish balls (tee hee, oh we’re so naughty!) best."

Starpulse on overused dishes (like ice cream): "This is the dish that has been getting out of control lately, and it's really starting to bother me. Michael Chiarello, Wednesday's winner, pushed the envelope by making a basil-flavored ice cream as part of his dessert. OK, we get it. You can make just about any flavor of ice cream if you have the proper machinery, but that doesn't make it right."

It Happened Last Night on Gael's knife aversion: "Gael is appalled that Michael's shrimp required cutlery. You don't bring a knife to a stand-up cocktail party! she sneers. No, Gael -- you don't bring a knife to a gunfight. A cocktail party? Maybe, depending on the crowd. But perhaps I hang out with a tougher group than you do."

Serious Eats on that panna cotta-boob thing: "Judge Jay Rayner, slightly inappropriate? 'A good panna cotta, if it's set right, is meant to wobble like a woman's breasts. I share this with you in the interest of general knowledge.'"

Yum Sugar on network-sanctioned sabotage?: "When the appliances don't work — like Chiarello's ice cream maker — I can't help but wonder if Bravo planted a faulty machine. Thoughts?"

Reality TV Magazine on Critics' Table non-drama: "Now it’s time for the critics to talk with the chefs about all the smokiness and intense flavors their palates experienced. It’s a riveting conversation that is best not repeated. Trust me."

Reality TV Calendar on Chiarello's underlying motivation: "Michael did step back for a while and became a television chef, as Jay says that Michael may feel he has a lot more to prove than the other chefs, since he was out of the restaurant world for so long."

Top Chef Examiner on cheffy aversions to junk food: "I guess high end chefs really cringe at the thought of junk food, and in Chiarello's case can't even seem to recognize a lot of the foods most of us grew up on. A little pretentious much? But I guess there's no such thing as fried food in Napa Valley."

Televicious on the jokes that David Dust likes to make: "Jeff from Bravo show Flipping Out is the judge. Cross-promotion! Lachlan is all about grinding up the pork sausage. He’s got some gorge blue eyes. Hmmm… insert dirty pork sausage here. I’m too food-illiterate to do it."

Premium Hollywood on all the jokes that were in the commercial: "The two funniest comments were from Gael Greene, who said she didn’t like lawn clippings in her ice cream, and from Rayner, who likened a good panna cotta and the way it jiggles to a woman’s breasts. Nice!"

Thursday Night Smackdown with the obligatory IKEA joke: "Nils is prepared and not scrambling like anyone else. Then he assembled a dresser made entirely of plywood with off-centered drill marks and wooden pegs in under 15 seconds."

Poll - Who Will Win TC Masters Episode Six?

poll by twiigs.com