buckytom
Chef Extraordinaire
did she at least steel her knives, on or off camera? even i do that before most onions. i smell a rat.
Top Chef Season 3
- Thread starter ironchef
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ironchef
Executive Chef
Who knows...but if I knew that my knives would be affected from cutting on less than ideal surfaces, and I also knew that I would be going into the kitchen the next day or the day after, I would've taken my stone to my knives at the first chance I'd have gotten.
Casey was also the Sous Chef at Dean Fearing's The Mansion on Turtle Creek. Fearing and his wife are part owners of Shinsei and there must have been some reason why they chose Casey to head the kitchen there.
All of the contestants this season have been up and down, but I think that's due to the level of competition more than anything. If you look at the past seasons, it was rare to see Harold, Lee Ann, Marcel, Sam, Cliff, etc. in the bottom 3 of any competition because you had so many hacks like Mia, Candace, and whoever else was there but are not worth mentioning. Because there is so little disparity among most of the contestants this season, it's anyone's game from week to week.
Casey was also the Sous Chef at Dean Fearing's The Mansion on Turtle Creek. Fearing and his wife are part owners of Shinsei and there must have been some reason why they chose Casey to head the kitchen there.
All of the contestants this season have been up and down, but I think that's due to the level of competition more than anything. If you look at the past seasons, it was rare to see Harold, Lee Ann, Marcel, Sam, Cliff, etc. in the bottom 3 of any competition because you had so many hacks like Mia, Candace, and whoever else was there but are not worth mentioning. Because there is so little disparity among most of the contestants this season, it's anyone's game from week to week.
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ChefJune
Master Chef
Certainly doesn't! Talk about inexcusable!
LEFSElover
Executive Chef
My feeling is no clue who's going to win. don't particularly like Hung, he is overly confident to me, in a bad way, seems to pop off when it's not a good time.
No one else really seems all that incredible in the kitchen except for Trey {?} that is now booted.
I watch it just because it makes for good tv.
No one else really seems all that incredible in the kitchen except for Trey {?} that is now booted.
I watch it just because it makes for good tv.
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mercyteapot
Cook
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2007
- Messages
- 76
I do agree with whoever mentioned Sara bringing it on in the past couple of weeks. She could be this season's dark horse- in the early episodes, she didn't stand out at all.
Chef_Jimmy
Senior Cook
- Joined
- Nov 30, 2005
- Messages
- 294
You don't see chef's sharpening knives....heck, you dont see alot. They squeze 10 hours into 1 hour
mercyteapot
Cook
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2007
- Messages
- 76
What was CJ thinking, serving that broccolini? It looked disgusting, and to read Anthony Bourdain's blog, it was even worse up close. Why didn't he just leave it off the tray? There certainly have been enough precedents with the judges saying "if it's that bad, it shouldn't even go out". He may have survived to see another week if he had just followed that advice. I don't know, though... mint and halibut are also a pretty nasty sounding combination.
carolelaine
Senior Cook
It's pretty bad when they tell you your dish is the worst in 3 years. I pretty much expected that he would go next because he just isn't as good as the others. Hung is probabally a good chef but what a person. Why wouldn't you help someone if you were doing nothing and why say you didn't break a bottle when everyone saw you do it?
mercyteapot
Cook
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- Sep 3, 2007
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- 76
IMO, Hung is very immature. He has made several childish comments over the course of the show. And to continue to insist "I didn't come here to make friends" or "I don't care what people think about me" when that isn't even in question (such as when he was denying spilling that oil), to me, makes you look very foolish. And to not have taken responsibility for cleaning that oil up is almost worse than denying he spilled it in the first place.
He is fortunate that Casey isn't equally immature or she could have just told him to do it himself when he asked her for help serving. I was glad that she won last night, even though I have to agree with some of the flight attendants who said that cauliflower is best avoided in close quarters.
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ironchef
Executive Chef
This was a rare episode lately in that the right person actually was eliminated. CJ was living on borrowed time anyway. Like I said before, once they start going back to individual and not group competitions, CJ will be packing his knives and taking his one testicle back to Cali. Plus, the guy chose halibut. How in the **** are you going to take a fish that has almost no fat content and think that it will re-heat well without becoming dry. How do you take a vegetable that is notorious for not only being bitter, but very easy to overcook and use that in a side. And, you used a mint sauce for both. Bad decisions across the board and you make it very easy for the judges.
Brian. WTF. I have completely lost faith in you. How do you pre-cook frozen, mushy lobster, and then expect to taste good after you re-heat it again for at least 10 minutes??? And you work at a seafood restaurant that's one of the better ones (although that's not saying much) in San Diego? Dude, you could tell even before you cooked it the first time that the lobster was poor quality. Pork is your friend. You add some bacon and some bacon fat to that Peruvian potato hash and you would've had a good dish. You showed a lot of potential in the first half of the season, but looks like you've almost completely unravelled.
Sara. You know you ****ed up and you know you were lucky to escape. You admitted that your cous cous was an afterthought (hint, hint: some pre-packed flavored butter would've done wonders) and it didn't even go with the flavors of the salmon. You can do better than that.
Dale. Nice dish, just don't ever become a math teacher. You're still in my top 3. Ease off the pepper though man. You've already made several judges cringe (even Padma) by the amount of heat in your food. You're the new Dave aka the "Peppermonkey". And we all know you have more in common with Dave than just the heavy hand with the heat.
Casey. You were in my top 3 before, then you weren't, well, now you're back in. Very, very ballsy move using veal. I would've never attempted that. Very ballsy move using cauliflower. I probably wouldn't have attempted that either.
Hung. You're still the man even though you break more **** in one episode than I do in a year. But we all know you don't do that at Guy Savoy or else you would've been out on the street a looooong time ago. And nice dish even though you probably had some environmental people watching, up in arms over the choice of fish. But hey, they should blame Continental for having it in the first place.
In all, that was a good challenge. My new top three is Hung, Dale, and Casey, back again after re-taking Brian's spot. Unless they do a ceviche challenge, Mr. Malarkey will be out the next episode which looks like they'll be focusing on French cuisine at the FCI. So far, from what I've seen, Brian has shown no knowledge or background of French cuisine so I can really see him struggling with this challenge.
Assuming I didn't win the quickfire, I probably would've chosen salmon or the next fattiest fish after Hung scooped up the Chilean Sea bass. Without knowing what else Continental had in their kitchen (but it looked like they were pretty well stocked), I probably would've done a miso-sesame glazed salmon with wasabi mashed potatoes and braised bok choy, shiitake mushrooms, and carrots. The salmon would've marinated for an hour, then seared off on high heat for just one minute on each side to get a crust, then placed in the fridge, and packed with some of the reserved marinade as the sauce. At 10 minutes, covered, and cooked at 350 F from a relatively cold temp, it should come out at about medium. Mashed potatoes re-heat well and the vegetables would've been quickly blanced (except for the mushrooms) and placed in a liquid of chicken stock, soy sauce, ginger, and rice wine vinegar. Everything would take no more than the minimum of 10 minutes in the airline's oven would've hopefully come out great.
Brian. WTF. I have completely lost faith in you. How do you pre-cook frozen, mushy lobster, and then expect to taste good after you re-heat it again for at least 10 minutes??? And you work at a seafood restaurant that's one of the better ones (although that's not saying much) in San Diego? Dude, you could tell even before you cooked it the first time that the lobster was poor quality. Pork is your friend. You add some bacon and some bacon fat to that Peruvian potato hash and you would've had a good dish. You showed a lot of potential in the first half of the season, but looks like you've almost completely unravelled.
Sara. You know you ****ed up and you know you were lucky to escape. You admitted that your cous cous was an afterthought (hint, hint: some pre-packed flavored butter would've done wonders) and it didn't even go with the flavors of the salmon. You can do better than that.
Dale. Nice dish, just don't ever become a math teacher. You're still in my top 3. Ease off the pepper though man. You've already made several judges cringe (even Padma) by the amount of heat in your food. You're the new Dave aka the "Peppermonkey". And we all know you have more in common with Dave than just the heavy hand with the heat.
Casey. You were in my top 3 before, then you weren't, well, now you're back in. Very, very ballsy move using veal. I would've never attempted that. Very ballsy move using cauliflower. I probably wouldn't have attempted that either.
Hung. You're still the man even though you break more **** in one episode than I do in a year. But we all know you don't do that at Guy Savoy or else you would've been out on the street a looooong time ago. And nice dish even though you probably had some environmental people watching, up in arms over the choice of fish. But hey, they should blame Continental for having it in the first place.
In all, that was a good challenge. My new top three is Hung, Dale, and Casey, back again after re-taking Brian's spot. Unless they do a ceviche challenge, Mr. Malarkey will be out the next episode which looks like they'll be focusing on French cuisine at the FCI. So far, from what I've seen, Brian has shown no knowledge or background of French cuisine so I can really see him struggling with this challenge.
Assuming I didn't win the quickfire, I probably would've chosen salmon or the next fattiest fish after Hung scooped up the Chilean Sea bass. Without knowing what else Continental had in their kitchen (but it looked like they were pretty well stocked), I probably would've done a miso-sesame glazed salmon with wasabi mashed potatoes and braised bok choy, shiitake mushrooms, and carrots. The salmon would've marinated for an hour, then seared off on high heat for just one minute on each side to get a crust, then placed in the fridge, and packed with some of the reserved marinade as the sauce. At 10 minutes, covered, and cooked at 350 F from a relatively cold temp, it should come out at about medium. Mashed potatoes re-heat well and the vegetables would've been quickly blanced (except for the mushrooms) and placed in a liquid of chicken stock, soy sauce, ginger, and rice wine vinegar. Everything would take no more than the minimum of 10 minutes in the airline's oven would've hopefully come out great.
ChefJune
Master Chef
I think Casey is likely to have trouble with the FCI challenge, as well. Unless she just showed poor judgment in using that serrated knife to chop onions. But come ON! NO chef would ever use a serrated knife to chop anything unless they were on a desert island with only that for a utensil. Who goes home may well depend upon whose knife skills are the worst. But you're right, Brian does not have formal training, so I wonder if he ever learned good ones...
Your choice of what you would've done is very similar to what I thought while watching that show. I wouldn't have done Chilean Sea Bass in the first place because of the sustainability issue, but salmon was the first thing I said! The beef dishes could have been done better, tho, I thought.
carolelaine
Senior Cook
Ironchef-Why don't you try out for Top Chef. It would be great to see someone on there who has provided so many interesting posts. I am sure everyone would be rooting for you.
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ironchef
Executive Chef
I submitted videos for seasons 2 and 3. Hopefully they'll do a Top Chef Honolulu eventually and I'll apply again.
Fisher's Mom
Executive Chef
So cool, IC. Have you put copies of your videos on YouTube?
OP
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ironchef
Executive Chef
carolelaine
Senior Cook
Last nights episode was about Hung,the good and the bad, I thought. He did a great job with the quickfire challenge and Casey stayed right behind him in both challenges. She surprised me in a way by being able to recreate the sea bass as well as she did. If Top Chef has anything to do with an ability to deal with others in the kitchen as well as cooking, then maybe she will win. I hope so. Right now I don't see Brian or Dale winning.
mercyteapot
Cook
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2007
- Messages
- 76
In Seasons 1 and 2, the relationship of the sous chefs to the finalists played huge roles in the ultimate success of the victor. I think if it comes down to Casey and Hung in the finals, Hung is going to regret his "I don't care what anyone thinks about me" proclamations and wish he had been a little more of a team player (although I definitely thought it was odd that anyone would've expected him to share his method for recreating the seabass.)
ChefJune
Master Chef
I dont think they expected him to, but it's a lead pipe cinch he wasn't going to share information if they didn't ask!
OP
OP
ironchef
Executive Chef
Finally saw this episode tonight. Tivo'd it but didn't have time to watch it. Wow. Those were some pretty hard challenges man. Just looking at Brian's dish, I really didn't think he would advance. Man that dish looked like ****. I mean I think my daughter could've plated that better than he did. But, it tasted good which is the most important thing.
From talking to people and reading the blogs on Bravo, Hung is the professional cooks choice to win. The reason is that he is the only one on that show (Tre included), who you know will kick your *** in most of the technical aspects in a professional kitchen. He's the only one that you know will blow you away because he's so fast and his knife skills are so good. He's the only one that will do stuff that you wouldn't dare try given that same situation. He's the only one that you would actually fear going up against in a cook off. He's the only one that makes you say, "Holy ****!" when you're watching the show.
From talking to people and reading the blogs on Bravo, Hung is the professional cooks choice to win. The reason is that he is the only one on that show (Tre included), who you know will kick your *** in most of the technical aspects in a professional kitchen. He's the only one that you know will blow you away because he's so fast and his knife skills are so good. He's the only one that will do stuff that you wouldn't dare try given that same situation. He's the only one that you would actually fear going up against in a cook off. He's the only one that makes you say, "Holy ****!" when you're watching the show.
ChefJune
Master Chef
but only he DOESN'T do that stuff. He has played it safe the entire show. EVERY episode. He does nothing edgy, risky... even tho you KNOW not only could he, but that he would nail it.
For that reason alone, I think he doesn't deserve the title. A Top Chef takes risks. So far he hasn't.
