Top Chef Season 3

[ironchef]

So what were your feelings on Trey leaving? I was disappointed, I thought he was very good, except maybe not in this challenge. His smoked potatoes and bread pudding must have been bad. He had more than his share of tasks for that team. Maybe they should have divided the responsibilities evenly in order to assure a better outcome.

Tre unfortunately took too many tasks upon himself and this contributed to his getting eliminated. It didn't help that their team dynamic was horrible. CJ just cannot cut it in a real kitchen environment. There's a reason why he's a personal chef and not a restaurant chef and this episode showed it. Casey is just horribly slow, even though she is talented and has a good palate. I don't think I could cut onions slower than her if I tried. I think if they had switched around Brian and CJ they would've put out better food and they would've had a better chance of winning as Brian is clearly faster and better in the kitchen than CJ. Tre also admittedly was too relaxed and overconfident. You know, I really think that the whole team thought that the other team would self-destruct due to internal conflict from Howie, and all they had to do was show up and put out a decent product. In the end, it was Tre's responsibility to make sure that the food was top notch and he didn't do that. I only remember the scallop as being good. Everything else (the pudding, filet, lobster, monkfish) all had problems. That's a lot of dishes right there.

Team Quatre really stepped it up, both in the quickfire and the elimination. Holy crap is Hung fast. And so is Sara M. which I didn't see before. She mowed through those onions. Sara M. really impressed me by her work in the kitchen in this past episode as the executive chef. I didn't really care for her up until this point but this past episode made me look at her in a whole new light. She made sure that all of the dishes that went out were good (and they were, there were no complaints by the judges about any dish at all as far as I can remember) and she made sure that food was cooked over if it wasn't done to her liking. I mean she was checking over everything, unlike Tre, and it showed. Like I said, wow. I was very impressed. She was exactly how an executive chef should be. I was also impressed by Dale's ability to run the front, AND put out a dish in the back. Brian only did the front for the other team. I had to laugh when Dale told Stephen from season 1 to cut down on spending too much time talking to the guests at the table. Stephen's reaction to that was priceless.

Howie was able to swallow his pride (somewhat). It was funny when Sara told him twice to cook the lamb more (which was raw, not rare). I thought it was even more funny that Howie needed a thermometer to tell the doneness of the lamb. As a professional chef, that is a sure signal of "hack". For a homecook? That's fine. But for someone with that much restaurant experience, that's kinda sad. I mean, I can tell the doneness of almost any meat just by feel, and so can most professional cooks/chefs with comparable experience.

They definitely (and even Sara acknowledged it) had an advantage with Hung in their kitchen. The guy is unbelievably fast and I'm sure he was helping to prep and cook every single dish that came out of that kitchen because he was able to do so, unlike many of his fellow competitors. I mean, I consider myself pretty fast but holy **** is Hung quick.

Funniest quote of the night:

Dale (to Hung): "Sara and Joey are on table 7."

Hung: "Who's Sara and Joey?"

Dale: "You know, from the show (or something like that)"

Hung (without breaking concentration in what he's doing): "Oh, nice."

Alright with only 7 left and with Tre gone, my adjusted top three: Hung, Brian, Dale. Hung is still the favorite to take it all.

 

[ironchef]

I would also like to add that CJ is a piece of ****. After saying earlier that despite only having one of his balls due to cancer, he still has more balls than the rest of the competition, he clearly showed in this episode that he literally, and figureatively, has less balls than everyone else. After winning the quickfire and picking his team, he relinquished all leadership and decision making and when push came to shove, threw Tre under the bus and even Brian in part I. And he couldn't even make his ONE dish perfect. Chef Zarkanian called him out on it too, when he pointedly told CJ that he should be supporting his chef. To me, if you're not supporting someone at the judges table you weren't supporting them in the kitchen, meaning you weren't concerned about putting out the best product.

You know, I wonder if Team April pulled a "Weakest Link" strategy. On that show, whenever there was three people left and they had to vote someone off, the smartest person ALWAYS was voted off by the two weaker ones because it would give them a better chance to win in the final round. I wonder if they all privately conferred (without Tre) that since Tre was one of the strongest competitors left, if they boned the challenge from the food aspect, maybe they would all have a better chance of winning because Tre would be gone since as the exec. chef, the food would have been his responsibility. Who knows? But it kind of seemed that way when no one was willing to take some of the blame along with Tre. They all seemd content to let Tre take all the heat for their bad cooking.

 

[mitmondol]

I liked Tre, but he became a disappointment the last time. Spying on the other team, then he came off too confident (can do bread pudding in my dream) and after it came out bad, he kinda said , well ,that I thought was the easiest dessert to make.(so, can you make it in your dream or what?!)
They were right to let him go.
His menu choices were a mistake and were not done well. On top of that he didn't bring the team together at all. I don't care how many dishes he made, that was his fault too, not an excuse!

I'm sorry he's gone, wanted to see him and Hung in the final.

Casey should go!!
I don't believe in her cooking abilities, at least nothing she made impressed.I think she should have been let go already and not only because of her dull knife at the qf challenge (at least that's what Tom said at the bravo site), though it's hard to believe someone would go into a challenge like that!

Sara was great! Didn't care for her before, but she showed now what she is about!
AND her food was great too they said.I will look at her with more respect from now on, but still, don't think she is a top chef..

Like Hung a lot. Don't care if he is (or seems to be) arrogant at times.
He can cook, has imagination and guts, fast and has the fire in him. He also proved to be a team player.

Dale is fun I think, but don't see him as TC.
The rest of them?
Let them go!

I think Hung is the only one in this bunch who comes remotely close to TC title, so I hope he will get it.

 

[ChefJune]

I disagree with you about x-ing Tre. Made NO sense at all when the whole team was sub par. I think that CJ, who was supposed to be the team leader, and abdicated his responsibility altogether.... well, hes who I would have sent home. OTOH, who knows what the producers are thinking. They DO have a say in who stays and who goes.

Hung seems to have cooking ability, but so far has shown absolutely no leadership capabilities. And I don't like his personality. He reminds me of Marcel in a bad way.

I think I like Brian to win, now that Tre's gone.

 

[mitmondol]

You're right June, haven't seen any leadership from Hung, yet.
Have you seen that in Brian?
Honestly, Tre being out, I don't see anybody being qualified fore the title in everything.
So, I vote for Hung, because at least he will cook well, he will come up with ideas,yes, I can see him making mistakes too.
But I see that a lot more in the rest of them and WITHOUT his drive.
I don't have to like him as a person to vote for him.
Yes, I did like Tre as a person, so it's too bad he's gone.

 

[carolelaine]

Thoughts on last nights episode? I thought Casey came off in a very good light. Smart not to serve the mousse course. Hung was odd, what about his smurf village? I have to agree that Howie's dish did look like dog poop. Sad, he seemed to be trying to mend his evil ways.

 

[college_cook]

I definitely agree that Casey did well last night, and also that Hung seemed to be having a very off day. I DO disagree with the negative comments about his cucumber salmon-mousse canape' however. Sure its been done, and been done alot, but that's because it's a great little canape'. IMO, most of the great food we eat today is classical in origin, or a modern adaptation of it. Sure, he even said it wasn't the best thing he could have done, but with a budget of $50 for 60 people, he could have done FAR worse, especially in the realm of the overdone. At least he didn't serve his food on bread, like nearly EVER other contestant, he kept it very light, and he got a lot of compliments from the guests.

 

[Mylegsbig]

"Sure, he even said it wasn't the best thing he could have done, but with a budget of $50 for 60 people, he could have done FAR worse"

Not the point mate. By now the judges know how good Hung is, and they knew for a fact he was trying to take the easy way out. Hung is my fav on the show, but he has been playing it too safe. And chef collichio knows it.




Honestly i don't think it's fair to compare Hung to Marcel or Steven(whatever his name was from season1, the wine taster)

Hung IMO is a better Chef, but too cautious.

Also, Hung is not so cocky and self-involved...he comes off to me as straight up confident. Dont get me wrong, ridiculously confident, but he doesnt go out of his way to be conniving or to talk as much trash as steven or marcell.

He comes across like just straight up thinks he's got what it takes.

Also, hearing him talk doesnt remind me of using a cheese grater on myself.

He is funny, and cool. And he gives people props. He has never made me want to bash his head in. Steven and Marcell did repeatedly.

Hung is the man and i want him to win.

I was so dissapointed they sent Trey(sp) home. I thought he was top 3 for sure.

So stupid they keep those 2 girls on there and send home Trey. You know it's rigged. They think their ratings will plummet if it is men only on the show. For a FACT.

This is clearly illustrated by the fact that 39% voted the women were the best chefs remaining... LMAO! Seriously. Even my wife started laughing when she saw that. Some people are just silly. Look past gender and race and just try and determine who is the best chef. How could 39% of the voters possibly think those two girls are better than Hung, CJ, Malarkey, etc...seriously, give me a break.

What kind of a person just calls in and votes for a person that happens to be the same gender as them?

Completely mindless.

 

[buckytom]

i just started watching this season, and am almost caught up. i still have the last 2 weeks to watch on tape.
i like the idea that they play mini-marathons every week so you can see previous episodes, if you've missed one.

i started out not liking hung, but he's grown on me. my money's on him, or sara.

 

[kitchenelf]

I think Sara will be in the top two - I wouldn't be surprised if it was with the tall guy. I think Sara out-performed Hung by a landslide last night.

 

[ChefJune]

I think Sara will be in the top two - I wouldn't be surprised if it was with the tall guy. I think Sara out-performed Hung by a landslide last night.

I sure hope CJ is NOT in the Top 2. I think he sold Tre down the river.

 

[college_cook]

If there's 1 person remaining right now that I really think doesn't deserve to be there, it's CJ. IMO, he's done the least amount of impressive dishes out of anyone left. I think Casey and Sara def. have a better shot than he does.

Right now you've got the following people remaining: Hung, Casey, Sara, CJ, Brian, and Dale.

Hung- I think everyone's standout favorite by a longshot. He's got 2 quickfire wins, and has come close to an elimination win here and there. Always a stand-up guy, and a team player, and not aggressive or a jerk in any way.

Dale- 2 quickfire wins, and has also come very close to a an elimination win. I think most of hi shortcomings have come from his willingness to accommodate his team members. I think he has a lot of great ideas that for some reason or another don't always come to fruition.

CJ- 1 Quifire and 1 Elimination win. Does the guy have talent? Yes. Can he put out good food? Of course. But he's a Private Chef, and I really think it shows. He's VERY slow, and I think with the more intense free-for-all that's coming up, he won't be able to rely on team members to keep him afloat. Even if he does by some chance make it to the top 2, he doesn't have the energy to really make some magic in the kitchen under any kind of time restraint.

Casey- 2 elimination wins, and 2 quickfire wins. I've liked Casey to make it to the Top 4 from the very beginning. She's got skills, and great potential I think. She's not afraid to take risks, which I really admire in a Chef and think it's a great quality to have. However, since this is a competition, noone is going to watch her back for her and ground her if her ideas go too far astray. The only reason she won't face off against Hung in the Final challenge is if her decision-making gets the best of her.

Sara- 1 Elimination and 1 Quickfire. She's got skills, and she showed it in the quickfire challenge in Round 2 of Restaurant Wars. I think that she limits herself unnecesarily though. She try to make something healthier, or something different, which I admire, but I don't believe that's where her strengths are. More often than not, I think she plays to her weaknesses, and that's why I pick her to go home next week.

Brian- 1 Eliminatioin and 3 quickfires. I really like this guy for Top 4 right now. I think he's done great food, he's quick, and he knows what he's doing in the kitchen. I think he suffers from being too quick sometimes, or maybe more accurate to say he;s too quick in his decisions. He might not make the best leader, as shown in last episode, but I really respect his attitude towards the judges about being called a weak leader- He wasn't their exec. chef, and they weren't his sous chefs or his line cooks as he said. I liek the he was mindful enough to consider them as his contemporaries.


My Top 4- Hung, Casey, Brian, Dale.

My Original Top 4- Hung, Tre, Casey, Dale.

 

[ironchef]

CC, nice synopsis and I agree with most of what you said. As much as I disliked Howie, I was really, really, REALLY hoping that CJ was the one to go last week. He won't be around for much longer now that there are less contestants and each chef will be called upon to do more in the ensuing challenges. This season is unique to the past two seasons in that not all of the most talented chefs will make it to the top four or top five.

I think that they should've made the winner of the quickfire in the "Restaurant Wars" challenge the Executive chef. If you're a "Top Chef", that's what it is all about. If you look at the past two seasons, the winners of that challenge (Lee Ann and Sam) worked their butts off (even though ironically, each never made it to the top 3, both were arguably among the top two from each season). CJ should've been made to do the task and not have been able to choose someone else. I mean being able to choose your team is one thing. But you're given the chance to show your stuff in prime time, you take it and run with it. CJ copped out AGAIN. The show is not "Top Sous Chef". CJ takes on as little responsibility as possible because he is clearly out of his league. So he can make a good dish here or there. So what. There are thousands of professional cooks and even homecooks who can do the same thing. Looks like he really does have less balls, both figureatively and litterally.

I like Brian, but I think he's been skating on thin ice lately. He hasn't cooked anything in like a month. This past week he did a raw ahi poke, in the restaurant wars he didn't cook anything (although I suspect he did the raw oyster amuse in part I), and in the episode before that he did a raw bar. I mean dude, I love raw seafood too but WTF?

I guess I'll stick to my final three of Hung, Brian, and Dale although Sara M. has come on strong the past couple of episodes. Please, oh please let CJ be gone next week. Then there will be no "The Next Food Network Star" contestests left.

 

[ChefJune]

CC -- interesting observations.. altho I diagree with your assessment of Casey. NOONE who cannot chop an onion should even be in the competition to start with, imho. I think the producers are taken with the similarity in her looks to Jennifer Aniston.

 

[Chef_Jimmy]

I was very unhappy top see Tre go. Dale and Hung are good and think they could possibly be the final 2.

Sara really has turned it on in the last few episodes.

I like brian, But all he does is raw seafood.

Colicchio DOES NOT like chefs that are not flexible! Even last season, he questioned whether or not Ilan could cook anything other than spanish food

 

[mercyteapot]

One of the things that has been different this year is that all of the remaining contestants have been in real danger of being eliminated at least once. It was pretty obvious in Season 1 that Harold, Tiffany and Lee Anne were going to be strong contenders (Dave was the real wild card, though). Last season, I expected Sam to win, but still felt that Ilan and Marcelle would be in the top 4. I probably expected Cliff to make it farther than Elia, but then, he wasn't eliminated based on his skills, so that doesn't count.

This season, I have no idea who will be in the final 4. I wouldn't be surprised to see any of the remaining contestants eliminated or to see any of them win the competition. That said, I did say to my husband on Wednesday night that I'd be nervous if Casey started talking about how tight she was with me, because the night she said it about Leah, Leah was eliminated and the night she said it about Tre, there he went....

 

[college_cook]

CC -- interesting observations.. altho I diagree with your assessment of Casey. NOONE who cannot chop an onion should even be in the competition to start with, imho. I think the producers are taken with the similarity in her looks to Jennifer Aniston.

I don't think she looks at all like Jennifer Aniston, and as a big fan of Jennifer Aniston, I think I'd know

In Casey's defense, she did KNOW how to chop the onion, she just did it very very slowly. It's hard to dismiss her since she runs once of the most successful restaurants in Texas. She's hit or miss, but I think she's top 4 material.

 

[ChefJune]

So I went to her bio and it said she's the Executive Chef of Shinsei Restaurant "one of the most successful in the state." What the heck does that mean? According to whom?

Tre is sous of truly one of the most successful restaurants in the state... ABACUS!

and who owns the restaurant and made HER Exec when she can't chop an onion. Sorry, but professional cooks.... every line cook I ever saw... chops an onion faster than Casey! and nerves are no excuse. That's a task all chefs can do literally in their sleep.

 

[buckytom]

heck, i can chop an onion finer and faster than that.

are we being fooled by the producers and editors? is she the technical fall guy/girl for the time being?

and jennifer anniston? no way. her look is far too waspy. jen ain't a wasp by any stretch, even after rhinoplasty.

meow.

does anyone (outside of those who wish to think of thmselves elite) actually use restaurant reviews as a guide?

 

[ironchef]

In Colicchio's blog on the Bravo site, he said that Casey's knives were blunted because of chopping on the stainless steel counters in the roach coaches. That's why she ended up using her serrated knife instead of her chefs knife to dice the onions. I'm assuming that one of the rules of the quickfire was that each chef needed to use their own blades and could not use each other's. Still, that doesn't excuse her from not keeping her knives sharp.