Tonight on MTV...
by Chef Back Burner
At 10 pm...CRIBS.
This episode we check out the homes of the 4 remaining contestants from Bravo’s TOP CHEF.
On our way out of town we stop in at Elia’s Tuscan style apartment where she shares her success from her other life’s passion...swimming. 2 seconds from the Olympics and she chokes...just as long as it wasn’t on her food.
Then we’ll head to New York City to the tiny loft of Ilan. There he share’s his big dog, his big bed, and his big hat...can a BIG man really exist in a small package?...
Our last stop...Sam’s place. We know all the ladies would like to see where this tall drink of water stores his knives.
At 10:20 pm...MY SUPER SWEET SIXTEEN.
Hawaiian chef, Alan Wong, celebrates his birthday in style...”I want it to be the best birthday on the island. I want everyone to know that I’m the coolest chef around.” Chef Wong picked a most isolated area in the beautiful Hawaiian islands and looked for the best view. “Everyone is going to fly here on a helicopter. I want them all to see how cool I am.”
He invited famous chefs and Hawaiians. “I wanted anyone whose anyone to be there. Like I was really disappointed when I found out Billy Joel wasn’t going to sing....I ran to the bathroom in tears screaming ‘My party’s ruined. Everyone’s going to laugh.’ But then my sous chef explained who this Salman Rushdie guy was and I though ‘Ok...that’s cool.’”
They had traditional Hawaiian food with...gross what is that stuff....anyway...His final words about his party...”Totally cool. Like, let’s have another one tomorrow night, ‘kay?”
At 10:40 pm...THE INFERNO.
Tonight, the heat is on when the cheftestants have to cook a traditional Luau foods while fire twirlers juggle near theirs stations.
Some one might get there ego charred if they aren’t careful. With no rules the kitchen can turn into a cage match...and personalities are going to clash.
“If they aren’t nice to me...I’ll whip out my other chemicals and blow the *bleep* up!”
“I just might have to get all Molotov Cocktail on their *bleep*.
‘I theenk the guys are really trusteeng me now. We’ve bonded. They want me to help them get Marcel....I’m een!”
“I think I’m all good. Done enough to stay here...and I’m in a secret alliance with Ilan. As long as we only do okay we should make it to the final.”
Un-oh...you never know who to trust and who to roast...in the Inferno.
posted by Blogging Top Chef @ 9:01 AM
32 comments
32 Comments:
If the judges provide a definition of what a "top chef" means, I'll watch the show again.
If it just means the person who wins the last challenge, regardless of how they did all season, then there's not a whole lot of point in watching every episode. I can wait til the finale, say "Oh, so and so made the best pork today" and save myself weeks of viewing time.
I can't belive that you booted the "TOP CHEF" from the show.
I agree with Peachpie!!
Sam was on top throughout the entire show and Marcel "THE KING OF FOAM" sucked most of the time. So Tom..What is a Top Chef???? Someone who cooks great 100% of the time and gets along with everyone..HMMM Right??? I won't watch again..maybe just the finale..same as Peachpie...BIG MISTAKE..But you got the king of "FOAM"????????? I won't even watch the last part of the finale. From a faithful "former" fan!! YOU GO SAM...YOU WERE THE BEST>>>>
Careful kitty where you swing that finger...I didn't boot him off....lol!
How easily people forget Sam was almost booted on the Camp Glucose episode because everyone hated his dry turkey meatballs and runny sour smoothie. He was only spared because he accused everyone of cheating and triggered a witch hunt that kept the judges from making a decision.
It's ironic that people keep bashing Marcel, because if you count his win on the last elimination challenge, his record of wins and losses is almost identical to last season's winner Harold. Harold was on the block three times, but Marcel's only been on the block twice.
Ilan has the most elimination wins, so how was Sam more successful? Ilan has only been in danger of leaving twice the entire show, and even then the 7 Sins episode, he wasnt the worst by far. 3 elimination wins and a quickfire = top chef.
Padma said Ilan's dessert was the worst dish of the whole night. If you look at the plates when the chefs are called in after the dinner party, you can see that nobody ate it.
Sam's had his fair share of failures this season too:
1. Camp Glucose: Dry tasteless turkey balls and sour smoothie. He survived only because he accused other contestants of cheating at TC (just like Elia)
2. Surfer's BBQ: His most unappealing "Toad In A Hole" (burned-looking bagel topped with brown rubbery eggs) was voted worst breakfast by the surfers.
3. Restaurant: Makes executive decision NOT to serve wine. His watermelon "gnocchi" looks like vomit and is judged to be entirely unappetizing.
4. Hawaii: The judges determined that Sam's cuisine was just not innovative or creative enough. He played it safe, and he bored them.
Yeah, I almost forgot about the restaurant challenge. Sam was a complete failure on that one. The customers hated everything but the meatball.
Marcel vs Ilan is a classic matchup. Marcel is all about the plan. Weird chemicals, over the top plating, Foams and sometimes taset gets left behind. Ilan is all heart. He cooks according to his feelings. He complained about Camp glocouse and the color chalenge because he couldnt go by feelings...he neededed to think.
I guess no one is crying for Elia. The basket case finally cracked. I would rather have Betty cook for me than her. And hair or no hair she was at best third best looking women of the cooks.
Sam is popular. Sam is cool. Sam is good looking. Sam lost fair and square and the bastard everyone hates won. Makes people flip out, and that is understandable. The bottom line is Sam was no better than any of the other final 4. He lost and I hope everyone who wants to flee the show watch like everyone else and hire a male stripper that is tall and Italian looking to remind you of Sam.
TOM what are you doing booting off the best chef you have ever had on top chef??!!!! Sam by far should be top chef!! He will always be a top chef in my eyes not o great foam boy!!! Tom if I where you i would be beging sam to come back!!
Marcel has made about six foams for the whole competition. How many times has St. Sam pickled something?
Marcel DID cheat. Listen to Sam's CHOW interview. Sam explained that the cheftestants were NOT ALLOWED to bring any cook books, utensils, notes, etc. This was stated in their contracts.
Sam and Elia claim that Marcel brought in agars and xanthum gums. This is against the rules.
Sam said that the producers were forced to approach Marcel in the middle of the competition and ask him to surrender these items.
It's similar to what happened with Keith Michael and his contraband pattern books on Project Runway.
Let me clarify myself.
We've learned (if you've seen the videos or interviews with the judges), that the show is judged on an episode by episode, plate by plate basis. Past failures, wins, consistency or inconsistency do not factor in to final judging.
What that means, darlings, is that we could have easily had someone who made "not great but not terrible" food who was lucky enough to simply not get eliminated all season, go to the finale and win it with one good dish. (I'm not even speaking about this season's contestants).
Now, finally knowing (thank you judges), that this season (unlike last, apparently... when they switched gears, I don't know), judging is done ONLY on the food and only on the particular plate at hand.
So why, I'm wondering, did the judges bother all season long to discuss "Top Chef" qualities? Why did they have team challenges to see how the contestants worked on a team? Why discuss who took leadership roles and who didn't? And why bring up things like front of the house skills?
All the stuff the judges commented on about the contestants character could have been left out. Because all they are doing, now, is rating the plates.
So, maybe I wouldn't feel so angry if the show had been called "Rate The Plate". At least then I'd know what I was watching all season.
I could have skipped every episode. Why did I watch to see who'd win what along the way? Those wins didn't mean anything. If nothing any of them did (except stay in) meant anything all season, and if the 100k is based soley on the finale dish of the season, I'll save myself hours and hours and just see who was lucky enough on the finale to make the best fish dish.
All this show really comes down to now, for me, is "Rate The Plate". That's what it should be called. But NOT Top Chef. And the judges, if that's all they're judging on, should limit all comments to just that.
Oh, and by the way to the prior anon posters about Sam's losses.. over the course of the competition, Sam had the most wins in quick fires and eliminations. Sam won 6 times. Marcel won twice.
But as I just stated in my prior post, that fact doesn't matter.
"Marcel has made about six foams for the whole competition. How many times has St. Sam pickled something?"
Maybe three "picklings" were done by Sam. I believe the judges became irritated with the foams because Marcel did the foams only for the sake of foams. I think the only time his foam was appropriate was the last episode.
Marcel's arrogant attitude aside, many feel that his creations were pretty, but not necessarily original or perhaps cohesive.
Marcel's dish was not really a risk. But he found a place for his molecular gastronomic science project. I thought Sam's addition of salt to a dessert dish was just as adventurous. Salt? Cocunut Milk? It tastes good? Who knew?
In the end, it already appears that Sam is making his mark in the culinary world and people are taking notice. He's already doing well in life.
The people who love Marcel are so mad that people pointed out when people cheated and/or didn't follow rules to a tee. However, if Marcel would have made any allegations, you guys would have applauded him. So, let's just cut out that hypocritical argument.
Come on people lets be realistic...how many gnocchi's did Tiffany try to make...and how much meat did Harold do...Chef's have their things...Sometimes the judges call them on it somtimes they don't.
I've been reading our blog and many of the boards and everyone is talking about this big conspiracy that BRAVO had to keep Marel happy so he wouldn't sue...blah,blah,blah...
It's a show. My guess is that it's as contrived and manipulated as everything a human being touches is. If I go with reason...it tells me that most likely all the chefs were good. It was their best food yet as the judges said. All the judges agreed that Marcel was in..he was the only one they all agreed on....like him or not. The debate was between Ilan and Sam...if you're mad that Sam's out, be mad that Ilan's in...not Marcel....there was no debate about Marcel.
This has been an interesting season...my guess is that usually lays on the people involved. There's potential that the next season will be completely different without Bravo changing a thing.
Just my thought's through this final countdown....
I think the problem is that Marcel had the worst track record of the three. In terms of consistency and number of wins, Sam had the highest, followed by Ilan. That's why many of us expected those two to be Final 2 after Cliff left (he had 4 wins).
Elia and Marcel only had 2 wins. They performed weaker in comparison over the course of the contest.
It should have have been Sam and Ilan. The two chefs with the best records and most consistent performances.
Marcel is only there for 1) the drama factor 2) the pity vote because he was "abused" and BRAVO is wants to appease him.
Based on solely the food and overall performance, Marcel is undeserving.
Also, Sam said in his CHOW interview that Marcel smuggled in contraband ingredients that were confiscated by the producers. He is a cheater and he should have been kicked off the show.
The fact that no one bothered to accuse Marcel of cheating until the end of the competition proves the cheating allegations are a load of crap. That, and the fact that Elia couldn't think of anything better than "Hee mooved my pot!" when asked to give an example of how he cheated.
The other contestants have been dozens of times why they didn't like him, and the worst they could come up with was he's annoying. They've been asked to give specific examples of bad behavior, and even then they never said he's a cheater. Elia is just a whiny little bitch and a sore loser and she making it up.
IF....and I say...IF Marcel brought inappropriate materials to the beginning of the season don't you think they would have found them when they searched their stuff...They do search it. That's how they found Keith's pattern books. The problem is that somehow Keith got them back and either looked through them or used them....the details are iffy.
If the producers confiscated the stuff Marcel had...then the issue is null and void. No one ever accused him during the process of the show of sneaking "chemicals" out of his pockets or knife bags. Don't you think they would have? Of every bunch of reality show contestants these are some of the most nosey and accusatory I've seen. And Bravo has proven that not only will they use controversy like that to their advantage...they will totally kick someone out. OK...so that issue aside...
Moving onto...
Anon 11:05...
It's not cumulative and even if it was...this is mainly how competition works...Marcel did good enough to get through the season...Why did Mike out-live Carlos or Josie...same reason. This isn't a show about interviewing and reviewing someone's credentials...it's about who can survive the challenges and last to the end. I'm sorry if that sounds harsh...but sometimes we all need a dose of reality...television that is!;o)
Another thing about the "banned ingredients" allegation. Agar can be purchased at Wild Oats. They also sell glutin free products that use xanthan gum.
But why would Sam lie about the producers confiscating Marcel's stash of xanthan and agar?
Either Sam is making this all up OR the producers decided not to show any of it because it didn't fit into their "Marcel is a victim" storyline.
If something like that happened, it would certainly explain the animosity the others have towards him. By cutting it all out, the editors make it appear that Marcel is innocent. Maybe he's not.
I didn't say Sam was lying..It is very possible that Marcel brought things with him that were not allowed. Whether he knew they weren't or not is a different issue about character. They were confiscated...most likely before use. All I'm saying is it makes no sense to me that BRAVO wouldn't glom onto the whole "Kick someone out...duh duh duuuuuhhhhnn!" with all the drama they're thriving on this season.
frankly, i would rather believe what actually aired compared to what sam and ilan has to say. based on post interviews, they have shown that they cannot put their personally issues aside and focus on the food.
I am so disappointed with the show after I saw Marcel got chosen over Sam. I have absolutely loved the show so far. I just hope president of Bravo TV watches this show and realizes what's fair?
What do we do about this?
Rather than just discussing the same thing again and again?
I want to someone let Bravo TV that they have wasted my time....Sam by far has been much better than Marcel...
All I have to say is I hate top chef now. Its ironic because the love I had for the show has turned just the opposite.
I'm done with this.
Not watching this show any more
I'm sure the show will go into 3rd season - whatever...Not sure how I'm going to be convinced to watch it again. I didnt expect this from Tom?? He was not a good judge...I was actually looking forward to visitng his restaurant...not anymore
Marcel had the worst record - only 2 wins - compared to Sam's 6 wins. How can they justify picking Marcel over Sam?
I think "pity" played a major role. Everyone feels sorry for poor pathetic abused little Marcel. That's the only reason why he's in the finals.
The producers didn't air his contraband stash being confiscated because that would disrupt his image of the widdle innocent unjustly persecuted nerd.
i completely disagree that "pity" is the reason why marcel is in the finale. i would recommend reading tom's blog. he clearly states why sam was eliminated and why marcel is still standing. it's about the food. it's not a popularity contest.
Every single chef who made it to the final four is a good chef. They are all outstanding cooks. We can't take that away from them, and shouldn't.
The reason for the disallusionment on the part of many fans is the feeling that the show had a particular premise and turned out to have a different premise.
I myself (feeling grumpy and verbose at the time) stated this on the Bravo blogs.
The confusion comes from is this a dish by dish, episode by episode competion where the only factor in who's Top Chef is determined with a final dish in Hawaii, or is it a competition where other factors, leadership, season long performance, etc., is used to make a determination.
Oh..I forgot to add. What we learned is that it's a dish by dish competion.
Where does everyone get the idea Marcel is being portrayed as a victem. Marcel was portrayed as a jerk. The clips all through the show made him look bad. They wanted this guy hated, and it worked. The only sympathy for Marcel comes from some of the bloggers. The guy got attacked in a bar, and the poll in the last episode had about 3 of 4 people wanting to get rid of him. Marcel winning is not a popular idea, it is not what the producers would do if they controlled it!
Didn't work on me. I Love Marcel and not out of pity. I Love him for his absolute refusal not to back down in the face of all of the adversity he has had to endure throughout this competition. Kudos to you Marcel!! You show what bravery, fortitude and class are all about!!! I know it's already over but Good Luck Team Marcel!!!
One more thing, if ilan wins this contest I will puke and be so disgusted I will never be able to bring myself to watch the show again. Yes it is a tv show but it's a tv show that I became emotionally involved with due to my fondness for Marcel.
If I were him and he does win, I'd hand the "title" back and say no thanks. I wouldn't sully my reputation taking that to my name. The show is a disgrace and I know I won't be watching season 3. First pr3, jeffrey, nuff said. tc2 ilan/betty/sam/cliff/frank truly despicable characters. What's next? Rapists? Serial Killers? Child molesters? Nope not for me. There is no integrity LEFT in this show. They've all been proven to be liars (sans Marcel) and the show is making Tom/Padma/and Gail to look less than honest as well, so why bother watching? Enough for me. Good Luck Marcel!!! I hope you at least got the money. :)
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