Top Chef: Chicago

right?

Spike looks like a Backstreet Boy

Intense Erik is intense

Haha there is a guy from Invercargill who worked at a freezing works in this season! As long as he doesn't turn out to be a dick I am in full support.

Not the most auspicious premiere.

http://www.bravotv.com/Top_Chef/season/4/_images/headshots/andrew_150x200.jpg

this guy was pretty out there

"and then padma's like CASA, MOTHERFUCKERS and I'm all OOHHHHHH FUCK yea-yah"

can't believe the kiwi dude made vegemite pizza right out the gate

dude was all sorts of twitchy

I really enjoyed the final challenge format. They should do that one every season.

They kinda wasted Bourdain this time.

Is Bourdain the new Gale? Dude is awesome as a judge usually, but now they're all "ooh yeah, and anthony's here"

It was weird when they had to pretend to be surprised to see Rocco.

just flipping through some of the bios .... I've eaten at the place Nikki co-owns (24 Prince), it was pretty good. Manuel was a sous chef at Babbo.

what's up with the one dude having no idea what chicken piccata is?

can't believe they cheaped out, not giving a prize to the winner. At least give her a handful of those skanky pre-made pasta meals that Rocco endorses.

the winning dish did look pretty good.

I assumed faux-hawk dude was going to be a douchebag but he seemed kind of mellow. Beardo pictured above is going to be annoying as hell.

big time

I don't think he knew what mayonnaise was made of?? and then after richard inadvertently tipped him off he was at judges table with his crab cake getting all MY AIOLI I MADE MYSELF, LET ME SHOW YOU IT and swinging his elbows like a Beastie Boy

too much cursing last night.

http://www.bestweekever.tv/2008/03/13/the-10-greatest-foie-hawks-in-top-chef-history/

I think beardo might have Asperger's or something, he's real weird.

I don't think he knew what mayonnaise was made of??

he admitted as much

And then got pissy when faux-hawk dude offered him some. Douche and a half.

"We're a couple" was so cringeworthy. How long until the producers maneuver them into a relationship-killing face-off?

I assumed faux-hawk dude was going to be a douchebag but he seemed kind of mellow.

the bit where he noticed that he and the girl from S.F. had dueling fauxhawks was pretty funny

Rocco trying too hard to be Bourdain with that one overly harsh zing ("the gnocchi wasn't the only thing that was dense")

I kind of wish they'd make Bourdain the host and demote Colicchio.

er, not host, I guess - head judge

oh damn. i just realized that they were on the same panel and i had forgotten the beef they had going last season.

rocco and bourdain that is

we get a Gale blog... and a Rocco blog... but no Bourdain

Give him time, he's probably hung over.

I was definitely thinking about the beef but it never surfaced .... fully squashed I guess

beef carpaccio

according to bravo.com Spike lives in Williamsburg, NY. That's brooklyn, dickheads.

did they say he was from somewhere else on the show?

i wish they would have cooked actual penguins and gorillas.

that anchovy thing that the New Zealander (Mark?) made looked great

new game: drink every time Richard says "molecular gastronomy"

he was so butthurt when WD didn't liek his dish

i can't separate mark and murray from flight of the conchords in my mind.

yeah that was hilarious - xpost

I don't know why but I always expect Wylie to be more of a hardcore dick as a judge. and he ends up seeming pretty laid-back and a nice guy

he was so butthurt when WD didn't liek his dish

also didn't it seem like there wasn't anything remotely "molecular" about it? it was just plain ol' roast chicken that smelled like eucalyptus.

yeah, and the smell of eucalyptus never struck me as something pleasant to eat(unless you're kola)

he was so butthurt when WD didn't liek his dish
worse was when the spazzy guy let out a little sound of joy when wylie liked his

Wylie Dufresne looks like a guy who played bass in a band from Chapel Hill or Urbana or Lawrence, maybe put out one record on Matador or Sub Pop, had their video played one time during the last ten minutes of 120 Minutes, and then broke up. Then the guy continued to dress and style his hair the same way for the next 15 years.

he actually looks a lot like a guy I know who was in a band in Tulsa OK in the mid 90s

I thought Nikki deserved to get the boot after her team decided the mushrooms were too awful to serve and yet she kept handing them out. Woulda been really bogus if they kicked Dale for putting the cheese on.

"those looked like something a bear produced"

I thought it wasn't fair...they specifically decided NOT to serve the mushrooms. Then Padma was like "can I try them anyway?" and people kept asking them. She wasn't selling them. Still, she should've just tossed them. And the dude should've taken the hit for it instead of her, everyone complained the cheese was the worst part, and he put it on them to make it look better and didn't even taste it.

did the guy who won the elimination challenge win for the glacier? or did he do something else?

he also did the squid, the glacier was just a bonus

not much to talk about in this episode was there

I was fine with erik getting cut, he was sort of irritating

getting eliminated over corn dogs is sort of lol

"fine dining tacos" is also sort of lol

i think erik is the worst chef in the history of the show

how many times did he put out some "garnish" that looked like actual dog shit

maybe clay was worse actually

xxp haha yeah. but most of em didn't even try

spike's must have tasted really good because his was arguably the most street food-y and he went top 3

that was xpost to fine dining tacos

dos caminos guy looked pretty red-faced that he didn't place in the taco challenge

also he apparently had to pack his knives and go IRL:
http://eater.com/archives/2008/03/eaterwire_top_c_2.php

he was at judges table with his crab cake getting all MY AIOLI I MADE MYSELF, LET ME SHOW YOU IT and swinging his elbows like a Beastie Boy

LOL, I loved this.

Mark is my favorite, not just because I expect him to break into INNER CITY LIFE at any moment. But also because damn that anchovy thing looked dope!

rip memo

The Iron Chef America with Wylie Dufresne is one of the best!

dale is my favorite this season

Who was it that smoked the spices for the aroma? Was it Annoying Andrew?

i think it was Richard "Trail-" Blais

I like the kiwi, virtually everyone else is straight up obnoxious.

Incidentally, how bad did her food have to be for the SMOKING HOT BLACK SOUTHERN MUSLIM to get shitcanned out the gate?

Incidentally, how bad did her food have to be for the SMOKING HOT BLACK SOUTHERN MUSLIM to get shitcanned out the gate?

The casting people were probably super geeked on her, as it could have had a lot of conflict with how she was separating herself from the rest of the rowdy group when they were drinking and carousing. How would she handle alcohol, or pork, for example? Then the judges were like fuck that, her food sucked, she's gone.

And "fine dining" tacos is admittedly a stretch but it's not like there aren't lots of other fancied-up street foods on menus nowadays. A couple of the guys came across like they couldn't imagine that Mexico has fancy restaurants at all, like it's a nation of 109 million people that all eat at taquerias and food trucks.

How many hats did Spike bring with him?

Enough to hang on for a few more episodes.

Yeah, the "mexican is not a cuisine" attitude flirts with genuine racism.

Lesbians are looking WAY WAY annoying; next episode bumper with tears and thrown chairs and screaming is unpleasant.

Eric got a LOT of crap on the interweb for not being able to imagine fancy mexican, "mexican is just street food" and anyway IT WAS THE CHALLENGE! If Padma comes out and says your challenge is to make a 3 course meal out of belly-button lint, you do it, you don't say "sorry, belly-button lint belongs in the belly-button".

I wanted to like Spike because I kept getting him mixed up with Andrew and Andrew REALLY annoys me, but Spike is pulling some serious crap too.

Fact is, with Richard for the first time we have a faux-hawked microgastroscientist or whatever they are called who actually seems like a nice guy and who's food is apparently good, so I'm routing for him. There was a lot of sour grapes while they were waiting for judging last night "There's no way that food goes together, that sounds disgusting, I can't compete with that" when apparently everybody who ATE the dish said it actually tasted good. You can't front on that!

And yeah, I was affraid like project runway this year everyone was gonna get along but next week's preview puts that notion to rest.

Richard actually seems like an asshole as does Dale. Andrew is insane.

There was a lot of sour grapes while they were waiting for judging last night "There's no way that food goes together, that sounds disgusting, I can't compete with that" when apparently everybody who ATE the dish said it actually tasted good. You can't front on that!

otm, when that part came on I was like "whoa, jealous much??"

taking stuff that "shouldn't" go together and making it taste amazing is pretty much the point of the show

talent level has definitely gotten tougher from season to season. as my wife pointed out after we watched the episode there is no way a dish like that lamb -- that by everyone's admission tasted good but was just a little too simple and didn't fit the movie theme -- would have ended up on the bottom in season 1 or 2

there was some serious WTF? hating going on there. i think one dude said something like "that just has to taste bad" BUT YOU DIDN'T TASTE IT!!

xpost

That block-party episode was full of so much hilarious condescension! Like, "This is Middle America, they have hot dogs in their houses, I'm not sure they even know what vinegar is" -- these poor untutored bumpkins living in the third biggest city in the U.S.!

(Granted, someone did float a better argument for keeping it simple, which was that there would be children eating.)

taking stuff that "shouldn't" go together and making it taste amazing is pretty much the point of the showlife.

-- dmr, Friday, April 4, 2008 4:14 PM (4 hours ago) Bookmark Link

i kind of hate all of them. richard should have gone. wotserface winning the trip to italy was criminal.

I didn't understand what even happened at the end that led to Dale yelling at that one lady. It was like it came out of nowhere and had nothing to do with what was going on, just him venting about not winning the trip to Italy.

yeah def some shoddy editing there

he was bitching about about how negative she is earlier in the episode

i mean they had the elim girls' gf going "YOU BURIED YOUR OWN TEAMMATE" and spike going "so what?" but we were given no indication as to how she even knew that spike absolved himself, i mean obv the gf told her but still

yeah chaks but they spliced it so it was like in the middle of the gf/spike fight and it kind of came out of nowhere even though there was already previous tension

that lezbo kicking the chair for no reason = MAJOR LULZ. She is so obnoxious, I wish she would've gotten the boot instead of her gf.

they locked them in a room with beers.

I think Dale made a comment about the spike v. antonia argument, and the italy-winner was all "you're not helping" and being judgemental and dale found his flimsy excuse to unleashify.

I'm rooting for Ryan for being a likable doofus, but there's no way he'll last. The rest of them pretty much suck.

Worst season yet?

the second season w/ all the hipsters who couldn't cook at least had drama. i don't get this one.

that chick needs to shut up about her girl being gone, she deserved to leave. dude with the hats is awful.

Worst season yet?

fixed

It's pretty dumb so far.
Final folks: fauxhawk dude, asian guy, cute chubby girl, kiwi.

dude, i'm totally shocked the kiwi has managed to stay this long.

He seems like a good cook!

The super intense guy gets good marks too. Don't forget him.

i like this season a lot! maybe not as good as the past ones but i'm still making time out to watch this every week. i guess this season is missing a marcel/hung-esque villain but i think as they continue to whittle the field down it will get better. this week's challenge looks like potentially one of the most interesting in the show's history.

peace out this lesbian story line was beyond fucking boring

I thought Dale was whiny about it but now I'm getting sick of miss potty-mouth intensity. All her complaining about the polish sausage was driving me nuts.

Richard FTW. He's creative, he does all that sci-fi crap but again and again the judges say it tastes good. And he actually seems like a nice guy.

it was like they genuinely couldn't figure out why it was a bad idea to not put any polish sausage in

and if THE whole point of all cooking shows isn't to either take some generic street food and make it fancy, or take some fancy food and make it street. They just don't get it, like Eric's "taco's aren't fancy therefore I won't make a fancy taco" when the challenge is MAKE FANCY TACO.

this season has been fun: intense eyebrow lady, richard, kiwi, cute chubby girl, and guy who doesn't know when to stop are all great; i would be happy to see any of them win. as long as the hat gets booted

i'm pulling for dale or the hispanic girl who won the palette challenge

this past challenge was seriously great

eyebrow lady is staying just far enough under the radar, i thought she'd be gone by now.

dale totally reminds me of one of my bros, so he's my guy

you know who was funny was the self proclaimed 'metrosexual' who didn't understand anything ever. him grabbing new zealand by the shoulders and trying to explain 'a christmas story' was amazing.

so was the dessert quick-fire.

i hate the condescension they all evince toward anything pastry ... and i was glad when the bitchy girl failed miserably after barely trying.

you know who was funny was the self proclaimed 'metrosexual' who didn't understand anything ever

yeah i was pretty surprised that he turned out to be a generally awful and clueless chef.

Every season they have some pastry challenge - it seems like you'd learn one really well and be ready for it. Some of them kind of mentioned this but other ones seemed totally shocked by having to make pastry.

dale had the best strategy-- know one dessert, know it well, and make it once. it helped too that it was pretty interesting

weird disconnect in last nights episode in that NZ Mark had never seen a Xmas Story but can seemingly name every Second City comedian from Jim Belushi to Steve Carrell. seemed like the producers just fed him some boilerplate to read.

I think he'll be gone soon, ditto Nikki, she's put out some pretty bad stuff

who do you all mean by "eyebrow lady"?

nikki=eyebrow lady

she reminds me of the woman who got into the fight with marcel two season ago, except that woman at least won a few challenges even though she ended up being hopelessly overmatched when they needed to do classical cooking near the end. nikki hasn't even been on a winning team i don't think. and she is usually like one person away from being booted like every other episode.

take some generic street food and make it fancy, or take some fancy food and make it street

the people that have flopped just lack imagination I think. Richard is killin em in the ideas department. some of his stuff is pretty clever (like the banana scallops) but some other dishes aren't exactly rocket science (hey I'll grill a burger but it's veal and I'll call it pate). but he never says "that's stupid I'm not doing it" like the challenge is beneath him or something.

you know who was funny was the self proclaimed 'metrosexual' who didn't understand anything ever. him grabbing new zealand by the shoulders and trying to explain 'a christmas story' was amazing.

this dude is a douche irl

he seemed like one

loved how he convinced himself he got the boot for making food that was TOO GOOD .... uh no the judges just said it was inappropriate for a tailgate and also sucked

but he never says "that's stupid I'm not doing it" like the challenge is beneath him or something.

this is the thing that always impressed me most about him. he always seems to view the challenges as actual challenges instead of burdens or things he needs to worm his way out of

chaxi more details plz

er, chaki

i hang with the myth cru they work with him

yeah, he was like 'i worked with boulud, not my style' and you know he got booted after a couple days for being a clown

weird disconnect in last nights episode in that NZ Mark had never seen a Xmas Story but can seemingly name every Second City comedian from Jim Belushi to Steve Carrell. seemed like the producers just fed him some boilerplate to read.

Blues Brothers, etc... are pretty well known internationally, and if he's lived in the U.S. for a little while, he's probably come across the Office and the 40 Year Old Virgin. Christmas Story is virtually unknown (as far as I'm aware, anyway) internationally.

Not that I'd argue with the notion that the cheftestants are fed many a line by the producers (GUEST CHEF is one of the best chefs in Chicago, I'm so thrilled, etc...).

I also favor Richard for his skills and generally good attitude. I actually thought he was a prick earlier on, but that impression was mainly due to his facial expressions and mannerisms, which can come across as a little snoby at times, but are actually totally benign. Nikki will go very soon. There's always a person or two who manages to barely avoid elimination week after week, and then eventually the axe falls. Kiwi guy just doesn't seem to cook good tasting food.

Kiwi constantly stoned y/n?

Umm hello, did anyone find that Ryan's spent his final eliminating episode acting exactly like Steve Carrell in The Office? Starting with his allegedly lengthy self-justification during the judging and ending with his incredibly dramatic lingering-in-the-doorway farewell? By the time he started referring to himself in the third person -- "that's just who Ryan Scott is" -- I was like "OMG, do you have a fictional relative named Michael?"

That's "hello" as in a greeting, not as in "umm HELLO people," because I hate it when people do that

i was thinking kiwi was quietly a contender, but then he got hit with the unhygenic criticism, and now he's grossing me out

The kiwi guy often produces food that looks refined and interesting, but then the judges eat it and are like "um, no."

Even though I could tell from the interviews that Dale had gone home (his eyes were still red from crying), I still kind of can't believe it.

Richard and Stephanie for the Final.

thought Lisa was gonna go

how many ways did Dale try to tell her "it tastes like smoke"

yeah that was bullshit.

i love stephanie, though.

Antonia for the win

SUCH a crush on Antonia

she is pretty, but it bothers me the way she repeatedly slams Dale for making Asian food; i was glad Bourdain pointed out that "Asia's a big place." i like to think of that as a zing on Antonia.

I didn't like Antonia at first for some reason but I've grown to like her. She's just really level headed and solid. I just don't know if she ever does anything really mind-blowing and creative though.

No crush though, that's on Stephanie.

this is a pretty classic elimination, esp. when you consider restaurant wars. trey got eliminated last year too. they take the "executive chef" thing way too fucking seriously.

i thought dale, richard and antonia were a lock for the finals, but you could drop stephanie in there and i think it would make just as much sense

i'd be shocked if a woman didn't win this season

according to wiki

Note 2: Richard has previously been a competitor on Iron Chef America.[2]

also wondering about lisa's palette. the episode from last week w/ sam as guest judge just came on and during the quickfire lisa says her salad has "some heat in it" and sam tasted it and said "actually i didn't taste any spice at all". i didn't think much of it at the time, but it kind of sticks out in light of dale telling lisa that he tasted no spice in her soup in this episode

yeah, that was pretty damning. both Spike and Dale didn't like the laksa, but she couldn't seem to taste whatever it was they were tasting.

oh man.. bourdain is such a better host than colicchio.

I think more unhinged Bourdain would be better than trying-to-be-reserved Bourdain. But I totally lolled at 'woodstock vs. altamont'.

And Colicchio is kind of awesome just for always being totally exasperated.

Lisa must go.

i'd be shocked if a woman didn't win this season

The producers do try and keep things somewhat unpredictable, but I'm inclined to agree. Didn't they make a big point of talking about how a woman hasn't won yet at the beginning of the season?

also to make a big point that 3 women made the top 6

btw, no one bumped the thread for last week's episode, gotta take a minute to pour one out for the crazy tweaker muppet

http://www.bravotv.com/Top_Chef/season/4/_images/headshots/andrew_150x200.jpg

r.i.p. dude you were sorta hilarious

after they stayed up all night on the wedding challenge and he was all I'M SO REFRESHED I FEEL GREAT RIGHT NOW!! O_O

wonder if somewhere in dale's mind he thought "chocolate wasabi worked, i'll show them all with...butterscotch scallops?"

spike is still playing it like its survivor. he has shown no skills. i guess hes just stoked for the publicity

i like to think of that as a zing on Antonia.

No way, he was zinging the Mai Buddha team for acting like they're all masters of Asian cuisine.

Dale and Lisa were both such babies.

no, i know, but it was relevant to Antonia's parochial attitude toward Asian culture, too. i know it wasn't directed at her.

bummed dale got the boot!

the restaurant war is a good idea but the way they do it is totally flawed.
i didn't know this was an interior design show. why are they even wasting time with that? the teams should just come up with an idea and have some real designer come in to implement it. They shouldn’t be getting judged on the color choice of napkins. Even the idea of having one of the chefs work the front and be scored on that is questionable to me. It should be more about the food. Not that it made a big difference in this episode because one side was clearly better then the other but the whole thing could be improved.

Last season they did have proper designers help them out, didn't they? I think a knowledge of decor and atmosphere is important if they all want to start their own restaurants (those who haven't already, that is). I don't think the judges really bothered too much with it, though.

maybe they did, i can't remember. i just like the show better when it's focused mostly on the food aspect instead of some gimmicky stuff.
Top Restaurateur?

its still way better than all these catering challenges theyve been doing

I hate when people get kicked after something that was probably good got soggy in a warming tray

how is that lisa girl going to the finales? she sucks

OTM

who's the final four? I missed last week. Lisa made it??

She backdoored her way in somehow. richard, stephanie and antonia are the other three

stephanie ftw

I guess Spike ended up back in New York bro-ing down with Andrew sooner than he might have thought

I think Richard's got it sewn

spike was a mess. tried to cook some frozen scallops for a dinner service at a high end steak house, then called the owner(guest judge) out having them in the walk in.

stephanie killed it though.

his reaction after talking shit to the owner/judge was hilarious, though

once again, i could see the red in his eyes so all the suspense was sucked out of it.

Last week would have been a perfect opportunity to send Spike AND Lisa home. Tom said "you guys have both been in the bottom many times," and had nothing positive to say about either of them. You should just send them both home, dummy. Lisa doesn't belong in the finale.

either antonia or richard is going to win, but i'm still convinced this is a woman's season so i think that will push antonia over the top if they end up in a dead heat

or stephanie of course

either antonia or stephanie or richard will win

but not lisa lol

http://gawker.com/assets/resources/2008/05/toplis.png

Richard deserves to win, but I'd be find with Antonia winning. She's awesome.

I still can't get Dale's elimination tho.

Bourdain's description of the butterscotch scallops helped me understand. Bleah.

did yall see lisa's hair in the 'next week on top chef' thing at the end??
shes not playing around anymore

whoa lisa is a crazy

i love richard now for saying "you won the fucking bronze medal."

also, i never much loved anthonia but it was kind of rad how she told stephanie to "kick their asses" as she left

my love for stephanie remains constant

padma wore a crazy thing at the beginning of the episode

In the poll 91% said Lisa should go home!

BBBBBBBBBUUUULLLLLLLLSSSSSHHHHHHIIIIIIIIITTTTT

omg whatta pwn by richard

again with lisa losing the battle to see who's the wackest. she really needs to step up her game. no more of this coming up short crap,time to get it together and show those judges just how much you SUCK!

Yeah, the bronze medal line had me rollin'.
At this point, I almost want to see Lisa win. She could be the queen of shitsville. That hellbeast pic is slaying me.
No, really; Stephanie looks like she's got this on lockdown.

i haven't seen season three yet. did they take three chefs to the finale too? it seems to be what they're doing for this one, which is really odd. maybe they want lisa to be the villain and add some confusion to the mix when the final contest is really between stephanie and richard?

yeah jeff you could be right

maybe they can bring back MARCEL

http://i25.tinypic.com/e6bp52.jpg

i love richard now for saying "you won the fucking bronze medal."
In the poll 91% said Lisa should go home!

laughed hard at both of these things

also the fact that Lisa had beef with every potential "assistant" expect Nikki

mind-boggling that she can get to the finals by being second-worst every week

I thought it was really lame that they had the helpers go to the market, if they messed up the shopping that would be a huuuge handicap

glad it turned out not to be a factor

did they take three chefs to the finale too?

yeah, same format. two-part finale, took four to Hawaii, cut one before the final challenge

http://www.seriouseats.com/required_eating/2008/06/top-chef-contestant-lisa-fernandes-hates-bloggers-eater-and-your-mom.html

Oh no, I don't read the blogs—you couldn't pay me to read the blogs. I don't want to know what people who can't even afford to eat in my restaurant, let alone know how to cook have to say about me, and the few comments I did read on Eater.com a few weeks back because my job asked me to read 'em. The best they could come up with was that I was ugly.

I missed "the fucking bronze medal."

"people who can't even afford to eat in my restaurant" !!!

lolol

http://www.nydailynews.com/img/2008/06/06/amd_chef.jpg

i almost forgot that the finale is tonight

http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-et-padma11-2008jun11,0,4324206.story

Lakshmi knows her approach is a little more bohemian than her contemporaries, but she doesn't care.

"People want individuality and something that's authentic and soulful," she said. "I'd like to do a show where I'm cooking a stew for friends and while it's bubbling I go, 'Hey, let's listen to this amazing boot- leg concert of Led Zeppelin from 1968.' Or I would read you poetry while the soufflé is cooking."

would smash

2x

I don't get the Padma love; she's certainly attractive, but WAY boring.

trying too hard it seems

hot, better cook than me, plays me Zep bootlegs - how is she not awesome again?

Fucked Salman Rushdie for an extended period of time?

most all chicks have fucked guys

So she's willing to have sex with less-than-studly nerds? Yeah, a real black mark...

He is not a sensitive lover and I think you all know this.

disinvited to slow-cooked stew / led zeppelin bootleg party

she should run for president

obama's veep

omg what if Lisa actually wins

Padma is way hot, too skinny though

okay steph is gonna win

^otm

i was sweatin bullets

For a while I was having terrors at the thought of Lisa winning, but then I just decided that if she really did cook the best meal then she kinda deserved to win, if those are the stupid rules they're going to use. And it really seemed like they liked Lisa's dishes the most.

They really did set it up so it seemed like Lisa would win based on that one meal. But I couldn't believe they would pass over one Stephanie or Richard (who between them won, what, 8 of the 15 elimination challenges?) for Lisa who was second from last a whole bunch of times.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080612/tv_nm/chef_dc;_ylt=AkZimfrEiKdhTPeV4hKDGyhxFb8C

"Top Chef" spinoff puts teens in kitchen
By Kimberly Nordyke
Thu Jun 12, 1:15 AM ET
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Bravo is cooking up a spinoff to its "Top Chef" franchise that would feature teenage competitors.

In addition, the cable network has given an eight-episode order to an untitled docu-series that will follow chef Jean-Christophe Novelli as he opens a cooking school in Los Angeles.

"Top Chef Junior," which is in development, is a cooking-competition series that would feature contestants who likely will range in age from 13 to 16. Bravo said that "Top Chef," which aired its season finale Wednesday night, is a draw with younger viewers, ranking in the top 15 shows among kids/teens 2-17 in the Wednesday 10-11 p.m. slot among all ad-supported cable entertainment networks for the season to date.

Meanwhile, the Novelli series, which likely will premiere in 2009, will center on the chef, who has restaurants in London, France and South Africa and already has a cooking school in the U.K.

!

;_y

I thought they were gonna give it to Lisa, I do think they preferred her dishes last night to the others, and she didn't fail as badly as the other two. The worst criticism she got was that something was pedestrian. But then again, even though her dessert sucked, Stephanie's entree was the fave and even though for drama they have to talk about how it's all about this one meal, they really couldn't ignore the fact that she was way better then Lisa the entire time.

I also promised myself that if Lisa won, I'd quit watching TV forever.

High fives all around the house when lisa didn’t win.

felt bad for richard who choked and knew it. but i figured going in that one of those the two would beat out lisa. that coconut soup she made did look good though.

I think Richard overthought it and second-guessed himself too much

when you've got Eric Ripert and Dan Barber ohhing and ahhing over your oyster freezie preparation how do you not serve that dish??

Oh yeah, I forgot - what happened to that dish?

I think he decided to use the nitrogen for the bacon ice cream instead and thought the oyster thing was too gimmicky

but three of the people who are gonna be eating the meal were already wowed by it so wtf

the fact that he did a cutesy dessert he had done before on the show (banana scallop) made me think he either had serious brainlock under pressure or his bag of tricks wasn't that big after all

oh well, I kinda picked him to win at the beginning but stephanie seems cool

I thought maybe he had used up all the remaining liquid nitrogen on his fauxhawk.

And incidentally:

Final folks: fauxhawk dude, asian guy, cute chubby girl, kiwi.
-- forksclovetofu, Tuesday, April 22, 2008 10:21 PM (1 month ago) Bookmark Link

Two out of four and Dale got robbed.

cute chubby girl

she was looking a quite bit thinner right before the finals episodes. but after the 6 month period between she put on a few lbs.

WTF was with Cololzicchio the last few episodes? Dude couldn't be bothered to even shave for the final episode. He had a constant look on his face like he had fallen behind on his mortgage payments and was trying to figure out if he had time to get to the bank. Seriously, is he going through a divorce or something?

I learned last night that Stephanie showed up at the neighborhood bar over the past weekend. Would've liked to be there and thrown some awkward game.

but three of the people who are gonna be eating the meal were already wowed by it so wtf

I thought they were just wowed by the technique.

xpost "I'd sure like to braise YOUR pistachios"

I thought they were just wowed by the technique

well yeah they didn't taste it. I just thought it was weird to be all proud like "I just showed Eric Ripert something he didn't know" and then scrap the dish.

I think Richard was paid to take a fall.

Also, if you remember all the comments the judges made, Lisa came out as the winner with more victories and close second place victories. TOP CHEF producers didn't want Lisa to win and I didn't either. Since Stephanie and Lisa we're close enough in the "overall which meal would you eat again", they were able to give Stephanie the win. Richard must have taken a fall, cuz I don't think he over-thought anything except "what fancy dishes can I make that will show I'm skilled but also put me in last place".

I might go to his new restaurant.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bh70LSWL2q4

bring in the senate subcommittee

gggnarly (1 week ago) Show Hide
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blais u are raw dog - keeping molecular gastronomy moving forward, cheers

gggnarly

Also, if you remember all the comments the judges made, Lisa came out as the winner with more victories and close second place victories.

how on earth are you justifying this statement?

By not remotely understanding the concept of editing, I am thinking. . .

My impression:

Course 1:
Tie between Lisa and Steph, potentially Lisa winning based on a few comments, but maybe Steph based on Lisa's comments.

Course 2: Lisa, with Steph and Blais clearly behind but not by a wide margin.

Course 3: Steph, with Lisa potentially in 3rd.

Course 4: Lisa, with Steph probably in 3rd.

Disagree?

I don't disagree based on what we saw, but you don't think that maybe they edited those comments to add some drama ("oh noes maybe LISA will win") rather than this "oh shit the fix is in" conspiracy theory stuff!

it was definitely edited, they always need a villain to almost snatch the prize from the audience favorite(s) even if the villain doesn't have a shot in hell. these decisions are made by the judges in consultation with the producers, remember.

Apparently those judges tables can go on for hours, and of course it was almost dawn by the time they brought them out, so heavy heavy editing to make it look closer indeed.

these decisions are made by the judges in consultation with the producers, remember.

Every interview I've read with guest participants (Bourdain, etc.) has indicated to me that this idea is very overblown, and that Colicchio would probably quit rather than reward a meal/performance that was obviously inferior.

that shit works in mysterious ways behind the scenes

Colicchio wanted to kick out all the chefs who bullied Marcel in season 2, but the producers stepped in. I think it's more about that than it is about who would make the most entertaining contestant.

Dale surely would have stayed otherwise, but apparently he really did cook the worst meal that day.

i don't think there's any conspiracy but i'm sure they tone down criticism/play up the positives with the eventual loser in order to make it look closer than it really is in the end.

of course, every reality show does this

why dont we agree to talk about things that were actually shown on tv

like lisa being a bitch O_o

Course 1: Lisa won, Steph close 2nd (remember they liked her prawns with chile sauce and steph used truffle sauce that they didnt like)

Course 2 & 3: Lisa won (tom ka soup) which they loved, Steph's lobster ravioli didn't enough like lobster, Lisa had too sweet of sauce on something (making it a complete failure), and Steph had the blueberry pistachio thing they loved (best dish of the night? they certainly loved Lisa's tom ka soup but since it wasn't the meaty course maybe they favored steph's dish)

Course 4: Lisa won with Black Thai Rice over Steph who clearly failed with her cake

Technically Richard may have won this one. But we can't take Richard's meals into account since he was paid to take a fall.

I think on your average week-to-week show they definitely boot the person with the worst meal no matter what they're like overall (see Dale this season, Tre and Sam previously) but for the finale there's no way they were going to give the win to someone who was in the bottom three multiple times and only continued on by not being the absolute worst over either of the two who together split half the total wins.

lisa had a face for radio anyways. the judges didn't want to see that girl again in the requisite past winner guest show.

Regarding the editing - it's patently obvious that they edit judges' comments to create a positive or negative spin. The judge will say "the beef was cooked really well(CUT)" and it's easy to tell that a "but" was coming. So while the producers may not unduly influence the decision making, their editing certainly can distort the tenor of the deliberations. When the producers want to justify someone getting the boot or winning, they build a case by splicing together short comments (positive or negative) from the judges. The viewer has little notion of the overall discussion.

I actually thought the judging seemed to have more integrity this season.

Colicchio in the reunion show saying that he would have booted Lisa instead of Dale.

was it good? i havent watched it yet

i'd like to apologize because i actually completely misunderstood the comment and thought it was an overall thing rather than that-meal-specific thing. but yeah a) editing for drama b) as has been pointed out it is naive to think that the entire season did not come seriously into play in decision-making, even if they did think lisa had won.

i don't remember closely enough the actual final meal to dispute any of the "who won what course" being mentioned here, though i think there was a lot of dissent that seemed to be getting kind of edited out during the deliberations (much like when gail announced loudly "wasn't everyone's FAVORITE thing on the plate (some bullshit)" and padma moaned "NO!!" and then seemed to be immediately ignored in the ep where -- i think -- dale was cut).

honestly, i'm just offended that a person who can't fucking cook rice (two separate episodes, two separate epic fails!) even made it past the pre-quals of the show, much less far enough that she can be making haughty, bitchy, godawful pronouncements to the media about how she doesn't give a shit if a bunch of people who "can't afford" her restaurant thought she wasn't as good as the other chefs (which, presumably, means she thinks tony bourdain can't afford her joint? i'd love to hear his reaction, i imagine it involves middle fingers!).

tony, tom, padma -- you cannot afford to eat her shitty rice! you impoverished idiots! go start a blog!

i mean, honestly.

bunch of people who "can't afford" her restaurant

what restaurant does she even work at btw? on the show it just always said "New York Sous Chef," I figured she might have quit her old job to be on the show or something

http://www.timeout.com/newyork/restaurants/tribeca/3615/mai-house

she works here. it's okay. and not as pricey as she's implying. but why would you bother affording "her" overpriced, bourgie versions of thai food in a city that is teeming with absolutely delicious, some more, some less expensive thai options?

{i'm assuming that's the restaurant she's talking about, because the interview was given after she took the position as sous chef there)

lol that's where spike works (worked?)

haven't been to mai house but I'm sure it's not fucking w/ sripraphai

in other words schefter otm -> but why would you bother affording "her" overpriced, bourgie versions of thai food

yeah, and not only could she not cook rice, but both times she fucked it up, she blamed it on someone else, all, who touched the stove? i loved the first time it happened, when Ted was like, okay, maybe she was sabotaged, but clearly he just thought she sucked. she sucks.

dmr, worked! he quit. i love how the yelp reviews are all "omg spike from top chef is so hot" and then when news broke that lisa was hired and he quit, the last post on the yelp page is "i will boycott this place forever, because of this terrible lady" basically.

Hahaha oh my.

I guess I fell behind on my top chef news feed at some point!

I knew that one guy left dos caminos a while ago

Stephanie interviewed in The Onion; she comes off genuine and likable as usual.
http://www.avclub.com/content/interview/stephanie_izard

yelp reviewer chixors in falling for transparent dbag spike shocker