Top Chef: Masters

in which NYCtv viewers learn to share Kelly Choi with the rest of the world

http://www.bravotv.com/top-chef-masters

premieres June 10

rooting for ludo and wiley.

You mean Wylie?

waxman's most my kinda guy - ate in one of his latter-day places; was decent - but don't necessarily have a dog in this fight yet

no, wiley

http://www.imposemagazine.com/photos/2007/11/wiley-3.jpg

anyway this seems pretty cool, yeah

haven't heard of many of them so they might as well be new contestants to me

is this more a testament to a respect ppl in the biz have for top chef or a testament to the fact that any human will go on tv

is this more a testament to a respect ppl in the biz have for top chef or a testament to the fact that any human will go on tv

I think it's less respect and more that people want to test their mettle against the challenges, which seem pretty f'in tough.

Also, to be on teevee.

some of the names are bigger than others

others I might root for: Suzanne Tracht, Mark Peel, Christopher Lee

Anita Lo is gonna gain some fans here, I'm sure. I thought her place was ok.

You mean Wylie?

you're talking to a guy who mispelled Radhika's last name about a dozen different ways over the course of last season's thread.

there is also a "Wilo"

whoever he is

no padma and no tom? what the fuck

fuck off kelly choi

has this started? And is it worth downlooting?

yes and not really, no

this last episode was great. rick bayless is like alton brown but a lot more gung ho.

suzanne tracht is so annoying

despite having seen DuFresne all over the show proper, and his being a CHEF, I was still kinda surprised that he was that ... intense

yeah. i think of the 'big' chefs he has come off the most poorly. he seemed disorganized, flustered, crass and nerdy. hubert keller is amazing, though. i'd like to see suzanne goin, tom douglas, and batali on there.

thomas keller and grant achatz too

I admit it's growing on me. I don't love it by any means but it does scratch an itch, and now that I'm used to the format I appreciate the way each ep has the same layout but different details. (I also liked that Dufresne is so intense, though Frenchy this week was kind of hard to take.) Choi isn't very good, though.

Yeah, the guy who was convinced that Rick Bayless copied him was pretty lame.

Surprise contestant Tom Colicchio would be awesome.

Bayless lucked out when he got tongue. Would've loved to have seen him try to work with pig's ear.

Catching up...

I think Art said something like "It's good to see Roy in the kitchen, don't think he's been in one for 30 years..." lollll

Waxman has that identical 80s NYC cocaine middle age burnout voice as Bourdain.

There doesn't seem to be much personality left for the champions round, should be a dull march to the finish.

Yeah I'm kind of sad that one of Grant/Wily didn't make it for dramatic purposes.

he didn't say that, he said Roy hasn't been in a grocery store for 30 years!

oh haha. both are probably true at any rate. apologies if you enjoy roy's restaurants.

Serious love fest going on with the last group. it was cool to see the little behind the scene thing when they were all cooking dinner together. i think that was the first time the show did something like that.

I've really warmed to this show. It isn't a heated competition, but it's fun watching great chefs try to do the challenges, and I love the collegial nature of it.

Yeah I think it's great except for the host and uh the judges are occassionally annoying.

I was never (nor am I currently) in Rick Bayless' cooking but he sure is professional and congenial.

cool to see Mary Jo Deschanel make a guest appearance (Donna Hayward's mom on Twin Peaks)

I know Michael Chiarello can cook, but he annoys me more with every episode. His name dropping in this episode was obnoxious -- you don't see Bayless doing that, and he's probably cooked for more famous people than Chiarello.

I like Rick Bayless, but I cant get it out of my head that he is Skip Bayless' brother. I hate Skip Bayless.

Big mistake not to have Padma do this show. Also, I agree on Chiarello, he is a bit much.

I hope Keller or Lo win. Bayless' botched facelift creeps me out.

Anyone but Chiarello would be fine w/me.

former contestant Dale and Chiarello getting into tonight should be funny.

"whatcha gonna do bout it?"

yeah

has this started? And is it worth downlooting?
― problem chimp (Porkpie), Thursday, June 11, 2009 7:53 AM (2 months ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

yes and not really, no
― let free dom ring (J0rdan S.), Thursday, June 11, 2009 8:38 AM (2 months ago) Bookmark

I wanted to critique that post when I was banned.
It's worth watching. Downloading, do people still do that?
Anyways a few of the latest judge decisions seemed to be rigged. But I rather Art go than Anita - so I didn't care if there was and bias at the judge's table last week.

Now we have 4 chefs, and four types of ethnic foods (and no more guy that steals the show by talking too much - I like Art but I want to see more of the other chefs). Mexican food (Rick Bayless is dope, he should win), Italian food (Michael Chiarello surprises me by doing so good each week), Orient food with a little bit of French (Anita Lo - she should be doing much better), and Classic French food (Hubert Keller is pretty cool looking).

We learned from the last season of Top Chef that there was no justice in the final episode when the stupid underdog won. Thankfully there is nobody as unworthy of winning as last season.

A couple other things
-I like Kelly Choi but now I just notice that she is skinny and has a big head.. like a barbie doll or something. (how rude of me to think such thoughts)
-I'm looking forward to today's episode. That Dale clip from the preview for tonight's episode (that carne asada mentioned^) looks pretty intense. (I thought it was Hung at first.. my bad - Hung was a way better chef than Dale.. with a top chef season 3 win to prove it. And Hung fully deserved that win).

Michael Chiarello surprises me by doing so good each week

Yeah, this has been pretty surprising.

Can't wait to see Dale rip into him!

I eventually stopped watching this due to not enjoying it. I don't say that to malign the show, it's just a big personal victory for me. Normally I would just go on watching and not-enjoying.

top chef las vegas starts next week (?) i think the 19th?

Sounds right. Sunday is the 16th (Mad Men!)

what is it you have against rick's cooking,steve?

it never looks or sounds appealing to me.

before the show i thought the guy was kind of a hack but the judges always seem to like what he's putting out.

i was going to try and check out Anita's restaurant Annisa but it's closed due to a fire they had on july 4th.

xp I'm sure Rick Bayless food is good, but frankly I'm more excited about getting Al Pastor tacos off a truck than I am about going to one of his restaurants.

Also he's so thin. There's something inherently unpleasant about chefs who don't look like they enjoy food.

I think Rick Bayless is the most pleasant chef of the bunch - at least his personality makes him seem like a really nice cheerful guy. I guess his thinness just doesn't affect me.

Before the Masters season started, I had no idea if any of the chefs were hacks or not- having heard nothing about them and never been to any of their restaurants. I wonder if any of yall had preconceived opinions of them.

This week's episode was the most enjoyable episode since the very first and second episode (imo)(I believe it was those two.. I'm not 100% sure)
Of course last week's episode was good too (yay for Zooey, her episode was better than Neil Patrick Harris's episode).. not as exciting as today's episode though.
Quite a few episodes are halfway boring with Masters, but some episodes make me remember why I really liked watching Top Chef in the first place. There hasn't been many cable shows that I find worth taping right now. Maybe that's partially why I'm enjoying Top Chef. It's one of the few things left for me to watch.

I think Chiarello was just having fun with being on TV and didn't expect dale to freak out like that. All the youngsters were like "Chiarello was being a dick, we have your back dale!" but I think he was just goofing on the whole thing.

It's really hard to tell how much of a dick he was being with them (or with Dale), but the thing that is clear is that the dude is very much a control freak and clearly that alone was bound to rub these folks the wrong way.

The telephone thing this week was "who would win in a fight, Dale or Michael?"
I thought Dale would win because he would fight like a crazy person. The big majority of people who voted said Michael would win though.

Dale's pretty tiny though. Plus he has glasses.

chiarello seemed to be taking the piss with his carrots shtick i think. and when dale freaked and then was like 'what are you gonna do about it?' he kind of stood there confused looking. but as i said before, i have a soft spot for him. i do want to give him some credit though, since he seemed so in awe/respectful of bayless in the last few episodes.

I was worried for a second.

I think the Masters proved that it's much harder to judge three really competent chefs, there is not the gaps that you find in the regular field of Top Chef contestants.

That said, of these three, I have eaten at two of their restaurants and Bottega was easily the better meal. I have eaten at Fleur de Lys twice, neither time did the *food* blow me away (service and ambiance on the other hand were incredible).

Rick, god bless him, a consummate professional and really a self-made guy, but that said I have no interest in his cooking.

What is it about his style that you don't find appealing? Is it just not wanting to eat mole that Ned Flanders made?

I think his cooking appeals to people who have never eaten authentic Mexican food (ie, not ameri-mexi food). If you've ever been on a gourmet tour of DF or even provincially, you'll find lots of that great food that Rick has mined for recipes and techniques and prepares nightly for wealthy Chicagoans.

could you expand on that? cause those two ideas seem very slightly contradictory

i.e., his cooking appeals to people who haven't had authentic Mexican, because ... he is using the flavors and techniques of great authentic Mexican? is that a bad thing? is his sub-par or fraudulent in comparison?

I'm not saying that Rick's food is great, I've never tried it nor does it appeal to me.

His Mexican-fusion perhaps is providing a gateway for people hoping to expand their frames of reference, and that is his key audience? Especially people who would never travel to Mexico for, among other things, great food?

He is a culinary tourist so that you don't have to be?

He is a culinary tourist so that you don't have to be?

What makes him more of a culinary tourist than any other chef who cooks another culture's cuisine, though?

Maybe I'm not so great at articulating why his cooking has zero appeal to me. Like I said many times, he seems like a stand-up technician and gentleman, but I'd rather go elsewhere for Mexican food than Fontera Grill.

I'm just curious because I've heard this sort of thing about Bayless before, and never really understood it.

I guess it's weird that in a battle between French, Italian, and Mexican cuisines, we had a French guy, an Italian-American guy, and a white guy. There really isn't a major TV chef in America who is Mexican or Mexican-American.

But I also thought it was weird that Iron Chef had an Asian guy as "Iron Chef French."

I don't think that was me because Iron Chef French Sakai is my favorite Iron Chef ever.

unless it is weird that he is my favorite Ironchef ever? We had a poll on this, scott seward made it i think.

All of those dudes seemed like total bad-asses.

Let's be real, HKeller, Chiarello and Bayless are none authentic. Keller especially if you dine at FdL, you will see it's just another Cali-nouveau with some tribute to France here and there. If he had a strictly French menu, he would not be famous. Similarly, Chiarello is more Napa than Naples. Is Bayless more Lake Michigan that Oaxaca? Not sure, but I mean, I don't eat at El Torito or Chevy's either. People who I respect tell me "Steve Shasta, I lovvvvvvvvvve SF's Mexican food" or SD's or LA's, etc. and I'm always like "that's nice..." I guess I'm snobby about Mexfood.

Judging solely from having Frontera store-bought products and reading several versions of his menus, Rick's version of Mexican flavors seems toned down to all the mom n pop type places I've been to (in Chicago and vicinity, never been to Mexico). I'm sure his food is good, but I get the feeling I'd be wanting more zest and punch out of it.

Rick, god bless him, a consummate professional and really a self-made guy, but that said I have no interest in his cooking.

― (*ﾟーﾟ)θ L(。･＿･)　　　°~ヾ(･ε･ *) (Steve Shasta)

Are you asking me how many times I've eaten mole in Oaxaca? or Rick Bayless version?

I have no experience of his food. I guess I can see how it might not seem exciting if you thought it was just a straight translation of Mexican stuff you already knew well. For me, a straight fine-dining translation of trad Mexican stuff sounds pretty great. But I guess I don't know enough about food/chefs to expect anyone to be particularly innovative or surprising, so my standards are different.

ok so frontera grill is like white linen mexican which are somewhat contradictory, imo. but that being said what the judges stressed was complexity and i am not sure you will find a dish more complex than mole. if you've ever tried to make one it takes a while and has many steps and ingredients. i thought the salmon with the mousselline by keller was on a similar level of complex, tho i didn't have taste-o-vision so what the hell do i know? i am just glad that those california dweebs didn't win and a dude from chicago who learned cooking from his family barbeque business got the nod. the truffles told the whole story when rick was all like "truffles aren't complex (or whatever he said), they're just expensive." and both the california boys were relying on them to some degree on their plates. good old taste won out and it's also nice that rick was very humble throughout the ordeal. however his restaurant is kinda meh and expensive.

Every time I've been to Frontera, I'm actually surprised how unexpensive it is.

I've never been to Topo, but will be going for my b-day next month. He'll be serving the meal he made in the finale for the next 4 weeks there.

yo, truffles are complex, they pretty much define complex flavor (glutamate-rich). they have a near-harmonious balance of taste and depth. if you disagree, that's your choice, but it shows you don't know what you're talking about.

yeah $20-30 entrees at a restaurant as lauded as Frontera with a celebrity chef is pretty damn reasonable.

I stopped watching this -- they didn't ever have Samuelson on, did they? I had a birthday dinner at his place last week that was pretty terrific.

I thought it was funny that Hubert was like "the future is affordable meals, so I used a different cut of beef" and then put a shitload of truffle all over the place.

after hearing Bayless's truffle comment, I think his point was that it's used as a substitute for ingenuity. I see that a lot on Iron Chef and other shows, where someone has no real idea how to elevate a dish beyond the ordinary and they merely throw some truffles on it. I can hear Steingarten: "well we all love truffles, but I don't see what it has to do with the rest of the dish."

btw the quote was "you can slice truffles over a dish and say it's special...but it's not really. it's just expensive."

everyone should go here instead: http://soldemexicochicago.com/
no crowds. easy parking. moles that could bring about world peace. really want this place to stay in business.

this is the mexican place I went to on my trip to chicago a few months ago:

http://www.cemitaspuebla.com/

Too hard to get too!

"am just glad that those california dweebs didn't win and a dude from chicago who learned cooking from his family barbeque business got the nod. "

My thoughts exactly

I just went to Cemitas Puebla for the first time last week. The cemita was pretty good, but their tacos arabe (which have been raved about just as much) weren't as good as the ones I get at this place in North Aurora (they also serve cemitas there, which are just a notch below Cemitas Puebla's version).

To all the midwest priders, Bayless is just lucky that the Saveur dweeb didn't sabotage him on every judge's panel like he did to Chiarello.

am just glad that those california dweebs didn't win and a dude from chicago who learned cooking from his family barbeque business got the nod.

because people who went into cooking based on family tradition and life experience don't get any cred? that's bs. i mean, if you've ever watched a chiarello show all he talks about is his family.

i finally watched the finale. i really don't see how bayless won? the diners and judges seemed so overwhelmingly amazed by chiarello's dishes when they were eating and talking about them, so what happened in rating? and the judge who said bayless proved you can mix chorizo and seafood???? i thought that was common knowledge? i mean obv you have to do it the right way but uh.... this is not groundbreaking.

watching the finale made me really want to eat chiarello's food. though i will admit, a lot of this probably has a lot to do with my own cooking ideas/experience being formed a lot by a summer spent in tuscany (when in doubt/feeling lazy, i generally go back to these flavors for dinner). keller's, as much as i have a crush on him, seemed a bit old and heavy. i was in chicago a few years ago and we considered going to frontera, but decided to pass. i would be interested in trying this earth shattering mole, for sure, but i'd be more interested to see the recipe and try to make it myself than eat it in a restaurant.

I thought they were doing the classic "wait, is the villain going to WIN?!" build, with the "Nah, the nice guy won!" reveal.

I thought it was funny that Hubert was like "the future is affordable meals, so I used a different cut of beef" and then put a shitload of truffle all over the place.

― Your heartbeat soun like sasquatch feet (polyphonic), Friday, August 21, 2009 12:12 AM (6 days ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I noticed this too! What a weird contradiction. Did his sous-chef bring the truffles, though? He didn't seem to have them when at Whole Foods.

Sorry I am late to the party - don't get the channel so had to download.

i finally watched the finale. i really don't see how bayless won? the diners and judges seemed so overwhelmingly amazed by chiarello's dishes when they were eating and talking about them, so what happened in rating?

I think the judges found him insufferable on a personal level and voted on that basis.

So I had the Top Chef Winning tasting menu last week at Topolobampo. It wasn't the best meal I've ever had in my life, but it was very good.

The little BBQ quail was great. Growing up on a lot of different BBQ sauces, there was nothing OMG outstanding about his recipe, but nothing bad either. The watermelon and slaw really made it worthwhile.

The mole, as expected, was fantastic. I would have liked a little more tuna though. It came with three very small pieces, so I ended up drinking a lot of mole out of spoon. Some tortillas would have been nice too.

The seafood mashup was good. Certainly not overcooked, like it was in the show. But really, it was all about the sauce, which was outstanding. The black rice was a weird but nice texture.

The suckling pig was my favorite dish of the night. It was good just to mash it and the crispy pig foot up and swirl it around in the sauce and sop it all up with a tortilla. You ended up getting a lot of textures and a nice bit of fat. The little orange jellies really added to the dish.

Peach tart for dessert, was probably the weakest dish. I would have liked some ice cream with it.

that Mole sounds yummy.

I saw Rick Bayless do a PBS show where he walks around Mexico City and talks about the best places to eat.. like some taco/buffet stand under a bypass. Then he took people back to his place and had them cook with him in his backyard (I think - I wasn't giving the show 100% of my attention). He was pretty funny throwing bones or whatever over his shoulder, telling all the folk to go ahead and make a huge mess.

season 2 in the works:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2009/10/exclusive-bravo-renews-top-chef-masters-.html

Ew Kelly Choi is coming back.

Just watched this over the past week and found it tremendously entertaining, even though I knew in advance that Bayless won. (NB: I've never seen the original Top Chef.)

Chiarello was an interesting contestant because for a while he seemed like a really friendly, humble guy, but there was always this undercurrent of insecurity about him (e.g., caring too much about what Bayless thought of his recreation of Bayless's dish to really make it his own) that really came out in that second-to-last episode where they're given sous chefs. The same quality that makes him deferential to his fellow chefs makes him an asshole to those working under him.