Buyer’s guide to first basemen is now posted for Insiders. I’ll have one of these up every day next week, Monday through Saturday.
Spoilers abound, so hold off if you haven’t seen it…
* In general I approve of this format – 29 chefs who must cook once (or twice) to qualify for the final sixteen. I think it could really open things up to a dark horse or two whose abilities won’t play so well through an audition process but will play up when s/he is actually putting food in front of the judges. It also had the benefit of weeding out the colossal douchebag right off the bat (although, if his abilities matched his own opinion of them, we’d be stuck with him for a few more weeks … and really, how do you get on this show without an ounce of butchering skills?). I do worry that we’re headed for a 14-person battle for a single chef’s jacket, which seems a little unbalanced; they could have just gone with yes/no, and if they ended up with more than 16 in the yes group had a cook-off to determine the final spots.
* I hate seeing it spread over two episodes across two weeks. Make it two hours on one night. I’m not burning up with suspense here; I’m just mildly annoyed that it was cut off so abruptly.
* Back to the douchebag – I don’t remember his name – but 1) He can’t be real, can he? Could he be so lacking in self-awareness to think that this act would play with chefs five to twenty years his senior? And 2) Slightly weak to let Grayson’s dish get blown up by another chef’s mistake. Tom’s point, that she was wrong to assume Chef DB could handle it for her, makes it a slap-on-the-wrist infraction, not a “you’re more than 50% likely to go home now” type of error. Get her another tenderloin. Let her incorporate a little meat from another cut so there’s at least more food on the plate. I’d much rather see a competitor go home due to her own mistake than due to a competitor’s.
* Fear the Beard. I’m just sayin’.
* “I’m a culinary artist.” Kind of like “I’m a groundball pitcher.” Just shut up and generate some groundballs already.
* That said, the first chef to use that phrase, Chris Crary, did deliver on the claim that his style is like Richard Blais’. I don’t know if he’s got Richard’s technical skills, but he put out one of the most elaborate dishes we saw and the judges approved.
* Knew Sarah Grueneberg was a lock when she chose the pig skin as long as she didn’t seriously screw it up – the judges generally seem to reward risky choices if the execution is even adequate – but it seems like her repertoire is mostly Italian cuisine. Does that mean she’ll be limited in later challenges that require knowledge of, say, east or south Asian styles?
* Chris Jones reminds me of someone – a musician? an actor? – and it is driving me insane because I can’t figure out who it is.
* Very excited to see Hugh Acheson, who was the best part of Top Chef: Masters S3 because he’s hilarious, as one of the judges. Anyone have his cookbook (A New Turn in the South: Southern Flavors Reinvented for Your Kitchen
* Hey Richie – is this the hairstyle you wanted? That is a good look on exactly … no one. And, more to the point, a palate that’s well off the median (he said a ‘salty’ palate – does that mean things taste salty to him even when they’re not?) is a serious handicap in this kind of competition.
Your thoughts?
salty palette = what tastes well-salted to him is too salty to other people. for example, i have a spicy palette, so when i make chili i enjoy the hell out of it and all my roommates are sweating profusely.
definitely agree on stretching the episode out over 2 weeks.
but most importantly, and i can’t believe you didn’t touch on this, is how the 3rd group gets totally dicked over.
they fill the slots on a first-come, first-served basis, so the last group is competing for substantially less spots by the time they get to start cooking.
The non-butcher felt very staged. As if they intentionally let someone in as a joke to fall on his face and allow us to mock him. It felt like a cheap American idol ploy.
About Richie: I’d have to watch it again but I think when there is too much salt on a dish, he thinks it tastes like the normal amount of salt.
Also, loved that the douchebag got kicked off immediately. Tom isn’t messing around.
I interpreted “salty palate” to mean that he preferred his food overly salted, because he seemed concerned that it would be over-seasoned for the judges.
I loved the swift justice meted out by Tom. No chef really stood out to me as likeable but the redemption story from NC may be easy to cheer for if he stays out of the DB zone.
Agreed on Hugh, loved him on Top Chef Masters. He even has a good enough sense of humor to keep that unibrow.
Re: Chris Jones, maybe Jonathan Davis from Korn?
http://l.yimg.com/eb/ymv/us/img/hv/photo/movie_pix/twentieth_century_fox/from_hell/jonathan_davis/hellpre2.jpg
I’m on board with most of these comments, although I am looking forward to the next episode. It’s not so much that I’m excited due to the suspense – I agree, there isn’t much – but that the opening day of competition usually has a fun, loose, unpredictable, and distinct feel. The challenges are usually different, and the internal suspense of how these newbies will perform makes the entire episode feel like a high-wire act. It’ll be fun to have a second episode of that, although I’m already wondering how much of this instant-axing is too much.
No mention of Mr. Lagasse? In his short judging, he didn’t bring much in the way of different opinion – agreed with Tom every time, right? – but I was shocked at how natural he was on the screen. Something about his carriage gives him instant appeal. Or maybe it was his death stare that melted into the friendly-guy smile.
I agree with almost everything you said, especially:
1) The point about one long episode being better than two for this stage of things
2) Your love of Hugh
3) Chris Ryan reminding you of someone whom you can’t identify
However, there is one major point of contention between us and that is your evaluation of Richie’s haircut. Not my cup of two but he wears it well, imo since it keeps his hair off his face and he is a good looking chap. On the other hand, Chris Ryan’s haircut is an absolute disaster that would be highly unflattering to even the best looking man (or woman, for that matter).
Chris Jones reminds me a little bit of Ben Gibbard and Jeff Tweedy, but I feel like there’s a musician out there that is a much better lookalike, and I’ll be darned if I can think of it. I’m fairly certain the glasses are what is doing it.
As for Tyler Stone (the dbag who was ousted almost immediately), it turns out he’s a Sacramento area chef. I have to think he was incredibly embarrassed by the whole turn of events, and his bravado was mostly compensation for it. At least, that would explain how he thinks he’s going “straight to the top” even though he can’t butcher a pig. However, it doesn’t explain his attitude prior to the competition. To me, he came across as really insecure.
Colin Meloy. That’s who he reminds me of.
I was pointing out Richie’s hairstyle to my wife last night as possibly the most ridiculous poodle cut I’ve ever seen.
Chris Jones = Lou Barlow/Rich Sommer hybrid.
It’s something about Chris Jones’ hair + glasses that is triggering a memory I can’t fully recall. Someone on Twitter suggested Marc Price (Skippy from “Family Ties”) – that’s not it, but it’s a pretty good call nonetheless.
BBG: We’re at 5 slots for the nine chefs in group 3, no?
I’m calling David Foster Wallace as the Chris Jones lookalike.
Chris Jones is definitely the doppelganger of a baseball player. With a batting helmet on, I’d say Jorge Cantu. But there might be someone else I can’t put my finger on….
Johnathan Ames character from Bored to Death?
Isn’t the beard an automatic lock for fan favorite? An enormous man with gentle disposition, decent sense of humor, southern drawl, and reformed criminal. He is a 5 tool guy for the category. They should just announce he’s the winner at the conclusion of the second episode.
He kind of looks like Dean Cain
To me, the biggest benefit of starting with 29 and cutting to 16 is that they know that everybody who makes it into the house is capable of performing under these time constraints.
Not to say nobody will mess up the whole season, but they’ve already gotten rid of somebody who can’t butcher and two people who couldn’t put a plate together in the allotted time. And the woman who put a presentable plate out but forgot her sauce has to cook again in order to make it.
I think this will make the elimination choices once the real competition starts much more difficult (and thus more interesting) right off the bat.
Do private chefs (like the ousted DB) ever do well in these competitions? Without knowing much about the world of private chefs, I would assume most of them are people who couldn’t hack it in a real kitchen. I’m my wife’s private chef… mainly because I make a few dishes really well, she can’t cook, and she’s easily impressed. That hardly makes me a talented chef. Find one person who likes your food, get an ego inflation from the celebrities and whatnot you cook for, and you have a recipe for being exactly what that kid was.
It will be interesting to see how the Big Beard (forget his name) fares. Unless there is more to his story, he seems largely self-taught. The other self-taught competitor got ousted so I’m pulling for this guy as an underdog. It’d be interesting to look at how self-taught but experienced chefs compare to well-trained but green chefs. “The Apprentice” did a similar concept a few years back with “street smarts” vs “book smarts”. Obviously, it is a bit of a false dilemma but I would be curious to see how the different approaches work out, especially if the ultimate judge is the layman instead of the expert, since there is often a very different palette between those two groups.
I guess I overstated how unfair the three group situation has turned out, but they’re still going to have to leave slots for the cook off people, so now you’re at no more than 4 getting guaranteed passes. Beyond that, it was entirely possible that a worse split emerged, unless things were rigged or the structure was contrived.
Something just rubs me wrong about a first come first serve structure when people are competing at different intervals.
BBG-
I’ve seen other shows do that and it always struck me as unfair. The criteria for judging might change as well. With 16 spots open, you might think, “Yea, that was a good meal, bring ’em in.” With just two spots left and a handful of chefs, you are going to be much tougher judging, I would assume. Ideally, they’d say we’re taking the top X from each group or something.
Klaw – you’ve said in chat that you are not qualifed to compete on “Top Chef”. However, what about “Master Chef”? I only discovered the show a few weeks ago, but it seems to be right up your alley…
Mark: never seen it. I’d be skeptical though since I don’t have any kind of culinary background.
It’s a competition for home cooks. I don’t know which network carries it in the U.S., but it has been showing on StarWorld in Asia (along with “Hell’s Kitchen) for the past few weeks.
Fox shows it here. I’ve never seen it.
BBG et al – yeah, you’ve convinced me. It’s a bigger handicap than I thought it was.
My biggest peeve is that the process seemed like a cross between Chopped and American Idol.
I didn’t really like the format with nearly half the field getting eliminated in the first competition. I think it can take a few competitions for chefs to adjust to the cooking on a strict time schedule and preparing meals that would typically take longer in a shorter period. When fewer are eliminated, I think chefs who have the chops but make mistakes continue on in the early rounds and get an opportunity to adjust to the rules and format.
I’m clearly biased here though because I was really rooting for Laurent Quenioux who is one of my favorite chefs in Los Angeles who got eliminated last night. I can’t really argue that he deserved to move on but I think he would have done well if he had made it through the first few competitions. He’s really creative, is the oldest and most experienced Chef to compete on Top Chef, and probably would be less likely to be screwed up by inexperience with a particular type of cooking or ingredient as people often are.
Chris looks a little like Josh Groban with glasses…or maybe a younger Elvis Costello or Rivers Cuomo (basing this almost all on the glasses)?
Yes the dbag is real- you can check his twitter feed- (https://twitter.com/#!/cheftylerstone). As great as it was to see Tom cut him down for lack of butchering skills, I almost wish he had gotten to cook for them so they could have judged (hopefully harshly) his actual cooking skills.
I know this bleeds into more than the first episode, but curious to see what everyone thinks about Last Chance Kitchen? Interesting idea, but it forces the viewer to watch the battle online…and I’m curious to see how they’ll handle the continuity for those who just watch the show
The dude reminds me of Gibby Haynes.