Top Chef Miami

Gorgonzola or roquefort?

Note to self: If I am ever in a cooking competition, never give a judge - especially one that is well respected chef/restaurateur such as Eric Ripert - a choice of cheese. Pick one and then serve it, god darn it.

Brian seemed a little shaky from the get go with the quickfire's bland salad and his trout (which isn't even considered seafood, according to him) that fell to the grass during prep. There was just way too much going on in his dish during the elimination. It's like he knew his food lacked so he tried to overcompensate by confusing people with a multitude of ingredients. Still I was sad to see him go as he is always high on energy and big on smiles. Claims he misses his wife and kid (s?). I didn't take him for a family man but now I see a totally different side to him.

You gotta hand it to Dale - he gets funnier every episode. Definitely entertaining and I would imagine very likeable. "I don't know how to make food for cowboys...I've slept with some though." Ba dum bump. And he's a very capable chef, especially with the sauces. They must have interviewed him after he won (well, of course they did). He seemed very pleased with himself. Didn't know he had such hardships before he came on Top Chef. Dumped, restaurant closed, jeez. I'm kind of rooting for him right now.

Casey is very controlled and just seems to keep her head about her and cook good food. Though I wouldn't put that elk sushi past these lips. As Ripert said it was "black and blue." Gnarly. In next week's preview, she looked a little scattered. We shall see. This show seems to go on endlessly (this coming from a big fan).

Oh, Hung. Where werethe violins? This is the first we've heard of your hardships of sleeping on the floors of kitchens and your dad fleeing Vietnam. It would have been nice to see this humanity oh maybe 12 episodes ago. Amazing Tom said: "We don't see you in food." I don't know if I agree with that. Hung knows what he is doing in the kitchen. Though forgetting lemon juice in the quickfire so he could finish early and get everyone nervous was just plain immature and DUMB.

As for the judges, Tom seemed to have grown a heart in this episode, even smiling a few times. Ripert, with all due respect, has some weird table manners. Twice I saw him lick his knife. Not that I wouldn't eat at Le Bernardin in 5 minutes if I won an instant $500 scratch card or something.

Damp eyes... A-HA!

Ok, it's 14 minutes into this episode. I notice Hung's eyes are damp in the debriefing interview. In past episodes, this has usually been a reliable clue that the person will be eliminated that night. (Because they interview them about that episode after they get the ax.)

But he WAS relating the sacrifices of his parents as they fled Vietnam, so maybe we shouldn't read too much into it. (Well, of COURSE we shouldn't; just wait 46 minutes and find out what happened. But this is a TV blog and we do silly, obsessive things.) Or are they tears of joy?....

Fab 4? Not really

Can't believe it's down to Casey, Hung, Dale and Brian. I get the feeling there was a lot of talent from other chefs that got booted before their time to shine. Somehow through attrition and luck, these four are in the finals. They were all the very bottom at some point, as Casey noted. I really wish I could understand the judges' thinking sometimes. Personally I think Colicchio has a little crush on Casey. Her awful rice at the Latin challenge should have been her ticket home.

Cutting Sara loose was no big shocker. She's been skating through this whole competition - except when she kicked butt as exec chef in the Restaurant Wars. Maybe that's where she belongs, in a more executive role. Her food never looked too appealing to me. Couscous is cool but with every dish? And she always says how she is from Jamaica, blah, but every time she puts out one of her "national dishes" they fall flat. Jerk, fricasee, whatev. But the worst faux pas of all was the undercooked chicken. I wonder if Gail was barfing after that. Gordon Ramsay would have hit the wall.

Was it Dale who forgot to put out one meal for the airline executives the other week? Now he forgot his sauce? What is up with this guy... Is he so flustered? If so, could he handle being a "top chef?"

Hung really is talented as hell. His knifework is out of this world and he managed to impress that hoity toity panel with his classic preparation. He seem so immature to handle the title but again Ian Hall took it sooo....he was a big baby. I heard he blew all his money on "research travel."

Brian came out of his seafood shell. But the challenge called for a dish made w/chicken, potatoes and onions. He decided to throw in sausage. Looked gross but apparently tasted great. No one else added another protein. Why was this allowed?

Top Chef texts

Hung compliments himself, Brian gets big chef pants in the latest Top Chef text messages.

At 10:06 p.m., Hung wrote that "Sirio's dish was really good. I made one like it when I was 9 or 10 years old. I watching cooking shows instead of cartoons. That's how obsessive I am!"

At 10:59 p.m., Brian wrote "I love Sara but it was time for her to go. I wasn't impressed with a dish from her in a long time. Dale went for it, you gotta give him points for that."

(I wrote this post too early in the morning and originally had Dale writing that snide text message about Sara. Now it's corrected. Dale wouldn't say such a thing!)

Coq au vin?

Casey impressed those top judges with coq au vin - but she pronounced it "coco von". Not to be nitpicky but when you're serving Frenchies it'd be better to say it the way it was intended (coco vanh).

I know - I'm mean! But she got  a laptop, business class tickets and she's gorgeous.

Howie's big news

Talked to Howie today. He was his usual refreshingly blunt, humorless self. He's back home in North Miami but not for long ("I'm ready for a change"). His plan is to open a contemporary American restaurant in New York in the "next six months." Partners are people he's met since the show, some who contacted him, impressed by his food on the show, he said. Details are still being finalized as he is still scouting spaces, location and name. It's looking to be on the Lower East Side and yes, pork will be on the menu. Howie of course had quite a lot to say about his ending but wasn't sorry to go. "I wasn't surprised I was eliminated. I really wasn't feeling it anymore,'' he says. "It had been five to six weeks straight of shooting, away from your friends, family, the Internet." He was also bummed about Tre. "If I had one person there who I felt close to, it was Tre. We were roommates. I really was rooting for him too - he was the most talented, hands down. No one even came close. I always said to him You're the guy to beat. To see him get sent home took away some of my spark." He believes his lack of a dish at the Quickfire hurt his chances. "I know people thought it was a copout. But Tom and the other judges tell you, If you're not happy with what you prepared don't serve it, so that's the irony. I'm a good chef if I have good products, a good staff and enough time to prepare it. That challenge was a departure from what it means to be a good chef. "I understand why they did it, though, because it was entertaining. I had a horrible [supermarket] aisle. It was definitely frustrating." And the yacht challenge? "I wanted to make the most out of the $50 that I could. I thought I did that. I baked those [appetizers] from scratch, the puff pastry and the phyllo. I cooked down my mushrooms...I had the sense that people on the boat were enjoying my food even though it wasn't the prettiest." On the other cheftestants food: "How often can they do seafood sausage? CJ did the same thing he did at the burger challenge. Hung's salmon was too classic but where he works [Guy Savoy in Vegas] is all about that. He also didn't cook a thing. I think the judges, even though they're tough on everyone, have some natural favoritism. It's not unfairness but some people fit the mold better." About "throwing himself on the sword" at judges' table: "When Michael Schwartz called my food 'crap' I just thought, I'm a professional chef. How long are you going to rake someone over the coals?' I do have a lot of fire in me, like Sara said (I was glad they didn't edit that out) but I also have pride."    Guess he won't be stopping by Schwartz's Michael's Genuine Food & Drink Design District eatery anytime soon. "Would I eat there? Not in a million years,'' Howie says in disgust. "I hope I never cross paths with that guy again." More tidbits: When are you interviewed for the camera? "You are constantly being pulled aside, they never stop pulling you - at the house, when you're cooking, everywhere,'' he says, adding that no one can wear splashy clothes with any logos at all. So Howie went out to Target and bought up like two dozen plain grey shirts. Finally after a few interviews, a producer asked, "You're always in that grey shirt. Don' you have any other clothes?" The Food Gang, where Howie used to be executive chef, wants nothing to do with him. "They are bitter because I didn't give them the option of saying no,'' he says. "But they're still getting publicity from this show." And yes he still watches TC every Wednesday night, but due to contract obligations is unable to say who he thinks will win.

Bad broccolini

CJ can't wait to have a beer with Bourdain and talk *&^% about his broccolini, actually in the cabbage family.  Ha! That must have been some gnarly arse weed. What did AB say? "Something you'd find cleaning out Bob Marley's closet?" That guy really does come out with some zingers and brings out the worst in Judge Tom.

Was it me or did it look like Padma was about to cry? CJ was always good for witty banter but he's skated by too many times with mediocre food. They couldn't let Sara go b/c poor cutie Casey would be the only gal left. Speaking of her prize  -nice one - business class to anywhere? And a laptop? Other people got frickin cookbooks for winning. I would be very bitter. Maybe they should say what the prize is, I would bet people would work harder.

So now it's down to 5. I'm thinking Hung or Dale may sweep this thing, but it's hard to tell since most of the good chefs have been booted (namely Tre). Hung's character is, like buddy Marcel, questionable. But if Ian Hall could win, who knows anymore.

I'll post Interview with Howie - who has some interesting news - tomorrow.

Stuck in Joisey

Can't imagine they won't do the finale in Miami - the Fontainebleau can squeeze out that last bit of publicity marrow.

Coming up - Tom saying "That was the single worst dish we've had in 3 years in Top Chef...." yowza.

Me thinks CJ's mint oil was his fatal error. We shall see. Anthony Bourdain brings out the nasty in anyone.

Are we buying this?

How did they set all of that up in the Fontainebleau suite without the chefs waking up? Then again, the production crews are probably running around at all hours of the night during taping...

Attack on Josie from Season Two

UPDATE: Just saw Steve Rothaus, a Features reporter who writes the Herald's popular Gay South Florida blog (miamiherald.com/gay). He's set to interview Josie this afternoon, so injuries must not have been too severe....

New York police say Josie from Season Two (a former Miamian) was insulted and attacked over the Labor Day weekend by a group yelling anti-gay slurs. Josie is a lesbian. The story below doesn't offer many details. You wonder if her fame contributed to the incident, or if this was just a random display of meanness. 

http://www.miamiherald.com/459/story/234308.html