In her season, Stephanie was very strong in elimination challenges and simply terrible in quickfires. As such, she seemed a bit inconsistent. Nonetheless, she was a pretty stellar contestant. You are right that Richard was the one to beat that season, but he crumbled at the end.
I actually don’t think it was that good of a season overall, though both Richard and to a lesser degree Stephanie have become fixtures of the show in the time since. Stephanie did well but like I said, her dishes always seemed workmanlike. That she was the nearest competition made Richard seem that much better and set the expectations that much higher.
Of course, this is all from my recollection. I wish they’d put these on Netflix or something. I’ve still never seen season 1.
All the seasons (including Just Desserts) are available on Amazon Instant Video.
Brad, is it free with Prime or do they cost per episode?
I don’t think any of the Top Chef seasons are tagged with the “Prime” label for free viewing, unfortunately.
Yeah, with all of the free content out there and all of the things that I already pay for, I just can’t see paying two bucks an episode. Maybe to see season 1 which I never saw.
I agree that the right person went home. And I understand where you’re coming from re: Katsuji and Gregory … buuuuut, this is a competition, and I think they both made wise decisions. As you aptly point out, we’ve seen numerous top contestants exit stage right b/c they took-on exec. chef duties in Restaurant Wars and their team flubbed (often through very little fault of said exec. chef). Any TC contestant who assumes executive chef or front-of-house duties in Restaurant Wars is taking a huge risk — and for what; I don’t perceive those as being competitively smart moves.
Just an FYI, but Adam is from New York.
I just watched last week’s episode. Thought that Katy out was a great move and bringing George in could only improve the balance, but man did that look awkward when they returned to the house. I was, however, bummed to see Adam (New York, really?) leave. I think that Melissa is tremendously uninspiring and I’d have way rather seen her go. Also Mei served lamb that was practically raw and moreover she was baffled by it. I’d have been sorely tempted to send her home. She showed early promise and never delivered. In the end the wife and I were disappointed with that result, but trying to flash poach shrimp in warm oil was not a very good idea, and apparently his accompaniment was poor too. He complained about the ingredients, but Doug found mussels, chorizo and preserved lemons, any of which are more interesting than what Adam did.
Could have seen sending Gregory home last night. That cut of beef seemed totally out of place. And he’d fare better in LCK than Katsuji will.
Katsuji’s exit was the politest exist ever. Was a good episode.
Gregory got a bit lucky there, but Katsuji’s dish was a disaster. He also had that look that the contestants sometimes get about this point in the season, like he was coming off the tracks. Melissa seems the likely next exit. George has really come in fresh, a definite advantage. Doug looking really solid in the stretch and he seems a good guy to boot. I mean, Gregory seems nice, but in a weird kind of too-nice way. Doug seems like a straight up good guy. Those two and Mei would be a good finale if she can keep it up and if Gregory can find his mojo a bit again.
I think the short ribs were the worst looking last night- but the undercooked foie would have been pretty awful too! Not really surprised by the remaining chefs.
The minute someone says they are going to cook short ribs (or risotto) on Top Chef, I start screaming: don’t do it!!! Unless I had about 48 hours to make them, I would never voluntarily cook short ribs for Tom. It has been the undoing of so many Top Chef candidates over the years that it isn’t even funny. It’s one of Tom’s signature dishes and you have to get them perfect for him to like them – and it has to be Tom’s idea of perfect.
The foie must have been raw in the middle. That’s inexcusable.
Bummer for Doug to go home though. I think he and Greg are clearly the best (on average). Maybe he’ll blast his way back via LCK.
LCK baby. I was sad to see Dougie stumble, but hopefully he will get there via LCK.
Almost done. Stupid LCK challenge.
Thread seems to have fallen off a bit. Season is just okay. Besides the cheftestants never seeming to learn from previous seasons, my other big pet peeve is that every season seems to have a different criteria for the finale. Do they decide after 12 episodes what format they want for the finale? Some years it is 2 chefs, 3 chefs, 4 chefs.
I haven’t posted due to being unable to watch the show for several weeks at its scheduled time coupled with a strange issue where my DVR won’t record pre-set recordings on Bravo. Odd. Finally caught up this week.
I see that I chose the correct three in post number 1 of this thread. I was amazed to see Melissa go so far. She was frequently lucky then hit a hot streak at just the last time. I do think that the correct three made it that far. I don’t know between Doug and Mei. I think that I wanted Doug to make it.
I actually enjoy the shifting finale formats. Keeps it interesting after all these seasons by not knowing what will come.
What I don’t like is stunt challenges late in the season, and unfortunately I think that this last challenge was a stunt challenge. Doug appears to have gone home for not prominently enough featuring the flavor of ant eggs. I mean, really? That said, when Katsuje said they were like caviar I immediately thought that they should be on top of something for texture instead of mixed into a dish, but it’s so weird. Same with the corn fungus. By this point in the season I like to see the chefs being allowed to cook from the heart with few constraints. I thought that the art challenge was much better than the weird ingredient challenge.
In the end neither of these chefs is, IMO, a great Top Chef winner, but then not that many seasons produce a truly great winner. More often than not though, the chefs who look to be strongest early win out. That is a good degree of reliability for a reality competition show on Bravo. I credit Tom and a fine supporting staff for that.
It feels like a slightly odd season where there are a ton of good and talented chefs but no one’s food stands out as something I’m dying to eat. Some of that may be that food has moved on from the flashy inventions of the early molecular etc folks - and flashy technique is more visual than damn good cooking. I appreciate the lack of drama particularly since in one season they built so much drama around a chef I know who is not at all as portrayed and overall I’d rather see the soap operas left to some of the other Bravo shows. Amongst the finalists, I lean towards Mei but my daughter is a young chef and I root for the young women to win -always! (and I really like the relationship between Mei and Melissa)
That said, is anyone watching Best New Restaurant? The Ramsey UK version has been amusing to watch, the Colicchio US version is definitely better and quite interesting. I also just watched Million Dollar Critic (BBC America) with Giles Coren of the London Times … fun format and wit … worth watching so far.