I guess you’re right, although I don’t recall them being instructed to make a food truck sandwich–I heard “make a version of the po’ boy that speaks to your background/passion”. Sadly, most of the food trucks around LA these days are just knock offs of the originals or mall food stands made mobile .
I have eaten at Roy’s restaurants plenty of times and really enjoy his food. Nonetheless, I found his criticisms harsh and totally non constructive. All of those sandwiches looked really good to me and were all interesting takes on the Po’boy. I am not quite sure what he was looking for but his comments were over the top and unfair. In all honesty, not sure why he was even there as a judge. Top Chef has a " list" of media darlings that it likes to use and I think they should use more New Orleans judges and fewer “celebrities.”
Cheers!
Marshall ![[berserker.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/8/8600bbd4810d342b8fbd4ffb62b4f0026275fd37.gif "berserker"){kind=small}
Once again, I feel the correct chef went home. They have gone very much according to what I have seen as skill level this season, not a lot of upsets. I would be happiest with a Nina, Shirley, Louis final and that looks quite doable. Carlos has faded but early I thought he was quite good, so maybe he will shine again yet. Nic has been unexceptional for several episodes, but I also think that his constant whining and acting put-upon has made many think worse of him than he really is. He hasn’t wowed, but I don’t know that he is the screw up some here seem to assume. I give a nod to editing and storyline as far as that goes. I also think Carlos did an excellent job of subtly getting under his skin without being an overt villain. Between Nic and Carlos I think Carlos flavors seem more inventive, owing in part to a rich cultural palette to draw from, but his technical skills are lacking and he doesn’t give that enough respect. That has been quite evident the two times that he has tried cutting sushi. Those type of mistakes can easily cost at this stage.
I was surprised that some here thought Brian would make it. He seemed fair enough, but he also seemed like the kind of guy that makes boneless skinless chicken breast on Top Chef.
Roy… WOW, what a D-bag. If he was truly some thug in an earlier life saved by food, then he should shelve the tough guy bit and embrace the life he leads rather than the one he left. In other words, I’m not impressed. My first thought was “really, he invented the food truck movement?” I live in flyover country and the food trucks and carts were going strong well before that. No one individual invented that movement, it was an organic growth. I found the “LA” comment to Carlos particularly amusing. However, the one thing that I considered is that it may be hard to generate proper al pastor-style flavors in such a short time. Anyone can grill some pork and add some pineapple, but without the time do the flavors really add up to more than the sum of their parts? Regardless, I am sure that Carlos knows the flavor profile and managed something proper.
I kept saying that to my wife as we were watching it. Take a bite of anything they tried to make, and you were going to be disappointed by a big mouthful of bread.
It seemed like he was trying to make himself look better or something. I think he came across like an asshole.
+1 to everything said above. We were really surprised by the comments and felt he was just trying to show how street legit he is, which was BS.
Well, he might be the toughest celebrity chef out there, but I’d like to see him throw down with Cat Cora–she looks like she has mad skillz in a fight, yo.
That is true. I guess the real challenge was just getting bent over by Roy and abused. 
k.
Louis is a STUD. A goddamn stud.
Bit unexpected at the end there. And LCK looks to be a bit of a toss up. Should be interesting next week.
They should have no problem picking out Carlos’ dish.
Part of me was thinking that in that case, we could expect that no one would want Louis back in the competition and would all vote for Carlos to win. But that’s just me.
I don’t get how they always freak out if a dish is a bit under-seasoned. Almost every table everywhere has a salt shaker for a reason. Not everyone wants the same amount. IMO it’s a much bigger sin to have overcooked fish than an under-seasoned component.
While I agree salt tolerance varies with each individual, these contestants KNOW by this time that the judges have huge tolerance towards salt.
I don’t eat high end 99% of the time, but at the restaurants I go to, a salt shaker is usually not on the table.
At home, my wife thinks I over season with salt all the time, so there is never a need for extra salt to be added =D
It’s a pet peeve of mine to hear when contestants criticize another contestant for only cooking a certain cuisine. Whether it’s Asian (whatever that is supposed to mean) or in this past episode, Mexican.
wth. Stop cooking French or Italian derivative slop then. (yeah yeah I know Nina and Shirley incorporate their native countries’ cooking too into their techniques)
This reminds me of Season 3 when someone criticized Hung for cooking sous vide all the time. haha. Stop using your fry pan to cook in butter then.
I was struck by this as well. As if Mexico has a one note, nothing to it, cuisine that one couldn’t possibly spend a lifetime studying/cooking/perfecting. Ridiculous.
This has been a very weak season IMHO. Perhaps TC has run its course.
I have thoroughly enjoyed this season and think there were several strong competitors. I have appreciated that they are focusing more on letting the chefs decide what to cook rather than painting them into corners with wild challenges.
If I were to make one criticism of the show, I would like to see more focus on showing technique. I want to learn something while watching rather than watching a soap opera play out. When Pépin was on, I wanted to learn how to make his version of Dover Sole. Shirley has made some incredible sauces this season, I’d love to learn how she develops those flavors. From an educational standpoint, I get almost nothing from the show.
season has been pretty boring imo.
In general I’ve enjoyed this season for a couple of reasons:
- Setting
- Challenges aren’t ridiculous
- Guest judges have been great…Dominique Crenn and Julian Serrano, John Besh, Dr. John was great, Grant Atchaz, Andrew Carmellini, David Chang, and others all offered solid commentary
That said, it’s been a relatively weak cast. Nina and Shirley seem solid and Louis has been coming on strong, but to me, the season with the Voltaggio brothers had such a strong cast that it was very exciting.
FWIW, LCK has been great!