Top Chef NYC

I'm with you Jay. The first couple of seasons those quickfire challenges threw them for a loop. Remember the vending machine challenge? Stuff like that is what hooked me.

Now, everybody knows what's coming before it happens. They know they're going to have some unexpected twists, so they prepare for them. They're armed with hundreds of recipes for just about every occasion.

I thought the first two seasons were more along the lines of chefs working with what they had to make something spectacular. The last two (and this one) seasons have been chefs cooking something they've already cooked and forcing it into whatever challenge they're facing.

 

- Who's the new judge? Is she permanent? Does she have to be?

- Carla reminds me of Gonzo from the Muppets.

- I hope Fabio cooks his ass off because I want him to be on the show until the end.

 

That's pretty funny, but I think she reminds me more of an ostrich or even Big Bird. Definitely a very odd-looking chick.

And as far as some of the editing goes with the quickfires, maybe Radhika didn't complete the dish? I dunno.

 

Back in the saddle tonight, right?

I have no idea why I am throwing this link out there, but the music is kinda nice

http://www.stefanscatering.com/

 

Just watched the finale of Season 3 (Casey, Dale, and Hung)...what a difference between these stunning earlier seasons and the dreck they're putting out there this year. The decline in originality and artistry is really stunning.

 

Maybe it makes me a bad person, but I loved it when Casey had to sit there at that live finale and listen to the judges on tape crap all over her Aspen dishes.

 

Do two go home tonight? I thought I saw that in a preview somewhere. Anyone else see that?

 

Yep. New judge Toby Young is serving up a double elimination.

 

I'm hoping Stefan serves the "cat food" but I expect to be disappointed.

 

I'm gonna say the guy with the tats is one of the ones who gets to go to bond with Danny The Dolt in the Little Apartment of Elimination.

 

I say...give this season a little more time. They've had some of the dumbest challenges so far. I know if I had to make appetizers to the theme of one of the made-up 12 days of Christmas, and I got "seven maids a milking" I'd be kinda pissed.

Agreed, though. Season three was the best, Howie's overlong stay aside.

Tonight was a little better. I was disappointed that Jamie won for a fennel scallop. Goodness, judges love fennel. That makes it the third or fourth challenge, I think, won for essentially cooking a high-priced protein well.

Intriguing that it was a blind taste test. There must have been some sense that one of the judges was judging based on the person making the food, and not the food itself.

 

I Make Good Babies?