I'm addicted to Top Chef

[AtomicKitten]

Seriously. Anyone else? I can watch episodes over and over again.

I have always found cooking an art. Eating is pretty good too.

[Longhorn]

1. I love it!

In fact, a local vineyard is having a matched wine/four course dinner next weekend and we decided to go while we were watching the latest matched wine/five-course dinner competition. :) Our daughter is getting married at the vineyard in April and was already planning to go so we're going to join her and her fiance.

I also like Project Runway and I'm planning to watch Top Design next. :D

[AtomicKitten]

3. yes, thank you!!!

I am not a freak! I LOVE the show. (I also love Project Runway.) It's creative, I'm not particularly but I can recognize what is. I used to throw monster dinner parties a thousand years ago, and this has sparked that flame again.

I'm in SF. Would that vineyard be in the vicinity of Sonoma? Ah, good times.

[Longhorn]

5. No, believe it or not, we have some vineyards in Texas.

:)

This one is about 40 miles from my house, in Spicewood, Texas, near Marble Falls, both of which are west of Austin. My daughter and her fiance have tasted the wines and thought they were good. Guess we'll see what we think next weekend!

Mr. Longhorn and I spent our 25th anniversary in March of 2001 in California. We flew into San Jose, rented a Mustang convertible, and drove as far south as the Hearst Castle, then all the way up the coast to the end of the Avenue of the Giants, including a couple of days in San Francisco. Then we drove through Napa and did some wine tasting and then back to San Jose. It was a great week -- I'd love to go back and spend more time! :hi:

[Suich]

2. I watch it, too!

I'm glad Cliff is gone. His assault on Marcel was scary. I couldn't tell how drunk anyone actually was...Elia didn't seem that wasted when she shaved her head.

Who do you think will win or who do you want to win?

[AtomicKitten]

4. yes, thank you!!!

I actually like Marcel. He's mellow and polite, but what's up with the top-knot? Cliff's behavior was boorish, Ilan and Sam's not much better, and for crissakes somebody tell Sam to wash his hair!!! I'm glad that all four are going to Hawaii.

Since the others behaved so badly, I would like Marcel to win, then Elia. Sam behaved like a jerk, Ilan a lesser jerk, but jerks nonetheless, but Sam will probably given them all a run for their money. Ilan is too inconsistent.

[dsc]

6. I was a bigger fan of Project Runway

but this is pretty good too. The only problem with this show is it is much harder to know who should win since we can't taste the food.

[AtomicKitten]

7. good point

:)

[AtomicKitten]

8. Woo-hoo!!!

Marcel made it to the finals. I like him; everybody is mean to him and I really don't get it. I thought Sam would go too, Ilan has been pretty inconsistent throughout the series and he has been particularly noxious towards Marcel. I hope Marcel wipes the kitchen floor with him!

[Suich]

9. Did you hear about this?

http://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/archives/top_chef_2/2007_Jan_22_marcel_hit_ilan_friends

[AtomicKitten]

10. wow!

Thanks for the link to that; I doubt I would have ever seen it. What the hell is the matter with people? I was really disgusted by how juvenile the other chefs were to Marcel and to see the public echo that bad behavior is pretty damn disgusting. Now I definitely want him to win. I think Ilan and Elia behaved like complete and utter a-holes.

[Duer 157099]

12. Thanks for that link

I also haven't been reading anything about this -- has the actual final already happened? If so, I think that article gives a hint as to who won. Or is it live?

My take is that if it's already over, then Marcel will have won, because why else would Ilan be calling him, trying to make like they are friends? If Ilan won, he wouldn't be doing that imho.

[Suich]

13. Interesting point.

I have no idea if the final has already happened or not. I think Amazing Race finale is not live, but Survivor is.

:shrug:

[AtomicKitten]

14. the finale is this coming week ...

should be exciting

[Suich]

16. Do you know if it's already been taped?

Or is it live?

:hi:

[AtomicKitten]

17. Don't know.

But if it is taped, they are mum on the subject. I did precisely what I did as a kid looking for Xmas presents before Xmas and scanned everything I could find to get a clue ... no dice. Again, I'm glad Marcel is going up against Ilan because Ilan has been inconsistent; Sam would have been more of a challenge.

With bated breath ...

[Longhorn]

11. Frankly, I don't like Marcel and will not be rooting for him.

I think there's a reason that he got on the nerves of so many of the contestants. I watched the very first episode again the other day and had forgotten that they didn't like him from day one. What I saw was echoed in what Sam has to say about him: http://www.bravotv.com/blog/andysblog/2007/01/sam.php?page=1

That said, his personality has nothing to do with his chef skills. I did think it was really stupid of the other chefs to whine about Marcel at the moment they are going to announce the final two. If they truly had complaints, especially about any cheating, they should have brought it up long before then.

[AtomicKitten]

15. Sam punctuated using the word "cheating"

to Elia before they sniveled before the panel. Tom was not impressed. Apparently the "cheating" had to do with moving a pot on the stove, but Elia lied about it saying the burner was on when you could clearly see Marcel looking under the pot, no heat, and him announcing there was no heat and he was going to move it. Elia misrepresented what happened. That and his "attitude" apparently constituted the vile allegation of cheating. Not cool.

If Marcel's sin is arrogance, I have no problem with that. IMO people are entitled to be arrogant if they have the stuff to back it up. And I think he does. He has been pretty mellow - with the exception of the night he was assaulted - and not overtly obnoxious in any way. IMO it was pack mentality and that caused me to really dislike the others. I actually do that here at DU too when people pile on other people. I have a tendency to root for the underdog, although in this case I think Marcel's superior culinary skills will win out. Ilan has been inconsistent throughout the competition; case in point, the chocolate truffles with sauteed chicken livers. Ugh.

Here's an interesting take on it http://thesamandbeckybooshow.com/archives/437

[AtomicKitten]

18. 1/31/07: Tonight is the Top Chef finale.

woo-hoo

[AtomicKitten]

19. boooooooo

Ilan won.

[Duer 157099]

20. I was shocked

and bummed, because by the last episode, I really was rooting for Marcel and have decided that I like him.

I hope the judges weren't swayed by the gang-mentality that the other contestents exhibited. It was absurd that they even mentioned this during the final. Perhaps the judges have forgotten what middle-schoolers are like? Cliques? Peer-pressure? Just because this group of contestants were "adults" does not mean they weren't juvenile, as they so often demonstrated.

Marcel was much more graceful than any of them, because he withstood the shit without ever whining like all the rest of them did

Ilan was a good chef, but I think Marcel had more experience and more creativity, and more potential.

Too bad.

[Longhorn]

21. It's amazing how we came away with such different impressions!

As well as my husband and my daughter and her boyfriend (a former culinary student) who live in another city -- we never even discussed the show until last night and yet we all agreed that we didn't like Marcel, though we believe, like the judges, that he has potential and will be successful.

I didn't see "gang mentality." I saw people who didn't like him yet tried to help him anyway. Sam bailed him out on the missing fish. (And I give Marcel props for giving Sam credit for his help.) The salad was Marcel's idea. I'm no chef but I'm an organized person -- I don't care who's helping me, I would have a checklist and I wouldn't leave without personally making sure that every item I needed was on the cart, especially if, rightly or wrongly, I have reason not to trust my crew!

What about Marcel's comments at the end? Of course he was disappointed but talk about sour grapes! And I do recall Marcel's complaining (whining?) Every time he was criticized, either the judges were wrong or it was because the others didn't like him. I don't recall hearing him say he needed to learn from his mistakes -- he already had all the answers and just had to get the judges to see that.

But that's how it works, isn't it? I made up my mind about Marcel early on and I saw what I expected to see (or more accurately, what the producers wanted me to see.) I can say that I wouldn't have been disappointed if Marcel won -- he's certainly qualified -- but based on what we saw last night and the course-by-course comments from the judges, I believe Ilan deserved to win.

[AtomicKitten]

22. I find that a bit startling.

The "pack mentality" grew before our eyes all season, culminating in the assault Marcel endured which was much more serious than the way it was portrayed (link upthread); in fact, Tom wanted to send all four participating chefs home but was overruled by the producers.

Funny how you didn't see them ganging up on Marcel for no real reason and failed to even mention the assault on Marcel ... Just goes to show you that we humans become oblivious to escalating violence.

What can be said about Marcel is that he took the jihad waged against him with grace and dignity. He was IMO the superior chef but what the hell do I know, right?

I'm seriously miffed about his loss ...

[Longhorn]

23. My view is that just because there was a "pack mentality"

doesn't mean that Marcel wasn't a pain in the ass. Of course he didn't deserve that attack! No one deserves to be treated like that, no matter how annoying they are. I didn't base my opinion of Marcel on how the others treated him; I based it on what I saw, or what the producers allowed me to see. I thought he was annoying but he's certainly not the only one that I thought was annoying.

I also heard Tom say that they don't care what happens in the kitchen when the others complained to the judges about Marcel. Well, if that's true for Marcel, then it's true for the others (except for the attack.) We either judge them on their cooking alone or we take into account everybody's behavior behind the scenes.

I suspect you know at least as much about it as I do. You're certainly entitled to your opinion and feelings. I just happen to have a different one but I don't believe I suggested that you are wrong, only that we saw it differently.

[AtomicKitten]

24. peace

My issues are not with you. And as you stated and with all things in life, "X" is in the eye of the beholder. :)

[Longhorn]

25. Same to you!

:)

I should have included more smilies the last time -- I really wasn't as tense as I sounded! ;)

I understand that Marcel was on The View this morning and that he implied that he feels that Michael and Sam weren't as supportive on his crew as he would have liked. I didn't see it so my characterization may be off. I don't know, of course, how they felt about working with him but it would be hard to believe that they were very enthusiastic since Sam, at least, made it clear that he didn't really care for Marcel. On the other hand, they were on national television trying to make a good impression for future employers and/or investors so if they did try to sabotage Marcel, it was a pretty stupid thing to do. :shrug:

But I think one thing we CAN agree on is that, national television or not, people still do stupid things! :D

I didn't get to see Top Design last night but I've recorded it. Did you?

[AtomicKitten]

26. yes I did

I prefer the Bravo channel reality TV to Big Brother, Survivor and the like which I don't bother with anymore, although I LOVE The Amazing Race. The design show has some interesting characters; that's an understatement! I was a huge fan of Changing Rooms on the BBC, in fact, have used some of their techniques in my own home.

I think the audience gets pulled in by the personalities of the contestants as well as the competition and then, of course, the producers hype and distort the drama. On the episode of Top Design at the very end you will see a clip of Ilan making fun of last year's Top Chef; not cool. Kinda underscores my feelings about him. It's just soap opera drama which is so easy to get sucked into!

Oh well. Marcel is a Master Chef and has a bright career ahead of him. When my son turns 21 this year, we plan to go to Las Vegas (I have never been there), so maybe we'll look up Marcel who works there. Smaller world than we think thanks to the tee-vee and the internet.

[dsc]

27. Elia should have won

The finale prooved that. All of the dishes that Ilan served that were complimented were cooked by her. She clearly was the best cook of the bunch.

[AtomicKitten]

28. she was good

but Marcel excelled in imagination and skill, so sayeth me. :)

I think both Elia and Ilan limited their repertoire to too many ethnic dishes.

[dsc]

29. Marcel and her actually had simliar problems

both couldn't get people to work for them effectively. But Marcel clearly was more creative than she was. I think her advantage over him was execution. It would have been iteresting to see if she could have gotten people to work well in the finale.

[AtomicKitten]

30. did you see last season?

The female semifinalist was nasty and nobody wanted to work for her. Her two "assistants" were hungover and drank through the finale. Pretty funny. Clearly this season could have been much worse! Ha, ha.

[dsc]

31. No I didn't

In point of fact until I saw Ilan's dirty dish I didn't even know there was a season 1.