Definitely all of this.

That Mike guy is a full-on clown, and needs to go home.

I think Redbeard might have the edge, actually. He's pretty tough. But Jen's confidence is impressive, and it definitely seems earned.

I am really enjoying the season so far.

I did not know risotto was a "style" of cooking - I would have considered it a dish, but not a kind of rice.

But yeah, he's an *******.

I guess it's not really a "style" it's more of a technique.

Here's some perspective for folks who don't know:

http://www.velvetparkmedia.com/blogs/boob-tube-get-whet

Good times.

Inexplicable, but great nonetheless.

wtf is up with ppl who blog about TC? Did they all get together and decide to create the most annoying, over the top, trying way too hard writing style?

Jennifer saying 'I'm fair in the kitchen' and 'If you mess up, I might just take you off the line' is just another two examples of how she transcends bitch and the female connotations that go along with it. She's a chef and a professional first, and backs it up at every step.

My guess is she will be a really hot commodity after this show regardless of where she finishes.

OK, so...tonight.

It's been said, but it feels like they'll send a guy home, whether it is an explicit producer decision or a subconscious one made by the judges (or, of course, just the right one).

As I have said, I'd like to see Jesse step up and do her best, because I know her best is definitely worthy of going further in the competition.

I wouldn't be too terribly surprised to see Ron, Robin, or Laurine go home tonight. If, on the other hand, it is definitely a guy, I think it's gonna be Ron or Hector, with Ash an outside chance.

Holy **** at the cast of guest judges this week. This is as impressive if not more impressive than any group they've ever had for a finale.

OK, then. Guess that's over with.

I feel bad for her, but damn, she didn't perform.

Oh well, I want the guy who lost his blue ox to win. I feel sorry for him.

Or at least they should keep him around, because he probably has some paper towels if there are spills.

Try the veal.

awesome episode. Pretty obvious the steak au poivre guys are going home. So awesome to see Joel R. and all the other chefs sitting at one table.

I think they're doing an excellent job editing this year, so we can actually understand the reasons the loser leaves and the winner wins. Next week looks lol; re: Tom spitting something out.

No ****. The bother who said that this was the most important plate he's ever made was dead on nuts right.


God, I'd love to have dinner with Joel and Hubert. Who wouldn't want to down a bottle with those guys and chow down?!

I thought the semi-chick should have left, but I understand you can't just keep kicking girls off the show. I think final 4 will be 2 bros, red beard, and jen. I think red beard wins. Speaking of which, I wonder what he was thinking eating at the table. On one hand, he was probably glad he didn't have to face such tough critics, on the other hand, he probably wishes he could have cooked for them.

I thought Mattin should have gone. Mostly because I liked Hector, but if Mattin can't even do well in his signature cuisine in a challenge that was basically made for him, what is the point of keeping him around? And I don't think he's done anything noteworthy this season either.

Well, I couldn't have possibly been more wrong on this one. Not only did she go home next, but she didn't even make it past the quickfire.

I agree with Hector going home (like he was ever going to make it very far), but it seems like Mattin won't be far behind. Robin, Ron, and Ashley need to start packing their bags too.

Is it me, or is it that this season -- despite being awesome so far -- seems to have the largest divide yet between the top tier and the rest? Kevin, Michael, Brian, and Jen are in the top every single time, and they always win. The losers are always the same every week. Seems like the least-variance season to date.

Last season it seemed like Fabio and Stefan would be on top with Leah and Hosea on the bottom one week, then the very next week Hosea would win and Fabio would get eliminated.

As mentioned its clear who the top 4 are and if they are not the last 4 its a major upset
Jennifer C - 2 Quickfires, badass at running everyone else last week
Bryan - 2 Elimination wins
Kevin - 1 of Each
Mike V - 1 of Each
Rest of contestants - NONE

Anyone else finding its easier to tell who is gonna be eliminated or on the bottom each week especially after Judges tables etc, not that they changed it up but just from watching the show soooo much.. Example - it was obvious Jesse was gone because it was a seasoning issue and Ashleys was just a cut the foie and pineapple smaller issue, and with Hector he basically hacked up and overcooked a simple protein with more than enough time.

I do a fantasy draft every year, won last years but lost Masters.
My Picks
Kevin
Laurine
Eli
Preeti - Eliminated
Eve - Eliminated
Michael V
Ashley
Michael I

I thought Eve would do much better, and she was my 2nd round pick...Michael V was 1st choice

Opponents Picks:
Robin
Jennifer C
Ron
Hector - Eliminated
Mattin
Bryan
Ash
Jennifer Z - Eliminated
Jesse -Eliminated

They got extra person as they got leftover person as had first person eliminated.

The top 4 are split between us, and its been insane how evenly we have been broken up to the point our teams were perfectly divided for the "race" at the very beginning even. Even last year we were never ahead more that one person at any point.

Thoughts?

for some reason, Robuchon dressed in all black reminded me of The Emperor.

but to the cooking. The steak au poive is kind of a double edged sword. On the one hand, its easy to do, on the other, you'll never really wow somebody with it and flaws really stand out.

Really dislike booting somebody for a quickfire. I'd be really interesting in the behind the scenes justification for that... (although on Tom's blog he points out that the snails were pre-cooked, so all they really had to be was heated and seasoned- so people without experience weren't in that bad of shape). That said- I'm glad it was Holeface.

I really enjoyed Hector, but to me it was pretty obvious going home. He ****ed up the easiest thing and there's really no excuse.

Martin is a lying douche. Ashley is dumb for not calling him out. She seems almost resigned to going home.

Captain Douchechills McNoEyebrows is soooooooooooo coasting on the fact that he's homies with the brothers. The way they keep pairing off, either by choice or by not, he's getting the benefit of working with the best, and a guy like Ron keeps getting stuck with people who are putting them at risk.

Ashley seemed annoyed when she heard the lineup, just negative body language all episode, no confidence. I think the judges are on to Douchechills, Padma has grilled him twice now on what he did in a team. Plus the fact that he was on a winning team, then in the bottom with a worst dish. Fantastic season, possibly my favorite.

Also, Jen totally wants to bang the younger brother.

Let's face it- Jen just wants to bang. She totally has that vibe about her.

I'm almost worried that with the very obvious talents of Jen/the Brothers/Kevin- that if any of them just **** up at the wrong time and get booted early- it will leave a horrible taste for the rest of the show. (which is in part why I find the notion of an elim quickfire so lame- Top Chef Variance does not move me)

In spite of the fact that Jessie performed poorly throughout the show, and would clearly have been in the next three to go if she didn't do a 180, I hated the fact that they threw such a curveball into the structure by eliminating a contestant during quickfire. I think it was a crappy thing to do.

And on top of it, unless they were trying to say that the three on the bottom had absolutely equal escargot dishes (which was never the claim), to then reduce elimination to a single amuse bouche seemed absurd.

Again, she needed to go, but it just didn't feel right to me. It seemed like it might have been a production decision. I don't mean necessarily that they wanted Jessie off, just that they wanted to eliminate either Jessie or Robin or Ashley so they would have a lineup they wanted going into next week.

Also, making a soup and serving a tiny portion is not an amuse bouche.

Anyway, they managed to even dick her out of her little exit sequence.

Just odd, I thought.

I think the amuse challenge was simply to make it so that one person didn't go home simply because of some random **** up. The bottom 3 had a second chance without restrictions and still didn't blow anybody away. More than fair if you're going to do it that way (which again, I don't like).

Fair enough, except that's not what Tom said. He said the loser of the quickfire was going home. So they changed the rules to include an elimination from the quickfire, THEN they changed the rules again and changed how they did the quickfire.

Again, ultimately, the result was probably OK, but I didn't like how it was derived. It seemed disingenuous.

And of course all the red herring editing was annoying. It was obvious Ashley wasn't going to lose, because they made such a big production of trying to level us with the editing.

Bacon Jam!!!!!!


I need to taste this

Top Chef feels like a show that is good despite the people and network that make it.

****ing everything else on Bravo is horrible. Their website is horrible. The people they choose to guest blog are mostly horrible. The picture of Richard on his blog is horrible (seriously go look, he looks like a middle aged lesbian on the verge of tears). The editing is inartful, obvious and if it weren't for the first two- deceptive.

I mean, I guess it could be worse, it could be on Fox, and then Tom would probably have a bullwhip and Padma would be wea- PUT THIS SHOW ON FOX INSTANTLY!!!