I’m not really up for a full recapping of this show but I did want to do a quick post about it because for the most part, I loved the episode. This season is set in Charleston and in the preview post I made, I suggested that I would likely pull for the female chef from Charleston. Boy was I wrong. Her name is Emily and she was rude to the chefs on the very first challenge.
The elimination happened in three parts. First the eight newbies had to break down a whole chicken and do as many recipes as they wanted using the chicken in an hour. Most tried to do too much. I would think one fantastic recipe that took the full hour would beat two or three recipes that has less time focused on each. Only one notable standout did one dish and served it before doing another. That was Silvia, she is Italian and did a pasta and chicken dish first, and completed a second one in the allotted amount of time. I don’t recall anyone else getting more than one dish done. My favorite guy is Tim who is the head chef for the governor of Alabama. He’s adorable. The returning chefs were watching from another room and they loved Tim too. He made a a dish using just the innards as he called them, heart, liver kidneys, etc with bitter lettuce and a strawberry vinaigrette. And he won this made me and all the returning female chefs very happy. It was a sweet moment. Poor Gerald from Florida lost. I really like Gerald.
Next up were the eight returning chefs. Poor Katsuji continues to have problems with editing his ingredients down to to a reasonable number. He is an everything but the kitchen sink kind of cook. So am I. Sometimes that works and makes for great layers of flavors and sometimes it is a disaster. This group had half an hour to make shrimp and grits. None of these fools made shrimp and grits. This portion of the show was simply too appalling to discuss. John Tesar lost with some sort of kim chi concoction. Yes, yes it was a shrimp and grits challenge. Amanda was the only one who sort of did shrimp and grits. Another one did a scotch egg. WTF? Just stop. And the scotch egg won. Because, idiots.
Sam does nothing for me. After reading a bunch of stuff people sent me about him last time he seems like a sleezebag. I am alone in this opinion. Everyone else is fawning all over him.
John Tesar swears he is no longer the asshole he used to be. He does seemed to have mellowed. I thought his dish seemed better than most. The next day, they take John and Gerald out to a plantation for the cookout. They have to do roasted oysters. Both did well but John had packed truffles for his special ingredient and whipped it our right away to knock out Gerald with some sort of poached oyster soup with truffles that Tom loved.
I’m looking forward to this season. Are you?
I don’t expect a full recap, but love a place to post. I’m expecting to hear about some excellent food.
I love the rookie vs. veterans layer this season. It feels more cutthroat. I like Sam. I “think” I recall Kelli Bensimon trying to date him back in the day. He wasn’t interested. I like him. I remember thinking he was going to win his season.
The Emily chef from Charlotte sounds very wound up. I see an self implosion coming soon…
The cheftestants always seem to prefer to do a transformative riff on the given test dish. Maybe to avoid easy dish to dish comparisons? Shirley’s scotch egg coated with chopped shrimp scared me though.
It was Brooke who did the Scotch egg. The judges did tell them to put their spin on it so I suppose that’s why there were some far-out versions.
This reminded me of culinary school at Le Cordon Bleu. I remember showing up to class so hungover one day and we had to break down a chicken.. I left. I’m a vegetarian who is used to cooking meat, but it just made me sick. Anyway I’m glad these recaps are back.
I REALLY want to learn how to break down a whole chicken. I don’t have the proper knives for one thing, and whenever I watch Bourdain show people how to do it, he goes so fast I miss it. Plus I want to do it the way my mama did when the wishbone part was it’s own round piece.
You really need to invest in good knives and a sharpner…they make all of the difference. I remember getting scolded for being afraid of my knives to getting an easy A on my first cutting test. It’s amazing what a good knife can do. And you should check YouTube for the chicken videos 🙂
Yes, Tamara! The wishbone is the thing. I can cut up a chicken (what we called it back in the old days before we knew we were breaking it down) and end up with 8 pieces. But that wishbone oh that yummy wishbone alludes me every damn time. And, it’s the best part and the only part that my mama ate.
I’m so glad to see your smiling face back with us. Each of your guest posters do a great job! But, still I miss you. Been thinking about cheese toast a lot. Thanks!
Okay I wasn’t going to say this because I don’t want to violate the “one-up” rule, but I cannot hold it in any longer. My sister MET Anthony Bourdain last night, and I got a FULL debriefing. He was charming. Relaxed. Wearing a sweater. Smelled fine. Chatty, funny, (he was with his friend Eric at a book-signing)…..clean-shaven, sober, NOT trying to pick-up the groupies like some authors do, well-groomed, and looked BETTER in person than he does on TV.
I may be eating his Grandmother’s lasagna recipe for Christmas.
So glad to see you BACK! TT.
OMG! OMG! SO JEALOUS! I loves me some Bourdain. And that is not the one up rule. Or a least the way I meant it. I meant it more when it comes to someone saying “I broke my leg!” and the next idiot saying, “Just one? I broke all of mine and my tail bone. You know don’t know from broken bones.” Kind of thing. But those rules don’t matter anymore. Now we just have one. Stay on topic. There will be no more discussion threads. At least here. I hear the cunts are going strong elsewhere. Which is right where they belong. 🙂
Now back on topic. Shirley is going to be hard to beat!
My grandmother taught me how to break down a chicken and I had to start with plucking the feathers. I grew up on a farm and could not actually eat meat until I was in my 40s. The meat used to be alive and my friends.
I would really enjoy a Top Chef gluten-free baking challenge. Soft southern wheats have a lot less gluten than the hard northern types so it would be regionally appropriate. Possum scrotum en croute? with kim chi?
I’m excited to watch it, haven’t yet. I wanted Shirley to win so badly on her season so I’m excited to watch her.
And I would switch teams in a motherfucking heartbeat for Padma. Heart. Beat.
So happy that Top Chef is back! What a great respit it is after the “shit show” the HWs have become! I love Jim and was happy he won. He seems very genuine. Wishful thinking would be for an episode of Top Chef meets Southern Charm!!!!
Top Chef is my favorite.
TT- I liked Sam on his season until he showed that he had no backbone and let Elan bully Marcel, yes Marcel was a twerp but they didn’t need to go pack mentality…but I digress.
I was worried for Gerald as soon as his edit mentioned his children and the money helping…family is only ever brought up if the person wins or is eliminated and since he didn’t win, I knew what was coming.
Loved the guy from Alabama, he is like a geekier Richard Blais, for whom I’ve always had a soft spot.
The newbies kept saying that they watched the show, but obviously they didn’t watch closely because Tom saying you could make 1 or more dishes was a trap. Tom always slams people for diluting their focus from making 1 solid dish and wasting time attempting multiple dishes or offering up 2 mediocre dishes.
I think this season looks fantastoc and I am thrilled for discussions about food and not housewife bs!!
I’ve always loved this show. But right out of the gate I got super annoyed – the previous season chef’s were so arrogant and cocky. Seriously, if this is your 2nd or 3rd time back, you probably shouldn’t be coming back running your mouth. Kind of loving the little geeky guy. And Sam just seems like a jerk as does the chick from Miami. I might be in the minority but damn I don’t like Padma – her flirtatious and sexual innuendos grate on my nerves. Hoping to see someone from the rookie team win this.
I find Padma to be arrogant and lacking a soul. I also don’t find her to be adequately qualified to judge chefs who have spent decades in kitchens.
I am sooo excited for Top Chef, especially being in Charleston!!
Emily is a bitch, but she also managed to cook more than 1 plate during the quickfire. Funny thing is, all the times I’ve been there, not one single person has recommended, or even mentioned, Warehouse. And everyone there knows I’m a total foodie. Current favorite is Husk. Soo good.
I think everyone is going to love Jim. He’s very down home and real, it will be refreshing to not hear from a contestant “I’m a James Beard winner”. And I predict Silvia will be one of the few to survive the Annual Colicchio Vagina Purge.
Looks like a great season. 🙂
I love this show! I’m excited for the new season and the first episode shows promise. It kinda started to go off the rails with some annoying goofy challenge stuff in the last couple of seasons, but the newbie vs veteran dynamic is pretty interesting. Is this where I share my recipe for artisanal, gluten-free, I-ground-the-corn-with-a-rock shrimp and grits?
Sam’s kinda jerky, but we all are. Yeah, I said it.
Yes, Sam’s probablem is he is past his prime. The stage where dating assholes is exciting and cool past him by ten years ago. Now he’s just a sad playboy past his prime.
And yes. This is the place for that recipe.
Watching the oyster roast competition it looked like the plantation was the same Plantation they used in the movie Django I wonder if was, I was rooting for Gerald win because honestly he did a dish that was roasted even though John had a fantastic-looking this the other guy did was ask
I’M SO EXCITED!!! This is like going home for me!
The shrimp and grits quickfire was meh but DAMN THEY WENT TO BOONE HALL!!!!
I’ve been going to the oyster festival since I was a kid (my mother is a Charlestonian) and it is one of the most fun parties on the planet and the oysters are amazing!!
Pulling for Casey the the geeky guy from Charleston.
LOVE TOF CHEF & Tom is my fav judge. Shrimp and grits so easy so delish not sure what they were making tonite. Charleston is a lovely town, been there 3 times.
Boone Hall has also been used for several TV mini series like NORTH and SOUTH, QUEEN and the movie The Notebook. Glad to see it on TV again.
Can’t wait to see this season, tho not sure why they let people come back a third time. If you didn’t win the first time and then a second time too why a third. Too many talented chefs out there to see the same old faces over and over.
Ok, this got me back to missing Top Chef. I will start watching again. It’s something I can watch w my kid without cringing or getting embarrassed. Plus we both love to cook. Yay!!
Yes! I highly recommend the season so far. seems less scripted than usual. At least for now.
Thanks for reminding me this started! I thought I’d hate returning chefs. If it’s not All Stars, I typically want to get to know the new chefs, too. I feel like returning chefs had their turn and it’s an unfair advantage to compete with new chefs who are overwhelmed by the experience, not used to cameras, don’t know where things are in the kitchen or how their equipment works– as everyone’s ovens, stoves, tools are not created equal.
But I LOVE Shirley and Sheldon! I don’t think Brook should have another chance– she was famous with 3 successful LA restaurants her first time. Where Shirley and Sheldon weren’t even head chefs.
They should have a “Top Chef Redemption” for those eliminated in the first 3 episodes of their season, “Top Chef Second Chance” where chefs made it to the finale but didn’t win, “Top Chef Fan Faves”, etc. I think it’s a bit unfair to have a regular season with returning chefs who have already won or came in second. They had a lot of screen time already.
Oh! I don’t think you should be allowed to make things you’ve made a thousand times successfully (from menus). That’s not the game.
Thanks for this post! I had not realized the new season had begun, and am glad that I found the episode On Demand. While it’s nice to see some of the returning chefs again (Shirley and Sheldon, especially) they do have a distinct advantage over the new chefs. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.
From the preview, Emily from Charleston seems to have a bit of a chip on her shoulder. I hope someone knocks it off early in the season. Tim seems genuinely nice and I like him. And, despite his promise of reformation, John Tesar still seems like a douche. I hope he proves me wrong.
I love it so far! I really liked Tim. I loved that the returning chefs didn’t seem like jerks while watching the “newbies”. I will definitely watch this season. And I love Shirley. Honestly, the only jerk seemed to be the Charleston chef.