First of all, in case you missed it, Chef Fatima Ali has cancer and surgery this week to remove a tumor from her shoulder. I haven’t been able to find any updates since the surgery. In better news, Bruce’s wife had a baby boy.
Padma, and past Top Chef winner, Brooke, arrive at the Top Chef house at the crack of dawn and give them a quickfire challenge. They have to make breakfast using nutella. This is ridiculous because there are nine chefs sharing one kitchen.
Pretty much everyone did waffles or crepes except for Carrie who made some sort of eggs Benedict. Joseph did oatmeal they did not like. Tanya and Adrienne were also on the bottom. Adrienne didn’t get her nutella syrup on the plate. Carrie’s egg dish was on the top of the heap and she won $5,000. Claudette and Tonya were also in the top two.
Olympians Meryl Davis, Gus Kenworthy and John Daly arrive at the house next. For the elimination challenges, the chefs will break into three teams of three where they will have to feed 70 guests and showcase precision, speed and creativity. Round One is speed, a chef from each team will feed 30 diners in 45 minutes. Round two is focused on precision this chef will cook a protein to the precise temperature and included three specific knife cuts. I’m not really sure I understand this round. In the third round, the chef will have to make the most creative dish possible using a protein that will remain a secret until it is their turn.
Tanya is not happy with getting the precision round on her team. She wanted the speed round that Claudette took. Christopher took the creativity round. The three bears are of course a team. It seems that Mustache Joe is now a bear since Brother Luck left last week. I think Chris is feeling a bit left out of they guys groups. I think Fatima, Carrie and Adrienne are the strongest team.
I get the three knife cut thing now. They will be used for the side dishes. I was trying to figure out how they were going to do three knife cuts on one protein. My brain is broken.
At the challenge, the round two, precision people are asked what temperature they want to cook too. Tanya doesn’t use a thermometer to cook and she just throws out the temperature of 145 for he lamb chops. Then Tom takes their thermometers and informs them that for every three degrees they are off the number, they will lose one point. Tanya is going to go home on this challenge. Dammit! They mystery protein for round three is short ribs. This works out well for Christopher as he is doing a Korean dish because his wife is Korean and the Olympics are in Korea. However they will need to be in the pressure cooker for the full two hours, so that could be an issue.
During round one, Claudette is asking for a lot of help from Tanya who is trying to prep her precision cuts. Tanya is not a happy camper. This team is so losing and Claudette will not be the one leaving. Elimination will be a brawl.
In round one, Fatima scored a 47 for her team. Claudette scored 41.5 and Bruce scored 50 points. This was out of a total of 50 points. The three judges and the three Olympians all voted in the old Olympic way of holding up cards from one to ten. The Olympians give all three a gold, silver or bronze medal.
Adrienne’s protein came out ten degrees lower than what she said at the beginning. So she can’t get higher than a seven. Joseph lost two points so he can’t get higher than an 8. Tonya lost SIX POINTS and can’t get better than a four! That team is so screwed. The judges say Tonya’s knife cuts were unrecognizable. Adrienne had the best knife cuts.
Adrienne scored a total of 40.5. Tanya scored a total of 18.5!!!! That’s tragic! Joseph scored a total of 42.5. The blue team is killing it! I do hope that Carrie kills it in the final round though and that Christopher impresses the judges so he is not in danger.
In the battle of the short ribs, Carrie bombs! How is that even possible? They hated her dish. It is between Christopher and Mustache Joe. Come on, Christopher! I know it’s not possible to get out of third place but save yourself! Wait! Tom just said if the white team pulls out a win, they move into second place. I don’t think that is true.
Carrie scored a 35. Christopher scored a 51! Mustache Joe scored a Blue Team Scored a 51.5. It’s a clean sweep for Blue Team. As I said, even with a score of 51 Christopher’s team loses. They are still 11.5 points behind red team. Even a perfect 60 would have still been third place.
While waiting for the judges to deliberate, the bears are rightfully celebrating their win. Tanya tells them that monopolize the conversation when they when and when they lose and they need to have some empathy. I really don’t now what has gotten into Tanya.
Mustache Joe gets the official win.
Claudette throws Tanya under the bus and blames her for not being able to get her acid component on the plate. Joseph turns to Adrienne and whispers that is exactly what she did to you when you were on the bottom with her. Adrienne nods. I had forgotten about that. Tanya chimes in to say she has a different side of the story. She helped Claudette so much that she got behind and then Claudette didn’t help her. Then Padma asks for Tanya’s side of the story and she says no. WTF? She just gave her side of the story. She even says that she just told her. She says that Claudette was not a team player. Padma asks Christopher to clear things up. He says this is the first he is hearing about it. In other words, he is not about to get involved. The judges prefer Tanya’s dish but she didn’t do the knife cuts at all. Backstage, Tonya bickers with Claudette. Then she randomly snipes at Carrie saying “We don’t all experience the world in the same way. Wake up! Get woke!” Is she saying this is a race thing?
They send Tanya home.
Next Week is Restaurant Wars!
I was afraid Tonya was going home based on the previews I had seen but she did seem off this episode.
I don’t know what it is but I do not like Claudette. I wish she had been eliminated instead.
I am happy with the results of last week’s Last Chance Kitchen and hope that chef makes it back into the mix.
I think Claudette is a great chef. I also loved Tanya but she hasn’t been really pulling ahead of the pack.
But when I realized this is the second time that Claudette was unable to work with a partner, I liked her a lot less. Chefs are pretty notorious for being assholes though so…
Also, once again the all male team worked as a team and the female teams bickered.
Are they doing fan favorite this year?
I knew she was going home over Claudette as soon as she started off to the judges and had an attitude. No way she wins last chance kitchen either
Smarted not started
Yup.
Same as what happened to Jen Carol (who came back this year in Last chance kitchen) when she mouthed off to the judges in top chef all stars. She was one of the best chefs there and went home second. Tom won’t take any sass from the cheftestants, especially if they’re women (there. I said it)
Tonya had a bee in her bonnet the whole show. That shows up on the plate every time. I am not a big fan of Claudette but she tried to help Tonya and she just blew her off. Christopher has got to find his spark again or he will be going soon too.
I liked Tanya a lot at the start, then got a whiff of The Attitude. Glad she’s gone. I don’t think that “woke” thing is helping anybody. We all do experience the world differently; absolutely everyone has a unique and different experience.
In general, I’ve liked all the men as a group over the women as a group this season.
A couple people have emailed me about the racial issues that Tanya seemed to be throwing out with her “Stay Woke” comments which is a catchphrase from the Black Lives Matter movement.
I pointed out that her exit speech about wanting more women chefs and chefs of color was kind of odd to me. Because what we saw was her failing to support a female chef “of color.”
I’m always super frustrated to see women on reality shows who simply can’t get allow with other women. As I said, the men sure as hell manage to bro up and work together. The women? Not so much.
We have to do better.
You can’t be telling a white woman to “Stay Woke” and imply she doesn’t have any challenges as a chef and insult her as if she doesn’t understand that all women in the industry have challenges. And then get all pissy about being expected to assist a Hispanic woman during her round when she is ON YOUR TEAM.
Tanya’s gigantic ATTITUDE was what caused the team to lose. And the fact that she didn’t know the proper temperature for her protein. If she really wants more female chefs, and more chefs of color, she should have bent over backwards to support her Hispanic, female teammate. She should have not gone off on the white, female chef about staying woke. Her pissy attitude this week and lack of knowledge of what temperature a protein needs to be cooked at lost the challenge. And she left disrespecting all of the other female chefs.
Right on, TT. Not many people would put it out there.
Tanya was a good cook but middle of the pack.
Totally agree. I was appalled by Tanya’s attitude, particularly towards the judges. No one gets a free pass to act sarcastic and dismissive toward their “superiors” at work. I was also offended at the “get woke” comment directed at Cary. Cary comes off as a hippie dippie who prob supports the BLM movement but this kind of aggression will alienate even people like her. There was no consoling or middle ground with Tanya. She was determined to be “upset” but don’t dare anyone project that on her!
Very well explained Tamara. I struggled to understand her actions and comments last night as one of her biggest fans!
As women we all face challenges, the fact that she’s on the show tells me how hard she’s worked to get were she is. Admittedly I can only imagine how stressful doing to that competition is and how tired they must get and for that I’ll cut her some slack. I know I don’t always say the right thing when I’m tired, made some mistakes and have a goal just out of my reach…
I still thinks she’s really cool, hope she continues up in her career.
As someone who has worked in the food service industry for over 30 years I was appalled that a professional chef did not know the proper temperature for ANY protein. She said she doesn’t cook “that” way just by touch and visual look. Makes me wonder what other food safety procedures she doesn’t know.
Yup. She was actually the worst overall in this challenge— called the wrong temp + didn’t hit the knife cuts required to complete the task.
Non of the above seemed to be linked somehow to her losing time helping Claudette.
Still they didn’t show why Claudette and Chris didn’t help out more.
Tanya seemed to think she was above the show and the other contestants. She may very well be at a different place in her career, too bad she came on if she couldn’t lose the ‘tude
Unfortunately this happens in every business just not reality TV. How many shows have we watched and we a yelling at the screen for the women to stick together? Time and time again we pick the man over the woman. Women are more competive with women and we will push them down not up. We all need to do a better job of elevating all women. Sorry to get off topic but this is touchy subject for me. She should of helped her fellow chef make a better dish
Thanks TT for writing what I’m sure many of us were thinking. I can’t stand it when women act that way on these shows-they make us look pathetic. They are weak links in our chain I guess. Certainly not what I have seen from women in my life thankfully. I was hoping Tanya would beat Brother in last chance kitchen (she didn’t). I’m still pissed at Brother and his sneaky plastic wrap trickery from last week.
Well, I guess I don’t have to bother getting caught up on LCK this weekend…le sigh.
Lol! All I can do is laugh at the obserdity of what you all are saying.
Did Tanya have an attitude? Yes. Was it warranted? Hell yes!
You talk about women sticking together but the fact that Tanya was the one doing all the running and ripping for Claudette speaks volumes about why we have issues in our society. Chris didn’t put himself out not one bit, and then at the end of the day he decided that he doesn’t want to get involved so he throws his hands up. Black women are always the ones that have to shoulder the responsibility and are expected to come to the rescue for everyone else with very little in return.
It’s clear that Claudette is not up to snuff in some respects. She pulled this same drama with Adrienne when she also didn’t know how to cook her dish and needed hella help. And the fact that the judges (and you passive judgers) are quick to forget the fact that Claudette is a serial repeater and label the black woman as being angry and having an attitude is symptomatic of not understanding the problem. ??✌???
The black woman was angry and had an attitude because she didn’t get the challenge that she wanted. She had no idea how to do the cuts or the temperature that proteins need to be cooked too.She sniped at Carrie and the BEARS for no reason at all. She was a bitch the entire show right up through judging.
Thank you TT. That’s what I got as well.
I don’t know that saying “get woke” or not experiencing the world as others do is injecting race into it. That’s like saying I am a Trump fan because I use the term “fake news”. I’m just using a term he popularized.
I watched and thought Tanya was saying Carrie was clueless as to what Tanya encountered/ felt during this challenge.
Tanya’s “everyone does not experience the world the same way” and to “get woke” = “Shut the hell up and stay out of it, Carrie. You don’t know what it was like on our team and I’m ticked that I had to do something that I am not comfortable doing. Plus, I couldn’t focus on trying to get halfway decent precision cuts because I had to help this needy heifer who can’t even cook a good dish on her own”.
She was angry for a number of reasons, none of which was because she is a black woman. She was angry the entire time and the last straw was when Claudette threw her under the bus at the judging table.
Unfortunately, Tanya chose to “marinate” in her anger for the entire challenge instead of speaking up from the beginning . Her anger “boiled” over at the judges’ table and in the back room.
She did not blame race on any part of her poor performance. She was ticked from the moment she got the assignment knowing she couldn’t perform the tasks and her anger intensified because Claudette needed so much help.
Thank you. I agree that Tanya didn’t speak up at the front and explain that she would do poorly at that task and better at speed. That put her on the wrong foot and she just got angrier at Claudette. However I remember Chris asking Claudette what he could do for her and she shooed him away. Later she blamed Tanya for not helping enough which it looked like she tried, but was pissed because she thought she could do it better, so her attitude sucked. My problem with her going instead of Claudette was everyone said her dish tasted better. At the end of the day the worst tasting dish should have gone home. Just my opinion of course.
“Black women are always the ones that have to shoulder the responsibility and are expected to come to the rescue for everyone else with very little in return.”
This is the most dismissive and over generalized comment. She was seething with anger and literally snapped on Padma by saying “NO.”, Gail by saying “Gail, don’t try to paint that picture on me”, Bruce to “have some empathy”, and Carrie to “get woke” and the experience comment.
She put herself on an Island than complains that she is being stranded by everyone.
She sets herself back, plays the victim and race card all at the same time.
She showed her self to be an angry black woman with sub-par knife skills, no insight on correct temps for proteins and a deep seeded belief that she is the only person who faces injustices.
No one ever said life is fair. I have empathy for the human race cause my brain can comprehend that
we all face hardships and obstacles to overcome, and it’s not specific to just one race.
Spot on.
Then Tonya should have directed her anger where it rightly belonged – at her teammates and HERSELF. She should have fought harder for herself and said why she was the wrong one to take the precision challenge, but that would have meant admitting a weakness. She should have asked Chris for more assistance for them both. She should have used her voice at the judges table instead of saying “No, she would not explain herself” and “don’t project that on me.” WTF? And how dare the bears be excited for their win and one of their own becoming a dad for the first time and being sad about missing his birth? And they have too big personalities and that annoys Tanya as well. But the worst was when Tonya said she is not allowed to speak,and another female chef says Say what you want to say, the floor is yours. Tonya tells her to “Get Woke.” What The F**k. Totally uncalled for as there is a racial connotation to that statement. And that is why she came off like the angry black woman, because she acted like it. Sorry.
Very well said. Watched the episode earlier and just had to root for her to be gone. I really couldn’t believe the way she snapped at Gail.
She lost me big time when she was so rude with Gail. I don’t remember any contestant being that bad with a judge.
Tanya WRONGLY threw down the race card. She didn’t know her temps, she complained when her teammate asked for help, and she was sloppy on her cuts in a PRECISION challenge. I am APPALLED she would make her short-comings in this challenge into a racial issue. She owes Top Chef an apology.
Preach Tamara!
I dont know what got into Tanya, but that was tough to watch from beginning to end. I loved watching her cook, but eventually I thought the techniques would move beyond her, and I cannot see her working in Restaurant wars, which is next week. It was much harder to watch Fatima this week, knowing what she is about to go through. I so hope she is going to be okay, but this is life changing either way. I hope she goes along farther.
Mustache Joe is starting to grow on me, (ha). Not the mustache, it is still stupid, but his attitude is improving and he has some real talent.
If I’m not mistaken, this is the episode that had to be re-edited to remove John Besh after he was accused of sexual harassment several months back
Oh wow! Had no idea he was even set to appear this season.
Seems like a lot of networks are concerned about a lot of re-editing lately ha?
I really like and respect Chris. I would love to see him be Top Chef.
I thought Tanya had immunity. Didn’t she win last week’s challenge?
I remember the earlier episode with the mise plae (prepping food beforehand)where she stated she had not done a mise place (sp) in years, she had prep cooks or assistant for that.
They only get immunity on quickfire wins, not challenge wins. She won a trip to Palm Springs for her challenge win.
There is a name for the room where they wait while the judges deliberate. I used to know it and I’ve been trying to remember it all season and i can’t. Anyone know what I am talking about?
Stew?
Was it the stew room? That seem almost right….but maybe not quite?
I think it is the stew room.
Yeah, that seems right now that I think about it. Thanks. I have been trying to think of it forever.
Sponsored by San Pellegrino. Lol.
I missed the end because just after we had the winning chef, we had a scheduled power out at 11.
I pulled plugs on tv and for at 11:01 and at 11:02 darkness descended.
I am recording another showing, but couldn’t wait to read here.
I wasn’t thrilled that Claudette came back, as I find her not so pleasant.
Tanya was the weakest link.
And it went downhill from jump on that team. Tom pointed out that the other teams were helping each other, but not White team.
So, by the end of my recording, I wished for both to go, but knew it would be Tanya.
I do think there are times When “of Color” really means “of my color” and the others somehow don’t count.
I was watching Fatima for signs of pain, but hope she only worked through pain that once. I hope the surgery was a success. She is in good hands, but Ewing’s sucks.
“So, by the end of my recording, I wished for both to go, but knew it would be Tanya.”
Same here.
I liked Tanya, I think she’s a great chef. Remember she’s middle aged and most middle aged women have little tolerance for mess. I have been giving Claudette the side eye since she blamed the other female chef for her loss. She volunteers to do a part on the team and then needs a lot of help. It’s not fair. I think Tanya just lost it and couldn’t come back from being pissed at Claudette.
I liked Claudette and Tanya until this week. The reason Claudette needed more help than Christopher (who literally helped no one this week).and Tanya was because Claudette’s round was speed. On the other two teams the whole team worked together on the first round, they other team members did all the plating for the most part. The people in round two all did their own knifework and protein cooking. Christopher did not give or receive any help although he did offer to help Claudette.
I appreciated Claudette battling back from LCK, but this week I just got reminded of why I didn’t like her in the first place. Also very disappointed and Tanya and slightly in Christopher.
The other teams were helping, but I didn’t hear the others barking orders like Claudette was
I suspect Tanya is used to having others to help her, and is particularly sensitive to having orders directed at her.
But maybe if she had been forthcoming with help it might have gone better.
Still, this is the second time Claudette has dissed a team mate to the judges.
And Claudette is on the same team as Fatima next week and she had better back off ?
It wasn’t Bruce’s wife who had the baby though, they adopted and the adoptive mother they found was giving birth, which makes it all the more beautiful to me <3 he said they had been close to adopting before and people backed out, so it was a miracle they were connected with this woman and it worked out for them.
I agree about Tanya. I get it, it's hard being black and a woman, nevermind a black female chef, but don't tear other ladies down with you. She and claudette have both had bad attitudes about working with others since the start. That's not going to help you in the competition.
If you watched the whole season you would notice that in about 50% of Tanya’s individual interviews she mentions her race and/or gender. It seems that she is a little obsessed over identity. Then, when she found herself in a disagreement with a white chef, she got frustrated and played the race card. It has probably worked fro her in the past….using white guilt to invalidate any argument against her. It’s too bad. She embarrassed herself.