Top Chef - S6E2 Power Rankings

PLEASE READ BEFORE COMMENTING!!!
There's a lot of sneaky intel out there, but I'm endeavoring to keep this blog a spoiler-free zone. This isn't just for the readers, but for me, too -- I don't want to know what happens! As such, anything that's already been broadcast or has been posted on the official Bravo site is fair game for discussion. I will, for example, discuss the preview of next week's show at the end of the post. But if you've heard rumors that one chef has been hosting a lot of dinner parties, or that another chef was spotted boarding a plane to an exotic locale, please keep them to yourself... thanks!

Well, I managed to work it back to Tuesday, anyway. Hopefully we get all the way to Monday next week.

Sorry again for the delay, folks... it's tricky with the big field (and houseguests). In any case, season six continues to amaze and astound and lay the groundwork for what just has to be a seriously fantastic second half of the season. Tom seems practically giddy, and as much as I've written about Top Chef, that's not a word I often (read: ever) find myself applying to Tom.

The much ballyhooed "Battle of the Sexes" pretty much turned out to be a non-event, which is as it should be. That said, it turned out to be another great challenge and I thought Todd English made for a rather nice guest judge, and he had some great things to say. I also enjoyed the quickfire's hook, adding interest without completely kneecapping the contestants (as cruel as snake eyes would have been). And while I'm still of the mind that they're applying the big cash prizes to the wrong challenges (the quickfires already have incentive to win rather than merely survive), the field is so strong that it might not matter. Do you see anybody playing it safe?

Since it's inspired so much talk this week, I thought I'd weigh in on the carpaccio discussion. First, a bit of history. Carpaccio's a much younger dish than most suspect, and it's one of those rare dishes with very clear, traceable origins. It's generally agreed that it was first served at Harry's Bar in Venice in the 1950s (Incidentally, a lovely place to have a meal that'll make you feel as though you're a Hollywood star traveling abroad in the 1930s, even if the prices are absolutely heart-stopping). But even in the short ensuing decades, what's generally sold as carpaccio barely resembles the original. Thinly sliced chilled beef topped with olive oil, shaved parmesan, arugula and lemon seems to be the most popular variant, but the original was simply the beef with a drizzle of fresh mayonnaise flavored with mustard and a touch of Worcestershire sauce. While I enjoy the newer "standard", there's a certain minimal elegance and focus on the beef that I think has been lost, and-- well, now I'm just rambling. In any case, Ashley's use of the term this week caused some confusion, with people wondering if she had paired beef with her watermelon and what, precisely, the term means. Fact is, carpaccio has a much broader colloquial meaning these days. You'll see the term widely applied to anything sliced thin and served cold flat on a plate with some manner of topping -- beef, fish, vegetable, fruit, whatever. Even in Italy, menus will almost always specify "Carpaccio di Bue" (beef carpaccio) to clarify that the star is beef as opposed to something else. So the question isn't whether it can be applied to things other than beef. It is, widely and regularly, and that's simply the reality of the situation. The real question is whether or not it should be, and while I'm usually somebody who's annoyed by linguistic drift when it comes to dish names, I have to confess that carpaccio is one that really doesn't bother me. And I think that's because unlike a term like Kobe beef, which often erroneously suggests an ingredient's source, or a term like Spaghetti Bolognese, which is applied to similar dishes that aren't the same, the meaning of the word "carpaccio" has, in practice, changed from the title of a dish to the description of a technique. What's more, it's a technique that, frankly, could use a little shorthand. "thinly sliced and served cold flat on a plate with toppings" is more than a little cumbersome for most menus. But title anything "X Carpaccio" and you immediately know exactly what you're getting. In short, its adopted meaning isn't so much a misnomer or a bastardization as it is very meaningful shorthand for a technique applied to the original dish of the same name. For that reason, put me in the camp that's AOK with Ashley's use of the term.

Okay, enough rambling for one week. On with the rankings! It's the early going, so things are still pretty volatile with a few people making big jumps, but I still feel a whole lot better about where most of the crowd is than I did last week. I'll be curious to hear what you think.

Oh, and P.S... Bravo needs to find a new transcriptionist. This week's recipes brought us canneloni beans (cannellini beans), guanjillo chiles (guajillo chiles), aioli croutin (aioli crouton), and my personal favorite, apricot mastrada (apricot mostarda). I know food and once upon a time I worked as a transcriptionist for over two years. Just sayin'.

The power rankings are not purely a prediction of who is most likely to win, or an assessment of last episode's dishes, or a reflection of the contestants' historical performance, but rather a nebulous amalgam of all three, combined with a little bit of gut feeling, to provide a relative measure of current awesomeness.

Wins

Top

Bottom

1 Michael V. Quickfires 1 1 0 Last Week: 5 Eliminations 0 1 0 Yes, I just gave number one to a guy who hasn't won an elimination. And no, I can't really justify it yet. But this is still week two, the Wild West days of the Power Rankings, and the guy's impressing me. I'll hang my hat on the fact that if he weren't in Kevin's group last week, he'd be the only chef who's been in the top on every challenge thus far... well, every challenge in which the full field participated... okay, this is a lot of qualifiers. He's first this week for looking strong last week and narrowly missing a double win this week, and that's that. The Nitro Gazpacho really was a great twist on a classic, even if it wasn't developed on the spot. It was on the menu at The Bazaar well before this season of Top Chef was underway. But that didn't bother me like it bothered some, and then he turned right around and did something just as wacky and effective that clearly was developed right on the spot, making a fresh sorbet version of the cloying alcoholic shot it was meant to be paired with. Incidentally, for those who would write off the use of things like liquid nitrogen as pure MG nonsense, this dish was actually a perfect example of an intelligent use of new technique. He wanted to do a sorbet, and he wanted it to contain a lot of alcohol. Problem is, alcohol doesn't freeze very well. That is, unless it's subjected to temperatures of -321°F. Anyway, as I'd hoped, he's rocking.

2 Jennifer Quickfires 1 2 0 Last Week: 1 Eliminations 0 1 0 And with Jennifer Z. eliminated, I can eliminate one of the last initials. Huzzah! So, did anybody else murmur "oh, crud" when she went for the frozen seafood, or was it just me? Thankfully, Jennifer pulled down top mention in the quickfire, and while we have no way of knowing how she would have compared to the top fellas owing to the structure of the challenge, comments in the cabana seemed positive, so I'm keeping her just off the pace. Her smoked salmon with lemon, garlic, shallot, parsley and jalapeno emulsion looked clean and married good flavors. Her octopus ceviche with garlic, shallot, vinegar, fennel, onion, mint and every citrus under the sun also looked quite lovely, and bonus points for hewing it from a cephalopod iceberg. That said, let's examine Jennifer's first four dishes: ceviche, poached halibut, smoked salmon, ceviche. She can't ride that horse all the way to the finish line, and we've yet to see how she handles non-piscine protein. I'm not worried. Just noting for the record.

3 Kevin Quickfires 0 1 0 Last Week: 2 Eliminations 1 1 0 Kevin had a quieter week two, but didn't do anything to dampen my enthusiasm for his chances. Quite the contrary, he pulled top mention for a quickfire dish that only further solidified my impression of his cooking. It's a really cool-looking composed and partially cooked salad employing blanched asparagus, a fennel cream, soft-cooked egg, mint, olives and the always underappreciated celery and celery leaves with a champagne vinaigrette. You CAN win friends with salad, and this is the type that would win my interest on a menu. As for his elimination dish, an almond and green grape gazpacho is by no means novel, but crab struck me as an interesting addition, and I loved the thought behind amping up the cucumber to pick up the apple in the shot. The guy's thinking. Frankly, given the comments in the cabana, I was really surprised when he didn't make top four. But that should tell you something about just how strong this field is right now.

4 Bryan Quickfires 0 1 1 Last Week: 4 Eliminations 1 1 0 I'd like to move Bryan up, especially since he's won one of only two eliminations thus far, but he's been a little uneven in both quickfires and I can't quite bring myself to put him above any of the top three just yet. His quickfire, a sous vide cod with dual sauces that play on peas and carrots, is a good dish in theory, I think, but it would seem it had some execution issues. His play on chips and guacamole, on the other hand, suffered no such fate, and struck me as brilliant both technically and creatively. It's not often you see all four judges falling over themselves, and while I suppose he never needs to win a quickfire as long as he keeps doing well in the eliminations, I'd still like to see him do a little better under intense time pressure before I move him up.

5 Michael I. Quickfires 0 0 0 Last Week: 3 Eliminations 0 1 0 Michael I. takes a little dip this week, mostly on the strength of those surrounding him, but also because of a bit of a boneheaded maneuver on the elimination. For the quickfire, his scallop crudo with avocado puree and corn nuts (Corn in ceviche again? Peruvian is making its move!) looks tasty enough, but didn't merit any mention of any kind. His elimination, lightly cured arctic char with caper sauce and a bit of cara cara orange (a sweet, reddish, low acid navel, in case you were wondering) fell flat in the flavor arena according to the judges, and also fell victim to one of the classic canapé/amuse blunders. Texture, texture, texture. Little single bites must pop, and that goes for texture as well as flavor. Cured fish + creamy sauce + citrus segment = mush, and I'm sure that factored into the judges' impressions of the dish.

6 Hector Quickfires 0 0 0 Last Week: 14 Eliminations 0 1 1 And just like that, Hector comes bouncing right back. Though his quickfire didn't receive any screen time, it was thin-sliced jamon serrano with a sherry-kumquat emulsion and date "carpaccio" (there it is again!). Wasn't good enough to merit recognition, apparently, but it's the kind of creative Latin fare I'd like to see a lot more of. For his elimination, however, it seemed like he was right there with the folks at the top. Not only did he do great things with tofu (though, for the record, I love tofu and don't view it as a substitute food), but it was a creative Latin dish that even worked in a little MG. The tofu was marinated simply with lime, lemon, salt and tequila, and then dressed with mango and cilantro-mint pearls (agar agar), topped with cucumber, mint and pickled garlic, and a freshly made, pressed and fried guajillo-achiote tortilla chip. I'd love to see a Latin chef make a real run, and I'm glad to see Hector running strong after a little stumble out of the gate. Besides, the guy looks like he could have gone to cooking school with Danny Trejo, and there's nothing that isn't awesome about that.

7 Eli Quickfires 0 0 0 Last Week: 9 Eliminations 0 1 0 Eli snuck up on me a little this week. I didn't expect to have him as high as I did, but there he is. His quickfire was an interesting little number that sailed under the radar, steamed mussels with a butter caramel, sherry vinegar and ras el hanout sauce, topped with breadcrumbs and cilantro. It's wacky enough that I wonder if it didn't quite come together, but that's purely speculation. This isn't one I can put together in my head. His elimination won some significant praise, though, especially from Gail. And she's dead on. You have to do something seriously interesting to impress with tuna tartare these days. It's nothing if not busy, including coconut milk, lime, yuzu, aji amarillo, fish sauce, truffle oil, ginger, garlic, red pepper, yellow pepper, scallions, mint, cilantro, basil, sesame powder, green tea powder, soy sauce powder, lactic acid, rice paper and onion, not to mention the puffed wild rice that received so much attention. Of course, number of ingredients have nothing to do with quality, but the ability to balance that many flavors is impressive, especially when set against a mellow canvas like raw tuna. He's got the evil scientist look down, and it's starting to look like it might be appropriate.

8 Ron Quickfires 0 0 0 Last Week: 6 Eliminations 0 1 0 Ron wasn't overtly called out for any problems this week, but what signs there were weren't terribly positive. First there's his quickfire, which received zero screen time, and consisted of seared salmon atop spinach and cannellini beans that were dressed with Chablis lemon butter. His elimination looked a little uninspired, a light vegetable sauce and underseasoned lobster. Might not have been called out in previous seasons, but against this crowd it sticks out like a sore thumb. I'm definitely still trying to get a handle on Ron, and I wonder if we got his best shot in week one.

9 Ashley Quickfires 0 0 0 Last Week: 7 Eliminations 0 0 1 I actually feel better about Ashley than I do about either Ron or Eli, but you don't botch a dish like that panna cotta and not get dinged for it. I dug the look of her quickfire dish, a grilled lamb with quick apricot mostarda, mostarda being a fruity, sugary Italian relish of sorts that's made with a ton of dry mustard or, even more authentically, extremely pungent mustard oil, so that it kind of straddles that sweet/savory divide. Her first elimination dish also looked nice and earned big praise from English, which was impressive given how little went into it: watermelon, mint, strawberries, balsamic and grilled ricotta salata (far denser, drier and salty than the ricotta to which most are accustomed -- though softer than most, it's actually used mostly as a grating cheese in Italy). What I didn't like was how incredibly underdone that lamb looked, and how badly she botched the panna cotta. The latter I actually find more forgivable than the first. It was a mistake born of zeal, and I don't doubt that if that were her only dish, she might've nailed it. It just lacked focus, both from a technical standpoint and as evidenced by things like the fresh/dry bay issue. "Fresh or dry, fresh or dry, fresh or dry...... eh, I'll just use both." Despite these issues, I think she's actually one of the more promising MOTP'ers (Middle Of The Pack), but I have to ding her here.

10 Robin Quickfires 0 0 0 Last Week: 8 Eliminations 0 0 0 And now we enter the chunk of contestants I'm not quite sure what to do with just yet. The next four haven't really distinguished themselves, but then they haven't done much to hurt themselves either. Robin's was one of the quickfire dishes that didn't get any play. And for rolling a difficult three ingredients, I think she did a rather nice job of trying to make something interesting of it. She topped seared duck breast with fennel and golden raisins, braising and then grilling half of the fennel bulb (which was then combined with the raisins to make a relish), shaving and frying the other half, and making a coulis out of the fronds. Three ingredients is tough. There's simple and there's simple, and I like that she was working multiple preps of one of her ingredients, trying to pull more and varied flavors out of it. It didn't earn her any mention, but it strikes me as smart. Her elimination was the duck mole on plantain chips, and I think it's set the record for most ingredients in a Top Chef dish. I count 37 (not advocating, merely reporting). In any case, Robin's had some interesting looking recipes and Gail had good things to say about her in last week's blog, so I'll put her on top of this particular heap.

11 Ash Quickfires 0 0 0 Last Week: 10 Eliminations 0 0 0 Ash, similarly, hasn't received any top mention and he's mostly flying under the radar, but his chicken wings received some kind words. His quickfire was a simple seared bass with arugula, sort of a tomato confit and a sherry/tarragon vinaigrette. Could have been great, could have been mediocre, all depending on the ingredients and execution. All we know is it wasn't awesome or terrible. And though I hate to pigeonhole the guy in terms of style so early, his elimination actually seemed a bit of a departure for him. They were noshy, Asian-style chicken wings with pickled pearl onions. The wings employed sesame oil, serrano chiles, Sichuan peppercorns (huzzah!), sambal, sriracha, sweet soy, regular soy, mirin, lemongrass and ginger. Noshy Asian-style. Anyway, I'm still seeking more of an angle on Ash.

12 Laurine Quickfires 0 0 0 Last Week: 15 Eliminations 0 0 0 Laurine was another short straw in the quickfire, pulling three ingredients. And unlike Robin, I thought she kind of took the easy way out by making soup. Don't misunderstand -- those who remember the Spike Mendelsohn soup debate from season four know that I was a staunch defender of the power and appropriateness of a good soup. But three ingredients -- even for a soup -- is awfully low, and like Robin, I would've liked to see her get a little more creative with their use. Do something to showcase the different flavors that can be brought out of one of your ingredients. Choose an ingredient with multiple components that have different character. Anyway, her elimination looked interesting to me, lamb with a nice spice rub and a relish made with pine nuts, pomegranate molasses, lemon, mint, parsley and shallots. Despite being so low in the rankings, she's got a little game. I'll be curious to see if she manages to stand out at all in this crowd.

13 Mattin Quickfires 0 1 0 Last Week: 12 Eliminations 0 0 0 My impression of Mattin is definitely colored by my experience at his restaurant (which is half written up already). Let me be clear -- I don't think there's the slightest thing wrong with the guy's food. It's simple, it's good. I just don't see him doing anything interesting at all, and with this crowd that's going to mean an even earlier exit than usual. His quickfire was a ginger carrot soup with a little sour cream for garnish. Okay. Not that there's anything wrong with ginger carrot soup, but if you're going to do soup, could you at least throw an interesting combination or something? And his elimination was a prettied up classic -- a bit of bouillabaisse in a cup, with aioli and a crouton on the side. It's unclear to me whether he did or did not do an actual croquette. It's in the name of the recipe, and the judges said it wasn't very good, but there's no mention of it in the actual recipe -- just a crouton. In any case, no, the guy isn't blowing it. He's just blending in too well. Aside from the neckerchief, of course.

14 Jesse Quickfires 0 1 1 Last Week: 11 Eliminations 0 0 2 Jesse had a rough week. Well, another rough week. And some are probably wondering why she isn't on the bottom. I had her there originally, because it's tough not to put somebody on the brink of elimination who's been on the bottom of all three challenges with a bottom so far. The conservative and probably the smart pick is to say she's about to kick the bucket. But between the two who look like they're on the brink, Jesse has actually shown some potential, and it's on that basis that I'm keeping her out of the bottom spot. Between the lack of a good sear on her scallops and the lack of any texture, her quickfire had problems. But there was the genesis of a good dish in there. Similarly, her elimination dish -- sort of a take on chicken soong, was apparently busy and unbalanced and the decision to throw in the ginger beer was just puzzling. But again, I just have a feeling that if she can pull herself together and start cooking smart, she's going to turn out some good food. It has to be right now, though, or she's a goner.

15 Preeti Quickfires 0 0 0 Last Week: 13 Eliminations 0 0 1 Preeti's dish, on the other hand, I actively dislike. Her quickfire seemed okay -- an unaired "Spring Benedict" -- that put asparagus and poached egg atop sourdough toast, and topped them with a faux hollandaise that puzzingly substituted olive oil for butter. I appreciate the fresh angle. I'm just not so sure it's a good one. With the possible exception of the egg yolk, you just removed the single best part of eggs benedict. Her elimination, though, was just ill-conceived from the start. I don't like to suggest that some dishes are so overdone you just can't do them anymore. But black and white sesame crusted tuna? That's one thing I hope I never see again and I don't doubt the judges feel the same way. Then it's put atop a fried wonton skin, which only adds to the bad '90s fusion vibe, pairs it with eggplant which is puzzling (and was to the judges as well), and adds a largely superfluous and inappropriately whole shiso leaf, seemingly because it looked pretty. And then she seemed oblivious to its problems, which is never a good sign. The judges see potential in Jesse and would like nothing more than for her to find her footing. In Preeti, however, they're getting puzzling food from somebody who doesn't seem to understand why it's puzzling. Given another close call between the two, I'm thinking that tips the scales in favor of Preeti's elimination. And one final thought... scuttlebutt before the show started was that Preeti had a penchant for working Indian flavors and techniques into her cooking, but we're three dishes in and it's nowhere to be found. I'd sure like to see some of that, but here's hoping that wasn't somebody's assumption simply because she's Indian, because that would be Lame.

16 Eve Quickfires 0 0 1 Last Week: 16 Eliminations 0 0 2 There was a point during this week's episode when I embarrassingly lost control and started yelling at the TV screen. It went something like this: "I'm pretty much focused on my dish because I'm having some issues with the lack of flavor in the shrimp." "That's because you cooked the shrimp." "The vinaigrette is not penetrating it or affecting it at all." "THAT'S BECAUSE YOU COOKED THE SHRIMP!" Am I the one who's out in left field here? I know there are those who advocate par-cooking shrimp for ceviche, but in my experience, the second you cook those buggers, nothing's penetrating them. The whole point of the ceviche is that the acid "cooks" the seafood. Otherwise, it's a cold shrimp salad. Anyway, Eve turns in two more failures and deservedly gets the boot. To her credit, in her exit interview, she managed to sing the familiar "I didn't put my best foot forward because I was having trouble with the format" tune without taking the Zoi route of acting as though the contest she just lost was beneath her, anyway. As mentioned in the comments, some chefs can rock their own kitchens but don't work well in the TC pressure cooker. That could certainly be the case with Eve. But she sure didn't inspire confidence, huh?

Starting to get a sense of where everybody lies. There are still a few of the quiet folks who could suddenly shine or bomb. But I doubt either is going to happen next week. Speaking of which...

WARNING : MINOR EPISODE THREE SPOILERS AHEAD

Why am I getting the uneasy feeling that we're going to hate the next episode? On the surface, without seeing the official setup, the quickfire looks to be straightforward enough. The elimination, on the other hand, looks to be another in a long line of "now we're going to cripple our chefs and see how they do" challenges. I understand wanting to see how they handle pressure, but without getting ahead of myself, this one's looking a little ridiculous. We'll wait to see the details, of course, but from the previews it looks to have all the makings of the kind of survival challenge that can send somebody home long before they should go. Here's hoping that doesn't come to pass.

Discuss!

Comments

[aaalex]

dominic: hard to argue with any of these entries. if preeti doesn't go this week, it'll probably be next, though it would be amusing if you were three for three on the eliminated contestant. the only one i like a bit more than you is robin. the controversy over her decision to keep immunity aside, she's been almost invisible (along with ash) in the editing, but the look of her food, including the dish with chorizo for the first ec, has been impressive. so far, she's shown herself to be an cook and a thoughtful one. you have her near the right place, i think, but i like what i've seen of her food more than i like what i've seen of ron's.

[Skillet Doux]

Aaalex...

I actually agree with you when it comes to liking Robin above Ron. The only thing that kept Ron above her this week was inertia, which I now consider completely used up. Even if they both do absolutely nothing next week, I probably wouldn't hesitate to swap them. Well, after hopefully moving Ashley up, obviously. Sadly, I'm not holding out much hope that next week is going to show us much about anybody.

[Independent George]

Aaalex - I wanted to reply to your comment on the postmortem, but couldn't bring myself to spoil perfection.

I agree with the comments re: Jesse. I think she has the potential to climb into the top 10 if she pulls herself together, but I think she's been genuinely rattled by the competition. The ginger beer seemed like the kind of thing you do when you second-guess yourself mid-stream, and decide it needs to be juiced up at the last minute. That's usually not a good sign, but, then again, Casey & Carla struggled early before going on their respective runs in S3 and S5 (and then flaming out in the finals - ironically, together in S5). It'll be much harder with this field, but it does seem like her mistakes are easily fixable.

[paula]

I'm not gettin' the Ron love at all. Nothing he's done so far has made me say, Wow, that's impressive/innovative/delicious-looking. I don't think he's going to last much longer. I also think Ashley might have more legs than you're giving her. But it's exciting how Kevin and Michael V. are hitting it out of the park--and Jen, too, although that all-seafood menu so far does, indeed, seem like a bit of an asterisk.

And Dom, I laughed out loud at "bonus points for hewing it from a cephalopod iceberg."

[Bart]

Awesome!

Just one final note from me on the carpaccio controversy - it's not the name of the food itself that I'm bothered with, but the idea of the dish itself. So far, not a single person has answered my one question: What is so special about a thinly sliced piece of watermelon?

You're essentially eating a watery wafer. What is so praiseworthy about that? The only thing it has going for it is that it might be light and refreshing, but it doesn't sound like it'd dent anyone's appetite, nor does it sound like it required any modicum of skill (besides with the knife) to pull off. I remember when someone once served Tom raw food and he whined about it because Top Chef "is a cooking show." And yet this watermelon "carpaccio" gets praise? I honestly don't get it.

That said... I liked your comment about Michael V.'s intelligent use of MG. If you'll remember my comments last year surrounding Arianne's cooking, I was defending the concept of well made, simple, unpretentious tasty food. Here, I like Michael V.'s style of MG because it's unpretentious and looks pretty darn tasty.

The common theme, I've come to realize, is that I dislike food that is pretentious (which is probably why I like Tom's diet coke commercial). It's a whole lot easier to be pretentious with newfangled styles of cooking, and I'm very pleased to see that, despite the number of chefs who employ modern techniques, most of them are being very, very smart about it.

It's possible to be clever and cute without being pretentious. And this is what I've seen so far. Kudos to this year's field.

[Skillet Doux]

Like I say, Paula... inertia.

He was on top last week, and even though it was a weak group the judges had very nice things to say about his dish. In week one, that puts you in the top third. After that, it's tough to suddenly drop somebody like a stone unless they do something to earn it, and he didn't. He was mostly just there.

And I agree, Ashley could absolutely have legs. The things that are good, I've liked. But you can't serve borderline raw lamb (at least when that isn't the intention) and butcher a panna cotta and catch that upper echelon. As mentioned at the top in green, this isn't purely performance or potential. It all figures in and Ashley's made some mistakes that make it difficult to put her much higher right now. I agree, though, she's a climber.

[Independent George]

Off-topic, but cephalopods cannot be mentioned without referencing xkcd.

[Skillet Doux]

Y'know, George, I generally like to try to keep things on topic, but... c'mon... it's xkcd :-)

[babyarm]

They do have a real problem on their hands because as highlighted above the women seem relatively weak to the men by a good margin. They tend to give leeway to the women up to a point (carla, arianne, lisa, nikki, sara). That point will have to be pushed to the limit this season.

This should make Jennifer a mortal lock to make RW this year. Will be interesting who they send off Dale or Tre style to make room for what appear to be now to be the inferior candidates as a group for reality TV balance.

[aaalex]

independent george: i am so relieved to be among other obsessive compulsives.

re jesse: her near win in the first qf is what made me think she's an interesting cook, but her mistakes since have been of the "forgetting something important" variety. a pretty significant flaw. plus, she seems to lack confidence in this arena. her tears last week do show the kind of stress/frustration she's dealing with. the interesting jesse question, for me, is whether or not she can get it together emotionally so she can think straight and use her talent. i bet this week's show will tell a lot about her.

[L.S.]

"That could certainly be the case with Eve. But she sure didn't inspire confidence, huh?"

It's puzzling. She often seemed befuddled. It makes you wonder about the nature of her schooling and her experience. Given how difficult it is to make it in the restaurant industry and the fact that she apparently has been the chef of a successful establishment for several years, it is...puzzling.

[aaalex]

l.s.: not so puzzling, if you keep in mind that top chef is not real life. her performance on what is, essentially, a game show has little to do with what she is as a person or a professional. don't forget, she was invited to be part of this season's top chef. her cooking ability was never in doubt. her ability to perform under this kind of strange pressure? that's what the producers could not know. the answer? she doesn't perform well, in these circumstances.

[Independent George]

It's puzzling. She often seemed befuddled. It makes you wonder about the nature of her schooling and her experience. Given how difficult it is to make it in the restaurant industry and the fact that she apparently has been the chef of a successful establishment for several years, it is...puzzling.

I wouldn't read too much into it. Most restaurants don't come up with a menu, shop, and prep 3 hours before opening. I don't think flaming out on TC tells you all that much about the food - maybe more about their management skills, but we've seen some pretty spectacular flameouts in that department, too.

[LS.]

I could understand the pressure making her botch the execution of what she intended to do, but she also seemed confused as to how to even go about it. That's the part that surprised me a bit. I wondered if the pressure felt so intense she experienced a series of those brain freezes where you suddenly can't remember things you know well.

[SorchaRei]

In thinking aobut Eve, I can't help but compare her to Roy Yamaguchi.

On TCM, he flamed out pretty spectacularly, and he specifically said, "I'm really not the kind of chef who can improvise", meaning he's the guy who creates dishes iteratively. Now, say what you will about his current restaurant empire (and I've said a lot, in my time), back in the day when he had one restaurant, it was a damned fine place to eat, with innovative, delicious food.

Eve, on the other hand, did seem befuddled, not by the process (which favors improvisational chefs who work well under pressure), but by everything. She did not appear, even in retrospect, to have a clue what was wrong with her dishes. I, too, was screaming at the TV that she shouldn't expect cooked shrimp to absorb flavors. She seemed lost in the face of the comments her food got -- unlike Jesse, who does seem to know what went wrong (the wrong pan, taking the chicken out of the liquid while it cooled, etc.)

I'm certain that the format of the show didn't play to her strengths, but that's true of Roy Yamaguchi, too, and while he couldn't produce in the hot house competitive time-bound environment, he did cook and talk like someone who throws things together without any understanding of how food works. Eve did.

[aaalex]

l.s.: aside from the stress of being in a competition, don't forget the stress of being on television, having your every move filmed. there was a really interesting moment, in episode 2, when jen said to eve "keep your knife out of my face". no executive chef would, under normal circumstances, be as befuddled as eve was.

[L.S.]

It does remind me how much more difficult this must be than it looks on TV, and to admire even more those who perform so well under that pressure.

[aaalex]

sorcharei: did you mean to write roy yamaguchi DIDN'T "cook and talk like someone who throws things together without any understanding of how food works."?

[aaalex]

l.s.: i totally agree and one of the best things about top chef masters was seeing it dawn on each and every one of the "masters" that what the contestants do on top chef is not easy at all.

[Skillet Doux]

In reference to a lot of the comments above, this is exactly why I tend not to get overly bent out of shape when somebody doesn't complete their dish in time or something like that. I mean, it's important in terms of the competition itself (and thusly, meaningful for the rankings), but it doesn't necessarily reflect on what kind of chef that person is when s/he takes off the TC whites.

As it pertains to Eve, I can write off something like last week's sauce to competition pressure. She can't find a key ingredient, she's flustered, she isn't in her own kitchen, she has to plate or serve nothing, and she makes a dumb adjustment on the spur of the moment. I'm more troubled by stuff like the shrimp which, to me, seems to imply a fundamental lack of understanding of how certain ingredients work. But hey, it's a small sample... and maybe I'm the one who doesn't know what I'm talking about.

[SorchaRei]

he did cook and talk like someone who throws things together without any understanding of how food works. Eve did.

Uh. I meant "he did NOT cook and talk . . . " Oops.

[doktarr]

I'm with you all the way on the top 7 and the bottom 3. I'm not quite with you on the middle 5 (if Ron's in any other group in week 1, he would have nothing on his ledger thus far) but the middle is admittedly very hard to figure out at this stage.

In Robin's defense, I think mole is an inherently ingredient-intensive dish. How many ingredients went into Bayless's Oaxacan black mole?

[L.S.]

Interesting you mention Top Chef Masters. I didn't get to see any of it, but I did speculate if a now-the-shoe-is-on-the-other-foot realization had indeed taken place.

[aaalex]

dominic: it's a small sample, true. but the fact she went back to do shrimp twice, even after the first disaster, indicates someone who really wasn't thinking straight. why use shrimp again if you're not going to be SUPER careful? if eve claimed her thought waves had been disrupted by aliens while she was on top chef, i don't think she'd lack for tangible evidence.

doesn't mean the food at her restaurant's bad, but i'd probably avoid the shrimp if i ate there.

[Dave_P]

Nice rankings, Dom. Pretty much agree on all except...

I think we're selling Ash a bit short. I say "we" because I also had him nondescriptly in the middle of the pack during the postmortem writeup, but then it occurred to me that his wings got some good buzz in the cabana, and one of the blogs (Gail's?) also mentioned that they were fab, and possibly just missed the top 4. The top 5 or 6 are pretty solid, but I at least would move him up to 8th or 9th spot for the time being.

BTW, spot on for Jennifer--I'm 95% sold on her, but the remaining 5% would like to see her handle some red meat.

Funny you mention carpaccio's origins (of which I was completely ignorant til now). The only time I made carpaccio was for a special New Year's Eve menu at my old restaurant, and we in fact did (apparently) a very traditional approach. Chilled (frozen, would melt on the plate) tenderloin sliced thin, served w/homemade aioli and minimal garnish. At the time, I thought it was a bit too simple and kinda boring (but hey, you do what the Chef tells you to do)--I guess it was just classic. :)

--
Dave

[Anne]

I think it's really sad that there's one female chef in the top half--and I don't mean that as a reflection on Dom. I hope a couple of them start showing some game soon. Has there ever been this much disparity between the men and the women?

[Chris]

I can't wait to see more of Ash. I think I have a crush on him already.

Eve frustrated the crap out of me on Top Chef. After being to her restaurant and loving every second of it I was stoked to hear she was representing Ann Arbor on a national level. The food at her restaurant was a lot more refined than anything we saw her touch on the show - it's hard to believe it's the same person. Maybe she did have trouble with the format, but I maintain that her restaurant was still one of my favorite dining experiences (Jamie Lauren's Absinthe takes the cake for me there).

and by the way, am I crazy, or is Jennifer totally pronouncing "ceviche" incorrectly? I've never heard it pronounced that way before. I have a hard time believing somebody working under Eric Ripert would get something like that wrong, but hey, I'm not the one on Top Chef...

[anon man]

I'll take the 15 yard penalty and pile on Ron as well. His dish this week was apparently pretty bad, maybe the worst on the men. And, I still maintain that his island cuisine will suffer not being in Miami (or a few other places in the U.S. - Vegas not being one of them), where you can source the regional ingredients he'll need. I'm sure his core stuff is very good, but in terms of survival prospects, I would put him down with Mattin.

And, Dom, I appreciate you weighing in on the Carpaccio debate. I had "Baby octupus salami" the other day, but it was really octupus served "salami style": sliced thin, served with a little pea shoot salad. I guess you could call it "Octupus Carpaccio". My beef (yuk, yuk) isn't the technique, its the reliance on thin slicing and plating instead of hot cooking.

[aaalex]

anne: ashley and robin might both surprise. they have the potential to be around longer than mattin, ron, ash and maybe even hector. but, also, jennifer looks like one of the strongest contestants we've ever seen. so far, she's impressed more than hosea and ilan (i think, anyway) and she seems at least on the same level as richard blais. it's her misfortune (or good fortune, because the better the competition the better you look) to be on a season when three or four of the male chefs are ridiculously talented and inventive and born for this sort of competition. i wouldn't be surprised if, at the end, there are two men and one woman. and i wouldn't be shocked if jen won. so, it's not such a disparity when you think of how strong jen looks, though dominic's "seafood comfort zone" point is a worry ...

[kit]

Chris says: "and by the way, am I crazy, or is Jennifer totally pronouncing "ceviche" incorrectly? I've never heard it pronounced that way before. I have a hard time believing somebody working under Eric Ripert would get something like that wrong, but hey, I'm not the one on Top Chef..."

Blais explains it as being the "French" pronunciation of ceviche, and actually cites to it as proof that Jen has "fully ingratiated herself into a European kitchen mindset."

http://blogs.creativeloafing.com/omnivore/2009/08/24/top-chef-second-helpings-a-kiss-is-just-a-kiss/

It does sound funny to me the way she says it, but once I imagine Ripert saying it in his heavy French accent, it sounds like duh, why doesn't everyone else say it like that too!?!

[KinderJ]

Not so fussed with the middle of the pack, but I would actually move the elder Voltaggio a little higher. I get your reasoning, and I can see why you put him below Kevin, but I reckon he is going to be a beast down the road. Kevin is turning out some top notch food, no question, but he seems to lack that killer instinct that seems to radiate from Jennifer and the Voltaggios. Not a violent vibe, just highly focused and willing to push for the win. Kevin seems like a strong guy, comfortable in his strength, so he does not need to exert himself. I wonder how he will perform when the pressure is really on.

That being said, bar some sort of epic fail or poorly designed challenge, I see Kevin going deep. No argument that he is one of the best in the show to date.

On an unrelated note, I actually reckon Ashley could make the second half of the season, provided she focuses. My views on 'carpaccio' aside, that was a clever, inventive dish. More like that, and she could go a ways.

[Cheryl]

Did anyone catch how Eve's eye's literally "lit up" when Padma asked her to pack her knives and go. She immediately dropped her head like she didn't want anyone to notice, but I think she was relieved, actually happy. She seemed lost from the beginning and realized it wasn't her game but it's night like a college class you signed up for and realize you can't handle or something. I think she was thrilled to be gone without having the distinction of being the first one eliminated.

[EdT.]

Cheryl - I also noticed that the first words out of her mouth were "thank you". Not "thank you for the opportunity", but just "thank you". I almost expected her to *do the happy dance* right then and there.

~EdT.

[timothy]

So I am interested in the difference between tofu as an ingredient and seitan as an ingredient. Dom, both you and Todd English say you love tofu, and both you and Tom seem to imply that seitan doesn't work because it's only designed to substitute for something better. Do I have that right? Does tofu work better because it has unique characteristics of its own, and seitan fails because it's just a cheap imitation of meat? I assumed that Hector succeeded and Jennifer Z failed because of technique, but now you make me think that tofu is an inherently better ingredient. What makes it so? I am not questioning your love for tofu and your disdain for seitan. I'm genuinely curious about the differences.

[Allison]

Great job with the rankings. It's a lot of work this early in the season. No arguments ... it's truly looking like the strongest group yet.

Aside: unless I've forgotten French, and I might be wrong if the French are trying to approximate the original Spanish, Jennifer's also not getting the "French" version of ceviche right. No hard 'CH' in French ... that would be 'SH.'

Thanks for the history of carpaccio. I fell in love with it when I first tasted it in Milan (I think) ages ago, the "newer" version. Alas, never made it to Harry's (other than taking a look inside) when I visited Venice, but I was living in Vienna on a student's budget at the time.

Looking forward to how things shake out.

[Skillet Doux]

”In Robin's defense, I think mole is an inherently ingredient-intensive dish. How many ingredients went into Bayless's Oaxacan black mole?”

Oh, it absolutely is. Not a value judgment. Just an amusing observation. I think the recipe broke my scroll wheel.

”So I am interested in the difference between tofu as an ingredient and seitan as an ingredient. Dom, both you and Todd English say you love tofu, and both you and Tom seem to imply that seitan doesn't work because it's only designed to substitute for something better.”

I just hate substitutes, across the board. Actually, I hate tofu too... when it’s used as a substitute. But that’s a role it’s frequently shoved into. It’s not inherent to its nature. Tofu is great. One of my old favorite dishes from the time I spent in L.A. was from a Japanese joint that served tofu with a sesame sauce and a pile of shaved bonito. The dish was essentially a giant block of ice cold tofu, and it was great. But it wasn’t being dropped into a role that should’ve been filled by something more meaty because they were trying to appeal to health Nazis. It was great on its own merits. Seitan, on the other hand, I’ve never seen outside of a substitute context. I’ve never been in a situation where I thought to myself, “You know what would make this dish great? Seitan.” It’s always substituting for beef because beef has an intestinal half-life of 137 years or something and the sound of the words “wheat gluten” just gives the yoga-and-colonic set the warm fuzzies. The day somebody serves me a seitan dish and I don’t think to myself, “You know, this would be better if it were actually meat,” is the day I’ll change my tune. I remain open to the possibility that it could happen. But it hasn’t.

“Thanks for the history of carpaccio. I fell in love with it when I first tasted it in Milan (I think) ages ago, the "newer" version. Alas, never made it to Harry's (other than taking a look inside) when I visited Venice, but I was living in Vienna on a student's budget at the time.”

Probably for the best. I think dinner at Harry’s Bar would have run more than your tuition for the semester.

[KinderJ]

Re: Venice- having been there a couple of times in my wildly well spent youth, I would say going anywhere in Venice is a crime against finance and reason. And yet the city is so utterly worth it if your tastes run that way. Hard to say what 'that' way is, beyond a sense of mystery and decay, and forever wondering what is down the next alley...

Right! Food blog, Top Chef, yes!

Tofu is like plaster- flexible, capable of doing a lot of things, but still ultimately it's self. You get in to trouble when you try to persuade people it's something else. Hector pulled off a doozy by making it interesting and unique. I would be pulling for him to rate higher, but, well, I think Dom pretty well nailed it there. I hope to see him around for a long time to come.

[Luray]

I am a vegetarian and not much of a fan of either tofu or seitan. If I had to use one for a protein source, I would go with tofu since it's more adaptable and absorbs flavors. In my experience, seitan has a harder texture and is used, as Dom says as a substitute. I have had a good "reuben" which used seitan in place of pastrami, but it tasted good b/c of the combination of flavors of the kraut, cheese and mustard, not the seitan.

On the other hand you can make some great tofu dishes because it will take on the surrounding flavors. Hector's ceviche sounded good. Many asian cultures use tofu. It can be used for cheeses as well if someone is lactose intolerant- like in a lasagna- though I suppose then it would be a substitute.

[kathy from austin]

Chris:

I have been waiting for an opening to praise Jamie L's Absinthe Restaurant. We went there in March and were blown away by how good the food was. In particular, that night she served a root vegetable dish that was so spectacular that we ordered it for dessert. Jamie was so gracious and came out to talk with us for a while about her Top Chef experience. She said she really enjoyed herself and that it had been a learning experience. She also commented that Stefan (who I really like) was a terrific person with whom she would be friends forever.

I asked her for the recipe for the root vegetables, but she was very vague and commented that she sous vide (sp?) the roots and added a ton of butter and fresh herbs. I followed this up with a formal "thank you" and asked her for her recipe (in a postage included envelope along with my email address). Alas, no recipe was forthcoming.

The bottom line is that I had one helluva memorable meal at Absinthe and couldn't recommend it more.

[Skillet Doux]

Kathy...

I actually wrote up Absinthe earlier this year:

http://www.skilletdoux.com/2009/02/absinthe-brasserie-bar.html

I had a very positive experience there as well. Mine wasn't the showstopper meal yours was, but I really like what she's doing over there and I would have loved to see her win.

[paula]

Random thought: You know that $15K QF prize they've been giving? They give the winner a chip for that...I wonder if they might be setting something up for later in the season, where those who've earned that chip (if they're still around) will be given the opportunity to trade it in for something else. Like, say, immunity in the later challenges, after they've technically stopped granting immunity? Maybe not, but because they've made a point to show Padma giving them a chip, it got me wondering.

[KinderJ]

Paula-

What a wonderfully suspicious mind you have. It would be a really brutally effective way to ratchet up pressure. A weaker competitor, still hanging tough, but now it's down to just 6 or 7 people, would they spend 15K on the chance to survive another round? What if they lose in the next round, and find themselves returning empty handed? But the prize is so close...

Nasty.

Factor in cases like Stefan las year (who won 3 quickfires I think?), people with a comparative embarrassment of riches, and they might be able to buy their way through the final rounds. Hmm... maybe impose a rule requiring you to buy immunity before the challenge is announced? Make it a real blind jump.

For the record, I don't know if they really intend to do that or if they are just keeping with the Vegas theme. Either way, it could be brilliant TV.

[Mann of Sandd]

Paula and KinderJ, although I like the thought process behind your ideas, I can't see it happening. Once we get to the top 8 or top 6, the likelihood is that most of those who are left are going to have won a quickfire (we've already gotten one for Jen and for Bryan, both of whom appear likely to hang around a while) or two...so say 5 of the top 6 win a QF, could they all use their chips for immunity during the same episode, guaranteeing who goes home before the challenge even begins? I don't doubt there is some sort of "high stakes" twist coming, but I don't think it could be tied to eliminations that late in the game.