Top Chef - S6E3 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!

Okay, it's official. I'm in love with the season six cast. The "we're going to drop you into an absurd pseudo-kitchen" challenge is a mainstay of Top Chef that I've come to accept as a frustrating necessity of the reality genre when I'm feeling charitable, and an infuriating annoyance when I'm not. At best, it's always been a wasted episode, IMHO. So what does the season six cast do? They rock the house, mostly turn out a great meal and actually make the process of watching them prepare it entertaining. These guys can't even crash and burn when they're supposed to.

So, yeah, couldn't have been more pleasantly surprised with the episode. And with that, plus an apology, I'm going to jump right into this week's rankings. I left for Seattle on Thursday and just returned early this morning, and as evidence of how busy the trip was, I'll merely point out that I was staying half a mile from Branzino (where Ashley is cooking) and didn't manage to get there. So I'm a little short on time for extensive editorializing this week. But I wanted to at least get the rankings up on Tuesday morning so there's some time for discussion.

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: 1 Eliminations 1 2 0 I imagine there are many who feel that Jennifer's performance as Executive Chef should have earned her the nod, and we'll get to that, but I still can't justify kicking a guy out of the top spot for winning the elimination and getting the chefs to fawn over his dish like they did. His QF didn't make top, seemingly due to a slightly undercooked potato. But it's a slick-looking dish with kind of a Japanese feel that otherwise earned some nice praise. As for his elimination, I'm a little surprised that Colicchio seemed so floored by the idea of braising slab bacon. Seems like a natural line of thought given the ubiquity of braised pork belly, even if trying it with a cured rather than fresh product was a little risky. But even setting that aside, the judges just completely fawned over his flavors and there's no denying that he managed to put together a surprisingly composed-looking dish coming out of that kind of a kitchen. So he hangs onto the top spot...

2 Jennifer N. Quickfires 2 3 0 Last Week: 2 Eliminations 0 1 0 ...just barely. It's still early, but this is really looking like it could be a see-saw battle for the top spot the whole way. Put me squarely in the camp that thinks Jennifer deserved to stand up with the top group. In the end, it's a cooking challenge and the decision not to let her touch any food was outside of the box a little, so I could understand the judges not wanting to give her a win. But it certainly appears that she contributed as much as if not more than anybody else in the field, and it would have been nice to see her get an official shout-out. Though we know Tom did a walkthrough of the kitchen from some of the bonus video, we don't know how much of her organizational acumen he saw, so that may have contributed to the decision. Also, it's possible that the judges chose not to recognize the unofficial restructuring of the challenge that went on between the chefs, but more on that later. Before the elimination, she pulled down a quickfire win with a really elegant dish that, as Mark Peel noted, seemed almost classically French. Though it did work in some Asian flavors in the form of ginger and lemongrass. A silky-smooth potato sauce with Asian aromatics, duck fat, mussels and white wine? This recipe sings to me. I've not the least bit of doubt that it's a big winner. Oh, and for those keeping score, Jennifer's now made five consecutive seafood dishes. This can't go on much longer, can it?

3 Kevin Quickfires 0 1 0 Last Week: 3 Eliminations 1 2 0 Even when he isn't winning or getting top mention, Kevin's food always looks good to me. Take his quickfire dish. It didn't receive any official notice from Peel. But you can't tell me that yam braised with bacon, thyme, lemon, demi-glace, tarragon and garlic that's then placed atop a yukon gold, cauliflower and duck fat sauce and served with cauliflower, asparagus and mushrooms doesn't sound fantastic. And the braised pork shoulder for which it appears he was primarily responsible missed out on an elimination win only because the judges were busy making lovey eyes with Michael V. Almost as important as the fact that he's made a habit of being at or near the top? The fact that he hasn't stumbled even the slightest bit. If I have to put my money on one person not to win, but just to make the finals? Right now I put it on Kevin.

4 Bryan Quickfires 0 1 1 Last Week: 4 Eliminations 1 1 0 Not the slightest bit of movement in the top four. Exciting, I know. Unlike Kevin, Bryan seems like a bit of a riskier proposition so far, but his mistakes haven't been crippling and he's hit some soaring heights, so I'm keeping him right on the edge of what I consider the top tier right now. His creative take on vichyssoise, with parsnips, sunchokes, smoked salmon roe and fennel pollen earned some positive words if not top mention, ditto his elimination collaboration with Mattin, even if their strip loin with mushroom demi-glace and cauliflower gratin was kind of a snoozer. Basically, I see no reason to move him up or down this week.

5 Eli Quickfires 0 0 1 Last Week: 7 Eliminations 0 2 0 Sneaking into the top of the second tier, a little surprisingly (even to me), is Eli. He had a little stumble with what Peel considered an overly-sweet quickfire (even if I'm intrigued by the fact that his yam puree contained ras el hanout and cilantro), but this is his second straight with top mention and all kinds of praise for his elimination dish, and I think he's earned his way to the top of the MOTP'ers. What's more, I like how he's earned his way to the top going both wacky and simple. His tuna tartare last week was kind of all over the map flavor-wise, and yet he made it work. While this week, his potato salad was nothing more than potatoes, onions, celery, hard-boiled eggs, mayo, mustard, vinegar, relish and sour cream. He's shown he can succeed by throwing some wild flavors, and he's shown he can succeed by dialing it back and making a simple classic something special. Even if his wonkier concoctions will get him into trouble now and again, I think this bodes well for him.

6 Hector Quickfires 0 0 0 Last Week: 6 Eliminations 0 1 1 This week, Hector treads water. He doesn't pull down any mention, but I like the way he thinks. That potato trio in the quickfire had a couple of cool elements, most notably the sweet potato. It did make me think of Peruvian ceviche, and I like that he kind of turned convention on its head by flipping the dominant ingredient, braising the potato in fish sauce, soy, aji mirasol and garlic before topping with a touch of cilantro and fresh lime. As for the chili, it's impossible to say to what degree he or Robin was driving, but it looks like a pretty decent dish and Gail called it out as an unheralded success in her blog, so we know he continues to do good work since his little slip-up in episode one.

7 Ashley Quickfires 0 1 0 Last Week: 9 Eliminations 0 0 1 Meanwhile, Ashley gives me the excuse I need to get her a little closer to where I suspect she really belongs. That gnocchi was an ambitious little quickfire dish, and not because it was gnocchi. While I don't particularly want to try it, 45 minutes doesn't strike me as unreasonable. But the rest of the dish didn't receive short shrift, including sautéed mushrooms, an arugula cream, freshly-made ricotta (not as daring as it sounds, but still impressive), and fried garlic chips. Now that's a lot to get done in 45 minutes, and she did it in top mention style despite losing her water to Preeti. The bread pudding she made with Ash -- well, it was bread pudding. But it was under difficult circumstances and it did the job. Let's just say that it's on the basis of the quickfire that she's a mover this week.

8 Michael I. Quickfires 0 0 0 Last Week: 5 Eliminations 0 1 1 Michael continues to slide since his strong start, and even though I bet he comes back strong sooner rather than later, this week's near elimination drops him a few more notches. It's too bad his quickfire dish -- the potato "risotto" with peas, mint, lemon, mascarpone and crab -- didn't quite come together, because it looks like it has a lot of potential. That Greek shrimp salad, though? I'm of the opinion that he deserved every bit of abuse he got for a couple of reasons. First, there's much talk -- including from Mike V. himself -- that they were a team and they should have risen or fallen as a team. I say nuh-uh. The idea to split the field into teams of two was a great organizational idea, but that wasn't among the challenge's parameters. As far as I can see, Mike and Mike were a team in name only, completely parting ways in the kitchen and each doing his own dish, and as far as I'm concerned they should have been judged as such. Imagine you're judging and you have two contestants in an individual challenge who worked on their own dishes but say they should be judged as a unit simply because they declared themselves a team. Does it seem right to spare one of them the axe simply because of a completely arbitrary self-imposed designation that had nothing to do with the challenge's parameters? When we're down to five contestants, can two of them declare themselves teammates and both go to the finals if either one of them makes a great dish? It'd be stupid then, and it's no less stupid now just because the field is larger. It'd be different if they'd been assigned as teammates and the challenge was meant to involve division of responsibilities, or even if they'd actually worked on both dishes together, but as it stands, saying that Mike I. deserves credit for the "team's" pork belly is simply skirting responsibility for putting out a bad dish. As soon as they discovered that Mike I. was solely responsible for the salad and hadn't actually worked on the pork belly as they'd been led to believe, I think they did exactly the right thing by ignoring that "team" designation and judging Mike I. for what he actually cooked. And he's lucky he didn't get sent home for it. It's almost as uninspired as the pasta salad, and blowing off a "throwaway" dish simply because your "teammate" has your back with a good dish is cheap, cheap, cheap. He absolutely should have been called on it, and I'm glad the judges did it.

9 Robin Quickfires 0 0 0 Last Week: 10 Eliminations 0 0 0 And with the ninth position, we leave the MOTP'ers and enter limbo. Robin is now the only contestant who hasn't received top or bottom mention for a single one of her dishes, so it only seems appropriate that she's almost exactly in the dead center of the rankings, but that's not why I have her here. She's actually put together some nice looking food, including this week's rustic potato hash (with champagne vinaigrette, pancetta lardons, frisee, fennel and fried egg) and her chili collaboration with Hector, but she still hasn't made a splash of any kind. Granted, that's tricky in this field. But as solid as she seems to be, it's hard to put her any higher unless she stands out somewhere. In any other season, I suspect she'd be near the top of the MOTP'ers. This season, however, she's still in hiding.

10 Ash Quickfires 0 1 0 Last Week: 11 Eliminations 0 0 0 Ash, on the other hand, actually has made a small splash, but on the balance his dishes have looked less impressive to me than Robin's, so I'm exercising a little rankings discretion and keeping him one notch below her. If you want to know what I think of Ash passing off his failed ice cream as a custard, you need only know that my dessert for Iron Chef Peach -- which the judges loved -- was billed as Vanilla Lacquered Peach with Coconut Rum "Ice"... and for fear of incriminating myself, that's all I'm going to say about that. There's an important lesson there, though. If something doesn't quite turn out right, don't stammer, turn beet red and apologize. Sell it, baby. In any case, flub or no flub, it looks like a great dish, the sweet potatoes being scented with sage, cinnamon and star anise. I'm sure it didn't need to fully freeze to taste delicious. Then he makes a simple bread pudding with Ashley and, like Robin, we're still waiting for him to make a move up or down.

11 Ron Quickfires 0 0 1 Last Week: 8 Eliminations 0 1 0 As with Ashley, I'm going to take some minor indicators as an excuse to put Ron closer to where I think he belongs. He has not given us anything noteworthy since his first dish of the competition, and today he makes one mediocre dish and one questionable (if tasty) call. The left half of his plate was, quite literally, nothing more than yellowtail, sweet potato, salt and pepper. That just isn't going to fly, and Peel called him on it. And though Ron thanked him for the portion of the dish he said he liked, when the judge identifies your vegetable on the side as his favorite part of the dish, that isn't a good thing. A totally flat and uninspired quickfire. It sounds like the clam chowder was well-prepared, but it's totally conventional and I, too, question the wisdom of serving that dish on a hot day. I thought it before Gail said it. It's not the dish's heat that's the problem. It's the cream.

12 Mattin Quickfires 0 1 0 Last Week: 13 Eliminations 0 0 0 It's been said that Bryan identifying Mattin as "a solid cook" is a mark in his favor, but I say the opposite. If that's the best compliment Bryan can muster, I believe he just made my case for Mattin as embodying uninspired competence, and uninspired competence doesn't get you far in this crowd. His quickfire was, as Mark Peel noted, rather pretty. But it was cod poached in fish stock and set atop a red pepper puree with a few quenelles of plain mashed potatoes. That dish needs some interest that it just isn't getting. And then he was part of team filet in the elimination challenge, and I wasn't particularly thrilled to see Bryan working on that dish, much less Mattin, who hasn't shown anything the least bit interesting yet. As long as he doesn't screw up he might hang in there for a few more shows, but the neckerchief's days are numbered. I feel like my preseason prediction of midseason hanger-on is looking just about right at this point.

13 Laurine Quickfires 0 0 0 Last Week: 12 Eliminations 0 0 1 I actually feel better (though not that much) about Laurine than I do about Mattine, but there's no forgiving that pasta salad and I have to ding her for it. If not for that, I'd probably have Laurine in limbo with Robin and Ash (though still below both of them). Though she hasn't gotten any attention, she's put together a couple of interesting dishes. I think she has some upside. Not that much, but it's there. We'll have to wait and see if she gets to show it before she's squeezed out by stronger competition.

14 Jesse Quickfires 0 1 2 Last Week: 14 Eliminations 0 0 2 I still think Jesse has shown more potential than Laurine, Mattin, Ron and maaaaaaaybe even Ash, but she just isn't getting it together. For those who referenced Stephanie's shaky start in season four, I'd like to point out that she'd won two elimination challenges by the end of episode three. I'm not so sure it's an apt comparison. I do agree that Jesse could make a move if she'd quit shooting herself in the foot. I'd love to comment on her quickfire soup, but something's clearly amiss with the recipe. Her "Sweet Potato Soup with Ginger, Brown Sugar, and Cayenne Pepper" officially contains neither ginger nor brown sugar. And I think she was riding the chowder champion's coattails in the elimination. So this opinion isn't based on this week's performance so much as what we've seen before and the fact that I keep hearing good things about her restaurant from friends back in Baltimore. But for the third week in a row, she was fortunate to skate by. If she can't turn it around and ends up in the same zip code as the chopping block next week, she's gone.

15 Preeti Quickfires 0 0 0 Last Week: 15 Eliminations 0 0 2 As bad as Mike I's shrimp salad looked, you don't make a pasta salad like Preeti and Laurine did and survive. Let's review: farfalle, canned artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, onion, sun-dried tomatoes, Italian seasoning(!), broccoli florets, vinegar, dijon, honey, olive oil, lemon juice. Seriously?!? I can't say it any better than a friend of mine did over at LTHForum: "That pasta salad looks like a nice dish....if you want to be executive chef of the Whole Foods deli counter." And if anything, I think that's being kind. Really, when it comes down to it, Laurine was saved by her shame, while Preeti made the mistake of having none. Sending out a dish like that is borderline insulting. Even if you aren't convinced that pasta salad is a bad idea in the first place, you're competing in Top Chef and you couldn't do SOMEthing to make it look like it didn't come out of Cooking Light magazine? It somehow seems appropriate that Preeti seemed so obsessed with color in her dishes, as though she was more concerned with appearances than she was with creativity or flavor. It's also notable that we just NOW discover she's a recent culinary school grad. She says in this episode that 9/11 is what drove her to cook -- that she enrolled in culinary school "a few years" later. The program she did couldn't have been less than two years. By my rough count, that means she wasn't working in the field any earlier than late 2006 or early 2007, which would mean she's barely two years out of culinary school, which explains a lot. My feeling is that we didn't miss much by losing Preeti early on.

I'm not so sure we're going to be saying the same thing at the end of next week, though...

WARNING : MINOR EPISODE FOUR SPOILERS AHEAD

Daniel Boulud and Joel Robuchon in the same episode this early in the season? Yipes. No pressure, guys. Though I suppose it's good that at the very least they'll be judged by some serious chefs, because the structure of next week's challenges is downright frightening. Let's be absolutely clear about what's going to happen in next week's quickfire. Somebody is going home for how they handle snails. Now, I have nothing against snails. I dig escargot. I love abalone, and that's nothing more than a big ol' sea snail. But they're touchy little buggers, and really, who spends time cooking snails? I was already girding for a double elimination. With so little chaff left, it was almost assured that somebody promising -- one of the MOTP'ers who's done some neat stuff -- would be going home. But an elimination quickfire with snails as the protein? Nobody's safe. Except maybe Mattin, of all people. And all I know is that in the elimination preview video, I'm seeing an awful lot of chaff and NONE of this week's top three.

I have a very bad feeling about episode four.

Discuss!

Comments

[Mark]

episode four scares me as well... the perfect season so far though i have to say.

[Nsam]

Dom, like you I carefully studied the preview video. I'm cautiously confident that Jennifer won't have trouble with the snails, because in her inserted interview bit she seems to be in good humor, making the joke about having to be pretty effin' hungry to eat snails. Those interviews are of course taped after the fact, so it seems unlikely that she'd be cracking jokes if she'd been eliminated in the quickfire. (Unlikely but not impossible -- those TC editors are of course capable of using bits of interviews as red herrings, they're tricky that way.)

And you're right, where are Mike V and Kevin? I'm with you, I'm getting a bad feeling about that quickfire, too...

[Nsam]

At the very least, hopefully they'll have some kind of additional round or something for the quickfire, a la the opening apples quickfire from last season. (Maybe the bottom two chefs will go head to head in a survival round?) Otherwise, the element of luck is humongous. Has Kevin ever even cooked with snails? Pray for him, everybody.

[Michael Morowitz]

Honored to be quoted :) (although the quote actually goes to my wife)

We're on the same page, Dom. I'm in love with this cast. I can't wait for the Robuchon episode that I briefly saw in an early "this season on top chef" clip.

[gilmore]

Thanks for the ranking. Hard to argue with them. I think Kevin has some skills the others don't have - such as being able to cook that pork shoulder as fast as he did since his parents are competitive 'qers. Not an everyday skill.

Mattin - call him the Necker-chef.

[mar]

Dom - did you mean "Iron Chef Peach" or "Top Chef Peach"?

Can't say I disagree with these rankings at all. I love Jen (or the character she plays on Top Chef), but I think Michael V. is showing more creativity and interesting food than anyone else. Great season so far.

[Skillet Doux]

"Dom - did you mean 'Iron Chef Peach' or 'Top Chef Peach'?"

Ah... thanks for the catch... duly corrected.

[babyarm]

If it really is a snails challenge then the smart play is probably to play defense. Just fry the things and plate them over well seasoned mushrooms and move on with the show. Don't get fancy here as someone is bound to really, really screw up.

[Bart]

I'm worried about the next episode, too.

Good rankings, Dom. The only quibble I have is that I'd flip Jesse and Laurine, if only because I see shades of Arianne (and not, as some have mentioned, Stephanie).

Just hoping that one of the top 10 don't get the axe this week...

[Anne]

Just throw in some bacon. You'll be fine.

[Bart]

Also, totally forgot to mention in my previous comment (wish there was an "edit" button somewhere) - Jamie's blog on Top Chef calls out the contestants this season for having no personality.

Have to say I kind of agree. Watching Fabio, Stefan, Carla, etc... last year was fantastic - not because they were great chefs but because they were just pure fun to watch. There isn't anyone like that this season.

[KinderJ]

It's a bugger of a problem, for sure. I have had snails a few times, but they have always been prepared the same way- garlicky butter sauce and toast. How you jazz up snails, well, I am going to be glued to my TV this Wednesday. Very curious to see how they pull that off. This may sound a bit odd, but I could see Ron doing well in this challenge. I don't know if snails as a dish migrated with French to Haiti, but I bet flavors he is familiar with would pair nicely with them.

[Independent George]

How does Mattin compare with Antonia at this stage? She was also known for producing solid, technically perfect dishes that satisfied without really wowing anyone. That Antonia made the finals in S4, while Mattin is stuck in the lower-middle, says a lot about the depth of this season's field.

I love that Dom has made the "Jennifer Norris" meme official. I missed that at first.

I'm still hoping to see a Kevin/Hector team at some point to harness the true power of BEARD.

[Skillet Doux]

"Good rankings, Dom. The only quibble I have is that I'd flip Jesse and Laurine, if only because I see shades of Arianne (and not, as some have mentioned, Stephanie)."

Not so sure I see that one, either. Ariane's thing early on was execution. Remember how surprised everybody was when she suddenly butchered lamb? Frankly, the closest analogue that springs to mind for me -- somebody who seems to have good dishes in there, but keeps shooting him/herself in the foot -- is Dave from season one. He made a lot of stupid mistakes early and was always beating himself up over it, but he obviously had some good dishes in there. I seriously doubt Jesse's destined for a flame-out in the finals (I think an early death is a lot more likely), but those two seem very similar to me.

"Have to say I kind of agree. Watching Fabio, Stefan, Carla, etc... last year was fantastic - not because they were great chefs but because they were just pure fun to watch. There isn't anyone like that this season."

Agreed. But while you'd like to have both in an ideal world, I'll take the talent of the season six crowd over the personality of the season five crowd any day. And you never know. It's early. The personalities may yet come out.

"How does Mattin compare with Antonia at this stage? She was also known for producing solid, technically perfect dishes that satisfied without really wowing anyone. That Antonia made the finals in S4, while Mattin is stuck in the lower-middle, says a lot about the depth of this season's field."

Though I agree about the depth of this season's field, I think it says a lot more about Antonia and Mattin than anything else. As much as I was on Antonia's case for not pushing the creative envelope, Mattin is making her look like Grant Achatz.

[anon man]

nice work. Mattin as uninspired but solid in his skills? Seems about right. That may keep him around awhile.

People who will be able snails (based solely on what I've seen so far: Mattin, Jen (bernadin may be seafood, but its still French), Michael I. (gut instinct), Kevin (seems like something he would have tried). Everyone else is risky without more facts. My early favorites of people who fall all over themselves: Laurine, Robin, Ron.

But as noted above, kind of a weird challenge. I've enjoyed snails, but heavy garlic seems to be a requirement. Are there really that many other classics with them? And, isn't a bit goofy to make the E-QF on snails, rather than something where everyone can do something different, like say... potatos? Maybe that's the point. If everyone does something really similar, they'll be easier to judge.

[KinderJ]

Anon Man- Easier to judge? I figure it would be harder. How much better is X's garlic butter sauce than Y's, contrasted with 'X made a good garlic butter sauce but Y made a mango/roquefort sauce that, while defying all logic and reason, was also good. Since we have never seen, or conceived of, Y's dish before, and they are equally tasty, Y wins.' I'm just saying, creativity counts for something.

The inevitable counter to this is, of course, Fabio's perfectly prepared roasted chicken. But remember- his challenge was all about creating a dish suitable for a final meal, evoking happy childhood memories of his grandmother's cooking. Unless we see some similar sort of instruction for this challenge, my suspicion is that the judges will expect excellent execution to be paired with innovation.

And I for one have not the slightest idea how you innovate snails. It's going to be very interesting watching this play out.

[Shelly]

There are only two people I don't see on that elimination challenge preview. Though maybe my eyes are wrong. I hope the winner gets a heck of a good prize to balance out the elimination! Like maybe sitting and judging the others with Boulud and Robuchon. ^_^ Although knowing these guys they might prefer to be able to cook for the masters.

I just that love going into these challenges that we have no idea which of maybe half of the chefs will wind up on top, because they're all that good, or potentially that good.

[EdT.]

"...an elimination quickfire with snails as the protein? Nobody's safe. Except maybe Mattin, of all people."

I would add Jennifer to that list. After all, she *does* work for Eric Ripert, and I suspect that escargot is at least on the menu in his restaurants. Besides, it *is* a seafood, of a sort.

~EdT.

[Amaro]

I noticed that both Kevin and Jessi are missing from the group walking into the elimination kitchen....

[Peggasus]

Maybe those Italian Voltaggio brothers will be able to do something with snails. My friend Gino, as his family's Christmas Eve dish (when fish/seafood is traditional) always makes a pasta with a snail sauce. If they didn't live 200 miles away I surely would have finagled an invitation to that dinner.

I also have to take issue with Michael I.'s snotty comment about 'risotto' being a 'technique' rather than a 'dish.' Um, NO, it's not. Riso= rice, therefore a noun, and a dish made from riso is a risotto. I know he called it a 'brunoise' when he was describing it, so his comment just made him look stupid. I was happy to see him on the chopping block this week.

[Anne]

Well, it looks like they are working in pairs in the preview, and there are 14 left, so a quickfire elimination would make an odd number...unless the winner doesn't compete...

[babyarm]

It's also possible that the chefs seem "boring" because the time has been given over to the food prep and presentation more than usual. This may also be a condition of Tom's input vis a vis contract. It certainly seems to me they have dropped the per hour inter-personal stuff from 10 of 44 to 5 of 44, but that's just my feel.

The bonus videos don't do much in the way of showing much either. I haven't noticed if they went to the trouble of doing the sequester house for these people either. What an utter waste of time. From the post show videos they say they have been in vegas 9 days already after 3 shows.

[Skillet Doux]

"I also have to take issue with Michael I.'s snotty comment about 'risotto' being a 'technique' rather than a 'dish.' Um, NO, it's not. Riso= rice, therefore a noun, and a dish made from riso is a risotto. I know he called it a 'brunoise' when he was describing it, so his comment just made him look stupid."

Well, when he says "brunoise", he's talking about the dice on the potatoes. Brunoise is a very, very fine dice. Of course, the dice on his potato looks awfully big to be a brunoise, but... anyway. And I agree, risotto without rice isn't risotto, but I'm not bothered by a playful interpretation -- the explanation thereof, perhaps, but not the interpretation itself :-)

"Well, it looks like they are working in pairs in the preview, and there are 14 left, so a quickfire elimination would make an odd number...unless the winner doesn't compete..."

Definitely wouldn't be the first time a quickfire winner has gotten to sit while the rest of the group worked the EC.

[Dave_P]

Nice rankings, Dom. Again, my only quibble is Ash--I have him ranked 1-2 spots higher in my own rankings. His wings from 2 eps ago were a big hit, and he *did* salvage his ice cream failure into a top mention for the QF. I think that lands him above Robin at the minimum, but then again, I don't analyze all the recipes either so I'm sure you're more on point than me.

If by "personality" people mean loud, obnoxious, brash, camera-friendly, etc, I'm not missing a damn thing this season (and we still have Michael I, no?). Instead, I'm loving all the craft, skill and professionalism S6's cast is bringing to the kitchen. Seriously, a cast like S4 or 5 (or god forbid S2) on the heels of TC Masters and I might've very well turned this season off.

I'm disappointed by the upcoming double elimination--I don't think it's fair to eliminate anyone based off of a QF and would've much more preferred a double elimination in last week's EC, esp as Preeti & Laurine were likely equally responsible for the pasta salad fiasco. Trying hard to avoid any hint of spoilage, I'm not reading any speculation about snails or anything else, but I also don't get a good feeling about this. I'm going to be very, very upset if anyone from the top 4 goes.

--
Dave

[Naomi]

I noticed that both Kevin and Jessi are missing from the group walking into the elimination kitchen....

I'm not big on spoilers so I intentionally avoid watching these videos beforehand. It hasn't bothered me that Dom and others have fretted that "some" higher level cheftestants didn't seem to appear in the footage but naming names as in the post above does bother me. Don't mean to scold, just asking for more discrection.

[Independent George]

If by "personality" people mean loud, obnoxious, brash, camera-friendly, etc, I'm not missing a damn thing this season (and we still have Michael I, no?). Instead, I'm loving all the craft, skill and professionalism S6's cast is bringing to the kitchen. Seriously, a cast like S4 or 5 (or god forbid S2) on the heels of TC Masters and I might've very well turned this season off.

My sentiments exactly. I suspect we'll see more 'personality' once the field has been whittled down a bit, but in the meantime, the decided lack of drama has definitely made this season much more watchable than prior seasons. For me, this is the opposite of boredom.

Thus far, the worst we've gotten is the weekly Michael I. rant, and I'm personally skeptical of those. The fact that we haven't seen him say or do anything questionable in the kitchen, nor have we heard any contestant complain about him, leads me to suspect it's more editing than outright villainy.

[paula]

I'm with Naomi, for what it's worth. I don't watch the promos and I don't read Dom's "P.S. Minor Spoiler Alert" notes. So I'm sad to have to skim all of today's commentary because I don't want to hear about snails and who is or isn't shown in the promos and lalalalalalalaImnotlistening!lalalalalalala! :)

[Shelly]

@Naomi: FWIW, Amaro's information seems to be incorrect, to me at least. We'll just have to wait and see. :)

[babyarm]

It's not out of the realm that the QF comes after the EC this time out and only one elimination happens. Given the scheduling constraints I could see this happening.

[anon man]

babyarm, maybe. And since, as someone else noted, a single chop in the QF leaves 13, there could be some mischief. Maybe the top person and the bottom person fight with each other, or maybe they get a head start and work as a team, and if they win, the immune dude gets money and if they don't the loser goes home. etc., etc., etc.

You would think that the winner would WANT to cook for Robuchon, so not cooking for him isn't much of a prize, unless it comes with a huge check.

[Kellhoun]

Dom, I'm normally just a lurker here, but I was wondering if the one of the reasons that this crew did much better than normal is that the equipment they were given for this task is extremely suited to the task they were given. The military kitchen may not be the normal place a fine dining chef would use but if your tasked with creating for for a buffet for 300 people could you really ask for a better place to cook than in a kitchen that is designed to do that on a daily basis?

I am curious to here your response.

[The Last Stop]

I wouldn't worry too much - among the people not in the elimination preview video: Ash, Hector, Jesse, etc. The Voltaggio's are in, and, as noted earlier, Jennifer cracking snail jokes makes it seem unlikely that she's out during the qf. That leaves Kevin, and he seems so intelligent and composed that I can't see him bombing. We'll see what happens, though.

Of course, I'm only talking about the quickfire elimination - anything goes for the main challenge.

Does anyone else feel that Jen might be TOO good? I mean, if you were sous at le Bernadin and are currently heading another Ripert restaurant, do you really need to be on TC? We've had people like Lia and Hung, who were souses(whats the plural of that?!) at Jean-Georges and Guy Savoy, but Jen seems like another level entirely. I guess we're getting at the philosophical underpinnings of TC. Should TC accept the highest caliber of chefs they have access to? In fact, I'd be interested to know more about the casting process: who, if anyone, has been turned down for being too successful? These are theoretical questions and I don't expect anyone to have the answers. I'd be interested to hear what you all have to say.

[Skoolie]

Reading the comments I am surprised at those who view the previews as potential spoilers, but I do understand and I don't think that should stop them from participating. In the future when talking about possible minor spoilers as far as previews go I will note it in the beginning, so that those who do not read dom's MINOR EPISODE FOUR SPOILERS AHEAD can skip my comment.

maybe if others do the same it will be easy for those who are interested in reading the comments about the rankings and not those of potential spoilers. Not saying it should be a rule just saying it my be courteous.

[Skillet Doux]

"Dom, I'm normally just a lurker here, but I was wondering if the one of the reasons that this crew did much better than normal is that the equipment they were given for this task is extremely suited to the task they were given. The military kitchen may not be the normal place a fine dining chef would use but if your tasked with creating for for a buffet for 300 people could you really ask for a better place to cook than in a kitchen that is designed to do that on a daily basis?"

Well, it's one thing to cook for 300 people, and it's another thing to cook well for 300 people :-) It's obviously designed for volume, but that doesn't mean it's designed for quality. I'm really not in a position to say.

[paula]

As far as I'm concerned, this is Dom's place, so as long as I'm stayin' under his roof, I'll abide by his rules. He says previews are fair game, so I'll just continue to read at my own risk. But thanks, Skoolie! And Last Stop: Those are good questions. Maybe the only significant line they draw is: "Have you published a cookbook yet that we can pimp? No? Then you're eligible."

[Skillet Doux]

"Maybe the only significant line they draw is: 'Have you published a cookbook yet that we can pimp? No? Then you're eligible.'"

Eve published a cookbook. Doesn't seem to have helped her much :-)

[Skillet Doux]

"As far as I'm concerned, this is Dom's place, so as long as I'm stayin' under his roof, I'll abide by his rules. He says previews are fair game, so I'll just continue to read at my own risk. But thanks, Skoolie! "

Much appreciated, Paula. To be clear, I made the previews and such fair game because there's usually good stuff in there that doesn't involve significant spoilers, and I made it a cut and dried rule because I didn't particularly feel like trying to make judgment calls on a weekly basis as to what does and doesn't constitute too much within that context. But yeah, I agree, this week's previews reveal a lot more than I'd like (not to mention a lot more than I'd like revealed to me), hence the reason I was so vague. But since we've always considered the previews fair game here, I don't want to get into policing comments unless it really gets out of hand.

Right now, I'm just writing it off as a bad week for spoilers.

[SorchaRei]

There's an interview with Ashley in the local alternative weekly rag. She says two things of interest to people who might be thinking of eating at Branzino:

This was in Slog comments: "Ashley left Branzino and doesn't live in Seattle anymore." Can you comment on that?
I am the executive chef at Branzino. I'm splitting my time between New York and Seattle right now.

What are you doing in New York?
I'm consulting on a restaurant with Alexandra Guarnaschelli [of New York's Butter]... There are two people I would just say yes to. Maria Hines is one—I would drop everything to work on a project with her. Alexandra's the other. She taught me everything.

I'm transitioning out of Branzino. They will hire a new executive chef.

I've eaten at both Branzino and Crave. I thought that the food was more creative at Branzino, but very good at both.

[Dreamboat]

Here is an article about Hector in the Atlanta paper:
http://blogs.ajc.com/food-and-more/2009/09/08/hector-santiagos-secret-chile-garden/?cxntfid=blogs_food_and_more

[Mookie]

1. Indian reality show contestants never fail to disappoint me. I was never really impressed with Preeti's performance over the past 3 episodes, and after reading her culinary bio, her elimination is VERY understandable. On a sidenote, my roommate noted that her 9/11 story seemed contrived.

2. I never watch the preview videos on Bravo, but you guys are seriously scaring me with the comments! I hope the quickfire elimination results aren't too bad!

3. Philly restaurant week is coming up, and I cannot WAIT to try 10 Arts. According to the website:

"Our 'Summer Suppers' prix fixe pairing menu features fresh seasonal appetizers, entrees and desserts creatively assembled by our dynamic culinary duo, Chef de Cuisine Jennifer Carroll and Pastry Chef Monica Glass. [...] Available Tuesday through Saturday nights, now through September 30th."

[anon man]

Dreamboat, great article about Hector (spoiler haters, fear not, only past dishes/episodes are mentioned). The part about his carpentry skills and the pepper garden watering system was really cool.

On the spoiler thing, do you people who are avoid the previews turn the TV off quickly at the end of the show, and not watch the tease for next week? Bravo isn't going to give away anything that tuins their viewership. To that end, I find the various extra videos really useful in learning the Chefs and their food. (Except the after the knife house ones which were lame.)

[Mookie]

anon man - OF COURSE I watch the tease at the end of the episode! Who doesn't like a good tease?

I just don't watch the extra videos on bravotv.com because frankly I have a finite amount of time to relax when I come home from work/school, and I'm not spending it in front of the computer!

I'm spending it in front of the TV...

[Dave_P]

Anon: I too watch the previews and read some of the blogs on Bravo, but I try not to overanalyze (and certainly don't replay) the preview clips and try to figure out what happens ahead of time. Same for trying to read too much into the interviews & edits during the early parts of the show.

I know there are ppl who have fun playing little meta-games like that--hell, I used to do that quite a bit in seasons past, but nowadays I'd much rather have stuff unfold "naturally", if you will. Prolly a bit of a reaction from having the ending of Masters be at least partially spoiled by an errant comment.

--
Dave

[paula]

Anon man: Yes, I turn off the tv before they do previews. I prefer to be as surprised as the chefs with each challenge/guest judge, twist, etc.

[Tinuviel]

I think you are right about someone going home from the top of the pack - Ashley? Why would Tom appear on Bravo's Watch what happens tomorrow night? Only to explain why a good chef was told to "pack your knives and leave".

[SorchaRei]

Top Chef Masters got me used to seeing really good chefs eliminated from this game. I think Art Smith makes food I'd like to eat, but in no way do I think he was one of the six best chefs in that competition. Nor do I think he's a better chef than Suzanne Tracht. However, I also think he both legitimately won his prelim round and beat her in the first champion round (or more accurately, she lost that round with her timing issues).

It is the nature of this sort of competition that in order to win, you must be able to produce good food in a variety of circumstances while never making a misstep at a crucial time. If someone good messes up the snails, then they blew that latter condition, and that would be too bad, but I think it's part and parcel of this kind of game, not an indictment of it.

My mother always told me that regardless of how they appear on paper, the joy of football is that on any given Sunday, any given team can beat any other given team. It's why they bother to play the games instead of just feeding the stats into a computer and deciding that way who "won".

[Tinuviel]

OMG! I did not look on the Bravo website before posting! Just ignore my previous comment regarding Ashley.

[KinderJ]

Don't fear the reaper...

the DOM REAPER that is!

4x4 on calling eliminations, well done!

[Dionysus]

For all the fears about the Elimination Quickfire, it was handled very well.