TOP CHEF Season Premiere Talk!
August 21, 2009 by SB
I think I speak for all of us when I say, WOO HOO, TOP CHEF IS BACK! You may have noticed that we kind of dropped out on Top Chef Masters, and needless to say, it was because it sucked. Big time. They pissed me off right to the bitter end, not so much with Rick’s loss but with Hubert losing to Michael. Are you effing kidding me? And that’s all I have to say about that.
So needless to say, the return of Top Chef was a huge breath of fresh air, and I was really surprised by how much I’d missed Padma and Tom. Tom cracking up at Wolfgang Puck was hysterical, and all I really needed from Padma to complete the experience was the Padma Pukeface, but we’ve got a lot of episodes ahead of it and I’m confident it’ll be back before we know it!
It’s still the point in the season where I haven’t learned the cheftestants’ names and don’t feel like looking them up, so I’ll just hit on a few that really made an impression. Sound good? Feel free to add your own thoughts in the comments!
The first one I loved and actually remember the name of is Kevin, who was a James Beard Award either nominee or winner. I remember this because I feel that Kevin’s beard deserves an award. And he won the first challenge, which usually indicates that they’ll make it either almost or all the way to the end. And he’s funny—I loved his walrus slide.
That girl who works in Eric Ripert’s restaurant (is it Jill?) seems really talented, and I just wish she didn’t always look so unhappy. Also, did anyone else think she looks like Molly Ringwald’s sister Jenny (the bride) in Sixteen Candles? I think she’s going to be around for a long time and I have to say, I actually felt bad for her because you hear all the time about sexism in the kitchen and how it’s so male dominated, and man, you really saw her get a lot of it already in this episode. That one guy is just an absolute PIG—I can’t think of his name, but he asked her if she was a pastry chef, and then later said he couldn’t believe he got beat by a girl. I just wanted to stamp “ASS” on his forehead, Conan-style.
And finally, I liked the brothers. That rack/coconut idea was really clever and funny, and sibling rivalry always amuses me. Plus, they both seem like they know what they’re doing.
On a final note, I really thought the lady with the baby-food-and-peas looking concoction would get sent home until poblano girl got lippy, but I was okay with how that panned out (cooking pun!) because her spacers were distracting me and making me feel a little gross. Just being honest. They were enormous.
What did you think? Were you excited for Top Chef’s return? Who’s your early favorite? And were you happy with the elimination? And wasn’t Wolfgang Puck hilarious?
SB has many interests, including photography, her pets, entertainment, traveling and writing. She does have a day job, but that mostly amounts to her being a sarcastic young woman with a lot of time on her hands, which is why she appreciates the opportunity to recap.
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I LOVED when wolfgang threw the donut across the room!! Was he high on something because he was acting like a crazy person!! I LOVE IT!! What a great way to start the season because Top Chef Masters was like a lame wanna be copy of Top Chef…. I WANT to see them interact with each other and get on each other’s nerves…. I like the rivalry and competition that Top Chef has! That girl… who I will now always think of as Ginny looks like she just ate a sour lemon in bright sunlight! I agree with you about the pepper girl. I wanted to like her, but her ears were a total GROSS OUT!!
Hi SB, good to see you back! To tie up a few loose ends, I ended up really enjoying the Masters…i would have been fine with either a Rick or Hubert win but was secretly pulling for Rick. Stupid reason is I went to Topolobampo last year for a particularly fun and memorable small business dinner. Suffice to say I wish I’d had the mole but was thinking I was not a fan but my colleague who did made some really happy food noises. I’m heading to Chicago in September and am going to try to get to Art Smith’s restaurant.
Onto the LV edition, it looks like they’ve upped the cred and that is refreshing. It is Jen who is Ripert’s chef de cuisine and I was ready to hate on her until she said she made a lot of men cry…I now think I love her. It is Mike Isabella who is the total asshat but unfortunately he is head chef at a pretty kick ass restaurant so I think we’re stuck with him for awhile. Kevin of the beard is my other early favorite – competent and not too cocky about it as yet. I think I also am loving on the Haitian chef, his food looked amazing.
The Haitian did look pretty good–I love the foreigners, as a rule–they bring so much personality. 🙂 Can anyone explain to me what a chef de cuisine is? Is it like a sous chef? And YES to the donut. 🙂
Lisa, I live in Chicago and I think I’ll be working downtown by then–if you ever have any lunch time, you should drop me a line! I’d totally eat at Art’s place. 🙂
Chef de cuisine is is the long french term from which we get ‘chef’ and is equal to head chef. I think they use it in a french restaurant more (e.g. Ripert). The Sous is subordinate to the chef de cuisine.
I probably can’t get away from the insidious McCormick Place at lunchtime, but I’d love to meet you SB.
Well now I want to plan a trip to Chicago to get in on this Art Smith outing – loved him on TCM! I was happy Rick won, but equally unhappy that Chiarello beat out Hubert – he was starting to drive me nuts with his ego and Hubert was just a doll (not to mention amazingly talented).
As for Top Chef, I also officially hate asshat Michael “Girls can’t cook” Isabella. Is he living in prehistoric times? Dude needs to go. I’ve seen some people compare him to Stefan in terms of ego, but Stefan was charming while this guy is just a tool. Loved Kevin and Jen – I think they’ll go far. Ash made me laugh with his “I’m the only chef here with a boyfriend. Well….a same-sex boyfriend”. Chile Jen’s ear spacers were beyond freaky but she also sort of reminded me of Mindy Kaling so I was kind of sad to see her go. She did cop quite the attitude over her seitan though, and it looked narsty.
Yeah, at least now I know I never want to try seitan. 🙂 Top Chef does that to me–I always come out with more things I want to avoid than to try. And thanks, Lisa, for the terminology lesson. I’ll go to Art’s any time with you girls. 🙂
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