'Top Chef,' Season 6: The Premiere
Photographs: bravotv.com
And we're back—to a regular season of Top Chef. Uppity sous chefs, big personalities, cuddly Tom. After a summer of Kelly Choi, I'd never been so happy to see Padma strut onto the kitchen floor.
But we're here for the contestants, and this season's pool looks like a tattoo-heavy, talent-heavy, fierce group of cooks. The line-up AND SPOILERS appear below, after the jump.
The Talent
Michael Isabella: This season's villain?
Michael Isabella: If this episode is any indication, a horrible human being—but the olive oil–poached halibut with eggplant purée was focused, beautifully plated, and technically flawless.
Kevin Gillespie: The bearded Beard nominee pulled out a slow-cooked char with a turnip salsa verde that none of the chefs could stop eating. Creative with obvious skill.
Michael Voltaggio: Padma looked delighted with this rack of lamb. (Tom: It’s a rack! Gail: Yeah, we get it.)
Jennifer Carroll: She won $15,000 in the Quickfire; she wowed Wolfgang Puck with a halibut so perfectly done, he’d use it in his training manual. And this girl is ruthless. (Amber from Season 4 of House came to mind.)
The Characters
Mattin Noblia.
Ron Duprat: This Haitian force of nature survived 27 days at sea and could easily take Tom in a cagefight. The judges didn’t quite get his dish but conceded that it was flavorful and well-cooked.
Bryan Voltaggio: His strip steak over parsnip purée was a visual stunner—but the sibling rivalry with brother Michael might be even more fun to watch.
Mattin Noblia: The kerchief. The accent. This French caricature leaves Fabio in the dust.
The Missteps
"Uh, uh, uh, Eli: Too much stuff."
Jesse Sandlin: All the right ideas—focused cooking, fried eggs, and potatoes in chicken fat. Nothing can save dry chicken, but she knew just what went wrong.
Hector Santiago: A smoked rib-eye should be smoked—not deep-fried. Still, he’s got a clear culinary perspective and, he won’t let you forget, the cojones.
Eli Kirshtein: Tom liked his "buttered scotch" scallops, but Wolfgang objected to all the "stuff" on his plate.
The Unknowns
Robin Leventhal: Accepted immunity rather than competing for the Quickfire win, though her "Bad Jew" dish—pork tenderloin stuffed with chorizo bread pudding—was pretty brilliant.
Preeti Mistry: Pork tenderloin with sweet potato purée looked pretty good, but watching her shuck (rather, not shuck) those clams was pretty painful.
Ash Fulk: Poached halibut with ratatouille and parsley coulis—pretty, but gritty, and not quite perfect. Clearly some skill, but any imagination?
Ashley Merriman: Her chicken ravioli didn’t get much airtime. Solid middle of the pack.
Laurine Wickett: Gail lunged for this plate of bacon doughnuts with chocolate and beer sauces. Dips: awesome. Doughnuts: too dense. And dessert for her only dish—cop-out, trend-monkey, or just plain gutsy?
The Headed-Homes
All fail seitan.
Eve Aronoff: Overcooked seafood in a weak curry sauce with no cohesion and no defense. Not thinking she’ll get a lot better.
Jennifer Zavala: Chile relleno stuffed with seitan. Enough said. And she’s gone.
Add a comment:
Previewing your comment:
HTML Hints
Some HTML is OK: <a href="URL">link</a>, <strong>strong</strong>, <em>em</em>
Comment Guidelines
Post whatever you want, just keep it seriously about eats, seriously. We reserve the right to delete off-topic or inflammatory comments. Learn more at our Comment Policy page.
If you see something not so nice, please, report an inappropriate comment.
18 Comments:
LOVED Jennifer Carroll! Her Quote "I've made a lot of boys cry!"
I'll bet you have Jennifer..... I'll bet you have!
The dumbass who said he couldn't believe he was getting beat by a woman. WHAT A TOOL! There are plenty of women in the industry that can work their male counterparts ...uh... dicks in the dirt! If he doesn't believe that, he doesn't have enough kitchen experience and should probably shut his mouth until he does.
It was hard watching Preeti trying to shuck clams. Her excuse of not having done it in a while was about a 9 on the sucky excuse meter.
All in all there seems to be some talent, and it was pretty entertaining with the exception of Gael... I would rather watch a cute little bunny rabbit get flogged with a cat of nine tails than listen to her opine on the merits of a dish. I wonder if she will ever have an opinion of her own that doesn't get shot down. I've noticed she waits to hear what other judges have to say then expands on their ideas usually with the shotgun approach of, maybe if I talk long enough I'll say something that will make sense to the other judges. (Loved her: "There's such a thing as al dente beans" comment. Everyone looked at her and in unison said "no")
Pavlov at 8:47AM on 08/20/09
"Amber from Season 4 of House came to mind."
LOL I knew I'd seen this personality type in one of my tv dramas somewhere!
dixiesong3131 at 9:18AM on 08/20/09
I think it's Gail Simmons and Gael Greene.
polly28 at 9:26AM on 08/20/09
@polly28, right.... my bad... I was referring to "Gail Simmons" not "Gael the Elvis fan".
Pavlov at 9:36AM on 08/20/09
Looks like a good mix for the new season.
How great was W Puck as a guest judge? One of the best I would say, and I've never been a big fan of his before. He was witty and articulate, and he really seemed to be having fun.
Remander at 9:37AM on 08/20/09
Ditto what Remander said re Puck. Great to see him on the show.
Adam Kuban at 9:39AM on 08/20/09
Having eaten at Jen Zavala's and Jennifer Carroll's restaurants, it didn't surprise me very much when Zavala was sent packing. The elimination challenge didn't have any restrictions, she could have made anything she wanted. They only had to prepare one serving, not dozens or hundreds as they sometimes have to in the elimination challenge. And she chooses pre-made seitan?
It also wouldn't surprise me if Carroll ended up in the top three. It seems like she and Kevin and the front-runners. Of course, both of the challenges last night allowed her to cook seafood, which is her strong point, we'll see how she does when the challenges are more restrictive.
Wolfgang was a great guest judge, I hope they bring him back a few more times.
Buckethead at 10:36AM on 08/20/09
Oh yes, she is SO Amber from House! haha
kellybelly223 at 10:37AM on 08/20/09
Within the first five minutes, my husband and I already knew who would go home, as usual. When the family photos come on screen for a contestant this early, it means they're out. While I thoroughly enjoy the show, I wish Bravo didn't make it so easy to tell who's going home. Just watch to see who gets screen time in the very beginning of the episode...they always either win the challenge or pack their knives and go.
July at 10:45AM on 08/20/09
Puck stole the show for sure. He overshadowed all the contestants and like Remander, I was never really a fan but now I certainly am. I'd pay good money to see Eric Ripert throw a donut across the set.
DessertBuzz at 10:47AM on 08/20/09
putting my chips on jennifer to win it all
gastrodamus at 10:49AM on 08/20/09
Puck was witty, funny, and gave some constructive advices. He and Ripert are my fav TC guests so far. It's nice that he lent his place for the young chefs to cook in as well.
gargupie at 11:35AM on 08/20/09
I think Jennifer might give Michael a run for the 'villain' title this season. She seems like she's pretty ruthless. I'm glad thought that we all got a chance to see how talented she is before the claws come out.
annabanannas at 12:02PM on 08/20/09
Thoughts:
-Tom seemed just smitten with Wolfgang; I mean what's not to love about everyone's favorite Austrian.
-I'm pretty sure Jesse is just going to cry in every episode. I could do without.
-Was I the only who thought Hector looks like he flips coins and knows how to use a cattle bolt?
-Where was Toby? Working with choreographers to develop a ZING! dance?
hungrytraveler at 12:19PM on 08/20/09
Okay...loved the season opener...
Jen Carroll, definitely a front runner and love the Amber analogy...
Michael...total ass, but he can cook
Kevin...caught me by surprise, the old "don't judge a book by its cover" adage works here
Jen Zavala...glad she is gone...her gauges were too distracting (even my 16 year old son..who btw was lobbying for gauges earlier this summer..said they were disgusting)
Wolfgang...great judge...well thought out, constructive and witty comments...very close second to Eric Ripert in the classy judge category
As for Mattin....okay the French accent is sexy, but my heart still belongs to Fabio...
jsd517 at 1:41PM on 08/20/09
I ate at Eve's in Ann Arbor MI in July. It was great ( I had halibut with risotto and peas). I got to meet her for a minute, she seems shy. I think she looked so scared last night! I think it's pretty impressive that she is on the show with so many contestants from big cities.
BTW, the Puck rocks!
veroliz at 2:21PM on 08/20/09
That was the worse looking chile relleno I've ever seen.
I think it's kind of weird that one of the chefs has a Michelin star.
wunami at 11:56PM on 08/20/09
The header is missing the other brother. I was wondering why it looked weird.
droostring at 1:12AM on 08/21/09