Watch It with Us: 'Top Chef Masters' Episode 9
The remaining four: Rick Bayless, Michael Chiarello, Anita Lo, and Hubert Keller.
If you're planning to watch tonight's episode of Top Chef Masters, join us here in the comments at 10 p.m. ET. It'll be an open thread—jump in with your observations or play-by-play as the episode unfolds. Who will remain? Someone who has a functional nose. Tonight's Quickfire involves a blindfolded taste test. They say you eat first with your eyes, but that schnoz is pretty important too. Also, the winner better get along with former Top Chef contestants—twelve of them will return tonight as sous cheftestants to help with the elimination challenge. Someone might want to put a leash on Dale Talde of Top Chef's fourth season, who is looking pretty feisty in this clip. Michael Chiarello looks about ready to smack him. Watch the preview, after the jump.
'Top Chef Masters' Episode 9 Preview
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.
24 Comments:
hahahah everyone hates chiarello.
cheesebreadbutter at 10:28PM on 08/12/09
They're throwing a whole toolbox of wrenches into this challenge. I'm frustrated just watching it.
Carey Jones at 10:36PM on 08/12/09
he was being really obnoxious. although I love that Spike was like, no, no i'm not running around chopping things for you
rumanddiet at 10:37PM on 08/12/09
I think its either gonna be chiarello or anita
rumanddiet at 10:54PM on 08/12/09
to go home... sorry
rumanddiet at 10:57PM on 08/12/09
I think it is Hubert or rick.
And Michael- what jerk
cd0103 at 10:59PM on 08/12/09
i'm sorry, but how the hell did chiarello make it? its not just that i dislike him, but the judges really had NOTHING good to say about his meal!! i miss anita already :(
cheesebreadbutter at 10:59PM on 08/12/09
I was all prepared to hate Michael...until I saw him on this show. He seemed much nicer and more differential to the other chefs that I imagined he would be.
kayrob at 11:03PM on 08/12/09
Oh how awesome! In the beginning of the season this show was so boring. (Too much butt kissing.) But this episode was great! So amazing to see these master chefs trying to figure out what chervil is. I'm so glad Hubert redeemed himself. Do you think it's the editing or the true nature of the chefs that we see? Is Chiarello really that big of a jerk?
peanuty at 11:17PM on 08/12/09
i cant decide whether i want rick bayless (hes so adorable and calm!) or hubert keller to win (hes like a cute old man who says funny things). i'll have to decide before next episode...
korovka at 9:58AM on 08/13/09
From what i understand, respect is something that is earned by ones actions, not by demanding it. Chiarello, evidently feels that he can get by on this show by his 'personality' and looks. He acted like a pompous idiot and i dont know of anyone in his/her right mind who would want to work FOR him and i do say for him because his ego is so large, it seems, that he would never allow anyone to work WITH him. Has anyone else noticed that at each judgment he would stand there smiling and yet at this one, when one assumes he realized that his obnoxious actions were documented on camera he looked quite ill at ease and stood almost off to the side, not facing forward but towards the other chefs. Also when the top two were announced his smile ceased to exist and he did not congratulate those two top winners as they all did to him on previous winnings. He is not just a person on an ego trip but a very poor player. I used to enjoy watching his show from time to time, but after this, no longer
fal18 at 10:46AM on 08/13/09
Yeah, even though the winner has been posted, this was a cool episode watching Dale trying to start a fight with Michael. Great Show. We also heard Kelly finally make a comment.
pookguy at 10:49AM on 08/13/09
Geez, I had been cheering against Michael pretty hard, but this episode changed my mind--I kind of feel sorry for him now. I mean, could the producers work any harder to portray the guy as a heel?
skizziks at 11:27AM on 08/13/09
Who would have thought that the Michael C. from his Food Network show was the same person shown on Top Chef. By watching his Food Network show, I thought he'd be the nicest guy around.
Also, the moment when Kelly asked teh chefs to eliminate one chef from their team was stupid. They did it to cause drama, but then they didn't show anyone's reactions from being cut! WTH??? There was no drama!
I do want to make a trip to Chitown now just to go to Rick's restuarants.
Juman23 at 11:35AM on 08/13/09
So am I the only one who thinks that Dale and Spike (ugh!) need to be slapped? It would be fascinating (painfully boring most likely) to see the events unfold without the editing.
The worst episode. Sophomoric.
jdmcdonald at 12:18PM on 08/13/09
i was a big fan of chiarello... i just lost a little respect last night. he's not a leader like keller and bayless. talented yes. but not a teacher/leader. he wasn't dealing with the idiots from hells kitchen. he was dealing with talented chefs. period. he should have trusted them more.
suburbangourmet at 1:55PM on 08/13/09
jdmcdonald-
"So am I the only one who thinks that Dale and Spike (ugh!) need to be slapped?"
Nope. I'm with you. Those two lillipution egotists are annoying to watch. Both were rude and out of control. It made the competition into a soap opera and really took away from the pleasure of watching what has been up until now a fun series to watch. They were unlikeable then and even more unlikeable now.
We might as well have been watching the Jerry Springer Show with a bunch of hillbillies jabbing each ther's chest's while jawing and head bobbin'... "Oh yeah? You think yer a big man Bubba? Well, I'm gonno kick yer...." You get the mentality.
Anita should have called off nasty little Chihuahua Dale. Go bite someone elses ankle. This is a competition. The sous chefs are working for the Top Chefs. It was a teachable moment, but alas, reality TV b.s. prevailed.
And Spike? Is he full of himself or what? Lordy. I mean, the guy was chosen last. LAST. And Hubert deflately stated, "I'm stuck with Spike." Yet Spike, in his ever vainglorious, delusional, and over inflated egotistical thought process thinks it's a freakin' compliment.-- "In a weird type of way, it's very complimentary... "They don't want me to outshine their food or anything." Micheal Chiarello a jerk? Not compared to this twerp.
No, up until this last episode, it was a tough competition, but the respect and comraderie of the competing chefs shined. That's what I had enjoyed most about it. There was not all this ridiculous "drama".
This last episode was dissapointing and annoying to watch.
CJ McD at 2:03PM on 08/13/09
@jdmcdonald: Absolutely! The moment the nonmasters showed up, it turned into an episode of Big Brother. I guess that's fine for people who are into generic competitive strategizing, but it bored/irritated me. It seems totally reasonable to me that Michael wanted people who could efficiently carry out his vision without improvising and screwing everything up. I just didn't understand why the producers gave so much screen time to the nonmasters complaining about Chiarello. Especially since we hardly saw any of the food the teams ended up preparing!
I actually was kind of disappointed in Bayless; he should have put himself in the middle of the confrontation between Dale and Chiarello--either smooth things over, or stand up for his team member.
skizziks at 2:09PM on 08/13/09
Oh wait, Dale was on Anita's team? That's a relief: then Rick can still be my role model--I don't mind as much being disappointed with Lo...
skizziks at 2:13PM on 08/13/09
So, where I grew up, if you are working for someone and if they are in a position you want to be in some day AND if they are hugely successful in their field, you do what they want and you do it with a smile on your face. You want me to chop carrots? Ok, no problem. I doubt that disrespectful, punk Dale will find it easy to get a job, he better be damn good so he can HOPE to achieve what Chiarello has on his own. What a looza!
rockymountainmarta at 4:17PM on 08/13/09
I understand that most of them are capable, accomplished full fledged chefs in their own right. But in this competition, they were SOUS chefs.
The way the show went down was tawdry. If I want to watch trashy kitsch, I'd watch Hell's Kitchen or pro-wrestling or roller derby.
I dearly hope that the Bravo network people let the Spike and Dale schlock show fade into the horizon, never to return. I don't want to watch them.
CJ McD at 4:35PM on 08/13/09
Rooting for Rick...
sammie at 4:55PM on 08/13/09
I'm still all for Chiarello. It's his ass (and charity) on the line, not the sous chef's. He wanted a team that he felt could get the win, where is the harm in that? Sure he could have been a little more polite, but how much of that is editing magic? I was dyin to see him punch that little rodent, Dale!
mhurst826 at 12:06PM on 08/15/09
It's not so long ago that Carla let someone take off with an idea that was just not worthy. Where did it get her?
I did not get that Chiarello was being disrespectful. The "young man" comment was not nice, but there hadn't been sabotage or any conflict in the competition until the sous chefs arrived. I thought Chiarello was keeping his cool. You could tell he was mad about the refrigerator issue, and he was not at all barking. They can say he was barking, and perhaps he was. It just didn't play that way to me as athe viewer. I think in the big scheme of things I am going to trust Chiarello over all of the sous chefs because there had only been cooperation and respect before the upstarts came. I think it is the regular Top Chef competitors that assume things need to be dramatic. They bring the drama with them.
I don't think Chiarello was brilliant in the way he worked with his team, but I don't think you could fault him either. If they hadn't sabotaged so much of the challenge, he easily could have found his food on the top.
I imagine Dale was not happy watching himself fly off the handle at one comment.
bingsy at 12:37AM on 08/16/09