My top three will be Dale, Andrew and Richard.
I think Stephanie will make it to the top 4, but will be let go. Sadly, I'm not seeing anything impressive from the ladies this season. Lisa goes next. Both she and Antonia have yet to do anything really amazing or noteworthy.
I understand that Spike and his horrid hats equal good TV, but in my opinion he should have been offed last night. Manuel got the boot for not stepping up, and it seems Spike had the same issue. I agree with Buckethead, Stephanie clearly not leading the team but making it possible to work as a team, should have won.
sorry randyzip, you're thinking of Andrew who said that "top chef" was his house. but I agree that they kept Spike for the drama.
If you're into Dim Sum, you have to have to have to go to the Phoenix in Chinatown. I go every time I'm back in town. Chinese people out-number the white people which in my book is always a good sign. If you need to wait for a table, which you probably will, go across to the little mall and grab some mooncakes.
I'm a foodie.
If people want to beleive that it is because I eat foie gras and waygu beef every night, then so be it. But I'm really a foodie b/c I'm fascinated by food and it's combinations, textures, varieties, and the experiences had with it. I eat at Michelin restaurants and hole-in-the-wall burger and wing joints. And occasionally after a night of eating oysters and drinking champagne, you'll find my at McDonald's the next morning trying to cure my hangover with a chocolate milkshake.
It's pretty funny, however it seems to be complete rip-off of the books titled,"The book of bunny suicides." Cute furry bunnies that just want to end it all.
@ zekks: The reason Dale was doing everything was because there was no leadership, which Nikki should have assumed since she has the most experience with Italian cooking. She should have set a tone with a menu and split up the responsibilities accordingly. Fish rots at the head. And I loved how she had the audacity to say she wasn't leading the sinking ship. Nikki should have been kicked off weeks ago for the Italian sausage blunder during the tailgate.
@ shell0724: I have to disgree about Dale. I think that he didn't "only try to rescue a meal that was doomed." He just tried to put his hand in a little bit of everything and I think that instead it appeared that this was his reasoning behind getting into so many different things was that to use that excuse that he did so much so the judges would keep him around. Nothing he did was great. He did a lot of things mediocore. Like its been said before, I think its worse to do a bunch of things at a so-so level than a few at a great level. I think that's why Spike was saved (by the chilean sea bass). I can't disagree with the choice to eliminate Nikki at all but I think that Dale is real close to the chopping block and has become exactly what Spike called him....to put it politely.
I think Dale was far from the most annoying contestant. He was placed in an untenable group of slackers and back-stabbers, in my opinion, and only tried to rescue a meal that was doomed. His frustration level was high, but, understandable, especially after extreme sleep deprivation, extreme work, and extremely annoying people. Lisa made a cool cake, but, her hateful disposition and greasy hair annoys me. Antonnia is cool but she tends to be very patronizing and while she shined in last week's challenge, she's not really shown herself to be extraordinary. Dale is a very outspoken and honest person who doesn't suffer fools gladly. I felt he deserved some credit for having to suffer through unbelievably selfish people who were only interested in themselves and their individual dishes, not caring about team work, and not caring about producing a quality menu for someone's wedding! Dale had the work ethic, and he's proven himself through the past episodes. I love Richard, and thought his gesture of bestowing the win on Stephanie was awesome, but, I think Dale would have performed brilliantly if given the chance to work with the bride team, not the bottom of the barrel of this season's remaining chefs. I'm sure they're all top chefs in their own way, but, there is no comparison between Nikki, Lisa, and Spike's attitudes and ostensible mediocrity to Dale. They are so threatened by his excellence that they literally shunned him and refused to treat him like a team member. I was thrilled that Nikki left. She should hang her head in shame. It was she who came out looking like a mug, after shouting out how cooking Italian and leading this mess had nothing to do with her. If their team had won by some miracle, she would have leaped into the center stage. There was a big contrast between the type of people they were compared to Andrew, Antonia, Stephanie and the lovable Richard.
All in all though, I thought it was an interesting show and one that we'll talk about in future seasons.
Is Gail Simmons pregnant? Looked to me like she's... how to say this... filling out a bit but my wife figures she got a bun in the oven.
I'm hoping that we don't see another catering challenge until next season. I think Nikki probably was due to go, but I'm a bit tired of seeing people eliminated because they couldn't put on a buffet for 125 people in less than 36 hours while standing on one foot with no food processor or whatever. That tells me absolutely nothing about what it might be like to eat their food at their restaurant. There have been so many of these challenges this season that I still don't have a good idea of what kind of food some of these people actually cook when they're serving their customers back home. Perhaps next season they can just spin off 'Top Caterer' into its own show and let the chefs on Top Chef be chefs.
@hungrychristel -- Lisa is scary, that's a fact, and she and Dale may end up the Tracy and Hepburn of the season yet. But, I wince thinking about her elimination. They are gonna need a whip and a chair, and maybe a SWAT team that night.
@meganaw -- I can't believe you think Lisa is the next to go. As maxwell so astutely said upthread -- "Spike is a hack. No other comments needed." My hope is that Spike goes next. I'm hoping at least one of the finalists is a female. I think Stehanie could have the chops. And, as the weeks go by, I like Antonia more and more.
@Brownie - Lisa will be the entertainer for sure. I'm not sure I would like to see her make it far, but for sure keep her on until the competition gets intense!
@unarata - Honestly, I was rooting for Marcel and his ridiculous Wolverine-inspired haircut. He may have been an arrogant jerk, but at least he was honest and upfront about it.
Sous vide salmon + scales = Fish flavored babyfood with toenails mixed in. Eeeeeewwwwww. At least Zoi's dish would have been edible if there had been a salt shaker on the table. Between those two, imo, Richard should have gone home.
All that having been said, Spike needs to go home. He's just a nasty piece of work.
Dale was critical of the bacon, but my recollection is that he cut up a bunch of peppers and tossed them with a little acid. Was that really that much harder?
I was also surprised that the air team (aka Team "Ducks Fly") didn't do a foam. Of all the times when a foam is appropriate, this was it.
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