Top Chef Season 18: Portland

Top Chef is my guilty pleasure while working from home. Can have it on in the background and only pay attention to the presentation of their food and the judging. Definitely some hotties coming up!

Not going to watch this season.

Last season had me swear off Top Chef for good.

After the oriental "Congee Queen" was basically handed the win on a silver platter, I said enough is enough.

The bitch made a tossed green salad with iceberg lettuce in one challenge.

And then she made congee in at least three other challenges.

That made her the TOP CHEF???

Give me a fucking break. That's when I decided I was done with the show.

They just wanted an oriental lesbian to win, to show how WOKE they are.

Top Chef has always been the best cooking competition on TV. I haven’t missed an episode since Season 1 when Harold Dieterle won.

Competitive cooking shows drive me NUTS.. "Here's a carrot and a sack of flour, now WOW, me"!

PASS!

I prefer instructional cooking shows.

Portland? Was it recorded before the insurrection there?

It's not really a cooking show. It's a competition reality TV show centered around cooking food. I watch for hotties like Stefan and Sam.

I wish they'd bring back [italic]Top Chef: Just Desserts,[/italic] or, as I like to call it, [italic]Mentally Ill Pastry Chefs.[/italic]

Any gay contestants?

[quote] I wish they'd bring back Top Chef: Just Desserts

"The Red Hots Were For My Mommy!!!!"

This is the only remaining saving grace for Bravo. The endless Housewhores shows and other insane "scripted reality" crap has made the network unwatchable. There were several iterations of this show at one point, featured throughout the year, and they were all infinitely more interesting than anything else on Bravo. So I'm looking forward to the new season.

Oh, and fuck the racist shrieking Qunt at R2. Go ride your twat on a mandolin, asshole.

R11 = CONGEE CUNT!

I've had r2 blocked for eons. Always good to see I made the right decision.

This should be an interesting season, if for no other reason than to see how they worked around COVID restrictions.

Don't worry, R14.

Another untalented oriental will win.

Top Chef can't get enough of them.

Same, r13. On his (?) deathbed, he'll be twitching and muttering about an Asian conspiracy and "congee".

Is this their first season in Portland?

Will be watching Gabriel, the chef on the left at R6

Is that Teabag??

I see thirst queen Brooke is back. She floats up like a stinky turd every season.

Well they have plenty of Black contestants to chose from.

Extraordinarily bizarre choice to air this when restaurants are in the trash and most are broke and have gone out of business.

R22, people want escapism. Enough damn doom and gloom in the 24/7 News/Twitter cycle.

Especially with Padma's involvement, I'm sure this will all be addressed during the season.

Time to cancel this show.

I'm cancelling you instead, R25.

God is that racist lunatic from the last top chef season still hanging around? I have them on ignore as well but I wish they would go play in traffic and stop hanging around these threads.

I liked the one season of Top Chef Duels they did r8. Was said they never did it again.

Thanks for this thread, OP -- I'm excited for the show's return.

Bonus for Canadians: Top Chef Canada returns, as well, on April 19th!

Do they not allow Canadians to compete in the original?

Dunno, R30, but I would assume not (?), which could be why Canada has/had its own iteration of many U.S. reality shows: The Amazing Race Canada, Big Brother Canada, Canadian Idol, Canada's Next Top Model, etc.

I need this. Now.

One more day, R32! Premieres tomorrow!

If anyone is interested, Bravo is showing Season 17 all day today. It started at 6 AM on the East Coast. I'm about to tune in as I hate the 3rd and 4th hours of the Today Show.

Not a big year for white male representation.

This is going to be a fun season. Shota is adorable.

SPOILER¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥

They sent the old black dude home?!!!!! WTF. Not very woke.

That Gabriel guy, did he once work for someone on the show? I think he might have mentioned it but I missed it....

R38. He worked for Tom and I wanted to slap him, too

(Psst.....That's a joke r38. Of course you couldn't miss it, he managed to work in that he worked for Tom 72 times in a 60 minute episode)

Oops. I actually dvr’d and just started watching now so I wasn’t aware he’s a name dropper. But I really do want to slap him.

Did the oriental chef win the elimination challenge with a congee dish?

Top Chef judges just love orientals, and they love congee even more!

R37 His dish litterally looked like regurgitation but he seemed like a cool guy. Works for a formidable BBQ restaurant. Also an artist. Got to bring it.

Am I the only one who thinks Gabriel looks like a little like Tim Tebow?

I like the new judging setup, with series alums rotating as the guest judge each week.

Gabriel was a whiny little bitch.

I guess anyone who sits at the table has to be inside their production quarantine. A pool of past contestants, rotating as guest judges, is easier to arrange than a one-episode celebrity guest judge.

I don’t understand why having them in a hotel works better than renting them a house. The contestants are not distancing from each other.

That they are staying in separate hotel rooms rather than one house is a significant change r46. One there are no scenes of the chefs hanging out together at home, though that has really lessened in recent seasons anyway I guess. But the Chefs don't really get to know each other and bond as much.

But they were all hanging out in some kind of public room at the hotel. What’s the difference?

Personally I've loved some of the scenes over the years of the chefs hanging out at home, it did also give us thr Marcel head shaving incident which is still one of the most infamous incidents on Top Chef. Just pointing out its a difference.

Ordering your food online from Whole Foods (Whole Paycheck, amirite?!?!) and then picking it up is a huge change as well.

I liked how the chefs who created the best and worst dishes were sent to the judges’ table at the same time. Creating a little tension while you tried to figure out who’s dish was getting the chop.

Agree with R44 that Gabriel has a Tim-boesque face. He’s the hottest guy this season right? Douche-y but hot?

I’m amazed they were able to film during a pandemic. Amazed and grateful because I love the show and I’m glad it’s back.

Kwame looks good.

I didn't recognize Dale at first! He got a little chubsy.

Spoiler alert!

The ORIENTAL wins.

Because the judges fucking LOVE orientals..

Thanks, Padme!

I am so fucking sick of orientals on this show.

They are sub-par and yet they get rewarded again and again.

It's fucking disgusting, thniking about the favortism shown towards them.

This is why the ratings are down.

Nobody wants to watch Top Oriental.

This is a show about American chefs, not foreigners.

That Quickfire was fun, though almost felt bad for the chefs how impossible it was. Seeing that one girl from Denver who I only remember because she kept making toast ask for toast made me chuckle.

Gabriel keeps showing he is kinda a douche though. Name dropping Tom last ep, trying to tell someone they can't put pepper in their ribs this ep.

I want to have sex with Shota.

R56 = Rice Queen Tom Colicchio.

Oriental judges, too.

Dale Talde, Melissa the Oriental Dyke, Padme the injun.

Are there any real Americans left on this show?

r58 wait Rugs and Lamps can cook and judge? Oriental does not refer to a people you racist fuck.

PS I want Shota - he is hot as fuck.

[quote]PS I want Shota - he is hot as fuck.

Surprise, surprise.

Rice Queen wants the tiny dicked oriental to win.

Oh, and another surprise. The oriental jap was in the top 4.

Don't bother entering this competition, white people.

The ugly orientals will always win.

Shota is my favorite.

[Quote]I liked how the chefs who created the best and worst dishes were sent to the judges’ table at the same time. Creating a little tension while you tried to figure out who’s dish was getting the chop.

Agree r51. I'm surprised Top Chef never did that before, it is how Project Runway and Drag Race handle things.

You're in luck, R61.

He's a JAP, so he will win since he's an oriental.

This show just loves orientals.

There does seem to be a good Portlander vs. bad Portlander subplot developing. I wonder how long it will last.

Why do racists invade every thread? What has happened to Datalounge?

Who is the Asian hate queen on this thread? Shouldn't he be on Parler or something?

Just ignore FF and ignore the racist idiot r65, you don't have to give it the attention it desperately wants.

I just scroll through the hate. This was one of my favorite quick fire challenges ever. It’s shaping up to be a really good season.

The Quick Fire Challenge was actually fun to watch. Props to all the short order cooks out there! Most of the chefs had a helluva time getting their plates finished. That one dish with the vegetarian hash? I don't think either chef got their eggs on the dishes.

Did anyone else notice Kwame's fingernails were painted with some dark polish?

[Quote]Props to all the short order cooks out there! Most of the chefs had a helluva time getting their plates finished.

In the real world the cook would not have to conceive of the dish first, and all the prep work for the menu would be done r69.

But yes, a lot of fun.

First Last Chance Kitchen

The racist is posting through multiple accounts. He started out by saying he wasn’t going to watch this season. Liar.

It was a good quickfire. The staggered start times and variety made it more interesting and dynamic

Shota is adorbs. With Covid, I wonder how they'll do restaurant wars this season. Regarding poster who consistently use "orientals" disparagingly & based on history, he's not just any run-of-the-mill racist, his vitriol is aimed specifically towards East Asians. Regardless, just ff him.

R71, thanks for the link -- would you mind posting the winner of each week's LCK, though? You can surround it with the word SPOILERS if anyone follows the web series and doesn't want to be spoiled.

Bravo!'s videos aren't viewable by anyone outside the U.S.

TIA!

Shota is indeed adorable, and I’m also crushing on tall, dark, and handsome Chris. He was in the bottom this week. He and Shota have a bromance going on. They called each other “handsome” and “sexy”.

This week's Last Chance Kitchen R75

** SPOILERS ** SPOILERS ** SPOILERS **

The challenge was to create a dish using three "Hard Shell/Thick Skin" items from a limited selection of proteins, nuts, and fruit.

Sasha chose oysters, pistachios, and cherimoya. Roscoe chose clams, peanuts, and jackfruit.

Sasha made a cherimoya & green apple puree, a chicken-fried oyster, with toasted pistachios on top. Roscoe made a peanut veloute with jackfruit fritters, clams, and shiitake mushrooms.

Tom thought that Roscoe's dish was really good, but that Sasha's was so outstanding that she should file it away and make it again in the future. Sasha was declared the winner.

R75, for some reason it was posted to YouTube. You can always try there. Otherwise, I will try my best to post.

Thanks, R77/78! When I tried the YouTube route, I got the “uploader has not made this available” message for users outside the U.S.

I’m very attracted to Chris, Shota, Nelson, and Avishar.

Episode 2 was great fun with the right level of twist this early on in the competition.

You get a sense of who will be eliminated depending on how much back story they get during the episode, and since Sacha was featured quite heavily, it was easy to guess that she would be cut.

Also, it was funny how Dawn argued with Gabriel regarding their dish when she has failed to present a full plate of food twice in a row! So much for being able to make ribs with her eyes closed, lol.

R81

Except most struggled also that second time she failed to get the food on the plate. And Gabriel telling her not to season her ribs with pepper was shitty. She was smart to not listen to him. She would’ve gotten panned for it being under seasoned if she did.

Dawn has been getting a fair amount of screen time which makes me suspect she ends up going far. We will see.

Is it fair to say that given this week's elimination challenge theme, we could figure who will win and who would be leaving among the 6 chefs, based on their "heritage", before judges' critiques?

Two of three chefs in the bottom three were black, so they weren't pulling punches there r84.

I thought this challenge was fun, I appreciated exploring different food instead of the usual we see.

Definitely already seeing front runners, Shota once again in the top. Sarah didn't make the top 3 but they clearly loved her dish also.

I’m enjoying this season. They’re dealing with diversity with a very deft hand. And most of the chefs seem like nice people.

They really loved Sarah's dish, I thought she would be in the top.

Let me guess: the oriental was in the top again?

Quelle surprise.

This show just can't get enough of those people.

They might as well just name him as the winner of Top Chef oriental already. That's what this show has become.

And I'm glad I'm not watching. They should just cancel this shit.

Dude. We get it R88. You're a racist piece of shit. Please move on...

r88 Were you a Vietnam War POW and haven't really seeked help for PTSD? The VA has great programs. Oh wait, at least you would be more nuanced in use of Asian slurs; using Oriental invariably just shows you're a dumb racist.

Why are you guys bit ignoring it, and still giving it the attention it wants everytime? You share some of the blame too.

Last Chance.

It’s a good thing our resident racist hasn’t seen this week’s episode. His head would explode.

I'm all caught up on the episodes now. I'm liking this season and the challenges so far.

Brittany really shouldn't have diluted her red sauce with coconut milk.

Pouring on something white to suffocate out the spice of the dish being her downfall in this challenge is so on the nose in terms of symbolism r94.

R92, who won?

("The uploader has not made this video available in your country.")

TIA!

R96 Top Chef SPOILER

This week it was Dawn

*SPOILERS*

It seemed pretty obvious after the comments that Dawn was going to win. Her goat stew sounded good. I wish I could try some of the food! Shota and Jamie were the other top dishes and were no surprises given the judges' comments at the table.

Brittany finally got the boot. She deserved it. She took a spicy dish and diluted it with coconut milk. When she was doing it, I told my partner that move was going to send her home and it did. She really put the nail in the coffin when she told the judges she was cooking with her head, not her heart. Bye. Kiki was also in the bottom three. This African-inspired challenge should have been in her wheelhouse, and she pretty much said that when it was announced. Her stew seemed to get good marks, but her fufu (cassava and plantain dumplings) were cold and looked like lumps of glue. Her stew saved her, along with Brittany's admission that she was not cooking from her heart.

Thanks, R97/98, but I meant who won LCK (per the link posted by R92).

*LCK SPOILER*

R96, R98 here. I wasn't posting in response to you, just listing what happened as a means to chat about the show. But I'm happy to oblige.

Sasha won over her friend Brittany. Sasha has seemingly rebounded from her loss. She ran away with the first challenge against Roscoe, and Tom said Roscoe had a good dish. Sasha, however, had a great dish. It was similar against Brittany. Brittany cooked a corn, crab and fish chowder for the one-pot challenge and the judges all liked it (Gregory and Kwame helped Tom judge this LCK). But they were blown away by Sasha's dish, which was chicken cacciatore inspired.

If Sasha keeps cooking like this, she might be back in, but we'll see how she fares as the competition gets tougher. There are still some weaker chefs left in the main competition who have skated by so far. LCK gets tougher as the competition goes on as stronger chefs get eliminated. But Tom seems to think Sasha is the real deal.

Many thanks, R98!

I’m so in love with Kwame.

R102, me too. I have a crush, lol. Is he gay?

Kwame is straight, engaged to some girl, maybe they are married now.

Gregory is gay.

Shota and Avishar are definitely my favorites at this point. Chris, Byron, and Sara are the back-ups.

Kiki is obviously WAY out of her depth and won't last long.

It's Chris who seems clearly out of his depth r105 . There were serious cooking flaws with his dish two weeks in a row. He seems to be on borrowed time.

[quote] Shota and Avishar are definitely my favorites at this point.

I wasn't sure about Avishar at first. I thought after he fumbled during those first few QFs and challenges, he was out of his depth. Glad he proved me wrong!

I can't think of his name, but the bearded guy who specializes in Mexican food -- I was left wondering what those beer tortillas taste like.

That's Gabe R107. Also, his and Gabriel’s quick fire dishes were not mentioned at all?

How do the judges eat so many entrées at one sitting? Do they just take a bite and leave the rest? But we do see lots of empty plates, so some of them are hungry!

Did the oriental win in the finale yet?

Did they eliminate the oriental during the competition, then bring them back from Last Chance Kitchen so they could win the whole competition yet?

Did the oriental make congee, or noodles, or some variation of an oriental dish and WOW the judges yet?

Don't worry. It's coming.

I wish Gabriel wasn’t so douchey. Now that I know he owns one of my favorite delivery go-tos, it’s ruining the experience for me.

[quote] That's Gabe [R107]. Also, his and Gabriel’s quick fire dishes were not mentioned at all?

R108, thanks! No wonder I keep getting those two's names mixed up.

So who are the early front-runners? Definitely Shota. Sara?

I will try anything once, but this one did leave me feeling meh. Just not much of a stew person. I understand the depth of flavors and building them must be so difficult under time constraints.

Raw chicken. Ick.

I wonder how many eye rolls they had to edit out when it was revealed they’d be cooking with Campbell’s soup. Next week: Fritos!

Sasha's hair color and skin color are too close for comfort.

That quickfire was a new low.

Did the oriental win with a congee or noodle dish yet?

It's not Portland without Beau Breedlove!

Last Chance Kitchen

Generally they do just eat enough to taste all the components r108. But Padma has talked about how she is always on the treadmill while filming to deal with all the calories they eat.

Chris surprised me this episode, I walked upthread how he was out of his depth but he proved me wrong.

Kiki, I can't believe she was unaware her chicken was raw. You have to check before you serve food.

I knew Gabe was winning this episode when they showed him talking to his family.

So what exactly happened with Kiki’s chicken? She said she and Nelson tasted it and it wasn’t raw.

R119 she did check and it was a little under and she said it would continue to cook on the plate

It was a small fryer so we had to make it in batches. The test batch she and Nelson ate was fine, but that wasn't out of the batches the judges got.

That is why Tom advised her to use the big grill provided rather than the tiny fryer.

Using a deep fryer in the outdoors hasn't worked well in the past....Daddy Tom tried to warn her...Telling her she has a smoker/grille....

How many more weeks until the undeserving oriental wins the title of Top Chef?

I wish this stupid show was cancelled already.

It's a fucking joke.

It’s difficult to keep the oil temperature constant in the wind.

Why do you keep harping on this “undeserving Oriental” schtick? Except for Melissa in All Stars LA, the last five winners were white. Before her, three Asians and a black man have won. Everybody else has been white. It’s odd that you focus on this.

Because he’s a racist troll.

Marcus Aurelius, Clarice.

Why are you still engaging with that troll r127? Please stop.

To provoke you is its objective r127. DL is prob its only social outlet, so ignore/block it.

I’m sorry about that , r128 and r129. I’ve been here 20 years and the racist trolls have never been this bad.

It’s getting aggravating.

Kiki has had a tough couple of episodes, so not surprised at her exit.

R120 yes, Gabe was going to win at least one challenge based on his backstory with his son (or end up in Last Chance Kitchen!)

It was obvious Kiki would be going home by the edit leading up to the end. They really shouldn’t make it so obvious.

I sure it’s been asked before, but why do so many chefs have bad tattoos and weird hair?

Shota is somehow both adorable and sexy simultaneously. And he has great arms and pits.

I was sad to see Kiki go, but glad Avishar is still in it. That boy needs to stay away from rice though.

Sure it was gimmicky, but I was entertained. Those cheesy ass Padma intros made me chuckle.

There were a lot of stretches to make the food fit the theme. I mean the winner was some fried chicken as "comedy", sure.

Also I am too used to TV editing , because as Jaime never got her backstory segment yet that I remember, I an guessing she will come back via LCK.

Last Chance Kitchen.

I was really hoping Gabriel was going to be eliminated. Cauliflower "tots" with two gross dipping sauces? Ew. And he was really at least partially responsible for Jamie's chicken not being crispy. It was her fault, too, for being a wimp and not following her own instincts. I'd love to see Gabriel go at some point and hopefully not come back via LCK.

*LAST CHANCE KITCHEN SPOILERS*

Jamie goes up against Kiki and it's a chicken challenge. They had to do a Name-That-Tune-esque style bid-off where they picked how many parts of the chicken they'd cook in one dish and how much time they'd have. They land on 5 parts (feet, liver, thighs, oyster, chicken skin) and 25 minutes. Jamie makes a chicken curry and chicken liver pate to go over a toasted baguette you can dip in the curry sauce.. Kiki does fried chicken and actually uses a part (the drumstick) that was not part of the five that were picked. In the end, Tom prefers Jamie's curry and she wins. Tom thinks Jamie did a better job with all five parts. Kiki did fried chicken with a chicken broth where she used most of the parts in the broth. On the plate is just the fried chicken feet and drumstick which were connected as one piece.

For whatever reason, I don't know if it was TV editing or what, the issue of the drumstick not being part of the challenge never comes up despite Tom mentioning she cooked the drumstick and it was connected to the feet. The feet were actually a part. Maybe he considered it all one? I don't know, but I think Kiki should have been called out for cooking a part of the chicken that was not part of the challenge. In the end it did't matter since Jamie won.

Also, next week, whoever wins LCK goes back in to the main competition. It will be Jamie vs. someone for that opportunity.

I didn’t get the time auction. What incentive do the cooks have for agreeing to less time?

I guess the challenge was you have to use all the selected parts, not only the selected parts.

Ego r140.

It worked last time with two guys, funny how the dynamic changed when it was two women and they were like this is stupid.

[quote]Also, next week, whoever wins LCK goes back in to the main competition. It will be Jamie vs. someone for that opportunity.

Next week is a double elimination, so it should be Jamie vs. 2 other chefs.

Since Gabriel is an ex-chef at Craft, I had a feeling that Colicchio would not let him exit so quickly, as it would reflect badly on him.

But the Yellow team did so poorly in the challenge. Did any of them hear Padma say that they would eating in the car?? No-one (except for Shota?) since they made messy finger-food!

Odds after Week 5.

R145, that was very entertaining to read. I’m still Team Shota despite the dead dog challenge.

I’m hoping that was Shota’s one misstep. I’m rooting for him to win, too. Mainly because I think he’s cute and a good chef, but also because it will make the anti-Asian troll’s head explode.

So many of the guys have an obvious man crush on Shota lol. Chris, Avishar, now Gabe calling him beautiful.

I was really hoping Gabriel would be sent home. I do not like him! This is the second time where he attempted to sabotage a teammate, and this time he succeeded. Dawn was much tougher than Jamie and put her foot down when Gabriel tried to get her to underseason her ribs.

I’m not sure he was sabotaging. They were team challenges. I think he’s just inept.

Gabriel is going to hang around for awhile , maybe even to the finals. He reminds Tom of himself at an earlier age, the same way Nick Elmi did.

I'm really liking this cast. No drama. Everyone is -- for the most part -- getting along.

It was nice to see Maria get some love finally. Her big personality reminds me of a few friends I've known through the years.

The thing is Maria had been doing good in the competition. She had never been in the bottom, was just melting down because she was safe.

But I can get it, in that type of environment not getting any judge feedback can fuck with your head.

Who is going to win?

At the moment I'm guessing Dawn, but my predictions on these things are fairly inept.

R154, I would say Gabe, but if I've seen any pattern on this show, it's that usually the frontrunner in the first half of the season sort of fizzles out a little towards the end and ends up as a runner-up. And that there is usually a chef who begins a meteoric rise from the halfway point after starting out mediocre.

R153, it sounds like Maria might also be the only self-taught chef this season vs. the others who went to culinary school? That might have played a role re: her feelings as to how she's stacking up.

I dunno, r155. I kind of think you're onto something. The edit that she has been getting so far this season makes me think she's a contender, too.

If I had to guess, I'd say Shota, Sarah, Dawn will be in the finals.

I like Dawn...she had some balls to make POPCORN, and apparently it was delicious.

R160, yeah, I thought Tom would blow a gasket from someone 'cooking' popcorn, but it sounds like Dawn's popcorn was an experience.

I have not been a Gabriel fan, but he did get screwed this episode. His venison was cooked perfectly, Nelson fucked up the fish and caused them both to get eliminated. Not the first time Top Chef has done this, but I always consider it unfair when people get eliminated for other people's mistakes.

Apparently Gabe some scandals going on apparently. After coming back from filming this show he was fired from his restaurant for "for behavior in conflict with our values". I wonder if he is going to end up getting MeToo'ed.

He seems like such a nice guy on the show too, but you never know.

I have a feeling Gabriel will be back. I loathe him but it does suck that he went home for someone else’s bad dish.

Did the chinaman win again tonight?

One step closer to being Top Oriental Chef!

With all of Gabriel’s backstory and photos we saw leading up to the challenge, it was obvious he was going home.

They showed the chefs’ reactions when the Last Chance winner returned. They were too happy for it to be Gabriel.

R167. Exactly!

Same, as soon as the preview showed how happy the contestants were I knew Gabriel was not the returning chef. Just watched LCK, and correct he did not win.

R167, R168, and R169, I totally agree. Moreover, it was the women contestants who were really excited and jumping up and down in the preview in a girl power kind of way, which told me Jamie was going to be the winner of LCK, and indeed Jamie won.

I do think Gabriel will be back, but I hope he won't. He seems whiny and annoying, but as much as I personally dislike him he's more talented than some who remain.

BTW, it was obvious Nelson was going to skip LCK, too, when they kept harkening back to his injury in the fruit challenge. I knew he was going to drop out. It was too telegraphed.

Sorry to see Gabe go, he was the hottest one this season

R171 I would go with Byron for that honor.

Byron has a handsome face but he has an odd shape, like an eggplant

R173 Didn't notice that. Nice arms, though.

I didn’t notice it until the drive in episode. There’s a scene of him in profile and it’s noticeable.

Gabriel seems like a creep, but maybe could be nice?

Gabe seems nice, but apparently he's a creep?

One too many bearded Gabe/Gabriels this season!

Shota for the win!!!

LCK Part One.

LCK Part two.

I don’t understand how Nelson’s dropping out of LCK resulted in two openings to go back to the show instead of one. (Tom’s explanation, not mine.). Were two of the three contestants in the last LCK going back? Did they feel guilty about the team elimination?

How they keep "Smugma", I mean Padma, on is beyond me!

So happy Gabriel’s gone! Bye, bitch!

They will keep devising new rules until Gabriel is brought back.

Shota needs to get his shirt off, that’s all I’m saying. I want to see his tight little body.

Gabriel pings as gay to me. Anyone get that idea?

Me too, R184 . Gabriel seems like a slightly more masculine Tim Tebow.

Current " Power Rankings."

I remember Shota from when he beat Bobby Flay on Food network three years ago.

Gabriel pings for me, too, R184. Sometimes when he gets worked up in his confessionals, the gay voice comes through more strongly. But I live in Portland, and I have to say I've met plenty of straight (identifying, at least) boys with similar douchey/high strung mannerisms.

What a boring season!!

I think this has been a terrific season.

Thank God there is no one like fat Heather - the worst person to ever appear on the show.

Texas was by far the worst season of Top Chef, featuring the fat bullies, Heather and Sarah - with their ally Lindsay. The only thing that saved the season was seeing fat Sarah cry after she lost in the finale.

I am very pleased with this season thus far. No drama and everyone seems supportive of each other. Even with Gabriel (who is supposedly 'the villain'), you had Maria tearing up and saying she loves him.

This show used to have crazy drama and fights, as you can see at R191. I actually don't miss that aspect at all.

Sasha coming back was a surprise -- I didn't see that one coming!

I’m glad Sasha is back. People are questioning Gabe being gay? He pings from a million miles away.

Gabriel's instagram shows he has a girlfriend r194. He is supposedly straight.

R195, I think R194 is referring to Gabe, the Mexican food master.

Well people were talking about Gabriel pinging so I think r194 just accidentally called him Gabe. An easy mistake to make.

Gabe (mexican) does not ping to me and is married with kids. As I mentioned earlier he also has some MeToo allegations brewing.

Also Sasha isn't back yet right? Unless I missed something she is just the new reigning champ of LCK, so she has a chance to come back in the future if she keeps winning.

R198, you are correct. I thought Sasha was going back directly into the competition, but it appears she will continue to compete on LCK. The other four are out for good.

How are they doing restaurant wars this season.

To be honest I don’t pay very close attention until this point , when they get down to 10 people or so. Otherwise they blend together. This year was particularly bad because you had two beefy guys with beards named Gabe/Gabriel.

R200, Restaurant Wars usually happens when there are 8 chefs remaining, and this next week with Jamie coming back in, they'll be at 9 again. So I assume it's happening not this week, but the next.

I mean how are they going to do it, I can’t imagine they filmed a bunch of people indoor dining, and having it outside seems challenging since it’s rainy Portland.

R202, good question. A big part of RW is watching them shop for decor, and this season, they haven't even been allowed to shop inside Whole Foods. It'll be interesting to see..

[quote]Gabriel's instagram shows he has a girlfriend [R194]. He is supposedly straight.

I checked his alleged girlfriend's Instagram (@devinmarie86) but there doesn't seem to be any picture of Gabriel. I guess they broke up because the pics he has with her are pretty old

They had a decent number of people eating indoors for the African challenge, the only time they have done that so far. Still it was fewer people than a restaurant wars.

I expect we will either be getting a smaller number of patrons than normal restaurant wars, or they will just embrace outdoor dining for it. We will see.

Maybe all of the guest panelists will comprise the diners. I will miss Dana Cowin uttering, "Hello, chefs."

To those asking about how they'll do Restaurant Wars: on Top Chef Canada, they turned it into "Takeout Wars."

Same basic concept -- teams figure out a name, theme, menu, etc. -- but it's outdoor-access takeout stations instead of a sit-down dining experience.

Well we got our Restaurant Wars answer in the preview for next week. Not even attempting to have customers, just serving the cast of alumni/ judges.

Hah!

LCK.

*LCK SPOILERS*

LCK had two episodes last week. I missed that second one. Jamie won the first one over Gabriel to get back into the kitchen. Then in the second one, Tom said because Nelson dropped out, they were giving all those who'd been eliminated another chance. Grabriel lit up at that, as did Sasha. Roscoe also seemed excited. Brittany and Kiki gave me the impression they were a bit scared, like they had accepted their fates. All five actually cooked/made good dishes, but Sasha made homemade pasta in 30 minutes and Tom said her dish was a bit elevated compared to the other four.

Sasha gets back in then takes out Avishar this week to remain in the running to get back into the show.

I was impressed Jamie bounced back and won her chance to get back in the competition, then won the very first elimination challenge when she got back in the main competition.

Chris keeps getting dinged for lack of flavor. I suspect he'll be going soon. Maria always makes some error. I can't see her in the finale. Sara, Gabe and Dawn are all pretty consistently good. I see those three as real threats to make the finale.. Jamie is a potential threat for the finale, too. Byron could possibly make it, but I have my doubts.

Shota should’ve gone home. That chicken looked disgusting. Of course, he had to win immunity.

Can we talk about Kwame's shirt in this week's episode for a minute, tho?

The Shota & Sara worshippers on Reddit are annoying the fuck out of me. They’re attacking the show for “limited ingredients” in the last challenge because Shota couldn’t come up with something good with the ingredients they all got. Shota sucked in that challenge, it is his fault. He really should have gone home but lucked out with the immunity.

Immunity winners often experiment, rather than do the food that they would have done had they not had the immunity.

Shota had a bad day.

Chris is already beaten by the show. He seemed resigned to being sent home soon. Still, I'm surprised Maria has made some of the mistakes we've seen so far. Even having to cook so many tortillas, it's hard to imagine she didn't catch that some of them were raw on one side. Maria could rebound, but I'm not sure Chris has the spirit to.

[quote] Chris is already beaten by the show.

I agree. I kinda wanted to see Aveshar stay over him, for that reason.

[quote] Byron could possibly make it, but I have my doubts.

Byron has the goods to go far. But he also has a compelling backstory that the editing hasn't shown anything about, so it makes me wonder if he's cut soon.

And HEL-LO GAIL!!

Agreed, R219. Gail in the high-waisted short shorts and heels was bringing it this week. She's obviously lost weight as well.

A lot of reality shows have suffered due to shooting during the pandemic but Top Chef is the exception. Excellent season and very creative. The drive in challenge is my favorite so far.

This has to be the most lovey-dovey Top Chef cast of all time -- somehow feels appropriate during the pandemic.

Also, I want to see Maria win a Quickfire and $10k.

Honestly I miss a bit of the competitive spirit r222. I mean this is still a competition.

R224, true. I don't think I've ever seen a season where all the chefs help each other as much with plating, garnishing, suggestions for flavor, etc.

There were seasons with actual sabotage.

The puréed peas!

That chitterbox girl is annoying as hell. I was hoping Gabriel would come back.

I love Shota; he's such a sweetheart and very handsome and an incredible cook. Gabe is also a favoriteb tall, sexy, and a serious contender.

Gregory seems to be doing well and I'm so glad. I have a soft spot for the soft-spoken sweetie.

Great season so far.

Which one is Gregory?

Gregory Gourdet. He's one of the judges.

Gregory is very popular in the Portland food scene. His original Top Chef appearance raised his profile quite a bit, but he was already known for Departure, which had been a Portland hot spot for quite a while. So yeah, he's been doing well for a while.

Doug Adams, the other Portland chef from the same season, was also well-known and loved before Top Chef. Gabriel and Sara from this season don't have the same level of prestige coming into the show, although Gabriel had made a splash in the food scene prior to competing.

R230, aww, I miss Dougie, the little hobbit.

R225, I think the chef's have always helped each other plating. You never know what the next challenge might be, how pressed for time you'd be and whether you need help or not. You'd be a fool not to assist others plating when you could very well need assistance the next day. They are all professionals in the kitchen.

"They are all professionals in the kitchen."

Sure they are..............

Gabriel is hot in a specific pasty Portland sort of way. He looks cuter on his Instagram than he did on the show.

You think the chef's what, r232?

Oh, you meant chefs, not chef's.

[quote] I love Shota; he's such a sweetheart and very handsome and an incredible cook.

I echo all of the Shota love, and yes, he is hot.

I fucking LOVE Shota.

I loathe Richard Blaise. I assume production told him to lay off the cocaine for a couple episodes.

J'adore Shota's giggle!

I have a crush on Gail.

Gail's starting to vocal fry a bit.

This was the best Restaurant Wars ever, in my opinion. From the get-go there was one team that emerged as head and shoulders above the other team. And it was nice to see Maria win a challenge. Sarah getting sent home was a surprise. I would have thought for sure Chris was headed for The Desolate Cameo of Knife Packing.

And good-o on Padma's hair cut. Very nice.

Shota.

Shota is so freaking cute!

Maria is annoying and ridiculous. I hope she goes next.

Go Dawn!

Chris was saved by his ice cream.

Have met Shota a few times, he's as nice as he is good looking. All the best for him. I hope he doesnt forget us here in the 206.

Last Chance Kitchen

Shota in bed. Yum.

That was the best Restaurant Wars ever. I really thought Greg was going home. So did Greg.

Greg?

Greg Brady. He made Hamburger Helper, ya'll.

"Shota in bed. Yum."

Don't give up hope. Shota is unmarried and professional snoopers have found no record of a girlfriend.

The judges raved over it, but that "hot pot" looked disgusting -- a big bowl of slop.

"The judges raved over it, but that "hot pot" looked disgusting -- a big bowl of slop."

Guess you've never tasted hot pot. It's delicious.

I’d like to marry Shota.

[quote]I have a crush on Gail.

I have a crush on Kristen Kish, and thought she looked stunning in this week's episode.

I’m guessing final 3 will be Shota, Dawn and Jamie.

Shota Nakajima is incredibly hot.

He has changed my mind about Japanese men.

I think Melissa King is more attractive than Kristen Kish and also has a better personality. Kristen seems to flaunt her attractiveness in a stereotypical way. I imagine she probably uses it to pick up straight women who want to have a one night stand with a woman. Melissa seems more confident in her looks and entire demeanor and thus more attractive to me. Can't say anything about who is the better cook though.

Melissa comes across as a nice, decent human and that’s why I’ve always liked her.

Oh, I have a little crush on Melissa, too. She seems fun and sweet.

I also really like Melissa.

I'm glad to see Maria get a win.

She kicked ass at FOH. I don't know what that other team was thinking not having someone be the designated server in charge of chatting up the judges and refilling their water and wine.

Agreed, R263. She deserved that win. Good for her.

Did Maria win for cooking or for being a personable host? I’m confused.

R265, they really seemed to like her lengua a lot. But yeah, I think more for the service -- other chefs have won Restaurant Wars challenges for exceptional service.

It was for both.

Did they keep Melissa King and Kristen Kish apart? I wanted to see them together to see if they're friendly

Chris needs pasta-making lessons before attempting it again.

The edit made it look like Dawn was going to fuck-up, since she was still planning her dishes while everyone else were busy preparing theirs.

Well, she kind of did fuck up - the rest of the team. I’m sure her Olympic category was an individual one.

Chris’ lack of pasta making skills is a bit embarrassing.

Chris looks like he’s just waiting to be sent home. I like Maria. She has a big heart which is probably why she’s a bit sensitive. This is turning out to be one of my favorite seasons. I can’t remember the last time a group of chefs jelled like this one.

^^I agree. These chefs seem to genuinely care for each other, and there are no obvious shit stirrers. Chris seems truly out of his depth here, and keeps trying for "pasta redemption," and failing. I think he realizes its only a matter of time before he's "packing his knives."

Dawn's dishes were well received but she single-handedly prevented any sense of a cohesive meal by not describing her dishes or making them available for tasting... Lol someone said "I thought you were making something salad-like... with caviar". That being said, there's no excuse for the others' dishes not being individually excellent so I don't think she should've been penalized more than the bad dishes. If they had all been equal, she should've gone.

Top Chef is my favorite and only food show i watch, I can't wait. will have to though until it hits streaming.

Dawn definitely fucked up the team and the flow of dishes by not even knowing what she was making when the cooking started. But that whole team was far too passive. No one wanted to help Sara when she asked for it, no one wanted to engage with the judges like Maria did on the other team, no one called Dawn out on her bullshit, but at least she did apologize and blamed it on her creative process. As someone who pulls it together more at the last minute myself, I understood at least where Dawn was coming from. But if you're on a team, you have to put that aside for the sake of the team.

Dawn certainly wasn't the only one to blame. The rest of the team needed to sit down and think about the cohesiveness of the menu. I'm not a chef, and even I could see a few tweaks would have helped. Plus your theme is seafood and no one cooks a fish dish? Really poor planning and they deserved to be on the bottom.

You could tell the other team really clicked right away. They were dynamic and collaborative, they thought about the progression of the meal AND the front of the house service. It all worked about as well as I've seen on any Restaurant Wars. One of the most impressive teams ever and totally deserving of the win. I'm glad Maria's front-of-house was recognized as part of her win when her food was good, too. She deserved that one. Some of the restaurants around where I live that are supposed to be so good lack that front-of-house service and I don't go back.

I really thought Sara was going to the end, or at least getting close to it -- I guess she still technically can (I haven't watch LCK yet though).

[quote] Chris needs pasta-making lessons before attempting it again.

It almost never works when a chef messes up a certain dish/staple, and then tries to re-make it again in hopes of redeeming themselves. See also Aveshar.

Top Ten contestants in show history. Anyone agree?

Not a bad list. I’ve watched every season, but I am having a hard time remembering Mei? And Richard Blais skeeves me out.

Mei Lin is from Top Chef Boston.

[quote] I’m guessing final 3 will be Shota, Dawn and Jamie.

Yawn. As if this ever WAS NOT going to happen.

You all thought I was ridiculous for telling you that this is Top Chef ORiental, and I wasn't wrong.

Check the beginning of the thread, when I TOLD YOU that the orientals would be in the finale. I wasn't wrong.

Check the beginning of the thread, when I TOLD YOU that the oriental who was eliminated would come back from Last Chance Kitchen. I wasn't wrong.

This show is ridiculous as shit. I haven't watched a single episode this season, but there was nothing else on cable this past weekend, so I ended up catching the two most recent episodes of this absolute shit show.

Then LO and BEHOLD, who is getting raves??? The ORIENTALS!!!

Never mind all the orientals featured as judges.

It's like we're not even in America any more.

What a fucking joke this show has become.

They could make bat soup, and those lame judges would cream their panties over it.

Judging from this thread, the only ones watching this season are the orientals and the rice queens.

Nobody else gives two fucks about it.

I want both Shota and Byron in me quite deeply.

Great season. Great top 7.

R279 I'm completely with you re: Richard Blaise. He is so desperate for attention and approbation, he makes my skin crawl whenever he appears on screen. I honestly thought that if he didn't win All Stars or whatever it was when they brought him back, he would have gone up in flames in a "The Red Hots were for my mommy" style on-air implosion.

Bring back Marcel!

I don't get the Richard Blais hate. He seems nice enough?

R286 He's like the Uriah Heep of modern cooking shows.

Sara should've known better than to do two dishes with a yogurt sauce. She kind of dug her own grave there. And she knew that halibut dish must've sucked - why else would she have covered the entire plate with sauce? It's Top Chef not Top Steam Table Attendant.

Notice how there's so much hate for the white guy, but so much love for the orientals?

Hmmm... I wonder why?

Jap chef cooks Jap food.

GROUND BREAKING.

*rolling eyes*

But somehow, the judges act as though it was the most novel concept ever!

How pathetic.

Sara’s dish looked like shit on a shingle.

Sarah won in LCK r276. So still a possibility she will return.

I think Dawn is my favorite chef.

I’m glad yogurt lady Sarah was eliminated. I was so tired of her yogurt shit episodes ago. Hopefully she doesn’t come back.

R278, I honestly don't remember/get the hype over the Voltaggio brothers -- it's been a long time since I've seen their original season, and I barely remember it now. My top 10 list would look different, as that seems like more of a Fan Favorite list.

I liked Top Chef Just Desserts or whatever it was called, and that cute gay guy who won.

R295, it was Yigit Pura, born in Turkey, moved to San Francisco.

I've always had a crush on daddy Tom Colicchio.

Ah yes, thanks r295. Yigit. So cute.

Is he the son of supermodel Ypir?

Top chef caters gay wedding.

At the time Michael Voltaggio won, Tom called him the best chef who had been on the show r294. Of course then he made the same comment about Paul Qui in Season 9.

Gail Simmons has discovered vocal fry! She's increasingly more difficult to tolerate.

I loved the Top Chef Amateur preview. And....

SPOILER!!!!!!!!

Sorry to see Chris go but fucking up pasta three times is inexcusable.

LCK.

SPOILER!!!!!!!!

The oriental wins again!!

I really enjoyed this challenge, having the alums try to copy a recipe.

Man, I can't believe Chris was delusional enough to try making a pasta dough again. Listen to them when they say you aren't good at it.

Also I am being reminded that I adore Kristin, glad she ended up being brought in.

Chris looked relieved to be sent home. He’s a sweetheart but I think the pressure was getting to him.

Love this show. Top Chef is the class of competitive reality TV.

This is the most likable slate of chefs in a while. Well, now that Gabriel is gone. Gabe doesn’t have much personality but he’s not too bad. I really like all the others, especially Dawn, Shota, and Maria. I hope they are top 3.

R308, agreed. Maria is my sentimental favorite to win it all, but I like all of them.

I was surprised to learn that Shota was a dad!

Padma gets hotter with age

What I love about Top Chef is the show has heart. We get background stories on the chefs, Tom and Padma seem to love being there and it’s fun. And Padma’s sincerity every time she has to say that now iconic line really comes through. It’s become a feel good show.

I enjoy this show a lot, but Amazing Race is the best reality competition show ever. There is a reason it has won a ton of Emmys.

When Shota referred to his boy back home, I assumed it was some fat rice queen in a caftan. But no, he fathered a love child.

R313, for a second, I thought Shota was coming out as gay, too, with that quote!

Am I the last one to find out that Melissa is now modelling for The Gap?

She was also on Ellen's show this week and was great. I expect she'll be the next big breakout Top Chef alum.

The producer manipulation for this show is unreal, how it favors the orientals.

I think it's pretty clear the chinaman is going to win.

If you're white, you need not apply to top chef. The last white chef lasted only to 7th place.

Gabriel was fucking screwed over. I love how he was sent home for something that wasn't even his fault! But of course, the producers stuck him with a partner who had a bad leg, and burned the salmon. So he got sent home.

Oh, and coincidentally, even though he won the Quickfire challenge, it did NOT grant immunity.

But even MORE coincidentally, when the oriental won the Quickfire challenge in the next episode, it miraculously WAS an immunity challenge. And how "lucky," since he otherwise would have been sent home for rubbery chicken.

And what another "lucky" coincidence that the two orientals were paired up for Restaurant Wars, and were both on the "winning" team. That way, neither of them could be sent home. How "lucky" again!

This show is fucking bullshit.

The Bravo producers for Top Chef learned how to rig things, through years of experience with the Housewives and Project Runway.

Oh, and of course Tom Colicchio is the decider for Last Chance Kitchen, and he ALWAYS brings back the oriental.

What a fucking joke.

R315, I'm glad she's achieving fame. Initially, I thought Melissa was a more quiet, introverted type, and so I wasn't sure how she would do as one of the guest panel judges -- but she appears very relaxed and right at home.

At least on this show you cant pull the "Im a single mom" BS and be guaranteed the win! Unlike Hell's Kitchen!

Too bad Shota is a breeder. I had high hopes for him.

Last Chance Kitchen.

They're really stepping it up with Last Chance Kitchen lately. Tonight's was practically a whole episode of Top Chef unto itself. There were some worthy people in LCK, sad to see they won't be back, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Sasha reappear in some fashion in a future season.

Last Chance Kitchen this season has been too contrived. Keep it simple.

Sarah lost in LCK? I'm stunned, thought for sure she would be returning to the competition.

I thought LCK was particularly brutal to poor Byron. He had to go through a series of elimination challenges in the main competition, and eventually lost the final one to Dawn. Then he goes to LCK, where he has to take on Sarah head-to-head. He wins that. But no, not done. Then he has to take on three more as the chefs left in the main competition come back to try to prevent him from getting back into the main contest. He has to take on three of them and win two-out-of-three or he's out. He loses the first cook to Gabe, wins the second against Maria, then loses the third to Jamie in a close contest where neither totally wowed the judges. That's seven cooks for poor Byron. He was gassed and mentally drained by the end. I was impressed he came as close as he did. I think it was entirely unfair to make him cook that much.

That's what Kevin had to do last season in LCK to return r334.

Of course you can make the argument that was All Stars and this is a normal season.

I agree it seemed pretty brutal, especially considering that Jamie basically dropped into LCK and jumped right back into the competition with one dish earlier.

I look forward to this show every week and I think this is the best cast ever. It is wonderful how they help each other and genuinely like each other also. The way the competitors helped Dawn plate her food last night was impressive. She seemed defeated and ready to leave. I was sad to see Byron go but was glad that Dawn was saved, but what a gracious departure speech. No one has commented on Gabriel's absence from Last Chance Kitchen. It reflects poorly upon him particularly with all of the other "losers" cheering the competitors from the sidelines at LCK. I agree with the others, Richard Blaise gets way too much airtime, his smugness wears thin.

Sasha was the chef who won the LCK spot from the first group of eliminated contestants to continue competing in the second leg, which is why she's still appearing now, even after losing again. Gabriel and all the other contestants who lost their places in LCK before him stopped appearing after the first leg concluded with Jamie returning to the main competition. His absence doesn't have anything to do with his attitude; in fact, I imagine that he would have taken any chance to keep appearing, even as a bystander.

Gabriel seemed like a bit of an asshole but I still feel bad that he went home because of his inferior partners mistake.

Current power rankings

I will miss seeing Byron - he was the last cute one there.

Justice for Byron!

It's pretty obvious that Dawn will win. She's getting the winner edit, and the judges seem to be ohhh-ahhh-ing her dishes every time, even when they don't sound that good. Just like they did with Melissa last year.

I guess they want a black female winner this year, to go with the woke zeitgeist.

She almost got eliminated.

No winner on Top Chef is ever guaranteed. Dawn and Byron were so close in the last challenge neither should have gone home and they should have had a double elimination in the next challenge. I like Dawn but don’t count out Gabe or Shota.

I'm thinking it's gonna be Dawn, but Maria has a chance as well, unless she self-destructs.

Can't stand Maria. Of all of the remaining (and some of the departed), it would be most disappointing if she was the victor. I'm still hoping it will be Shota, but I agree that Dawn is getting the winner's edit, including the narrow victory with six cheftestants left.

Gabe is the best chef of the bunch, and he can cook a wide variety of food. Shota is good, but too Asian specific in his cooking.

r316 I think you are a fat, lonely racist, but it really does feel rigged towards minorities.

We DEMAND a white male winner!!!!!!

I’m shocked Maria is still there. I had her pegged as an early boot some weeks back. I think she would’ve been eliminated if not for Dawn’s injury in the second round (Dawn was clearly going to win that round).

Maria has received a huge edit. I'm betting she makes it to F3.

This is one of those rare seasons where I’m rooting for everyone. All of them deserve to be in the Final 3.

How tall is shota?

Very shota, R344.

"How tall is Shota?"

Shota is 31 yrs old and 5'8"

This challenge was a bit lame after a string of good ones.

Also it's going to be very, very awkward if Gabe wins this season.

Too bad tonight wasn't a double elimination.

R348. It seemed pretty close. I thought the judges were either going to keep them both or cut them both. Love Dawn but man she needs to light a fire and get her food plated properly. IRL she can take her time and make sure everything is perfect but it is a competition.

Underwhelming.

[quote] I think it's pretty clear the chinaman is going to win.

I’m not even sure whom you’re talking about—Shota, the Japanese guy?—but it seems pretty clear that Dawn or Gabe, neither Asian, will be the winner.

[quote] If you're white, you need not apply to top chef.

Why not? Eleven of 17 winners have been white.

[quote] Also it's going to be very, very awkward if Gabe wins this season.

Why?

Shota is dreamy.

[quote] I guess they want a black female winner this year, to go with the woke zeitgeist.

Or maybe they just like the way Dawn cooks. In 17 seasons, they’ve yet to choose a black Top Chef—a few runners up, but no winners—so I don’t think the show is rigged toward minorities, despite DLers’ obnoxious conviction that race is the most important factor in choosing a winner.

If there’s any kind of “rigging” going on, it’s simply that many Asian, Latin, and African cuisines simply have more interesting ingredients and flavor profiles than those found in much of standard American fare, especially if you’re a white American and interested in exploring foods you didn’t eat growing up.

If the show was rigged they would have kept Gabriel around much longer this season since he’s the closest thing they had to an asshole and assholes make great tv.

R 352:

Ah, shit, I forgot that Gabe had a Me, Too scandal, r356. You’re right of course; it will be very awkward if he wins. I know it’s stupid to judge a book by its cover and all that, but I never would have guessed Gabe to be the abusive type. If anything, he comes across as kind of a mensch on TC. Wonder what kind of statement the show will issue about him when the season is over.

Does anyone actually know what Gabe supposedly did to get fired from Comedor? All I ever find online is a statement that he violated policies. That's too generic to know exactly what it was he violated.

^was it surprise anal?

[quote] Ah, shit, I forgot that Gabe had a Me, Too scandal, [R356]. You’re right of course; it will be very awkward if he wins.

I don't think so. It's just whispers of some vague accusation from some anonymous person -- and in this country, you're innocent until proven guilty of anything.

He's killing it with his food. I'm rooting for him.

Glad to see Maria finally out. Took too long.

The final three now very clearly seems like Gabe, Dawn, and Shota, but Jaime does have the goods to play spoiler and sneak in there.

Jamie is a sweetheart. I cried and MARY’d myself during that elimination. Even the judges were crying. A nice reminder that there are good people in this world even though they may be hard to find.

Love Dawn, she's beautiful

Shota will win.

Tom's "plating" comment was the bell tolling for Dawn.

It wasn't cool of Maria to blame her son and her wife for the wet bean sprouts and the uninspired chicken wings. She needs to own her limited talent.

I wish they'd muzzle Jamie. It's Top Chef, not Top Kazoo. She's annoying AF. She should've been voted out a long time ago.

I'm fine with any of the other three — Dawn, Gabe, Shota — winning, and it's the first time in the show's history that I can claim that.. They each seem to be good people and top-notch chefs.

Tom Colicchio should be removed from the final judging. I suspect he exerts too much influence over the final decision. For example, he was the principal reason for Brooke winning her season, and she shouldn't have.

If Shota's going to be eliminated it will be next week, as the chefs have to make several dishes with cheese.

I think this may have been my favorite episode of Top Chef ever. What a fantastic quickfire. And a terrific elimination challenge with an emotional end. I love these contestants.

Dawn’s chances of winning are getting stronger, unless she truly fucks it up (like missing sauces!).

I would love Shota to win though, he’s been the nicest chef.

As emotional as the elimination was and the kind gesture by Jamie, it was Maria's statement to her," “Please, let me pack my knives with grace" that struck me. How could anyone feel worthy of continuing if another person gave up the spot so the other person could continue? Wouldn't you feel you were there under false pretenses? How could she feel any satisfaction at all, knowing that Jamie could have been Top Chef and fulfilled her dream. Let them leave with dignity.

Hopefully Shota will win Fan Favorite.

Dawn had the best palette. That’s why her food is so good.

[quote] In 17 seasons, they’ve yet to choose a black Top Chef

Kevin Sbraga, season 7 winner, is black.

Anyway, Dawn serves food with missing elements and she still is on the top 3. She *so* going to win. Kwame's coment seemed forced, like it was fed to him by the producers. Her food does not look or sound that amazing. Shota and Gabe are clearly superior chefs. But the elves are pushing for a Dawn win, cause she is a black female and an athlete in the year of the Olympic games. Two boxes ticked.

R372, Was her food colorful, too?

This has definitely been the Lesbian season, which is fitting since it's in Portland. Padma and Gail are the only straight women on the show this season.

R373, just stop. Or else go nail yourself to your burning cross. Fucks' sake, the goddamn out-of-control Nazis around here need to drop dead.

Good riddance Maria. I had to fast forward over her manic fucking energy. Talk about high maintenance. Jamie is sweet but also annoying. I like the other three, so anyone of them would be fine.

I liked Maria and was sad to see her go. But it did feel like she had appropriately reached the end of her journey. Tough broad with a lot of heart -- maybe I'm partial because I've known quite a few Marias in real life.

I am the only Maria that counts.

I don’t believe Dawn is a guaranteed winner though she does deserve to win. Many so called guaranteed winners fucked up near the end and were sent home.

Maria greatly overstayed her welcome. Several of the previously eliminated chefs were better than her.

Byron was screwed out of Last Chance Kitchen. It also seemed that Dawn made a worst dish than his.

It's funny when viewers say so-and-so deserves to win. How can you honestly claim that, not having tasted the food?

[quote] I would love Shota to win though, he’s been the nicest chef.

Don't worry, the chinaman will win. The orientals always win.

Haven't you been paying attention?

Padme, Tom and Gail think that oriental food is just the *swoon* absolute best thing in the world! Like, no one has ever eaten oriental food like this before, and it's just so different and exotic and flavorful and must be so hard to make, so naturally, the orientals should win!

Give me a fucking break.

Pickle something here, make a salty broth there, deep fry something else with panko, and dump MSG all over it. There. Done. Oriental food.

I guess the judges are mesmerized by all the MSG, because of their shit palates.

But make no mistake. The oriental will win.

It will be interesting to see which eliminated chefs the remaining chefs have to pick from for the finale. The only chef who wasn't universally liked was Gabriel. There's usually a one or two who NO ONE wants.

Every single member of the judging panel, and there are a lot of them, clearly loves Dawn's food r373.

But yes, obviously she can't cook and it is just conspiracy by the producers 🙄.

That's always true though r381. Top Chef eliminates the person who makes the worst dish that week, so good chefs can easily be eliminated prematurely due to a mistake while lesser chefs remain. It's a staple of the franchise.

R386

Yes, even the guest judge in the sushi tournament really wanted to give the second round to Dawn, even though she was disqualified.

If you were in the finals and had to choose between a talented chef like Gabriel who wasn’t well liked and a hit or miss chef like Maria who was loved who would you pick?

Whoever could do the sous chef job better and not sabotage me like Casey did to Carla.

It always appears that in the finale, the sous chef mainly ends up doing a lot of the grunt prep-work, i.e. chopping vegetables, making sauces with very specific measurements/instructions. And all of these chefs are of the caliber to do that properly. So they'll probably just choose whomever they are the friendliest with.

[quote]If you were in the finals and had to choose between a talented chef like Gabriel who wasn’t well liked and a hit or miss chef like Maria who was loved who would you pick?

Maria, hands down. She strikes me as someone kind and generous, who'd give 100% as a sous chef to help someone else win (if she had already been eliminated herself, of course). And as R391 points out, the sous chefs typically do a lot of the prep, which she'd be more than capable of handling.

Gabriel seems like someone who'd still be bitter about being ousted, and who wouldn't be super-invested in giving his all to help another chef take the prize.

I'm not so sure Maria would be a good choice, given the basic technical errors she made in some of her dishes. Mostly the chefs choose people they get along with, though, so that doesn't seem to matter as much. I doubt Gabriel would be chosen for that reason.

I think his case is a bit odd because, unlike "villains" of seasons past, we never saw him do or say anything that egregious, but he was universally trashed by the other chefs behind his back. I wonder what living with him was like.

Sous chefs do more than just cutting vegetables. Generally they are helping chefs actually prepare dishes, there are too many components for all the courses for the finalists to cook everything.

Semi Off Topic - So glad the fucking annoying non binary 'cook' on Top Chef Canada lost. What a tiresome twat. Wearing pants allowed her to be her 'true self'.

I think Chef Bogarde should win. His tinned ravioli is the standout dish of the season for me.

For his finale dish, the chinaman will shit ramen out of his arse, piss in the bowl and call it "broth," and Gail, Tom and Padma will declare it the best dish ever made on Top Chef!!!!

They will declare him the winner, and tell him how wonderful he is!

*PUKE*

Is that Chef Dirk Bogarde? He was superb in Visconti's "Death & Manicotti in Venice."

R395, I would much rather have had Kym win Top Chef Canada than Erica, who I feel benefitted all season long from her previous working relationship with McEwan.

I also think the husband-and-wife element this season, and Erica having that kind of emotional support present in person throughout the competition (vs. everyone else, all of whom were away from family and friends), gave her -- and Josh -- an unfair advantage.

I remember Dale Levitski from Season 3. He'd been recently dumped by his boyfriend, and seemed such a hot mess and so horny I expected him to slip Brian's trunks off in the hot tub and start sucking his dick.

Start your own thread about Top Chef Canada. I'm sure you'll get 5 or 6 responses.

Like R393, I also wonder why all the Gabriel dislike. I don't doubt that it exists, it's just that the viewers never saw any of it (other than his Resting Puss Face). Anyone have any pantry gossip?

I think the editing was just trying to cook up some drama where there really wasn't much (aside from Gabriel being a tad cocky). But as everybody seems happy with this group of chefs and their camaraderie, I hope they realize that what viewers want is good food from good people.

Out of all the contestants from every season has Carla had the most successful post TC career? I love her.

R404 I agree, Carla was special. Just an advanced sort of human coming at you over the TV. Too bad the Food Network had devolved into Guy Fieri endless stupid dreck by then.

Carla has had a successful celebrity career. So has Antonio Lofaso who is on TV all the time. It depends on how you define success.

In terms of restaurants Brian Malarkey and Richard Blais a are successful restaurateurs financially Stephanie Izard won a James Beard Award and has a collection of very highly regarded restaurants in Chicago. Edward Lee, Kwame, Nina Compton, and Beverly Kim also have very successful award winning restaurants in restaurant circles.

WHET the "I'm not your bitch, bitch!" bitch?

Kwame’s first solo restaurant was a big FLOP.

But then Kith/Kin won him a James Beard award r408.

R401 Nice retort. I like you.

Is the protocol that we don't comment until after the episode has aired on the West Coast?

So it's only a 2 person finale?

Maybe r412. I wouldn't be surprised if there is a surprise non-elimination next episode and all three of them go to the finale. They haven't done a two person finale in a while as far as I can remember, no returning chef from LCK can be fixed by just doing a non elimination.

It seemed inevitable Jaime would get eliminated this episode, but can't believe she sped that along by trying to make a fish and cheese dish. There is a reason you will very rarely see fish and cheese paired together.

Actually never mind, just refreshed my memory by checking the Wikipedia page. While last season it was three in the finale, the couple seasons before that it did just have two people. So maybe we will just get a two person finale.

Waiting for the Oriental troll to emerge.

Can the "oriental troll" really be called a troll, if he is actually RIGHT?

For the finale, the chinaman will shit in a rice bowl and win the competition, while Gail, Padme and Tom shower him with accolades.

Magnificent! Wonderful! A triumph! Best dish ever on Top Chef!

You were told from the very beginning of this thread that the oriental would win.

You should have listened, because that prediction was RIGHT.

Two out of the top three were orientals.

White people are NOT welcome on this show any more.

He is hot.

Dawn might have been eliminated had Jamie not left her cooking to help her. Still, she failed to provide complete dishes to everyone.

I like Dawn but asking Jamie to stop focusing on her own dish and help her plate was a little obnoxious. And it still got fucked up. For that I was hoping Dawn would be eliminated.

I couldn't help but notice that there was someone there to help all of the chefs with plating, except for Jamie. Everyone had left. For fairness sake, Dawn should have stayed to help Jamie. Had Dawn been last, she would have been eliminated, because her dishes would have been incomplete.

I noticed in the previous episode that Dawn was in the kitchen by herself and went last. It looks like, after each chef has cooked, they clean up and leave the kitchen. This episode was Jaime's turn to go last. I don't think Dawn or any other chef was available to help Jaime plate her dish.

Jaime could have said no to Dawn and not helped her. Jaime's problem was the dish itself. The judges seemed to like the fish and one (Colicchio?) said it was the best part of her dish. The problem was the cheese.

The problem is fish and cheese don't go together.

But yes, the person who goes last gets screwed because no one is left in the kitchen.

Jamie is too nice to say no. And, yes, there was a solid reason to send her home and stopping to help Dawn plate had nothing to do with that. But even with help the plating was still fucked up.

Has any previous contestant screwed up as much as Dawn and lasted his long?

Leaving something off a dish is a mistake, but Top Chef eliminates the person who made the worst mistake.

Last week Dawn wasn't even in the bottom because Maria and Jaimes dishes had more serious flaws, this week it was clearly closer. If Jaime made a better dish, Dawn would have went home.

"If Jaime made a better dish, Dawn would have went home."

But, would she have GONE home? Using " went" instead of " gone" makes one sound like a deplorable. You're above that.

[quote]If Jaime made a better dish, Dawn would have went home.

Dawn wasn't going anywhere, not with Ed Lee sitting at Judges' Table. Dude is seriously in love with her, to the point where she can apparently do no wrong. This wasn't the first time he has defended her against criticism from the other judges.

Yeah I noticed he is a big Dawn fan, he is also one vote r427.

Jaime made a fish and cheese dish. I was never in doubt who was getting eliminated.

Yeah, R428, the minute Jamie said fish and cheese I knew she was going home. Wretched combination. Oh well, the final four were all good chefs and deserving. Shota really nailed it. The judges, and more than just Ed Lee, keep saying Dawn's food really delivers on flavor. She just cannot multitask, though, and it's probably going to bite her in the ass if she leaves something off her plates yet again. Dale was pushing for he ouster. Glad he was overruled.

…I am not one of those people who sees a Top Chef elimination and says, “Chef X should’ve been sent home instead.” I’m not at Judges’ Table to taste the food, so it’d be naïve of me to differ from the judges’ decision. But what I have struggled with this season is seeing Dawn Burrell leave something off a plate on more than one occasion and not pay the price for it as other chefs have through the previous 17 seasons. Similar omissions have cost previous cheftestants dearly, but Chef Dawn has eluded paying a high price.

…While I’m piling on Dawn for failing to get an item on her plate, I also didn’t appreciate her veiled attempt to shift the blame for her mistake to Jamie. Even though Jamie was still preparing her own dish, she took the time to help a rushed Dawn, who again struggled with the clock. Sure it’s always cheddar to give than to receive, but I wish Jamie had politely declined to help out.

…Having said that, I don’t think helping Dawn had any effect at all on Jamie’s dish, as it was pretty clear that the judges were puzzled by both the end product and Jamie’s thought process in conceiving it in the first place. Of course, she was going to be eliminated regardless, but should she have been?

…The preview for next week’s episode revealed missing tortillas, which would lead one to believe that Gabe is the culprit. If that proves to be the case and it wasn’t simply a promotional swerve, can we expect Gabe to get the same lenient treatment from the judges that Dawn has repeatedly enjoyed?

I love how they showed a flashback of Dawn handing off the plate with the missing item to the server. Didn’t you look at the plate, Dawn?

R416 "Orientals"--are you from the 19th century?

[quote] But yes, the person who goes last gets screwed because no one is left in the kitchen.

True, but Jamie got an extra half hour to cook this challenge because of her quickfire win, which may have been why both she and Dawn figured she could afford the time to help Dawn—which she could. As many others have pointed out, Jamie’s real problem was cooking sea bass with cheddar.

Then again, without Jamie’s help, maybe Dawn would have screwed up badly enough to lose to Jamie, but I don’t think anything was going to overcome the fish and cheese fuck up.

I hope it’s not Gabe who forgets to plate his tortillas next week, because I’ve got my money on him to win it all, but I suspect it is. Hope he’s not penalized to a greater extent than Dawn has been.

My fave moment of the episode: Padma doing Jaime's "pew pew pew!" air pistol (w/ sfx) after the Quickfire.

R434, it's not Gabe, but one of the others, who forgot to plate the tortillas. Bravo wants to make everyone think it's Gabe, then have it not be him. Hopefully, it's Dawn.....again.

Dawn forgetting to plate ingredients four times.

Gabe being fired for sexual harassment.

It's going to be a controversial decision, unless Shota wins.

Anyone know if this has hit streaming yet? (Hulu)

This is what Trump meant when he said watch out for Canada, taking over this thread....

R419

Shota had Jamie so the same thing. Throughout the competition, all of the chefs helped each other. You’re just a pissed racist.

R440

*do

It sounds like Dale would have eliminated Jamie, too.

The dish was awful. If anything, they were way too nice on Jamie for how bad the dish was.

They don't want to make it too obvious who is getting eliminated so will sometimes used guarded language.

"Shota had Jamie so the same thing. Throughout the competition, all of the chefs helped each other. You’re just a pissed racist."

Welcome to the new " woke" America. Anyone says anything remotely critical of black people, that person is automatically labeled a racist. Pathetic. BTW, Shota didn't forget an ingredient for the fourth time this season, and didn't try to put some on the blame on Jamie. So, if Dawn doesn't win the entire show, is Top Chef racist?

Dawn is seriously pissing me off! Isn’t this the third time she’s had plating issues? But the judges love her dishes so there’s that.

Glad Shota won the elimination challenge doing something outside his expertise, but still rising to the occasion. Padma said she’s never tried anything like it before, it makes me curious how it tasted.

Fourth time, R445.

As with Chopped, leaving an ingredient off the plate isn't grounds for automatic dismissal. The taste of the food is what gets chefs eliminated. Had Jaime's dish tasted better, Dawn most certainly would have gone home. Once you're down to 4 chefs, taste is everything.

Finally all caught up, and the right chefs are in the Final 3. Jaime had the goods to sneak in there (especially with Dawn's plating mistake), but serving fish and cheese to Tom C. was just mind-boggling.

CHING CHONG CHING CHONG

I WIN ORIENTAL ALWAYS WIN ME LOVE YOU LONG TIME

ME CHINA MAN ME WIN TOP CHEF!!!!!

THEY GIVE ME ALL CHANCES TO WIN NEVER GIVE BAD COMMENTS

GAIL TOM PADME LOVE CHINEEE FOOD LONG TIME

NEVER SAY ANYTHING BAD ABOUT CHINAMAN!!!!

ME WINN TOP CHEF!!!! NEXT SEASON ALL CHINEEEE LANGUAGE WITH AMERICAN SUBTITLES!!!!!

CHING CHONG CHING CHONG!!!!!

Former Top Chef Masters contestant, Top chef judge, and LA restauranteur, Mark Peel, dead at 66.

Unbelievable. Nine days.

Peel died at Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center on Sunset Boulevard, his daughter Vanessa Silverton-Peel said. He was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer only nine days ago, she said. He is survived by Vanessa and four other children: Benjamin and Oliver Silverton-Peel, and Vivien and Rex Peel.

Anyone eat at Campanile?

I definitely remember him

9 days?! He must have been sick for a while and ignored the signs, that's insanely fast. His poor family.

I still think of Fatima who died at 29, damn tragic.

Who's going to be the Top 2 in the finale?

R449: pretty much tired of you and ready to have Muriel ban you, you retarded fuck.

The racist Anti-Asian troll is the OP of this ironic thread. If you have a spare FF, please let him have it

I think it’s going to be a final three. I’d say they’re all about even based on the judges feedback.

i agree r457. Forgot which season, but producers will pull another non-elimination penultimate episode

Well, well, well.... top THREE

I hope that the producers will realize that the show should be about food and not drama. It seems that every reality-type show is filled with drama, which is why audiences get turned off. Top Chef is an iconic show, and this season has been a reminder of what truly skilled artisans can do in the kitchen. It's a real oasis in the mess that is the other Bravo programming of women acting like idiots.

Not that producers would shy away from actual drama if actually transpired. Anyways, I've stayed at same place as where the TC folks stayed on Cannon Beach - nice weekend getaway in proximity.

I would be happy if any of them won. But I’m rooting hard for Shota.

This season may go down as one of my favorites because they leaned so much on the Top Chef alumni. It was really a joy to see the judging panel consist mostly of past contestants, and that let us enjoy seeing those chefs again in a way that an all-stars season can't.

Top Chef has been on long enough to have developed a family of past contestants, especially because Tom, Padma, and Gail seem to really care about the people who have been on the show. I hope they continue this format in some form going forward.

Incidentally, Dawn was on tonight's episode of Beat Bobby Flay and had the exact same problems there as on Top Chef. I wonder how the timing of the filming of the two shows match up.

Rofl R449!!

The rice queens are pissed at you!!!

R465 = R449. And you will be banned.

Once again, Dawn leaves off an ingredient.

"Not that producers would shy away from actual drama if actually transpired"

They wouldn't, but there have been seasons in which the drama dominated the cooking aspect of the show. For example: The whole Marcel thing in season two or the fat bullies in Texas. I'm glad we aren't focusing on that shit. It probably has to do with the quality of contestants chosen also.

R468, yeah, the worst casts/seasons for drama were LA, D.C., and Texas. I don't remember the food being particularly memorable in those seasons either.

R22 “Choose” to air this? It’s been airing every season for years. Should they choose to deny people escapism because you think it is insensitive? Do you work in the industry?

Texas was the worst season, because of the blatant bullying. Fat heather constantly complained that Bev only " cooked Asian," but failed to mention that her best fat buddy, the ever-whining Sarah only cooked Italian food and was constantly throwing others under the bus. The best part of the season was seeing her in tears when she lost in the finale.

Here is the fat cunt in action.

I'm glad Top Chef isn't focusing on all the drama anymore like the above examples of Marcel and the Texas bullying. I much prefer the British cooking competitions. The contestants are so lovely to each other and cooperative. They never hesitate to help out. That's how this season has been on Top Chef. After four years of Trump and the continuing shenanigans of Republicans and their followers, I'm more about seeing kindness in action.

*SPOILER* I told my partner before the final call that all three were going to the finale. You could just tell from the comments at judges' table that was going to be the case. I'm glad to see all three will get a shot. I have to favor Shota because like many past winners, he's figured out his direction and is peaking at the right time. The judges do love Gabe the saucier and Dawn's ability to really bring winning flavors. I have to think Dawn's inability to put everything on the plate is going to bit her in the ass, unless it's a misdirect and she gets it all done in the finale.

They should have had more time for the crab challenge.

I very much enjoyed the first few seasons of TC. Then, for some reason, I stopped watching, but I came back to it for the last two seasons. And I had to laugh, the interstitial bits of the show are still so scripted and (largely) badly delivered. Padma says, "We've got a lot to discuss at Judges Table" or some very minor variant of that in EVERY episode. And while the judges' discussions at said Table can be enlightening, they then say the exact same thing to the cheftestants -- we know! We heard you the first time (which is often actually the second time, because they often reiterate what they said while eating the food). Cut 3/4s of Judges Table and skip right to them explaining to the chefs who's won and who's going home, which would allow for a lot more time to show actual, you know, cooking. Basically, I just want the show to be the competitions without the often awkward intros (this week's eye-rolling "crabby" and "happy as a clam" nonsense -- just talk like a regular person, Padma!).

Shota for the win.

We have a tough decision here, Shota for the win but each deserve 10K for fan favorites

R462 Shota's gorgeous.

This last episode reminded me of how much I liked Nina -- she was a natural at Judge's Table and adds some nice international, sophisticated flair. She seemed smitten by Gabe's cooking.

Nina dominating her season and losing to asshole Nick in the finale was the worst.

Ugh, completely agree, R479. I hated rage-monster Nick Elmi. Lest popular win in the past ten years. The judges defended their decision on Twitter. Tom has a tendency to bully the judges to his way of thinking. That was one year where I think Tom bullied that result. But to be fair, Nina got more criticism in the finale. She didn't save her best for last. Unfortunately for us, Nick did.

^least popular

The GBBO's prize is a cake stand. Top Chef's is $250,000. They are automatically going to get more ambitious, and sometimes ruthless, competitors.

There is no comparison at all between GBBO and TC. TC has professional American chefs as contestants with all of the ego that goes along with those characterizations. GBBO contestants are all amateur British regular people who have a completely different sensibility about why they are there. I like TC but I love GBBO.

This season, TC has thrown out all of the rules, so who knows who will win next week? They were told that they were to serve cold and hot entrees. Gabe's cold entree was warm, yet they let it slide. Dependable Dawn once again forgot to plate an element of her dish because of time ( #5). Why have rules if you are going to disregard them?

I've seen UK version of Master Chef - The Professionals, a British cooking competition. The contestants, who are all professional chefs, are very nice to each other and help each other out when they can. It's a different sensibility than hyper competitiveness of many American cooking competitions. So, GBBO may be different, but Master Chef - The Professionals is a direct comparison.

Anyway, I've seen a turn in other American cooking competitions where people are nicer to each other while still competing. I like the trend and hope it continues.

Kitchens have been very aggressive and combative environments. The industry is changing, becoming less toxic with the new generation of chefs, and you have seen that change in Top Chef as well over all the years.

As much as I love this season, I do feel like it’s missing drama that’s usually on reality TV shows.

The great advantage GBBO has is this living doll

I’m glad this Top 3 doesn’t have weird hair and gross tattoos.

"I've seen UK version of Master Chef - The Professionals, a British cooking competition. The contestants, who are all professional chefs, are very nice to each other and help each other out when they can. "

Top Chef Masters was that way.

[quote] They wouldn't, but there have been seasons in which the drama dominated the cooking aspect of the show.

Definitely. The show also is leaps and bounds superior in both talent (both the contestants themselves, and guest judges) and production quality compared to the primitive first few seasons. The first seasons had contestants who were line cooks at steakhouses, culinary students, and stay-at-home moms.

I believe Tom C. threatened to leave the show unless they started getting some real talent.

R490 Top Chef Masters was boring. It's reality TV. You want stupid vain messed-up people to feel superior toward, like Marcel and that ridiculous sommelier from Vegas--Stephen?--in the first few seasons, and some hotness, Sam, Ilan, Cliff, Malibu, etc.

[quote] GBBO contestants are all amateur British regular people who have a completely different sensibility about why they are there.

They couldn't be cuter or more lovable with their bad teeth and hair, frumpy outfits, and penchant for helping each other at every turn but yeah, they certainly aren't there because they're hyper competitive or want to show Britain their glamourous selves.

Top Chef isn't a good match for you, R492. Hell's Kitchen is over that way.

I enjoyed the nod to James Beard and Alice Waters being featured this last episode.

Shota will win

Dawn will win; otherwise why did they disregard her forgetting to plate an item five separate times?

R497

Because her food tastes exceptional pretty much every time.

The whole "amateur vs. pro attitude/approach" (during a cooking competition) aspect should be interesting to see once "Top Chef: Amateurs" debuts on July 1st.

Home cooks will be paired w/ Top Chef alums.

Based on the trailer, everything looks pretty amiable and friendly. (And the prize is $5K.)

I swear "Chopped" has warped people's brains. There is no mystery basket with mandatory ingredients here people.. Having one element that you wanted to be on the plate but isn't is a mistake, but the greater sin in Top Chef is just having a bad dish.

A nod to James Beard is certainly appropriate, but this verged on deification. I’ve been in his house as a guest of members of the James Beard Foundation. His shower was in an open, glass-enclosed space. Those poor neighbors.

They all made it into the finale. As soon as the judges called Shota the winner, I knew this would happen. I'm glad, however. This has been an exceptionally talented group of chefs and a great season.

Apparently the winner was between Shota and Dawn, so if someone was eliminated it would have been Gabe.

They all made it to the finale. I knew they would as soon as Shota was announced the winner of the challenge. I'm glad, though because they're all exceptionally good chefs and this has been a great season.

Prediction: Even with a sous chef, Dawn will forget and item because of time.

[quote] I swear "Chopped" has warped people's brains. There is no mystery basket with mandatory ingredients here people.. Having one element that you wanted to be on the plate but isn't is a mistake, but the greater sin in Top Chef is just having a bad dish.

The problem on Top Chef isn't leaving out an ingredient entirely. You can do that and even play if off as smart editing, whether or not you really meant to leave it out. The problem on TC is when you serve eleven judges/guests the ingredient but omit it from one or two people's plates.

I want Shota to take it all. From Gabe. Deeply. Mmm...

Bravo is showing the entire season today. I think it started at 7 am ET, in case anyone wants to take a stroll down memory lane.

I am going to laugh if Gabe wins tonight.

Right now him getting fired in December is flying under the radar, going to be awkward if people start asking around in Austin about it.

Oh, wow. 😂

SPOILER!!!!!!!!

Gabe won

Top Chef just paid for his legal fees against the women.

My favorite moment just happened on WWHL, when Andy was playing " Agree" or " Disagree" with To, Padma, and Gail. The question was: I Heather from Texas the biggest villain in the history of the show. All three disagreed, but Padma said, " Who?" and Gail said something to the effect of " Yeah, I don't remember her." If the question had been " Was Heather from Texas the biggest contestant on Top Chef?" they all would have agreed.

Shota wins fan favorite.

Welp

Interesting section on the controversy with the announcement of the winner.

Padma speaks

[Quote]As someone who has been sexually harassed, this topic is a serious one and merits openness. We filmed Top Chef in October of last year & were not aware of the allegations now coming out about Gabe. This should be investigated & the network should consider its best action.

R517, that’s disingenuous. They may not have known in October during filming, but they certainly knew before all the episodes aired. The producers could have taken action other than responding to criticism after the finale.

I'm glad Gabe won. He was consistently the best chef this season, and he was rewarded for it.

Unlike the little tweens on Reddit and Twitter, I'm not ready to burn someone at the stake due to unproven he said/she said crap on the internet.

Gabe was fired in December for his "misconduct" and "behavior in conflict with our values" R519. Thats not an internet rumor, thats a fact.

Also "consistently the best chef" huh? That would be Shota, as he won the most elimination challenges this season.

R520, I'll await further details. 'Misconduct' is an awfully vague term.

So you tasted the food at the finale and know better than Tom, Padma, etc.?

So I guess Gabe won’t be back for future seasons.

Huh r521? You said he was consistently the best chef this season, he wasn't, that was Shota given the track records.

Obviously he had the best food in this episode, thats why he won, but that is not what you said in your post dear.

I don’t blame Bravo for not scrapping the season because of allegations. And it would have been nearly impossible to edit him out like Pete on Below Deck. But safe to say we’ll never see him on the show again.

It's unfortunate this good season ended on this note. Have any previous season winners faced similar misconduct (alleged harassment or comparable bad behavior) post filming? Regarding Shota & given popularity, I suspect he'll be a contestant in future season.

I didn’t watch WWHL but I heard they didn’t talk about Gabe at all, not even a congrats for winning. Is that true? Wow

R525, Paul Qui.

Gabe speaks. He claims he had a consensual sexual relationship with one of his staff members, and then cut her hours fof an unrelated reason.

[Quote]Erales admitted to having a consensual sexual relationship with a female member of his kitchen staff in the summer of 2020 -- and then cutting her hours in November after he returned from taping the culinary king-making show in Portland in September and October. Erales said he cut the hours of the woman based on her performance, though Comedor chef-partner Philip Speer told the American-Statesman he did not deem the woman's work as sufficient reason for hours being cut.

[Quote]At the time of the chef’s departure in December, Comedor's owners said that Erales was let go “due to violation of our policies and for behavior in conflict with our values.” In June, Speer clarified to the Statesman that Erales was fired for repeated violations of the company's ethics policy as it relates to harassment of women.

[Quote]Erales told the American-Statesman that though his physical relationship ended with the female kitchen employee when he returned from Portland, he continued communicating with her in an unprofessional manner.

[Quote]“After I returned from ‘Top Chef,’ I made some business decisions as a manager that affected this employee and were found to be discriminatory and I realized that those were bad decisions,” Erales told the Statesman this week. “I’ve spent the last six months really reflecting on these mistakes and taking the necessary steps to be a better husband, a father, a chef and a leader, through therapy, through spirituality.”

Oh dear so he’s ‘reflecting’ now.

Wait! A consensual relationship with a member of the staff even though he's married???

Sounds like none of our business.

[Quote] In June, Speer clarified to the Statesman that Erales was fired for repeated violations of the company's ethics policy as it relates to harassment of women.

Gabe got the win over Shota because Mexican cuisine is better known than Japanese cookery. However, I wish these two chefs had tried their hand at cooking a Western style dish.

From what Tom, Padma, and Gail said on Watch What Happens Live, Gabe's food was consistently delicious thanks mainly to his sauce work, and they made it sound like he was an early front runner who just kept going. It seems he earned the win. I think Padma and Gail both pointed out that they love Japanese food, so I don't think it was necessarily that.

That said, Shota's more likely to become a part of the Top Chef family and have more opportunities through it. Gabe will probably fade away pretty quickly.

Mexico isn’t Western?

Dawn will make for a good redemption arc where she is improved and gets everything plated.

Dawn reminded me of all the talented designers on Project Runway who came up with amazing creations but presented them unfinished because they ran out of time.

Yeah there are always people who don't do well under the these "make something super fast" environments.

I recognize they need time limits, but I don’t see the benefit of making them difficult. Leave the time element to the quickfires. I’d rather see what they can do with adequate time in the elimination challenges.

Part of being a chef or a cook in a restaurant is the ability to get food out the the diners as quickly as possible. This requires organization and the ability to adjust on the fly in case of something going wrong . If you can't do this, you won't be in business very long.

I agree, r539, especially with the crab 2 ways challenge. When 0 out of 3 contestants presented both courses the way that they intended, perhaps they needed a bit more time.

Glad the fat rapist won.

Even if Dawn had another 2 hours she still would have had plating issues because she would have added more components/elements even though she gets told every episode to edit her fucking dishes. She lacks basic timing skills and underestimates her ability. In the final, we saw noises girl doing all the prep work on multiple elements of every dish while Dawn worked on her breads. Then she waited too long (AGAIN) to start plating.

Edit for above: should be “…overestimates her ability.”

R542. He’s not fat. He’s husky

R158 Mexico = definitely Western Hemisphere.

In a restaurant they are getting established dishes out quickly. Time pressure is not an element when a Chef is developing a new recipe. Leave the time pressure to Hell’s Kitchen.

I would love to taste Dawn’s food, and I do think she’s very talented and likable. Gabe did some amazing things too, in fact I think that squash dessert was probably what won him the finale. BUT I still think Shota should have won.

But especially now that Gabe is “tainted” it will be Dawn and Shota who will be brought back for guest spots and probably All Stars as though they were the two winners of this season. In a way, I guess they are.

TC Amature is fun.

Glad to see Dawn finish as she’s started (forgetting a component!). The way she was repeatedly forgiven for this error is a little suspect.

As noted already, the harassment allegations left a bitter note to the end of a season which was very watchable. Justice for Shota!

[quote] Even if Dawn had another 2 hours she still would have had plating issues because she would have added more components/elements even though she gets told every episode to edit her fucking dishes.

Probably true, r543. I really wanted her to listen to Nina Compton’s advice at the pre-finale dinner, but nooooo…

[quote] Gabe got the win over Shota because Mexican cuisine is better known than Japanese cookery.

Get a grip, r533. Pretty sure the TC judges are familiar with Japanese cooking and, as our friend Mr. Orientals will scream at you and then scream at you again 25 more times, the judges have no fear of rewarding a chef whose specialty is Asian cuisine. Gabe simply cooked a better meal on this particular occasion. He did all the things he does well, but did them even better than usual. Shota decided to cook a couple dishes in a style that departed from his norm and it didn’t pan out for him. Surprisingly, he also made a few “rookie mistakes”; e.g. undercooking his rice.

[quote] However, I wish these two chefs had tried their hand at cooking a Western style dish.

That might have been interesting at some point, but a terrible idea for the finale.

It really is unfortunate that this exceptionally good season is now tainted by a scandal. Pretty much all of the cheftestants, Gabe included, seemed like lovely people; never would have expected this season to be the one with a Me, Too offender running around (if the accusations are true, but it seems as though Gabe has pretty much admitted to them).

I can see why they decided to air the season anyway, though. The series was in the can by the time the producers learned of the allegations in December. At that point, the info they received was pretty vague; maybe they thought it wouldn’t amount to much. Obviously, they couldn’t just edit Gabe out. So it was either run with it or toss out the whole season.

I enjoyed the premiere of Top Chef Amateurs. Is there a separate thread for it or should we post about it here?

Thread created for Top Chef Amateurs as requested

It was their fault for not doing research. Allegations came out in July of last year.

Maybe they should just re-do the season. Bring all the chefs back and replace Gabe with a new chef. That is what needs to be done.

I'm happy Gabe won. The final episode showcased his thoughtfulness and brilliance when it comes to cooking. As for the allegations of sexual impropriety, it doesn't mesh with his character as seen this entire season. There were obvious problems in his marriage prior to the allegations (a telltale sign was when his daughter rather than his wife answered the phone toward at the end of the finale). His affair likely was consensual, but it seems like his mistress felt jilted after he likely refused to leave his family after his win. Gabe's overarching mistake probably was his inability to stay away from the other woman even after he returned to Austin. The mistress likely made a fuss, guilt-ridden Gabe admitted to everything, and he was fired. I don't see Gabe as the irredeemably immoral cad that the online speculations make him out to be. After the dust settles, I hope there's some redemption for his reputation because I truly believe he has been vilified beyond the merits of the facts. Who knows, he might even become US President someday; it has happened before.

All of that said, any of these top three finalists would've been worthy of the win (any of them could've won can favorite as well), and I wish all of them long successful careers.

^^ Agreed, I enjoyed TC: Amateurs, and I think Melissa is even *more* likeable there. Cheerful, supportive, inquisitive, encouraging -- she was fabulous with the home cooks!

She's really shining as a TC-alum superstar, and I hope she continues to capitalize on her success on the show.

It was over for Dawn when she failed to plate the 1st course properly. I felt sorry for Jamie; Dawn should’ve realised that if Jamie was flagging she was asking too much. Her inability to get her food on the plate is embarrassing. Someone should said to her earlier in the competition: EVERY PLATE COUNTS.

Shota effed up his main. When Melissa said “It looks like staff food” - OUCH. There was no coming back from that.

There’s no telling what all the chefs in the last 18 seasons have gotten up to - Gabe will have to answer to his critics and make amends but on TC he’s being judged for what happens in the kitchen and what he put on the plates. Cancelling him for accusations made elsewhere, etc., is unnecessary. What needs to improve, in all things, is communication. Sitting in judgement of others isn’t going to affect long-term change.

Gabe is toast.

Well, that’s old news.

This reminds me of when that creep won Next Food Network Star (no, not Guy Fieri). I remember Alton Brown being visibly disgusted and pissed off, LOL.

The kiddie porn guy almost won the first season of Top Chef Just Desserts. Fortunately for the show, the hot gay guy won.

I am happy that Gabe won, and even happier that Dawn lost

That's nice, R564, but Dawn will have a career and Gabe will be flipping burgers at White Castle.

Gabe will do well. He's a hugely talented chef. There are plenty of other chefs with checkered pasts who are still extremely successful. Hopefully he'll grow from these mistakes and learn the art of self-restraint.

WTF is with the people on this forum giving sexual predators a pass?

R567---Agree! R557 is a shining example of someone who has taken it upon himself to speculate on beyond anything that has been reported and come out rooting for the predator.

Assuming the relationship is consensual in a workplace where the main boss and an underling are involved ignores the power differential that skews consent. Married asshole chef comes back from his big win, reduces hours for his former fling, yet continues to communicate with her inappropriately...

But as R557 writes: "I don't see Gabe as the irredeemably immoral cad that the online speculations make him out to be. After the dust settles, I hope there's some redemption for his reputation because I truly believe he has been vilified beyond the merits of the facts."

In actuality, R557 cuts Gabe unwarranted slack and wishes him the best "beyond the merits of the facts".

How sexist and tired.

Look, I don’t condone anything Gabe allegedly did with that employee but I still want to taste his mole. I can separate the man from his sauces.

Hitting on women is not "being a predator." You annoying #MeTards need to get a tighter grip on those clutched pearls. It's only after Gabe won some fame and fortune that all of these loose cows are tumbling out of the pantry trying to cash in as they simultaneously hitch up their panties from around their ankles. And now suddenly every jilted woman in Gabe's past is a "victim." Pffft. Fuck that! We've seen this story play out too many times over the last few years and these ubiquitous #MeToo allegations are getting old and tired. But people are quick to crucify the accused and destroy their lives and careers without vetting the facts. Philip Speer, the co-owner of the restaurant where Gabe worked, is a known drunk among Austinites who obviously caved to the pressure because of Comedor's tainted history. Speer was trying to save his own ass when he fired Gabe. It was hypocritical bullshit. But others are not jumping on the outraged idiot villagers' bandwagon. Hell, even Shota and Dawn are still #TeamGabe. That says a lot!

[quote] There are plenty of other chefs with checkered pasts

Exactly! The real culinary world isn't exactly a pampering environment. There's often an assortment of all sorts of people from various sordid backgrounds -- ex-cons who've done hard time, etc. At the end of the day, the only thing that usually matters is that they can cook and produce good food.

Someone with Gabe's level of skill? He will do well for himself.

Give it a rest frau with the metoo movement. You're saying because he was her boss she felt pressured to have an affair with him? Just fuck off. She is just a jolted woman. She's a grown ass woman. She needs learn about not shitting where you eat.

R570 / R572---Ha, looks like GABE learned to reflect on not shitting where he eats/cooks/works!

Your comments and recommendations apply to the person in authority who should not be looking to fuck people on his crew. Fishing for sex in the small pond of your employees is unethical, whether consensual or not. If he was obnoxious enough about it, it was definitely predatory, and you have no idea, just guesses. And pretty much every guy caught with his dick out says, "it was consensual".

It's basic management: Gabe can't do it, so Gabe got shit canned.

If even the drunken partner or owner or whoever you referred to can see he's a liability, that says something...like, See ya, Gabe!

Maybe Gabe will get divorced next. Those who predict he'll land on his feet are probably right cause that's how it goes most often.

To anyone with their skivvies in a twist, doing the furious two-fingered MRA typing with those little white wads of spittle in the corners of your mouth over THIS guy experiencing consequences for his actions: just put him on a google alert so you know when he gets hired somewhere or opens a new restaurant. Then you can stop clutching your own pearls, and know that he's okay after all.

R573 You think quite highly of yourself and your opinions. You also a fan of your own conversations and just wait for others to finish so you can speak again. Of course sexual predators should suffer consequences. To me, that is someone that has a history of such behavior and rarely cops to their error. Which to my knowledge is not the case with Gabe.

I'll be happy never to hear Tom and his parrots pronounce Gruyère as "'Groozh-air." 🙄🙉

^^^ I think you you are mistaking Gruyere with "gougere." A gougère, in French cuisine, is a baked savory choux pastry made of choux dough mixed with cheese. There are many variants. The cheese is commonly grated Gruyère, Comté, or Emmentaler, but there are many variants using other cheeses or other ingredients.

I think there was a gougere missing on.....help me out here...maybe....DAWN'S plate?

R550 Was Shota sexually harassed? He's so cute that seems almost inevitable.

Fuck #MeToo, I’d sexually harass Shota.

Ah, hank you, R576! Then that was it. I missed the gougère description.

Oy. *thank

Once is a mistake. A mistake is forgivable. Only those with a pattern of this type of behavior deserve to be cancelled.

It wasn’t just once. He’s a liar.

Team Gabe.

Fuck these cunts who think they can have their cake and eat it too.

"I'm going to sleep my way to the top, and let the boss fuck me."

Then when the boss dumps her skank ass, "You'll be sorry!"

Fucking cunt whore cunts.

R583

You’re a disgusting person. 🤢

R584 needs a good fucking dose of #metoo.

Then you would understand how disgusting these sluts are.

I'm really enjoying Top Chef Amateurs. It's such a sweet fan experience. And the contestants are offering elevated, complex dishes. They should have a 2nd cash prize, like $5,000 for the winner, $2,000 for the runner up - no one on this show should go home a loser.