Top Chef Season 16 - Kentucky - discussion?

[2xcited2sleep]

I agree...the show has been on long enough for cheftestants to know they hit you when you're relaxed (and let's be honest, it was probably May or so when they filmed the "Christmas" dinner so not like it was truly a holiday) AND you should ALWAYS have a killer dessert (or two) in you back pocket.

We'll be out of the country for restaurant wars so I'll get to watch it when I get home...that should help the post Christmas blues

Agreed. At this point the chefs really should have a good idea of what to expect. I’m kinda surprised some former contestant hasn’t started a side business offering tutoring/prep. Or maybe they can’t reveal the secrets. The people who don’t seem to prepare fascinate me. Brian knew he should have a dessert and didn’t, or the people who don’t learn about a pressure cooker, or investigate dishes/ingredients the region is known for. I’d be all over that stuff. Of course I’m sure it’s hard to find time to “study” while working.

 

[QueenIsabella]

Agreed--every chef should be prepared for all sorts of odd conditions (cooking over a campfire or using a single pot, etc.). And every single one of them should have a decent dessert recipe! It's kind of like people who go on Survivor and never bother to make fire--as soon as you decide to apply for the show, you should know that you might need that skill.

 

[gwynne]

Restaurant wars part two is tomorrow night. I am interested to see how this three restaurant concept plays out.

 

[cluvsdisney]

Restaurant wars part two is tomorrow night. I am interested to see how this three restaurant concept plays out.

I think it will be the same as any other challenge with multiple teams. One will be on the top, one safe and one on the bottom. I am guessing the 2 chefs being eliminated will come from the team on the bottom. I am anxious to see how it all comes together though.

 

[SaintsManiac]

Anyone watching Last Chance Kitchen?

 

[2xcited2sleep]

I can’t wait to see! From the preview it looks like all three teams are in trouble! And it sure doesn’t seem that “Blueprint” company was much of a help! Yikes - not exactly the advertisement I’m sure they were hoping for. And what’s up with barely any of the servers having experience?? That doesn’t seem fair.

@SaintsManiac I’m watching LCK but just found out there was one last week even though no regular elimination so going to watch that now.

 

[soccerdad72]

I'm a huge Top Chef fan - I've probably watched every season.

Can't say I have a favorite yet, but most seem pretty strong overall. The holiday dessert challenge was tough on many levels, but the worst is always when they make them do those types of challenges in the kitchen of the house they're staying at. Always seems to end up with everyone bumping into each other.

 

[RUDisney]

I wonder how much prep time they actually get with the location. It could be 3-months and it could be that they are told 3 days before they travel. Not much time might be given to them to study local cuisine.

It's true about making sure that you know how to use all of the equipment that you can be given and to have some idea about how to make a dessert or two.

I wonder what the balance of experience and none is to each of the teams. They never seem to find one of the servers with experience who can listen, learn and help the others. I would think TC would split them evenly among the teams so that one doesn't have all of the experienced servers and one has none.

I can't wait to see the rest of Restaurant Wars!

 

[soccerdad72]

It will be interesting to see how much of the issues the teams face is because of server inexperience. It would seem unfair to judge them harshly if servers didn't know basic stuff. Should be a fun episode.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

I like this season a lot. The women are fierce this year!

 

[MIGrandma]

Love this show and enjoying this season, especially enjoyed when they were at Makers Mark. We toured it a few years ago, and wonder if I am related to the owners as my maiden name is Samuels The house the contestants stay in is beautiful!

 

[2xcited2sleep]

It will be interesting to see how much of the issues the teams face is because of server inexperience. It would seem unfair to judge them harshly if servers didn't know basic stuff. Should be a fun episode.

I listen to several recap podcasts and at least one was wondering if the late setup and lack of server training was intentional by producers to add drama. I remember lack of server experience being mentioned by Fati last season as well but it didn’t seem to impact the other team. Doesn’t seem it would be hard to find good or at least experienced servers but who knows.

I like this season a lot. The women are fierce this year!

I do too! And even the chefs I was prepared to dislike -Eddie and Brandon- are totally endearing themselves.

Love this show and enjoying this season, especially enjoyed when they were at Makers Mark. We toured it a few years ago, and wonder if I am related to the owners as my maiden name is Samuels The house the contestants stay in is beautiful!

You should do one of those DNA kits just in case you are, haha. I want to visit Makers Mark too. And that house is incredible.

 

[tink1970]

So as a viewer, three restaurants didn't seem easy to keep up with and wow, they were all sort of meh. I was happy (I guess) that the two bottom teams each lost a player versus one losing two. Like many things, there's never a good time for RW, but earlier in the competition seemed less good.

 

[soccerdad72]

I always hate it when someone gets eliminated (e.g. Nini) for something other than their cooking, although you could see it coming with all the issues in the front of house and servers. Granted, they seemed to get the worst of the servers, but that could always be creative editing as well.

You could tell Pablo was going to be a goner as soon as they focused on how his short ribs weren't coming out right. Improperly cooked meat is always the kiss of death - made even worse by Michelle having immunity.

 

[SaintsManiac]

LCK was crazy last night and they are making us wait until next week to find out who won!!! I hate when they do that.

 

[RUDisney]

Have none of the chefs ever heard of delegating in the front of the house? Maybe it's just me and my years (and years... and years) of management experience, but I know that I can't be in all places at all times so I need for other to be my eyes and ears. This is especially true for RW because as FOTH, you want to be ready when the judges arrive. If you had one server focus on something and another on something else, they could bring information back so you could redirect them and the others through them.

But, maybe they were just all too green to be trusted by a delegator.

And another thing. I'd be setting up my tables if the decorator wasn't there so I could number them and we could practice. When the decorators come in it's too bad, we setup the tables because you left us no choice. Deal with it decorator.

I really wanted to taste that panna cotta. It looked amazing!

 

[2xcited2sleep]

Insanity! I’d be really curious to hear from producers regarding late set-up and lack of server experience. Was that intentional? I wonder how server teams are assigned. Also not sure how order in which judges visit is determined but blue team did not benefit from being last.

Eagle-eyed folks on reddit have an idea on who comes back and who is in finals if you want to check it out but won’t spoil here.

Not sure if anyone else listens to recap podcasts but the guys from Pack Your Knives dined at Restaurant North East for this challenge and am hoping they have some behind the scenes info in their next episode.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

I am kind of upset with one of the eliminations. I know it’s the nature of the beast, but I hate to see someone who generally does so well go home because of one challenge.

 

[anniemae]

It was really good. I was so sad to see Nini go, I really liked her. It's kind of unfair that she went home based on front of house stuff and not cooking. I understand her dessert was not that great, but I'm sure it would have been good if she could have executed it. They are all trained chefs, not FOH staff. She just did NOT have the personality for FOH, she was too nice and a little meek. She said to Padma in a soft voice, "Would you like me to seat you?" Instead of saying, "Welcome! Follow me right this way to your table!" When the wait staff had questions and went to her, she just jumped in and tried to fix the problem instead of training the person. So the mistakes kept happening and she just got spread too thin.

I am surprised at how much I like Brandon. I thought he was going to be a jerk, but he seems nice. I LOVE Brian and am so glad he not only did well, but he won. His story about addiction was so interesting.

I just love Padma. the way she looks at them and asks questions, "Excuse me Nini?? Why are there people waiting in the front?" She reminded me of Maleficent. So regal and so direct in her questions LOL.

 

[2xcited2sleep]

Totally agree on Brandon. Edit in first episode set him up to be a jerk and turns out he’s not that at all. I like him. I was also fully prepared to hate Eddie based on his relationship with Nick (New Orleans season) but all I want to do is give him a hug. So far I really like everyone!!

Spoiler

Nini

volunteered for FOH. Not sure where the issue was... disconnect where thinks it’s a strength but it isn’t, doing a dish that needed more prep than feasible with FOH, late dining room set-up, untrained servers, luck of draw having judges stop there last when fully “in the weeds” or combo of all.

Someone comes back from LCK next week... can’t wait to see who!!