Top Chef 4.2

So I didn't get to blog last week because I was in California.

Quick impressions from last week and boy is it hard with 16 people. Of the guys, Erik may look like someone you wouldn't meet in a dark alley but is a big softie, Ryan is arrogant, Andrew gets my vote for most likely to go postal. I also want Bret and Jermaine to come by and say hello, mate, to Mark.

The women seemed stronger talents this time, but still didn't make that much of an impression as far as personality -- except maybe Stephanie with her shaking hand, her Yoda backpack and sweet smile when she won. About the couple: I wish they'd explain how that's supposed to work considering the no noogie rule.

Going to the Green Market! Since the meat was frozen you'd think that the chefs would come up with vegetarian type dishes, but they seemed pretty determined to get that protein in there.

Mark was definitely getting marked as a winner or a loser with forgetting his bag of lettuce but he seemed to pull it off. Didn't sound that appetizing and I guess they must have been at the market when peaches were in prime because a lot of people seemed to incorporate them. Mark seemed to follow the Anthony Bourdain decree from Kitchen Confidential: butter and then some more butter. Guess it's a winning ingredient.

What I'm liking about Richard is he takes risks. though eucalyptis sounds kind of gross. And Wylie Dufresne wasn't impressed, despite the molecular connection. Wylie looks more a mad computer geek figuring the best way to hack into Microsoft than a superstar chef. Figures he's a molecular gastronomist, though he seemed fairly humble about the whole thing.

Vultures, Lions and Bears, oh my. And penguins and gorillas too. But beets and lions, really? Not in the wild, surely, even if that's what the zoo feeds them. and what is up with insisting on protein when gorillas are vegetarians? I know gourmet chefs tend to be down on vegetarian dishes, but come on.

Looks like a lot of macho buttholes this year. Dale is a charmless, too intense Hung. Well, Hung was pretty intense too, but he had a goofy side.

Manuel is so low-key. Is he holding back? Apparently Bill Buford of Heat fame worked with him at Mario Battali's Babbo's and says he should take it home. He doesn't seem to be standing out so far.

I wish the editors weren't so obvious. Valerie, Stephanie and Nikki were getting the loser edits. Argh, the women on the bottom again. It was looking hopeful last week when three of the four winner noms were female and three of the four loser noms were male.

Andrew seemed downright mellow this ep. Maybe he didn't drink as much coffee. But I would have voted for Mark. Fresh anchovies, mmmmmmmmmm. Learned to love them in Spain, especially hot off the grill. Still hate the canned kind, except with judicial use in puttanesca sauce. On pizza? quelle horreur, to S's dismay.