Thursday, November 20, 2008

Top Chef 5.2

This week of Top Chef was pretty funny with some great lines.  "Eeeet doeza notta matter how many dragooons you keel but if you-a bring te princess home." Fabio's accent is sooo cliche you just wonder if he's pretending. 

But many lessons to be learned for future cheftestants.

1. Don't use an ingredient if you've never worked with it before -- unless you have to.

2. Don't make quiche. They never win and they often lose.

3. Don't use a canned (or frozen) version of a protein if you can't get it fresh. Hello, Hosea! Did you not watch the saga of Spike and the frozen scallops last season.

4. Have a plan B.

5. Trust your instincts and don't trust your fellow cheftestants. If you think you should start from scratch, you probably should.

Good-bye Jill, one of our hometown girls. You seemed like you'd eventually show a quirky sense of humor, but sorry that was the lamest defense of a dish I've ever seen.

Personally, I would have picked Jamie's dish. But I'm not tasting things only watching.

PS Ariane needs a self-esteem course or something. Every season there's some self-doubting female. She either is going to be the person hanging on by the skin of her teeth week after week after week, or she's gone pretty soon.

PPS Last week I kind of liked Hosea but he lost some points this week. Wazzup with that weird flirtation with Leah?





Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Random thoughts on last week's Top Chef

Since I was too lazy last week, some random thoughts:

-- Poor Lauren. That has to suck. Apples. I'm betting that not only is her hubby in the military but she has some military background too. She was striking military poses, standing legs spread, arms behind back.

-- Poor Patrick. He was a cutie pie but way green and it showed. Even I know you steep Asian noodles, not boil them like spaghetti. Geez, hasn't this guy ever had ramen noodles as a poor college student? 

-- I'm kind of rooting for Gene despite the tats. He worked his way up from dishwasher. And he tasted food in the India market and worked on replicating the taste. Shows he has a great palate. Thought Padma was going to swoon. Something I'm sure S is rooting for.

-- Stefan and Fabio are the Euro-douche Duo! Stefan has that "I'm smug and superior" attitude that can be very irritating. Fabio is a me-too.

-- Then again Dan seems like one of those types you wish the State Department would discourage from visiting other countries. He looks way older than 25.

-- Radhika seems a bit annoying. And sickly.

-- Others don't like Carla. She seems spirited and maybe fun to me. 'Course I might be prejudiced cuz she's repping DC.

-- Jeff is the smarmy good looking guy you always hated in high school.

-- Stefan was the early leader but I'm betting on Hosea as a serious contender.

-- How can someone not know Italian?  And for all her "country mouse" protestations, Melissa is actually from the Baltimore area and Baltimore has its own Little Italy. Even if she lives in Colorado now and is into horses. 

-- Same with middle-eastern food. If you live on the mid-Atlantic coast, how could you not have not had middle-eastern food? I actually get tired of it because it's one of the less expensive lunch options. Hummus, up there with peanut butter as a staple. The cookbook remark was a baaad mistake. Colicchio's eyes shot laser beams. Jean-Georges pursed his lips disapprovingly.

Oh well rambled on and the new ep is on soon.






Wednesday, November 5, 2008

President Obama

I am crying right now. The immensity of this moment is too intense.