Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Top Chef DC!3

I got home late from work and didn't get into it first 15 mines, so I must re-watch before blogging. I will say I could have sworn Steven was going home. He was getting the loser's edit.

And I'm sooooo glad Amanda didn't win, no matter how much people liked her ribs. Too close to Leah.

Won't miss Rosie O'Donnell's clone.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Next American Artist

I was typing up my blog for Top Chef while Next American Artist was blaring. Geez, these people are illiterate. Pride and Prejudice a tragic story. Really? Really? Methinks you're confusing it with Wuthering Heights. Neither Darcy nor Heathcliff would wear a derby hat, by the way. Maybe you saw the cover of Unbearable Lightness of Being somewhere.

Got to give the kid credit for sitting up to read Frankenstein. Even though he should have read Frankenstein in school. Or at least seen one of the movie adaptations.

Anyway, I'm rooting for one of the two women illustrating P & P to go home. Jane Austen rules!

Top Chef DC! 2

So some of these chefs are starting to show their colors --- so to speak. And they aren't very attractive.

I was thinking of rooting for Tamesha since she is so young and works in a top DC restaurant, but dang, girl. Gnocchi, for kids? Are you kidding me? Don't get me wrong, I love gnocchi when done well. But not for kids.  Sherry jus for a chicken dish doesn't seem very smart to me. So maybe Tamesha was right.

And Kelly's got an ego almost as big as Angelo's. At least he can walk the walk. Can she?

Tracy was nicer this week. I think her "hick" joke last week was just that, that she wasn't serious. She just makes stupid jokes. She did seem to enjoy having her arm around Angelo.

The best thing is no one griped about cooking for kids, unlike the original TC eppy umpteen years ago. Of course this time, they had middle schoolers who aren't quite as picky.

The expression on Sam Kass' face when he asked Amanda about affording sherry but not being able to afford chocolate and her clueless response was priceless. If I already didn't want Jacleeeeeen to go home, I would have been rooting for Amanda to get the knife.

I was rooting for Tiffany to take the prize home. I mean, sweet potato and sorbet and getting kids to like it is pretty awesome. Then again, pork carnitas are pretty tasty too. With oatmeal tortillas, too!

At least they didn't off Kenny and Ed for Angelo's "gamesmanship" as Tom put it. Tom's a pretty shrewd judge of character.

Adios, Jacleeeen!

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Top Chef DC!

Coming to my town, wh00t.

So the Newseum for the first challenge. Of course. It has fantastic views. I've been to meetings on the top floor with the gorgeous glass views of Pennsylvania Avenue and the Capitol, though I've not been on the deck. We tried to have a meeting there once. But catering had to be by Wolfgang Puck and that was too rich for a small nonprofit.

I love the mise en place race. It gives you a good idea who the top players are going to be. And what is it about this particular competition that someone always slices open their palm. Gross.

Kenny is da man! Geez, he finished first on every single one. will have to check out his bio. Skillet Doux ranked Angelo as one  of the top 3, but I don't think Kenny was there. Just checked. Kenny was ranked 13. His company is described as helping restaurants become "synergistically sound." Wev.

Angelo won the first quickfire. And he's number 4 on the Skillet Doux rankings. Ed Cotton, the guy he sent to Kenny, is number 1. Or was it Stephen. I'm having a hard time distinguishing between the two.

So the house they're stayed in is in northern Dupont Circle. Back when we lived in the area I used to walk by it all the time. It's down one of these sweet one-block tree-shaded streets that pervades the city.

Oh, wow. The kitchen is at the Washington Hilton. That's the hotel where Reagan was shot. It's pretty much a one-block walk (albeit across busy Connecticut Ave) from the Place du Chefs.

They definitely telegraphed three of the four bottom people. Which is why I can confidently predict that Stephen will not go home. It's probably Crazy Hair John or Jacqueleeeeen. If they choose by personality, they'll keep John. He's got some  whacky eyes going. Nope, he went home. The hair didn't save him.

And I hope this is not going to be a snooze fest where Angelo wins every match. That would be boooring. It would make a yawner of a season, which would be bad for DC rep.


PS While Top Chef was filming, I saw Gail at SweetGreens. She wasn't wearing makeup, nor a decolletage evening/cocktail dress, so she looked like a fresh-faced college student.