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Archive through November 09, 2006

The TVClubHouse: Other Reality Shows ARCHIVES: Archives for 2008 - 1: Top Chef - Prior Seasons: ARCHIVES: Archive through November 09, 2006 users admin

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Sportygirl
Member

06-14-2005

Thursday, November 02, 2006 - 10:29 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Sportygirl a private message Print Post    
Julieboo, I thought Marcel looked like Eddie Munster last night.

Living in Chicago, I don't eat at Applebees alot because of all the non-chain restaurants available to me but the one reason I like Applebees is because they have Weight Watchers points on their menu. I wish more restaurants did this.

Sportygirl
Member

06-14-2005

Thursday, November 02, 2006 - 10:37 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Sportygirl a private message Print Post    
Costa - the premise of the show was about making food for the average person. They gave a stat that only 37/38% of people eat at 4 Star restaurants so you need to know how to cook for the average person. I'd eat at more 4 Star restaurants if I could afford it but back to the show.

The Quickfire Challenge was to create 3 quarts of a new flavored ice cream to be served to people at Redondo (SP?) beach. The bottome 3 were Marcel who made an avacado/bacon ice cream. It was so funny because kids were spitting it out and even wiping their tongues. Marissa made a vanilla peanut swirl ice cream and I can't remember who else was in the bottom 3. The winner was Cliff for an ice cream that had cookie crumbles in it.

Sportygirl
Member

06-14-2005

Thursday, November 02, 2006 - 10:50 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Sportygirl a private message Print Post    
The guest judge at the Elimination Challenge was the top chef at TGI Friday's restaurants. They were to created something that could be mass produced and the winners recipe would be added to the menu at 500 restaurants across the country. They were also supposed to take a food from their childhood and put a twist on it. The food would then be taken to a Pasedena fire house where it would be tried out on the firemen at that station.

Michael thought he would win because he used to work at Friday's and his brother is a fireman. They each had 15 minutes at the firehouse to prepare their food. Marcel was having a hard time with the deep fryer for his onion rings and was totally complaining. Betty was fed up with him and had words with him but then said they would discuss it later because she didn't want to disturb Sam when he was preparing his meal. However when Betty's turn to cook came she was having trouble with the grill and Marcel kept harping on her. He didn't have the decency to keep quiet until she was done like she did with him. As she raced to finish, the rest of the contestants were cheering her on.

The top 3 dishes came from Sam (cutie) who made a fresh take on a fruit salad, Cliff who made fresh fish sticks that weren't greasy and gourmet mac and cheese and Betty who made a roasted red pepper soup and grilled cheese with portabello mushrooms. Betty won.

The bottom 3 were Michael who made a steak sandwich and onion rings. Comments were that the steak was chewy and that most restaurants have a steak sandwich on their menu. Emily made a surf and turf but everything was way to salty. Gail couldn't even finish one bite. Frank made a mushroom fantasy salad that was too conceptual and too hard to mass produce. Emily ended up going.

Supergranny
Member

02-03-2005

Thursday, November 02, 2006 - 12:10 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Supergranny a private message Print Post    
I am a vegetarian, do not like the thought of eating dead flesh, so Betty's dish looked really good to me!! I am looking up on internet to see if TGIF is any where near me so I can go get that yummy grilled cheese with portabello mushrooms. The roasted pepper soup probably has a chicken stock base...they had to kill that chicken to get the stock...so I will pass on that.

Costacat
Member

07-15-2000

Thursday, November 02, 2006 - 9:05 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Costacat a private message Print Post    
Sporty, thank you SO much for the great recap! From the sound of it, I'd have preferred Betty's items, too (and not just 'cause I'm a vegetarian). Her dishes sounded creative and just slightly different, yet would fit in well with TGIF's overall menu (slightly funky and eclectic, not your "everyday" restaurant food).

Ace232521
Member

09-09-2004

Friday, November 03, 2006 - 10:43 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Ace232521 a private message Print Post    
I like Cliff, but should he have really won the quick fire challenge? I mean, the challenge was to create a new flavor of ice cream. I can walk into any of our local ice cream establishments and get some form of the ice cream he created. In reality, the quick fire challenge was to create an ice cream that appeals to children.

The true winner should have been the one that used avocado (not Marcel) that ended up in the top three of vote getters. Obviously, his ice cream was good. It was voted top three, and can almost guarantee it was a flavor not already invented.

Alisons
Member

01-10-2003

Saturday, November 04, 2006 - 4:45 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Alisons a private message Print Post    
Obviously kids like marshmallow in their ice cream since two of the top three had that - Cliff's was cookie and marshmallow and the avocado one was avocado marshmallow. Who knew?

Cdbga
Member

10-04-2004

Saturday, November 04, 2006 - 5:07 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Cdbga a private message Print Post    
I wonder whether we'd have seen different flavors out of some of the contestants if they had known ahead of time most of the "judges" would be kids. I didn't think Cliff's idea was that great to begin with, but once I saw all the kids I knew he'd do well. Kids love stuff like that in their ice cream. I doubt that some of the others would have made the same choices (Lavendar...Citrus/Ginger...) if they'd known they were being judged by children. They were told to be creative, then not really judged on that. I don't think they should be given one set of criteria for creating their dishes, then not judged by it. Not that I minded Cliff winning. He's one of the very few that I like at this point. (I also like Ilan...not sure at this point about Sam or Betty. I kind of go back and forth. Don't remember the rest enough to say one way or the other!).

I haven't been particularly impressed by much from this group of chefs. Seems like we'd seen more impressive/creative dishes by this point in Season 1...but it is possible the challenges deserve a lot of the blame on that.

Julieboo
Member

02-05-2002

Saturday, November 04, 2006 - 9:00 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Julieboo a private message Print Post    
Good point cdbga, rather not fair to be told one thing and then be judged by another...

Costacat
Member

07-15-2000

Sunday, November 05, 2006 - 5:48 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Costacat a private message Print Post    
But the judges weren't ALL kids. And didn't they say something about food for the masses? Wasn't that the premise of the who episode... food for those 70% of those folks who don't eat at fine dining establishments.

I also don't think creativity was as important for the quickfire as it was for the elimination (and don't recall creativity being discussed much during the quickfire). They knew they were making ice cream and were gonna take it to the park. You are gonna have families there (oh yeah, did I say it was gonna be a PARK? in REDONDO BEACH?), and those families are gonna have kids. Lots of kids. Duh. I truly don't think most of 'em were thinking things through. Especially Marcel's avo/bacon ice cream.

BTW, I would've ROCKED that challenge! I make some really phenomenal ice creams. And I make a chocolate ice cream that is, well, it's better than sex! It'll seriously curl your toes, it's so good! <wink>

I thought Marcel was a serious piece of work. First of all, he wouldn't let it go, the fact that the fryer wasn't hot enough. Shouldn't that have been the first thing he did -- turned up the heat on the fryer? And then to harass Betty during her challenge. I really loved the fact that a) he was trying to distract her, b) she also had equipment failure and yet c) she frickin' won the challenge! And I agree with the judges... her entree was spot on. It was childhood comfort food with a definite adult twist and is something that I would certainly enjoy at TGIFridays.

I'm also starting to think that Sam is a cutie, and I really liked the sound of his salad. It sounded lovely and refreshing, and had an eclectic mix of flavors.

Costacat
Member

07-15-2000

Sunday, November 05, 2006 - 5:50 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Costacat a private message Print Post    
Interesting tidbit from Gail's blog:

quote:

It is interesting to note that in spite of his attitude, Marcel has yet to create anything that has wowed us. Meanwhile, Betty continues to impress, as shown by her back-to-back wins.


I absolutely agree with her, too! Marcel's ego, Mr. Molecular Gastronomist, is overinflated, for sure!

And from Padma's blog:

quote:

In this case, I told them they would be going to Redondo Beach where it was a hot summer Sunday, and that there would be a lot of kids.


So there you go. The chefs *did* know about the kids. They just didn't listen.

Cdbga
Member

10-04-2004

Monday, November 06, 2006 - 2:39 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Cdbga a private message Print Post    
Guess we just didn't hear that in the show. We heard Padma say to create a new (or possibly original...funny, I've probably watched the episode 5 times at this point and still haven't paid enough attention to remember that!) ice cream and that it would be "road tested" at the beach. Didn't hear anything about the kids or that the beach people would actually choose the winner. Although that could have been said off camera, too. And saying "new/original" would make me think they wanted me to be creative, not create something that has been done before...because that isn't making a new ice cream so much as making my version of an existing ice cream. So, to me, they were actually asking for more originality in the quickfire than in the elimination, where they challenge was to take something existing and put a new twist on it. But no matter how creative they were supposed to be...or who they thought would be picking the winner, Bacon and Avocado was just a mind-boggling choice (and what is his obsession with avocados, anyway? In the flambe challenge, he used bananas and avocados...which also IMHOP EWWWW! I love avocados, but just not in those combinations). I was sort of feeling sorry for him at the time, because of the kids wiping their mouths out and all that....but seriosly, bacon and avocado ice cream? Ick. And, I had said Sam might have rethought his ingredients, but I didn't realize he'd been tied for 2nd place...just my personal bias against ginger made me think he placed lower, I guess. Still think the first group was more impressive at this point, though.

Sadiesmom
Member

03-13-2002

Monday, November 06, 2006 - 2:39 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Sadiesmom a private message Print Post    
But some of the chefs went with the new flavor and others did not.

Julieboo
Member

02-05-2002

Monday, November 06, 2006 - 3:49 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Julieboo a private message Print Post    
Actually I LOVE bananas and avocados together, I often cut up 2 bananas and one avocado and eat them mixed together in a bowl.

Cdbga
Member

10-04-2004

Monday, November 06, 2006 - 4:11 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Cdbga a private message Print Post    
Well that is just weird Julie ! I'm only kidding, of course! We all have different tastes in things! For me its the textures of the two together that I think I'd have a problem with more than the flavors. But I'm very particular about how I eat bananas...and I've only started experimenting with avocados (you know, outside the usual guacamole usage). Who knows, it might be something I'd try and be pleasantly surprised about. Like apple slices dipped in spicy mustard...would've thought that would be horrible, but when I tried it, I loved it. That is one thing I'll say about these shows (Top Chef, Iron Chef), they make me want to try new things with the "flavor profiles" in my food.

And Costa, I want your chocolate ice cream recipe! My toes could use some curling

Alisons
Member

01-10-2003

Monday, November 06, 2006 - 5:11 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Alisons a private message Print Post    
I make a nice salad with tomato wedges, avocado slices and scallions with bleu cheese dressing. However that is the ONLY thing I have ever made with avocado other than guacamole.

Cdbga
Member

10-04-2004

Wednesday, November 08, 2006 - 11:28 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Cdbga a private message Print Post    
I love sliced avocado on hamburgers. Not that that's particularly adventurous, but that was the first thing I tried it on/with outside guacamole.

Ladytex
Member

09-27-2001

Wednesday, November 08, 2006 - 9:07 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Ladytex a private message Print Post    
that was quite an episode ... I'm glad Sam or Cliff didn't go home, but I really didn't care for the challenge. I thought the premise was good, and I know they expected them all to be on the honor system, but if you taste something of yours and it doesn't look or taste right, instinct would have you trying to fix it ...

Julieboo
Member

02-05-2002

Wednesday, November 08, 2006 - 10:10 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Julieboo a private message Print Post    
Yeah, I am split on the whole thing. I guess they should have clearly stated that nothing could be changed...

Part of me wanted to have Betty leave, cuz she didn't know exactly how many calories she was adding. But hen I would agree you should try to change it... After all even the judges asked that one team if they thought to add some yogurt to the smoothie... So they were even thinking it was okay to do...

Meggieprice
Member

07-09-2001

Wednesday, November 08, 2006 - 11:43 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Meggieprice a private message Print Post    
who left????

Seabreeze
Member

09-05-2004

Thursday, November 09, 2006 - 2:05 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Seabreeze a private message Print Post    
No one left that show since there was a question about fairness.

Prisonerno6
Member

08-31-2002

Thursday, November 09, 2006 - 3:49 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Prisonerno6 a private message Print Post    
Padma's blog has nothing about the show and is all about her "weightloss" secrets, including recipes from her book. Guess we know where her priorities are.

Bring back Mrs. Billy Joel!

Grooch
Member

06-16-2006

Thursday, November 09, 2006 - 6:24 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Grooch a private message Print Post    
I find it funny that this is the 2nd episode this season that had to do w/ possible cheating.

First it was w/ Otto w/ the Lychees and now w/ Betty and the sugar. Both times, nobody said anything til afterwards.

Laura from Project Runway was correct in saying something about Jeff possibly cheating, while they were still doing the competition. She said she didn't want it to look like sour grapes if she said something afterwards.

Julieboo
Member

02-05-2002

Thursday, November 09, 2006 - 6:34 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Julieboo a private message Print Post    
Yeah, that was my BIGGEST grief. Sam (?) did not say a dang word about it til his neck was on the chopping block. If you were so concerned, then why not mention it til the 11th hour? If he was not in the bottom groups, I bet he would not have said a thing!

Alisons
Member

01-10-2003

Thursday, November 09, 2006 - 7:33 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Alisons a private message Print Post    
They could have avoided this by having the nutritionists there both days - that way if someone had to make a last minute substitution, the recipe could still be certified as under 500 calories.