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Panda
Member
07-15-2005
| Thursday, January 22, 2009 - 9:14 am
the 4 Julie likes are the 4 that to me seem to put the most effort-the lovebirds sure did get saved! Imagine Leah, the one in charge serving that crappy fish! I still like Carla but she was a little strange last night. I have to laugh everytime Stefan does well-good for him! haha Oh dear, Radhika sure had to go-she looked like she wanted to run fast out of there! I th
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Costacat
Member
07-15-2000
| Thursday, January 22, 2009 - 9:26 am
I thought Radhika had almost no personality at all, from the very beginning. And from the previews, I knew she'd be going home. I think she was lucky to have gotten this far. She would've gone home last week if Arianne hadn't "butchered" the lamb.
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Kady
Member
07-30-2000
| Thursday, January 22, 2009 - 9:40 am
i sure would have thrown that quickfire. i would not want to be the leader of none of those people. i'm all for a jamie win. is it 3 in the finale. i'm hoping for jamie, stefan, & carla. carla amuses me but she was a disappointment with her desserts last night. i love her glasses too. i'm gonna have to try a pair like them to see how i look. i need some new frames.
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Lexie_girl
Member
07-30-2004
| Thursday, January 22, 2009 - 10:22 am
quote:Small aside: I laughed that Jeff did the scallop last night. Can we have one meal without scallops?
Don't you know, this is "Top Scallop," and not "Top Chef?" ... and have I mentioned lately how much Carla cracks me up?
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Hukdonreality
Member
09-29-2003
| Thursday, January 22, 2009 - 10:26 am
I think that Carla is the only chef that I would ever want to work for. The others are SO full of themselves! I'll bet Carla even likes Nestle's Quik.
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Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Thursday, January 22, 2009 - 10:49 am
aw...just found this out and since the finale is in NO, thought i would post this here. what a great restaurant. New Orleans restaurateur Archie A. Casbarian dies By MARY FOSTER Associated Press Jan. 12, 2009, 2:18AM — Archie A. Casbarian, who restored New Orleans' famous Creole restaurant Arnaud's to its former glory and made it a dining attraction for presidents, has died. He was 72. Casbarian died Saturday in a Metairie hospice of complications from an Oct. 28 surgery, family spokeswoman Kit Whol said. Casbarian and his wife, Jane, took over Arnaud's in 1978, a restaurant with a colorful past but a fading reputation. They rebuilt it into one of New Orleans' culinary jewels. During Casbarian's restaurant career, he hosted every sitting president since Richard Nixon, and beginning with Jimmy Carter he hosted them at Arnaud's. The family still owns and runs the restaurant. Founded in 1918 by Arnaud Cazenave, it was considered one of the great New Orleans restaurants during its day but had fallen into hard times by the late 1970s. The aging New Orleans restaurant Casbarian took over was a labyrinth of 11 French Quarter buildings dating back to the 18th- and 19th-centuries, connected by obscure hallways and secret passageways. All but one bar, the main dining room, and kitchen had long been shuttered. It took the Casbarians more than 30 years to renovate the massive restaurant, restoring it to its former opulence. Whol said Arnaud's sustained damage during Hurricane Katrina and was closed for a time, though she could not immediately recall how long. Arnaud's now has six public and 10 private dining rooms, two bars and a Mardi Gras museum on the second floor. One thing Casbarian didn't want to change was the menu, which included Oysters Bienville with its famous remoulade sauce that was created at Arnaud's. "We didn't change the format of the menu," Casbarian said in a 1989 interview. "We serve Creole food. We haven't deviated into nouvelle or light or anything else." Casbarian survived by his wife, a son, a daughter, a grandson and two brothers. AP-WS-01-11-09 2104EST
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Lexie_girl
Member
07-30-2004
| Thursday, January 22, 2009 - 12:06 pm
It's been a few years since I have eaten at Arnaud's, but the food was fabulous.
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Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Thursday, January 22, 2009 - 1:13 pm
one of my favs!!! Lexie, does Duke LoCicero still run Cafe Giovanni's? that's another one of my favs. I love his 'feed me' dinner.
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Thursday, January 22, 2009 - 1:39 pm
I like Carla, but lecturing the judges wasn't such a good thing. Seems like she often has to employ that "good attitude to overcome a cooking disaster" so I think I'd not want her cooking for me, but at the table entertaining me. She'd possibly be great at commentary. I think the point they showed was that Stefan had the SAME problem with the lack of freezer and he found a solution. She just let it happen and then served the mess. And if she is supposed to be the hot dessert person, what happened with the tasteless chocolate cake? Sure, she asked Radhika's opinion, but really, she knew something was off and could have corrected it then. Radhika was like a deer in the headlights and she got first picks so didn't have to work with Stefan. She said she should have forced Jeff to take the front of the house job but his dishes, and Jamie's were highly praised.
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Lexie_girl
Member
07-30-2004
| Thursday, January 22, 2009 - 2:07 pm
According to the website, yes he does. Love this menu!!! http://www.cafegiovanni.com/index.html
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Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Thursday, January 22, 2009 - 2:46 pm
yea! if you haven't been...go, it's wonderful! we used to fly over just to have dinner there before going on to Biloxi to the Beau Rivage. we haven't been since Katrina but I am assuming it still is if Duke is there. LOL
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Lexie_girl
Member
07-30-2004
| Thursday, January 22, 2009 - 2:53 pm
I looooooooove the Beau Rivage!!! I'm thinking about going to the Beau for a couple of days during Mardi Gras week since I'm on vacation the entire week and could use some "Beau" time. Texannie, if you are ever in New Orleans, we MUST have dinner!!!
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Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Thursday, January 22, 2009 - 2:58 pm
go to the spa for me!!! that would be great. like i said, we haven't been in ages. 
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Lexie_girl
Member
07-30-2004
| Thursday, January 22, 2009 - 3:00 pm

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Costacat
Member
07-15-2000
| Thursday, January 22, 2009 - 4:25 pm
Just finished watching last night's episode and... Radhika so needed to go. She was definitely over her head the entire time. And Carla? Egads. If you know something is crap, why serve it? I think Stefan is an amazing chef but I absolutely cannot stand his attitude. He is not amusing or entertaining in the least, and is way too cocky. Unfortunately, I expect he'll win this thing (at which point I dunno if his ego would even fit in the room!). Leah and Hosea are just pathetic. And then to mope about cuz they got "caught up in the moment" and kissed. On that alone both should've gone home. I think Jeff may be the next to go, or Leah. Neither one of them are real impressive. They are good, but not top chef great. As for final 3, I think Stefan and Hosea or Fabio. And then a female... either Jamie or Carla. I'd prefer Jamie cuz you can't build a restaurant on desserts (unless it's a dessert restaurant).
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Lexie_girl
Member
07-30-2004
| Thursday, January 22, 2009 - 4:39 pm
Can you build a restaurant on scallops?
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Thursday, January 22, 2009 - 5:04 pm
Jamie got high praise for whatever she cooked last night and it wasn't scallops.. so maybe you can if you can cook other dishes? I just found out that scallops have a bunch of blue eyes (per trivial pursuit)

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Jodie75
Member
08-26-2004
| Thursday, January 22, 2009 - 5:24 pm
Holy Crapola, Seamonkey! I love scallops, but that is really freaky! I don't think I'll ever be able to look at them the same way! I personally think Leah should have gone home last night. She let another contestant get in the way (don't buy "caught ITM" excuses, especially when you're on a reality show that would go to extremes to catch any juicy "moments"), and acted mopey all night. The fact that she served undercooked cod all evening (salmonella anyone?) with oversalted greens beneath it should have been more than enough reason to have her pack her bags. Radhika performed badly last night, but I don't know, I think being sent home for bad front-of-the-house service was unfair. If she won, she'd hire someone with an extroverted personality to be the host/hostess. She'd be in the back cooking and expediting (sp?). I was just hopeful that they would finally have an Indian chef as a winner, or at least in the final three. Indian chefs never seem to go far on these cooking reality shows. I do like Carla, but that was pretty bad, considering she's a pastry chef. And yeah, I agree with Watching2 - what was she smoking? That was odd!
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Costacat
Member
07-15-2000
| Thursday, January 22, 2009 - 5:54 pm
She wasn't just sent home for her bad front-of-house work. She was also supposed to be the leader. It was supposed to be HER restaurant. Yet she didn't decide on the menu (instead let everyone decide on their own), she didn't correct Carla on the desserts, she didn't check whether the fish was done right (and after the first one came back, checked 'em all). She didn't do what she was supposed to do. She was in the kitchen (doing nothing but checking the checks) when she should've been out front, and vice versa.
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Thursday, January 22, 2009 - 6:12 pm
I agree, Costa, about Radhika but I thought it was Leah's restaurant that sent out the bad fish. Nothnjs ti Eadhujam Hanue abd Arrgh.. that's what happens when you are trying to stop a raspy cat tongue while trying to type with a cat on your lap and a keyboard falling off your lap. Anyway no thanks to Radhika, the dishes sent out of her kitchen for entrees were declared excellent, thanks to Jamie and Jeff. Still Radhika was way too detached and mute..
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Jodie75
Member
08-26-2004
| Thursday, January 22, 2009 - 6:57 pm
But did Fabio check all the food? He came back and announced something was wrong, but I didn't see him going beside each chef and examining all their portions. I don't know, maybe it's just because I don't like Leah. But Radhika won quite a few challenges and her strengths just weren't in the front of the house, fawning over people. I've heard Gordon Ramsay say several times that he doesn't shmooze with all the customers, he stays in back, cooking, checking on the preparation of the food by the other chefs and expediting. And he owns those restaurants. Does Mario Batali go out front greeting people at the door and seating them? Does Anthony Bourdain (sp)? Does Michael C himself do this? I think they don't need to go out front and fawn like a celebrity. They might go say hello to a VIP, but I think that's it. When I think front-of-the-house, I think Floor Manager. Those are separate jobs from the head chef. Radhika was definitely detached, but I think she was scared s***less of having everyone's jobs on her shoulders, and when she won the quickfire, I suspect she didn't have time to think it through first what would be expected of her. True, she didn't lead. If she opened her restaurant, I suspect she'd stay behind the scenes in the kitchen, and hire a Maitre'D. She is however, an excellent chef and her food thus far had been much better than Carla's. I have two cats, Seamonkey, and they do the same thing. 
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Nerovh
Member
06-11-2005
| Thursday, January 22, 2009 - 8:14 pm
That scallop is giving me the heebie geebies!! And a couple of days ago, my cat leaned on my keyboard and somehow changed my computer to having really teeny tiny letters, so small I couldn't even read them on some internet sites. It took me until today to figure out how to fix it back lol.
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Tntitanfan
Member
08-03-2001
| Thursday, January 22, 2009 - 9:16 pm
Radhika does not come from a culture which encourages women to be assertive and/or confrontational. Front of the house was NOT the right position for her, BUT the chef is supposed to be in CHARGE of the kitchen. When she saw that Carla's stuff was crap, she should have done something - given guidance in the first place about the flavor of the cake when ASKED, told Carla not to serve what was not good, called it something different - in other works taken charge of the output of HER kitchen. I LOVE FOTH! In my Friday volunteer position I work at Second Harvest's (Nashville's food bank) First Cafe which is a fund raiser to buy foods to make up the deficit from what is donated to what is needed - HUGE! We serve a gourmet buffet meal for $12 which includes salad, two sides, two entrees, bread, dessert, beverage and sales tax. This is all you can eat! I am on the end of the buffet line - dessert and beverages - and schmoozing like crazy. The chef is out in the dining room doing the same. We have peope who have been there EVERY SINGLE Friday since we started over three years ago. Yes, we have good - no, excellent! - food, but we show the patrons that we appreciate them and their patronage! Fabio was so funny - I just love his self-confidence and charm! And he was probably right - they could have served "monkeys asses" and won! I would not want to work in Stefan's kitchen, BUT I would be delighted to eat his food. Who cares if the chef has an abrasive and arrogant personality? He doesn't eat dinner at your table! His staff care - sure! - but are you going to work there? When you do business at your local bank do you worry about the temperament of the manager and how he/she treats the tellers? I think NOT! You want efficient,courteous, and excellent service! And it is the manager's job to give you that - same in a restaurant! My two cents worh -
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Jodie75
Member
08-26-2004
| Thursday, January 22, 2009 - 10:48 pm
But Tnt, Fabio didn't check all the food either. Radhika was called out on it because the food was bad. And she wasn't playing the chef in this challenge. She didn't cook. She was playing front-of-the-house aka Floor Manager. When you were working FOTH, did you go to the back and make sure everything was being prepared correctly?
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Lexie_girl
Member
07-30-2004
| Friday, January 23, 2009 - 4:57 am
I watched this last night. The judges liked the food from Radhika's team, with the exception of the dessert, whereas they didn't care for any of the food from Leah's team, with the exception of the dessert. Costa, it was Leah's fish that the judges didn't like. She had mutilated it to remove the bones.
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