Thursday, December 10, 2009

Observations on Top Chef Season 6

Crossovers between Top Chef and The Truman Show:

  • "So I grabbed the Calphalon non-stick pan ..." (Kevin)
  • "We all got into the Venza and headed to Whole Foods ..." (Bryan Voltaggio)

Are we really supposed to believe that these lines came from the chef himself (especially that one)?

  • "I did watch Michael Chiarello on [Top Chef ]Masters. He is an awesome chef. He has pioneered fine dining in the Napa Valley." (Michael Voltaggio)
  • "The Napa Valley Wine Train is known for great cuisine." (Michael Voltaggio)

What on earth did Kevin do to tick off the producers? Maybe the M Resort wanted to recoup the cost for all those High-Stakes Quickfires by betting against the leading contender? Not to dispute the culinary talents of the Voltaggio brothers (or of Harold from Season 1), but Kevin got screwed almost as badly as Tiffani did on Season 1 with his sous chef selections.

Really, you had to boot out the two moms after just the introductory childhood memory appetizer and not let them stay to taste the remaining 3 courses? Chintzy much?

Why make savory chefs do dessert, especially now that Top Chef is spinning off Top Pastry Chef?

Bravo finally seems to have caught on that making chefs responsible for decor in Restaurant Wars is pointless. Will it ever come to the realization that event catering is different from restaurant cooking?

I appreciated and completely agree with Harold's comment that he hates the question, "Did you taste your food?" (the Top Chef equivalent of the "Did you stop beating your wife" cross-examination). Can we also get rid of the "Why do you deserve to be Top Chef" question? When did oral advocacy become part of a cooking competition? Perhaps I should be prepared to cook an omelette at my next motion hearing.

My Own Personal Burger List

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