Top Chef Season 4, Zoo Food: Let's Dish!

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Okay, Sports Fans! Last night was the second episode of Top Chef, Season 4. What did you think about the Quickfire Challenge? The Elimination Challenge? Now that we've seen a little more from each of the contestants, have any of your opinions changed about them? Did the right chef pack her knives and go? Who do you love? Who do you hate? Who do you love to hate? My enquiring mind wants to know!



Please join in the fun. This week, I'll be giving away one of these to some lucky reader. To be eligible, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post before next Wednesday, March 26, at 10:00 p.m. EDT. That's it! You can do that, can't you? You can even be as snarky as you like. I'll let that handy, dandy random number generator do the rest. I will announce the winner of this week's Giveaway when I post about next week's episode. So, what are you waiting for?



If you missed the episode, here is a brief recap to get you up to speed, courtesy of Television Without Pity.
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Let's dish!

Comments

This week was certainly better than last--people thankfully seemed more competent (I still think of that picatta and souffle--yikes). But honestly, wtf about those mushrooms? Turd definitely described it. I was also surprised by how many of them didn't taste what they made. So far, I hold the prior seasons' contestants in higher regard... *shrugs*
/semi-rant
Deborah said…
I think the right person went. I think to be a chef, you need to be assertive (one reason I would never make a good chef!!) and she was not assertive at all. I also think the gorilla team should have been penalized for not making an all-vegetarian menu. I think they cheated in that regard.
h said…
I thought the challenges were decent. Last week I thought they were quite good. Hate Erik, Andrew and Spike.
Patsyk said…
Those mushrooms looked awful and just not appetizing at all. I couldn't believe that she actually allowed the judges to taste them. And, I thought that it was just common sense at this point to taste your food before you serve it... how else can you know if it should be served?

I liked the quickfire challenge - I just love seeing other farmer's markets and what chefs pick from them. I was impressed with the curly-haired guy (can't remember their names yet!) was able to pull it together even though he left something behind.

I LOVE this show!
grace said…
is it wrong that i'm partial to mark just because of his accent?
Heather said…
I'm glad the poser Rachel Drack lookalike split. Andrew is growing on me, even though he's obnoxious.

Dale is hot, so is Spike. I predict those two and either Mark or Andrew as final three.
Ginny said…
Ok, I was really bored with this week. I wasn't too thrilled with anyone or anything! It was really blah! I can't beleive they dont taste their food and the others...thats the best part! I also agree with Deborah...not doing vegetarian was kinda cheating!
Harland Crom said…
If you guys are really into Top Chef, you should check out this game. It makes watching the show more fun.

http://www.last2left.com/whatsinplay/top-chef-4
Susan @ SGCC said…
I agree that the contestants seemed to be a little more pulled together this week. I figure that last week there were a lot of nerves running rampant. I'm still not terribly impressed, though. There doesn't seem to be any "stars" among them, but it's still early. I just can't get over how so many of them don't taste their food! I am always tasting mine. Of course, I have the luxury of cooking in my own kitchen without a stopwatch going.

I think that the judges were on target with their choices. The moment I saw that glacier thing, I had a feeling that Andrew would take it. I also thought his squid dish looked great. I still think he is an obnoxious whiner, but he was better this week.

Those mushrooms really did look like turds! Mushrooms always look ugly, even when delicious. That's just the way they are. If I wanted to impress someone, I would never serve mushrooms on their own - especially stuffed with more turd colored food! That said, I'm glad Nikki didn't go. I like her and I really loved her lasagna last week.

I kind of liked Valerie too. Even though she was a milquetoast, she seemed sweet. Why do the assholes always go so much farther? Anyway, I wonder if she would have been allowed to cook the blini tableside if she wanted to, since the judges made such an issue of it.

What did you all think of Wiley Dufresne? I thought he was a constructive judge. He seemed genuinely interested in giving good feedback, instead of grandstanding like many other guest judges have.

Did you see the look on Richard's face when Wiley chose his dish as one of the worst? Priceless!

I'm not making any predictions yet. It's too soon to tell, but I like Mark (the Aussie), Stephanie, Spike and Dale (the new Hung). It will be interesting to see how things "unfold".
Anonymous said…
they are not impressing me yet...they dont seem to have the ability to think on their feet and pull things together with good technique and some added zing...they all seem to have a few specialties and they make them and thats it...i also dont understand why the one team served those mushrooms..they should have refused to serve them period.....they still had 3 items...andrew is making me dizzy....he should be voted most likely to cheat or trip over his own feet.....i feel like last week they showed they didnt know the basics and this week they couldnt pull together a simple cocktail party....where are the skills and talent of sam, lia, tre and harold? i wont be able to stomach the drama if there isnt any real skill and talent. i really think they should consider doing a season of completely untrained home chefs and see what they can whip up given amazing ingredients and a state of the art kitchen.
Imma said…
This season is certainly interesting. But I have to admit that the quality of the first season is unbeatable!
They should have let go the girl - what's her name? - that made those ugly mushrooms for sure.
Hopefully this week will be better!
Amy said…
Oh boy I love, love, love this show! So far I think the right people have been sent home, but I would not have been sad to see Nikki go because goodness those mushrooms looked atrocious.

Andrew annoys me but at the same time he's funny to watch. No clear favorites so far but I loved Mark's quinoa anchovy nigiri, I'm going to have to try to make it at home. :)
Anonymous said…
ok, first off, didn't they learn from last season that mushrooms as appetizers aren't necessarily the best way to go?

rachel dratch! that's it. i couldn't put my finger on it.

"Why do the assholes always go so much farther?" haha...tv, baby, tv...

and wiley dufresne as a guest judge was actually pretty good. i have to agree, he wasn't as obnoxious as some of the others can be and more about the contestants than about himself.

ok, sorry to hog the comments. :-P
Betsy said…
Can I enter this contest even though I haven't watched this show? I sure love your food blog and all your great recipes that you post!
Katie said…
I'm quite taken with the accent too. :D
My daughter lives in the neighborhood of Chicago, where last summer, Top Chef filmed a segment there. Not a lot of neighbors knew about it,( it was hush, hush) until they blocked off the street and up drove a couple of black limo's and out came Padma, and Tom and some other people. It was a "block party" setting.I think from the previews from last week for tonights show, its the one on her block, cause it looked very familiar to me.I'm not sure, but we think it is. My daughter lives very close to the Govenor of Ill. so I'm sure thats why they picked that area. When word got around there were tons of people watching, it was pretty cool.
Anonymous said…
The young man who won the elimination challenge seems to be much to jittery and hyper. I suspect something.

The young lady who lost would have a hard time getting even an animal to eat those rubbery blinis topped with unappetizing vegetable matter.

Those mushrooms weren't fit for my cat, Mr. Wiggles.

That was not really Wiley Dufresne, by the way. It was Walter Becker from Steely Dan. Dufresne would have been much more harsh in his critique of many of the dishes.

My wife is a nurse who prepares meals for shut-ins and would certainly appreciate those mitts.
Brilynn said…
Here's a random story for the random number generator:
My grandparents have hoped on board the foodie show band wagon and now when my grandma cooks a meal that my grandpa doesn't like, he tells her to "pack her knives and go!"
Anonymous said…
DID I WIN THE OVEN MITTS?

I have been anxiously watching the mail every day now....

Charles Treuter,
Columbia, Maryland

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