Congratulations...I guess. For the quality of chefs up until this point, for the Finale episode, I expected a whole lot of fantastic, not the overwhelming urge to flip the channel to a mediocre Sandra Bullock movie. As for the food? Wow, totally underwhelmed. Yeah, I know, I can't taste the dishes. But I also don't see myself ordering many of them as they were presented on a menu of a restaurant I'd never dined at before, that's how uninspired I was by what I saw on my TV screen. I'm sure Tom's blog rantings will explain his intricate thought processes tomorrow but tonight all I can think is that was the most boring Top Chef Finale I've ever seen.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Color Me Unimpressed
Congratulations...I guess. For the quality of chefs up until this point, for the Finale episode, I expected a whole lot of fantastic, not the overwhelming urge to flip the channel to a mediocre Sandra Bullock movie. As for the food? Wow, totally underwhelmed. Yeah, I know, I can't taste the dishes. But I also don't see myself ordering many of them as they were presented on a menu of a restaurant I'd never dined at before, that's how uninspired I was by what I saw on my TV screen. I'm sure Tom's blog rantings will explain his intricate thought processes tomorrow but tonight all I can think is that was the most boring Top Chef Finale I've ever seen.
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21 comments:
Ahem! No Sandra Bullock movie is ever mediocre! That is all.
I am, frankly, surprised.
Well, if nothing else, count this as potential evidence that it really IS still about the food? Because I can think of no other reason why consistently asshat (or at least edited that way) Michael would snag the spot.
I don't know if I would call it boring. I mean, it was a damn close race the whole way through. And for me, it was worth it for the laughs over the bacon-as-dessert debate, if nothing else. Then again, I am easily entertained by the Saturday morning cartoons, so I have fairly low standards.
Bryan, you are still my favorite brother. His overall classiness throughout this competition impressed me. And giving Kevin - one of his strongest competitors - advice on the sous vide, at least in my mind, still ranks up there with the Season 5 Christmas spirit in the "heartwarming Top Chef moments" list.
I was totally surprised! I thought bringing in mom was very touching. I didn't like how Padma messed with Kevin's head by addressing him and then saying he's NOT the top chef. Mean how they do that. Ok, NOW what are we gonna talk about?
Oh, Padma's bangs!!! haha! Hey Sham I like your new DSS logo! Looks great!
I was shocked. I knew Kevin was done when he drew his sous chefs. Cruel fate, why do you mock him? And did Kevin learn nothing from Richard Blase on doing pork belly in the final?
I do not understand why Bryan did not win this. Maybe the judges felt that he played it safe where asshat was all over the place with his dishes. All of Bryan's dishes seemed solid.
I think Top Chef is also about class and character. Bryan and Kevin have it - Michael does not. Very disappointing.
And Padma is starting to look like Cher or is that just me?
MS, we'll talk more in depth about Ms. Bullock and her choices of movie material offline but let me just throw out there Miss Congeniality II.
Noxy, I'm not tossing the whole season but I still contend it was too damn long. Maybe I'm suffering from Top Chef fatigue. I did get really bored last night. And is it really about the food? Michael's dessert failed. A dessert he claims he's done a lot. Top Chefs don't fail in the clutch, they don't serve failures in the Finale. Remember this is the same judge, Tom (and really, there are no other judges, Tom is HEAD judge) who eliminated Jen, in part not because her duck dish tasted bad but because she didn't grill it. A failure on a dish the judges mandated they had to make. Was it close? Who knows, I sure as hell didn't think Michael proved enough last night to be Top Chef over Kevin or Bryan with the dishes he made last night. There's no point talking about editing because it doesn't matter (we all know Eli's Casino inspired dish was worse than Robin's but there was no way Tom was letting her go any further). I do agree with you that this season had some nice camaraderie in the kitchen between most of the chefs. Not because of Michael but Bryan, Kevin and Jen really made an impression that the end result was more important than screwing your opponent.
LaDiva, I kinda liked having the moms there but also it was kinda weird kicking them out after one course. Again, it seemed gimmicky, squeezing the sibling rivalry storyline for every drop they could.
You're right, Kevin did get punked by the Knife Draw. I'm still wondering how Preti got past the first Elimination. But Kevin also let it get into his head. Part of me also wonders it Robins name was really on any knife in that block? And please Buzz, let's not mention that name again, really.
I have to agree with you on the leadership aspects of what a Top Chef should have and I'm not seeing that in Michael.
Yes, I think that's what bugged me about Michael winning, his lack of leadership qualities. He's quite immature and I've worked for bosses and chefs like him before and it's not very nice. No one likes a kitchen nazi. When you look at past Top Chef winners like Harold, Michael just pales in comparison.
Yes, what was that about, only letting the moms eat one course? A very Louis XIV moment, if you ask Moi.
My assessment: Meh. I'm upset that Kevin had an off night and didn't win. His cooking is much more interesting to me than the flashy gymnastics of either Voltaggio.
Oh, and hey, who DOESN'T love Sandra Bullock? She could convince even a busload of Baptist gals to pitch for the other team with her humor alone.
Moi, can you name one dish (other than his failed dessert) that Michael made last night?
Um. No. But I remember Kevin's: chicken skin with tomatoes; pork belly; improperly cooked mushroom; banana and chocolate/bacon dessert!
Exactly. Shouldn't we remember, at least for 12 hours after the show, what the new Top Chef made? Hell I still think about the dishes Hung and Dale made for the season 3 finale, wishing I could taste them.
So what you're saying is I made the right decision to watch the fall finale of GLEE over seeing my fav, lose?
OK then.
You did a great job, Shamy, thanks for being our host for Top Chef this season.
You did miss bacon candy on a dessert but yes, you made the right decision.
@makingspace
Yeah.....ALL of her movies are mediocre.
I've surfed the net and the overwhelming majority of INTELLIGENT TC viewers think it was a HORRIFIC finale.
The contestants deserved better.
Viewers deserved better.
yeah really. HO hum...zzzzz. I think our own Dim sums and Throwdowns is more excitin'.
Uh..which Sandra Bullock ovie?
AND PLEASE COME BACK--I fixed the broken link fer Paris--you'll like it!
Mark Captain Obvious down as a Not a Fan column for Sandy.
Troll, we agree on that. I also did a little surfing and actually saw one dubious claim that Michael reminded them of Harold???
I think Padma is starting to look like Cher, at least Cher of past. I wish I had watched Glee instead. You just knew all season that it was going to end up the brutha's and really, could those guys have less personality? I don't think I will watch next season.
Did I miss a Bravo Top Chef Poll that asked if viewers wanted Padma to look like Cher?
Not that this was any reason for Kevin's performance, but he and his wife split up right before the finale:
http://blogs.ajc.com/food-and-more/2009/12/10/q-and-a-with-kevin-gillespie-of-top-chef/
Holy crap, that would be really hard to deal with. I guess that's why we had moms instead of wives or significant others.
Honestly, it would be hard enough to share rooms and a lack of privacy with a bunch of lunk head strangers and egoists and then not have much contact with your family or outside world. (are they allowed Internet?) I know I couldn't do it.
Poor Kevin, at least he already has his restaurant which I'm sure will be hopping if it isn't already.
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