Thursday, January 20, 2011

And the Winner is....

Holy cow that was a Restaurant Wars for the ages? Two teams of five, an awesome twist of the letting the customers decide whose food was better and yet another guest judge with accent thicker than Marcel's head. My question for the morning after for once doesn't have to do with the chef who was auffed last night. No, we all knew that was coming the moment Dale chose Marcel as his opposing team leader. What I have an issue with is who was awarded the win and $10,000.


Now if you've read this blog long enough you know I'm not a great fan of Chef Blaise. It has to do with some issues that happened during his season, his reliance on cutesy name play with his dishes but the biggest issue I've had with him is that he felt he was really the winner of his season, that somehow he lost for some other reason than he got out-cooked. I don't deny the man has skills and those skills were rocking on all cylinders during this episode. With all that in mind, I still would not have awarded the win to him. Nope instead I would have given it to...


..this guy. Fabio totally kicked ass in his many roles for Restaurant Wars. Now there's a mistaken belief that when you put something out front for Restaurant Wars, they get auffed. In the seven previous seasons, that's only happened twice. The reason why we tend to believe this is because the judges harp so much on front of house service performed by chefs. So it only seems fair to me that sparkling front of house service should have been rewarded. Just compare the two chef's performances in that role. Tiffany failed on cooking eggs, totally screwed her asparagus dish, and was not exactly well versed in her front of house role. In all honesty, Mike would have been better at front of house but he didn't volunteer. Fabio on the other hand set up his restaurant, fully prepped his waitstaff, most likely greeted every guest, and helped with food prep. When Dale started freaking out a bit at start of service, who was it that calmed him down and made things run smoother? Not Richard. It was Fabio. How was Fabio's contribution to the menu? Well, he made a dessert. We all know that desserts are the kiss of death in Top Chef. How was his dessert? Apparently one of his best offerings so far in this competition and totally melded with the rest of the menu. So while Richard did a good job as his self appointed role of technical adviser (????) I think the real winner was Fabio. So I'm awarding him $10,000 in Karmic Kitchen Bucks (actual value - Doodly Squat) for the fantastic job he did for Restaurant Wars.

6 comments:

the dogs' mother said...

I can go along with that. Maybe next week when we seem to be going home to his roots. Unless they all got arrested this morning.bwa-ha-ha!

Buzz Kill said...

If you read Tony Bordain's blog (it's really funny - as usual), apparently all of Blais' team mates gave him credit for the win. Edited out by Bravo I guess.

Although Fabio had a lot to do with the team winning, I thought Dale won the challenge for them before they even started cooking. Choosing Marcel as the opposing team captain was tactical brilliance. And I don't think even Dale thought it would turn out as easy for them as it did.

Bordega probably did the best Restaurant War challenge in TC history. But they could have served crap-on-plate and still won this challenge.

MakingSpace said...

Excellent - if Fabio gets a lot of face time, my children will be happy. They love to imitate his accent. Haha

Big Shamu said...

Haven't hit the blogs yet but you're absolutely right, this thing was over the moment Marcel was picked to lead his team. Brilliant as he may be no one respects him and if you can't get people to respect you there's no way you're going to get people to give their all for you.

And Buzz your last point, that's why I think Fabio should have won, if they have served crap on a plate, he would have convinced the diners it was foie gras and caviar. Happily he didn't have to but I think he's that good at the smchooz.

Big Shamu said...

MS your kids will be doubly happy with both Fabio and Ludo. Subtitles, really we needed subtitles.

MakingSpace said...

I can't wait! We'll watch it together. They love imitating accents. And they loooooooove Fabio. Haha