Real Time Web Analytics Foodie Gossip: Top Chef All Stars Bids Farewell to Jamie Lauren… And Tiffani Faison

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Top Chef All Stars Bids Farewell to Jamie Lauren… And Tiffani Faison

Top Chef All Star's Jamie Lauren
While I would love to sound surprised, the opening of Top Chef All Stars episode 6 was a dead giveaway – and it also backed my theory that the only reason Jamie Lauren lasted on Top Chef for as long as she did was to build media buzz and frustrate the hell out of viewers so they could provide them with a “big happy” when she was (finally) told to pack her knives and go.  Great marketing trick guys.

However, the episode as a whole was probably the best of the season. The scene where a very drunk Marcel goes off on Dale is hilarious. It was like watching a really bad Eminem impression. And, being a huge fan of deep sea fishing, watching the chefs make their catches was such a thrill – but even more entertaining was watching Marcel and Fabio’s fishing style. No wonder it took them 2 hours to make their first catch. But most adorable, was the married-couple-like-bromance between Richard and Fabio. It was really touching. ;-)

But I digress. While I’m happy that the remaining episodes are Jamie-free, I was a bit bummed with the lack of suspense/buildup of her demise throughout this episode. The secret was given away within the first minute of the show: this was the first episode where they really showed how annoying everyone thought she was. From a marketing perspective, I would have played up the suspense a bit more. There was all this build up and then just a “bing” instead of a “bang”. Since they spent so much time portraying Jamie as the Top Chef villain, she really should have gone out with a bang – it’s only fair.

And a message from Eric Ripert to Jamie Lauren:
ericripert SPOILER! Dear Jamie: Sorry to see you go. But I gladly offer you a free training at Le Bernardin on how to cook a fish. #topchefallstars

Owch.

Top Chef All Star's Tiffani Faison
And while I wasn’t surprised to see Tiffani Faison depart (she was one of the bottom 4), I have to say I felt a bit bummed. While she never lacked for talent, Tiffani has grown into such a likable person since Top Chef Season 1 and it would have been nice to see her stick around.

On the horizon, Angelo has been killing it, but I think we have a couple dark horses in Dale and Carla. And Antonia is really starting to step up. I’d like to see her win an elimination round – after last night’s episode, she really deserves it.

4 comments:

  1. I would have liked some specifics on the fish Dale caught. Since fishing was the show's quick round, and Dale clearly won it, why not divulge exactly how much his fish weighed.

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  2. Actually, Carla won at the end, but the fish that Dale caught was enormous. Check out last night's recap here: http://foodiegossip.blogspot.com/2011/01/top-chef-all-stars-recap-episode-6-were.html

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  3. It was about time that Jamie left.. If she would have stayed on one more week. I think I would have started a protest. I was a bit shock that Tiffany left. I expected her go much further. Next week I really think its Fabio for some reason.....

    elocinval.blogspot.com

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  4. I actually think Fabio will pull through in Restaurant Wars. As much as I absolutely love him, I'm kinda thinking Tre may end up at the bottom - he and Tiffany haven't done too well this season, but they're at the top of my "love 'em" list. And I'm non-so-secretly-hoping that Dale slips up. Is that bad?

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