Thursday, February 24, 2011

Top Chef All Stars Episode 11: Southern Love, a Bromance Renewed and Dale Talde Packs His Knives

Chef John Besh
What an amazing episode of Top Chef! I don’t even know where to start…

We’ll start with the light stuff:  Props to Top Chef for the Gulf Coast-themed episode. And seeing the Food Network’s ever-so-lovable Paula Deen on Top Chef All Stars was fantastic. But why keep the James Beard Award winning John Besh under wraps? I’m really surprised that Bravo didn’t advertise him more prior to airing the show…

And how much did you just love having the former cheftestants back in action? Watching Richard Blais and Fabio Viviani rekindle their bromance gave me the warm fuzzies… And it totally helped to soften the tension around the Mike Isabella/Richard food theft fiasco.


Fried Chicken Oysters w/Mustard Gravy & Oyster Liquor
Speaking of which, what was up with the recipe robbery? Mike can be a bit dense sometimes, but to blatantly steal Richard’s Fried Chicken Oysters idea was stupidity on a platter. You’re on national television, dude, and you’re taking credit for someone else’s work - that's retarded… BTW, Antonia’s McNasty comment to Mikey about his belching, farting and flicking his nose bits – was that really necessary?

And I absolutely loved how Tiffany Derry handled Marcel Vigneron. It’s a rare person who can shut that guy down without causing any major tension. But then again, maybe he overcooked her shrimp and screwed up her sauce on purpose. We’ve all seen Marcel in action and the boy can cook…

Last, but most definitely not least: Dale Talde’s departure. I have never been quiet about disliking Dale and his incessant bitchiness, but seeing the tears in his eyes after he was asked to pack his knives totally tugged at my heart strings. I wasn’t expecting to feel even a twinge of disappointment and now I feel guilty about ripping on him as much as I did. Oh well… What’s done is done.

Top Chef's Richard Blais, Angelo Sosa and Tiffany Derry
So now there are just 5 chefs left and it’s very likely that Richard Blais, Carla Hall and Antonia Lafaso will be three of the final four in the Top Chef All Stars showdown. And while it’s very unlikely it’ll happen, I can’t help but hope Tiffany Derry at least makes it to the finale. To be cut from the competition at 5th place again would bite.

Well, I guess we’ll just have to wait until next week to find out…


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9 comments:

  1. AnonymousFebruary 24, 2011 at 12:57 PM

    "It’s very likely that Richard Blais, Carla Hall and Antonia Lafaso will be the final four in the Top Chef All Stars showdown." ... That's 3, bro.

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  2. AnonymousFebruary 24, 2011 at 1:04 PM

    To the first Anon, I think the author meant that the final 4 will be those three, and one of the other two left -- but wasn't willing to choose. Those 3 clearly are a level above the remaining 2 chefs.

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  3. AnninaFebruary 24, 2011 at 1:38 PM

    obviously "Top Chef" isn't really about "Top Chef"... more like "Chef who can skate by in the middle of the pack long enough to have a better (more daring) chef mess up one dish"

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  4. AnonymousFebruary 24, 2011 at 1:42 PM

    You said it sista!

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  5. AnonymousFebruary 24, 2011 at 1:46 PM

    Clearly I was passively picking on the writer's editing. The paragraph doesn't make the point very clear.

    --So now there are just 5 chefs left. It's very likely that Richard Blais, Carla Hall, and Antonia Lafaso will be in the final four of the Top Chef All Stars showdown, and I can't help but hope Tiffany Derry makes it into that group as well. To be cut from the competition at 5th place again would bite.--

    Also, even though I put one in my original comment, I just noticed the overuse of ellipses.

    The writer's spirit is great and he or she is clearly a fan of the show, which I think makes for the best recaps. I also agree that the episode needed MORE John Besh. (You always need more John Besh! Ya hear me, Treme?) I'm just offering a little constructive criticism as a fan of the show and a fan of those who recap it!

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  6. AnonymousFebruary 24, 2011 at 3:52 PM

    Updated, nice.

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  7. The Foodie GossipFebruary 24, 2011 at 5:24 PM

    I'm always listing ;)

    In my defense, I wrote this post at around 3am, but thanks for the critique!

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  8. AmyFebruary 24, 2011 at 6:28 PM

    This was actually episode 10, not 11...check out the bravo site and count them.

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  9. The Foodie GossipFebruary 24, 2011 at 7:12 PM

    Actually, yesterday was episode 11 - you can double check: http://www.bravotv.com/top-chef/season-8/episodes. Last week was "Lock Down", which took place at the Target in Queens.

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