In case you haven’t seen the latest episode of Top Chef, the details about the travesty that was last night’s episode are after the jump. SOMEONE oversalted the gnocchi, and SOMEONE ELSE took the fall for it. That SOMEONE ELSE is all class, however, in the video that is also after the jump. Meanwhile, I strongly suspect that Yukon Cornelius*, I mean Kevin Gillespie, will come out the winner.
- www.bravotv.com
* Who, fittingly, was not prospecting for silver and gold, but peppermint.
Seattle hometown heroine Ashley Merriman is out.
It’s a stunner. The judges seemed to have lost their minds: The whole accusatory do-you-really-think-gnocchi-is-appropriate-for-a-summer-supper thing was bizarre—one wanted to punch Tom Coliccho in his bald head. AND the reasoning that brought it down to Ashley or Michael V. (and not Eli the Oversalter or Ash) was extremely arbitrary. And it would be unkind to say anything about some of the chefs who are left who don’t deserve to be…
Then again, it is Top Chef Las Vegas, and luck plays a giant and, in this case, unhappy role.
Merriman is absolutely the portrait of graciousness in this video, to her vast credit. When it was filmed, she had 13 more days to while away in Vegas (her “least favorite place on earth” as she said in this interview), which she says she’ll spend reading a lot of books, doing a lot of sleeping, drinking a lot of beer, and counting the days ’til she can get home to her lady. “I hope that I did enough positive things to have that be the lasting impression,” she says. “I know that I treated everyone well in the manner in which I try to behave as a person in the world.”
I actually yelled at the TV when they told her to pack her knives. Glad I was alone. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.
Wrong wrong wrong indeed! Boooo. Eli sucks.
I can’t go a single day without seeing at least 2 or 3 photo posts of this Kevin Gillespie guy out of the bears I know. It’s getting really hilarious to see how they can take the 10 or 15 photos of him that exist online and stretch them out like a watered down bottle of champagne. It’s doubly hilarious to see the “but he’s straight :(” reaction whenever someone asks for him wearing less than he usually does.
Which is fine, he ain’t that bad lookin’ either way. And although he probably would laugh me out of his kitchen if I asked him for a vegetarian meal, I’m sure he’s a fine cook.
I’m going to hold on to the hope that they bring her back (as they sometimes do) and she still makes it to the top 4. Maybe someone will get kicked off. Maybe someone will voluntarily leave. Maybe they’ll bring back a couple kicked off contestants and make ’em fight for a spot again in a quick fire challenge. Unlikely, I know, but they’ve done it before. My fingers are crossed.
Kevin won the first elimination challenge right? That’s usually who wins the show.
I dig the Yukon Cornelius reference. ‘Tis true.
I think it’s going to be one of the brothers. Their shit is just WAY refined. I think if they get a chance, they will knock the final out of the park. Kevin is just too much “pork” and “bacon”. The judges will start to get board in a week.
Sorry, no way Kevin has the talent to win this thing outright. Ashley took responsibility for the dish conceptually (which the judges didn’t like), cooked the prawns (undercooked), and made the gnocchi (but didn’t cook it). Whether Ashley goes this week and Kevin next, or the other way around, neither one was going to win the competition. Sorry.
And Kevin is not hot. Sorry again.
Hot bear.
Count me in support of the brothers. Their food seems amazing (as much as it can from watching it on TV). They seem to be inventive and great control of their craft.
Sometimes the preaching by the judges gets to be a bit irritating; for example, last night, when the electricity goes out. Of course you’d adapt in any other situation; but in most situations, you have a bit more flexibility in time. If your dinner guest has to wait 5 additional minutes for a great meal, that’s what you’d do. But, on this show, they never get 5 additional minutes to fix a problem. As if these chefs don’t understand how to adapt.
Sheesh.
She was lucky to hang on this long. She’s made mistakes, and doesn’t have the backbone necessary to stand up for herself at the judging. That’s why she’s out.
I, unfortunately, was not alone when I started yelling at the television. Thankfully, I was at the Bottleneck, and most of the patrons were yelling as well.
Can we talk about how Tom Douglas barely said a word, and when he did it made me want to vomit? He is so much better than that!!
The reason I think that Yukon Cornelius is going to win it is because he is the only chef left on there that seems to be cooking with heart. With Ashley gone, its just left to the ego-maniacs, idiots, and ice-queens. Boo.
Btw…has anyone else noticed the stain on the front of his shirt? Way to go Bravo PR, way to go.
@13: you’d best not be dissing Jenn, who is wonderful. Because she will cut you and not care.
I was disappointed to see Ashley go, considering that Eli and Ash haven’t shown anything, really, but that’s what happens in team challenges…
I like the ice-queen! I really wanted a head-to-head between Ashley and Jennifer. Or to see them cook together as a team.
But Yukon Cornelius is my favorite boy. He’s the only one who I think actually eats what he cooks and, god forbid, enjoys it.
As a long time kitchen worker I will mention one factor in the judging that often gets overlooked-when they had a team and one of the team was weak, who did they send home? The girl.
Even with classes at places like the CIA at 50-50 enrollment rates, even with huge increases of women owning their own restaurants, women in the kitchen still have to work harder to get the same opportunities and the same respect.
Just on this show-when Robin gets anywhere it’s because she mentions she had cancer, not because of her food, according to her fellow contestants. Were the women sent home in the early parts of the show really worse than some of the men who are still there? Eli’s cooking is moderate at best, and his flaws got pasted onto Ashley.
As for the comment that gnocchi aren’t the right dish for a summer evening? Tom was being a dick, which he does so well. I often wonder if the deliberations have to deal more with who will make better ratings than with the food.
Jenn’s growing on me: not ice-queen, just East Coast. Driven, hard on herself, confident.
@12: I was really disappointed in Tom Douglas as well. Ordinarily, he has such a booming presence, but he seemed positively comatose and kind of weird.
He had to know Ashley, too. The food community here is too small and their restaurants are just blocks away from one another.
@18: That’s an interesting observation you made: “hard on herself, confident.” Is it possible to be both at the same time? From what I can see, Jenn (aka ice-queen) is a good cook, but I’m starting to get tired of her whining. She whined when they made it a boys versus girls competition, she whined when she wasn’t happy with her deconstructed lasagna (which won I believe), and she whined last night when she was feeling ill. “Poor, pathetic me. I’m just so sick and yet here I am rising to the challenge YET AGAIN to knock one out of the park.” I don’t know, I’m just getting tired of her drama.
Tom Douglas was on the show? Really? Hadn’t noticed.
@ 20- tom said today in his blog that jen only mentioned that she was feeling sick because she asked point blank by the camera crew. in reality tv, things are not always what they seem.
“the reasoning that brought it down to Ashley or Michael V.”… “was extremely arbitrary.”
This is Reality TV, not a real cooking competition. they have to create bullshit drama.
Kevin’s restaurant in Atlanta is, without a doubt, one of the best I’ve ever eaten in…and being bigger than Yukon, I’ve been to my share of restaurants….not that that means he will win.
I can’t believe Ashley is gone. It should have been Ash. He has not done crap since the season began and has been in the bottom 4 several times now. And why is the quiet girl (had it out with Robyn in the last episode) still in the game. She bothers me!
Jennifer is wildy bad ass. I love that she doesnt really move her mouth when she talks…she just kind of mumbles. The brothers are brilliant and sexy but Kevin is someone you can hold forever.
@23: Indeed. It’s largely fake drama, with both contestants and judges hamming it up. Anything slightly disappointing becomes the worst thing ever, anything above average is swoon-and-supurlatives.
Robin’s widely hated because she didn’t get that, and thought that people wanted genuine emotion. They don’t; she should have talked about a fictitious lost love or other bullshit, maybe wept a bit, and people would have love it, as long as it didn’t seem too sincere.
My money’s on Eli to win; he’s managing his image carefully, playing the game right, and just unlikable enough for the judges to feel tempted by the surprise factor.
Team challenges have a way of resulting in irrational judging decisions. The leaders usually get cut instead of the mistake-prone dead weight. Last night’s judging was either poor or really poorly justified. Ashley’s reluctance to throw her partner to the wolves for his mistakes made her look good, but it might have also resulted in here elimination.
Of the remaining contestants, I love Jenn the best. Her attitude, rabbity expressions, and drive are amazing. I hope she wins.
funny thing about Kevin – fired from a restaurant in Spokane not too long ago. And an early proponent of mangalitsa.
Well that was depressing. 🙁
Hopefully she wins fan favorite!