The new season of Top Chef is here. And bring out the snark, the snottiness and the nastiness.
17 chefs out of the gate. As always they are all over the place from self-taught personal chefs to the guy who has already earned a Michelin star and the one who won a rising star chef award. (Sidenote: the lines between the bottom of Top Chef Masters and the top tier of Top Chef contestents seem to be blurring. What’s the real difference?) There’s only one chef out of the lot whose restaurant I’ve eaten at — Kelly Liken, which is always one of my favorite places to eat in Vail, but who doesn’t seem to be off to a shining start.
I like that they started the season with the mise en place competition because it showcases actual in-the-kitchen skills (often rusty) first before giving them a chance to also show their flair for flavor. Kenny really flew through the entire first section — although because of the editing it is difficult to tell how much time actually elapsed between finishers: Angelo, Timmy and Kevin next. Then the four top guys were tasked with 30 minutes to whip up a dish with onions, potatoes and chicken with $20k on the line in the “high-stakes” quickfire. Timmy and Kevin get the thumbs down while Angelo and Kenny get the thumbs Up, and Angelo takes home the money on the strength of his wings with onion jam.
The elimination featured each of the four quickfire finalists selecting their own groups dodgeball style (can you say reverse popularity contest?). The objective! Create a dish that tell about where you’re from and who you are. I’m not going to do a full recap of dish by dish, but suffice to say I think it’s absolutely hilarious that three out of the four earlier winners once again ended up on top, but the fourth east just not in the top but actually was in the elimination pile. DOH! Talk about the roller coaster ride right there. At judges table, it was fairly obvious to me Angelo was going to win. I think they liked his elegant preparation more than the rustic or homey presentations (such as the successful but decidedly chunky deconstructed borscht from Alex). But we’re seeing the potential for some interesting rivalry among the top contenders (poor Kenny! He got robbed!). And at the bottom of the pile, some really sad looking dishes. The chicken liver mousse was a disaster and really, Jacqueline, if you can’t memo rise a recipe after 100+ times, that’s really sad. John from Michigan’s maple Napoleon sounded promising but clearly didn’t perform, and definitely did not tell John’s personal story (unless you started as a pastry chef, pastry isn’t your story John). Timmy is shocked to be on the bottom, and even though they didn’t like his fish I never thought he was in serious danger. Stephen’s potato-crusted rib-eye looks kind of like chicken fried steak and is overcooked. Personally I think though that it comes down to the two Js, and yes, John goes back to Michigan (or wherever assuming they have to stick around until filming ends).
The mix-and-mingle where they show them cheftestants interacting throughout — I didn’t like Angelo from the start — kind of arrogant, and a little “oh, have you ever been to France?” condescending. I must say that at least he has demonstrated in one episode he has some skills to back it up, but he wrecked any chance he had for me to cheer for him when he said with all that bravado that he will be the first contestant to win every challenge. I’m not saying confidence is bad mind you but have some respect for others and how they got there. Kenny I like in his serious way and am excited to see how he develops.
What is up with the women though? None of them really distinguished themselves enough to make me even remember their names. Someone had better step up to the plate in the next few episodes or this is just going to be another sad demonstration of no-women-chefs (witness the finals of Top Chef Masters). Some of the women seem downright whiny. Please let me be wrong.
All in all, I’m not sure where the quality of the chefs is this year, from both a cooking perspective and a personality angle. Withholding judgment on that until after the a couple more episodes.
