Top Chef Washington Season 7--Washington D.C.!!

[~Boudicca~]

I DVRed it and I'm watching now while the kids are still groggy from waking up

[MadiMamacita]

ooh i'm excited! I have to watch it online though.

[BookGoddess]

I was to see Eric Ripert instead of Toby. Eric Ripert can come over to my house and read me the phone book. I love him and his accent.

I was sad to see John get eliminated. As a James Beard nominee and a seemingly nice guy, I was hoping he would make it to the middle of the season at least. However, what was he thinking making a desert when it wasn't required. I knew it was the kiss of death when he bought that puff pastry and said "this looks good, but *I haven't used this before*." The EC was so easy for a professional chef. Cook something that represents your area. That should be something most of them could do without a lot of thought.

Looks like Angelo and Kevin are getting the edit to be the Voltaggio brothers of this season. I'm still reserving judgment on Angelo. At times, I didn't care for his comments about his greatness.

[JElaineB]

Originally Posted by BookGoddess

I was sad to see John get eliminated. As a James Beard nominee and a seemingly nice guy, I was hoping he would make it to the middle of the season at least. However, what was he thinking making a desert when it wasn't required. I knew it was the kiss of death when he bought that puff pastry and said "this looks good, but *I haven't used this before*." The EC was so easy for a professional chef. Cook something that represents your area. That should be something most of them could do without a lot of thought.

As soon as he decided to make a dessert I knew he was done. They should know if they have ever watched this show - don't make a dessert unless absolutely required!

They did mention that there is an upcoming show with Gail Simmons called Top Chef Just Desserts or something like that. Does anyone know more about that? Sounds like it might be Top Chef for pastry chefs.

[JessicaS]

I don't really understand what people are thinking. The winner is always "I know exactly what I am doing, I have a plan ect ect"




You would think they would want everything to be perfect on one of the meals they can pretty much choose what they are cooking. They aren't having to cook sweetbreads, having to buy their ingredients at a gas station or only have breakfast cereal to work with. They had choices and then they do weird things.

[Awaken]

I'm watching- yipee for Top Chef!

[Awaken]

Just saw this little article about the show, and Padma's thoughts on breastfeeding! http://blogs.babble.com/famecrawler/...breastfeeding/ I knew she was pregnant at the end of last season, but hadn't heard the baby news.

[~Boudicca~]

Originally Posted by Awaken

Just saw this little article about the show, and Padma's thoughts on breastfeeding! http://blogs.babble.com/famecrawler/...breastfeeding/ I knew she was pregnant at the end of last season, but hadn't heard the baby news.

Good find! I love that she is breastfeeding. And yeah, I'll agree, pumping sucks.

[gbailey]

It seems like this season there are more seasoned chefs than the last season. The guy who won both challenges last week seems a little off but his dishes looked tasty.

I love Eric Ripert. He's so not arrogant and has a nice voice.

[~Boudicca~]

Is it weird that I absolutely cannot remember last season? I need to google now because I literally have no recollection of the team from last year. I feel kind of senile right now

[~Boudicca~]

Just watched the quick fire and I am drooling for a good sandwich right now

[Amys1st]

Yay someone started this! This is DH and I's favorite show! Loved the sanwich quickfire.

I half expected Michelle Obama to show up since they were doing the school lunches.

[BookGoddess]

Who puts sherry in a lunch dish made for kids? I know the heat probably killed the alcohol off, but still...it just seemed like such a dumb thing to do. I didn't like her mouthing off about the opposing team's dish.

I thought the Jacqueline was rightfully eliminated. That was the second time she made something "grainy". Two lbs of sugar? Yikes! Even if it is spread over quite a number of kids, it's still quite a lot of sugar.

I thought the assistant White House chef was quite easy on the eyes. They need to bring him back again.

[Evan&Anna's_Mom]

I always like the episodes where they are asked to cook for kids. However, did anyone else feel like they missed that these were actually teens? I mean, little kids like PB & celery, but my 10 YO is pretty much past that stage. And they should definitely have made everyone aware of "no peanuts or tree nuts" as that is such a standard restriction these days.

I do not like Angelo's attitude and was glad that he didn't win this one too. I though either woman could have been justly sent home.

[gbailey]

Originally Posted by Evan&Anna's_Mom

I always like the episodes where they are asked to cook for kids. However, did anyone else feel like they missed that these were actually teens? I mean, little kids like PB & celery, but my 10 YO is pretty much past that stage. And they should definitely have made everyone aware of "no peanuts or tree nuts" as that is such a standard restriction these days.

I do not like Angelo's attitude and was glad that he didn't win this one too. I though either woman could have been justly sent home.

I don't care for him at all. His attitude stinks even though that sandwhich did look tasty.

[BookGoddess]

If Angelo wants to be Top Chef he should do it by his cooking not by sabotaging other contestants. What he did shows a lack of class and confidence. I can't picture the Voltaggio brothers, Stephanie, Richard Blaise, etc. doing something like that.
They all do play the game to a certain extent - Was it Tim or Kevin who didn't give some cooking equipment to Angelo for his dish? I think Amanda admitted in the confessional that she didn't do desert as part of her strategy. But, Angelo was really obvious about what he did. Glad Tom called him out on it.

I've always considered tomato a vegetable and use it as such. I didn't understand the fuss about it.

Peanut butter and celery is a snack. It's not satisfying enough for a meal. I also thought most schools now are nut-free given the rise in food allergies.

[MadiMamacita]

I thought the sherry chicken girl should have gone home just for the fact that she bought such a frivolous ingredient which no one even thought added to the dish, and left her teammate scrambling for ingredients for her dessert.

And I think the fuss about the tomato was because chefs of that caliber should be reasonably expected to know that a tomato is technically a fruit and not try to pass it off as a veg. They knew they were expected to serve a veg. Once slice of tomato (and did he say that they roasted it and thats why it should count as a veg?) and a stick of celery should not constitute a serving of vegetables.

But the winning team didn't have a great veg either... corn and tomatoes- I think of corn as more of a starch than a veg, pickled onions.. I did see something green on the taco so maybe that was supposed to count? I thought the other team that did the bbq chix was a lot more creative in making a healthier alternative.

[gbailey]

Originally Posted by MadiMamacita

I thought the sherry chicken girl should have gone home just for the fact that she bought such a frivolous ingredient which no one even thought added to the dish, and left her teammate scrambling for ingredients for her dessert.
And I think the fuss about the tomato was because chefs of that caliber should be reasonably expected to know that a tomato is technically a fruit and not try to pass it off as a veg. They knew they were expected to serve a veg. Once slice of tomato (and did he say that they roasted it and thats why it should count as a veg?) and a stick of celery should not constitute a serving of vegetables.

But the winning team didn't have a great veg either... corn and tomatoes- I think of corn as more of a starch than a veg, pickled onions.. I did see something green on the taco so maybe that was supposed to count? I thought the other team that did the bbq chix was a lot more creative in making a healthier alternative.

Thank you! I was wondering why she was allowed to stay on plus she seemed to have a tude at judges panel.

[neetling]

love this show. I missed the first episode, but was able to find it and dvr it. Yeah the sherry chicken lady was selfish.

[BookGoddess]

Sherry chicken lady (that's my nickname for her from now on ) did well tonight. Color me surprised.

I had a feeling Tracey was going to be eliminated. I'll miss her commentary. I found her amusing even if she was snarky at times. Doe she remind anyone else of Rosie O'Donnell? Something about her look and her comments remind me of Rosie.

Padma is looking good. Wish I looked that good a few months after having DD.