Top Chef Las Vegas

I've always wondered if there were any Top Chef fans amongst the RMMB. I'm really digging this season. It seems like they are putting the food in the forefront more than they did last season with all of the outside drama that got so much screen time.

I'd like to see the final 3 come down to Kevin and the Voltaggio brothers. Those guys bring it every single challenge.

 

Unless Kevin can pull off some kind of upset, Jennifer is definitely going to win. And the cooking is better this time around. Jennifer, Kevin, the Voltaggios, and the other Michael all make fantastic stuff week in and week out. Probably my favorite season so far, with the possible exception of season 3, because of Casey:

 

Eli seems like the type of guy that would have a face that is the exact polar opposite of my right fist.

Season's been good, was glad to see most of the people I severely dislike already go home, though.

P.S.
I own the Top Chef cookbook and have probably watched every single episode of Top Chef ever, including Top Chef: Masters.

 

This season is definitely the one of the best so far, though the "High Stakes" quickfire bit is a little annoying. Yeah, they're in Vegas, I get it. I think it's going to come down to a showdown between Kevin, Jennifer and one of the Voltaggios. Not sure which brother but I've had this feeling that one is going to mess up bad soon and get sent home for something stupid. Kevin seems the most likely to win, to me that is, because his food is always simple and done his way which is what the judges have always gone for in the past seasons.

 

Lord, Casey was hot.

FOCUS: I think the other Michael is hit or miss, he has had some shitty dishes. Coupled with the fact that he is a giant cocky douchebag, I hope his stupid ass goes home relatively soon, along with his eye tattoo on his hand.

Michael V makes some of the most creative and daring food I've seen on Top Chef since Richard Blais. Its really fun to watch the dynamic between him and his brother as they couldn't be more different as chefs.

Jennifer, despite talking like Greta van Sustren is a hell of a chef. I think she is going to end up winning. She also has a great ass, so bonus points.

I think we can all agree, however, that Robin sucks and she needs to fucking go home. Congrats for beating cancer, but I don't think she needs to interject it into every statement she makes. That and her lips freak me out a bit.

 

It's no more annoying than Hector reminding us he was from San Juan every minute and cooking every dish "Puerto Rican style". Or Ron, for that matter, reminding us that he learned how to cook fish on a refugee raft.

 

I'm so excited for Restaurant Wars tonight!!! This challenge seems to be the one that really weeds out the weak links. Like everyone else has sad "Grandma" should have been gone a long time ago. We all know she's around to keep the drama rolling. Episode before last, when she got paired up with Guido Mike, I thought that was sweet poetic justice - the two most annoying characters grating on each other relentlessly. And the fact that she has no internal dialogue "I'm going to eat this orange..." just drives me nuts. Surely they'll throw her under the bus this week and she'll finally get sent home. Her or that quiet blond chick whose name I can never remember because she doesn't ever do anything spectacular, just manages to barely get by.

And based on the previews for this coming episode... really Voltaggio brothers? You thought it would be a good idea to be on the same team?! You can't even use the plastic wrap at the same time without it turning into an huge fight. I mean, you're both hot as hell and I would love to see you rip off your chef coats and fight, but I'd actually rather see you win a competition. Those guys, Kevin, and Jennifer are so awesome. Can't wait to see what they fix up tonight.

 

Can we see more of Jennifer in a bikini? Have her just cook in that for the rest of the competition.

And Revolt was a god awful fucking retarded name. It didn't click in my head about revolution until they said it. That was dumb.

 

I'd definitely put Brian way ahead of Michael for the competition. Both are fantastic chefs, but Brian seems more consistent. I feel like Michael will go down due to a mental error. I wouldn't complain if Robin and Eli went home in the same week.

 

Well, the dull, blond chick was the sacrificial lamb this week. Don't get me wrong, she wasn't fantastic as Front of House and she has been consistently mediocre throughout the competition, but she didn't specifically screw up any of the food... this week. She has in the past, though. And I really felt the judges sent her home for her overall mediocrity. Sure Jen screwed up the fish dish, and Kevin undercooked the lamb, but this was more of a rare mistake on their parts than par for course for them. Oppose that to the continual banality of Lorana and you have a loser .... that is her name? Right? She's just too bland to try to remember.

I absolutely lost the bet with my mom. She said the Voltaggio brothers would win, while I thought their egos would cause them to fall appart. I was wrong. Well done brothers! Superior craftsmanship wins again. And thank you for not putting up with "Grandma's " craziness.

 

Well that's by one standard. Michael V on the other hand is way more creative and versatile than Brian, and that's obviously worth a lot on a show like this. I feel like the cowboy cooking episode was a testament to Michael's diverse culinary background. A Japanese dish? For cowboys? In those shitty conditions? And he fucking nailed it. Brian is obviously incredibly talented as well. His technique and feel for cooking is probably the best on the show. You can see him working out in his mind each time "These flavors will work. These won't." And he's right just about every time. Meanwhile, Michael's brain seems to work more in a "How can I make this more different / non-traditional / exciting" kind of manner.

I love Jennifer. She's hot, talented and knows her shit. However, she psychs herself out way too much. Every episode we hear her talking about how shitty she did. Whether she genuinely did (such as Restaurant Wars) or was actually pretty awesome (some pasta dish she did), it's always a bit of a bitchfest from her.

Kevin is a great chef, and his biggest asset is that he's really adept at being able to take his style of cooking and work it into the challenge. Lots of his courses are southern influenced, but not really southern food. He doesn't have the fancy education or refinement of the previously mentioned contestants, but he doesn't seem to really need it. He's already incredibly good at what he knows, and if he sticks with that he should be fine. You just can't be obvious about it and make a dish from your speciality every time. I'm looking at you Ilan.

Those are my top 4. The other Michael and Eli are both ok, but their confidence really isn't on the same level as their abilities and it's going to catch up with them. Robin has been surviving on the fact that someone better than her just bombs worse then her each episode for far too long. Get her ass out of there and let people who know what they're doing compete.

 

I have seen every episode of every season of Top Chef, and this season has some badass chefs on it. I would have to say that there is a pretty obvious division of who is amazing (Jennifer, Kevin, and the Volt bros) and who sucks and shouldn't be in the finals (everyone else).

I hate Robin. She sucks as a chef and her personality is so annoying. I have a lot more respect for people who have done something great (i.e. beat cancer) when they just mention it and move on. She interjects it into situations where it is not relevant at all and then people give her sympathy. I just find that kind of pathetic.

Does anyone else call Jennifer "Bitchface"? That's the only name that seems fitting to her. Her face hardly ever shows emotion and she just looks totally unapproachable and mean.

Also, I agree that Casey was hot, but what about Elia? I loved her.

 

She didn't look anywhere near that good most of the time, and honestly, being a major, back-stabbing, lying, evil bitch tends to be a major turn-off...at least for me.

Focus-

Haven't watched since Season 3, but caught last night's episode. Very talented group this year, overall.

 

I disagree, and I think someone should have reminded Eli to pronounce it "REE-volt" instead of "RUH-volt". And, I noticed they spelled it "R3volt" (backwards E instead of a 3, though) on their menu. Robin Eli VOLTaggio was pretty clever, actually. The name wouldn't take much to get used to if it were a real place.

 

As much as I hate reality TV, I love reality TV cooking shows. Top Chef and Hell's Kitchen are incredibly fascinating.

As far as this season goes, Jennifer is a smoking hot perfectionist and I hope that she wins. She has a wry sense of humor and a odd, yet sexy, manic energy about her. Not sure that she can win as she reminds me too much of Richard Blais from season 4. Like him, she can visualize exactly what she wants to do, but is often too ambitious for the alloted time and she ends up frazzled and in the weeds. Sometimes that works out in her favor and sometimes it does not.

I bet that Kevin will win. Through week 9, he has won three elimination challenges, three quickfires (one as part of a team), and has never been in the bottom for a quickfire. He seems to have a gift for making complicated food that ends up looking simple and delicious. Still, I'm looking forward to where this season goes.

Another vote for Robin being out ASAP. She is a passive aggressive narcissistic fraud. What really annoys me is how much air time she gets. It's like Tiffani from season one is a producer and wants someone else to become the most hated top chef contestant. I hope they are doing that to build to something of epic proportions. Like Robin pinning down Eli and shaving his head (ala Marcel) or a fist fight between the two. Of course, she'd play the cancer card for the 83rd time as an excuse, but it would still be entertaining to see her finally have a meltdown.

This season is decent, but season 4 was easily my favorite. Andrew, Spike, Dale, Antonia, Stephanie, and Richard were great. There was just a really good energy that season and some of the things they said were hilarious (especially Andrew). That season gave me a culinary boner.

 

I felt bad for Lorraine. The judges knew she was the weakest cook on that team overall, so even though Jennifer probably should've gotten the boot (slowing service to a standstill, butchering the trout) they picked her instead. Tough luck.

Barring some unforeseeable screw up, I think it'll end up as the Voltaggios, Mike Isabella, Jennifer, and Kevin as the last 5. At that point it's basically a tossup, because somebody's going to go home for a tiny detail, not for being a bad chef.

And whoever comes up with the challenge ideas is doing a great job. The relay quickfire was probably my favorite yet. I hope at some point they do a challenge like the finale for Top Chef Masters, where each chef can cook "their food" with basically no strings attached. Twists and turns are fine, but that's better when you're dealing with 15 people, some of whom suck. I want to see these guys cook.