Top Chef Season 4 (1 Viewer)

[Parker Clack]

Lew:

Good question. We shall see who ends up with who.

 

[Marianne]

I was fairly surpised that Dale went instead of Lisa, but he was exec chef so it was his responsibility. Spike dodged the bullet and I think Lisa will be gone next.

 

[Lew Crippen]

If Dale had lost the coin toss (meaning that Lisa would have been the executive chef), I expect that Dale would still be cooking.

Also if his narrow second place in the Quickfire Challenge had been just a bit better (or the judge had given him the nod in a close one), he too would have picked Richard and Stephanie. And again, he would probably still be cooking.

In any case he went out with more class than many.

 

[Parker Clack]

I was really surprised that they let Dale go instead of Lisa. Personally I thought she did a poor job in the kitchen (at least what they showed us). I just think they chose Dale because he was the executive chef.

 

[Lew Crippen]

I would have far preferred Dale to remain—but for sure he did not do a good job as the head guy. The menu was poor, his communication skills were lacking and he did not in any way demonstrate that he knew how to run a kitchen.

Just as in any job, the skills in doing are not the same as those in leading.

And last night, Lisa skated by one more time, as Spike went out the door. But I can’t see here making it one more time, unless one of the other three has a meltdown or a culinary disaster.

I thought that the best chefs were Richard, Dale and Stephanie. With Dale out my picks:
1.Richard
2.Stephanie
3.Antonia

But any could step up on the day.

 

[Chuck Anstey]

For the first many weeks, none of the women chefs had the kitchen or leadership skills to be worthy of Top Chef. Richard, Dale and Andrew were at the top on average. Suddenly Antonia found a whole bunch of kitchen skills a few weeks ago and now Andrew and Dale are gone. Lisa and Spike have(had) held on this long due to the golden rule: Come in 2nd to last until the finals. Dale forgot the leadership rule (even though it was used against Nikki earlier) "Executive chef is fully responsible and there are no excuses". If he had tried to save Lisa's crappy dishes instead of just letting her fail on her own, he might still be here.

It is a toss up now for most deserving to be Top Chef between Richard and Antonia.

 

[Parker Clack]

I still think it will be Richard but this season they have three ladies and one guy. The odd are good that one of the ladies like Stephanie or Antonia will win it. Out of the four remaining I think Richard is the best chef.

 

[Marc_Sulinski]

I cannot believe that Lisa is still there. She has been next-to-last for the past 3 weeks or something like that. I think she is definitely the weakest of the 3 remaining.

 

[Lew Crippen]

Lisa may well be the luckiest contestant ever on Top Chef, as week after week she turns in a sub par performance, but is saved as someone else is worse (or in Dale’s case, in charge).

Regardless, one has to be impressed with Stephanie keeping her cool when her pork belly was left out overnight. Dale may have been at fault, but he too just focused on the task at hand as they revamped the menu the next day (and he suggested (or at least collaborated in thinking up) the winning dish).

 

[Chuck Anstey]

She and Spike were the weakest two since the halfway point. So why didn't Stephanie and Richard congratulate her? Because she didn't deserve to be there over Antonia and now they are worried about losing to an average chef.

Anyone have a guess as to the context of the quote for next week: "This has never happened on Top Chef before." or something like that. I'm going with flat out tie for first.

 

[Marc_Sulinski]

The whole thing about congratulating her bothered me. I can't remember - did she congratulate them? I don't recall her saying anything other than, "Wow, you won a car?"

 

[Parker Clack]

I just think that Lisa didn't expect to be there with them either at the end. When she was chosen over Antonia even she was surprised and think she carried that over to the room with with Richard and Stephanie. I loved Richard's aside when he said "So you won the bronze medal. Congratulations."

I think Antonia just lost her mind under the stress of competition. Normally she wouldn't think of putting three dishes together on the same plate she would single them out as you should. For some reason her brain just left her and she made a choice that cost her.

I just hope that Richard and Stephanie can keep it together enough in the finale to not let Lisa slip through.

 

[Jed M]

Well, I was rooting for Richard, but I had a feeling a girl would win this year. I don't know, call it a man's intuition. I am just glad that Lisa didn't win. I really thought they were going to give it to her at the end.

 

[Marianne]

I thought Richard would win, but he "choked" (his word). He seemed to be a bit panicky in the kitchen and his menu was too ambitious. Most of his wins during the series didn't involve his "molecular gastronomy" techniques. Maybe he should have trusted his culinary skills and stayed away from the distractions of technology.

I, too, was worried that Lisa might win because the judges clearly enjoyed some of her dishes. They always say that it doesn't matter what you've done in previous shows, the judging is based on that day's challenge.

I also thought that a woman would probably win this year, after all boys have won every other season, and I'm afraid that Richard just handed it to Stephanie.

 

[Lew Crippen]

Richard may have choked—or at least not had his best night, but (without having tasted the food) I think that Stephanie deserves some credit for having “nailed” (as Tom mentioned) some of her dishes. No doubt that her last course would not have been good enough to have won if she had not had a clear advantage over the first three—but then again Richard’s first course was under seasoned (a basic mistake) and his third was (even to him) disappointing. Lisa’s soup dumpling was a standout but the judges clearly thought that her first course was not well balanced and her third missed the mark.

 

[Marianne]

I didn't mean to imply that Stephanie didn't deserve it, just that Richard's meltdown made it easier for her.

It always surprises me when the contestants are so shocked when they have to do a desert. They had a break between becoming the finalists and the actual finals. Surely they should all have had at least one killer desert up their sleeve. Stephanie could have lost because of her desert.

 

[Jed M]

Yeah, I definitely think Stephanie deserved it. I didn't mean to say the fix was in, I just thought a woman would win this year. I am just shocked that Lisa wasn't cut 6 or 7 weeks ago.

 

[Marc_Sulinski]

It didn't seem like the judges were as excited about the last few contestants this year as they were last year. Last season, they told both Hung and Dale that they both had dishes that were so good that they should carry them with them for the rest of their careers. I didn't get the impression that they loved any of the dishes from this year's contestants quite that much.

 

[Parker Clack]

I am glad that Stephanie won but really wanted Richard to win. I really felt for him. What a night for him to "choke".

 

[Dome Vongvises]

I'm not surprised at the dessert comment. I love to cook, but dessert seems to be the last thing on my mind when it comes to food. I'm very very glad that Lisa didn't win.