Top Chef Season 3 (1 Viewer)

[Michael Harris]

OK, one comment on last Wednesday's episode - Casey is hot. On a more serious note, she does strike me as a middle of the road chef who will coast along until she finally gets caught short and gets eliminated.

Hung is a pain in the ass. He has talent but he is not humble. If a judge doesn't like his dish, they don't understand his "concept". I was not surprised that he knows Marcel from last season.

 

[Chris]

I'm just waiting for Hung to stab someone or slip and throw boiling water/food on them.

To me, seeing someone run holding a knife out is CREEPY. And, no matter how good a chef he is, that's pretty terrifying. Or when he ran with a skillet full of frying items and people were darting out of his way..

 

[Audio28]

I'm a big fan of Top Chief. So who is the villain this time. Hung?

 

[Chris]

I hate episodes where nothing is decided. So, I assume this will boil down to some sort of cook-off for their lives next week or something. But I also think a lot of the food choices being offered seemed really wrong just from a choice standpoint.

The Chefs are going too far to create "neat ideas" instead of food that is both creative and edible. They are missing on that subtle element.

 

[Ken Chan]

As soon as Tre said, "I just need to get over this hurdle" and Casey said how the two were bonding in the first few minutes of the show, you knew that he was a goner.

I wonder if the editors are trying to be that obvious.

 

[Chris]

Casey was the one who really needed to go.

 

[Stephen_L]

As a huge fan of Tre in this competition, I think the judges made the right call. Tre as executive chef created the menu and personally prepared several of the dishes that failed (desert, filet, and salmon dish). Lots of people complained that judging a solid competitor like Tre with many elimination wins under his belt on the performance of a single off night was unfair, but I disagree. Every night in a top restaurant the show must be perfect every time. If I drive three hours to NYC and spend $350 bucks on dinner for my wife and me (something I've done), it's gotta be perfect that night; I could care less about the chef's reputation if I've just blown three c-notes on a lousy dinner. You can bet I'll never come back. Though Tre's loss was fair, I've still lost my rooting interest in the show. Tre seemed like a gentleman among children: no wrongheaded arrogance (Hung), no belligerent stubborness (Howe), no ducking responsibility (C.J.), no flying under the radar (pretty much everyone else). His classy demeanor in defeat makes his loss that much more painful.

 

[Chris]

I think, though, Tre lost not because the food was all bad, because some of it looked more like what I'm used to, but more because he had to spend too much of his time managing teammates and not enough time doing kitchen work.

I really felt this came down to him or Casey that would go. But I felt as though Casey was the one who needed to go. Yes, you can comment on Tre's food, but Casey basically had nothing going on, she cost her team dearly in the quick fire, and her approach to others in the task was basically to be dead weight.

That's what I came down to: Food that didn't turn out as would be liked, or someone who didn't do jack? That's where this show is different. Admittedly, if I were like you, dropping big $, I'd blame the head Chef. And that comes to Tre. But if I were on a show, and could dissect why he failed, I don't think anyone else on the show deserves as much heat as Casey.

 

[Ken Chan]

Casey made the soup, which was well-received. And frankly, winning the Quickfire probably wouldn't have made a difference.

If anything, Tre's laid-back style of not more actively managing his team and delegating and doing too much of the dishes himself is what cost him. So basically the opposite of what you said, Chris

 

[Stephen_L]

Ken, I agree with you. While Casey's contribution was smaller, her dish was well received. Tre who created the menu, prepared an entree that was "forgettable" after it was judged harshly the day before, a salmon dish that was inedible, and a bread pudding that was a failure. He would have done better to change his choice of entree and (by his own admission in an online interview) let Casey or someone else tackle the dessert. It furthers my admiration for the man, that in an online interview on bravotv.com Tre admits having an off night, not having the intensity and not blaming anyone else for his failures.

One key element to team April's failure as hubris; C.J. assembled what he considered to be an all-star team and the team bought into it. Pardon the pun, but they just didn't seem hungry. I think they felt Team Quatre would self-destruct with so many head cases on their team. Team Quatre acted like their necks were on the blocks and they brought out their 'A-game'.