Top Chef All-Stars

wow, that sounds cool. Would love to eat at WD50 one day. Wiley has always been my favorite guest judge on TC.

Lol @ Bourdain saying Stephen's dished tasted like a head shop. I'm glad he's gone. I'm honestly surprised he stayed as long as he did, he truly seems completely useless in facets of chef-ing.

anyone else notice...when they came in and Stephen was like "i'm out" there was silence then other Dale was like "me too" and the place erupted in "ooooh"

hilarious.

But the food at WD50 didn't kill me. Momofuko Ssam either. Either I'm a traditionalist or I just like the real cheap ethnic stuff instead. They were definitely great, but I'd rather eat at some weird place in Flushing I guess.

yeah we ate at WD50 when we were in nyc + i wasnt really feeling it

Did you expect to go to WD50 and get a really authentic bowl of pho or something?

No. But I was expecting it to taste as good as it was interesting. And it was cool, but it didn't really blow me away. When I've been to Jean Georges, I almost passed out out of pleasure.

yeah for me it just sort of made me realise what i really enjoy at a meal

I want to eat that egg cube

anyone else notice...when they came in and Stephen was like "i'm out" there was silence then other Dale was like "me too" and the place erupted in "ooooh"

hilarious.

actual lolz

I was expecting it to taste as good as it was interesting. And it was cool, but it didn't really blow me away.

Totally agree w/ the WD-50 comments. Hard to say this with authority having only eaten there once but I feel like they put things out on the menu that are still works in progress. Some of the stuff was good-to-great but my wife said her entree was one of the worst things she's ever eaten in a restaurant (it was v. weird, some kind of fish dish with cocoa nibs in the sauce)

what's the consensus on the best season btw? this show is fucking crack for me, and I wanna DL a good season Ive never seen before

2 & 6 are the best

Season 6 had the best talent, yet not sure if that makes the best watching though.
Season 5 was pretty drama and had a *shocking* conclusion.

i've never seen season 1 tho

after those 2 i'd say 3 then 4

saw the season with jen in it, also the one with jamie (was that the same one?)

jen = 6
jamie = 5

i think i missed the 5 finale. never saw marcel season.

in a world where people regularly get excited about Bourdain, Colicchio and David Chang, Season 6 raised the bar just for having Joel Robuchon, Eric Ripert, Daniel Boulud ON ONE SINGLE EPISODE. also Thomas Keller on another. The Voltaggio brothers are arguably better chefs than most/all of the Top Chef Masters.

so i should see season 2, then, thx

xp yeah i remember season 6 having that rep---the voltaggios were v impressive

Season 2 is like watching a slow-moving hate crime against a guy who sort of deserves it.

Love love love Season 6 for all time. I liked Season 3 with Hung, and Casey & Dale were cool too. I think the only season I didn't watch was the Fabio Season 5.

Season 2 is probably the best pure drama season. Season 6 pretty inarguably had the most talented quartet of chefs. Season 4 has some real characters in it (Spike, other guy who looked like Spike, totally self-obsessed crazy lady who finished 2nd, New Zealand dude who couldn't cook.) Plus it's in Chicago!

Season 2 is like watching a slow-moving hate crime against a guy who sort of deserves it.

Haha, this is so OTM. I started watching with this season and nothing has really measured up for me since.

xpost Season 6 had the Voltaggios and Beardo Kevin in that quartet. Who was the fourth?

jen

Ah, ok. Thx.

The talent level of season 6 was kind of terrifying; I sort of felt like any of the final 4, and possibly as deep as the final 7, would have won any of the previous 5 seasons (caveat: never saw season #1).

Season 6 talent was too good. People who own restaurants and have James Beard awards or Michelin Stars or whatever shouldn't be competing. There has to be some kind of amateur/professional divide.

ehhhhh, i dunno, i really watch the show for the food. the drama is kinda fun sometimes, but really i just want to see gangsta chefs go ham in the kitchen, you know. better chefs is better entertainment

exactly! Otherwise we end up with Priti seasons and no-one wants that

even Prithi who was one of the worst chefs on Season 6 owns a massive catering business and makes serious bank.

But the first half of that season was boring because people like the Volt brothers were just so obviously superior. That's one thing I'm liking about this season, there isn't that huge and obvious disparity in skill. There's a bit, but not as much, so already you're getting a lot of very solid chefs competing against each other.

well right, which is sorta the point, right? all-stars!

but the flipside is season 2, where you had the seriously repellent Marcel somehow managing to kung-fu other chefs off the show by being an infuriating mix of good enough to get judge's praise and obnoxious enough to get otherwise okay chefs to focus on him instead of their food, leading them to make mistakes while cooking or, in one incredibly regrettable case, back in their rooms that led to their ouster

holy shit, I just read the wikipedia entry on that season and had no idea the Marcel got attacked by a viewer with a bottle and has a permanent scar because of it

wau, dude knows how to make ppl hate him

Marcel is kind of my favorite Top Chef contestant.

I love Marcel.

holy shit, I just read the wikipedia entry on that season and had no idea the Marcel got attacked by a viewer with a bottle and has a permanent scar because of it

this has to be a wiki prank

oh wait then i've seen season 2, or at least bits of it

marcel is so hatable because he reminds me, in some ways, of smug douchers i have met in real life. who, like him, are probably decent enough, but because they're juuuuuust good enough at something to feel smug about it and bad at a lot of other things (bein macho, human interaction) to be defensive, they're just cocks 24/7

^^^

like, the dude was probably teased a LOT in high school, i'm guessing. and not for being studious or a wimp, but for being a litttttle too articulate and quick with sarcasm, fucking alex p keaton style

or maybe it's just his haircut

J0rdan:

http://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/archives/top_chef_2/2007_Jan_22_marcel_hit_ilan_friends

well yeah, and his haircut

Honestly I can't imagine why anyone would watch Season 2 and root for anyone OTHER than Marcel. Elia before the head-shaving incident maybe (and boy did she come off badly on All Stars) and that Mike-y line cook dude seemed like a total bro, but seriously the rest of those folks were either total whiney douchebags or completely macho assholes. I'll totally take one socially inept midget egomaniac over any of them, thankyouverymuch.

Marcel seems like he's created a 'douchebag' persona for himself but I never feel like it's 100% him. He seems like he's pretty insecure and awkward and just puts up this RARR I AM AMAZING front to keep people away. lol because I know him sooo well :)

Cliff 4eva

I did route for Marcel though, because his food looked good and because his doucheyness seemed to come from some sort of sad insecurity, and I thought Ilan's food was pretty consistently boring looking.

He seems like he's pretty insecure and awkward and just puts up this RARR I AM AMAZING front to keep people away.

no that seems right to me. and probably evidence of an insecure youth or something, i dunno. you always hope that guys like this will lighten the fuck up when they hit 25 or something but w/e