Top Chef Las Vegas

I keep waiting for Kevin to start strumming a lute and singing about Frodo of the Nine Fingers and the Ring of Doom.

 

But he does it to perfection.

 

About time the fat, nerdy troll gets his due and wins this damn thing...

 

So who goes next?

Conventional wisdom says Eli or Jen. Don't think there has been a finale without a female presence so take that for whatever it's worth.

 

I say one of the brothers is the next to go.
They are due a meltdown of epic proportions and it seems like it has been bubbling for some time.

 

Agree with Jay, there will be some kind of 'WHAT?! NO WAY!' before the finals.

Altho the brothers make for good TV, so I can see them in the home stretch.

Jen has to be freakin brilliant tonite or her knives will be packed.

 

This was the saddest Top Chef ever. I'm still weepy. What a great group.

 

Any of the final five are better than, say, last season's Hosea.
As far as Top Chefs go, this was probably the most talented group they've had, ever.
In terms of the final five at least.
I got the impression from the tease that they have to kick off one next episode, and they don't know who since all of them did well.
Plus, Top Chef seems to attract the culinary talent as judges, with the exception of that British douche Toby.
Thomas Keller, foes real? Wow.
About the only top chef we haven't seen this season is Ripert and I think that's because of Jen, sincer she works for him, but it might be because he's got a top quality food porn show going on PBS called Avec Eric and doesn't have the time.

 

I was glad Mike V. was there to see Kevin win that challenge with "food (he) cooks on his day off."

 

Colicchio's blog on last night's show, great read:

http://www.bravotv.com/top-chef/blogs/tom-colicchio/la-petit-chef-sup-rieur-bocuse-d-or

 

Me, too.

I've wondered about all the dissing of Kevin that Michael's been doing the last few weeks. It's irritating, because it's so clear why Kevin is doing well: He's been smart, mature, calm and thoughtful in all he's done this season, and he keeps it simple because that's how he likes to cook, and realizes that its the way he can do well in, and possibly, win this competition. He should be credited, not discredited, for that, and I'm attributing Michael's attitude to insecurity masked as arrogance that will soon come back to bite him. It nearly happened with his comeuppance this week, and if the less sophisticated Eli hadn't been around, I believe he would have been the one to pack up and go.

I was glad to see Tom give Kevin the credit for things Michael apparently isn't seeing in the money graf of his blog that 21 linked above.

On the one hand, it seems Kevin won by default, as his slightly overcooked lamb was minor in scope compared with the errors in conception and execution of his fellow chefs. On the other hand, however, I believe that Kevin was the best choice anyway, both to win the challenge and to go on to compete for the spot at the next Bocuse d’Or, and here’s why: I don’t care how often Michael says that he cooks like Kevin on his days off – we know Kevin has great skills. They’re not even at question. While Kevin does not typically think of food along the lines that they do in the Bocuse d’Or, he has handled every challenge – this one included – extremely intelligently, ascertaining what the particular challenge called for, what its potential pitfalls might be (so he could sidestep them), and what might be both a clever and a truly delicious dish to present for that particular challenge. I think that though it’s not his normal inclination to cook as they do for the Bocuse d’Or, if given the time to prepare for the competition, Kevin would apply that same intelligence about food to that particular challenge and would rise to it not only ably but admirably. I think his food would be as precise and as intricate and well presented as anyone’s. If he succeeds in securing the slot at the competition, I believe he’ll get there. The overriding challenge is to make delicious food, and Kevin’s was more precisely cooked and had better flavor than the others, period.

Oh, and Thomas Keller sounds like somebody for whom I'd like to work.

 

Speaking of Keller, he'll come to your place and help cook a meal* ...

http://www.esquire.com/features/food-drink/thomas-keller-cooking-1209

* - Provided you're doing an article for Esquire about it.