So, the first episode of Top Chef All-Stars, Season 8, was a terrific show - clearly one of the best opening episodes of the series. It was certainly revealing to show the contestants showing up at their New York digs - in rough seasonal order - with cut-ins of interviews with each chef. There was a fair amount of Bravado, which one has come to expect from very talented chefs reaching for the higher levels of their profession. Marcel and Jen particularly kicked it.
At the first gathering in the TC kitchen for the Quickfire Challenge, Padma announced that the prize for winning TC had been increased to $200,000 for this All-Star season, plus another $300,000 in prize money to be given out throughout the season. That's a lot of dough and a lot more than we've seen in any season past. Marcel noted that in Season 2 he finished second and didn't get diddly. How things have changed.
The QF was an excellent challenge for opening this season and it played on the theme of bringing non-winners from past seasons together. Since each of the first seven seasons took place in a different city, chefs from each season were teamed together with the task of making a dish representative of the city their season took place in.
My favorite season was S4, which took place in Chicago. So for me it is fitting that the most representatives of any season came from S4 - 4 chefs in all - Richard, Dale T., Antonia and Spike. Their concoction won - a deconstructed Chicago hot dog - and all four chefs received immunity for the Elimination Challenge.
The EC was even more creative, as each chef was required to make the dish that they were eliminated for and to improve on it, with the winner taking $10,000. The top four chefs in the EC were Richard, Angelo, Jamie, and Spike. However, Head Judge Tom Colicchio disqualified Richard because he was plating past the bell. Angelo won the challenge. The bottom three included Fabio and – not surprisingly – Stephen. Elia was also in the bottom group and she was the one eliminated.
The format of breaking the 18 chefs into two groups and having each nine chefs dine with the judges to taste their competitors’ food has been used before – including the gimmick of having a monitor in the kitchen so that the chefs who cooked get to watch the reactions of the diners. I thought that the contestants were even-handed in their comments. Not so Judge Anthony Bourdain, whose memorable comments included a description of Fabio’s dish as resembling “the inside of an animal” and who gave high praise to Dale T., stating that he had “unf**ked” himself with the butterscotch scallop dish. It was highly entertaining, if a bit over the top. I like Bourdain, but I still long for the days when Ted Allen’s subtler wit infused the show.
So, with the second episode coming up on Wednesday, here are my current rankings.
1. Richard Blais. Last week: No. 1.
He certainly showed his creativity in the Quickfire by making the mustard ice cream to go with the deconstructed Chicago hot dog that was put together by his fellow TC Chicago teammates Dale T., Antonia and Spike. Indeed it was the MG concoction that really put them over the top for the win. Apparently, his re-imagined pork belly for the EC was excellent, but he could not win because he ran overtime on plating. From what the others, especially Carla, have said, he did not do it on purpose, but simply lost track of the time. Dale T., who is a friend and admirer of Richard's, stated that he thought Richard should have won.
2. Angelo Sosa. Last week: No. 3.
With only a few weeks apparently separating the end of S7 and the beginning of S8 filming, Angelo came in with the most immediate experience. This could be either good or bad. On the one hand, he could have - and still may be - a bit burned out from the grind of a season that took him to the brink of winning before he became ill and lost. But on the other hand, he may still be in the competitive groove and it may give him a leg-up on everyone else. Only time will tell that. But in the EC, certainly his failing dish was fresh enough in his mind that he was able to overcome the problems and get the W.
3. Tiffani Faison. Last week: No. 2.
Tiffani slips down a notch due to the terrific performance by Angelo. Indeed, placing the top three is somewhat of a challenge and there may be some back-and-forth movement at the beginning of the season.
4. Jamie Lauren. Last week: No. 6.
A strong performance in both challenges, including a Top 4 finish in the EC moves her up two spots. I always thought that she was a strong chef - let's see if she can keep it up.
5. Jennifer Carroll. Last week: No. 7.
Jen moves up two spots also mostly because I think I ranked her too low to start, not because of a great performance or anything.
6. Marcel Vigneron. Last week: No. 4.
Marcel slips two spots, but I'm not even sure that he should be this high. I had expected to see a greater level of maturity, but I fear from the first episode that he still just doesn't quite get it.
7. Dale Talde. Last week: No. 5.
This is also a rearrangement on my part trying to get Dale closer to where he belongs. I'm just not sure that he is focussed enough to merit a higher ranking. And there may indeed be some chefs lower than him that will move ahead.
8. Tiffany Derry. Last week: No. 8.
I didn't really see anything from Tiffany D. that would make me move her up or down.
9. Carla Hall. Last week: No. 9.
Same with Carla as with Tiffany.
10. Casey Thompson. Last week: No. 11.
Casey moves up one spot and she may deserve to be higher. Let's see what happens.
11. Dale Levitski. Last week: No. 12.
I honestly think that Dale L. may deserve to be higher. He came so close to winning in S3 that I may be underestimating his talent. However, for now, he will sit in the middle, closer to the bottom than the top.
12. Antonia Lafaso. Last week: No. 10.
I moved Antonia down several spots to move the two from S3 ahead of her. I still think that she may deserve to be higher, but I'm not convinced yet.
13. Spike Mendelsohn. Last week: No. 17.
Spike makes the biggest jump forward - a full four spots. Part of the reason is that he made the Top 4 in the EC. But I am sensing that Spike has a much better handle on himself than, say, Marcel does. He does seem to have matured, without losing his playfulness. Maybe he should be ranked even higher, but he started out so low that it will take the proof of performance over time to keep moving him along.
14. Michael Isabella. Last week: No. 14.
I still think that Mike is better than 14th - and his success with the EC dish - taking his leek mess and reworking it into something that everyone seemed to like - was certainly a big accomplishment. But during his season, he frequently followed a terrific performance with a flop, so I'm not convinced yet.
15. Tre Wilcox. Last week: No. 16.
Tre moves up solely based on Elia's elimination. I didn't see anything in his performance that makes me think he's going to be very successful against this particular group of chefs.
16. Fabio Viviandi. Last week: No. 13.
A fairly miserable performance moves Fabio into next-to-last place, a three spot drop. It wasn't just his cooking (which I did not think looked as bad as Bourdain described), but his attitude bothered me. The charm was gone and in it's place was a whiney self-defense that did not seem appropriate. Come on. If you fail, admit it. Don't claim that the dish was good, when no one liked it. And Tom clearly thought that he hadn't a clue as to improving it.
17. Stephen Asprinio. Last week: No. 18.
Stephen moves up solely based on Elia's elimination. His own elimination dish was a complete failure of imagination. I'll grant that he did not actually prepare the dish during S1's wedding episode, but the reason that he was eliminated was that he spent too much time with the wait staff explaining about wines and so on. If he had contributed more then he may have been in a better position for this challenge. And at this point, he still seems to be the least inspiring of all the chefs.
18. Elia Aboumrad. Last week: No. 15.
Eliminated. I thought that Elia would do much better, but if Fabio had a problem admitting that his dish was not good, then Elia was in positive denial. If you serve raw fish, the least you can do is to apologize to the diners, not to insist that you thought it was good.
No comments:
Post a Comment