Cutting Dale from Top Chef

[BenNX74205]

Did Dale ever cook anything other than Asian cuisine? I would have had no problem with any of those three being sent home. I am surprised Lisa has stuck around as long as she has, however.

I think this is Richard's game to lose at this point.

Dale ALWAYS made Asian cuisine unless he was working as part of a team or an assigned challenge like the first episode. To me it's been clear for a while that Richard, Stephanie, and Antonia. Between them they have won seven of the eleven elimination challenges. And on the other four, Stephanie was on the winning team when Lisa won her one elimination and Richard was the driving force behind one of Dale's wins as well. Barring an epic failure by one of the contestants (wich I don't see happening at this point), the final four will be Richard, Antonia, Stephanie, and the chump they decide to keep one more week before sending packing before the final showdown.

I also agree that Richard is the favorite. Stephanie is the strong contender and Antonia is the dark horse.

Spike is a douchebag.

True, but the actual taste seems to be by far and away the most important criteria for success. I don't care how the dish is prepared. Just make it taste good.

Taste is obviously a big component, but a chef also has to be able to innovate and create new ideas. I love seeing crazy ideas that work out. I also love the original Japanese Iron Chef (as opposed to the lobotomized, worthless Iron Chef America) because of the strange and inventive dishes they create with the theme ingredients. I appreciate the innovation.

[JL21]

True, but the actual taste seems to be by far and away the most important criteria for success. I don't care how the dish is prepared. Just make it taste good.

Taste is obviously a big component, but a chef also has to be able to innovate and create new ideas. I love seeing crazy ideas that work out. I also love the original Japanese Iron Chef (as opposed to the lobotomized, worthless Iron Chef America) because of the strange and inventive dishes they create with the theme ingredients. I appreciate the innovation.

I'm not trying to be obtuse but doesn't that all come back to taste? Isn't the point of innovation and new ideas to create a better-tasting dish?

[BenNX74205]

True, but the actual taste seems to be by far and away the most important criteria for success. I don't care how the dish is prepared. Just make it taste good.

Taste is obviously a big component, but a chef also has to be able to innovate and create new ideas. I love seeing crazy ideas that work out. I also love the original Japanese Iron Chef (as opposed to the lobotomized, worthless Iron Chef America) because of the strange and inventive dishes they create with the theme ingredients. I appreciate the innovation.

I'm not trying to be obtuse but doesn't that all come back to taste? Isn't the point of innovation and new ideas to create a better-tasting dish?

In the end, success and failure are determined by the taste of the dish, but I think the process of getting to the final product is significant as well. Part of being a great chef is the ability to innovate and to create new dishes/methods of cooking. "Molecular gastronomy" is the new wave of the time--using chemicals to create textures, flavors, and dishes that were never possible. Some caveman that stuck is mammoth meat on a stick and put it in the fire was the most innovative chef of all time.

If the innovation fails, then that's obviously not a successful dish. But it can lead to a success later on. Rarely is a dish completley horrible from concept to final product with no hope of salvage. I appreciate watching the chefs that dare to take the initiative to create something new (Richard is a good example of that from this season) instead of doing more of what has already been done (Dale Lisa and Spike all do this, as was highlighted in last night's episode).

Again, the point isn't just to find the person that can make the tastiest food. I can make all the recipes that have ever been on Top Chef if I had the recipe. It's easy to make something taste good. It's hard to create something new and have it taste good. Creation is bigger for me than refinement because it shows more creativity and more skill.

I hope that makes sense......

[GatewaySnayke]

I hate Lisa and her stupid-ass eyebrow ring.

[G. Keenan]

I think the panel should take, to some extent, past performance into account. Dale is clearly a better chef than Lisa. It's beyond me that Lisa is even in this competition. He screwed up one dish pretty bad this time. Lisa screwed up two. Does the executive chef ever take control and responsibilities for the subordinates' dishes on Top Chef? That never happens. All that ever happens is they divide up the work and each focus on their portion.

I just dislike Lisa. She throws people under the bus every chance she gets.

[thrill]

I think the panel should take, to some extent, past performance into account. Dale is clearly a better chef than Lisa. It's beyond me that Lisa is even in this competition. He screwed up one dish pretty bad this time. Lisa screwed up two. Does the executive chef ever take control and responsibilities for the subordinates' dishes on Top Chef? That never happens. All that ever happens is they divide up the work and each focus on their portion.

I just dislike Lisa. She throws people under the bus every chance she gets.

Plus, had Dale done what Bourdain suggested when Lisa smarted off to him, "unload a [expletive] storm on her," she would have probably just quit. That or purposely sabotage him. I didn't think he handled it that bad.

[G. Keenan]

I think the panel should take, to some extent, past performance into account. Dale is clearly a better chef than Lisa. It's beyond me that Lisa is even in this competition. He screwed up one dish pretty bad this time. Lisa screwed up two. Does the executive chef ever take control and responsibilities for the subordinates' dishes on Top Chef? That never happens. All that ever happens is they divide up the work and each focus on their portion.

I just dislike Lisa. She throws people under the bus every chance she gets.

Plus, had Dale done what Bourdain suggested when Lisa smarted off to him, "unload a [expletive] storm on her," she would have probably just quit. That or purposely sabotage him. I didn't think he handled it that bad.

Me either. What was he supposed to do? He can't cook the whole menu himself so he's got to delegate.

[BenNX74205]

Me either. What was he supposed to do? He can't cook the whole menu himself so he's got to delegate.

What he should have done was kick Lisa out of the kitchen and into the front of the house, and then got Spike back there to make the food right. If Lisa was going to quit, then she would be sent home as well. Dale was in charge and he did a bad job of leading. Lisa sucks too, but Dale was the leader. Leaders go down with the ship.

[thrill]

I'm just pissed because he was a cool guy and I always root for who I think the coolest dude is.


http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtra ... isa-s.html

'Top Chef': Lisa survives another week. Am I missing something?
09:16 AM PT, May 22 2008

Lisa Is it just me or have the judges lost their minds?

Wait, let me back up. I should say that I'm perfectly aware that the deal with "Top Chef" has always been that a single dish can send a contestant home, no matter how good their past work has been.

There was real fan outrage last season when Tre, long considered a surefire finalist, was sent packing early for several botched dishes -- including a particularly bad beet-cured salmon -- and in spite of multiple winning performances. In that instance, there was no one but Tre to send home.

So I wasn't totally surprised to see Dale, who had won several challenges and been a top three contender, get cut after a particularly bad showing. Scallops doused in butterscotch sauce.... I can see how that might not work so well. And he was executive chef for the all-important Restaurant Wars round. Always a risky move and all the more reason to cut him after a team failure.

However -- and this is a big however -- there was just as much reason, if not more, to get rid of Lisa. I've said plenty here about Lisa's inadequacies already. This time, she smoked her laksa to death -- I don't understand how that even happens -- and, again, failed to cook rice properly. What is this girl's deal with rice anyway? It's the first thing you learn to cook in culinary school right after you learn to chop up a potato.

Does Dale really get no credit for his past successes while the judges turn a blind eye to week after week of Lisa's poorly executed dishes?

I need someone to explain this to me. I know I can't taste the dishes and maybe those butterscotch scallops really sent guest Chef Jose Andres into sugar shock, a total embarrassment for Dale in and of itself. But Lisa screwed up two big dishes, dishes that she knows how to make, dishes she said she has made repeatedly. Lisa has also found herself on the chopping block more times than most.

The worst part is there are online rumors swirling about -- SPOILER ALERT -- all three females in the finale. Please, please, please let it not be true. I'm cool with Stephanie. I'd even be OK with Antonia. But Lisa? Before Richard? Even before Spike? No, no, no!

Thoughts? I'm dying to hear a defense.

[G. Keenan]

Me either. What was he supposed to do? He can't cook the whole menu himself so he's got to delegate.

What he should have done was kick Lisa out of the kitchen and into the front of the house, and then got Spike back there to make the food right. If Lisa was going to quit, then she would be sent home as well. Dale was in charge and he did a bad job of leading. Lisa sucks too, but Dale was the leader. Leaders go down with the ship.

Lisa also wanted to be executive chef. They flipped for it, remember? Once the roles are picked they stick to them. They're a team; Dale isn't Lisa's real-life boss, he can't just tell her to leave the kitchen. The Laksa and the rice were already screwed up before service even began, what could be done about that? Can't go to the store and buy more ingredients to make it again. What would the point be of sending Lisa out to be front of house after the dishes were made? Do you think Spike could have fixed them back in the kitchen?