Top Chef: The "Scandal" ...reactions?
OK, so they haven't quite decided who's going home for the elimination part yet, but I was not surprised by the "scandal." Thoughts?
You can post thoughts about the elimination part, too...we're just not quite there yet and I thought I'd get a start on the thread.
IndyGirl
Jan 18, 2007 03:54AM
Marcel is just such a freaking tool....Granted Cliff was really dumb for putting his hands on him. I think Marcel is being carried by the sympathy he is building from the judges who don't have to deal with him all the time!
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I'll just say that Ilan's Liver in Chocolate thingy made me a little nauseous.
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I second that emotion. Yuck.
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I feel sick every time I think about that chicken & liver. I feel sorry for the 2 who had to taste that mess.
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ok this is not about the scandel, but...
has anyone else noticed that all of ilan's dishes are basically exact replicas of the dishes he probably has (does) prepared at casa mono? the clams and fideos? that is one of the best dishes at casa mono. i think he made churros once, also at casa mono (or bar jamon one of those) and i feel like he made a couple other dishes (maybe one with quail or sweetbreads or something) i've already had at casa mono. isnt this supposed to be a creative competition, not just make dishes you've been cooking for a few years at a restaurant. honestly, i would never go to ilan's restaurant if i could get the same food but exceptionally done by andy nusser at casa mono.
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he's also done the pan con tomate and tortilla and yes, the sweetbreads. and the grilled corn and bacon dish which was reminicent of his father is supposedly available at another batali restaurant. bacon breakfast ice cream, while unusual to the average viewer, has obviously been done before by heston blumenthal (though it was bcon and egg).
i think ilan is an excellent cook... and that's where it ends. being able to replicate what you see makes you a craftsman/practitioner, not a visionary. as you can see in the red challenge, he froze. no vision or creativity - he just took what was red.
sure, everything has already been done before; no dish is entirely original. but stay tuned for the finals. i can bet that each and every one of ilans dishes can probably be traced back to another chef.
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right the grilled corn. a staple on the otto summer menu. the pan con tomate and tortilla looked identical to the ones served at bar jamon (the smaller bar area next door to casa mono). i wouldnt be surprised if he whipped out olive oil gelato with sea salt in hawaii...
what's weird is that both eric ripert and tom colicchio had to have eaten at all of those batali places and must have had the fideos dish a thousand times. they never once mentioned that ilan is ripping off the original dishes...
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The judges seems to value taste more than originality. That's why Elia's cream of mushroom soup won the Thanksgiving episode, and they didn't say a thing when Michael used Salmon in back-to-back challenges and won both quickfire and elimination with the same key ingredient.
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It's very obvious that, antics aside, there is a slight favoritism that leans in Ilans favor, for both his pedigree and a cooking philosophy that's very de rigeur. He can behave as badly as he wants but at the end of the day they want to believe in the perfect execution of his food. "Okay, so you tried to assault someone, but boy, that fideos dish! Mmmm!"
In fairness, Marcel's frog's leg dish is a ripoff of Robuchon - people rely on what they know, especially when the stakes are high.
I think the interim between LA and the final will allow each contestant to work on their unique vision. If they don't deliver, I guarantee it will show in the outcome.
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And he also did the paella w/ soft shell crab.
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it also seems like he loves Saffron..
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Cliff has 50 lbs on Marcel easy and I'll bet Marcel was sore the next day. Picking somebody off the ground while you have him in a full nelson is no joke.
I can't believe what a punk Ilan is, he kept on goading Sam to shave Marcel's head when Cliff was holding him down. Tough guy couldn't do it himself? After seeing him get the soccer ball in the face during the diet camp challenge I bet Marcel would take him in a square go. I can't get his whiney Capote like voice out of my head. Plus, did anyone notice he was wearing 4 watches during the judges table?
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So I wasn't seeing things.
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I was trying to figure that out, too! What was that?
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50? I'd say 100. Cliff is a big, strong dude. Full nelsons are an illegal hold in "real" wrestling because of their potential danger. Even just messing about, someone with a lot of strength (or just leaning their weight/leverage) can injur someone.
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I think the way Marcel has been treated is awful. Cliff only jumped on him because he is bigger than Marcel.
What's funny is that most of the other chef's think they are so much better than Marcel and they think they are more mature but in reality they acted like they were in high school.
I really wish Marcel would have got at least 1 hit in on Cliff's arrogant ass.
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Cliff was idiotic to touch Marcel.
The producers were left with no choice.
At least the food finally looked interesting.
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Does anyone else suspect that Cliff knew he was going to lose on that uninspired beef dish and decided to take the low road and get kicked off for doing something obviously against the rules. Anyone who has watched any reality tv knows that physical violence is absolutely barred. Oh and I agree Ilan is a tool with no originality whatsoever. As for Marcel he is probably a prick but he can cook.
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I thought Cliff's subconscious got the better of him . . .
not a *conscious* acting out on the low road.
You know how you just *know* when you've f*k up?
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I don't think Cliff did it on pupose---he really seemed to want to win. He is just a straight up asshole.
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OK, I didn't watch it--was it one tonight? Can you briefly recap this...I only just got into it last week when they ran a marathon, then I was hooked.
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Recap:
Quickfire: Chocolate. Elia made chicken mole and a dessert she called a kiss, Sam made a whole bunch of things on a plate, one of which involved banana and chocolate and one of which involved pesto, Cliff made a chicken mole, Ilan made a chocolate truffle with a chicken liver in it (the judges said the liver was not detectable...apparently they wanted it to be detectable?) and Marcel made a potato and chocolate... cannoli? canneloni? I'm not sure, but it involved filling two tubes.
Sam won, which meant first dibs on choosing course and protein in the elimination challenge, which was a standard romantic 5-course meal. Course 1: Sam: Lobster, scallops, beets. Course 2: Ilan: As others have mentioned, this was basically the same dish he and Mike made for the Social whatever dinner, except no deep fried crab on top and he used noodly things instead of actual rice, but it was another little dish of saffrony fishness. Course 3: Marcel: Salmon and beets. Yes, beets again. Amazing that with all of these beets, and with all of these potatoes and pastries carved into hearts, that no one made the beets into hearts (heart beets? Sorry. Couldn't help it.) Course 4: Cliff: Sirloin with lentil puree. Course 5: Elia: Heart pastries with cream and little bits of broken chocolate (her chocolate hearts didn't turn out) and berries with coulis.
It sounded like they would have sent Cliff home anyway, but officially he went home for wrestling Marcel to the ground after waking him up and threatening to shave his head (though no one went through with that part -- only Elia and Ilan were shaved, and both voluntarily). Everyone else is going to Hawaii next week.
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http://www.tvgasm.com/shows/top-chef/...
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disappointed they didn't shave his head..that would have been funny...they all deserved to go to Hawaii...looks like a good finale....
Eric Ripert was crackin' me up...."did chocolate just fall off the fridge onto some chicken" (or something like that)......
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I think Sam is a shoo-in and his competition most likely being Marcel, with bald Elana the outside choice.
Bob
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Elana is too sensitive to be a chef. She cries too easily and whines too much.
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Can someone tell me how one attains the title of "Master Chef", as Marcel calls himself?
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master chef is an actual title.
hotels, cruiseships and the like still work according to an old brigade style systen, dividing every individual into specific titles like "first cook," "second cook," or "commis," "tournant," etc... it's all about rank.
master cook falls under sous chef, which basically means marcel has worked just up to the point of getting a management position.
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"Master cook" and "Master Chef" aren't the same thing. There isn't actually a brigade position called "master cook". Classic brigade goes as follows: Chef de cuisine (exec. chef), sous chef, and then the station chefs/line cooks follow (saute chef, fish chef, roast chef, grill chef, fry chef, vegetable chef, and the roundsman/swing cook). The other kitchen positions in a classic brigade are the cold-foods chef (garde manger), the butcher, the pastry chef, the expiditer, the communard, and the commis (apprentice).
"Certified Master Chef" is the highest "rank" a culinary professional can obtain. As of Feb. 2005, there were only 59 American Culinary Federation certified Master Chefs. Getting certified as a Master Chef from the ACF takes eight days of testing and one must already be a Certified Executive Chef or a Certified Executive Pastry Chef.
I don't know if Marcel is actually an ACF certified Master Chef. There are many organizations out there that call their members "Master Chefs" if they pay a fee and fill out an application, but they aren't ACF certified.
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points taken and i do agree that marcel is probably not a certified "master chef".
however, if you look at job listings for any of the big vegas hotels, they do normally advertise for "master cooks." this and "cook 1" and "cook 2," aren't in the traditional brigade, so if someone else can enlighten use on this separate system of ranking, it would help.
semantics, argh!!!
i for one believe that besides a chef and sous, every cook should be cross trained without differentiations, anyway. this includes knowledge of pastry. but that's beside the point. most eager young cooks love to call themselves a "chef" - what can you do? see through it and let it be.
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I kept on wondering what was up with Ilan and the hoodie w/the hood up and Elia w/the hair band during the Concept Restaurant video diary segments. I don't recall either one them wearing either of those get ups during previous episodes. When the shaver came out it all became clear.
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i think that if you recognize that someone is immature and not as socially developed as you are, and then react with equal immaturity, you are worse than the person you are annoyed by.
did that make sense? in a nutshell: marcel = bad. cliff, ilan, sam = worse. elia = purposefully obtuse not wanting to rock the boat.
but i am glad that they all made it. this episode showed glimmers of food greatness. hope they don't disappoint in the finale.
and i hope they don't cut another person right before the final challenge like they did to dave last season.
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I think next week it's down to just two of them and then there are just two competing in the true finale.
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I totally agree with you. While Marcel wasn't purfect I feel that he was the most focused. The other chefs seemed to love drama,...maybe for the camera. I couldn't believe it when Betty cussed Marcel out like she was out in the street! Sam wasn't that great either and Ilan was very childish at times as well. Elisa strikes me as a little crazy (ie smearing chocolate all over her face)..she has the weirdes melt downs. As for Cliff well he is just an ego maniac prick!
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I had not agreed with those of you who were saying what a jerk Cliff was; I didn't really see it...but then I saw how he was holding Marcel down, it was really more than a little scary. He could indeed have hurt him, and I agree they were right to let him go (though true, he probably would have anyway based on his dish).
However, I didn't necessarily agree with the judges who seemed to think that it was poor behavior for Ilan and Elia to shave their own heads, and scolded them for that part of it. In particular Elia commented several times that she had always wanted to do it, and she was clearly enjoying herself and letting off steam after hours. So how does that part of it show lack of leadership?
As for the food: I think Elia gave up too quickly on her dessert. I guess perhaps her description on the menu should have been less specific.
The chocolate chicken liver thing was just wierd.
I would have liked to have heard more about the judges opinions of the wine pairings: only one of the five wines was really discussed but it was a significant part of the challenge.
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i believe the judges scolded elia and ilan for not doing anything while cliff was assaulting marcel, not because they shaved their heads. while they didn't really do anything wrong, the more important thing was that they didn't do the right thing.
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I agree that would have made more sense, but I am not sure that really is what they were scolding them for: they got these looks on their faces of absolute horror when the four walked in, and then reacted (Or appeared to be reacting; the editing may well have been a factor here). How they looked had nothing to do with what had happened with Cliff and Marcel, so why even comment on it?
but as I say, it could be the editing.
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Okay, if we want to get really mean...I am just glad that Gail is washing her hair now...when she was in episode 5 with Ms. Bernstein...oh-my-gosh..somebody get some shampoo...I was so turned off, I didn't even think much of how bad Betty's puff pastry really was.
-jennyfur
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Indeed, several of you appear to agree that it is worthy of being scolded to shave your head: eg RBCal saying, "why would you shave your head before being judged by Eric Ripert...to show him you are an immature idiot"...and a similar comment by someone else below.
and I say, if Eric Ripert is half a good a judge as his reputation as a chef (can't say I've ever had the opportunity to taste his food myself), he would base the judging on what was done during the challege, *not* how someone chose to wear (or not wear) their hair for the part where they hear the results of the judging.
(The issue with Cliff, just to clarify, is very different, since Cliff violated the rules and, (imo), appearedto commit a crime. I agree he is lucky that Marcel didn't decide to call the cops. Had Marcel fought back and things gotten out of hand, someone probably would have had to call in the cops.)
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Shaving your head while drunk on camera is not a hairstyle choice, it's an extremely immature act that one might expect from a teen. While this competition does not test contestant's ability to actually run a kitchen, I think at a minimum the judges should expect to convey the title of "Top Chef" to someone with enough common sense to hold a busboy position in a diner!
The point is not that these people should be disqualified for making dopey hairstyle choices, it's that they ought to want to put their best foot forward and videotaping yourself making idiotic decisions is not the way to do so!
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Shaving your head is not only stupid, it's not permitted on television shows because it completely messes up the editorial options. That's why Elia was given a wig and Ilan was shot in his stupid Eminem getup. They are shot giving interviews about the various challenges and the interviews are, obviously, shot whenever possible and not necessarily in the moment during or right after situations. To change one's physical appearance can mess things up for production and editing -- even getting a pimple can do that. These people are immature brats (not to mention being cruel, but I ranted about that below) and I can't imagine anybody wanting to work with any of them after this.
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No, they were definitely scolding them for shaving their heads. Cutting their hair is prohibited in the contract.
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? If cutting their hair is prohibited in the contract, shouldn't they all be sent home for violating the rules? I guess that would sort of eliminate the TV value...
why would the contract include that?
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Because it's a TV show. The producers need them to be able to look the same from day to day so that they can edit and move around footage. Also, because it's a TV show, and the producers have control of how they look.
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The contestants are chosen for many reasons, including their physical appearance. The producers don't want that physical appearance altered.
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Regarding the Ilan & Elia shaving their heads I think what the judges found disturbing was the "mob mentality" that they all took on. Plus they were not acting life Chefs---they acted more like they were in a fraternity hazing someone and that is not what this show is about. Elia was the 1 who first bought up shaving Marcels head and he was sleep on the sofa not bothering anyone. Things got out of control. This is a cooking competition not a frat house, right? One would think that because these are all adults who know they will televised---you'd think they'd "behave".
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They edited it out of sequence, which gave a false impression in several ways.
In fact Elia was not drinking. Ilan and Cliff got drunk and decided to shave Marcel's head, she wasn't involved. After Marcel stalked off, she said, hey, we've got these clippers, I've always wanted to shave my head ...
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For the record the episodes title was "Sense and Sensuality". The Sense part is a pun on some of the contestants having lost their senses (as in mind).
If you are serious about winning why would you shave your head before being judged by Eric Ripert? To show him you are an immature idiot?
At this point, Marcel appears to be the most serious and definitely the most mature of all the remaining contestants. Sam didn't come unscathed out of "The Scandal". He egged on Elia and Ilan to shave their heads and did absolutely nothing when Marcel was assaulted in front of him.
Ilan's Chicken Liver Chocolate not only sounds disgusting it looked like a turd on the plate.
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When one of the hosts affedctionately addressed the group as 'you idiots' I thought "well now we're finally being honest!"
This is a group of very immature barely competent cooks. A couple have the experience to produce palatable dishes when they are forced to do so, but none has the creativity, passion and training to be an innovative chef.
Even without the sophmoric head shaving, creepy attack, and alarming indifference, this group has been a complete disappointment from episode one.
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DAMN! Amen RBCal! I couldn't have said it better!
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I want to feel bad for Marcel, I really do, but I can't help feeling like I would have been the one holding the clippers!! Okay... there, I admit it! He's just SO annoying! I feel the same way about him as I did about Stephen last season, but I eventually came around to like Stephen, at least in the reunion episode, but I just don't think I can like Marcel.
It was nice to see Cliff actually show some humility in this episode... it's too bad that it took that incident to show it.
Ick to the chicken liver and chocolate... urp!
I just don't like anyone for Top Chef. The only one left that I really like is Elia and she's not going to win.
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Jeez, am I the only one who thinks this was much ado about NOTHING? "Touching" Marcel? For God's sake, it was prank night for these folks, and if Marcel can't take that minor nothingness, wait until he has his own kitchen.
Has no one ever horsed around with a friend? That's all it was. Marcel didn't even get his Eddie Munster hair shaven off.
PC has become BS.
I have far more respect for Cliff than I ever will for that arrogant, 3-years-behind-the-times-foam-El-Bulli-wannabe Marcel.
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