top chef at halftime

[jlh]

For those of you who don't know, my icon for top cheffing is season 1 winner Harold, still my favorite winner of what may be the best season of reality television ever. Happily for me, he opened a restaurant here in NYC, which I've been to once, and will be going to again for my birthday this year.

We're on the verge of Restaurant Wars, and half the chefs are gone. Restaurant Wars is a weird challenge—sometimes it eliminates a sous chef who managed to pull good food out when they needed to and stuck around longer than they might have (S1 Miguel, S2 Michael) but other times it's a pride-goeth fall for a strong contender for the finale (S3 Tre, S4 Dale).

I think we can all agree that the chaff is gone at this point in season 5. There haven't been any really shocking eliminations, and there's no one left that I wish would just go already. While I thought that Arianne was badly treated by her teammates, and I found her to be interesting, I never really thought she'd go much further and I agreed with her elimination (though a good case could have been made for Leah). While Richard was charming, he made uninteresting comfort food (lamb slider, peanut butter and banana sandwich, the bad s'mores) that wouldn't have kept him in the mix for long. The rest of the chefs I never liked at all.

So for the chefs still with us:

• I like Carla. I like people with positive energy and she has made some good dishes. As Tom says, she can make a good crust, and I would be that she will get through RW because she'll make a good desert and also help with other dishes. Even if her team loses, I doubt she'll be the reason why. Also, her understanding of what went wrong with her dish for Toby Young saved her, and impressed Tom.
  
• Fabio is a bit of a mystery. He can make great things, or dishes that are weirdly boring or over or underseasoned. He can get a little bit ahead of himself. Hopefully he'll get back to simple, solid cooking and be able to get further, but I'm not sure he'll make it to the finale. It really depends on what he has left to show us.
  
• Hosea is a solid chef though I haven't seen him do very much that really stood out. He's definitely someone who could be vulnerable in RW because he might take a leadership position. And given what's in the promos, his head might not be in the game for that challenge.
  
• Hopefully Jamie will stop bitching now that she finally got a win. She reminds me of Stephanie in that she's almost always on the top or the bottom (Stephanie was never in the middle of any elimination challenge). She takes chances and they don't always work out but they aren't completely misguided. Also, clearly Tom has taken to her—not that he sways things for that reason, but obviously he has a good eye.
  
• I am more impressed by Jeff every week. Sure, he went wrong on butchering the pork, but as one of the recaps pointed out, he probably is used to doing all this lower fat stuff for his Miami patrons, and it was his fried green tomatoes that saved his team. He has real leadership skills, and that could hurt him for RW if he's the leader of his team. He's had a lot of near-wins, and hopefully he can manage his tendency to do a little too much and focus in order to stay in the game.
  
• I find Leah tiresome. She's passive aggressive, she has respect issues, and I'm not sure she's made a good elimination dish since the first week. They're prompting us that either Leah or Hosea might be in trouble for RW, but Bravo promos are notoriously misleading, so I'm not holding my breath. However, now that the chaff is gone and Jaime is feeling her oats, Leah had better watch out.
  
• I worry about Radhika. Her quickfire wins have saved her ass on more than one occasion. Quickfires prove she can think quickly and put forth good flavors in small packages, but she's only had one solid elimination dish (the vegan stuffing). In team situations she tends to not take on quite enough, and not step up and entirely own one part of a dish, and that can really hurt her in RW if her team loses and feels that she didn't pull her weight.
  
• Stefan is Stefan. If he makes it through RW, it will probably be clear sailing to the finale, as there will be fewer team challenges. But people not wanting to be on your team fucked over Tiffani in S1, so he needs to watch the arrogance and bossiness, especially since he isn't always right: Jeff's tomato sorbet was a hit, and his chicken soup (which worried Jaime) was a miss.

RW is all about the team you end up on, and how the chemistry works. Fabio, Hosea and Jeff are confident in a way that makes them invulnerable to Stefan, and Jaime and Carla figured out how to manage him last week. He can still get to Radhika and Leah, however, and he's probably the only one who can really throw a team with his presence, unless the Hosea-Leah thing steamrolls another chef.

So here's the risky poll:
[Poll #1333915]

Comments

[ali-wildgoose.livejournal.com]

I find it kind of adorable that we voted for the same three people in the same order ;3

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

I think I voted for the same three--though in a different order.

[hearthisvoice.livejournal.com]

OMG my friend just twittered this WHILE I was reading your entry...I heart Colicchio (http://internetfoodassociation.wordpress.com/2009/01/19/tom-colicchio-hero/). ♥__♥

[jlh.livejournal.com]

First, wow, he is the awesome sauce isn't he?

Second, you're on twitter? I'm clio_jlh.

[hearthisvoice.livejournal.com]

Also, here are my thoughts on the finale! Who I want and who I predict are two different responses. I would most enjoy: Carla, Jamie, Fabio. Carla has really grown on me, and I think she has really solid foundation skills as a cook. Jamie, like you said, always in the top or bottom. Spectacular failures are still spectacular, I guess. And I really like Fabio. I love his schmoozy, flirty, Italian-ness, and I think he's a great, possibly brilliant chef. He has never made a dish that I didn't absolutely want to eat.

As for who will actually make F3, I have this weird feeling we're going to see an all-male finale. I think it will be Fabio, Stefan and Jeff.

And I will add you right now! I'm lexicaljewel. :)

[honestys-easy.livejournal.com]

I miss watching this show with people. :(

I'm still sore over S4 Dale's elimination - not that I thought he would win but I think he deserved it at least over Spike and Lisa. And Lisa still can't cook rice.

I enjoy Carla and I think her putting together a great pastry is impressing everyone. I thought she would be gone right away from the first episode but she's surprised me. She's a very good team player and she'll be an asset to whatever RW team she's on for the pastry alone.

I thought that, while I hated Arianne in the beginning, she was proving herself to be rather competent time and time again in the kitchen. I'm surprised that out of 3 chefs who decided to make lamb roasts, none of them could tie it. (Then why didn't they make something different?) Leah's been nothing above ordinary for me this entire season, and as someone said in last week's ONTD post, she seems like she's had a lobotomy during her confessions. I thought she should have gone rather than Arianne.

Don't you worry, Jamie will still bitch because she didn't win all on her own. And it's funny, Fabio and Stefan are actually so slashy together that it's rather boring to think about. Jeff seems to love making complicated things, and things with a Middle Eastern influence, two things that surprised me about him (I thought he was going to be all looks and no substance). Radhika is the one that's surprising me in the other direction, because she's not doing as well as I thought she would earlier in the competition. Stefan will be interesting to watch in RW, I gotta say much like Hollywood Week I really enjoy crazy RW drama.

I need a Top Chef icon!