Top Chef: Las Vegas

Anyone watch the show?
This is my 2nd year watching and is probably the show I look forward to most. Padma Lakshmi is reason enough alone to be a fan.

As of last week they are 6 episodes in and the talented chefs are becoming apparent. My bets for top 3 finalists are:

Brian Voltaggio: Chef/Partner, VOLT Restaurant
Kevin Gillespie: Executive Chef & Partner, Woodfire Grill, Graduated with honors Art Institute of Atlanta
Jennifer Carroll: Chef de Cuisine 10 Arts by Eric Ripert (A culinary god, Eric Ripert hand picked her to run his kitchen). She's also the resident hottie of the show.

Michael Voltaggio (Brian's brother) is sort of a wild-card, he's younger and less experienced than his brother, yet he's won a number of awards, including a Michelin Star and was a finalist for a James Beard Award ..both of which are kind of a big deal in the culinary industry.

Post your thoughts.

Used to love the show after getting hooked on season 2.

the show is incredibly repetitious though, quickfire challenge, elimination round, repeat
hardly watch it anymore

has s06ep07 online yet? i cant find it on my normal sources.

I just don't like the totally unrealistic ways they have the chefs prove themselves.

i dont think there was a new episode on last night actually

the voltaggio brothers are pretty damn good and the jennifer chick was really impressive when she ran the kitchen during one challenge

i despise the product placement thats so prevalent throughout the show but what can you do?

has s06ep07 online yet? i cant find it on my normal sources.

No show this week because the show was nominated for an emmy this year so the hosts were in LA. I think this may also be why they eliminated two contestants on one show a couple weeks back.

I just don't like the totally unrealistic ways they have the chefs prove themselves.

this too, they pull these impossible scenarios then get berated by tom and gale, as if either could do better with what the chefs were given

I just don't like the totally unrealistic ways they have the chefs prove themselves.

Perhaps, but just making it a plain old cooking competition would get boring really quickly. The chefs that are able to turn out amazing dishes in less-than-ideal situations make their win all the better.

They recently had a classic French cuisine competition and invited several of the best French chefs in the nation, including "Chef of the Century" Joël Robuchon, to judge the dishes. The contestants considered it the most important dish they'll ever make in their life.
It was cool to see the best dishes receive compliments from such a tough crowd.

Jennifer should probably be the favorite

also sucks we wont see eric ripert

*Edit* hiding the winners/losers.

This weeks challenge: Pig and Pinot.
Contestants are allowed to taste a variety of pinot noirs and choose one. Then make a pork dish which compliments the wine.

As you probably know, properly pairing a wine with a dish takes a discriminate palate - the ability to identify the notes present in wine and understand what flavors best pair with them is a talent in and of itself.

Though most of the dishes were good in their own right, only 4-5 of the contestants succeeded in properly pairing the wine.

All four of my top picks made it to the judges table this week with Kevin Gillespie taking the win. Ash Fulk, who has been struggling the entire season, finally got the boot.

Toby Young somehow managed to compare Jennifer Carroll's dish to a hairy French armpit yet still turn it into a compliment. :lol:

The other interesting development is how Robin Leventhal, another weak contestant, has managed to get the rest of the house to hate her. Though her cooking is consistently uninspiring, she manages every week to make a dish that's just slightly better than someone elses. Most of the contestants feel that other, more talented chefs have been sent home while she somehow remains and their resentment is beginning to boil over. It'll be interesting to see how long she can hold out and how much it will grate on the nerves of the others.

kevin is my favorite, w/o a doubt. i also think he's one of the more likely to win. his food seems solid. jennifer is after him as far as likability and skill i think

and i don't know why you say tom wouldn't be able to do any challenges. he's a successful chef who has a number of his own restaurants. he understands food well enough to be a judge for this show. i dunno about gale though

the problem isn't so much "can this guy cook?" rather, it's "can be cook something good, given the absurd limitations of the challenge, and within the allotted timeframe?" nearly any chef would struggle with that, especially if they were making something they hadn't made before.

anyway, i like kevin a lot, mainly because he seems to have a brain (was accepted to MIT, went to cooking school instead), is a nice guy, and seems to really know his stuff about food - what tastes good, and how to produce it.

Kevin will win, that fat fucker is a stud. I like this show a lot. I even enjoy looking at padma lakshmi. There is no way I could stand there and smile while she bashed my food though. I wish somebody would go off on her, when they get kicked off. What qualifies her as a food critic? the fact that she stuck salmon rushdie's dick in her mouth should disqualify her from ever commenting on the way anything tasted

Well this weeks episode had a somewhat surprising twist.

Quickfire Challenge: 2 teams, each with their members blindfolded. One person from each team has 10 minutes to prepare part of a dish before handing it off to the next team member. The problem is they don't get to discuss or watch what the previous teammate is doing. Basically, the first member is responsible for conception of the dish, the last member is responsible for plating, and all share responsibility for execution.

Red team:
Robin
Eli
Voltaggio Brothers

Blue team:
Kevin
Jennifer
Mike
Laurine

Winner: Blue team

Elimination Challenge: Restaurant Wars

Each team creates a style, name, and menu for their respective restaurants, and are responsible for concept, execution and service.

Blue team goes into this challenge feeling very confident. They even let the $10k they won from the quickfire ride in hopes of quadrupling it if they win the elimination. Everyone on this team except Mike Isabella had problems with their portion of the challenge. Kevin turned out one good plate and one bad plate. The judges hated both of Jennifer's plates, and Laurine blew it on service.

Red team underdogs win by a landslide. Tom called theirs the best restaurant in the history of Restaurant Wars.

Winner: Michael Voltaggio

Loser: Laurine Wickett

If you stopped watching a couple of seasons ago, i'd highly recommend starting to watch this season, it's full of amazing chefs now. And the challenges are a bit "newer" than what they've done in the past.

Kevin and the Voltaggio brothers are by far the best chefs in the competition.

Kevin, Brian, Jennifer, Michael, are my top-4 picks.

Kevin seems less refined than Brian, but has a deep understanding of combining flavors. Brian seems more experienced in the "fine cuisine" aspect of cooking.
It's hard to say which one is more talented, but Kevin being the "nice guy" of the chefs makes me want to root for him.

way to go out on a limb and pick the best 4 chefs there bub

brian is the best overall chef and i hope he wins

he's also dreamy

but most guys named Brian are

this dude totally doesnt look like a gay teen television drama character or have a crappy irish last name though

HES OKAY IN MY BOOKS

actually i dont know if your last name is irish or not but i mistakenly thought it was o'doyle for a second

o'doyle rules