Top Chef 3 - Finale Pt. 1 - 9/26

I also think that it has been between Casey and Hung for a while now. One of them are sure to win.

As for Bourdain, I have become a big fan just from his few appearances on the seasons of Top Chef, would love to see more of him on there.

 

Go Casey go!

I think she's going to win, and that's why they spared her this week. Based on her dish alone this time I was worried she'd get sent home.

 

I would be all for Bourdain being full time judge and then make Colichio go back to what he did in first season being a mentor to the chefs sorta like Tim Gunn on Project Runway. He is much better in that role and when he comes in and talks to the chefs you can always tell what he really wants to say is on the tip of his tongue.

 

To me it's between Casey and Hung although Dale pulled it out big time in this last episode so if they had to have sent two home Casey or Hung may not made it. Casey's bison was pretty raw, even for cowboys.

Hung's trying every angle he can and those saying he should help out the others if he finishes earlier are crazy. It's a competition. You don't switch teams in baseball if your team is ahead.

 

I will give Dale some credit. For the first half of this season, I thought he was not good at all. He has something, but he is not up to the other two in the finale. I think the fact that he did not cook for 18 months before getting on the show is interesting and probably explains a lot of his progression.

 

So the judges thought that Hung's dishes are technically the best but what do they mean by lacking "soul"? If it didn't taste good or the ingredients didn't complement each other, shouldn't they just say that instead?

Thought that it was pretty funny that Hung was so cocky in the Quickfire but still forgot something that probably cost him the win.

 

I had really thought that Tre would be there to the end also -- he was pretty solid and then had 2 bad nights in a row.

I thought it was interesting that Casey didn't even use her "advantage" from winning the Quickfire. Maybe the ingredients that she brought from home weren't compatible with bison. You'd think she would have used *something* from her stash just because she could.

 

It was elk, not bison. She brought "pan-Asian" spices; probably in appropriate given the theme of the challenge.

 

Yes, of course you're right -- elk. I still thought that she might have used at least one thing that she brought just because she could -- they might not have been ALL pan-asian. When she was asked, she just said something like that she was saving those ingredients for the final 2 (now it will be the final 3).

I'm sure that the editing made it look worse than it was, but Brian sure had a lot of ingredients in his dish. Chef Ripert sure didn't like his choice to have the diners choose their cheese.

 

Yup and it's a good explanation.

 

Thanks for the heads up. I wish they had simply said that during the show.

Bourdain cracks me up though.

 

Finally got around to finishing Bourdain's blog entry. I don't get why Hung is "expected" to produce a great dish with Vietnamese influences while the other chefs get a pass on their heritage.

 

Vietnamese is considered almost perfect cuisine by the culinary world. It is a cross between French and Asian cooking and is just fantastic if done correctly and Bourdain has admitted on many occasions he loves Vietnam and goes there once a year.

 

I get that from the blog but the part I don't understand is why Hung gets saddled with the expectation that he alone must "represent" his heritage while everyone else gets a pass.

If Hung needs to produce a great Vietnamese dish, what dishes are assigned to Casey & Dale?

 

I don't know if this answer will satisfy you, but here's what Bourdain has to say about that:

 

If you're crying racism, then just stop it already - there's enough genuine racism in the world without looking for it in places where there is none.

The reason they're harping on it is the same reason judges would be telling someone with an operatic voice in a singing contest to stop impersonating Ashlee Simpson - i.e., if you've got a great tool at your disposal, you ought to use it.