That evening, the chefs head to the derby to see what all the fuss is about. Although iti's relaxi-time, no one is relaxing. Josie is cheering, loudly, and everyone's getting annoyed. Not only does Josie's voice hurt "The Hammer's" soul, but he now says it's like nails on a chalkboard. When the chefs get home, Josie and Micah get into it. Josie tells the chefs not to bark up her tree. She says something about Micah getting out of the closet. Although this seemed like she was insinuating that Micah's gay, I didn't get that impression. What else would it have meant? I don't know. Either way, it did not go over well.
On a happier note, the judges enjoy coming up with fun roller derby names for each other. Or rather Hugh enjoys giving his fellow judges names. Emeril reveals that his is "Bam Bam," which rivals his porn name, Toughie Baker. Don't know what I'm talking about? You're going to want to watch THIS.
Padma gets "Padma Smacks me." Yikes!
Let's get to the food. John says that Brooke reminds him of his daughter, which is sweet and sad. Their food is received really well.
Bart and Josie have some issues and end up on the bottom. Their dish actually reminded me a lot of a dish I just ate at Five Leaves in Greenpoint with beautiful forbidden rice with beets, sans any teriyaki. That dish was a winner, though. This one, unfortunately, was "interesting." Interesting crappy, in this case.
I'd like to tell you how much I'm enjoying the "Behind the Scenes" videos that you are doing featuring Sandee Birdsong. I could tell there was a lot of work that went into each episode, and it is fascinating to see it all happen. Thanks for that, and please keep them coming!
FYI - the name of the town they visited is Bow...
So, might we learn more about Micah's father being a "pastor" but keeping a kosher household? I know there are some Christian sects that maintain some elements of Judaism, but I'd love to know what Micah's was. He seemed to be saying his father kept kosher as if it were the norm for a pastor.
motherhubbard
I thought the same thing. I haven't met any pastors that are kosher.
iamthewalruscoocoocachoo His bio says he was raised kosher because he's the son of an "Orthodox Catholic priest," which makes even less sense.
motherhubbard
It's probably just a preference thing. I don't think Orthodox Catholic priests have to keep kosher. But, what do I know? I wasn't raised Orthodox Catholic - this is just an educated guess
;-)
motherhubbard iamthewalruscoocoocachoo
Catholic in this case means that the church has a Hierarchy. The Eastern Orthodox Church is Catholic, but it is not Roman Catholic. And they do follow Kosher laws to some degree.
motherhubbard
Micah was raised as an Orthodox Christian. Thanks for asking.
Grandmastephanie As in Eastern Orthodox? My Orthodox acquaintances don't keep kosher and don't refer to their priests as "pastors." I do know some Coptics who observe [i]kashruth[/i], so maybe that's Micah's dad's background.
As for Cahollics (the term used in Micah's bio), I don't think the clergy are—officially— supposed to be making babies.
The girl skates in with the tray, and cj says he couldn't take his eyes off her amazing ass. I find that that rude and crude. Since he found that necessary to verbalize; it shows he is lacking in class and character. Can't this show find people who are more presentable to the youth of America?
fobesq its not a kids show. They bleep out half the conversations.
fobesq The show is on at 10:00 p.m. on a weeknight. The kiddies should be in bed.
Why is it that some of the chefs have hair falling all over their faces? Have they not heard of kitchen food safety/cleanliness rules? And handling food that is going to diners without gloves?? Makes you wonder how safe/clean food is in some restaurants.
carole1335@msn.com I have wondered about that, I'm sure Tom has commented on it before. Kitchen staff spend a great deal of time washing hand, produce and surfaces, and pay an great deal of attention to avoiding cross contamination. Many states have rules that state that anyone who handles food meant to be served to the public as-is (meaning not cooked further) must wear gloves for service. Maybe Top Chef counts these events as "invitation only" events where the usual food service rules don't apply, but I'd be interested in knowing for sure.
carole1335@msn.com You might be surprised at how un-sanitary it is to use gloves. When you're working hard at cutting food it's not unusual for hands to become sweaty and that pool of sweat in the glove can roll out of the glove into the food. Gross. IMO the only times gloves should be mandatory is if the chef has a cut on their hand, or when dealing with particular foods (ex; Chilis)
Love your blog posts, Monica.
Just a few Top Chef wonk/nerd corrections:
1. It was "unique" crappy, not "interesting" crappy.
2. I am pretty sure it was Grayson's dish that was an inside out chicken. (I have a vivid memory of her comparing it to a quasi-abortion to the horror of the judges.)
Other than that, keep up the good work!
(P.S. I think Josh should be "Heartbreak" Valentine or maybe "The Heart Attack.")





I really wish that this blog felt like it was really talking about stuff behind the scenes, but it just feels like a big recap with very little insight. I miss Lee Anne who really talked about challenges the crew faced, how some challenges came to be, and provided insight that went beyond what we already saw on television.
- spam
- offensive
- disagree
- off topic
Like